"Who are you? You can't just come in here!"
"The police are investigating the case. Where is your General Manager Pan?"
"In the meeting... meeting room..."
The large conference room on the eastern side of Kuaiyouduo was filled with people, including middle and senior management personnel above the level of section chief, as well as store managers of various stores. Lu Xinyan wore a light blue professional dress, her hair pinned behind her head with a hairpin, and her pretty face was lightly made up, showing her shrewdness and competence in her charm. She stood up, holding a remote control in her hand, and made a report with slides, explaining in detail the risks and crises that Kuaiyouduo was currently facing, as well as the urgency and necessity of the company's strategic transformation. This was the first time she had made the conflict between them public after she and Pan Mingliang had fallen out. On the one hand, she was trying to make the last effort to persuade the company's management and then influence Pan Mingliang's decision. On the other hand, she was leaving herself a way out. Once Kuaiyouduo fell into a desperate situation and Gu Shitong investigated, she could also distance herself from the matter by saying that she had seen the matter first.
Pan Mingliang drank his tea sip by sip, not taking Lu Xinyan's words to heart at all. He specially chose to gather everyone today and let Lu Xinyan talk nonsense, so that after receiving the news from Qinghe, he could let Lu Xinyan understand what it means to truly plan and win a battle thousands of miles away. What sea turtles are all bullshit!
Pan Mingliang looked at his watch. It was almost nine o'clock. He didn't trust anyone, so he specially sent Li Cui'er to wait for news near the Huashan store. Calculating the time, he estimated that the news should have come back by then. He squinted his eyes and glanced at Lu Xinyan, imagining how he could severely humiliate this woman and let her know who was in charge here.
At this moment, the door of the conference room was pushed open, and more than a dozen uniformed police officers rushed in. The leader was Geng Chao again. He walked up to Pan Mingliang and said, "Boss Pan, come with us!"
Pan Mingliang was stunned. He hadn't realized that something was wrong in Qinghe. With Gu Shitong as his support, he naturally had his confidence. He didn't panic at the moment. He put the teacup on the table and frowned, "Who are you? Do you know where this is? Do you want me to call your Mayor Feng?"
"You don't need to know who I am." Geng Chao smiled and said, "But I'll give you a suggestion. It's better not to make phone calls casually at this time..."
"you!"
Pan Mingliang was furious. He stood up and pointed at Geng Chao and cursed: "Who do you think you are? Believe it or not, I will skin you alive!"
Another vice president, Wu Hui, was a native of Qingzhou. He recognized Geng Chao and knew that he was a close confidant of Liu Tianlai of the Municipal Bureau and should not be easily provoked. He hurriedly pulled Pan Mingliang away and said with a smile: "Director Geng, is there any misunderstanding? Mr. Pan came here to invest and open a store to support the economic development of Qingzhou. The leaders of the city have praised him a lot. He would never do anything illegal..."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Wu Hui. I was promoted by General Manager Pan and am now the vice president of Kuaiyouduo. Director Geng, don't worry. Our company will definitely cooperate with the Public Security Bureau. However, you can see that there are so many people here and it's hard to explain anything. How about this? You go to General Manager Pan's office first and we can talk about it. We will definitely not let the comrades in the bureau make a wasted trip."
Geng Chao glanced at Wu Hui, his expression suddenly changed, and he said, "Come here, arrest him!"
Immediately, two police officers twisted Wu Hui's hands behind his back and handcuffed him. Wu Hui was shocked and ignored the pain in his wrists. He shouted, "Director Geng, what are you doing? What are you doing..."
"You dare to openly bribe public security personnel. I think you are really bold!"
"No, I didn't, I, I..."
Geng Chao was too lazy to talk nonsense, and waved his hand, saying: "Pan Mingliang, Lu Xinyan, Yang Dengfeng, Du Fangting, Sun Zhixin, Cai Jianqiang... All those whose names were called, please come to the door!"
He showed a sinister smile on his face and said, "I warn you, it's best not to have other thoughts. Now I just ask you to return to the bureau to assist in the investigation. If anyone refuses to cooperate, don't blame me for handcuffing you one by one. In a major case like poisoning, none of you can escape responsibility, so you'd better be honest!"
Poisoning
Hearing these two words, Pan Mingliang, who was furious just now, was shocked, his mouth slightly opened, his face turned pale, his mind was empty, and he didn't know what to say for a while. Lu Xinyan was still full of doubts, wondering what the sudden appearance of the Public Security Bureau was all about, but when she saw Pan Mingliang's reaction, she immediately understood. No wonder this old pervert swore that Qinghe's problem would be left to him to handle, but it turned out that he had such a bad idea!
You are such an idiot, extremely stupid. You don't even consider whose territory Qingzhou is. You operate legally and carefully, fearing that the other party will use government resources to trip you up. How dare you poison Qinghe soy milk
There was silence in the crowd for a moment, and several people came out one after another. They now understood that the Public Security Bureau had come prepared. The names called out were all senior executives of the company. Even Wu Hui, who always had a wide range of friends, was handcuffed. Others could not escape even if they wanted to.
Lu Xinyan stood up with the others and walked towards the door, thinking about how to get in touch with Guan Shan. She turned her beautiful eyes and smiled at Geng Chao, "Director Geng, I want to go to the bathroom."
Geng Chao did not hesitate, and called the female police officer, saying, "Lead the way to the toilet."
"Oh, Director Geng knows me?"
Geng Chao shook his head and said, "Kuaiyouduo has only one female CEO, so it must be you."
Seeing that he didn't seem as fierce as before, Lu Xinyan thought that her advantage as a beauty was showing, so she wanted to take advantage of him. She moved closer, almost touching Geng Chao, and asked in a low voice: "Director Geng, have you confirmed the poisoning? Is there a misunderstanding? I don't think Mr. Pan is that kind of person..."
Geng Chao smiled with a hint of sarcasm, and said, "I didn't say it was Mr. Pan who ordered it. It could be anyone, including you, Mr. Lu. So you should think more about yourself and stop worrying about others!"
Lu Xinyan's face froze, and the female police officer next to her did not hide her disgust in her eyes, as if Lu Xinyan was no different from those women who stood on the street at night. She said coldly: "Aren't you going to the toilet? Hurry up! Also, hand over your communication equipment first..."
At 9:07 in the morning, thirty minutes after the group of people who caused trouble in front of Qinghe Soy Milk Huashan Store were taken away by the police, the Qingzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau, led by Geng Chao, summoned all eight senior executives of Kuaiyouduo International Catering Co., Ltd., including Pan Mingliang and Lu Xinyan, back to the bureau for questioning. At the same time, the financial data and bank accounts of Kuaiyouduo were sealed, and the 21 stores in Qingzhou were ordered to suspend business for rectification. In addition, a joint investigation notice was issued to the public security organs of other cities and prefectures where Kuaiyouduo stores were opened, requesting their assistance in investigating the suspects related to the poisoning case.
Once the news spread, even people who didn’t care about the catering industry knew that Kuaiyouduo was doomed, the only difference was whether it would die sooner or later!
Qingzhou Public Security Bureau.
Pan Mingliang sat on the chair of the interrogation department, his palms sweating a little, but he was not too nervous. After a short period of unconsciousness, he also figured it out. It was just a laxative. What's the big deal? Who would he scare by poisoning? Besides, the contact with the man in Qinghe Central Kitchen was entirely handled by Li Cui'er. If it was someone else, he wouldn't dare to say it, but Li Cui'er had been with him since then. The two of them had a deep affection for each other, and she would never give him up even if she was caught.
As a veteran who has been in the world of women for many years, Pan Mingliang still has this confidence!
Geng Chao and another younger police officer opened the door and walked in. They sat down opposite him. Geng Chao said calmly, "Boss Pan, do you know why you came in?"
Pan Mingliang said disdainfully: "Don't play this old trick. Just say what you want to say. If it's mine, I can't escape. If it's not mine, don't try to frame me. And, Director Geng, I advise you to leave a way out for yourself so that we can meet again in the future. No one can tell when you will be unlucky!"
Geng Chao said expressionlessly to the young police officer next to him: "Write this down. Pan Mingliang threatened and intimidated the investigators. His attitude was bad and his words were extremely arrogant."
Without saying anything, the young police officer quickly recorded the conversation in a book. Pan Mingliang smiled coldly. He had to bow his head when he was under someone else's roof. He stopped talking about this topic and said, "I was just about to ask, what is the basis for you to arrest so many people today?"
"I'm just asking you to come back and assist in the investigation. I can't say I'm arresting anyone. But it seems that Mr. Pan doesn't have a good memory. I'll remind you that early this morning, the central kitchen of Qinghe Soy Milk was maliciously poisoned. I wonder if Mr. Pan knew about it in advance?"
"Qinghe soy milk? What does Qinghe's business have to do with me? I'm the CEO of Kuaiyouduo, not Qinghe's. You should ask Li Shengli about this!"
"Would Li Shengli poison his own soy milk? In a case like this, we naturally have to find someone with a motive. Mr. Pan and Qinghe are competitors, so it seems that he has a strong motive."
Pan Mingliang looked very relaxed and said, "It's true that Kuaiyouduo and Qinghe are rivals, but just ask anyone, who is developing better now, Qinghe or Kuaiyouduo? Does it have as many stores as we do? It won't be long before Kuaiyouduo can put Qinghe out of business. Why should I use such illegal means to attack my rival? Am I stupid?"
Geng Chao smiled and said, "Mr. Pan is certainly not stupid, but I heard that the topic of your meeting this morning was how to deal with the crisis that will be faced next. Lu Xinyan is your vice president, right? The full text of her speech is here. Do you want to give it to Mr. Pan for review?"
Without waiting for Pan Mingliang to reply, Geng Chao took out another document and said, "There is a woman named Li Cui'er. Does Mr. Pan know her?"
Pan Mingliang's heart tightened, his expression a little unnatural, and he said, "Of course I know her. She is the deputy director of the Finance Department of Kuaiyouduo. Why?"
"This is Li Cui'er's confession. She has confessed that you instructed and ordered her to provide 50,000 yuan to bribe Wang from Qinghe Central Kitchen, asking him to poison the prepared soy milk at 3:15 this morning, with the intention of damaging the reputation and credibility of Qinghe Soy Milk..."
Pan Mingliang didn't expect Li Cui'er to actually give him away. He was first disappointed, then furious. The pain and anger of being betrayed rushed to his mind. His body trembled slightly uncontrollably. After a while, he said indifferently, "Who is she? If she says it's me, then it's me? Don't you think it's a little ridiculous that you police officers handle cases like this?"
After all, Pan Mingliang was a man who had risen through the ranks of society. Now that it had come to this, it would be useless to say anything more. However, he thought that even if Li Cuier confessed, it was just empty words and there was no evidence, so he could deny it completely.
Everyone in this world is dumber than anyone else. It’s not easy to play a trick on someone!
Geng Chao took out a recorder from under the table and pressed the play button. Pan Mingliang's voice came from it: "Baby, have you contacted Wang Datou? What, 50,000? He's not satisfied after giving 20,000. His appetite is really big... Tell him that the money is no problem, but if the job is not done well, be careful of his lackeys... How strict can the central kitchen management of Qinghe be? Tell him again, my patience is limited. The job must be done within three days at the latest..."
The tapes were full of Pan Mingliang's words at different times. Geng Chao looked at Pan Mingliang's forehead, which was already covered with sweat, with great interest, and said, "If this is not enough," he reached under the table and fumbled around, as if it were Doraemon's little pocket, and took out a thick stack of information, saying, "This is the confession of the people arrested at the entrance of Qinghe Soy Milk today. Based on the clues they provided, we found the man nicknamed Laoshan, who also confessed that he was instructed by you to send people to cause trouble in the store. In addition, there were several reporters from newspapers who admitted that they had received your red envelopes and wanted to concentrate the power of the media to discredit and bring down Qinghe. These confessions have a complete chain of evidence, which is sufficient as the basis for prosecution. If Mr. Pan still refuses to confess and be lenient, I can't help you even if I want to..."
Pan Mingliang didn't expect that even Lao Shan and the reporter were arrested. He knew that denying it would be just a pretense, so he made up his mind and said, "Okay, I confess. It was indeed me who ordered this matter, but don't try to put a big accusation on me. What poisoning? It's just some laxatives. It didn't cause any consequences. How many days can you detain me?"
"Laxative?" Geng Chao seemed to have heard a big joke and said, "Boss Pan, rat poison is not a laxative. Its toxicity is even higher than potassium cyanide. Regardless of whether it has caused serious consequences or not, it is not a problem that can be solved by detaining him for a few days!"
"Rat poison?"
Pan Mingliang repeated it doubtfully, then suddenly came to his senses, his eyes widened, almost popping out, and said, "What rat poison? I asked Wang Datou to give me a laxative, not rat poison, not..."
Geng Chao stood up and said, "Boss Pan, since you have confessed, don't be lucky anymore. Li Cui'er, Wang Datou, Lao Shan and others said that you ordered poison. What is poison? Only a little bit of it can kill someone! I think you should think about it carefully and think about how to get leniency!"
Bang!
The iron door of the interrogation room was closed. Pan Mingliang collapsed on the stool like a punctured balloon, muttering to himself: "Poison, poison..."
(I don’t know what’s wrong with this chapter. I’ve tried to post it several times but it’s still under review. I’ll try to revise it again. The standards nowadays are really confusing... ) (To be continued)