Chapter 605: Are You To Blame?

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“Secretary Zhang…”

Huo Mingguang furrowed his brows and was about to speak, but he saw that there were two people behind Zhang Yang.

Two people in uniforms. Everyone sat there without moving. They just looked at the two people and didn’t understand why the police would come.

Huo Yifan stood there and watched the two people walk straight towards him. One of them flashed the ID in his hand in front of Huo Yifan.

“Hello, are you Mr. Huo Yifan?”

“I am.” Huo Yifan stood there with a confused look on his face.

The policeman put away his ID. “You are suspected of being involved in a theft of trade secrets. Please come with us to assist in the investigation.”

Huo Yifan instinctively took a step back. “What nonsense are you talking about? Who stole trade secrets?”

“Please cooperate with us and help us with the investigation.”

Huo Yifan stood there and subconsciously looked at Huo Mingliang. Huo Mingliang was also confused. He took two steps forward. “Officer, is there a misunderstanding here? My Son would never steal trade secrets.”

“So please come with US and help with the investigation.”

The police officers still spoke in a bureacratic tone, but their actions were not polite at all. They took two steps forward and stood on both sides of Huo Yifan, wanting to take him away.

Huo Yifan looked at Huo mingguang again and said, “Uncle, uncle saved me. I didn’t.”

When Huo Mingguang saw the scene in front of him, he reflexively glanced at Huo Jinyao.

Zhang Yang was Huo Jinyao’s subordinate and the one who brought them in was Zhang Yang. So, was this matter connected to Huo Jinyao?

Huo Yifan also noticed Huo Jinyao’s gaze. He suddenly pointed a finger at Huo Jinyao.

“It was you, wasn’t it? It was you. You were the one who set me up. Huo Jinyao, you’re envious. You’re just envious. You can’t stand to see me better.”

Huo Jinyao touched the tip of his nose. He finally met Huo Yifan’s gaze.

“Please think twice before you speak, manager Huo. I don’t have the ability to get the police to arrest you. If you think you’re innocent, then follow them. After all, the police will eventually investigate the truth and clear your name, don’t you think?”

“Huo Jinyao, it was you, it was you.”

Huo Yifan wanted to scold him, but he was already taken away by two police officers.

After he was taken away, Huo Mingguang and Huo Mingliang looked at Huo Jinyao at the same time.

“Eldest nephew, you’re being treacherous.” Huo Mingliang looked at Huo Jinyao with silent reproach in his eyes.

“I don’t quite understand what you said, Uncle. Yifan is the one who committed the crime. What does it have to do with me?”

Huo Jinyao pushed the matter aside and acted as if it had nothing to do with him, so Huo Mingliang became furious. “Eldest nephew, aren’t you ashamed to say that? The police were brought here by your people. Do you still dare to say that it has nothing to do with you?”

Upon hearing this, Huo Jinyao chuckled lightly and turned to look at Zhang Yang.

“Zhang Yang, did you bring them here?”

“No.” Zhang Yang waved a document in his hand as he spoke. “I had something to talk to president Huo about. I just happened to see the two police officers going upstairs. They said that they were looking for manager Huo Yifan. I happened to be on my way to the conference room when I ran into them.”

“Uncle, did you hear that? This matter has nothing to do with me. Speaking of which, I’m really curious as well. Yifan stole trade secrets. What kind of trade secrets did he steal?”

No one present had thought of this. Now that they heard Huo Jinyao’s words, everyone looked at each other in dismay.

Huo Mingguang’s expression was very ugly. He sat there with a cold expression and looked at Huo Jinyao. He didn’t believe that this matter had nothing to do with him.

Huo Jinyao acted as if he did not see his father’s expression. He looked at Huo Mingliang and said, “Uncle, if I were you, I would not be here right now. I would find a way to find out what trade secrets Yifan stole.”

Huo Mingliang glared at Huo Jinyao. He wanted to have an outburst, but he knew that he was telling the truth.

After glaring at Huo Jinyao with hatred, he quickly left.

At this point, there was no way the meeting could continue. Huo Mingguang waved his hand, and everyone else in the meeting room dispersed.

In the end, only Huo Jinyao and Huo Mingguang were left. Huo Mingguang stopped Huo Jinyao before he was about to leave.

“Jinyao.”

Huo Jinyao stood there and looked at him with disdain.

“You –” He said the word “you” and changed the topic. “The matter with Huo Yifan is your doing.”

He used an affirmative sentence, and Huo Jinyao smiled. “Don’t you already have an answer? Why are you still asking?”

Huo Mingguang had a complicated expression on his face as he looked at Huo Jinyao. He didn’t know what to say at that moment. “Jinyao. I know. Your mother and I owe you a lot. You’re feeling resentful. If you’re really that unhappy, you can come at us, but I hope you can consider the bigger picture. No matter what, Yifan is your younger brother and also a member of Tianyu Group. Aren’t you afraid that you’ll affect the company’s reputation?”

“You’re overthinking things.” Huo Jinyao patiently listened to him finish his sentence, and there was a hint of mockery in his voice. “First of all, I’m not unhappy with you and mom. You can treat me however you like, as long as you’re happy. Second of all, it’s not me who’s affecting the company’s reputation, it’s Huo Yifan. Perhaps you can ask him where that perfect proposal came from, and how it came about. When the time comes, you can come and discuss the company’s reputation with me.”

After saying that, Huo Jinyao left. He completely ignored Huo Mingguang, who was behind him. With guilt, he was left sitting there with a complicated look on his face.

..

When Huo Yifan was taken away, he was very confident. But soon, he realized that he couldn’t be confident anymore.

Through a lawyer, an American company called Kev Company had filed a lawsuit accusing Huo Yifan of stealing trade secrets.

And that so-called trade secret was the document that Su Peizhen gave him.

The other party repeatedly asked him to tell him where the document came from. Huo Yifan could only tell the truth. It was Su Peizhen who gave it to him.

Su Peizhen was in Lin City. After she lost so much face in Lin City, she didn’t immediately return to Rong City.

Instead, she drank her life away in Lin City and passed two days in a daze. But very soon, she was arrested.

The police brought her from Lin City to Rong City. The charges against her were the same: theft of trade secrets.

Su Peizhen still hadn’t recovered from that shock, so she didn’t expect to face such charges immediately.

Of course, she wouldn’t admit it. She said that the document was given to her by Qi Xiwei. She didn’t steal it at all.

But no one believed her. She was locked up. Not only was she locked up, but she was also interrogated along with Huo Yifan.

She said that the proposal was given to her by Qi Xiwei, but Qi Xiwei refused to admit it. She said that it was such an important thing, so how could she give it to someone so casually?

Especially since it was a confidential document from her original company.

Su Peizhen couldn’t defend herself. She called a lawyer that she knew for him to bail her out.

However, it was useless. The other party told her that her case was conclusive and that there was no way to overturn it.

On the other side, Su Peizhen and Huo Yifan were locked up.

On the other side, Huo Mingliang was trying his best to get Huo Yifan out.

Huo Yifan went to jail, and the case was shelved just like that. This was also a loss for the company.

Huo Mingliang didn’t know about the proposal. He had always thought that Huo Yifan came up with it himself.

It was only now that he realized that Huo Yifan didn’t come up with the proposal himself. He had no choice but to beg Old Master Huo.

On the other end, the police had officially filed charges against Huo Yifan and Su Peizhen. If convicted, the two of them would face a limited sentence of three to seven years.

Whether it was three years or seven years, Huo Mingliang couldn’t afford it.

With no other choice, he could only go to Old Master Huo and plead for mercy.

..

Su Qingsang returned to work at the hospital and was extremely busy every day. Naturally, she didn’t know about the matters at the Tianyu Group.

She only knew that Huo Jinyao had been very busy recently and often came home late at night. It just so happened that she was on the night shift this week.

In Auntie Yu’s words, the two of them hadn’t eaten at home for a few days.

It wasn’t easy for Su Qingsang to not be on duty that day and go home earlier. Only then did she realize that Huo Jinyao wasn’t back yet.

She was a little disappointed, but Su Qingsang knew about Huo Jinyao’s recent situation. Although he said that he had a way to deal with Huo Yifan, his grandfather would probably stop him when the time came.

If Huo Jinyao insisted on doing things his way, his grandfather would be upset again.

She couldn’t help him with these things, so she could only try not to add to his troubles.

Huo Jinyao didn’t come back until she was done packing and lying down in a daze.

She blinked her eyes at the suddenly sunken bed beside her. She hadn’t turned off the bedside lamp earlier, so now that she saw Huo Jinyao, she reached out and wrapped her arm around his neck.

“You’re back?”

“Yes.” Huo Jinyao nodded. He looked at the sleepy Su Qingsang, who looked a little dazed.

“Why are you home so late? Is there a lot going on at the company?”

“Uh huh.” Huo Jinyao nodded. Su Qingsang looked at him with heartache and patted his shoulder. “Alright, go take a shower. Go to sleep early.”

Huo Jinyao didn’t object. He leaned over and kissed her on the lips before retreating. Su Qingsang smiled. She blinked her eyes and was about to go to sleep when she got a whiff of a faint, perfume-like smell.

She couldn’t help but sniff again. The smell was gone.

She looked at Huo Jinyao and realized that he had turned to look at her as well.

“Qingsang.” His expression was a little serious.

“What’s wrong?”

“If Auntie comes to look for you recently, and makes requests, tell her to look for me. Don’t agree to any of her requests.”

The Auntie that Huo Jinyao was referring to was naturally Xiang Caiping. Su Qingsang was completely awake because of his words.

“Auntie will come look for me? Why would she come look for me? What happened? Did Su Peizhen return to Rong City? Isn’t she still in Lin City?”

She had been back for about a week. During this week, she had already stopped thinking about what Su Peizhen had done.

In any case, her reputation had been ruined. She didn’t think that Su Peizhen would be able to stir up any trouble. Could it be that she still wanted to harm others?

“Don’t worry, it’s not what you think. Su Peizhen is currently in jail.”

Huo Jinyao briefly told Su Qingsang about what Su Peizhen had done while Su Qingsang was in shock.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they sentence her to the highest court this time. She won’t be released for at least seven years.”

Su Qingsang didn’t say anything. Su Peizhen’s ending was her own doing. But she couldn’t help but sympathize with Xiang Caiping again.

“Auntie will come to me to plead for mercy, right?”

“Yes, Auntie will come to you to plead for mercy, so I hope that when the time comes, no matter what Auntie says, don’t be concerned. Just let her come to me.”

“I understand.”

Su Qingsang replied in a very low voice, and her expression didn’t look too good.

She couldn’t help Su Peizhen’s matter, and she didn’t want to help either. She had gone against her time and time again, even going so far as to harm her. If she still spoke up for Su Peizhen, then she would be too saintly.

But in the end, she still sympathized with Xiang Caiping. With such a daughter, Xiang Caiping would probably feel a headache and pain, right?

Because of this incident, Su Qingsang instantly forgot that she smelled the faint scent of perfume.

..

The atmosphere in the study was a little tense.

“Impossible,” Huo Jinyao said after hearing Old Master Huo’s request.

Old Master Huo didn’t expect Huo Jinyao to reject him so directly, and not even give him face.

“Jinyao, can’t you just let your brother go?”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

Everything else was negotiable, but Huo Jinyao would never compromise on this matter.

“Jinyao.” Old Master Huo was a little annoyed by his attitude. “How about this? As long as you can find a way to get Kev’s people to drop the charges, I’ll make the decision to send Huo Yifan and the others abroad. I promise I won’t let them come back. How about that?”

“No.” Huo Jinyao shook his head with a smile. He didn’t accept Old Master Huo’s words at all. “No. Why would you send them abroad? To continue enjoying life? Grandpa, that’s not what I want.”

“You, I promise you that I absolutely won’t give them any assistance. They need to support themselves abroad and rely on their own capabilities.”

“Grandfather, if that’s your decision, then let them stay in prison now and reflect on their mistakes. What’s the difference?”

Old Master Huo’s lips moved. He wanted to defend Huo Yifan, but Huo Jinyao didn’t want to stay any longer.

He stood up and looked at Old Master Huo. His expression was respectful, but he had no intention of backing down.

Old Master Huo’s face was a little pale. He couldn’t bear it at the thought of Huo Mingliang, who had come to beg him while crying his eyes out.

“Grandfather, if there’s nothing else, I’ll leave first. Oh, by the way, you’ve completely let my father handle the company’s matters. Since that’s the case, you don’t have to worry about it anymore. What do you think?”

Old Master Huo’s expression was no longer just ugly. Huo Jinyao was clearly telling him to leave the company’s matters alone.

“You, you…”

Old Master Huo clutched his chest angrily and pointed a finger at Huo Jinyao.

Huo Jinyao bowed. “Grandfather, it’s better to take care of your health. Huo Yifan had always said that he was very filial. If he was really filial, he wouldn’t do those things that hurt the company’s reputation again and again. So this time, grandfather, it’s better you stay out of it.”

Old Master Huo looked at the closed door, then sat down on the sofa in disappointment, and didn’t move for a long time.