Chapter 93: Liu Zhaoting's True Face

Yang Meng looked at Zhang Cuijian’s distressed appearance and sighed. He said to the people Zhang Cuijian had brought, “Brothers, let’s all disperse. It’s not worth fighting over.”

Zhang Cuijian’s people were stunned in place, unsure what to do. Zhang Cuijian waved his hand, and they left.

“Manager Mu, give us a larger room and send over some good food and drink. Calculate the losses in the room and I’ll compensate,” Long Teng told Manager Mu.

Zhang Cuijian hurriedly said, “Brother Long, this money should be on me! How can you pay it?”

Yang Meng said, “Enough, let’s go. We’ll switch rooms. This nice room has been turned into a garbage dump by you two. Let’s go!”

He Xiang Zhai’s efficiency was still very fast, and soon a sumptuous table of wine and dishes was placed before everyone. However, it seemed no one had any appetite for food.

“I say you two, what are you still glaring at each other for?” Yang Meng addressed Qi Kun and Zhang Cuijian.

Zhang Cuijian suddenly slapped the table and took out his phone. “I’ll call her right now and have her confront me! I want to ask her why she’s doing this.”

Yang Meng waved his hand. “Boss Zhang, I suggest you don’t do that. They say catching thieves catches the goods and catching adulterers catches the pair. Now my friend isn’t here, and he’s a party to it too. If you want to confront, it’s best to do it with all three of you.”

Long Teng also said, “Boss Zhang, I’m an outsider, but from what I guess, this girl is so cunning that she’s the type who won’t cry until the coffin is in front of her. I suggest we prepare a ‘coffin’ for her during this time.”

Hu Erling said in surprise, “Damn, Young Master Long, are you rich people too ruthless? For just this little thing, you want to kill and vent your anger?”

Duan Bowen smiled from the side. “Mr. Hu, you’ve misunderstood Young Master Long’s meaning. He means that during this time, we should gather more evidence that this woman has two boats. Boss Zhang, if you trust me, I’ll handle this matter. I know some experienced people who can do this.”

Zhang Cuijian shook his head. “I’ll handle this myself. I also know some people.”

Qi Kun said after hearing, “Secretary Duan, I need your help. This concerns my cousin!”

Duan Bowen smiled, “Mr. Qi, please rest assured. Leave it to me.”

Qi Kun complained, “Secretary Duan, you’re good everywhere except this bit that makes people hate it. Why be so polite? We’re friends, right? Just call me Dragon Shrimp like everyone else!”

“Alright, Dragon Shrimp, Mr.” Duan Bowen said.

Qi Kun stretched out his thumb with a helpless expression. “You win! Really, I surrender!”

Yang Meng smiled. “Dragon Shrimp, what’s so awesome about Secretary Duan? He’s always so self-disciplined, which is very rare! However, Secretary Duan, how do you plan to find evidence? By hiring some ‘private detective’? Life isn’t like a TV drama, that’s illegal!”

Whether watching movies or TV, there are often so-called ‘private detective’ figures, like investigating if the other party in a marriage is loyal, or posing as a commercial spy in the market to seek others’ privacy.

In fact, in China, all private detectives are illegal.

Tracking an individual constitutes illegal acquisition and sale of citizens’ personal information, infringing on others’ privacy.

No matter the purpose, any act of collecting others’ privacy and selling it constitutes a crime; the so-called ‘commercial spy’ directly amounts to the crime of infringing on commercial secrets, and once caught, you’ll be imprisoned.

When Yang Meng was young, he thought private detectives were cool from TV, and when he first came to Handong City and couldn’t find work, he wanted to become a private detective himself, only to find out that the so-called ‘private detective’ was actually illegal!

Countless people like Yang Meng who were swayed by TV dramas as children wanting to be private detectives got a hard slap from reality—this also explains why there are so many ‘paparazzi’ and ‘concerned citizens’ on the internet now: can’t be a private detective? Just do something similar.

Duan Bowen smiled, “Brother Yang, we businessmen have some tricks. I won’t bore you with details.”

Yang Meng pursed his lips. “Pfft! Breaking the law is breaking the law, what ‘tricks’.”

Duan Bowen waved his hand. “See through but not speak through, isn’t that how the world is? If you explain too much in detail, it loses its point.”

Yang Meng didn’t say more. “Secretary Pan, this matter troubles you. Alright, Dragon Shrimp, stop blowing your beard at us. According to the current situation, Boss Zhang is also a victim. Boss Zhang, don’t blame Dragon Shrimp. Until this matter is resolved, we can’t say who’s right or wrong. Let’s clear up the matter in the next few days, then decide whether to turn swords into plowshares or other results.”

Zhang Cuijian looked at Yang Meng, was silent for a long time, then nodded. “Little Yang, since I can reach this height today, I’m not a fool. I already know I was deceived, it’s just that I’m a bit unwilling, so I had someone check it. Forget it, forget it, don’t mention this annoying thing. Let’s drink! Today, no one is happy about what happened. Qi Kun, I lost my composure earlier, come, toast you a cup. Don’t say your fist is really hard.”

Since Zhang Cuijian said that, Qi Kun went along with it. “Brother Zhang, don’t say that. I still feel my back teeth aching now! It seems I’ll have to get my teeth filled!”

Yang Meng saw no further issues on both sides and felt at ease. He lowered his voice and whispered to Duan Bowen, “Secretary Duan, this matter troubles you. I don’t want to watch my friend being deceived like this!”

Duan Bowen gave a thumbs up. “Rest assured! Leave it to me! Such a small matter can be figured out quickly!”

Yang Meng picked up his wine cup and raised his voice. “Everyone eat and drink well, don’t let these annoying things ruin your mood.”

Whether genuinely happy or feigning it, after listening to Yang Meng’s words, the atmosphere in the room became lively.

At this moment, in a conference room of a certain hotel, a group of people sat there listening attentively to a lecture.

Such training courses are very common: hotels rely on renting conference rooms to generate revenue and can increase room occupancy in the off-season. Therefore, hotel owners are eager for people to rent conference rooms every day at very cheap prices. Those who are familiar with it can rent conference rooms in five-star hotels for a few hundred yuan a day, and the hotel provides equipment and services. Meanwhile, training organizations rely on the hotel’s reputation to enhance their ‘professionalism’, and both sides find it mutually beneficial.

This is why some pyramid schemes can rent conference rooms in five-star hotels to hold training courses: the cost isn’t actually that high.

But today’s training course at this hotel was different from the usual ones: in the entire conference room, both the lecturer on stage and the students listening below were young girls.

Behind the podium on the large screen was a photo of that young female lecturer and a man, looking very intimate. Although the man’s face was blurred, if Yang Meng and the others were present, they could recognize the man on the photo at a glance: that protruding belly and flashy dressing—could it be anyone but Zhang Cuijian? The young lecturer with him was standing on stage, and it wasn’t a stranger’s face—it was Zhang Cuijian’s ‘Little Rui’ in his mouth, ‘Liu Zhaoting’ beside Ling Feng.

Although the young female lecturer wasn’t a top beauty, she stood on the podium with full confidence.

“Many of you here know me, but I see there are still many unfamiliar faces. Then I’ll introduce myself here. I’m your friend Liu Zhaoting.”

There was warm applause from the audience.

Liu Zhaoting pressed down her hands to quiet everyone: “I think many of the female friends who come to listen to my class have this feeling—that the world is too unfriendly to women! We just express a little pursuit for money, and we’re labeled as ‘gold diggers’, and men who can’t find wives blame it all on us women. Tell me, is this fair to women?”

The women listening below answered in unison: “No!”

Liu Zhaoting nodded and continued: “Now women don’t dare to express their true emotions. Are we pursuing high-quality life wrong? Must we eat bran and swallow grass with men to be correct? Those men have no ability to provide women with excellent living conditions and still push the blame onto women. You say, is this right?”

“No!” The women below answered together.

Liu Zhaoting sighed and said: “I think all of you here are like most women, wanting to marry into a wealthy family. But in this society, we can’t express our true heart. Even if we want to marry a rich man in our hearts, we must say on our mouths that we want to pursue love. There are two reasons for this: first, it sounds good to say; second, there are too few rich men, and they are also the sweethearts of other women. We face too many competitors. Although everyone dreams of marrying a gold turtle, they can’t find a way, no matter how they meet a rich person, they can’t bring him into their pocket. Our training course’s purpose is to hope that all the trainees can change this situation. Of course, we can’t guarantee that everyone will definitely have the opportunity to marry into a wealthy family, but we will provide ways and opportunities for all the female trainees.”

A girl below raised her hand and asked: “Teacher Liu, I have such a situation. My boss in my heart is a very good choice. Divorced, no children, net worth of ten million. I’ve been around him every day but don’t know how to make him move. My appearance isn’t outstanding. Is there a way to stand out from the numerous competitors?”

The girl asking the question really looked average, the kind you throw into the crowd and can’t see. People seeing her appearance in the audience would sometimes laugh softly.

Liu Zhaoting said, “The question this trainee asked is very good. There are many beauties in the audience who are prettier than me and dressed decently. Why did you come to listen to my class? Remember, appearance is never the most important factor in marrying into a wealthy family.”