Film and Television World Life Record

The two games generated a revenue share of RMB 1.95 million in the domestic market and USD 1.48 million in the international market.

With these two games, Li Mu has achieved financial freedom to a certain extent.

With more money in hand, there was no point in just keeping it, so I decided to buy a house.

It was only 2011, and housing prices in Beijing weren't as high as they would be later, and the purchasing power of the RMB was quite good.

After wandering around for two days, Li Mu decided to give up on ordinary commercial housing and focus on inspecting large apartments and villas.

After looking at properties with the real estate agent for a few more days, he gave up on large apartments. As a martial arts practitioner, Li Mu's ideal residence should have a small courtyard for practicing martial arts.

Courtyard houses are out of the question; they're expensive, troublesome, and require renovation. A villa with a garden, however, would be a better option.

Li Mu ultimately chose the Dongshan Villa District, located outside the North Fourth Ring Road of Beijing, which had just opened for sale. The area was quiet and had good amenities.

After spending a long time looking around with the saleswoman, Li Mu took a liking to a villa of over 500 square meters, with a large garden of nearly 200 square meters. With some renovations, it would be enough as a training ground.

The price wasn't cheap either; even in 2011, it was over 80,000 yuan per square meter, and the entire villa cost over 40 million yuan.

Li Mu made a down payment of ten million, and took out a loan for the rest. It seems like a lot, but given the earning power of the two games, it would only take a few months.

In addition, this villa has already been luxuriously decorated, and the style is quite nice. It's just waiting for the soft furnishings to be installed before we can move in.

This is another reason why Li Mu chose this villa. Villa renovation takes too much time. If he had chosen a bare-bones house, by the time the renovation was finished, it would have been too late. Why bother?

After receiving the keys, Li Mu contacted a well-known interior design company to handle all the interior design work for the villa. He was expected to be able to move in in about a month.

……

At the Cuiweiju Teahouse, in the same spot, Li Mu and Lao Liu sat facing each other.

Li Mu picked up the purple clay teapot and poured a cup for each of them. He smiled and said, "Old Liu, you actually took the initiative to ask me out today. It seems like things are looking promising."

Old Liu picked up his cup and took a small sip: "We do have some leads. Deng Hui's case is relatively simple. We've already investigated most of it. Besides his current criminal record, there are indeed other things going on with him."

"However, none of them are serious; if you add them all up, they could get you two or three years in prison."

“Some of these victims were threatened and too afraid to call the police; others were ignorant of the law and had no idea how to protect their legitimate rights, so they just endured it.”

"If we put some effort into the case from behind, give it a push, and hire a good lawyer for the victim, the other party doesn't seem to have the money to pay compensation, so the sentence will be heavier, probably five or six years."

Li Mu nodded and smiled, "Not bad! Very efficient, the matter was settled in less than a month."

Old Liu retorted, "If I can't even handle this little thing in a month, then I shouldn't be doing this job. Back when I was young, I could have investigated this person thoroughly in three days at most."

"Now that I'm older, I don't have as much passion as I used to. Besides, without that body, I'm restricted in many ways, and I don't dare to use some methods openly, which makes me much less efficient."

Li Mu said, "Don't be modest, I'm already satisfied with this result."

Old Liu smiled and continued, "We've also investigated the victims in those cases involving Deng Hui. I'll give you their detailed information, as well as the detailed data of those cases, in a bit."

"If you want to get Deng Hui in jail, you can do it now and make sure he can't escape."

"Of course, you can do this yourself or entrust us to do it. The price will be according to industry practice. We guarantee that Deng Hui will know nothing and we will get him in without anyone noticing."

After considering it for a moment, Li Mu smiled and said, "I'll leave this to you. It's too much trouble to go to the police station and contact the victim."

"I don't have the energy, and I'm not as professional as you."

"However, things will have to wait a while longer before we decide when to take action and to what extent."

Old Liu laughed and said, "No problem, we are also in the service industry, customer-centric, and we guarantee that you will be satisfied with the result."

Li Mu picked up his teacup and took a sip: "Great, I love your professionalism!"

……

After exchanging a few casual jokes, Li Mu asked, "How's the investigation going with Li Wei?"

Upon hearing Li Mu mention Li Wei, Old Liu's smile immediately vanished.

"Some results are in, but they may not meet your expectations. Compared to Deng Hui, Li Wei is much more troublesome."

Li Mu was not disappointed and asked curiously, "What happened? Tell me!"

Old Liu said, "The information you provided is correct. Three years ago, Li Wei did indeed forge a back-to-school identity named Zhuang Yan, claiming to be a graduate of a prestigious overseas university. He then joined an IT company in the city and was promoted to vice president of the company six months ago."

Li Mu said, "He's quite capable! He managed to become a high-ranking executive in the company by using a forged identity and academic credentials."

Old Liu also remarked, "This guy is really something. His skills aren't great, since he's an imposter after all, but he's very adept at playing office politics, and he's incredibly good at maneuvering. He's also very skilled at using all sorts of underhanded tricks."

“There are many people in the company who are more technically skilled and capable than him. Especially his competitors, in terms of technical and management abilities, he is completely at a disadvantage.”

"However, whenever it comes to the crucial period for promotion, his competitors always make mistakes, though not big ones, and their promotion opportunities are lost."

"Li Wei actually got promoted through these means; he's quite lucky."

Li Mu nodded, then asked, "What else? Besides the forged identity, what else did you find out?"

Old Liu continued, "You guessed right, this Li Wei is indeed a womanizer. After breaking up with the girl you mentioned, he not only got together with her best friend, but also started flirting with other women."

"Over the years, he has maintained a private relationship with only three or four people without being exposed. He's a master of time management!"

Li Mu said, "Your investigation was quite good! How come you say it didn't meet expectations?"

Old Liu sighed and said, "Based on the evidence we have now, we can kick Li Wei out of that IT company and condemn him morally, but it will be difficult to get him imprisoned."

Li Mu frowned: "Can't it? Li Wei secretly transferred hundreds of thousands of yuan from my friend's card, maxed out four of her credit cards, and then disappeared. Shouldn't that be considered fraud?"

Old Liu shook his head: "Theoretically, that's true, but there are too many points to argue about in this matter, making it difficult to convict."

Li Mu asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Old Liu held up two fingers.

"First, this happened two or three years ago. Your friend didn't preserve any evidence or report it to the police at the time, which is a disadvantage. Although we can collect evidence again now, it's a bit late, and some evidence is hard to find."

"Of course, as long as you put in the effort, you can still find some evidence."

"However, the second point is a bit troublesome. According to the circumstances, Li Wei and the victim were boyfriend and girlfriend at the time. Even if evidence is found, he can still deny it by saying that it was borrowed or given to him, which can be explained away."

"The fact that the two were in a relationship at the time could help reduce suspicion against him. If he said that, it would be difficult to prove that he committed fraud."

……

Chapter 75 Plan

Li Mu tapped the table unconsciously with his fingers, pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Hasn't he been involved with quite a few women? He swindled hundreds of thousands of yuan from my friend without taking any responsibility or facing any punishment. Do you think he can resist swindling money from other women? A leopard can't change its spots. People like him, who take too many shortcuts, will never take the right path."

“Starting from this point, as long as the police confirm that he used dating to swindle money from multiple women, then the hundreds of thousands of yuan can naturally be considered as proceeds of fraud, and he won’t be able to fool them.”

Old Liu gave a wry smile: "That's true. According to our investigation, he used to date several women, cheating them out of food, drinks and money."

"However, these women are not as honest and trusting as your friends. They were all swindled out of their money by Li Wei."

“They are very sensitive about how Li Wei spends money on them. He can only swindle a few small amounts of money from them; he can't swindle more than that.”

"Later, Li Wei got promoted and earned more money, so he lost interest in swindling these small amounts of money. On the contrary, he sometimes couldn't stand being pestered by these girls, so he bought them bags and clothes and spent a lot of money on them."

"Now, it's hard to say whether he spent more money on these women or cheated them more."

"In this situation, it's difficult to determine if it's a scam!"

Li Mu frowned, not expecting things to be so complicated.

"Besides these, aren't there any other victims?"

Old Liu said, "It's not clear yet; we're currently investigating."

"As long as we can find another case similar to your friend being scammed, the two cases can corroborate each other, and he won't be able to deny it. The fact that he was scammed can basically be established."

"Next, I plan to start from this aspect."

Li Mu nodded, then suddenly thought of Lan Weiwei. A thought popped into his head, but he suppressed it.

"Well, yes."

As he spoke, Li Mu took a sip of tea. He wasn't going to let it go so easily; he had another trump card up his sleeve.

According to the plot, Yang Tao's mother, Xue Sumei, accidentally recognized Li Wei and wrote a letter of complaint to the company's general manager and board of directors, exposing Li Wei's fake academic credentials and fake identity.

Then, the general manager spoke with Li Wei and asked him to resign on his own.

Li Wei was unwilling to give up and threatened the general manager that if he dared to fire him, he would switch to the rival company and reveal the company's business plans and secrets.

The general manager was also furious. He produced evidence that Li Wei had embezzled more than one million yuan from the company this quarter, and said that if it weren't for the company's reputation and the board's accountability, he would have handed the evidence over to the police.

If Li Wei honestly resigns, the matter will be over. Otherwise, the consequences will be severe.

Upon seeing the evidence of embezzlement, Li Wei immediately became obedient and dared not utter any more arrogant words, and dutifully resigned.

He embezzled over a million yuan, and the matter ended so simply.

Why did the general manager let Li Wei off so easily?

Li Mu guessed that the general manager probably played a significant role in Li Wei's rapid rise from middle management to vice president. In addition, Li Wei was good at flattering and his acting skills were superb. He might even have been groomed as a confidant and promoted vigorously.

After Li Wei was exposed for falsifying his identity and academic qualifications, the general manager faced immense pressure and responsibility. If Li Wei were to be implicated in embezzlement at this point, he would inevitably be held accountable by the board of directors, and might even lose his current position.

That's why they suppressed the matter and let it go by simply having Li Wei resign.

These thoughts were on his mind, but he said them aloud.

"Old Liu, I have a suggestion for you. You can check whether Li Wei embezzled or accepted bribes during his time at this IT company. That could be a breakthrough."

Old Liu paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "You're right. It's hard to say that someone like Li Wei, who doesn't understand management or technology, became a middle manager in the company by forging his identity and academic qualifications, and rose through the ranks using all sorts of underhanded tricks and schemes, would abide by the rules in his current position."