Double evil in the business district

The taxi was bumping along the bumpy dirt road. Xiao Yue held on to the door handle tightly, looking at the desolate scene outside the window.

Abandoned factories, rusted machinery, and weed-covered vacant lots—everything exuded a sense of desolation and strangeness. The navigation indicated we had arrived at our destination, but all we saw was a dilapidated factory building. Where was "Galaxy Trade"?

Xiao Yue paid the fare, and the driver sped away, as if staying even a second longer would contaminate the place's bad luck. Xiao Yue took a deep breath and walked towards the factory with his head held high.

The factory door was ajar, making a harsh creaking sound, as if warning intruders.

She pushed open the door, and a musty smell hit her. The interior of the factory was dark and damp, with some miscellaneous items piled up, and vague traces of what had once been a production workshop could be seen.

Several men in work clothes were playing cards around a table. When they saw Xiao Yue come in, they stopped what they were doing and stared at her with unfriendly eyes.

"Hello, I'm an investigator from Xiao Enterprise. I'd like to know about the situation of Galaxy Trade." Xiao Yue tried to maintain a calm tone, but she could feel her heartbeat quickening.

One of the men, a burly man with a face full of flesh, looked Xiao Yue up and down and sneered, "Galaxy Trade? I've never heard of it. There's only a scrap recycling station here. You've come to the wrong place."

"Impossible," Xiao Yue took out his phone and pointed at the address on the screen. "The registration information shows that Galaxy Trading is located here."

Another man, a thin, bespectacled man, took over the conversation. "Registration information? You believe that? It might just be some random address put up by a shell company. Get out of here and don't get in the way."

Xiao Yue was not intimidated. She continued, "I need to check your company information. Please cooperate with my investigation."

"Cooperate? Who do you think you are?" The burly man stood up suddenly, walked in front of Xiao Yue, and stared at her condescendingly, "Little girl, don't meddle in other people's business, otherwise..." He waved his fist, and the threat was self-evident.

Xiao Yue looked him in the eye without fear. "I am the representative of Xiao Enterprises. I have the right to investigate any company related to Xiao. If you obstruct my investigation, I will call the police."

The tall, thin man pushed up his glasses, his eyes twinkling. "Call the police? Okay, go ahead and call them. Let's see if they believe you or us."

Xiao Yue realized these people wouldn't cooperate with her investigation. She decided to change her strategy and look for clues. She walked past a few people and began to explore the factory. In the corner lay some cardboard boxes with the words "Galaxy Trading" printed on them. Xiao Yue was delighted and quickly opened the boxes, only to discover they were filled with discarded office supplies.

Just then, she noticed a tightly closed iron door deep inside the factory. A rusty lock hung on the door, and it looked like no one had touched it in a long time. Xiao Yue's heart skipped a beat, and her intuition told her that there must be some secret behind this door.

She tried the doorknob, but it didn't budge. She knocked again, but there was no response.

"What are you doing?" The burly man grabbed Xiao Yue's arm and pulled her back. "That's a restricted area, don't come near!"

Xiao Yue struggled to break free from his grip, but he held her tightly. At this moment, the tall and thin man walked to the iron gate and took out a key from his pocket...

"Wait!" A low voice came from the factory door.

Everyone's eyes turned to the door. Shen Ting stood against the light, his figure erect and radiating a powerful aura. The burly man unconsciously let go of Xiao Yue's arm.

"Mr. Shen?" The tall and thin man seemed a little flustered, and the keys in his hand fell to the ground.

Shen Ting walked straight to Xiao Yue and asked with concern, "Are you okay?"

Xiao Yue shook her head. Before she could speak, Shen Ting turned to the men and asked in a cold tone, "What's going on?"

The burly man hesitantly explained, "We...we are just trying to persuade this young lady to leave. It's dangerous here..."

Shen Ting ignored his explanation and scanned the interior of the factory, finally landing on the tightly closed iron door: "What's behind this door?"

The tall and thin man quickly picked up the keys and said with a smile, "Nothing, just some miscellaneous items..."

"Open it." Shen Ting's tone left no room for doubt.

The tall and thin man didn't dare to disobey and opened the iron door with trembling hands. Behind the iron door was a small office with a desk, a computer, and several filing cabinets.

Xiao Yue and Shen Ting walked into the office. Xiao Yue was immediately drawn to the documents on the desk. The titles on those documents were very similar to the projects Xiao's company was working on, and even some of the data was almost identical.

Could it be that this so-called "waste recycling station" was actually a secret base of a competitor who had stolen Xiao's trade secrets?

Xiao Yue picked up a file, only to find it had been encrypted and unable to read the contents. She tried several common decryption software, but to no avail.

At the same time, Shen Ting was also observing the environment in the office. He noticed a complex chart displayed on the computer screen, and the data on the chart was surprisingly similar to the data of the Xiao project.

Shen Ting took out his cell phone and dialed a number: "Help me check the background of Galaxy Trade. The more detailed the better."

After hanging up the phone, Shen Ting said to Xiao Yue: "It's not safe here, let's leave first."

The two walked out of the factory and got into Shen Ting's car. They were both silent the entire way. Xiao Yue was filled with doubt and uneasiness. She desperately wanted to uncover the secrets of Galaxy Trade, but she felt she had no idea where to begin.

Shen Ting fell into deep thought. The person he had sent to secretly protect Xiao Yue had reported that Xiao Yue had gone to a mysterious small company, but he hadn't taken it seriously at the time. But now, after seeing what Xiao Yue had discovered at Galaxy Trading, he began to suspect that this small company had some connection to the suspicious issues in the project.

"Galaxy Trade...Scrap Recycling Station...Encrypted Files..." Shen Ting muttered to himself, a thought flashed through his mind, and his face suddenly changed.

"Stop!" he suddenly said to the driver.

The car stopped at the side of the road. Shen Ting took out his phone and dialed another number. "Go check Accountant Chen's recent financial transactions immediately, especially those involving a company called 'Xinghe'."

Accountant Chen was a veteran employee of Xiao's, responsible for the project's financial management. Shen Ting had always trusted him, but now a trace of doubt arose in his heart.

After hanging up the phone, Shen Ting looked at Xiao Yue with a deep look in his eyes: "It seems that things are more complicated than we thought."

Xiao Yue also realized the seriousness of the problem. She asked, "Do you suspect Accountant Chen?"

Shen Ting did not answer directly, but said: "Let's go back to the company first and wait for the results of the investigation."

After returning to Xiao Corporation, Shen Ting immediately called a meeting with the project team. During the meeting, he did not disclose the details of Galaxy Trade, but instead emphasized the importance of project confidentiality and urged everyone to be more vigilant to prevent the leakage of commercial secrets.

After the meeting, Shen Ting called Xiao Yue to his office.

"I sent someone to check the background of Xinghe Trading," Shen Ting said. "This company was registered a month ago with a registered capital of only 10 yuan. The legal representative is a man named Wu Yong."

"Wu Yong?" Xiao Yue tried hard to recall the men she met in the factory, but none of them was called Wu Yong.

Shen Ting continued, "My people have found out that Wu Yong's ID card is fake, and the registered address of Xinghe Trading, which is the factory you visited today, actually belongs to a company called 'Hongyuan Group'."

"Hongyuan Group?" Xiao Yue was startled. Hongyuan Group was Xiao's main competitor, and they had always coveted Xiao's market share. Could they be behind this?

"The chairman of Hongyuan Group is..." Shen Ting paused, "Director Ma."

Director Ma? A member of Xiao's board of directors? Xiao Yue felt a chill run down her spine.

"Knock, knock, knock..." A knock on the door interrupted their conversation.

"Come in." Shen Ting said.

The secretary pushed the door open and walked in, holding a document in his hand: "Mr. Shen, the investigation results you requested are out."

Shen Ting took the document, glanced through it quickly, and his expression became even gloomier.

"Sure enough..." He looked at Xiao Yue, "Accountant Chen's account recently received a huge sum of money from Hongyuan Group."

"Looks like we need to go talk to Director Ma." Shen Ting picked up his coat and walked towards the door. "Let's go."

Shen Ting and Xiao Yue drove straight to Hongyuan Group. In the chairman's office of Hongyuan Group, Director Ma sat upright with a hypocritical smile on his face.

"Mr. Shen, Ms. Xiao, what brings you here?" Director Ma asked knowingly.

Shen Ting got straight to the point: "Director Ma, what's going on with Galaxy Trade?"

Director Ma pretended to be surprised: "Galaxy Trade? I'm not sure. Mr. Shen, are you mistaken?"

"Director Ma, we have sufficient evidence to prove your relationship with Galaxy Trading and Accountant Chen." Xiao Yue took out the documents she had obtained from Shen Ting and placed them in front of Director Ma. "How do you explain this huge sum of money from Hongyuan Group?"

Director Ma's expression changed slightly, but he quickly regained his composure: "This is just a normal business cooperation, Miss Xiao, please don't misunderstand."

"Normal business cooperation? Using a shell company to steal Xiao's trade secrets?" Shen Ting said in a cold tone, "Director Ma, you'd better tell the truth, otherwise, you will bear the consequences."

Director Ma was silent for a moment, then sighed: "Okay, I admit that it was indeed me who arranged the Galaxy Trade. However, I did not steal Xiao's business secrets, I just wanted to..."

"What do you want to do?" Xiao Yue asked.

Director Ma did not answer, but changed the subject: "Mr. Shen, Ms. Xiao, we are all businessmen. Some things can be solved through discussion, right?"

Shen Ting snorted coldly: "What else do you think is worth discussing?"

Director Ma's eyes flashed with a sinister look, but he didn't show it. Instead, he continued, "Mr. Shen, you know that business is like a battlefield, where victory and defeat are commonplace. I lost this time, and I'm willing to compensate."

Shen Ting ignored his suggestion and said, "Xiao Yue, let's go."

After leaving Hongyuan Group, Xiao Yue felt even more uneasy. Director Ma's reaction made her feel that the situation was far more complicated than she had imagined.

"Shen Ting, what should we do now?" Xiao Yue asked.

"Let's go back to the company first." Shen Ting said, "I need to sort out all the clues again."

After returning to the Xiao family, Xiao Yue decided to go to Xinghe Trade again, hoping to find more clues. However, when she arrived at the factory, she found the door closed and no one in the factory.

Xiao Yue did not give up. She walked around the factory, trying to find another entrance. Finally, she found a small door at the back of the factory. The door was not locked.

Xiao Yue pushed open the door and walked in. The interior of the factory was dim, and the air was filled with a musty smell. She moved forward cautiously, and suddenly, she heard a faint sound of footsteps.

Xiao Yue immediately hid behind a pile of waste materials. Through the gap, she saw several men in black clothes approaching.

"The boss said we can't let her find anything," said one of the men.

"Don't worry, we have transferred all the information." Another man replied.

Xiao Yue was startled. She realized she was being followed. She had to get out of here as soon as possible.

Xiao Yue quietly left the factory from another direction. She did not return to Xiao's company, but went directly to Shen Ting's villa.

"Shen Ting, I found that I was being followed." Xiao Yue said anxiously.

Shen Ting's face was solemn: "It seems that we underestimated our opponent."

"What should I do?" Xiao Yue felt helpless.

Shen Ting held her hand and said, "Don't worry, I will protect you."

"But..." Xiao Yue wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Shen Ting.

"The most important thing now is to find evidence," Shen Ting said. "Time is running out. We must speed up."

He walked to the desk, picked up the phone and dialed a number: "Help me check Accountant Chen's recent call records, especially the calls with a man named Wu Yong..." His voice was low and firm, and his eyes revealed a determination to win.

Shen Ting hung up the phone, his deep gaze falling on Xiao Yue's face, a hint of subtle worry in his eyes. "Are you sure you want to continue investigating? This might be more dangerous than you think."

Xiao Yue took a deep breath, his eyes determined. "I know, but I can't give up. The Xiao family is my responsibility, and I must get to the bottom of the truth." Time was running out. With only two days left, the fate of the Xiao family hung in the balance.

Shen Ting nodded. He understood Xiao Yue's determination and admired her courage. "Okay, I'll go with you." He knew he couldn't stop her, so he could only do his best to protect her.

Shen Ting's investigation quickly yielded results. Accountant Chen had recently been in frequent contact with a man named Wu Yong, who was a security guard at the Galaxy Trading factory. This further confirmed their suspicions that Galaxy Trading must be hiding a greater secret.

"It seems that we have to start with Wu Baoan." Xiao Yue said.

"I've arranged for someone to keep an eye on him," Shen Ting pointed to an inconspicuous neighborhood on the computer screen. "He lives there. We need to find where he's hiding the evidence."

The next morning, Xiao Yue and Shen Ting disguised themselves and arrived at Wu Yong's residential complex. The complex was old, the hallways dim, and a damp smell filled the air. They quietly approached Wu Yong's door. Shen Ting pulled a miniature eavesdropping device from his tool kit and expertly installed it in the crack of the door.

"I hope he can give us some useful information." Xiao Yue said in a low voice.

They found a cafe nearby and waited for the opportunity to hear the sound from the bug. A few hours passed and there was no sound from the bug except the sound of the TV program.

"It seems that he is not going out today." Xiao Yue was a little anxious. As time passed, she became more and more uneasy.

"Don't worry, be patient." Shen Ting comforted, "We still have time."

In the evening, the bug finally picked up the sound of a door opening. Wu Yong had returned. Then, they heard a strange male voice, deep and hoarse: "Have you cleared everything?"

"Don't worry, Director Ma, there will definitely be no trace left." Wu Yong's voice was a little flattering.

"That's good." The man snorted coldly, "Remember, this matter must not be leaked, otherwise..."

The man didn't finish his words, but the threat was clear. Xiao Yue and Shen Ting exchanged a glance, each seeing shock in the other's eyes. Director Ma was indeed the mastermind behind this!

"It seems that we have to find a way to go in and search." Xiao Yue said.

Shen Ting nodded. He stood up and walked to the corner of the cafe, then made a phone call: "Help me prepare a set of lock picking tools..."

As night fell, the neighborhood was completely silent. Xiao Yue and Shen Ting, under cover of darkness, once again arrived at Wu Yong's door. Shen Ting expertly unlocked the door with a locksmith, and the two of them tiptoed inside.

The room was simply furnished, and the air was filled with the smell of instant noodles. Xiao Yue carefully searched every corner, hoping to find some clues. Suddenly, her eyes fell on a black suitcase under the bed... She slowly bent down and reached for the suitcase.

"Who?!" A vigilant voice came from behind.