Double evil in the business district

The data on the USB drive was quickly copied to the computer. Xiao Yue quickly scanned it, brows furrowed. This document recorded transactions between Shen's and several small companies. The amount was huge, but the details were vague, obviously deliberately processed.

Xiao Yue had a bad feeling in her heart. These small companies might be shell companies used by Shen's to launder money. She had to get more solid evidence.

At that moment, a piercing alarm rang out throughout the office. Xiao Yue was startled, thinking to herself, "Oh no! I forgot this data room has an alarm system." Wu Baoan's face also changed. He hadn't expected Xiao Yue to actually crack the file. This was a big deal.

"You..." Wu Baoan pointed at Xiao Yue, but couldn't say anything.

Xiao Yue ignored him, quickly pulled out the USB drive, and stuffed it into her pocket. She had to get out of here as soon as possible.

The office door was flung open, and several burly men rushed in, surrounding Xiao Yue. Xiao Yue recognized one of them as the bodyguard who had appeared with Accountant Chen before.

"Catch her!" The leading man gave an order, and several people rushed towards Xiao Yue.

Xiao Yue was well prepared. She picked up a folder on the table and smashed it hard at the big man who was rushing in front. Taking advantage of the gap when the other party dodged, she nimbly slipped out of the encirclement.

She ran all the way, the sirens blaring behind her. She knew that Accountant Chen must have been involved in this matter, and his so-called call to the police was simply a cover; these people were clearly arranged by him.

Xiao Yue ran out of the archive room and saw several men in black in the hallway, clearly ambushed. Knowing she couldn't confront them head-on, she could only outsmart them. She quickly surveyed her surroundings and spotted a window at the end of the hallway.

She gritted her teeth, rushed to the window, and flung it open. A cold wind blew in, and downstairs was a busy street. Without hesitation, Xiao Yue leaped from the second floor.

When she landed, she stumbled a few steps and nearly fell. But she ignored the pain and got up and ran. She had to find a safe place as soon as possible to hand the document to the police.

The footsteps behind her were getting closer and closer. Xiao Yue knew she couldn't be caught. She turned into an alley and ran forward desperately.

Suddenly, a hand stretched out from the darkness and grabbed her arm. Xiao Yue screamed, but before she could react, she was thrown to the ground.

She looked up and saw a tall figure standing in front of her. The backlight made it difficult to see his face, but the familiar aura made her instantly understand his identity.

"Shen Ting..." Xiao Yue's voice trembled, with a hint of disbelief and deep despair.

Shen Ting looked down at her with a complicated expression. It was hard to tell what he was thinking. He didn't say anything, but simply bent down and snatched the USB drive from her tightly grasped hand.

Xiao Yue then realized that in her escape and fall, the special decoder she had used to crack the file had disappeared. Without the decoder, the encrypted file on the USB drive was just a bunch of gibberish, completely useless as evidence. All her efforts had been in vain.

Despair surged into Xiao Yue's heart like a tide. She collapsed on the ground powerlessly, watching Shen Ting put the USB drive into his pocket.

"Why..." She murmured to herself, her voice as soft as a mosquito, "Why do you treat me like this..."

Shen Ting still didn't say anything, just looked at her deeply, then turned and left the alley.

Xiao Yue sat alone in the darkness, tears silently streaming down her face. She didn't know what else to do; all her hopes were gone.

Back at Shen Group, Shen Ting inserted the USB drive into his computer. As he'd expected, the file was encrypted. He stared at the meaningless garbled text on the screen, lost in thought. Xiao Yue's persistence, even at the risk of her own life, made him suspect that things might not be as simple as he'd initially thought.

He recalled Director Ma's evasive approach when he had previously reported to him, as well as some of the nonsensical details in the so-called "strategic cooperation." He pulled up the documents regarding the cooperation with those small companies and carefully read through them.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yue dragged her exhausted body back to Xiao Enterprises. She didn't tell anyone what had happened, knowing that even if she did, no one would believe her. Sitting alone in her office, she watched the sky gradually darken outside the window, feeling overwhelmed with powerlessness.

She lost the decoder, the evidence, and hope.

Meanwhile, Shen Ting discovered some clues after carefully studying the cooperation documents with the small companies. The registered addresses, legal representatives, and other information of these small companies all had some subtle connections, which seemed to point to the same person behind the scenes.

He immediately sent people to investigate the background of these small companies and secretly monitor Director Ma's movements.

A few days later, Shen Ting's investigation yielded results. These small companies were indeed shell companies, and the manipulator behind them was none other than Director Ma. He used these shell companies to transfer Shen's funds to his own accounts, laundering money.

Shen Ting looked at the investigation report in his hand with a cold look in his eyes. He never expected that the director he trusted the most would actually betray him.

He called his assistant and said calmly, "Please arrange a meeting for me. I want to talk to Director Ma."

Meanwhile, Xiao's company was once again in trouble. Several key partners suddenly proposed terminating their partnerships, citing "changing market conditions." Xiao Yue knew someone was manipulating the situation, intent on forcing Xiao's company into bankruptcy.

The immense pressure made her breathless, but she still did not give up. She firmly believed that the truth would come out one day.

There was a knock on the office door, and Xiao Yue said tiredly, "Come in."

The door opened and a familiar figure appeared at the door.

"Shen Ting..." Xiao Yue looked at him in surprise, "Why are you here?"

Shen Ting looked at her haggard face, a complex emotion flashing through his mind. He walked up to her and placed a USB drive on her desk.

"This is..." Xiao Yue looked at him puzzledly.

"This is the evidence you need." Shen Ting's voice was low and powerful. "And this..." He took out a delicate and compact device from his pocket and placed it next to the USB drive. "This is your decoder. I found it."

Xiao Yue was stunned. She couldn't believe her ears. She picked up the decoder with trembling hands, tears welling up in her eyes again.

Shen Ting looked at her and spoke slowly, "Director Ma..." "Director Ma is the real mastermind behind this," Shen Ting's voice interrupted Xiao Yue's thoughts, "He used shell companies to transfer Shen's funds and conduct money laundering activities. This USB drive contains evidence of his crime."

Xiao Yue stared at him in amazement, not knowing how to react. All her previous doubts, despair, and grievances turned into a huge shock at this moment. She had never imagined that the truth would be like this.

Shen Ting looked at her, a hint of apology flashing in his eyes: "I misunderstood you before, I'm sorry."

Xiao Yue took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down: "It's not important to say this now. What's important is that we must stop him."

"I have arranged a board meeting to expose his crimes tomorrow." Shen Ting's tone was firm and powerful.

Xiao Yue nodded, a huge weight lifted off her shoulders. But she knew the crisis had not yet been completely resolved. Xiao Enterprises was still facing enormous difficulties.

Just then, Xiao Yue's phone rang. It was the company assistant calling, and the tone was anxious: "Boss Xiao, this is bad! Several partners have proposed to terminate the cooperation again!"

Xiao Yue's heart sank again. She knew that this was Director Ma's last-ditch effort. He must be trying to completely destroy Xiao Enterprises before the truth was revealed.

"I understand." Xiao Yue forced herself to calm down, "I'll take care of it."

After hanging up the phone, Xiao Yue's face turned pale. She looked at Shen Ting, her eyes filled with helplessness and fatigue.

"I must find new evidence to prove that Xiao Enterprises has no connection with these shell companies." Xiao Yue's voice was firm and persistent. "Only in this way can I regain the trust of my partners."

Shen Ting looked at her with admiration in his heart. This woman, even in such a difficult situation, still did not give up hope.

"I'll help you." Shen Ting said without hesitation.

Xiao Yue gave him a grateful look and began to think about countermeasures. Evidence of Director Ma's guilt was already in hand, but proving Xiao Enterprises' innocence was a difficult problem. Those small companies were all controlled by Director Ma, so finding a way in was not easy.

Xiao Yue suddenly had an idea. She remembered that during her previous investigation, she had collected information about employees of small companies. Perhaps she could start with these employees and find some clues.

She immediately turned on her computer and began searching the social media accounts of these employees, hoping to find some information related to Director Ma from their social media updates.

As time ticked by, Xiao Yue's eyes were fixed on the computer screen, her fingers rapidly tapping away at the keyboard. She checked dozens of employees' social media accounts, but found no valuable clues.

These employees' social media accounts all had high permissions set, making it difficult for her to obtain useful information. Moreover, their updates were mostly about trivial matters in their daily lives, with no trace of any connection to Director Ma.

Xiao Yue's heart gradually sank. Is there really no other solution?

She glanced out the window and saw that it was gradually getting dark. There was only one day left. If no new evidence was found before tomorrow, Xiao Enterprises would be finished.

Just then, she noticed something. A photo on the social media account of an employee of a small company caught her eye. In the photo, the employee was standing with a strange man, with a high-end restaurant in the background.

Xiao Yue enlarged the photo and carefully observed the strange man. She felt that he looked familiar, as if she had seen him somewhere before...

Suddenly, an idea flashed through her mind. She stood up abruptly, picked up her phone, and made a call: "Help me check this person..." She pointed to the strange man in the photo and said, "I want to know all his information!"

A steady voice came from the other end of the phone: "No problem, leave it to me."

Xiao Yue hung up the phone, a glimmer of hope ignited in her heart. She had a hunch that this strange man might be the key to solving all the mysteries.

She looked at the computer screen again, her eyes locked on the social account of the small company employee. She found that this employee's account had frequently interacted with another account in recent days.

Xiao Yue clicked on the account and found it was a private account with no public information. But she noticed that the account's profile picture was a blooming black mandala flower...

"Black Mandala..." Xiao Yue muttered to herself, a sense of foreboding welling up in her heart. She felt as if she was approaching a dangerous secret, a secret that could very well change everything...

"Dong dong dong..."

A rapid knock on the door interrupted Xiao Yue's thoughts.

"Come in."

The door opened and Shen Ting walked in, holding a document in his hand, his face solemn: "Xiao Yue, I found something..."

Shen Ting handed the document to Xiao Yue, his face solemn. "I found out that the man in the photo with the employees is called Zhao Qiang. He is Director Ma's personal driver and his confidant. The restaurant in the photo is a place Director Ma often goes."

Xiao Yue took the document and quickly scanned it, her brow furrowed. While the photo confirmed the relationship between the small company employee and Director Ma, it wasn't enough to prove Xiao's innocence. She needed more direct evidence to prove that the transactions between Xiao and these shell companies were fabricated.

"These employees' social media accounts are all restricted, making it difficult to access more information." Xiao Yue rubbed her brow, exhaustion washing over her. Time was running out, and she had no idea what to do. This feeling of powerlessness was suffocating her.

Shen Ting walked up to her and patted her shoulder gently: "Don't worry, we'll find a solution together." His voice was low and powerful, as if carrying some kind of magic, which gradually calmed Xiao Yue's anxious heart.

Xiao Yue took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. She glanced back at her computer screen, scanning the employees' social media accounts, trying to find a clue. Suddenly, she noticed something: although these employees' accounts had permissions set, they all followed the official account of the same gym.

An idea flashed through Xiao Yue's mind. She stood up abruptly and said hurriedly, "I've got an idea! Maybe we can start with this gym."

Shen Ting looked at her suspiciously: "Gym?"

"Yes!" Xiao Yue's eyes sparkled with excitement. "These employees are all paying attention to this gym, which means they are probably members there. We can go there and investigate to see if we can find some clues."

Shen Ting nodded: "Okay, I'll arrange for someone to check it out."

"No, we'll go there in person." Xiao Yue said firmly, "Some things can only be discovered by seeing them with your own eyes."

An hour later, Xiao Yue and Shen Ting arrived at the gym. They registered as new members and began to observe their surroundings. The gym was bustling with people, and the hum of various fitness equipment mixed together, making it a bit noisy.

Xiao Yue carefully observed each member, trying to find the employees of those small companies. Suddenly, she saw a familiar face in a corner - the small company employee who took a photo with Zhao Qiang in the photo.

He was running alone on the treadmill, looking a little dazed, as if he was worried about something. Xiao Yue and Shen Ting exchanged a glance and quietly walked over.

"Hello." Xiao Yue greeted him casually.

The employee raised his head and looked at them warily: "Who are you?"

"We are new members." Xiao Yue said with a smile, "You seem unhappy. Is there something bothering you?"

The employee hesitated for a moment, then finally shook his head: "Nothing."

Xiao Yue did not give up and continued, "Actually, I also work in a small company, and the company has encountered some difficulties recently, so..."

Hearing Xiao Yue's words, the employee's expression seemed touched. He stopped the treadmill and sighed: "Alas, in this world, it's not easy to run a small company..."

Xiao Yue seized the opportunity and continued to guide him: "Yes, the competition is too fierce. By the way, which company do you work for?"

The employee hesitated for a moment, but finally told the company name.

Xiao Yue was delighted and continued to ask calmly, "I heard that your company seems to have encountered some troubles recently, is that right?"

The employee's expression instantly turned ugly. He looked at Xiao Yue warily: "How did you know?"

"I heard it from others," Xiao Yue said casually, "but I believe your company will be able to overcome the difficulties."

The employee laughed bitterly, "I'm afraid it's difficult..." He suddenly stopped, as if realizing he had let something slip, and looked at Xiao Yue warily, "Who are you guys?"

Xiao Yue was about to explain when her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and saw it was an unfamiliar number.

"Sorry, I need to take a call." Xiao Yue walked aside and answered the phone.

"Hello, is this Miss Xiao Yue?" A strange male voice came from the other end of the phone.

"I am, are you?"

"A friend introduced me to you. He said you might need my help." The man paused and continued, "I used to work for a small company, but later left for some reason..."