Overly Intense [Criminal Investigation] 110

Chapter 110: Forced

Shang Yi was always surrounded by people. He was used to this condescending posture, from his father-in-law to his wife and children, and then to his assistants and partners. He could always find a way to balance the other.

Some were greedy for money, some were greedy for sex. Shang Yi was greedy for power.

After graduating from a prestigious university, Li Peipei had joined Shang Yi’s company. She had been promoted by Shang Yi for her outstanding translation skills in a project with a foreign company. She had attended countless dinner parties with Shang Yi, and had seen the exchange of power at the dinner table. Gradually, she had also become ambitious.

She wanted to climb to a high position on her own, to be able to say foolish things at the dinner table, to make lewd jokes without caring about others’ emotions, and no one would dare to expose her no matter how absurd it was, just to be high and mighty.

So Li Peipei had worked very hard. She would always show her sharpness at every occasion, listen to the needs of every leader, and value their feelings. Even though she had seen the other’s foolishness, she would still lower her posture and give suggestions euphemistically, to protect the self-esteem of those logical dwarves.

The more at ease she was with Shang Yi, the more Shang Yi loved her.

He would take her to every dinner party, and after the dinner party, he would teach her how to observe the expressions of the big shots, to infer the macroeconomic situation from the information revealed. Until Shang Yi had said he loved her, that he wanted a future with her, had painted a big picture for her, and had taken the risk of letting her hold his shares as an agent.

After she was released from prison, Li Peipei had not questioned Shang Yi whether he had used love as a trap, whether he had used her liking to avoid his own risks.

She knew that questioning was useless.

The power between the classes would form a clique. A grass stalk with no background would never be looked up to. Asking would only make her a topic of conversation for Shang Yi, a joke.

She had wanted to hide far away, as far away from this muddy water as possible. But Shang Yi had tried every means to make her unable to leave Ariose, and had even constantly brainwashed her: “No one but me can see your ability, can give you a chance. Only I will open the door.”

In the eyes of outsiders, Shang Yi was always a gentleman. But this attitude was different for different people. Only those who were involved in interests could feel his gentleness and thoughtfulness, such as herself and Liang Wei.

Shang Yi often went abroad, either to take care of his business abroad or to see his wife and children.

He was also very bold and would take Li Peipei with him when he went to see his wife.

Li Peipei had realized that Shang Yi was pretending to be affectionate, acting as if he could not live without her, as if he had to discuss everything with her, and that he was releasing a signal that he did not care about his wife’s feelings:

—Liang Wei is nothing. What I have in the future will all be yours.

The first time she had met Liang Wei, Li Peipei had felt deeply humiliated. The two were worlds apart, and neither had a shadow of the other.

Liang Wei’s figure was very healthy, her speech was elegant, and her temperament was not just cultivated by material things. Li Peipei had stood beside Shang Yi, holding her briefcase, and had looked at her. In the few seconds of their gaze, they had found their own positions. She had felt that Liang Wei was looking at her as if she were a clown, with no warning, no discrimination in her eyes.

Only pity.

This had made her afraid.

Liang Wei’s child was very cute. He was only a little over three at that time, and was jumping on the lawn with a pet dog, but he was scolded and stopped by Shang Yi. Liang Wei had blocked the child behind her and had indicated that as a father, he could speak in a lower voice.

Liang Wei was like a firewall, guarding her closely, isolating even the slightest possibility of Shang Yi harming the child.

Li Peipei had envied Liang Wei’s background, her freedom and courage, and the fact that there was no love in her eyes, that she could be on an equal footing.

A dull pain had spread from her chest. She had known that she should not stay by Shang Yi’s side.

Li Peipei had mentioned resigning to Shang Yi several times. She had wanted to leave Ariose to study abroad, or to try a new field. In any case, it was a hundred times better than staying by his side as an exploited dog.

But Shang Yi had not agreed.

At first, Shang Yi would still coax her, give her some money perfunctorily, trying to tighten the rope around her neck. Later, when Li Peipei had mentioned it more often, Shang Yi had become vigilant and had started to watch Li Peipei more strictly.

In the four years she had been with Shang Yi, Li Peipei was not only his strategist, his pawn, but also his most proud work. He could not let her go.

So Shang Yi had set a trap for Li Peipei’s father.

Losing nearly ten million in one night was a small matter for a casino, but for an ordinary family, it was a family ruin. Shang Yi had taken the initiative to help Li Peipei pay off part of the debt, and he had also suggested that the two of them have a child.

He had said that as long as the child was born, he could pay off any amount of debt, and the child would also have a share of his assets in the future. He knew that women were naturally devoted to their children. With a child, she would have a weakness. He did not want to be entangled with Li Peipei anymore. He just wanted to trap her quickly.

“After I got pregnant, I went to find Liang Wei.” This was the only solution Li Peipei could think of. “I directly said that I didn’t want to have the baby and hoped to leave Shang Yi smoothly after the abortion. But Liang Wei said that she couldn’t control him either, and that their marriage was in name only.”

“An illegitimate child can inherit property, so I had originally wanted to make a deal with Liang Wei.”
“I wouldn’t get pregnant, and she would give me a sum of money to go far away.”
“But I hadn’t expected that Liang Wei didn’t care about the child in my belly at all. She knew Shang Yi’s character better than I did. Even if I had really given birth, this child would not have inherited any assets. We both knew very well that the child was just a means for him to control women.”

Just as Li Peipei was disheartened and had decided to flee abroad to live alone, Liang Wei had given her hope again.

“Liang Wei wanted to join forces with me. As long as I could help her get a divorce and divide the assets, she could help me launder some of the funds for my future life.”

Piao Zheng leaned back in his chair, listening with some fascination.

Liang Wei had also been among their suspects, but a week before the incident, Liang Wei had been working in Hainan and had an alibi, so they could not directly bring her back for questioning. This was a good breakthrough, at least to sort out the clues.

Piao Zheng took a sip of his hot tea. “Continue.”

Of course, Li Peipei would not say that investing in Her Kill was their first step in intercepting Shang Yi’s cash flow.

As a partner, Li Peipei had been whispering in Shang Yi’s ear: “Buying the film and television rights of Her Kill can control the public opinion of Logos within two years. And as a media company with a vertical track, Logos will also benefit. With just one movie, Logos can suppress Kangsheng for a long time.”

She also would not say that Liang Wei had already registered a marketing company in Singapore, and that she could use the marketing of Her Kill to negotiate with Logos in the later stage, thereby transferring Shang Yi’s money through a reasonable channel through Logos.

“Liang Wei has always had something on Shang Yi, but I’m not sure what the specific content is. But I know that those things can send him to prison. But Liang Wei knows that with her hands, she can’t get it done once and for all before the divorce. So Liang Wei personally chose the informant, that is, the cinematographer Lu Xi. But I’m not very clear about the specific grudge between them.”

“Ever since Shang Yi knew that I wanted to leave, he had been very on guard against me. First, he had cut off my work of contacting high-ranking officials, and then he had started to hide my existence. In name, he had let me prepare for pregnancy at home, but in fact, it was to prevent me from coming into contact with his gray business.”

Gambling, drugs, and sex.

“As long as it’s something that can control a person’s desires, he would be involved. He’s like a strange middleman. He won’t let go of even the smallest person. He expands his social circle through constant exchange. So he’s only been in the country for a few years, but he’s been able to make Ariose so big. Just like the landing of the Her Kill project, the content approval had only been delayed for half a month. Shang Yi had had a few dinners, and the matter was resolved.”

Li Peipei smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “He can even get the municipal government to participate and invite forensic pathologists and prosecutors to participate in the table read.”

Piao Zheng coughed. “Focus on Liang Wei. Don’t talk about other things…”

Li Peipei nodded. “Liang Wei knew that I was helping Shang Yi recruit internet celebrities. On the surface, he had shares in several self-media companies and could put them into the company or the entertainment industry through a signing model. But in fact, these girls all had a list and would be used by him as a bargaining chip for exchange. My job was to rope in these internet celebrities and let them quickly enjoy a life of crossing classes.”

Piao Zheng stared at Li Peipei’s face. “Then how did you send people for Shang Yi’s transactions?”

“I said, I don’t do transactions.”

Li Peipei said solemnly, “I’m only responsible for arranging vacations, luxury car pick-ups, and occasionally sending a few famous watches, and holding ordinary parties, and telling them that the host of this party is called Shang Yi.”

Li Peipei would always detach herself at the parties, looking at them as if she were looking at her former self.

Piao Zheng flipped through the several interrogation records in front of him and then said, “Did you send the photos to Wang Lu?”

“No.” Li Peipei shook her head. “It was Liang Wei.”

After they had decided to join forces, Liang Wei had carefully selected the list of informants. After much deliberation, she had felt that Wang Lu was the most suitable. But Liang Wei had never told Li Peipei about the photos. She had only found out a week before the incident.

Piao Zheng looked at the interrogation record again and asked Li Peipei,

“Tell me specifically about Wang Lu.”

Li Peipei thought for a while. “It was Liang Wei’s idea to have Wang Lu come to the production. At that time, I thought this girl was her friend and was helping her get into the production. So I mentioned it to the producer a few times. In the eyes of outsiders, I was Shang Yi’s capable general, so the producer had seriously looked at her resume. It just so happened to meet the requirements of the production, so they had gone to invite her. But I heard that they had talked several times and had not come to an agreement.”

Now, as Li Peipei was reviewing it herself, she gradually realized that in Liang Wei’s initial plan, she had not intended to directly send the photos to Wang Lu. It was only because the production had sent several emails and the other had ignored them that she had taken the risk of sending the photos to Wang Lu.

Fortunately, Wang Lu had chosen to come in the end.

“Liang Wei asked me to get close to Wang Lu, saying that Wang Lu had a strange personality. As long as Wang Lu could find out about Shang Yi’s matter, she would definitely take action on their behalf.”

Liang Wei was indeed right. In the days that Li Peipei had been in contact with Wang Lu, she had indeed been moved by Wang Lu’s true nature. The other’s eyes would light up when she talked about her beloved career, and she was full of passion for her work. She had said that after she finished filming Her Kill, she would hurry back to Africa to film the wildebeest migration. Wang Lu was indeed a suitable candidate for an informant. She had a channel for resistance, the courage to fight to the death, and even a strong sense of empathy.

Li Peipei also regretted it.

“After I got to know Wang Lu, I told her about my pregnancy and, taking advantage of her curiosity, I told her a little about the parties.”

Piao Zheng asked, “Did Liang Wei also ask you to do this?”

Li Peipei shook her head. “No, because time was running out. I had to have an abortion.”