Chapter 250 - The Next Destination
Chapter 250: The Next Destination
The effect of Guo Fu’s confession in the conference room hit like a runaway freight train and just blew everyone’s mind. They just sat in dead silence, in confusion, trying to process what had just been revealed. Who would have thought that Guo Fu, the head of the Finance Department, was in a sexual relationship with Xu Guansong? And by the looks of it, they had maintained this relationship for quite a while.
“This is shocking!”
Luo Qi exclaimed, unable to contain her shock.
Zhang Dashan grinned and giving the man a thumbs-up, he chirped, “Xu Guansong, you have a wife and children, yet you are still able to have an affair and keep a mistress. Wah, how ‘man’ of you!”
Everyone knew that he was sarcastic. The company’s key employees who had initially backed Xu Guansong now had only contempt for the vice president. If Xu Guansong was willing to have a secret affair in his workplace, and without his wife knowing, how much could the man be trusted?
Xu Guansong ignored Zhang Dashan’s quip, and instead, he pointed at Guo Fu and flew into a rage. He roared, “You wh*re, how much money did you get from Xiao Luo! You are willing to defame me even by ruining your own reputation as a woman? Do you think that I wouldn’t dare to send someone after you?”
He was in deep anguish and humiliation and was almost losing his mind. He couldn’t stay calm any longer.
Guo Fu couldn’t believe the man was still at his devious game, and she retorted icily, “Defame you? Xu Guansong, are you saying that all these photos are fake?”
“Of course they are fake, that man isn’t me at all, you must have photoshop’d them.” Xu Guansong screamed hysterically, refusing to admit what he had done.
“Photoshop? Fine, our colleagues from the IT department are here, let them look at the photos and see if they have been photoshop’d or not.”
Guo Fu tossed her phone to the senior-most computer engineer from IT to check the veracity of the images and whether they had been tampered with using any software. Xu Guansong had reacted rashly as he was in too deep and had nothing to lose. But the woman who had had her heart broken would have none of that.
“I can say with 100% confidence that these photos have not been tampered with.”
“Yep, if an image had been photoshop’d, no matter how well it was doctored, it would leave tell-tale signs, such as chromatic aberration.”
“The photos had only been altered by the enhancement effects built into the phone, but the people and the background in it are all real, and there is definitely no forgery here.”
The IT engineers refuted Xu Guansong’s claim that the images had been doctored after closely examining them. They were all employees with Advanced Computing Certificates, and they had the experience and knowledge to determine if the pictures were genuine. Everyone now turned to look at Xu Guansong, some stared stone-faced while others gave fleeting glances of revulsion.
“Xu Guansong, what else do you have to say?”
Xiao Luo looked at him with a mocking smile forming at the corner of his lips.
Keeping a mistress was immoral and unacceptable in their society. Now that his actions had been brought to light, his reputation and the image he had cultivated over the years was gone in an instant. Xu Guansong’s expression now turned ugly, he gritted his teeth and glared furiously at Guo Fu. Then his composure returned, he suddenly laughed coldly, and said, “So what if I have an affair with this woman, it was consensual, what does it prove? It just proves that she’s a wh*re willing to be f*cked, that’s all. What does the matter of embezzlement we are discussing today have to do with me? Nothing!”
Guo Fu’s tears streamed down her face, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This was the man who had always referred to her as his sweetheart and promised to love her forever. Or rather, that she had foolishly been willing to believe it.
“Department Head Guo, can you tell us about this Wang Xueli,” Xiao Luo steered the topic back on the right track.
A worried expression formed on Xu Guansong’s face, but it soon passed as he didn’t think that Guo Fu knew much about Wang Xueli other than her bank details. Even if she did know something, he would challenge them as mere speculation.
“Wang Xueli is his paramour!”
As Guo Fu said so, the entire conference room was abuzz with chatter again. What was going on? Xu Guansong was keeping not only one, but two mistresses? Indeed, this was going overboard!
“Wh*re, what bullsh*t are you saying here. If you dare to sprout more nonsense, I will send someone after you.” Xu Guansong was reeling from the revelation, and he glared angrily at her.
“Xu Guansong, shut up for now, can you?” Xiao Luo said tersely, giving him a stare.
“This wh*re is sprouting bullsh*t, she is defaming me, how can I…”
“I told you to shut up!”
Xiao Luo shouted firmly, and this time he emanated a powerful aura, causing everyone in the conference room to sit up.
Xu Guansong felt a shiver run down his spine, and even his soul briefly left him. He broke out in cold sweat, slumped back into his chair, and looked wide-eyed at Xiao Luo in fear.
Having killed so many times, Xiao Luo had long since developed an ominous and intimidating aura. An ordinary person like Xu Guansong could never resist such a force.
“Department Head Guo, please continue,” Xiao Luo motioned for Guo Fu to continue speaking.
Guo Fu nodded and swallowed a mouthful of saliva, as she recovered from the shock. She went on to explain, “Xu Guansong doesn’t understand how a woman feels. I loved him very much, and I would thoroughly investigate any woman around him. Yes, that Wang Xueli is the paramour of Xu Guansong. To keep her happy, he even bought her a sea-view house at South Lake Bay.”
“The purchase of the sea-view house was the exact reason why a small shortfall appeared in Xu Guansong’s cash flow. To fill the gap, he convinced me to alter the financial report.”
That accounted for it!
Now that the truth had finally been brought to light, everyone openly gave Xu Guansong a look of revulsion and disgust. As if keeping mistresses wasn’t enough, he even had the audacity to talk Guo Fu into commit fraud so that he could siphon out money and use it to please his second mistress. This man did not have a soul!
“Then do you have any evidence that Wang Xueli is Xu Guansong’s paramour?” Xiao Luo asked Guo Fu.
“Yes.”
Guo Fu nodded and pointed at Xu Guansong’s handphone, which he had placed on the table. “Wang Xueli’s Wechat username is her English name ‘Shirley,’ and they have been sending many suggestive messages. Even though he deletes the chat history regularly, I believe that our colleagues from the IT department can definitely recover them. Furthermore, Wang Xueli’s contact is also saved in his phone contacts, so all we need to do is to call her to find out the truth.”
Xiao Luo looked at Xu Guansong and said in a cold, threatening tone, “Xu Guansong, do you still want to continue with the act?”
Xu Guansong’s face had turned white as a sheet, and he was trembling. In a state of great distress, he slid from his chair and then knelt on the floor. He covered his face with his hands in humiliation and hung his head low. Sobbing, he admitted to his wrongdoings, struggling with the right words to say, “President Xiao, I-I… am guilty…”
It was a sorry sight, seeing a grown man cry like a child.
Xiao Luo smiled with contempt, then turned his gaze towards Xu Guansong’s trusted followers.
They appeared like mice hiding in the dark and suddenly exposed to bright sunlight. They looked self-conscious, panicky, and lost, none daring to look Xiao Luo in the eye.
…
It didn’t take long before the police arrived, and they took Xu Guansong away.
As for Guo Fu, Xiao Luo didn’t pursue her case as promised, but Luo’s Workshop could not retain her as an employee.
All of Xu Guansong’s trusted followers were fired that very day. The key employees of Luo’s Workshop had once again witnessed just how decisive Xiao Luo could be. As they got back to the meeting agenda, they presented the plans for the next ten years, which conclusively determined the nationwide rollout of their outlets.
The first phase of their expansion plan was Xiahai!
Xiahai was a city located at the border between the southern and northern regions of the country. Its central location made it easy to reach and was favorable to economic growth. The city was prosperous, with excellent infrastructure, and was conducive for business. To develop branches of Luo’s Workshop nationwide, it made good commercial sense to build their hub in Xiahai. Interestingly, Xiahai was where the NSA was headquartered, and the city where Xiao Luo’s alma mater, Xisheng Aeronautical University, was located. Xiao Luo had lived there for four years and was very familiar with the area.