Chapter 651 - 431: Repaying Money (Part 2)

Jiangg Ning’s passionate speech left the crowd in stunned silence.

She looked out at the sea of eyes before her, and just as she was about to say more, a mocking voice suddenly rang out.

"Why should we believe a word you say? The bosses have already been taken away. If we do what you ask and still don’t get our money in the end, won’t we have just been played for fools?"

"That’s right! If you ask me, we should just surround these managers and not let them leave until we get our money. We won’t back down, even if the police come!"

"A month is too long! Those are just empty words with no proof. Don’t believe her."

As these shouts of doubt echoed through the hall,

Jiangg Ning scanned the crowd, trying to pinpoint the malicious troublemakers who had spoken up.

But the crowd was a churning sea of people, and it was impossible to find them.

"Right now, you have no choice but to trust me. I could have washed my hands of this whole affair, because this building has nothing to do with me! I’m not a shareholder or an executive. But this is a mistake my Jiangg Family made, and I must take responsibility for it! You have families, too, so I understand the pain you’re feeling. We are all in this difficult situation together." Jiangg Ning looked down, and Lawyer Gu promptly handed her a thick stack of papers. "Now, anyone willing to follow my proposal, register your personal information, and agree to return the company property, please fill out a form. Once you’re done, submit it to the front desk."

After she finished speaking,

Jiangg Ning steadied herself on Lawyer Gu’s shoulder and jumped down.

She was still in high heels—a clear sign she was willing to do whatever it took.

The first thing Jiangg Ning did after getting down was to offer the papers to the person in front of her. Her gaze was locked on him, her arm suspended in mid-air, silently urging him to take them.

The man, who was approaching middle age, hesitated for a few seconds before finally taking the stack from her.

Clearly, Jiangg Ning’s words had an effect.

The registration forms were passed back through the crowd, one by one. After half a minute, some people, seeing that others were getting them, grew anxious and began pushing their way to the front desk to get a form.

"Don’t push! There’s one for everyone!"

The executives, who had been cowering just moments before, now stepped forward to maintain order.

In an instant, the lobby erupted into a clamor once more.

Not everyone who was owed money had initially gathered in the lobby. Many hadn’t seen the notice, and many others who had were persuaded by agitators not to believe it.

But as the forms were being filled out, more and more people who caught wind of the news hurried over.

Half an hour after the forms began to be distributed, there was no standing room left in the entire lobby.

The crowd was enormous, and it was the middle of the day.

The air in the lobby grew hot and humid, becoming so stuffy that it was hard to breathe. Opening all the doors and windows did nothing to help.

It wasn’t long before beads of sweat covered the foreheads of Jiangg Ning and the few executives helping her.

Despite the conditions, people kept rushing in to fill out the forms.

Jiangg Ning was so focused on the task at hand that she didn’t even notice her phone ringing in her pocket. Only when she couldn’t stand the heat any longer and accepted a bottle of water from Lawyer Gu did she see she had a missed call.

Puzzled by the unfamiliar number, she called it back.

"One second, I have to take this call. You guys carry on."

"Go ahead," Lawyer Gu replied.

Jiangg Ning found a relatively quiet corner.

After she made the call, Jiangg Ning realized it was the real estate agency.

...

"Hello, Miss Jiangg. We listed your house on our sales platform yesterday, and we’ve already had a lot of inquiries. This morning, I spoke with three interested buyers, and they went to take a look at the property..."

The agent continued, "The thing is, I wanted to ask what kind of price flexibility you’re open to. The buyers are interested, but they think your asking price is too high."

They say misfortunes never come singly, but Jiangg Ning never expected that good news could also arrive in droves.

’The Meiruxue Building has been acquired by Youxia Company, and now the property I listed is this popular, too.’

She hadn’t held out much hope at first, figuring she’d be lucky if it sold slowly over time, especially with the entire real estate market in a slump.

"In terms of flexibility, I can come down by about five hundred thousand. I’ll give priority to a buyer who can pay the full amount at once. I need the cash urgently, so I won’t consider other payment plans..."

Jiangg Ning continued to negotiate enthusiastically with the agent.

...

The group of people in the building who had been inciting the crowd were not all genuinely resentful employees. In fact, many of them were spies sent by President Qi to keep an eye on things, deliberately make trouble for the Jiangg Family, and apply enough pressure to force Jiangg Ning to sign the contract and submit.

However, after hearing the news that the funds had been secured, these men mistakenly assumed that President Qi’s side had succeeded and signed the acquisition contract. Their mission was complete, they figured, and they could now go and happily collect their reward.

Dodging the endless stream of people filling out forms, a few of them exchanged secretive glances at their phones before gathering in a cramped office on the second floor.

Once the last of them—a short, balding man—stepped into the office and closed the door, the group was all there.

"Sun, is the acquisition contract signed? They should be sending us the money they promised, right?" one of the men asked, his eyes filled with anticipation.

"Probably, but I haven’t gotten the official word yet," replied the balding man they called Sun, nodding.

"Then why don’t you ask our contact? We can’t just hang around here all day. I’m waiting to go home once this is over."

"Yeah, exactly! If the job’s done, why are we still hanging around here?"

After a brief discussion, all eyes turned to Sun.

Sun was a little hesitant, but after a moment’s thought, he figured it made sense. ’The bosses are busy with a deal worth hundreds of millions; it’s normal they wouldn’t have time to think about small fries like us. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, after all. If we don’t ask, who’s going to remember the spies lurking in the Meiruxue Building, or the money we were promised?’

"Fine, I’ll make a call. You guys be quiet."

Sun said, pulling the phone from his pocket and finding his contact’s number.

He dialed the number and held the phone to his ear.

"No answer?"

The first time he called, it rang and rang with no answer.

"Try again, call again!" someone urged.

Sun could only dial the number again.

This time, the call connected.

"Hello... Secretary Li!" The moment the call went through, Sun’s entire demeanor changed, becoming instantly subservient as he plastered a wide smile on his face. "Congratulations! I must congratulate the leadership on finally landing the project for this building."

However, in the next second,

a stream of harsh curses from the other end of the line made Sun’s expression freeze.

In just a few seconds,

his expression changed several times.

"What!? The acquisition didn’t go through? It’s still dragging on? But the woman in the lobby just said the contract was signed and the funds were secured! What was that all about? It’s true! Why would I lie to you, Secretary Li? It just happened! We all heard it with our own ears, and some of us even filled out the registration forms..."

"Hello? Hello?!"

Sun shouted anxiously a few times, but all he heard from the other end was a dial tone.

"So what’s going on?" the others pressed him.

"Secretary Li said they didn’t sign any contract at all. He cursed me out and told me to get lost and stop bothering him... But after he listened to what I said, he said something like ’this is bad.’ What do you think he meant?"

The men huddled in the office, chattering amongst themselves like a nest of mice.

It was a good thing they had passed the news on to Secretary Li.

Otherwise, President Qi would still, to this very moment, be lost in his pleasant dream of acquiring the Meiruxue Building for a rock-bottom price.