Chapter 495: Life is Like Pregnancy

“Mr. Xu, I sincerely apologize. Rest assured, our police force will give you a proper explanation.”

The head of the municipal bureau, sweating profusely, spoke politely to Xu Shaochen.

It had been twenty minutes since the shooting, but the police had made no progress.

“I hope the police won’t disappoint me.”

Xu Shaochen said calmly, having already guessed that the sniper was sent by Lan Cheng.

Lan Cheng had purposefully come to Jiangzhou personally, intending to draw his attention. The sniper was only the killer’s move.

Unexpectedly, he escaped unharmed, losing only two bodyguards.

But just like how he killed Lan Yang, Lan Cheng couldn’t produce any evidence, so the police could only come to question him.

Similarly, today’s assassination attempt provided him no evidence to prove that Lan Cheng was behind it.

“Yes, Mr. Xu, don’t worry. We’ll dig three feet deep if we have to, but we’ll find that sniper.”

The head responded with firm determination, specifying the sniper, not the mastermind.

After all, anyone daring to target Xu Shaochen must be someone of considerable influence, someone beyond his reach.

Xu Shaochen merely glanced at him, said nothing, and started walking toward the door.

“Please take care, Mr. Xu. I’ll see you out.”

The chief let out a sigh of relief and quickly followed, staying half a step behind Xu Shaochen as he personally escorted him out of the bureau.

After getting into his car, Xu Shaochen dialed Barron’s number.

“Hey, Barron, I need one more favor. It should be just a small task for you… Right, there’s a company called Chengyan International preparing for an IPO. I don’t want to see it establish itself in Mg Country. Okay, thanks.”

After hanging up, Xu Shaochen pondered for a moment before calling Zhao Qing: “Arrange a woman for me. She needs to be refined, beautiful, with a good figure. The most important thing? She must have AIDS.”

He intended to send Lan Cheng a special gift.

“Doesn’t he like women?”

“Then I’ll send him one, along with a nice case of AIDS.”

Then, Xu Shaochen made a few more calls, using his connections to create some troubles for Lan Cheng in Yijing, enough to give the Lan Family a headache for a while.

“If I could destroy the Lan Family with just one phone call, honestly, I would.”

After all, the Lan Family was deeply rooted in Yijing.

Longguo is a country of connections. If there are people helping Xu Shaochen, there are naturally people helping the Lan Family.

So, for now, Xu Shaochen was only making trouble for the Lan Family, distracting Lan Cheng from pursuing him.

“When I return from Hong Kong, that will be the time the Lan Family meets its doom.”

………

“The mission failed!”

Meanwhile, Lan Cheng, who was still on the Jiang-Yijing Highway, received a call from the sniper, informing him of the failure.

Even with all his self-control, Lan Cheng couldn’t help but be furious. He had personally drawn Xu Shaochen’s attention to create the perfect opportunity for the sniper.

But the sniper still failed. What was this? Everything he had done in the past few days was in vain, and on top of that, he had completely angered Xu Shaochen.

“You idiot! Don’t even think about getting the balance! I don’t know how you’ve managed to keep your job, you useless piece of crap! Fuck off!”

Lan Cheng cursed and hung up the phone, then tiredly rubbed his temples.

He was acutely aware of the gap between himself and Xu Shaochen.

“I can’t match him in background, in strength, or in wealth.”

So, to seek revenge, he must strike with absolute certainty.

But now, with the failed attempt, Xu Shaochen would be on guard, making it impossible to attempt something like this again anytime soon.

What he had to face now was Xu Shaochen’s likely crazy retaliation. Could the Lan Family withstand it?

“Ding Ding Ding…”

Suddenly, his phone rang again. Seeing the caller ID, he answered in a mild tone, “How’s the IPO preparation going?”

“Lan, we need to put the IPO on hold. Several partners just contacted me, opposing the move, and the Tax Bureau is also giving us trouble.”

“The Tax Bureau?!”

Lan Cheng’s voice involuntarily rose a few octaves. In Mg Country, the most powerful entity wasn’t the police or the military; it was the Tax Bureau.

If this department has its sights on you, you’re in for a lot of trouble. No one running a company likes dealing with them.

“Our taxes…”

He was about to say their taxes were in order when something dawned on him, and he gave a bitter laugh: “Forget it, suspend the IPO for now. We’ll deal with it when I get back to Mg Country.”

“He had already figured it out. This was most likely one of Xu Shaochen’s methods of retaliation, especially since Xu Corporation’s headquarters was in Mg Country.”

“When someone wants to cause you trouble, even if you’re in the right, the authorities can find fault where there is none.”

For a moment, he wasn’t sure what to do.

“If Xu Shaochen were dead, all this would be over. But the worst part is, he’s still alive.”

………

Xu Shaochen was meeting someone at that moment.

A very beautiful woman.

The woman appeared to be no older than twenty-four or twenty-five, about 1.7 meters tall, with an impressive figure, especially her long, slender legs wrapped in black stockings. She had a delicate, pitiable aura around her.

To be frank, this woman would stand out even in the celebrity-filled entertainment industry.

“It’s always been said, ‘Beauty meets a tragic fate.’”

Looking at the beautiful woman across from him, Xu Shaochen couldn’t help but sigh.

“Such a beauty, and at such a young age, how did she end up contracting AIDS?”

“Thank you for your concern, Mr. Xu. May I ask what you need me to do?”

The woman glanced at the bodyguards behind Xu Shaochen and smiled politely as she spoke.

“What do you want?”

“Money. I want to live, so I need money to buy antiretroviral drugs. Even if it’s just to live one more day, for money, I’m willing to do anything.”

No sooner had Xu Shaochen asked than the woman answered without hesitation. At this stage of her life, she had nothing left to hide.

“Fine. Do as I instruct, and I’ll cover all your medication costs until the day you leave this world.”

Xu Shaochen nodded, agreeing to her terms.

The woman didn’t speak, just widened her eyes and looked at Xu Shaochen, waiting for his instructions.

“Get close to this man, and infect him… with AIDS.”

Xu Shaochen handed the woman a photo, along with some documents about Lan Cheng.

“Okay, Mr. Xu. Let’s exchange WeChat. I’ll update you there.”

The woman glanced at the photo, then took out her phone and had Xu Shaochen scan her QR code.

Xu Shaochen noticed that her WeChat name was ‘Yueyue.’ He added her as a friend.

“Mr. Xu, I’ll take my leave now.”

With that, the woman picked up her expensive handbag and left.

As he watched her go, Xu Shaochen couldn’t help but muse:

“Life is like pregnancy. Everyone congratulates you when they see your big belly. But not a damn one knows how many times you got fucked to get there.”