Chapter 958: Who is Smarter?

“Did Chairman Xu send you to find me?”

Xu Zhou asked in a low voice.

Chen Ji scoffed and replied with irritation: “He didn’t send me to find you. He just told me to inform you that you don’t need to repay the thirty million. When you die, he’ll burn another thirty million for your afterlife.”

After saying that, his tone changed, as if scolding from the heart: “Xu Zhou, oh Xu Zhou, what am I supposed to say to you now? You… you went and did something like this again! I was the one who recommended you. Now how am I supposed to explain this to Chairman Xu?”

His tone made it seem like he had genuinely introduced Xu Zhou to Chenyu out of the goodness of his heart.

“Enough! Stop pretending. What’s the point?”

Xu Zhou’s voice remained low, but now carried a hint of sarcasm and mockery.

Chen Ji was stunned: “Xu Zhou, what do you mean by that? Are you saying you don’t recognize a good person when you see one?”

“A good person? I admit I’m no saint, but when did you, Chen Ji, ever qualify as a good person?”

Xu Zhou sneered, ruthlessly exposing Chen Ji’s ploy: “Don’t tell me you don’t know what kind of man I am? Yet, you still recommended me to work at Chenyu. From the beginning, I suspected you had ulterior motives, but as time passed and I noticed that your relationship with Chairman Xu hadn’t completely soured, I let my guard down.”

“It wasn’t until recently that I overheard Secretary Ye mention that the real reason you left Chenyu was because Chairman Xu refused to give you shares.”

“Ha! Knowing you as I do, you definitely left in a fit of anger. And since you so suddenly reached out to me about that job, I realized your intentions weren’t so pure.”

“Chen Ji, oh Chen Ji, why do you always insist on treating others like fools? If I were truly an idiot, would I have been able to earn a degree from a top foreign university? Or manage to siphon off money from various companies and get away clean every time?”

“You’re playing with others, but haven’t you considered that others might be playing you? After all, I’m the one you introduced. If they can’t find me, Chairman Xu surely won’t let you off so easily.”

Chen Ji’s body went cold as he listened, his face alternating between green and white. His fingers gripping the phone had turned pale.

After a long pause, he gritted his teeth and spit out: “Xu Zhou, do you really think Chairman Xu is just like the other bosses you’ve dealt with? Once he’s after you, it doesn’t matter where you hide—even to the ends of the earth—it won’t be enough!”

“Sigh.” Xu Zhou sighed, sounding a bit nostalgic as he said:

“To be honest, if it weren’t for the debt collectors breathing down my neck, I wouldn’t go on the run over just thirty million. But whether I can stay hidden is my problem. You’d better start worrying about yourself.”

“If they can’t find me for too long, you might have to start preparing to take the fall for me, brother. Hahahaha…”

As Xu Zhou spoke, his voice was no longer hoarse. Instead, he burst into loud laughter.

No matter what situation he found himself in now,

the fact that he managed to turn the tables on Chen Ji felt incredibly sweet.

“F*** you, Xu Zhou! Chairman Xu’s influence spans the entire globe. You’d better pray he never finds you!”

Chen Ji cursed loudly, so infuriated that he felt like smashing his phone into the ground.

At that moment, he felt both furious and aggrieved, along with a small trace of regret.

If only he hadn’t introduced Xu Zhou to Xu Shaochen back then, none of this would have happened.

But life is unpredictable, and there’s no medicine to cure regret in this world.

“Chen Ji, let me leave you with one final piece of advice: In this world, who’s smarter than whom? Don’t ever treat people like fools. This is your lesson.”

With those words, Xu Zhou swiftly and decisively hung up the phone.

“Beep~ beep~ beep~”

Listening to the busy tone from the phone, Chen Ji was so enraged that he gritted his teeth, desperate to tear Xu Zhou limb from limb.

If they truly couldn’t find Xu Zhou, someone would undoubtedly need to answer for Xu Shaochen’s wrath.

And it seemed increasingly likely that it would be him taking the fall.

This time it really felt like shooting himself in the foot.

No. No!

He had to find this guy fast.

Chen Ji’s expression shifted between gloom and rage as he quickly dialed Xu Shaochen’s number.

“Speak.”

Hearing Xu Shaochen’s voice, perhaps due to guilt, Chen Ji suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He quickly organized his words and said:

“I just contacted Xu Zhou. He didn’t say where he is, but he stole that thirty million to pay off debts.”

“He’s really into stock trading, but his losses far outweighed his gains. He owes a lot of money and has done similar things at several other companies.”

“So, I think Chairman Xu could start by looking into his debt relationships. With your connections, it shouldn’t be hard to uncover.”

“………………”

After he finished speaking, there was only silence on the other end of the phone.

Chen Ji thought for a moment that Xu Shaochen had hung up, but when he checked his phone, it still showed an ongoing call.

He cautiously reminded: “Chairman Xu, are you listening?”

“Why didn’t you tell me this earlier? Was it because… you knew he would pull something like this? Or were you just waiting for him to do it?”

Xu Shaochen asked three consecutive questions, each one colder than the last.

He didn’t even need to think hard to grasp the core of the situation.

Reflecting on how Chen Ji had poached people from Chenyu after leaving,

it became clear that from the moment he resigned, Chen Ji had been holding a grudge and had introduced Xu Zhou to wreak havoc.

Chen Ji, who was miles away, turned pale as he held the phone. He stammered, trying to defend himself:

“No… I didn’t! Chairman Xu, listen to me, I… I just wanted him to turn over a new leaf and work in a place where he couldn’t cause more trouble. But… but I never expected he would be so deranged as to pull something like this right under your nose.”

“Heh.”

Xu Shaochen sneered, then simply hung up the phone.

“Chairman Xu, Chairman Xu… beep~ beep~”

Chen Ji felt all the strength drain from his body as he collapsed to the ground, drenched in sweat.

After hanging up on Chen Ji, Xu Shaochen didn’t follow his advice to investigate Xu Zhou’s debtors.

Because if Xu Zhou weren’t a complete fool, he wouldn’t leave such an obvious trail.

It was more likely that Xu Zhou had deliberately fed Chen Ji this information to throw him off.

But Xu Shaochen wasn’t in any rush. He just needed to wait.

With the police’s surveillance systems and connections in society, finding someone like Xu Zhou wouldn’t be difficult.

He couldn’t believe that Xu Zhou could truly hide forever.

In today’s modern society with advanced technology, anyone who tried to live incognito would inevitably leave some sort of trace behind.

And as soon as he left a trace, it would lead them right to him.

No matter what, Xu Zhou would have to pay for taking that thirty million.

So where was Xu Zhou right now? As it turned out, things weren’t looking great for him either.

Changfei City, Great Wilderness Province.

“Brother Shen… I’ve paid back all the money I owed, with interest. So… what’s the meaning of this?”

Turning stiffly to face the two bodyguards blocking his path, guns in hand, Xu Zhou looked nervously at the middle-aged man lounging on the sofa.