Chapter 151 — Discovering the Deception

At any other time, Huang Ce would have been on his guard—how could anyone simply wire such a vast sum of money straight to a foreign account?

Li Tianyu listened with smug satisfaction as the cold female voice over the phone announced the balance in his bank account—though at this moment that voice sounded unbelievably sweet, and he wished he could hear it a few more times.

It had worked! Li Tianyu was immensely pleased with himself. He pulled his "secretary" Xiaoli into an embrace and planted a kiss on her cheek. "Xiaoli, you're the hero this time. Don't worry—from now on, even if I, Li Tianyu, have to live on congee and pickled vegetables, I'll never leave you behind."

That was exactly the promise Xiaoli had been waiting for. Hearing Li Tianyu's assurance, she was overjoyed—at last she had truly become part of the Li family, one of their own, and had rendered the family a great service.

"Young Master Li, I didn't do so badly either, did I?" Daniel scratched his head proudly, then dug at his crotch, and said, "My General Karls wasn't half bad, eh?"

"Mm, you did well too. Don't worry, I'll definitely give you a bonus," Li Tianyu said with a nod.

"That's great, thank you, Young Master Li—pfft." Daniel let out a fart and said sheepishly, "Young Master Li, I only got half my shit out just now. My stomach's still hurting."

"All right, go on then," Li Tianyu laughed and scolded. "You—you really can't handle anything big, can you?"

"Heh heh, as long as Young Master Li handles the big things, that's enough. We're just Young Master Li's lackeys," Daniel said with a chuckle as he ran off toward the toilet.

"That kid." Li Tianyu shook his head. Just then the phone rang. Li Tianyu signaled Xiaoli to keep quiet, then answered: "Hello?"

This time it was his private line, so there was no need to have Xiaoli pick up and pose as General Karls's secretary.

"Tianyu, it's me." Li Shu's voice came through the receiver.

"Father, hello," Li Tianyu said quickly. "How did my performance just now go? Did I give anything away?"

"No, everything was perfect—especially earlier, when your secretary said General Karls was in a meeting and would call me back shortly. Very impressive, that. Had a bit of that lofty, high-and-mighty air of General Karls. Not bad, not bad at all. You're to be commended," Li Shu said.

"Huh?" Li Tianyu was taken aback. He thought: No way—Daniel was just on the toilet when he said that. He hadn't expected that to sound so impressive too. Of course, he wasn't about to give the game away. He chuckled and said, "Yes, we rehearsed it many times over on our end, aiming for the best possible effect."

"Mm. But Tianyu, you've done a great service this time. That's four hundred billion patacas, isn't it? Take a hundred million out of it as your reward, and give your men something to show your appreciation. And that little sweetheart of yours—she did well too. Reward her as you see fit." Li Shu was in an extraordinarily good mood. In the past he would never have thought much of Xiaoli, but today was different—Xiaoli counted as a contributor now.

"Thank you, Father!" Hearing that he would get a hundred million as a reward, Li Tianyu was overjoyed and thanked him profusely.

"Mm, no need to thank me," Li Shu waved a hand. "Just keep up the good work."

"Don't worry, Father. If anything like this comes up again, just tell me anytime and I'll play along," Li Tianyu said. He felt that this hundred million had been far too easy to earn.

Xiaoli was standing close to Li Tianyu, so she heard Li Shu's words as well. Hearing that Li Shu had praised her too, she was absolutely delighted.

When Huang Ce got home, he found his two sons sitting on the living-room sofa, poised and waiting. He was puzzled. "Rongtian, Rongjin, what are you two doing?"

"Father, where did you go? Where's the money Xiaomei gave you? Why hasn't it reached the company account?" Huang Rongtian had just checked the company's account—there had been no deposit at all.

"Heh, well, there's no hiding it from you any longer," Huang Ce said with a smile. "That's right—I went to the Li Group just now. I went to look into the matter of contracting the gold mine. And Lele's money, I've put that into the gold-mine contract as well."

"Father, how could you be so foolish?" Hearing his father's words, Huang Rongtian was both shocked and furious. "Even I've come around—why can't you? Investing in a gold mine in Country X is simply an unrealistic idea. Our Huang family doesn't have the strength to play games in Country X. If they want to destroy us, it's the work of a moment."

"That's right, Father," Huang Lin chimed in. "Wouldn't it be better for us to do business honestly here at home? Haven't we been doing rather well for ourselves?"

"There's no use in saying all this now. I've already wired the money to General Karls's account. The gold-mine contract is a done deal—it can't be changed," Li Shu said with a wave of his hand. "You needn't say any more."

"What? You've already wired the money? How so fast?" Huang Rongtian stared at his father in disbelief.

"What's so fast about it? Sign a contract, wire the money—and it's done, isn't it?" Li Shu said.

"Father, are you saying you wired the money without going to Country X in Africa, without even meeting General Karls?" Huang Rongtian immediately frowned. Matters had come to this; he couldn't change them now. What he had to think about was how to make things as secure as possible.

"No need to go. The Li family had already arranged everything—they faxed the contract over, and once I'd signed it I faxed it back," Huang Ce said. "I wired the money to General Karls's account, and that was that."

"But can you be sure it's legitimate?" Huang Rongtian frowned. "The Li family wouldn't cheat you, would they?"

"Cheat me?" Huang Ce was startled. He really hadn't considered that before. "They shouldn't. Why would they cheat me? And he called General Karls right in front of me, and I spoke with General Karls myself. How could it be fake?"

"Are you certain that was General Karls?" Huang Rongtian asked, somewhat doubtfully.

"I—" Huang Ce, at Huang Rongtian's words, began to worry as well. "It should be. His secretary even helped transfer the call."

"Where was the account you were given registered?" Huang Rongtian couldn't help being careful—after all, this was four hundred billion. The dye was cast now, so they had to be all the more secure about it.

"It was in Africa, and the account name was General Karls, no mistake," Huang Ce said. "There shouldn't be any problem."

"Ah, let's hope there's no problem," Huang Rongtian said with a shake of his head. "Dad, how could you be so impetuous?"

"Hmph, it's not your place to lecture me. Do I have to clear everything with you before I do it?" Huang Ce said impatiently. "We've contracted it now. What we need to study is how to run the gold mine in Country X well—not to keep complaining."

Huang Rongtian looked helplessly at Huang Lin beside him, sighed, and nodded. "All right, Father. Then tell us."

Over the past few days Huang Ce had been devising a new development strategy for the Country X gold mine, so a thoroughly complete plan had already taken shape in his mind. Now that he laid it out, Huang Rongtian and Huang Lin found it quite refreshing.

Huang Ce's plan was to sacrifice total output in exchange for raising the monthly gold yield. That way, though the mine's overall lifespan would be shortened, the monthly profit would soar—instantly doubling what had been projected.

At that rate, the mine would recoup its costs in under two years, and everything after that would be pure profit. And in a war-torn country like Country X, this plan was indeed extremely effective.