Stuck in a Chinese novel

"Any news?" Xiaofei Rin asked a man who just entered.

He sighed and replied, "I just returned from Yi Rang's apartment. It is not invaded in any way. However, her office was rummaged. The guards outside were all either killed or severely injured. Those who survived, don't remember anything."

"What do you think it was?" Rin asked the man next to her who was looking at the pattern along with her.

"It's a conspiracy so far. It doesn't look like a hostile takeover because all the competitors look quiet at the moment." The man said.

"If we look at it like that, has anyone targeted those subsidiaries? Any of the production plants? Labs? Anything at all?" She asked the man who came with the report.

"Nothing so far but I'm looking into it." The young man replied.

"Such a big business company must have black fund accounts. Any lead on them?" Rin asked.

"I looked into that," The man next to her replied before he added, "But that's a dead end. Everything's been erased."

"What do you mean erased?" Rin asked.

"It means exactly that. The accounts have been closed. And they were closed ten years ago, the day they were created. Whoever it was, they were good and made sure to erase any and every trace." The man elaborated.

Rin sighed. She looked at the pattern once again but the only lead they had was that whoever it was, they were trying to take over the company but there hadn't been any move in that regard as well.

Just as she was about to look at it from another perspective, another man entered the room and said, "I brought good news."

"What good news?" Rin asked.

"We know which company took over everything as soon as the director of that company died." The man replied.

"Who?" Rin hurriedly asked.

"A company under the name of 'Angelic healers'. It's a newly created pharmaceutical company." The man informed.

"How new?" Rin asked.

"Two days old." The man replied.

"It's probably a paper company created to move with this step." The man next to Rin said.

"The question is; who does it belong to? It must be a big power seeing how fast they moved." Rin said.

"The Ruan enterprises." The young man replied, turning everyone's head in the room to him, "It belongs to the behemoth Ruan."

Rin looked at the files once again. But she wasn't looking at them. Instead, she was going through the plan in her head. Of course, the CSF was powerful, but Sun Ruan was equally influential given he was an elder of the Thunder Cloud Tempest sect.

"We have to be careful," The man next to her said as if he could read her mind.

She nodded and said, "Who's their current CEO?"

"Lin Ruan." The young man replied.

"Schedule a meeting with her. We can't do much if it's Sun Ruan but it's a different story if it's someone else." Rin said.

~~

"Please come in." A secretary brought Rin and two of her subordinates to Lin Ruan's office. As Rin's eyes lay on Lin Ruan, she couldn't help but compare herself to her. Ignoring her somewhat short stature, she was beautiful in every department.

Especially the front department.

"Take a seat," Lin Ruan said, her voice full of confidence and authority.

"Thanks for making time out of your busy schedule to meet us," Rin said.

Lin Ruan nodded and said, "What other choice did I have?"

Granted Lin Ruan knew of the power behind her, but just as the CSF was hesitant about making Sun Ruan an enemy, Sun Ruan was equally hesitant because that power was tied to the emperor.

"We apologize for the abrupt intrusion so I will get straight to the point." Rin said before she asked, "Are you familiar with one of your subsidiaries, 'Angelic healers'?"

"No." Lin Ruan straightforwardly replied. "There are many subsidiaries under our companies and it is statistically impossible for me to be familiar with all of them."

"Even if it's worth 3 billion yuan?" Rin asked.

"…" Lin Ruan remained silent before she replied, "There's no such company. Most of our subsidiaries are worth 1 billion, two at most."

"Are you sure?" Rin asked as she handed Lin Ruan some papers. Lin Ruan checked them and found nothing wrong with them, she found out that the company was indeed a subsidiary of Ruan Enterprises and when she checked the security code, it was named under her brother.

Lin Ruan's mind worked at full speed and she looked at Rin with a smile as she replied, "I don't think I can help you in this regard. This much could be easily planted."

It was true. Anyone could have created a company and tied it to Ruan Enterprises if they somehow managed to get the codes of any one of the directors.

Or it could have been one of them as well. Going after smoke and mirrors wasn't exactly a lead. It was a waste of time.

"Can I expect Ruan Enterprises' cooperation?" Rin asked.

"As long as nothing internal is disturbed. We are, in the end, the people's company." Lin Ruan subtly relayed that CSF had no authority over the company issues even if it was a serious case.

"That much is enough," Rin replied, her expression, however, wasn't that of a happy person.

She was stuck.

However, she also knew that Lin Ruan knew something. Whatever it was, she was aware of something and refused to cooperate.

"Can I take it that you are done here?" Lin Ruan asked.

"For now, yes," Rin replied.

She stood up and left with her team. As they came out, she turned to the young man next to her and said, "Find out anything you can about her."

"You think she's related somehow?" The young man asked.

"She knows something." Rin replied before she added, "And I want to know what."

~~

"Four days and nothing to show. Are you even doing your job properly?" Rin's superior asked over the phone. Rin silently cursed him before she replied, "I can't do anything about that, Sir. We're severely short-staffed."

"Then find some way to solve that issue. Do you think I can just hire anyone just because you're short-staffed because of just one case?" He superior condescendingly asked.

Rin once again cursed him but remained quiet about that. She chose to focus on the case, "I believe that the Ruan family is somehow involved. However, we can't just barge into their affairs without probable cause."

"Is your hunch solid?" The superior asked.

"It is." Rin resolutely replied.

"…" the superior remained quiet for some time before he said, "You will have your clearance in an hour."

"Yes, sir," Rin replied and the call ended.

"Do you think it would be that easy?" A young man asked.

"It would be." The man who was slightly older than Rin replied and added, "They see a chance at politics. The world isn't just about cultivation, you know."

"Sun Ruan is a direct line to the Thunder Cloud Tempest Sect. A grasp at him is a grasp at the third-strongest sect in the empire. Of course, they wouldn't let go of this opportunity." Rin added.

"Mhm." The man nodded, agreeing with Rin.

While they were discussing that, the man who was asked to monitor Lin Ruan entered the room.

"Did you find anything?" Rin asked.

"Except for the fact how uptight she is, nothing about her seems off." The young man replied before he got into elaboration, "She works, works, and works. Doesn't look like she has any time for her personal life. I don't think she even has one."

"Who has she met in the last few days?" The man next to Rin asked.

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"Except for the business meetings, the only person she has met outside of her home was her brother, Wei Jun Ruan." The young man replied before he placed a picture of a man on the table.

A man who seemed to be straight out of heaven. His beauty froze everyone for a second before they pulled themselves out of it. The one who couldn't was none other than Rin, who, for the first time in her life, felt jealous.

"Ahem!" A jealous cough entered her ears. She raised her head to see four jealous eyes staring at her. She coughed in embarrassment and said, "Did you find anything about him?"

"So much that it was hard to carry the file here." The young man replied before he gave an overview, "A few months back, he suddenly had a personality change. Before that, he was the typical playboy and a troublemaker. He was on his way to be disowned from the family."

"Then what happened?" The man next to Rin asked.

"He changed. Overnight as if a different person. Then he was suspected in cases that made him a priority. Every detail is in here." The young man finally put the heavy file on the table.

Once Rin gave it a read, she looked at the young man and said, "We have our first suspect, gentlemen."