Chapter 418: Chapter 305: Zhu Haoyi’s Slip-Up!
Anyone else who knows?
"Yes!"
President Duan responded without hesitation.
Back then, Zhu Haoyi did this to him, almost causing his company to go bankrupt. Now that Xu Liang wants to investigate the other party, he has no reason to protect him!
"That bastard definitely smuggled a batch of materials!"
"Nanhai Province and Beihai Province don’t have ports, most of the goods have to be shipped to the export port in Lanshan Province. I once saw people from the Zhengyang Mine there when I was transporting goods."
"But what they were exporting wasn’t rare minerals, but the so-called ’clay’ and ’ceramics’."
"Ha, the nerve to use such an outdated trick... I don’t know what’s inside, but it’s definitely not clay and ceramics!"
Mining companies don’t have this kind of business.
And usually in this kind of situation, it means the other party is engaged in...
"Smuggling!"
Yang Ruoxi showed a look of surprise.
Smuggling... Smuggling what? High-purity rare earths? Who did they sell it to?
Needing a port for shipping, that probably means... overseas? Indeed, in 2005, foreign technology was relatively advanced, and the probability of using rare earths in cutting-edge technology was indeed higher than domestically.
Guessing overseas does seem reasonable.
But if it was smuggled overseas....
"Smuggling then becomes... selling off state-owned resources?"
Xu Liang squinted, as if he had caught the tail of a rat, his eyes filled with contemplation.
A similar case had occurred before.
Selling off rare earths, two masterminds made a total profit of 120 million yuan, which was extremely lucrative!
Gathering his thoughts, Xu Liang pondered for a moment, then asked again:
"Is there anything else?"
"Yes, there is!"
President Duan was overjoyed, pouring out complaints.
It was evident that Zhu Haoyi indeed had put him in a terrible situation back then.
It was indeed true.
Originally, he had a problem with the cash flow, so he contracted a rare earth mine to ease it a bit, only for Zhu Haoyi to suddenly want to cooperate with a state-owned enterprise!
The parties couldn’t reach an agreement, and Zhu Haoyi immediately walked away.
Leaving President Duan, who had contracted the mine, alone with a buzzing head, he was almost furious enough to die!
It was from that moment on that President Duan kept an eye on Zhengyang Mining Company. Whether they were smuggling or doing anything else, President Duan noted it all down in his little notebook. Now that the Supreme Court wanted it, he was naturally delighted.
In the end...
"Judge Xu, you must restore peace to the Eastern Country’s mining company!"
After President Duan finished speaking, he said with a tone of hope.
"Hmm, I will do my best."
Xu Liang responded calmly.
"I’ll leave you to it then, I have some matters to attend to at the Supreme Court."
Hearing this.
President Duan was even more convinced that it was a judge from the Supreme Court, immediately agreeing and then waiting for Xu Liang to hang up the phone.
Only after the call was disconnected did he slightly come back to his senses.
’Wait a minute, filing a case complaint... would the Supreme Court handle that?’
President Duan was a bit surprised. If he remembered correctly, this kind of case should be handled by the Middle Court.
"Never mind, the Supreme Court has no reason to deceive me either."
President Duan shook his head and continued with his work.
...
Upper City.
"Cooperating with state enterprises..."
"Again, cooperating with state enterprises!"
In the Supreme Court.
Xu Liang looked at Yang Ruoxi, his eyes filled with surprise.
According to President Duan, Zhu Haoyi wanted to cooperate with state enterprises five years ago, then purify the raw minerals before selling them.
But the problem is... for an ordinary mining company, the purity from Sky Resources Company is already profitable enough!
State enterprises only use technology that is at the cutting edge.
If Zhengyang Mining Company is not for profit... then why are they fixated on rare earth mines?
Comparing Yangshan Gully five years ago to now....
"Why do state enterprises always seem to be involved...."
Xu Liang frowned, sensing something amiss, as if he was beginning to understand Zhu Haoyi’s true intentions.
The difference between state enterprises and ordinary companies with respect to rare earth mining involves two aspects.
One, purification method.
Two, they have extensive sales networks.
The latter isn’t the case because ordinary rare earths also have a market, while the former... happened to appear in both incidents!
"Why is Zhu Haoyi so intent on cooperating with state enterprises?"
Xu Liang continued to ponder.
The only answer for such persistence must be profit-driven!
Based on President Duan’s recounting of the events five years ago... his profit motive with state enterprises was....
In a daze, an audacious thought emerged in Xu Liang’s mind. He exchanged a glance with Yang Ruoxi, and they could see the shock in each other’s eyes.
"Purification method!?"
"No, if that’s the case... it’s more than just the purification method."
The Eastern Country has many secret technologies for rare earth purification.
Like industrial equipment parameters, or even the full supply chain for equipment design, cascade extraction technology is the core but not the only one.
But in any case...
"The top-tier purified rare earths can only be accessed by state enterprises!"
Xu Liang suddenly halted his breath.
If this is true... then the case becomes intriguing indeed.
What exactly was Zhu Haoyi’s purpose in wanting to get close to such a thing?
Curiosity? Ha, years of perseverance seemingly indicate a strong curiosity, but curiosity alone isn’t enough.
"Could it be commercial espionage!?" Yang Ruoxi suddenly hesitated and suggested a possibility.
Xu Liang pondered for a moment, then shook his head.
This is beyond a commercial issue.
The opponent’s suspected plot at the moment... requires decisive action!
"Currently, it’s just speculation, a hypothesis not supported by information."
Xu Liang took a deep breath and suppressed all these chaotic thoughts.
"First, find a place for Mr. Liu to stay, and at the same time, investigate the matter of Zhu Haoyi selling national resources, and organize it into a chain of evidence."
He instructed what needed to be done at the moment.
Yang Ruoxi nodded.
Just at this moment, Liu Jinshui finished packing his luggage and walked out of the reception room.
He didn’t have much luggage, just toiletries and a few clothes.
A few days ago, he even had a head to accompany him.
But now the head had been confiscated, and the suitcase was virtually empty.
"Lawyer Xu..." Liu Jinshui looked at Xu Liang and whispered.
"Sign the contract first."
Xu Liang first took out a commission contract for him to sign, only then did he officially become the lawyer for Run Dong Weaving Plant.
After the identity change.
He then prepared to return to the quadrangle with the group.
Wang Chao was lying weakly on a chair. Xu Liang slapped him on the butt, causing Wang Chao to yell in pain before trotting behind him to leave.
It was obvious that at least half of his pain was fake!
It was because of this that Wang Yao didn’t beat him for long before stopping, unaware that it was all an act!
Wang Chao felt that although everyone said he was stupid, he was actually quite sly.
Afternoon.
Xu Liang returned to the quadrangle with his group.
"Squeak~"
Sun Zhongmin opened the door and quickly welcomed everyone in upon seeing Xu Liang outside.
"Where’s Old Wu?" Xu Liang looked around and finally asked Su Yu, who was holding a laptop in the yard.
"The teacher went to lead a project." Su Yu pursed her lips, feeling something unusual.
Wu Chengjun did indeed go to lead a project.
His latest projects were "On the Network Security Law" and "The Dangers and Pitfalls of Cyberbullying" and...
The internet is increasingly vast, but the related laws are confusing, and no one knows how to formulate them.
Initially, Wu Chengjun was only responsible for one of these projects until Xu Liang spurred him on, deciding to bring a movement called ’involution’ to the jurisprudence academic world!
In short...
The old man went to write a paper.
"The teacher is really self-disciplined."
Xu Liang felt very gratified; it was like coming home to find a child conscientiously doing homework instead of playing with electronic devices.
As for Liu Jinshui’s accommodation....
He was temporarily placed in the quadrangle.
The quadrangle was large, with many empty rooms, and Wu Chengjun was not married... Xu Liang suspected it was because the girl he secretly loved when he was young was taken by a litigator, which is why he hated them so much.
So housing a few people wasn’t a problem at all.
As for whether the old man would object... homework... oops, the paper being unfinished yet to discuss this!?
Once the paper was finished, Xu Liang would check it, and by then, the case should be about done.
"I’ll go buy some groceries."
"When the teacher comes back, he’ll get to taste my cooking."
Xu Liang smiled and turned to leave.
Upon hearing this, Yang Ruoxi and the others’ eyes lit up immediately.
They had been eating nothing but Upper City food and boxed meals for the past two days, which weren’t exactly unpleasant but were certainly tasteless, and they had long been craving his culinary skills.
"I’ll go with you to buy groceries!"
Yang Ruoxi raised her hand and spoke up, then promptly outpaced Su Yu, pushing Xu Liang outside, disappearing from the quadrangle.
...
...
Afternoon, four o’clock.
Zhengyang City.
Inside the airport.
"Phew, we’ve almost finished dismantling things at the factory, just need to process some materials, and our main focus now should be preparing for the trial."
In the airport’s business lounge, Li Yang spoke with a weary expression.
They had handled everything at the factory in just half a day, meaning the project could continue smoothly even if they weren’t in Zhengyang City.
However...
Just as Zhu Haoyi was about to say something.
A piercing sound suddenly snapped everyone to attention.
"Ring, ring, ring~!"
The phone rang, and Zhu Haoyi paused, a flicker of impatience passing through his eyes.
But when he took out the phone, saw a series of unfamiliar numbers on the caller ID, his expression immediately changed, and he cautiously moved to an unoccupied spot, silently taking out the phone and answering the call.
"Hello?"
Zhu Haoyi said expressionlessly.
Hearing the commotion.
A slight echo came from the speaker, and a voice said:
"How long until you reach Upper City?"
"About three hours," Zhu Haoyi replied, glancing at his watch.
The person on the other end paused briefly, then continued:
"When you get to Upper City, find a chance to go to Dongyang Vegetable Market and make contact with someone for me to transfer something over."
Making contact, transferring something....
Zhu Haoyi’s pupils slightly contracted, and then his face turned solemn.
"What’s going on?"
Theoretically, they should all be minding their own business.
The previous call warning shouldn’t have happened, especially since the person on the other end was much higher-ranked, theoretically speaking, he wasn’t qualified to handle things for them, otherwise, there was a high probability of screwing up.
But right now....
"A key technology discussion is almost wrapped up and can be taken out, but..."
"The ’head case’ stirred up quite a commotion, and trying to investigate the case details through connections led to being watched, making it impossible to retrieve the technology."
