Peng Guoqiang

It was nearly eleven at night when the dinner finally ended.

After leaving the hotel, Su Rui took Li Ruobing home before leaving by himself.

They were not living together for the time being. Their relationship had not yet reached that level of intimacy. Although they had shared a night of passion, it had merely been an indulgence of fleshly desire.

Besides, Su Rui needed some time alone to work out his plans.

After returning to the Villa Area, he went back to his room, opened his Laptop, sat on the sofa, and began typing away.

Li Ruobing's company was indeed sizable in Tongzhou City, with a market value exceeding one billion. But compared with the requirements in the agreement, it still fell several times short.

Five years to build a corporate group with a market value of more than five billion!

That was the test the Li family had set for Li Ruobing.

And she was not allowed to use any assistance from the family. She had to accomplish it entirely on her own.

The condition was almost impossibly harsh.

In truth, the Li family had never intended for Li Ruobing to succeed. Put bluntly, they simply wanted her to submit.

They had merely chosen a gentler method.

The Li family had operated in Tongzhou for generations. If they wanted to curb a company's development in a particular field, it would be extraordinarily easy.

Take the matter of Qiantang New Store, for example.

To secure that loan, Li Ruobing had needed to visit countless banks before finally negotiating a deal. Her stepmother, meanwhile, only needed a phone call or a tea party to make the banks' high-level executives change their tune at once.

Mingzhu Company had nearly collapsed over the incident, and Li Ruobing herself had been nearly forced from her position by her subordinates!

It faced restrictions at every turn.

That was Mingzhu Company's current situation.

Given the present circumstances, even if Li Ka-shing were running it, Mingzhu Company would never surpass a market value of five billion within five years!

Su Rui stared expressionlessly at the computer screen, its cold light flickering.

One personal profile after another gradually took shape.

"Name: Wang Shoucheng..."

"Identity: President of Lanchi Real Estate, holding thirty-seven percent of its shares..."

"Hobbies: ..."

"Personality: ..."

"Can be approached through... His connections include..., and his family members are..."

"Name: Zhao Ruoxin..."

"Identity: vice president of Tianrui Bank..."

"Hobbies: ..."

"Personality: ..."

Su Rui paused, then his fingertips struck the keyboard once more.

"May 1x, 2007: accepted 870,000 yuan in cash from Wang Fuyou of Derui Group in exchange for a loan that had failed review; September of the same year: accepted funds from Ruifeng Real Estate..."

Line after line of shocking information slowly appeared on Su Rui's computer screen.

Half an hour later, more than a dozen personal profiles sat in a dedicated folder on Su Rui's private computer.

Their contents were exceptionally detailed!

They recorded nearly every person's interests and hobbies, private phone numbers, and secrets they could not reveal to others!

They included their daily routines, as well as major events they had done on certain days.

Some of those things were likely details even the people themselves could no longer remember.

Yet Su Rui had written down every single word without omission.

A stern light flashed in Su Rui's eyes. Everyone in this document was someone he intended to contact, or even win over, in Tongzhou City in the near future. There were real estate bosses, famous reporters, high-level officials, and capable figures from the private sector.

They were scattered throughout every industry, with different interests, identities, and social standing.

But they all had one thing in common: they could offer support to Mingzhu Group.

Whether official or private, economic or related to public opinion!

The Li family might be powerful and deeply entrenched in Tongzhou City, but once Su Rui got in touch with everyone in the document, he would be qualified to arm-wrestle with them!

Su Rui did not linger for long. Narrowing his eyes, he began creating the next personal profile.

But unlike the previous ones, which documented his own sources of support, this one recorded the business enemies he would have to face.

Su Rui was accustomed to letting data analysis speak for itself.

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you would win every battle!

The tapping of the keyboard rang out again as another wave of text appeared in the document.

"Qin Lan... Madam of the Li family..."

"Li Mingze... Legitimate Son of the Li family..."

It was not until around one in the morning that the two sets of profiles, belonging to different categories, were finally completed.

Su Rui put away his computer and returned to his room to sleep.

The night passed without incident.

A new day!

Su Rui woke up on time. Looking at the time still ticking away on his phone, he smiled.

Though he already knew that time would not reset again, the feeling of having his life back was truly exhilarating.

He got up and went downstairs.

A police car bearing a blue-and-white logo was parked outside Su Rui's home.

A police car?

Su Rui raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"Mr. Su?" The car door opened, and a veteran detective in his mid-thirties walked over. He tossed away the cigarette in his hand, then waved the smoke from the air. "Hello. Peng Guoqiang from the city bureau's Criminal Police Team."

Peng Guoqiang was of average height and powerfully built. His square face and rough, dark skin did not make him handsome, but he possessed the rugged air of an Iron-Blooded man.

Yet his eyes looked weary, carrying a faint melancholy and even a trace of dullness. His voice was deep when he spoke.

"Hello." Su Rui raised an eyebrow. "Have you been waiting long? Why didn't you knock?"

Su Rui noticed cigarette butts scattered haphazardly around the police car. Some were still smoking, while others had long since gone cold.

That indicated Peng Guoqiang had been waiting outside for at least two hours.

"Too many rules in rich neighborhoods. Learned my lesson." Peng Guoqiang seemed to be making a self-mockery as he switched on the Body Camera he carried. "There's a case I'd like to ask you about."

The corners of Su Rui's lips silently curved upward.

Peng Guoqiang.

Criminal Police Deputy Captain of the city's Criminal Police Team. His methods were sharp and resolute, and his temper explosive. If he disagreed with a superior, he would dare slam the table and curse at them. He was extraordinarily capable; in fourteen years on the job, he had solved more than twenty major cases. During his tenure, Tongzhou City's major-case clearance rate had been nearly one hundred percent!

Over the years, the hoodlums and vicious criminals who had fallen into his hands could have formed a reinforced platoon!

Even before Lin Jiatao had made his fortune, Peng Guoqiang had dealt with him more than once.

With such achievements, he should have risen smoothly through the ranks. If not to the Provincial Department, then at least to the top position in the city bureau. Yet even now, Peng Guoqiang remained a criminal detective of neither great nor insignificant rank. He had even been removed from his former post as Criminal Police Captain and made a deputy instead.

That was truly strange.

But while it seemed almost unbelievable to outsiders, Su Rui knew the reason perfectly well.

Just like the self-mocking remark Peng Guoqiang had made earlier, the reason his path to promotion had been blocked was that he had offended someone.

A wealthy man with power and influence!

Fourteen years of hard work had been severed with a single stroke!

From then on, Peng Guoqiang's personality became gloomy and cautious. His attitude toward work grew increasingly negative, reaching the point where he could be called "timid and afraid of trouble" or "passively neglectful of duty."

The city bureau's leaders were deeply dissatisfied with his performance, but in light of his former contributions, they retained his position as Criminal Police Deputy Captain. However, the cases he handled were the kind usually assigned to ordinary interns or civil police.

Things like brawls, vice raids, and gambling arrests.

He had been completely marginalized.