strictlysupreme Chapter 1426 Yunrui's Sincere Dedication: Donating 5 Million
Chapter 1426 Yunrui's Sincere Dedication: Donating 5 Million
As night completely enveloped Hong Kong, the wind at the Hung Fook Court fire site finally subsided a bit, but sparks still swirled above the ruins.
It is unclear who initiated the idea, but the people at the temporary resettlement site stopped talking and crying, spontaneously stood up, and bowed their heads in silent mourning in the direction of the fire.
Someone lit a candle, and the faint candlelight flickered in the night breeze, forming a warm galaxy that echoed the distant firelight.
"May the departed rest in peace, and the living find safety," someone murmured softly, their voice choked with emotion, quickly drowned out by the prayers of many others.
Qi Ruixiang stood in the crowd, holding a candle in his hand. Candle wax dripped down his fingers, burning his fingertips, but it was nothing compared to the heaviness in his heart.
Looking at the candlelight before him, and at the people who had lost their homes but still harbored goodwill, he suddenly felt a tightness in his throat.
Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out in the crowd, and someone held up their phone and shouted, "Look everyone! The donation list is out! Ms. Bai Xiuxian donated 500 million!"
These words were like a pebble thrown into the air, instantly shattering the silence of mourning. People pulled out their phones to check, and exclamations of surprise rose and fell.
"Five hundred million? My God, that's almost half of my entire fortune!"
"Ms. Bai is so kind; no wonder she's a renowned entrepreneur!"
"I had heard that her company was nearby, and she might have suffered losses in the fire as well, yet she still donated so much. It's truly admirable!"
Praise poured in like a tidal wave, with some even taking out their phones to take pictures of the donation page and captioning them, "True feelings are revealed in times of crisis; Ms. Bai Xiuxian demonstrates her sense of responsibility through her actions," instantly going viral on social media.
Qi Ruixiang also opened the donation list, and his brows furrowed as he looked at the bolded text of "Bai Xiuxian Yuan".
He had been covering social news for over a decade and had seen many wealthy people donate to charity, but Bai Xiuxian's gesture was far too unusual.
Bai Xiuxian is known in Hong Kong's business circles for being "shrewd and calculating." When he was working in the building materials industry, he heard that she would even calculate the year-end bonuses for her employees down to the cent, and she would delay the payment terms for suppliers as much as possible. How could she suddenly become so "generous"?
Moreover, 500 million is no small sum; it's almost 70% of her publicly disclosed assets. Even if she were doing public relations, there's no need to gamble away most of her wealth. "There's definitely something wrong here," Qi Ruixiang muttered to himself.
Unbeknownst to him, at that very moment, in the study of the Gu family's old mansion, Gu Yunqian was staring at the cash flow chart flashing on the computer screen, a cold smile curving his lips.
“The funds have all been deposited into the charity account, and the bank has placed them under targeted supervision, so she can’t touch a single penny.” Gu Yunqian pressed the final confirmation button and sent an electronic receipt to his father’s email. “Her overseas accounts are also almost frozen. What’s left is all shady money that can’t be touched for the time being, but it’s enough to give her a huge headache.”
Gu Yunqian flipped through the report, his finger pausing on the page about "Black Rock Village drug money laundering," his eyes suddenly turning cold.
"She colluded with Shen Chengyu. This 500 million is what she owes the Gu family and those she killed."
No sooner had the father and son finished their conversation than a deafening scream erupted from the villa in the Bai family estate in Hong Kong.
Bai Xiuxian slumped onto the million-dollar Italian leather sofa, her phone slipping from her hand and shattering into pieces, but she was oblivious, her eyes fixed on the bank balance screenshot sent by her assistant, her face ashen.
"Five hundred million... How could my five hundred million be gone?!" Her voice was shrill, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Her nails dug deep into the sofa armrest, leaving several crescent-shaped blood marks.
The assistant standing to the side trembled with fear, scattering the documents in his hands on the floor: "Mr. Bai, we've checked. This money was transferred from your main account at 3 PM this afternoon. The donor information is your name, and the authorization document... also has your electronic signature."
"Electronic signature? When have I ever signed such a thing!" Bai Xiuxian suddenly stood up, and almost fell on the carpet because of her sudden movement.
She rushed to her desk, grabbed the computer, and frantically clicked the mouse to bring up her account transaction history.
When she saw the words "charitable donation," her vision went black, and she staggered back a few steps, bumping into a crystal vase behind her. The vase shattered on the ground with a crash, and shards splashed all over her skirt.
"Impossible...this is impossible..." she murmured incoherently, crouching on the ground with her hands covering her head, her once exquisite makeup ruined by tears.
This 500 million is the culmination of half a lifetime's work, the profit she squeezed out from countless projects, and the capital she planned to use to immigrate overseas.
"Investigate! Investigate to the bottom of this! Who took my money!" Bai Xiuxian suddenly screamed and jumped up, grabbing the phone on the table and dialing the bank manager. "Manager Wang! Where is my money? How dare you transfer my money without my consent! I'm going to sue you! I'll make you regret this!"
On the other end of the phone, President Wang sounded troubled: "President Bai, the authorization documents for this donation are complete, and the electronic signature has been officially certified. We have no reason to refuse. Moreover... the transfer instruction was issued from your usual IP address. The technical department has checked, and the operation traces are completely consistent with your usual habits."
"Frequently used IP address? My habit?" Bai Xiuxian was stunned, then her face turned even more pale as if she had realized something. "It's the Gu family... it's Gu Mingcheng and Gu Yunqian!"
She stumbled to the French windows, looked out at her carefully tended garden, and suddenly let out a shrill laugh, a laugh filled with despair and resentment.
"Gu Mingcheng, how cruel you are!" she roared at the night sky. "Who helped you back then? Now you're turning around and biting me!"
A text message suddenly rang in Bai Xiuxian's personal phone. It contained only one sentence: "The police have received the material testing report from Hongfuyuan. Either cooperate with the investigation into Lin Xu's whereabouts, or you'll be spending your life in jail." Attached to the message was a photo of her and Shen Chengyu...
Bai Xiuxian's laughter abruptly stopped, and her phone slipped from her hand, falling into the shards of a vase on the ground. Looking at her grotesque profile in the photo, her legs suddenly gave way, and she collapsed into the shards. Sharp glass tore at her skirt, stinging her calves, yet she felt no pain whatsoever.
She knew that Gu Mingcheng had given her an ultimatum—either reveal Lin Xu's whereabouts, or she would not only lose her money but also go to jail.
Meanwhile, at the temporary shelter in Hong Kong, the night wind carried the distant sirens of retreating fire trucks—the fire was finally under control...
The teahouse, which I haven't visited in a long time, is still hidden deep in the courtyard. The green tiles and white walls are mostly covered by ivy, with only the mottled wooden windows showing.
When Gu Yunxi pushed open the carved wooden door, tea smoke was rising from the spout of the purple clay teapot, condensing into a wisp of smoke in the morning light, only to be dispersed by the wind passing through the window.
Gu Mingcheng sat at the pearwood table by the window, holding a purple clay tea spoon in his hand, slowly stirring the Biluochun tea in his bowl. The tea soup rippled, much like Gu Yunxi's state of mind at that moment.
"Sit down." Gu Mingcheng raised his eyes, his gaze falling on her hair, which was covered with morning dew. His tone was calm, but it made her inexplicably nervous.
She sat down in the chair opposite her, the mahogany seat cool to the touch. Her fingertips had just touched the white porcelain cup on the table when Gu Mingcheng pressed her hand down. "It's freshly brewed. Wait for the steam to dissipate before drinking, or it'll burn your mouth."
Gu Yunxi withdrew her hand, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing the buttons on her cuffs. She had just returned from the lab this morning, and there was still a faint blue stain of reagent residue on the hem of her white lab coat. When she received the message, she had a vague feeling that something was going to happen today. After all, even if they were going to have tea and discuss business before, it was always at the old house. When had she ever come here specifically?
Moreover, the recent controversy surrounding Bai Xiuxian's donation has created an eerie atmosphere at home...