Hades, the Urban Legend

Chapter 687: Chapter 690: Hear Me Out

The hospital room fell silent, the faint scent of disinfectant in the air, almost like a delicate floral fragrance, somewhat refreshing.

The gaze between the man and woman intertwined, creating ripples of emotion.

After a long while, Lin Ruoxi frowned slightly, her eyes filled with sorrow as she said, "Why talk about cutting hearts and slicing people? It's so disgusting. Can't you say something nicer?"

Yang Chen scratched the back of his head and said, "You can just say 'a dog's mouth can't spit ivory.' Even if I say something nice, you might not want to hear it. So why not make it a bit more stimulating?"

As he spoke, Yang Chen handed the water cup he had just set down back to Lin Ruoxi. "Rinse your mouth, drink some water. Your body is still recovering. Although you're mostly fine now, you should still rest a bit."

Lin Ruoxi took the cup, slowly got out of bed, and said, "There are still a lot of things to handle at the company. I'll tidy up and go back to work. I'm fine now."

Yang Chen sighed, "I knew you wouldn't listen."

"I'm fine. You should focus on solving Mingyu's issue," Lin Ruoxi said with a faint smile, glancing at Yang Chen before heading to the bathroom to freshen up.

Though Yang Chen felt a bit worried, he knew that after infusing her with his true energy, Lin Ruoxi's body, though weak, would recover quickly. Returning to work shouldn't be a problem. Besides, Yu Lei would struggle without her as the brain, so he didn't insist.

Turning on his phone, Yang Chen immediately saw several missed calls from Mo Lin, Mo Qianni, An Xin, and Wu Yue.

Just as he was about to call Mo Lin to ask about the situation, Mo Qianni called again.

Upon answering, Mo Qianni anxiously asked, "You finally turned on your phone. Yang Chen, are you and Ruoxi at the hospital? How is Ruoxi's condition? Is she in danger?"

Yang Chen laughed, "Don't worry, she's fine now. I'll take her back to the company soon. Why so many calls? Not just asking about Ruoxi's condition, right?"

Mo Qianni, clearly frustrated, said, "I'm about to lose it. With the company in this situation, reporters from major media outlets have swarmed us for an update. Someone leaked the news that Ruoxi, our CEO, is ill! Even we insiders were caught off guard! Reporters have surrounded our company, spinning all sorts of conspiracy theories. If Ruoxi is fine, she should return soon, or the whole company will fall into chaos! Without our CEO, employees are losing their direction. If the stock market opens and there's another blow, it will be disastrous!"

Yang Chen snorted, "They really are relentless, going all out to bring us down."

It seemed Mo Qianni encountered another urgent situation as chaotic reporting sounds emerged from her side. She hurriedly said, "I have to go," and hung up.

Yang Chen smiled wryly, shaking his head before dialing Mo Lin's number.

"Mo Lin, how are the analyses and investigations going?" Yang Chen asked.

Mo Lin, sounding a bit embarrassed, replied, "Hades, I'm very sorry. The background of that Li Minghe is quite complex, and it's difficult to uncover everything quickly. I need more time. However, we've got results for the two items you asked us to analyze."

Yang Chen frowned, "Complex? Li Minghe is just a manager sent by Mu Yun Group in Xiang Port, at most a distant relative of the Li family there. Why is it taking so long to investigate his background?"

"Actually," Mo Lin said, frustrated, "I initially thought the same. But based on the intelligence I've gathered, 'Li Minghe' isn't his original name. It seems he changed it after starting work in Xiang Port. Moreover, he appears to have no relation to the Li family of Mu Yun, merely sharing the surname. This misled us initially. His resume is also peculiar, with many parts tampered with. It will take considerable effort to verify everything. I hope you can grant me more time; I promise to complete the task!"

Yang Chen hadn't expected so many issues while investigating Li Minghe's background, but this undoubtedly meant the situation was more intricate than he had imagined.

"And what about the evidence I asked you to examine?" Yang Chen asked.

Mo Lin, sounding more confident, replied, "The report is ready. The coffee indeed contains toxins! It's a type of tannin similar to those found in tea. This acid reacts with certain animal protein extracts, like those in canine proteins, producing a carcinogenic substance that damages internal organs, especially the liver!

Coincidentally, the coffee not only contained tannin but also some unusual proteins not typically found in coffee. This coffee acted as a trigger, fully activating the toxin!

Since this toxin requires time to accumulate before reacting strongly, I speculate the person who poisoned the coffee knew the drinker's usual intake and systematically added this extract. Though the exact onset time can't be pinpointed, the margin of error would be at most a week."

Hearing this, a deep murderous intent surfaced in Yang Chen's eyes. Lin Ruoxi had been drinking coffee laced with a chronic toxin? Whether or not Li Minghe did it behind Wu Yue's back, he couldn't let Wu Yue continue as Lin Ruoxi's assistant, even if he had to kill her on the spot.

"As for the other item," Mo Lin continued, "it's indeed been tampered with, as you suspected. However, it's not sufficient as evidence."

Just as Mo Lin finished speaking, Lin Ruoxi came out of the bathroom, cleaned up, and asked softly, "Is there something urgent?"

Just as Yang Chen finished the call, he smiled and said, "The company urgently needs you back. The reporters are blocking the entrance. Let's go."

A trace of worry flashed across Lin Ruoxi's face, but she nodded.

Leaving the hospital, they drove back to Yu Lei International. On the way, Yang Chen returned An Xin's call. An Xin was just concerned about any problems and, after confirming all was well, didn't say much more.

Lin Ruoxi sat quietly in the passenger seat, thinking for a while before turning to ask, "Have they found out who stole the files from Mingyu?"

Yang Chen, with one hand on the steering wheel, waved a finger at Lin Ruoxi with a mischievous smile, "This thief is very cunning. From the beginning, we've all been deceived."

"What do you mean?" Lin Ruoxi looked puzzled.

Yang Chen took a deep breath and said, "The thief never stole anything from Mingyu. All the information was collected by themselves."

Lin Ruoxi's eyes were full of surprise, clearly not understanding what Yang Chen meant.

Yang Chen patiently explained, "From the beginning, we focused on Mingyu's office safe because there were only two copies of the documents. As the CEO, you obviously didn't have the opportunity to leak them. So, everyone would think it was Mingyu who leaked them, or that someone managed to obtain the documents from her. With this in mind, we considered who might have the opportunity to get the information from Mingyu, who could crack the password, and even suspected if there were high-tech pinhole cameras in Mingyu's office to secretly monitor her opening the safe."

Lin Ruoxi countered, "Isn't that the case? If not Mingyu, then my office is even less likely. Apart from Wu Yue, almost no one can enter my office, and the area around my safe is so open that installing a camera would be impossible."

Yang Chen smiled, "Let me finish. The point is, I fell for it too. The opponent was very well-prepared and probably knew about me in advance or had done a lot to mislead us. That guy has been frequently visiting Mingyu's office for the past two or three months, seemingly without any purpose. His actions made not only me but also the company staff curious about his relationship with Mingyu, sparking rumors. Don't tell me you don't know who that guy is. You've probably suspected him for a while, right? That's why you asked me to investigate him?"

Lin Ruoxi didn't deny it and nodded, "You're talking about Li Minghe, right? I did notice he's been frequently visiting Mingyu's office recently, and the rumors have spread throughout the company. Many people probably suspect him, but without any evidence, nobody mentioned him during the meetings."

"Of course, there was no evidence," Yang Chen said, shaking his head with a smile. "I even checked the surveillance footage, calculating his chances of opening the safe and how he could steal so many documents without being seen. Now that I think about it, it was laughable because the whole idea was baseless. He never intended to steal the files from Mingyu. His only purpose was to divert our attention, making us believe he targeted Mingyu."

Lin Ruoxi, being no fool, quickly understood. "So you're saying all of this was a deliberate cover to mislead us? Then how did he steal the files?"