Chapter 561: Chapter 532: Blown Out of Proportion

Yan Fangming said, "Don’t try to scare me. I’m not that easy to scare. If you don’t have evidence, you’d better not talk nonsense, or I’ll sue you."

Lu Qi laughed, "You have a strong sense of law, huh? You should know Pan Jinshan, right?"

Yan Fangming was taken aback for a moment. He shook his head. He had never heard of this name or knew this person.

Lu Qi said, "Pan Jinshan was caught last month on charges of illegally selling national artifacts. The few pieces of ancient jade you’re wearing came from him, right?"

Instinctively, Yan Fangming touched the jade pendant at his waist. Last time, he was caught on Weishan Island, and all the ancient jade on him was seized. However, the police soon returned them to him, so he thought everything was fine. Unexpectedly, trouble came back so soon. He originally thought the ancient jade could ward off disaster, but now it only attracted more trouble.

Li Zhong said, "According to Pan Jinshan’s confession, all the ancient jade on you was sold to you by him. Besides, you still have a lot of artifacts at home that you bought from him."

Sweat appeared on Yan Fangming’s forehead. He didn’t know Pan Jinshan, but who knows? Maybe the person who sold him the jade used a fake name.

Lu Qi said, "According to Article 326 of our country’s Criminal Law, smuggling of cultural relics for profit involves the unauthorized sale of cultural relics forbidden by the state to be traded. If the circumstances are serious, it will be punished with a fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or detention, and a fine. If the circumstances are particularly serious, it will be punished with a fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years, and a fine."

Yan Fangming said, "I didn’t know. I thought he acquired these items through legitimate means."

Lu Qi and Li Zhong exchanged a glance. There is no doubt that Pan Jinshan was a criminal involved in smuggling artifacts, but there is no evidence to show that Yan Fangming’s jade was bought from him. This is a technique of interrogation, true and false, a bluff when necessary.

Lu Qi sneered, "A fine ’I didn’t know.’ You gave Yan Zhongmin fifty thousand yuan, had him cause trouble, and you didn’t know. You bought ancient artifacts and still didn’t know, but saying ’I don’t know’ doesn’t mean we can’t deal with you."

Li Zhong said, "Let’s immediately apply for a search warrant and search his house. Who knows how many illegal items are hidden there."

Yan Fangming was scared now, with a miserable look on his face, "Why do you have to target me? I haven’t smuggled any artifacts. I just bought a few pieces of ancient jade, and I don’t know where he got them from. As for Yan Zhongmin, you should question him about what he did. Why are you questioning me? I swear by my reputation, I absolutely didn’t know there were artifacts buried under the winery."

Lu Qi said, "I’ll ask you again, what was the fifty thousand yuan you gave to Yan Zhongmin for?"

Li Zhong said, "No need to ask, it must be for conspiring with Yan Zhongmin to excavate artifacts."

Yan Fangming shouted, "No! I just asked him to lead people to defend rights and drive the winery contractor out..."

Lu Qi and Li Zhong exchanged another glance and said simultaneously, "Oh! So that’s how it is!"

It was only then that Yan Fangming realized he might have fallen into their trap. Under their forceful pressure and inducement, he unwittingly revealed the truth.

Lu Qi said, "Tell me, who instructed you to do this?"

Yan Fangming said, "No one, I came up with it all by myself." The more someone tries to take all the blame themselves, the more it proves there’s a mastermind behind it.

Lu Qi said, "Stop hiding. You’re not the boss of the Ecological Environment Construction Investment Group. Think it over. Right now, Yan Zhongmin’s testimony is very unfavorable to you. He firmly claims all the money was from you and all the arrangements were made by you."

Yan Fangming said, "I didn’t. I didn’t..." He was getting scared now. How did this all come back to being connected with the artifact case? He had never expected someone as seemingly honest as Yan Zhongmin would pull off such a big stunt. He thought he was using him, but in the end, he had been played.

Li Zhong said, "You seem pretty smart. You’re not the type to take the fall for someone else, right? You need to distinguish what kind of trouble you’re taking the fall for. This one may be too big for you."

Lu Qi said, "Tell us, whose idea was it?"

Yan Fangming’s mind was in turmoil. Just as he decided to give up resisting, Lu Qi’s phone rang. He picked it up, glanced at it, and frowned.

He Xingjian arranged for a lawyer to temporarily bail out Yan Fangming.

Yan Fangming got into the Audi A8 waiting for him at the door and said to He Xingjian inside, "Brother Jian."

He Xingjian patted his shoulder and told the driver to start driving.

He Xingjian said, "Did you say anything?"

Yan Fangming shook his head. He did speak, but he didn’t mention He Xingjian. Even if he did, he couldn’t admit it in person.

He Xingjian said, "You were too careless. Someone like Yan Zhongmin is not to be trusted."

Yan Fangming said, "I saw him as honest. I didn’t expect him to be so bold, daring enough to participate in stealing historical artifacts."

He Xingjian said, "Fangming, you should resign first."

Yan Fangming froze, quickly understanding He Xingjian’s meaning. He Xingjian was worried about the reputation of the Ecological Environment Construction Investment Group. Clearly, they wanted him to take all the blame alone.

Rage rose in Yan Fangming’s heart. This idea was He Xingjian’s. Now that there was trouble, instead of calming things down, his first thought was to make him resign.

He Xingjian had already anticipated Yan Fangming’s reaction and sighed, "Yan Zhongmin has become entangled with the artifact theft case, and you’re implicated too. It could affect the company. I have no choice, but rest assured, I won’t treat you unfairly."

Yan Fangming said, "Brother Jian, I have nothing to do with the artifact theft case. I’m innocent."

He Xingjian said, "Yan Zhongmin insists that you gave him money. If this affects the company, we’ll suffer significant losses. Fangming, I’ve always treated you like my own brother. I know this is unfair to you, but as the leader of the group, I must minimize the group’s losses."

"So you want me to take all the blame?"

"Fangming, it’s not like I’m ignoring you. I promise your salary will remain intact. Once this blows over, you can return. I’ve reserved the position of general manager for you." He Xingjian had to stabilize Yan Fangming first.

Yan Fangming hung his head and after a long while asked, "When?"

He Xingjian said, "After this thing is over."

"What if it doesn’t blow over?"

He Xingjian confidently said, "There’s no hurdle in Dongzhou we can’t overcome."

He Xingjian’s phone rang, it was his wife, Chen Yiru. The Han Yuan Hot Spring Resort had just received a "Notice of Rectification Order" from the Pinghai Tourism Bureau. Without their knowledge, a provincial investigator had secretly inspected the resort.

The inspection uncovered many problems and hidden dangers, detailed as follows.

1. Reception area: No bilingual (Chinese-English) hot spring bathing instructions, no price display, medical office door locked, room covered in dust, lack of emergency medical personnel, no stretcher, public restrooms without hand soap or tissues, no disabled access, expired fire extinguishers, fire safety facilities rendered useless.

2. Changing area: Poor ventilation, odor, and low temperature.

3. Shower area: No anti-slip facilities on the floor.

4. Bathing area: Specialty hot springs were not enhanced, misleading names, no temperature indication for hot spring pools, ambiguous fee signs for the fish therapy pool, oxygen pump posed safety risk by being placed at the poolside, dry and steam sauna lockers held staff personal items, guest slippers were not disinfected.

5. Service staff lack safety awareness and service consciousness, insufficient business training.

Since the opening of Han Yuan Hot Spring Resort, they had never encountered such a situation. He Xingjian sighed inwardly, troubles never come singly. He asked his wife to appeal to her father for a favor with the relevant departments.

On the phone, Chen Yiru complained that this time the province conducted a covert investigation. What can she do? The Dongzhou City Tourism Bureau wasn’t aware of the province’s inspection either. The only solution now is to rectify according to the regulations. The problem is, as it was a covert investigation, they don’t know when another inspection might take place. If issues persist in the next inspection, it could lead to a shutdown.

From He Xingjian’s heavy expression, Yan Fangming realized things might not be as simple as he had claimed. Initially, they thought handling a small town like Hu Shan Town would be easy, but reality proved them wrong.

He Xingjian wanted him to take the fall for this event, and Yan Fangming hesitated. Although He Xingjian had always treated him well, he was unsure how far this matter would escalate. As Li Zhong said, this burden might be too much for him to bear.

Yan Fangming got out of the car at the community gate, watched He Xingjian’s car drive off, and contemplated calling his uncle, Xie Zhongxin. After a moment’s thought, he decided to visit in person.

The two families did not live far apart.

Yan Fangming bought two cartons of cigarettes nearby and went to his uncle’s house, rang the doorbell, and after a moment, his aunt came to the door.

Yan Fangming called out to his aunt, but she was noticeably cold, "What brings you here?"

"I came to see uncle."

Xie Zhongxin’s voice came from inside, "Let Xiaoming in."

After just a few days apart, Yan Fangming felt that his uncle had aged significantly and seemed spiritless.

Xie Zhongxin clearly knew about him being called by the police to assist in the investigation, and said in a low voice, "You’re out?"

The way Yan Fangming heard it, the phrase seemed awkward, so he coughed lightly and said, "I went to assist in the investigation, I didn’t break the law."

Xie Zhongxin said, "Legal or not, it’s not for you to decide."

Yan Fangming placed the cigarettes on the table, and his aunt, who was wiping the table, harshly said, "Buying cigarettes again, are you trying to kill your uncle?"

Yan Fangming looked embarrassed, Xie Zhongxin said, "It’s not your concern, go get some pig head meat, I want to have a few drinks tonight."

The aunt threw the cloth on the table in frustration, "Smoking and drinking, it’ll kill you sooner or later!"

Yan Fangming could not ignore the underlying meaning in his aunt’s words and felt like he was sitting on pins and needles until the door slammed shut as she left and he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.