From Joy of Life, the Tian Gang is reversed

Chapter 491 The Bureaucrats' Counterattack! Chairman Li, you'd better pray that your Kinmen Group is clean...

"Li Hui—"

After a long silence, Vinina finally let out a sharp scream. She glared fiercely at her husband, her long golden hair seemingly swaying slightly with anger. "You just let him go?! Did you hear that?! What was his attitude just now? He admitted it! He acquiesced! He must have stolen that Purple Gold Star Grass Spirit and used it on his son! That's Alliance property. No one can be like him, taking Alliance property and still acting so recklessly. If this continues...!"

"This is China, not the European Union, nor the United States." Li Hui looked at his furious wife, listening to her resentment and questions, his mind filled with a lot of complaints.

His gaze then shifted to the frustrated Lee Dong-gun and the furious Kwon Jae-seok, and finally he sighed softly.

“Venina, calm down,” he said, each word like an ice cube thrown into boiling water, trying to suppress her turbulent emotions. “It’s not about letting him go, but that we can’t force him to stay right now.”

"Why?!" Vinina almost screamed. "Just because he's some damned section chief? What is an ordinary person compared to the God of War?!"

“First…” Li Hui held up a finger, interrupting her excitement, “It’s because he is Li Tianhao, the director of the Finance Department of the Yangzhou City Government, and soon to be the deputy director. This is very important to me and the Li family. He is not a martial artist, but his influence in the government system is significant in Yangzhou City, and even in the entire Jiangnan Base City. He has cultivated his network of relationships for many years, providing the Li family and me with a lot of unseen but crucial support. The Li family’s current power in Jiangnan is inseparable from its own people in the government system. He is one of the core members of my Li family, representing the family’s official image.”

He paused, his gaze sharpening as he looked at Vinina: "While I am the God of War and the pillar of the family, I must also safeguard the family's stability and overall interests. Without any solid evidence, based solely on speculation and events from thirty years ago, how can you expect me to explain this to the family, to the various factions with whom he has significant contributions, and to forcibly detain a powerful figure who represents the official facade of the family, all within my own home? How am I supposed to explain this to the family? How am I supposed to explain this to the various factions with which he has interests? Vinina, this isn't abroad, where you can use the HR Alliance's power to do whatever you want. China is a place where rules are followed."

Li Hui's voice was not loud, but it carried a unique calmness as he clearly explained his reasons from both the perspectives of practical interests and family interests.

Vinina's lips moved, as if she wanted to refute, but she was rendered speechless by the cold reality and could only grit her teeth in resentment.

"Second..." Li Hui held up a second finger, his tone even more somber, "Even if we were to take drastic measures, what then? Rely on torture to extract a confession? Even if he confesses, so what? Kidnapping an official from within a family? Do you think the government is useless? Do you think the military is a bunch of dead men? We don't have that power, that influence, or that strength!"

His gaze swept over Li Dongjian and the others: "The Four Star Society robbery you keep talking about is a huge problem in itself. More than thirty years have passed! Back then, because of the sensitive nature of the Four Star Society, its involvement with organized crime, and the possibility of insider dealings, the case was never formally filed! There is no record of it on official records!"

"Now, you say the Spirit of the Purple Gold Star Grass is missing, and that it's priceless. Where's the evidence? Besides the testimonies of your own people from the Golden Gate Group, what else do you have? Handover documents? Notarized records? Is there anything that can be presented publicly, anything that can be recognized by the courts or the municipal government of the base?"

Li Hui shook his head, his tone tinged with sarcasm: "No, nothing at all. More than thirty years have passed, the dead have no way to prove anything, and everything has changed. Even those so-called members of the Four Star Society back then might not even have legal Chinese citizenship! Now, based solely on Li Chengqian's rapid improvement in strength over the past month, you're going to deduce that Li Tianhao committed a crime thirty years ago, took the items, and is only using them now? Such speculation might be believable when fighting for survival in the wilderness, but in a base city, don't you find it laughable?!"

He leaned forward slightly, looking at Vinina and Lee Dong-gun: "So, let me make this clear to you, this matter cannot be resolved within the Lee family. The fact that I've managed to bring people here today is already the limit, and it's only because of Vinina. Taking it to the official level will yield no results. The authorities will never acknowledge a cold case from thirty years ago that was never filed, where the victim's identity is unknown, and where there is no physical evidence. They might even dredge up the Four Star Society's past and investigate the relationship between the Golden Gate Group and the Four Star Society. Believe me, your Golden Gate Group alone cannot bring down Lee Tianhao."

"Just like what you did before, Li Tianhao didn't mention it, and you didn't say anything either, because everyone knows these things in their hearts, and there's no point in bringing them up."

The method that failed once refers to the attempt by the Kinmen Group to kidnap Li Tianhao.

Since Li Tianhao arrived here, no one has mentioned this matter once, as if it had never happened.

Li Tianhao didn't ask, and they didn't say anything either.

Li Hui's subtext was clear: this matter was like the Four Star Society robbery years ago—the dead had no way to prove anything, and bringing it up was pointless, only humiliating. His tone turned icy. "So, give up on that idea. If you want results, if you want to recover your losses, if you want to hold people accountable, the HR Alliance and the Golden Gate Group can only resolve this through their own methods, outside the company, in their own way. But this absolutely does not include the Li family using force, or attempting to overturn the case through official channels. This is a mess, a muddled mess. The only smart thing to do is bury it in the dust of the past, or… use the methods you failed with before…"

Li Hui's words were like a bucket of ice water, extinguishing the flames on Vinina's surface and leaving Li Dongjian and the others feeling a bone-chilling sense of powerlessness and anger...

In the side hall, only heavy breathing and the cracking sound of Kwon Jae-seok's clenched fists could be heard; a repressive and dangerous storm was brewing in the silence.

Li Hui stopped talking, simply picked up his teacup again, and looked out the window.

Just as Lee Dong-gun and the others got up to leave, his communication watch suddenly lit up. Lee Dong-gun, still upset, said in a bad tone, "Damn it, didn't I tell you? No matter what happens today, don't bother me..."

But a few seconds later, his expression froze.

"What? An audit? What kind of audit..."

Suddenly, his expression changed drastically, and he almost roared, "They froze our accounts! Who froze them? Why? Who gave them the authority to do so...?"

"Suspected of tax evasion and smuggling? Impossible..."

"What?... Market regulation? Joint action?!"

"Bastard, bastard...!"

………………

…………

After roaring for a while, Lee Dong-gun was panting heavily, veins bulging on his forehead, displaying impotent rage.

"See? I told you long ago, now is not the time to look for him, but you wouldn't listen. You even had Congressman Fiss call and pressure me. Look at you..." Li Hui seemed to have expected this. He glanced at Vinina, picked up his teacup, took a small sip, and looked up at Li Dongjian. "Your first operation failed, so you should have been more restrained. Bringing him here the second time was just alerting him, letting him confirm his target. Now, it's his turn to retaliate. Chairman Li, you'd better pray that your Golden Gate Group is clean..."

After a moment, watching the pale-faced Li Dongjian and his two companions hurriedly leave, Li Hui glanced at his eyes and suddenly asked Winnie three questions in quick succession, "How deeply are the Golden Gate Group and the HR Alliance tied? After cutting off their illegal businesses, how much asset will they still have?! Will it have enough value?"

Vinina: "..."

"If it's valuable, then prepare to find a related company and see if we can merge... This is an opportunity, hmm, let's put it under Little Serena's name!"

(End of this chapter)