Reborn as Zhao Ruilong of Handong, I will defy fate.

Chapter 403 Zhang Xiaoxue Refuses to Help! Zhong Xiaoai Has a Hidden Scheme!

Zhang Xiaoxue was furious.

He was already furious that his father had stopped investing in business in order to protect his career.

Her father's desire for her to persuade Zhao Ruilong to invest in building the high-speed rail infuriated her even more.

Now, when his cousin Zhang Xiaochuan is making money, he won't let him join in, but when things get bad, he wants his help.

The request was particularly outrageous; they even wanted the domestic police to help contact the Red Alliance to investigate who had hacked their gambling website.

This is absolutely outrageous.

Zhang Xiaoxue was naturally furious.

"Oh, sis, don't be angry. I had no other choice. I was just trying anything..."

"What's the point of seeking medical treatment?"

Zhang Xiaoxue snapped angrily, "Didn't I just say that even if we find the murderer, so what? Do you think you can get the other party to refund the money?"

"If they dare to double-cross others, they're not afraid of your investigation. They might be a warlord controlling a region, or even a country. Would you dare to come knocking on their door to collect debts?"

"You actually want me to contact the Linjiang Provincial Public Security Bureau and have them find a hacker for you? Who do you think I am? Do you think the provincial bureau is my personal property? That I can help you with anything?"

Zhang Xiaochuan sighed.

"Sister, I know that at this point, the chances of getting the money back are slim. It's been almost two hours since it happened, and the stolen funds must have already been broken down into smaller amounts and disappeared."

"But I really want to know who did this. They're so ruthless. They not only hacked our website, but also several other websites, and they even took all the gamblers' savings."

"I had heard of many transnational criminal organizations that made money through fraud, drug trafficking, smuggling, and human trafficking, and the money disappeared inexplicably. I didn't believe it, but I never thought it would happen to me."

Zhang Xiaoxue slowed down, turned, and drove towards Jiangcheng Huilong Hotel.

"Holy crap, what the hell is so unexpected about this?"

"Isn't it normal for you guys involved in the black and gray industries to get double-crossed?"

"If you're making money legally and legitimately, and you can report it to the police if you get scammed, who would bother to deal with you?"

"Why haven't the money of those internationally renowned companies, large corporations, and big bosses been stolen?"

"You were double-crossed because you were not clean and were not protected by law. You deserved to be cheated."

"When you arbitrarily manipulate odds and win rates, treating gamblers like lambs to be harvested, you should have realized that making ill-gotten gains will eventually bring retribution!"

Zhang Xiaochuan quickly said, "Sister, I know that running a gambling website is wrong and will harm many people, but..."

"It's nothing!"

Zhang Xiaoxue bluntly interjected:

"If you have a legitimate website in the US that has been hacked, I can help you contact the provincial authorities and see if you can get in touch with the Red K Alliance."

"But you are now running a gambling website. What you are doing may be legal abroad, but it is a strictly prohibited illegal act in China!"

"I have no reason or face to ask the provincial department to intervene for you. If you think I've done something wrong or haven't treated you like family, then say whatever you want, I don't care!"

"Sister, I..."

"Don't call me sister. Your second uncle and aunt sent you to study in the United States hoping you would succeed academically. They didn't let you run a gambling website. It's a good thing you've suffered losses now. It lets you know that there are always people more capable than you, and the online world isn't as simple as you think. Studying hard is the most important thing you should be doing!"

"Okay, I understand. But I still want to add one more thing: with the increasing popularity of the internet, online gambling will have a lot of room for development in the future. In the future, some countries will inevitably issue online casino licenses in order to develop their economies. I think this industry has a promising future."

Zhang Xiaoxue snorted coldly, spotted the parking space, and skillfully shifted into reverse.

After glancing at the left and right rearview mirrors and the reversing camera, I slowly backed the car into the parking space.

"If you think it has potential, then you should work hard at it!"

"But let me remind you, don't take on a job you're not qualified for!"

"If you don't have solid technical skills but run an online casino, then you're just someone else's easy prey to exploit!"

Zhang Xiaochuan said dismissively:

"Don't worry, you'll learn from your mistakes."

"This time we were caught off guard, and we were indeed outmatched in skill."

"However, I believe that we can learn from our experience and recruit more skilled technical personnel."

"Once we develop a new website, it won't be so easy for them to hack in and delete the entire database."

Zhang Xiaoxue parked the car, turned off the engine, and removed her seatbelt.

"Alright, since you're so ambitious, then work hard and strive to build the world's number one gambling website!"

"When you become a gambling king with a net worth of hundreds of billions, you'll have brought honor to our Zhang family!"

After saying that, Zhang Xiaoxue hung up the phone.

"You bastard!"

"WTF?"

"The gambling website deserved to be hacked!"

"They actually have the nerve to ask me to help them find someone to track down the murderer."

"Investigate what? What's there to investigate? They were clearly acting on behalf of Heaven!"

After getting out of the car, Zhang Xiaoxue took the wine and headed straight for the elevator.

I hadn't gone far when I heard a beep behind me.

Zhang Xiaoxue didn't turn around, knowing that the Land Rover had sensed the owner leaving and automatically locked itself.

Thinking back to my old car, it didn't even have a remote locking function; I had to use a mechanical key to lock it.

I hadn't walked more than a few steps when my phone started buzzing.

I flipped open the phone with one hand and opened QQ.

It was a message from my cousin, Zhang Xiaochuan.

"We're like siblings, please don't tell anyone else. Just pretend I never called you tonight."

A cold smile flickered across Zhang Xiaoxue's lips.

I operated my phone with one hand and replied with a "OK".

I put my phone away and continued walking towards the elevator.

"The rapid development of electronic information technology has indeed made communication much more convenient. Even though we are thousands of kilometers apart, we can still receive messages instantly when chatting on QQ on our mobile phones."

"If this trend continues, it will probably only take a few years, as Zhao Ruilong said, to have access to faster 4G networks and more advanced and feature-rich smartphones."

"By then, it will probably be more than just sending messages to each other; you can even video chat anytime, anywhere, since mobile phones will already have cameras and microphones."

"However, by then, mobile phones will be able to easily access the internet and install a lot of software like computers. Perhaps, as Zhang Xiaochuan said, online gambling will become more popular."

"But regardless of whether other countries legalize online gambling, our Dragon Country will definitely prohibit it strictly. Any advanced technology should only be used to benefit the people, not to harm the masses!"

Taking the elevator upstairs, Zhang Xiaoxue arrived at the door of the suite she had stayed in the previous night.

I rang the doorbell for a while, but Zhao Ruilong didn't come to open the door.

"What do you mean? Is it past ten o'clock and they're still out socializing and haven't come back yet?"

Zhang Xiaoxue took out her phone and immediately called Zhao Ruilong.

It took quite a while before the call was answered.

"Hey, where are you?"

"I'm swimming!"

"Swimming? You've been in meetings all day, aren't you tired? And it's the middle of the night, where are you going to swim?"

"The indoor swimming pool in the gym on the fifth floor of the hotel! Do you want to come? It's deserted at night, so swimming there is especially refreshing and stress-relieving!"

"I'm not swimming! Fifth floor, right? I'm coming right now!"

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Xiaoxue immediately turned around and prepared to go downstairs.

Unexpectedly, just as I arrived at the elevator, I saw Zhong Xiaoai dragging her suitcase out.

"Hey, Xiaoxue, what are you doing here?"

With lightning-fast reflexes, Zhang Xiaoxue raised the glass of red wine in her hand.

"My dad asked me to deliver a bottle of wine to Mr. Zhao to thank him for his generous investment in Linjiang. I didn't expect him to be swimming on the fifth floor. And you? Aren't you the public relations manager of Huilong Group? Why are you only arriving now when the forum opened this morning?"

Zhong Xiaoai said frankly and directly, "I took leave. I went to court today to file for divorce."

"divorce?"

Zhang Xiaoxue asked curiously, "Have you and Hou Liangping officially divorced?"

Zhong Xiaoai breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, saying:

"Yes, he's not a good person, and I'm not a saint. He's in prison, and I can't keep waiting outside!"

"Besides, he was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. No matter how much his sentence is reduced, he won't be out until around 2010. By then, I'll be almost forty."

“We’re both women, you should understand me. We women don’t have many years of youth and beauty. I can choose a better life, so why should I wait for him to get out of prison?”

"Besides, after he gets out of prison, he will definitely be out of touch with society and have a criminal record. He will have a hard time finding a job and will have to rely on me to support the family. If I don't divorce him, am I supposed to keep him as a burden in the future?"

Zhang Xiaoxue frowned slightly: "Marriage and divorce should be amicable separations. Why did you two have to go to court to get divorced?"

Zhong Xiaoai shook her head helplessly.

“I tried to get a divorce by mutual agreement, but he absolutely refused. Even though I promised to buy him a house and save some money so that he wouldn’t be homeless or starving after he got out of prison and couldn’t find a job, he wouldn’t appreciate it. What else could I do but file for divorce!”

"That's true! You're still young, there's no need to waste your precious youth on him!"

Zhang Xiaoxue quickly looked Zhong Xiaoai up and down.

Tall and graceful, Zhong Xiaoai has a rather good image and temperament.

Even if you don't work within the system, as the public relations manager of Huilong Group, you're still a high-level white-collar worker.

How could a young, beautiful, and well-paid white-collar woman like her possibly wait for a man in prison for many years?

If the roles were reversed, Hou Liangping, the man who rose to power through women, would be even less likely to wait for Zhong Xiaoai to turn forty.

Zhang Xiaoxue had seen far too many men like him—talented and handsome, but lacking family background, who married powerful wives to advance their careers.

Sha Ruijin, who launched an anti-corruption campaign even before the inspection team arrived, only rose to the position of deputy secretary of Linjiang mainly because of his powerful wife, Ge Xiufen.

Zhong Xiaoai sighed, "I've done my best for him. I gave his father some money so he wouldn't have to worry about his father's livelihood, and he'll be able to make a living on his own after he gets out!"

"So what are your plans next? We need to talk about another one, right?"

"I should focus on my work first! Even if a woman like me, who is divorced and whose father is still in prison, is young, beautiful, and has a good job, no one will dare to marry me easily!"

"That's not necessarily true. Conditions are secondary; it mainly depends on fate!"

As she spoke, Zhang Xiaoxue pressed the down button on the elevator.

"I'm going to deliver the wine to Mr. Zhao now. We can talk again when we have time."

"Okay, go ahead!"

Zhong Xiaoai smiled and watched them leave until the elevator doors closed.

"Hmph, don't think I don't know you're interested in President Zhao."

"Delivering red wine to a hotel in the middle of the night? You really know how to come up with excuses!"

"Once you drink some red wine and get tipsy, what happens next? Do you think I don't know?"

As she muttered to herself, Zhong Xiaoai couldn't help but recall the night she and Hou Liangping were taken away.