Inside the room, after some discussion, Cui Sanye finally remembered after pondering for half a cigarette.
"An Wei? That's right, is it An Wei?" Cui Sanye said, smoking. "An Shi! Oh, I know, it's in Hechuan, very close. It was in last year's annual report, the company is operating well, with good profits! What's wrong?"
"It's like this, elder, we need the eleven percent of your shares to oppose a company resolution," An Jing explained the reason for their visit in detail.
After listening to An Jing's explanation, the old man's initial impatience slowly turned into solemnity.
"The best business in the world is undoubtedly an exclusive one," Cui Sanye said. "Even if it's not supported domestically, it can be done abroad. From a profit perspective, I have to support your mother."
"But..." Ping An was about to speak when An Jing tugged at him.
"But, you two are right, this kind of business is really not for humans. How about you pool some money and buy my eleven percent together?" Cui Sanye asked, negotiating.
Eleven percent? Eleven percent of An Shi's shares was no small amount at the current valuation.
An Jing carefully considered her and Ping An's assets and said without stuttering, "We don't have that much money."
"Then, then what do we do?" Cui Sanye said with some difficulty. "How about you two do me a favor? If it's done, I'll side with you."
"What favor?" An Jing asked.
Cui Sanye didn't speak, he just smiled at Ping An and said, "I heard you're a famous detective. I happen to have a case, you solve it for me, and I'll help you."
Ping An looked at the old man's sly eyes, thought for a moment, and since he had no other good options, he nodded in agreement.
Ping An learned today that the company of Hechuan's richest man was called "Bayi Commerce," located in an inconspicuous corner of Hechuan city.
After Ping An agreed to take on the case, Cui Sanye immediately took them into his own company in Hechuan. He took out a pile of documents and said with a smile, "At the end of last year, the European company sent their annual report. According to the report, due to the influence of the Russians, countries in Europe using Russian natural gas reduced their usage share last year. Our company took the opportunity to fill the gap, and the sales volume of natural gas from the Arctic region increased significantly. In theory, we should have made money, but why did we lose money?"
"This is? This is a business activity?" Ping An was stunned. What kind of case was this?
"Listen to me!" Cui Sanye said patiently. "I sent out two audit teams. The first team found nothing and returned honestly, admitting they were not as capable as others and came back dejectedly. The second team sent some capable people, but the leader, an old fellow, died locally. This matter has not been investigated clearly yet."
"So there was a death, that's good." Ping An was delighted to hear there was a death.
"The deceased was my old accountant. The day before he died, he called me and said he had found something. Unfortunately, I was playing mahjong at the time and didn't get to listen. I told him to say it the next day, and then..." Cui Sanye said. "You need to go to Europe and help me find out the cause of the old accountant's death. As for the murderer? It's not convenient to handle it domestically. You just need to find out who it is. Also, I need to know what my old accountant found out and what happened at the European company."
Going to Europe? An Wei had only given them three days.
"Elder, the company meeting is in two days. What do you think?" An Jing said.
"Silly child, can't the three of us ask for a month's extension?" Cui Sanye said. "Just say I'm not feeling well."
"Let's consider this," Ping An said, looking at An Jing.
"Give me an answer tomorrow," Cui Sanye said. "If this matter is handled well, you two will be in charge of An Shi from now on."
They went to ask for a favor and ended up taking on a case.
When they returned to the municipal bureau, they learned that An Wei's suicide attempt had failed, and she had been sent to the hospital.
"Do you think your mother can still be in charge of An Shi? Her shares have long been diluted by other shareholders over the years," Xiang Wanfeng said. "I heard about what that Cui Sanye said. We were planning to send a working group to represent the local authorities to coordinate the matter of the old accountant's murder in Europe. In that case, you can go."
"Since my mother was forced, why didn't she say so that day?" An Jing asked.
"Alas, she was afraid Ping An wouldn't help," Xiang Wanfeng said. "And, she felt she owed me."
Ignoring Xiang Wanfeng's self-indulgence, the situation had reached this point, and a trip to Europe seemed unavoidable.
For the trip to Europe, people needed to be assigned. The Hechuan police sent Gao Xiaofei and Mei Qian, thinking it was just a coordination task, so two people would suffice.
On Ping An's side, to represent Cui Sanye, besides the people Cui Sanye arranged, he planned to bring his disciples Su Tang and Xiao Ao. Gao Da was too old and not suitable for travel. An Jing had to manage the company and deal with shareholders, and most importantly, she had to feed the baby.
After arranging all this, Ping An, with an excited Su Tang and Zhang Xiao Ao, boarded the business jet arranged by Cui Sanye.
"Hello, I am the auditor appointed by Sanye. These two are my colleagues. The one behind is our chief manager for this trip, and the one at the very back is the translator," said Huang Shuo, the auditor for the European company, on the plane. "To facilitate our work, your identity is temporarily designated as an externally hired third-party supervisor for this audit, responsible for overseeing our audit work."
With no time to help Lin Dang with the model competition troubles, and not even time for a one-on-one duel with Ou Erjian, Ping An, with his two disciples, embarked on a trip to Germany in a confused state.
On the plane, Ping An slept soundly for the first time in a long time. Compared to Gao Xiaofei and Mei Qian, who were crammed into economy class, the business jet felt incredibly comfortable, like a private plane.
Ever since receiving the mission to go to Germany with his master, Su Tang had been in a state of excitement. After repeatedly confirming the current climate in Germany, she packed a large bag of clothes, only to be reprimanded by an exasperated Ping An, and then reluctantly carried a backpack. On the plane, she was indifferent to the case her master needed to solve, only hoping to see foreign scenery.
Zhang Xiao Ao, who had been in a supporting role throughout, wore a serious expression. Huang Shuo dared not slight this young man, always feeling that this was likely one of Ping An's top generals. However, Su Tang knew very well that this guy was just suffering from motion sickness.
More than ten hours later, Ping An and his group arrived in Hamburg, Germany, and began Sanye's mission.
"Your godfather and your uncle left an hour before us, but they're still circling around the Middle East. Tsk, private jets are indeed efficient." The dry climate of Germany made Ping An uncomfortable. His usual mild rhinitis flared up, making him feel unwell.
"Master, do we have a plan for this case?" Su Tang was still very excited.
"I haven't thought about it yet. Let's go to the hotel first and get over the jet lag," Ping An said.
Hamburg was a large city, but in Ping An's eyes, it was comparable to a fourth-tier city in China. Especially after checking into a so-called five-star hotel, he saw a mouse in the room, which immediately ruined any chance of sleep.
While others were busy adjusting to the jet lag, Ping An began to meticulously study the case.
After flipping through half a notebook of information, he understood that the "European company" Cui Sanye mentioned actually consisted of three or four companies, all of which were his properties, just operating independently. The company that had the incident was actually just an ordinary energy sales company. Energy sales, in essence, meant acting as an intermediary, transporting natural gas from the Arctic and even North America to Europe, then re-processing and distributing it to various clients. Since Europe lacked infrastructure like China's "West-East Gas Pipeline," transportation had to be done by tanker trucks, one by one.
The high transportation costs naturally led to higher gas prices, and only high-end clients such as luxury residential areas, university towns, wineries, and tourist attractions could afford it. Although the costs were considerable last year, the profits were also substantial. In theory, there shouldn't have been a loss. However, the expenses listed in the accounts were all justifiable, and although the income figures were impressive, a simple "offsetting" revealed a significant loss.
"This is indeed a difficult problem!" Ping An scratched his head and dejectedly put aside the audit case, picking up the homicide investigation description.
A month ago, Cui Sanye had sent out the second audit team. The leader, an honest old accountant named Wang Bao, seemed to have discovered something, but...
Ping An painstakingly sounded out the location where Wang Bao died and searched online, only to find that it was the very hotel he was staying in. Fortunately, it wasn't the same floor, or he would have been terrified.
According to the description, at 5:15 AM on the day Wang Bao died, the hotel reception received a call. The call was made from Wang Bao's room, but the person speaking was not Wang Bao, as Wang Bao did not speak German, while the caller spoke fluent German.
"Hurry, suite 3434, an Asian man is dead, quickly, please!"
This was what the police recorded at the time, reportedly by the customer service representative who took the call.
Following this, after hearing the call, the customer service representative first notified the floor attendant and security, and then alerted the police.
According to this customer service representative—"She was terrified by the person on the phone and felt it was better to inform the police first."
Around 5:20 AM, a floor attendant and three on-duty security guards arrived at room 3434. The attendant knocked and asked, but there was no response. They then used their master key to open the door and entered, finding Wang Bao naked on the bathroom floor, deceased.
Around 5:45 AM, the police arrived at the hotel and investigated the scene of Wang Bao's death. They discovered that Wang Bao's left thigh artery had been pierced by a sharp object, and the cause of death was excessive bleeding. Before dying, the deceased was clutching a long towel, presumably trying to bandage the wound for self-rescue, but it was too late.
According to the on-site investigation, there were large amounts of bloodstains on the deceased's bed, with three blood palm prints, later confirmed to be the deceased's own. The bloodstains extended from the bed to the bathroom. There were more than a dozen incomplete blood footprints on the floor, all in a single direction, from the bed to the bathroom, also confirmed to be the deceased's own. In the bathroom, there was a lot of blood under the deceased's feet and knees, with some blood footprints indicating movement back and forth, also confirmed to be the deceased's own.
Later, the police deduced that the deceased was likely attacked suddenly in his sleep. The attacker used a sharp object and stabbed the deceased's thigh artery. The deceased woke up in shock and fear, and either due to further threats from the attacker or in an attempt to save himself, got out of bed and went to the bathroom on the right side of the bed (the door and living room were on the left side of the bed), eventually succumbing to his injuries.
The attacker likely entered through the door, moved to the bedside, and attacked the deceased from the right side of the bed. Then, either in a panic after the deceased woke up, they fled through the door along the original path, or wanting to attack further, they forced the deceased to flee to the bathroom on the left side of the bed.
However, given that there were no other footprints or signs of movement of objects in the bloodstains from the bed to the bathroom, it could be inferred that the attacker did not follow the deceased into the bathroom.