135: Chapter 135 Lin Haoyu of Haoyu Group is prosecuted
Monday morning at Singularity Technology, the large screen in the office area was looping the battle report for the Southeast Asian version of star path: reboot. The bold red characters—'10 days since launch, total downloads exceed 600,000, revenue over 1.5 million USD'—were particularly eye-catching. Employees couldn't help but steal extra glances as they passed by, their faces filled with pride.
However, this excitement didn't quite reach Zhang Fan's office.
He sat before his computer, but the screen displayed game data no longer. Instead, it showed an official bulletin just released by the Jiangcheng Municipal Tax Bureau, with a cold and striking headline: 'Haoyu Group suspected of evading 21 million yuan in taxes; legal representative Lin Haoyu indicted, facing a proposed sentence of over 5 years in prison and a fine of 35 million yuan.'
The bulletin also included case details, clearly listing evidence of Haoyu Group's tax evasion through 'yin-yang contracts' and 'inflated costs' over the past three years, even including audio recordings of Lin Haoyu instructing financial personnel to destroy account books.
"Finally, a result." Zhou Yurou walked in carrying a cup of freshly brewed tea. Seeing the bulletin on the screen, she sighed softly. "I was worried before that someone behind him might interfere with the case. I didn't expect Chairman Song to have already pulled some strings; the tax department's investigation was incredibly thorough."
Zhang Fan moved his mouse to scroll down the bulletin, his gaze lingering on the words 'Lin Haoyu's personal assets have been frozen to cover back taxes and fines.' He felt no sense of schadenfreude, only a sense of calm as the dust settled. "This is what he deserves. If he hadn't tried to drive Xia Qinyi and her daughter to a dead end, he wouldn't have ended up like this."
Just as he finished speaking, a message from Gu Jingshen popped up, accompanied by a screenshot of entertainment news. The headline read: 'Lin Haoyu of Haoyu Group Indicted; "White Moonlight" Su Qing Files for Divorce Immediately, Demands Division of Non-Frozen Assets.' The content mentioned that Su Qing had submitted a divorce application to the court, claiming 'marital discord since the wedding and total ignorance of his illegal activities,' even producing a prenuptial agreement to distance herself from everything.
"Heh, this Su Qing certainly knows how to cut ties." Gu Jingshen sent a voice message, his tone dripping with mockery. "When Lin Haoyu was in his prime, she was abroad buying luxury goods with his money. Now that Lin Haoyu has fallen, she's running faster than anyone."
Zhang Fan didn't reply but instead clicked on the Weibo trending topics. The hashtag #LinHaoyuSentencedForTaxEvasion# had already climbed to 20th place, and the comments below were overwhelmingly critical:
"I used to think he was a domineering CEO, but it turns out he's just a criminal!"
"He was so arrogant when he was bullying the stand-in and the child; look how pathetic he is now!"
"He deserves it! People like this should reflect on themselves in prison!"
He closed Weibo, picked up his phone, and sent a message to Xia Qinyi with the link to the tax bulletin: "There's a result in Lin Haoyu's case; he's been sentenced. You don't have to be afraid anymore."
Not long after, Xia Qinyi replied with a brief message of only two words: "Thank you." It was followed by a small sun emoji, as if to say the dark clouds hanging over her heart had finally dispersed.
The afternoon's work remained busy. The organizational meeting for the Overseas Business Department lasted over two hours. Zhang Fan and Zhou Yurou finalized the department structure and personnel assignments together. They even tentatively chose Singapore as the location for the overseas office—it had convenient transportation, was close to the Southeast Asian market, and could reach Europe and America. It was a good starting point.
It wasn't until six in the evening that he dragged his tired body home.
Just as he finished changing his shoes, his phone rang with a video call request from an unknown contact labeled 'Lele.'
Zhang Fan paused for a moment before quickly answering. Lele's round little face immediately appeared on the screen, with a cozy little bedroom in the background. The walls were covered with her drawings of dinosaurs and castles. "Uncle Zhang Fan! Are you off work? Auntie Liu Ruyan said the online multiplayer feature for 'star dream workshop' is live, and we can play games together!"
"Just got off work, I was just about to go online with you." Zhang Fan sat on the sofa with a smile and opened 'star dream workshop' on his tablet. After logging in, he immediately received a multiplayer invitation from Lele, followed by a cute dinosaur emoji.
The moment he clicked 'Accept,' the screen switched to the map Lele had generated—it was a lush mountain scene with pine trees covering the landscape and pinecones scattered on the ground. Occasionally, cartoon squirrels would run past, stopping when they saw Lele's character to wave their little paws while holding pinecones.
"Uncle, look! These are the mountains from my hometown!" Lele excitedly controlled her character to run, her short legs hopping and skipping on the grass. "I went hiking with Mommy yesterday and saw so many little squirrels, so I used the AI to generate this map!"
Zhang Fan controlled his character to follow. The two of them climbed up the stone path together. When they passed a stream, Lele specifically made her character stop to scoop up the water, and a prompt immediately popped up on the screen: 'Obtained item: Cool Stream Water.' When they reached the mountainside, Lele suddenly shouted, "Uncle, look! There's a tree hollow there! There are pinecones inside!"
She ran her character over and clicked on the hollow. Sure enough, a pile of golden pinecones was hidden inside, along with a small note that read 'Lele and Uncle Zhang Fan's Secret Base'—it was a hidden plot point Lele had generated with the AI that could only be triggered when the two of them played together.
"Uncle, let's plant the pinecones at the top of the mountain. That way, we'll see pine trees next time we come!" Lele's voice came through the microphone, filled with childish joy, completely devoid of the fear from her previous kidnapping.
Zhang Fan agreed with a smile, "Alright, let's plant them together. We'll fill the whole mountaintop."
As they chatted and climbed toward the peak, Lele would occasionally share fun stories from her hometown: "Mommy took me to the market yesterday and bought sweet candied haws. They're even tastier than the ones in Jiangcheng!"
"The older sister next door, Xiaohua, gave me a little bunny. It's white and so cute!"
Zhang Fan listened patiently, responding occasionally, his heart feeling warm. He knew that Lele's ability to move past the trauma so quickly was inseparable from the warmth of her new environment and Xia Qinyi's meticulous care.
After playing for nearly an hour, Xia Qinyi's voice suddenly came from the screen: "Lele, it's time for bed. You have school tomorrow."
"No, I want to play with Uncle a bit longer," Lele said, pouting reluctantly.
"How about playing tomorrow? Uncle needs to rest too." Xia Qinyi's voice was gentle and patient. Then, her face appeared in the corner of the screen, giving Zhang Fan a grateful smile. "Mr. Zhang, thank you for playing with Lele for so long. She's been happy all day."
"It's my pleasure, I enjoy playing with Lele too," Zhang Fan said with a smile. "Let her get some rest. We'll play again this weekend."
After hanging up the video call, Zhang Fan had just put down his tablet when he received a WeChat message from Xia Qinyi: "Lele said before bed that she wants to take you to see the mountains in our hometown when you visit this weekend. She says you can see so many stars from the top. Thank you for helping her believe the world can be warm again."
Zhang Fan looked at the message, his finger pausing on the screen before replying: "I'll come to see you both once I'm done with this busy period."
Outside the window, the night grew darker. The city lights spilled through the glass, landing on the 'star dream workshop' icon on the tablet. Zhang Fan leaned back on the sofa, his heart filled with peace.
Lin Haoyu's downfall, the new life for Xia Qinyi and her daughter, and the company's overseas expansion—everything was moving in a positive direction.