Chapter 794: The Eavesdropping Scandal!
Hong Kong. Cloudtop No. 1!
By the time all the guests had left, it was already past ten o’clock at night.
Zhang Ziqiang was about to help the tipsy Li Yi up to his room to rest.
But as they entered the bedroom, Li Yi whispered a few words in his ear before flopping onto the soft, large bed and immediately falling into a deep sleep.
After coming back downstairs, Zhang Ziqiang immediately summoned Zhou Wen, Yang Zhiwen, Xiao Wu, and the others.
Under Zhang Ziqiang’s direction, the group began a thorough search of every nook and cranny of the villa, starting from the first floor…
Soon, Xiao Wu made a discovery: he found a familiar device—a bugging device—under the sofa.
Clearly, someone had secretly planted this device while Cloud Peak No. 1 was unoccupied.
As for the purpose? Naturally, it was to keep tabs on Li Yi’s every move.
As the saying goes, “Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles”—clearly, the other side was well aware of this principle.
Unfortunately for them, they had underestimated Li Yi—and the National Security Special Forces agents by his side.
The next morning!
When Li Yi woke up, the sun was already high in the sky.
He glanced at his watch and saw it was already 9:30 a.m. Clearly, he’d had a bit too much to drink the night before.
Fortunately, he’d only had red wine the night before, and Li Yi had some tolerance for it, so he hadn’t completely blacked out.
After taking a shower in the bathroom and changing into some relatively casual clothes, Li Yi headed downstairs.
As soon as he reached the first floor, he saw that Huang Lixing and Tie Ying had arrived at some point and were chatting with Zhang Ziqiang, Zhou Wen, and the others.
Hearing footsteps, the group stopped immediately, and everyone’s eyes turned toward the staircase.
When they saw it was Li Yi coming down, Huang Lixing and the others all stood up.
“Old Huang, when did you get here? Did you get tired of waiting?”
“Not bad—I’ve only been here less than half an hour. Brother Zhang told me you weren’t up yet, so I just sat in the living room for a bit!” Huang Lixing said with a smile.
Li Yi nodded, then turned to Zhang Ziqiang and the others. “Daqiang, Wen, from now on, whenever Old Huang arrives, you must let me know immediately—even if I’m resting, you have to wake me up!”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Huang Lixing hurriedly interjected, “Brother Zhang was just about to go up and wake you up, but I stopped him. You were rushing to catch a flight and then taking the ferry yesterday, and you drank quite a bit last night—it’s better for you to get some more rest!”
Li Yi nodded and replied, “I’m fine now. I’ve recovered.”
Compared to the relentless nagging from his own wife, this was nothing.
“That’s good. I came over today mainly to talk to you about the company’s situation…”
Before he could finish, Li Yi raised his hand to cut Huang Lixing off and turned to Zhang Ziqiang instead. “Did you find anything last night?”
Zhang Ziqiang replied immediately, “Yes. After a thorough search, we found a total of 17 listening devices in the villa!”
“Seventeen? That many?” Li Yi said, slightly surprised.
Although he had anticipated that someone would tamper with the villa, he hadn’t expected them to be so brazen—installing 17 listening devices in his home all at once. That was quite the operation!
Zhang Ziqiang nodded and said, “That’s right. These listening devices were all installed in key locations—like the conference room, the reception area, and even the bathrooms…”
Before he could finish, Huang Lixing frowned and said, “Brother Li Yi, from what you’re saying, someone installed listening devices in your home?”
“That’s right. We’ve found 17 so far!” Li Yi replied.
“It’s definitely those damn foreigners. What a bunch of bastards…”
Seeing Old Huang’s furious expression, Li Yi smiled and said, “Old Huang, calm down. These are just some underhanded, low-life tactics—no need to get angry!”
“How can I not be angry? They actually went so far as to install listening devices in your home, Brother Li Yi. That’s just too underhanded. Thank goodness you caught them; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable!” Huang Lixing said.
“The business world is like a battlefield. While some tactics may be underhanded, they can be quite effective at times—provided, of course, that the other side doesn’t catch on. Otherwise, they’re useless!”
Li Yi then looked at Zhang Ziqiang and asked, “Have all those bugs been removed?”
“They’re gone, but…”
“But what?”
“But to avoid disturbing your rest, Brother Yi, we haven’t searched your bedroom yet. It’s such a crucial spot—the enemy surely wouldn’t have left it unmonitored!” Zhang Ziqiang replied.
“Go up and search it. As soon as you find any bugging devices, remove them immediately. Then conduct a thorough sweep of the entire villa—there must be absolutely no oversights!” Li Yi ordered in a stern voice.
“Yes, sir!”
With that, Zhang Ziqiang led Xiao Wu upstairs to conduct the search.
Just as Zhang Ziqiang and the others reached the top of the stairs, Huang Lixing’s expression suddenly darkened as he asked, “Brother, is it time to start inspecting the villa?”
“After the banquet last night, I suppose. What’s the matter?” Li Yi asked.
Huang Lixing frowned deeply and said, “That means the bugs in the conference room were still active while we were meeting. Doesn’t that mean those bastards know everything we discussed yesterday? This…”
Li Yi replied calmly, “Calm down… calm down. Actually, I anticipated this situation even before I returned. Given the way those Anglo-Saxons operate, they would definitely have made a move while I was away. Bugs and such are minor issues—they might even have planted a bomb in my house!”
“But… then why didn’t you check the place as soon as you got back? Instead, you took Old Li and the others straight to the conference room. Aren’t you afraid they might actually plant a bomb in your house or something?” Huang Lixing asked, puzzled.
“If I hadn’t seen you and your wife, I definitely wouldn’t have come in so easily. But since you two arrived early and even cleaned the entire villa, I knew those people wouldn’t dare kill me just yet—at most, they’d plant a bug or something!”
Li Yi continued, “So I gave them a chance—otherwise, they wouldn’t have had any sense of accomplishment at all!”
Huang Lixing couldn’t help but gasp. He never imagined that coming over early yesterday to clean up would be so dangerous.
If there really had been a bomb in this room, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
After a long moment, Huang Lixing said, still shaken, “So when you took Old Li and the others to the conference room for the meeting, you did it on purpose so they could eavesdrop on us?”
Li Yi nodded. “Exactly. If I hadn’t done that, how would those foreigners have known I was planning to take them down? How else would I have created that tense atmosphere?”
“But… is that really the right approach? Shouldn’t we have acted quietly and caught them off guard?” Huang Lixing asked, looking slightly puzzled.
“Normally, that’s not a good idea, but if it’s just to buy some time, there’s nothing wrong with it!” Li Yi said coldly.
“Buy time?”
“Right. I did come to Hong Kong this time to deal with these Westerners, but they aren’t my primary target. To prevent these bastards from coming out to cause trouble, I have to muddy the waters. That’s what they call ‘feigning weakness to conceal strength, and feigning strength to conceal weakness’—making it impossible for the enemy to tell what’s real and what’s fake!” Li Yi said.
Huang Lixing immediately asked, “So, Brother Li Yi, what’s your next move…? Never mind, I won’t ask. Just tell me what to do—Old Huang will follow your orders…”
Just as he spoke, hurried footsteps sounded again from upstairs.
Immediately afterward, Zhang Ziqiang and Xiao Wu came down the stairs, carrying several small black devices in their hands.
“Brother Yi, there were three bugs in your bedroom—one behind the headboard, one in the false compartment of the nightstand, and one inside the bathroom light fixture. We’ve taken them all out!” Zhang Ziqiang reported.
“Good. In a moment, go check the entire villa inside and out. Don’t just look for listening devices—check for any timed bombs or other dangerous items as well!” Li Yi ordered.
“Yes, sir!”
Li Yi then turned to Huang Lixing and said, “Old Huang, call in a security team from Shield Corporation. Have them provide me with protection!”
“Got it!”
“Oh, right. You mentioned earlier that you wanted to talk to me about company matters. Now’s the time,” Li Yi said.
“Alright…”
………..