Chapter 278: How Do We Get the Missing Money?

Politburo Member Liu Peiqi could think of only one thing.

Everything was ruined.

Chairman Bongard was universally recognized as the richest man in the world. For someone with an astronomical fortune, 15 billion dollars was not all that much money. And if a man like that decided to buy the diamond, Liu Peiqi would be left with nothing, like a dog barking at a bird flying away. If that happened, his chances of securing a seat on the Standing Committee would fall to zero.

While he sank deeper into anxiety, Chairman Zhen Weiliang’s phone conversation continued.

[Chairman Zhen, I’m calling at Director Cha’s request.]

“I already know. I’m sorry, but I can’t sell the diamond to Chairman Bongard.”

[Could it be... that you’re planning to sell it to Politburo Member Liu Peiqi?]

Chairman Bongard was absolutely right. However, Chairman Zhen Weiliang needed to squeeze Liu Peiqi for every last penny, so he had no intention of telling the truth.

“I’m negotiating with Liu right now, but I don’t think the deal will go through.”

[Then who are you planning to sell it to?]

“I have a meeting scheduled with Vice Chairman Tang Guochang tomorrow morning.”

[But there’s no guarantee he’ll buy the diamond, is there?]

“He needs this diamond like he needs air if he wants to secure a seat on the Standing Committee.”

[Ah, I see.]

“I’ll contact Chairman Bongard after I meet with him.”

[All right. I won’t keep you any longer. We’ll speak again.]

Click.

The moment Chairman Zhen Weiliang hung up, Liu Peiqi immediately blurted out,

“Chairman Zhen, I’ll buy the diamond.”

“Haha. A wise decision.”

At that moment, Director Liu Haoran whispered into Liu Peiqi’s ear,

“Brother, are you really going to buy the diamond for 15 billion dollars?”

“What other choice do I have?”

“But we don’t have enough money!”

“We’ll think about that when we get back to the hotel.”

“I understand that, but where would Vice Chairman Tang get enough money to buy the diamond?”

“Even a three-year-old knows how greedy he is for money,” Liu Peiqi grumbled before resuming negotiations with Zhen Weiliang. “What if I pay only the deposit today and pay the remainder after the diamond appraisal is completed?”

“I fully agree with that proposal.”

Since the most important issue—the price—had been settled, the rest of the transaction terms were agreed upon almost immediately. Chairman Zhen Weiliang summoned the lawyer waiting outside the reception room and instructed him to prepare the contract. Taking advantage of the pause, Liu Peiqi and Zhen Weiliang began making casual conversation.

“Chairman Zhen, I’m curious. How did you manage to buy the diamond from the Swiss government?”

In reality, Zhen Weiliang had bought the diamond from Cha Jiham. Telling the truth would only make everything more complicated, so he had lied and claimed that the transaction had been with the Swiss government. To keep the story believable, he now had no choice but to continue along that line.

“I know Paul Bachmann, who appraised the diamond.”

“So you got the information from him?”

“That’s right. On his recommendation, I secretly contacted high-ranking officials in the Swiss government and eventually purchased the diamond.”

“That’s strange. If the Swiss government had sold it through a public auction, they could have made far more money. Why would they secretly sell it to you?”

Zhen Weiliang suddenly felt suffocated.

His own lie was spawning one new lie after another.

But it was already too late to back down and confess the truth, so after racking his brain, he came up with a fairly plausible explanation.

“I simply lined the pockets of the right high-ranking official.”

“Ah, now it makes sense...” Liu Peiqi said, nodding slowly.

Some time later, the lawyer finally finished preparing the contract. The Liu brothers carefully reviewed the diamond sale agreement and, after several minutes, confirmed that they had no objections to the document. Liu Peiqi and Chairman Zhen Weiliang signed it without delay. Vice Chairman Wei Chen signed as the seller’s authorized representative.

“Mr. Liu, please transfer the twenty-percent deposit to Chairman Zhen now.”

Liu Peiqi gave a slight nod.

Vice President Liu Shen took a laptop from his briefcase, turned it on, and rotated it toward Liu Peiqi. Liu performed several operations and transferred 3 billion dollars to the account specified by Zhen Weiliang. After completing the procedure, he closed the laptop and addressed the chairman.

“I’ve transferred 3 billion dollars. You can check.”

“I trust you as much as I trust myself.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Why don’t we celebrate the deal and have a proper drink?”

‘Would you be drinking in celebration if you were in my shoes?!’

The words nearly burst from Liu Peiqi’s mouth, but he displayed frightening restraint and held them back.

“I’ve been running around since early morning, and I’m exhausted.”

“Well then, I won’t insist. We’ll meet tomorrow at three in the afternoon.”

Chairman Zhen Weiliang escorted the Liu brothers all the way downstairs before hurrying back to the reception room, where Cha Jiham was waiting.

“Chairman Zhen, excellent work selling the diamond.”

“So far, all we’ve received is the deposit.”

Until the remaining balance was paid and the diamond was handed over to Liu Peiqi, the transaction could not truly be considered complete.

That was what Zhen Weiliang meant.

“That’s true... You’re right,” I replied.

Chairman Zhen Weiliang turned to Vice Chairman Wei Chen.

“That bastard Liu might try to seize the diamond by force, so stay on your guard.”

“My people have already surrounded the company building tightly, just in case.”

“Excellent. Still... where does he have that much money?”

Vice Chairman Wei Chen was dying to know the answer as well.

Cha Jiham had forcibly taken 5,125 kilograms of gold bars and 2,520 kilograms of gold Buddha statues from Liu Peiqi. In addition, after being captured by Jiham, Liu had paid 500 million yuan and 400 million dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency as ransom. On top of that, in connection with the gold transaction, he had paid Zhen Weiliang the outstanding balance of 900 million dollars and 720 million dollars in late-payment penalties.

And despite all that, he was somehow managing to scrape together 15 billion dollars to buy the diamond!

“I have no idea either,” Wei Chen replied.

Chairman Zhen Weiliang looked at me.

Understanding what he was getting at, I answered without dragging it out.

“Director Griffin mentioned that Liu is pooling every bit of money he has in order to secure a seat on the Standing Committee.”

“Ah, so that’s why you told me to demand 15 billion dollars from him?”

“I won’t deny it.”

At that moment, Team Leader Seo Donghun asked to speak.

“When Chairman Zhen was on the phone with Chairman Bongard, Director Liu Haoran and Liu Peiqi were whispering to each other. Liu Haoran said they didn’t have enough money to buy the diamond.”

“And what did that bastard Liu say?”

“He said they would think about it at the hotel.”

“I see. Director Cha, how do you think he’ll get the missing money?”

Brrrrr!

At that very moment, Vice Chairman Wei Chen’s phone, lying on the table, vibrated violently.

After looking at the screen, he informed Zhen Weiliang that Liu Haoran was calling and pressed the answer button.

“Director Liu, I’m listening.”

[Tell me... are you with Chairman Zhen by any chance?]

Wei Chen instantly realized that something was brewing.

Liu Haoran’s voice sounded extremely cautious.

Putting his index finger to his lips to signal everyone to remain silent, Wei Chen replied,

“Director Pan Kai and I are in the same car. We’re on our way to have a drink with Chairman Zhen.”

[I see. Vice Chairman Wei, I have a delicate favor to ask you.]

“I’m listening.”

[We don’t have enough money to buy Chairman Zhen’s diamond. Could you lend us the amount we’re short?]

“Well, we may know each other, but...”

Wei Chen deliberately paused, pursuing his own objective.

[We’ll provide collateral!]

“How much exactly are you short, and what are you offering as collateral?”

[We need about 3 billion dollars. As collateral, we’ll provide 2.5 billion dollars’ worth of my brother’s cryptocurrency, along with a hotel and real estate that belong to me.]

“As far as I know, most cryptocurrencies are worthless.”

[Absolutely not! My brother’s cryptocurrency is perfectly legitimate.]

“Let’s assume you’re telling the truth. Even so, cryptocurrency can’t be valued at its full market price.”

[Wait a moment. I’ll put my brother on.]

A moment later, Liu Peiqi’s voice came through.

[Vice Chairman Wei, how about valuing the cryptocurrency collateral at fifty percent?]

“That sounds reasonable. What’s the term of the loan?”

[Give us some breathing room. Until the end of this year.]

“All right. I’ll think about it and get back to you.”

[I’ll be waiting for good news.]

Click.

The moment Wei Chen hung up, Chairman Zhen Weiliang asked,

“How much does that bastard Liu want to borrow?”

“He’s short 3 billion dollars.”

“And the collateral?”

“Cryptocurrency worth 2.5 billion dollars and real estate.”

When Liu Peiqi had been kidnapped, he possessed 2 billion dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency. Team Leader Seo Donghun had taken 400 million dollars’ worth of crypto from him as ransom.

And yet, in just one month, Liu had managed to increase the value of his crypto wallet from 1.6 billion to 2.5 billion dollars!

There were only two possible explanations for the increase: either he had purchased cryptocurrency stolen by North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau hackers, or the price had risen.

To test my theory, I called Deputy Director Jo Ilcheol.

After several rings, he answered.

[Director Cha, I’m listening.]

“Vice Chairman Wei just spoke with the Liu brothers over the phone.”

I briefly explained the substance of Wei Chen’s conversation with Liu Peiqi and then asked my question.

“...Why would the value of Liu Peiqi’s cryptocurrency suddenly increase so much?”

[According to the information I have, Kim Jonghun has been working the Reconnaissance General Bureau operatives to the bone.]

“And naturally, he has a reason for that?”

[You took 12 tons and 750 kilograms of gold bars from him that had been hidden at Kim Juchol’s house.]

In other words, Kim Jonghun had thrown everything he had into hacking and stealing cryptocurrency in order to replenish the stash he had lost.

I asked Jo Ilcheol whether my interpretation was correct.

[You’re absolutely right, Director Cha.]

“Is there any way to stop this madness?”

[We’re currently developing countermeasures.]

“By the way, when will we be able to take his cryptocurrency?”

[Major General Lee Cheolseung and his people are doing everything they can to figure out the password to the crypto wallet, but so far they haven’t been able to crack it.]

At that moment, an excellent idea flashed through my mind.

The chances of pulling it off were not especially high, but we could not simply sit around doing nothing either.

“We recorded a video of Chairman Zhen and Liu Peiqi carrying out the diamond transaction. I’ll send you the footage right now. Analyze it in detail.”

[Why?]

“Liu Peiqi transferred the deposit to Chairman Zhen’s account directly from the laptop.”

[Ah, I understand what you mean! Send it quickly.]

Beep.

The agitated Jo Ilcheol hung up first.

I lowered the phone from my ear and turned to Chief Secretary Kang Inhan.

“You heard what I was discussing with Deputy Director Jo, right?”

“Of course!”

After answering briefly, Chief Secretary Kang Inhan immediately ran toward the situation center.