“I…I don’t know either. Someone sent me an email saying that I should go to the hospital to take pictures of you and then post them online. They said they would give me 50,000 yuan each time.”
"I'm sorry, I was really out of money, that's why I did that. I promise I won't do it again, really, I won't do it again!"
Zhang Qiang was genuinely terrified. At the time, he was only focused on making money, and he never expected this outcome.
These people are clearly not to be trifled with. He is now filled with regret. If he could choose again, he would never do it that way again.
He's greedy for money, but he's also afraid of losing his life.
Lin Ziming got straight to the point.
"You're saying that person said they'd pay you every time you did it? So you've never met that person?"
"Yes, yes, I've never met that person in person. They always contact me via email, and each email is different."
Zhang Qiang nodded hurriedly, while Xia Ran's expression was very bad.
"Besides having you take photos, did he ask you to do anything else?"
"Yes, yes, yes." Zhang Qiang didn't dare to lie now. "He asked me to slander you as much as possible, and he also gave me the information about your grandfather. I was just doing my job for money. Now I know I was wrong, please let me go."
Zhang Qiang almost burst into tears; he never imagined such a day would come.
"Send me all his emails, and your conversations. If you dare to lie, don't blame me for being ruthless. You should know that just as we can come in quietly, we can also do certain things quietly."
The younger brother said with a smile, and Zhang Qiang didn't dare to say no. After being untied, he immediately went to the computer and retrieved the information.
The younger brother, Number One, had already cleverly used his phone to connect.
Dazhuang had been watching silently until now, when he finally couldn't help but speak up.
Is what this person says credible?
Lin Ziming: "Before you came, I had someone prepare him psychologically. He promised he wouldn't dare to lie. And if he did lie, I could find out very quickly, which would only make him more afraid."
Since Lin Ziming had said so, Dazhuang naturally had no doubts.
As for Xia Ran, he had already followed Zhang Qiang over there; he wanted to see if they knew each other from that email.
Moreover, he had another question to ask Zhang Qiang.
"Were those threatening words you made to me on the forum something that person made you say?"
"Threatened you? What threat? I didn't do that," Zhang Qiang quickly explained, afraid that things would get out of hand if he was too late.
"Brother, I didn't do anything. I just posted photos and wrote those comments. I have never made any threats."
"How could that be? Someone clearly sent me a message saying that if I dared to clarify things, they would definitely expose my grandfather's affair," Xia Ran said.
Zhang Qiang: "Impossible! I only received this message a short while ago, and I haven't even prepared to send it out yet. How could I possibly threaten you!"
Now it was Xia Ran's turn to be puzzled. Their argument had attracted the attention of Lin Ziming and Dazhuang.
"What's wrong?" Lin Ziming asked.
Brothers One and Two both shook their heads, because they didn't know what was going on either.
Xia Ran pursed her lips, looking at Zhang Qiang and he really didn't seem to be lying.
So, who was the person who threatened him that day?
Chapter 317 Photos
"Xia Ran, what's going on?" Lin Ziming looked at Xia Ran.
Xia Ran shook her head. There were too many people here; it was hard to say.
I'll tell you later.
Lin Ziming didn't ask Xia Ran any more questions; he had already understood the implication in Xia Ran's words.
Although he himself knew that his subordinates could be trusted, Xia Ran did not.
"Let's go back first. We've asked about most of the things we needed to ask. Now the most important thing is to find out who sent the email."
Xia Ran nodded, looked at Zhang Qiang, and said coldly,
"Delete everything that person sent you about my grandfather."
"Yes, yes, yes." Zhang Qiang nodded quickly, and with a series of operations, he deleted everything.
"By the way, do you want this photo?"
"What photo?" Xia Ran and the others looked over and found that it was a very old photo.
The photo shows two young men, both quite good-looking.
Xia Ran didn't recognize who was inside at first, but after watching for a while, his eyes widened slightly.
"This is...my grandfather?"
There were never any photos of his grandfather in his family. He had asked his grandfather before and was very curious as to why there wasn't a single photo of him.
He remembered his grandfather's answer was that he didn't like taking pictures.
But now that he thinks about it, he realizes that his grandfather didn't dislike taking photos; he just didn't like that period of his youth.
Zhang Qiang: "Yes, he's your grandfather."
Xia Ran asked Zhang Qiang to send him the photos before asking Zhang Qiang to delete them from his computer.
"I won't hold you responsible for this incident, but if you dare to spout nonsense online or even in real life again, I will definitely not let you off the hook."
"Of course, of course, I know. Don't worry, I would never dare to do it again."
Zhang Qiang was already scared. He had originally done this because he was greedy for money, and now he regretted it.
Xia Ran glanced at Lin Ziming and Dazhuang, then went out with them.
The two underlings didn't come out, so Xia Ran asked them in confusion.
"Brother Ziming, aren't your two friends coming out?"
Lin Ziming: "Things aren't that simple. Although Zhang Qiang said he wouldn't dare to do it again, who knows? So we still need to have a proper talk."
As for how the talks were conducted, only Lin Ziming and his two subordinates knew.
Although Xia Ran was somewhat puzzled, he was currently thinking about his grandfather's matter and didn't dwell on Lin Ziming's words.
However, Da Zhuang gave Lin Ziming a meaningful look.
He always felt that something was off about Lin Ziming, and the problem was that his attitude towards Xia Ran wasn't very good.
This is ridiculously overly friendly! If it were just a normal relationship between a patient's family and a doctor, how could the doctor treat them like this?
But it's hard to say what will happen now, so we can only postpone it for now.
Xia Ran and Da Zhuang took a taxi when they came, but Lin Ziming took a car by himself, so they took Lin Ziming's car back.
Xia Ran saw that there were only the three of them and asked a question.
"What about your friends? Aren't you waiting for them?"
"We're not waiting any longer," Lin Ziming said. "They'll go back on their own later. Let's go back and discuss our matters first. It's not convenient for you to talk to them here."
Xia Ran was surprised that Lin Ziming had seen through his thoughts, and he was touched.
"Thank you, Brother Ziming."
Xia Ran originally only wanted to call him Ziming, but after seeing Lin Ziming at Zhang Qiang's house, he changed his mind.
"Don't be so polite. How about we go out and find a place to grab a late-night snack? I know a pretty good hot pot restaurant."
"Huh? Brother Ziming eats hot pot too?" Xia Ran asked.
Lin Ziming smiled and said, "I'm not a god, why wouldn't I eat it?"
Da Zhuang watched the two of them from the side, feeling a pang of jealousy in his heart.
Why did he feel that his brother was going to become someone else?
Xia Ran was amused by Lin Ziming's words and turned to ask Da Zhuang for his opinion.
Dazhuang, of course, had no reason to refuse; he wanted to see just how their relationship was going.
Lin Ziming led them to a hot pot restaurant with a retro decor. They booked a private room, which offered a high degree of privacy.
At first, everyone was just ordering food and didn't say anything. They started talking slowly after the food arrived and they were ready to eat.
"So, this matter has just started, and it's still unclear who exactly is involved. You don't need to worry about it; leave this to me," Lin Ziming said.
Xia Ran shook her head directly, "No need, I can look it up myself, no need to trouble you."
Dazhuang: "Yes, let us handle it ourselves. You're a doctor, you're very busy, so let's not trouble you."
Hearing this, Lin Ziming understood that Dazhuang seemed to have some issues with him, but of course, he still maintained a gentle smile on his face.
"How can you say this is a trouble for me? Didn't I already say before that I could do it? I genuinely treat you like a younger brother. What? You promised me so readily before, and now you're going back on your word?"
Xia Ran was somewhat helpless and didn't know what to say for a moment, while Da Zhuang had no idea what it meant.
"I didn't mean to deny it, I was just afraid of causing you trouble. The situation is becoming more and more unpredictable."
"Because I don't know what problems might arise later, and what if there's any danger?"
Perhaps because she wasn't that familiar with Lin Ziming yet, Xia Ran didn't want to trouble him and let him handle these things himself.
After hearing Xia Ran's words, Lin Ziming showed no particular emotion. Instead, he chuckled and said,
"Actually, you're not afraid of any danger, you're just afraid of causing me trouble. But Xia Ran, I really consider you and Grandpa as family. You know I used to have a grandfather and he's gone now."
"But what you don't know is that a large part of the reason they're not here is because of me, so I beg you, please let me help you properly. Since you've called me 'brother,' I have to live up to that title."
Lin Ziming's tone was very serious, which surprised Xia Ran. He didn't know what to say for a moment.
Dazhuang already had only a vague understanding of what had happened between the two, so it wasn't convenient for him to chime in now.
Xia Ran's hesitation was so obvious that Lin Ziming noticed it immediately.
"Actually, you don't need to worry about me getting into trouble. I've already told you that my identity is not as simple as you see it. At least I can guarantee that neither I nor you will get into trouble."
Chapter 318 Testing the Waters
“If you really don’t trust me and are afraid that I have some ulterior motive, you can ask me anything. I will tell you everything. Maybe these things are hard for you to believe, but I really like you and Grandpa. It’s like we’ve always been a family.”