"Esteemed directors, before flipping through these contracts, let me first make clear how the supplier system of the Gu Group education division operates."



"Three hundred cooperative kindergartens. Curriculum and teaching materials are procured uniformly by headquarters. Who introduced these suppliers? Zhao Zheng. He brought them in one by one, signed contracts, set standards, walked through processes. How many years have these suppliers been with him? That's how many years they've been paying him."



I opened the contract.



"Each of you also has copies of these contracts in storage. Every single one is clean, without any issues. But outside the contracts, Zhao Zheng has a verbal agreement with each supplier: after signing the contract, pay an additional twelve percent to this Bangkok consulting company. Don't pay? Next bid, someone else replaces you."



"This consulting company - the legal representative is called Chen Li, has no kinship relation with the Zhao family, just a facade. The controlling party is registered in the Cayman Islands. Actual controller: Zhao Yuwei. After the money arrives in Bangkok, ten percent stays in Zhao Yuwei's account, ninety percent transfers out the next day, landing in another shell company of Zhao Zheng's in the Caymans. This clause is not in the contract - it's in the bank transaction records. Three years, forty-six million."



The conference room erupted in an uproar. No one expected Zhao Zheng to have played it so smoothly. Everyone began whispering.



"Now let's talk about Tianxing. Tianxing signed a joint venture direct-run agreement with Gu Group, using its own mixed-age curriculum system, not going through supplier procurement. Once Tianxing lands and the model proves out, Gu Group will roll out the Tianxing model to other cooperative kindergartens. One becomes two, three hundred all follow Tianxing. Once the curriculum system changes, all suppliers change. The old suppliers that Zhao Zheng brought in get eliminated as a group. His stamp, his people, his twelve-percent pool - all reset to zero."



I turned around and looked at Zhao Zheng.



"That's why you cannot let Tianxing live. It's not that Tianxing's curriculum is bad. It's that Tianxing's success means your exit."



The entire table was dead silent.



Zhao Zheng stood up, his face flushing bright red: "Miss Su, your reasoning is very imaginative, but it lacks evidentiary support. If you cannot produce solid evidence, then making wild accusations here - I will request that the board of directors expel you and sue you for defamation."



Zhao Yuwei also stood up from the observer seats: "Su Qing, as the actual person in charge of the Tianxing organization, to slander and attack others in this manner - if you cannot produce evidence, I will begin legal proceedings against you immediately."



"Sit down." I looked at her. "I haven't gotten to you yet."



She did not sit. I walked forward two steps, stopping in front of the observer seats. Lin Yue was sitting next to her, both hands folded on his knees.



"Your older brother Zhao Zheng manages curriculum R and D at Gu Group - he can give you supplier contracts. But he cannot give you my private information. You need someone to fill that gap. Someone who has lived with me. Someone who knows what time I leave the house, where I drink coffee, where the key is placed in my house, what my mother's name is."



Zhao Yuwei's face went rigid. Lin Yue turned his head to look at her. She did not turn toward him.