"First and foremost, protect your personal safety. Don't easily trust anyone, including those who seem harmless. Don't make any more risky contacts like today unless you can guarantee your absolute safety." Su Yuqing's tone was serious. "Second, preserve as much evidence as possible. Any documents, recordings, emails that seem unusual, even just fragments, must be preserved, but make sure they are properly hidden. Third, stay calm, cooperate with them as before, and don't show any abnormality. What you need now is time and an opportunity for us to work together from the inside."
"We?" Lin Chen caught the word.
"Yes, we," Su Yuqing affirmed. "I'm not fighting alone. I have a reliable team behind me, and we are also looking for key witnesses and evidence to break through from within. Lin Chen, you are important. Your testimony and the possible internal evidence are one of the keys to tearing open this veil."
We. Team. Key.
These words, like rays of light, pierced through the heavy gloom in Lin Chen's heart. He was no longer struggling alone in the darkness.
"What…what can I do?" he asked, mustering his courage.
"For now, focus on self-preservation and observation. Pay attention to any unusual cash flows within the company, any shady dealings in project operations, especially those involving people like Lu Tianyu and General Manager Liu. If…I mean, if you have the opportunity to access more crucial financial data or internal ledgers, that would be decisive." Su Yuqing paused, then added, "But remember, your safety is paramount! Don't act rashly; wait for my further contact. I'll find a safer communication channel."
Just then, Lin Chen heard footsteps approaching outside the phone booth, and his heart tightened.
"I understand. I have to hang up," he said hastily.
"Take care of yourself," Su Yuqing said as a final reminder, then hung up.
Lin Chen quickly left the phone booth, head down, and hurried towards the fire escape, his heart still pounding. Back in his room, Old Zhou didn't notice anything amiss, only asking routinely where he'd been. Lin Chen casually replied that he'd gone downstairs to the convenience store to buy something.
Lying in bed, he couldn't calm down for a long time. His call with Su Yuqing was like a sturdy rope cast into the abyss of despair. Although the road ahead was still fraught with thorns, and danger remained ever-present, he was no longer completely passively awaiting fate's judgment.
He had companions, he had direction, even if that direction was hidden in thick fog, flickering with a faint light.
Hope, this long-lost thing, like a candle quietly lit in the dark night, though weak, stubbornly swayed in his heart.
He knew that from this moment on, he was no longer merely a manipulated artist, prey waiting to be devoured. He had become a potential… rebel.
Although fear still gripped his heart, a new, weak yet resolute strength began to flow quietly in his veins.
The glimmer of hope had been lit.
But could this light pierce through this boundless darkness?