Ling Zhenfei continued questioning, though he still considered Zhou Tong a decent person. However, that Zhou Tong was definitely untrustworthy.

"Brother, just tell me what happened yesterday. If I did it, I'll admit it. If my brother did it, I'll deal with him myself."

"Okay, I'll be honest with you. You know the ornamental fish base in Lubei, right? That's my business."

"Oh, so that's where you are, boss. I'll remember that for the future."

Zhou Jian seemed genuinely clueless, which he couldn't have been faking.

"Last night, someone poisoned the fish in our ornamental fish base. Who else could have done it but you?"

"Brother, you're wrong about us. I'm not that kind of person. I may not be a saint, but poisoning fish is too low even for me."

After beating Zhou Jian, Ling Zhenfei had calmed down somewhat. He realized he might have been too hasty.

There was no concrete evidence that Zhou Jian's gang poisoned the fish. He had many enemies, and it could have been anyone. Without surveillance at the base, it was hard to determine who did it.

In his moment of urgency, he had blamed Zhou Jian and his people, but seeing Zhou Jian working at this repair shop made him rethink that assumption.

"Sorry, it seems I might have been mistaken," Ling Zhenfei said, releasing Zhou Jian and feeling somewhat embarrassed. If Zhou Jian had been responsible, he'd have shown some guilty behavior, but he didn't at all.

"Brother, what's really going on? Let's talk inside."

Zhou Jian invited Ling Zhenfei into the shop. Once they sat down, Ling Zhenfei explained the situation with his fish pond.

"Brother, I don't know who did it, but they couldn't have left no trace. I know some people around here. Let me get them started on finding out. We'll have results soon."

"That would be great. I'm really sorry for my impulsiveness earlier."

"Brother, don't mention it. Last time, we both acted on impulse. This can be my way of making amends. I'll check with my brother; if he did it, I'll chop off his hand."

After talking for a bit and exchanging contact information, Ling Zhenfei went back to the fish pond.

The police had just left. According to them, such cases are hard to solve without evidence, and they warned them to prepare for that.

Fatty sat by the fish pond, chain-smoking, looking deeply troubled. Ling Zhenfei felt the same. A profitable project had turned into a disaster overnight. They saved only a few fish, barely covering costs.

Ling Zhenfei didn't know how to comfort Fatty. He was frustrated himself, wondering why everything he did faced obstacles. Setting up a farm faced tampering; poisoning as soon as he started making money. It seemed money avoided him.

No, it wasn't that money avoided him. It was legitimate money that was elusive. In gambling dens, he always made tens or hundreds of thousands, but ill-gotten gains didn't give him peace.

"Fatty, don't lose heart. Take it as a lesson. It won't happen again."

Fatty tossed his cigarette, blowing out a long smoke ring. "Boss, I'm not disheartened, just angry. All those fish, just about to turn into money, now gone. The person who did this is truly vile."

"Don't worry, Fatty. We'll definitely grow our ornamental fish business, beyond imagination."

"Boss, it's not that I doubt your ability. You grow unique vegetables, sell them at five times the price, but still face online slander. You raise fish well, but still face poisoning. When our business grows, we'll anger more people and take more of their market. Can we protect our vegetables and fish then?"

Fatty's words, intentional or not, deeply struck Ling Zhenfei. Fatty was right. He had always thought about such issues since the Xishan Manor incident. Though that matter was nearly resolved, who could guarantee there wouldn't be another incident?

Did they have to rely on online opinion cooling each time something happened? Of course not. Running a business isn't smooth sailing, especially one aimed to grow powerful. Every issue needed clear solutions.

Especially in their lucrative industries. Selling vegetables at five times the price captured the high-end market, displacing other vegetable suppliers. They encroached on others' profits.

Ornamental fish would be the same. High-quality fish at high prices squeezed out other ornamental fish businesses, breeding jealousy which could lead to another poisoning incident.

The whole night, Ling Zhenfei pondered these issues. Though his Heaven-Dropping Essence Marrow had many treasures, it didn't have management experience or modern societal insights. These couldn't be fought for. He needed someone with successful business experience to guide him.

Who among his acquaintances had built something from scratch? Such experience was invaluable. Lin's Group's Lin Zhengnan was one such person, but he was dead, his valuable experience gone with him.

After much thought, Ling Zhenfei suddenly remembered someone: Zheng Yuhai of the Provincial City. He had saved Zheng Yuhai and his daughter Zheng Tingting from robbers; Tingting had almost been assaulted by them. Luckily, he intervened just in time.

Zheng Yuhai had built his business from scratch and was a successful entrepreneur with many ventures. It seemed a visit to the Provincial City to see Elder Zheng was in order.

It was around three in the morning. Just as he was about to rest, Ling Zhenfei's phone suddenly rang. The caller was Li Ermeng.

Ling Zhenfei was a bit surprised as Li Ermeng rarely called him. He wondered what it could be.

"Brother Er Meng, what's up?"

"Zhenfei, you need to come back. The Xishan Manor has had an incident."

Hearing his manor was in trouble, Ling Zhenfei almost jumped out of bed. With his fish pond already in trouble, he wondered what had happened to his manor now.

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