When Ning Yichu and He Shixia arrived, the people He Shixia had sent to the hotel got out of the car and first relayed the new information that the waiter had tearfully confessed earlier.
Ning Yichu raised an eyebrow, “Did I really guess it right?”
He Shixia’s expression was serious.
They got into the car, and the driver and front passenger turned to look back.
The waiter in the back seat now had no one sitting on either side of him and could open the car door, but he glanced at the few “burly men” standing outside, sniffled, and didn’t dare to run.
“It’s not that I wanted to harm you! Really, it’s not!” The waiter was almost wiping his tears with his hand.
He Shixia said, “We don’t want to harm you either, we just want to get to the bottom of things. You said it was the boss who asked you to deliver orange juice to his own son. Explain the whole story in detail, who exactly is this boss?”
At this point, the waiter had no choice but to tell the whole truth, “It’s Ning Zong, his full name is… Ning Shaoren? He’s your adoptive father, Young Master Ning. I saw Ning Zong’s photo during employee training, I wouldn’t mistake him.”
Ning Yichu made a sound of acknowledgment, “He asked you to deliver a drink to Ning Zeshu?”
The waiter nodded, “Wasn’t it Young Master Ning’s birthday party that night? I was also assigned to be a waiter at the party. I swear I didn’t know Ning Zong before… I mean, I knew what he looked like, but I had never interacted with him. Ning Zong just randomly called a waiter, and I happened to be passing by, so he called me over…”
According to the waiter, the glass of orange juice was directly handed to him by Ning Shaoren, who asked him to deliver it to Young Master Ning Zeshu, saying that as the main character of the party, he had been socializing all night and should drink something.
The waiter found it strange at the time, after all, it wasn’t like there was no food or drink at the party. Ning Zeshu was already of college graduate age, surely he knew when to eat if he was hungry or drink if he was thirsty. Besides, hadn’t he been holding a drink while socializing all night? Why specifically deliver a glass of orange juice to him…
However, the waiter didn’t refuse, after all, it was the hotel’s top boss, and it was for his own son. How could there be poison in it? So the waiter took the orange juice to deliver it.
“Ning Zong said that Young Master Ning should be outside getting some fresh air and asked me to look for him outside the banquet hall. So I went out with the orange juice, but as soon as I stepped out, I saw you, Young Master Yichu,” the waiter recalled.
At that time, Ning Yichu had just finished delivering meals to the guests in the rooms, was a bit tired, and hadn’t eaten much at the party earlier, so he looked particularly pale and was a bit wobbly while walking.
The waiter, seeing this, thought of a previous guest with low blood sugar and, without much thought, handed the orange juice from the tray to Ning Yichu.
Ning Yichu was indeed not feeling well at the time, and since Kangning Grand Hotel was a legitimate business place of the Ning family, his guard was down, so he accepted the orange juice and drank it slowly.
Seeing that he could drink on his own, the waiter didn’t linger, thinking he would just pour another glass of orange juice for Ning Zeshu.
“I was just thinking, it’s just a glass of orange juice, I can pour another one. I really didn’t know there was a problem with that orange juice. If I had known, even if the boss ordered it for his own son, I wouldn’t have dared to deliver it, let alone give it to someone else…” The waiter lamented.
Ning Yichu murmured softly, “After I gave the room card to the guests, I would record the corresponding room number and guest identity in the register. That day, before I went to deliver meals to the guest rooms, my adoptive mother asked me for the register. The meals delivered to the guest rooms were also arranged by the kitchen according to the room numbers… I was thinking at the time, everything was arranged in such detail, yet they insisted I deliver it, really couldn’t stand seeing me idle for a moment.”
As for the waiter’s claim that he left after handing over the orange juice, and that the person who later took Ning Yichu to the guest room and caused the accident wasn’t him… Ning Yichu indeed couldn’t remember clearly.
The drug in the orange juice took effect too quickly, and in his hazy recollection, he only vaguely remembered being taken into the elevator and pushed into the room by someone taller than him.
This also indicated that it might not have been the waiter in front of him. Moreover, judging from the waiter’s attitude and explanation, he probably wasn’t lying.
“What happened afterward?” Ning Yichu continued to ask, “You didn’t know initially, so how did you find out so clearly later, and what about your resignation?”
The waiter was on the verge of tears, “The next morning, didn’t a lot of people from both families go to that guest room to find you? At that time, another waiter went to open the door, and I was on good terms with that waiter. I was curious after hearing some gossip, so I asked him about it, and the more I thought about it, the more something seemed off.”
But at that time, the waiter was just pondering on his own, feeling something was off, but couldn’t be sure of anything.
Yet, coincidentally, that evening after work, the manager bypassed the supervisor to have a “heart-to-heart” with him, and casually asked about the whereabouts of the orange juice from the previous night’s party. The waiter, feeling uneasy, told the truth.
Then the manager asked him to resign, offering a high compensation, and even said he could arrange a job at another hotel, but all of this was said privately. On the surface, he was only told to say he wanted to resign himself, and was hinted to keep quiet about the orange juice incident.
“He even scared me, saying that the adopted young master of the Ning family drugged the sixth young master of the He family to climb into bed, and they were just looking for someone to take the blame. If they remembered I gave him a glass of orange juice, the adopted young master might want me to take the blame, saying I was the one who drugged the orange juice…” The waiter said, cautiously glancing at Ning Yichu.
Ning Yichu gave him a half-smile.
The waiter hurriedly waved his hands, “But I didn’t believe it! The more I thought about it, the more something seemed off. If there really was no problem with that orange juice, why would the manager specifically talk to me and ask me to resign? Isn’t that just… a guilty conscience… But I couldn’t afford to offend anyone, so I didn’t dare to take the job the manager offered. I just took the hush money and left quietly.”
Seeing the waiter being so “sensible,” the manager felt relieved and told him to pack his things from the employee dormitory overnight, and that he didn’t need to continue working the next day. After saying this, the manager left.
The waiter, feeling uneasy and restless, couldn’t help but secretly follow the manager for a while, and ended up overhearing the manager on the phone reporting to someone, saying everything was settled.
“‘Please assure Ning Zong that no one will know he had a problematic glass of orange juice delivered by a waiter’… the manager even said that,” the waiter mimicked, “I suspect he mentioned it specifically to threaten the other side, trying to get some benefits. Anyway, hearing him say that, I was sure that the orange juice was indeed problematic, and I indirectly harmed someone… But I really didn’t do it on purpose.”
He Shixia continued to ask him, “What’s the name of that manager? And why did you suddenly return to the hotel to get something today, did someone contact you?”
The waiter scratched his head, “The manager’s name is Wang Quanan, but I just heard from former colleagues that the manager also resigned last month. I came back today because that waiter I was on good terms with sent me a WeChat message, saying I left something in the employee dormitory.”
Ning Yichu glanced at his empty hands, “What thing?”
The waiter spread his hands, “I also asked him what it was, but he didn’t reply. I guess he might have just gotten off a night shift and went to sleep, so I had some free time today and decided to come over and check. It turned out he made a mistake, it wasn’t my thing at all, so I came for nothing… and got caught by you guys… Young Masters, I swear everything I’ve said is true, just let me go, don’t drag me into this. Although I handed over the orange juice, I really didn’t know…”
“We don’t intend to trouble you,” Ning Yichu said, “What’s the name of that waiter you’re on good terms with?”
The waiter was stunned, “Liu Yuan… Are you suspecting him… It can’t be, right? I’ve been given hush money and dismissed, if he was involved, even if he didn’t leave, he couldn’t still be just a waiter, he should have gotten some benefits, right?”
But he was there the morning of the “catching in the act,” and today he was the one who called the waiter back, so this Liu Yuan is indeed suspicious.
“Do you know anything else? Why not tell us everything at once, so we don’t have to find you again, and you can have peace of mind,” He Shixia reminded.
The waiter was about to cry again, “No, really no, I’m just a small waiter, what else could I know… I promise I won’t talk about this outside! Just let me go…”
He Shixia looked at Ning Yichu.
Ning Yichu thought for a moment, “One last question. That night when you went to deliver the orange juice to Ning Zeshu, did you deliver it?”
The waiter nodded, “I did deliver it, but Young Master Ning took the orange juice and said he was tired and wanted to go upstairs to rest, he didn’t return to the banquet hall. I figured it wasn’t my business to ask, so I didn’t bother.”
Ning Yichu nodded, having no further questions for this waiter.
After the waiter left, He Shixia said, “Should I have someone find that Liu Yuan and bring him out for questioning?”
Ning Yichu was a bit tired, “I don’t feel like questioning him personally. Your people are still around, right? Have them continue investigating and just let me know the results.”
Anyway, if the waiter just now didn’t have the ability to fabricate a mountain of lies, then based on what he just said, combined with the information Ning Yichu and He Shixia knew from their own memories, the events and truth of that night could roughly be deduced and confirmed, though it was still incomplete and lacked some details.
He Shixia nodded, “Alright.”
Ning Yichu then looked at him with a half-smile, “Old Master Ning personally stepped in to stop you, and Ning Zeshu’s parents went all out to plan and arrange. It seems they really want to become family with you.”
He Shixia, unhurried and calm, replied warmly, “As far as I know, after fulfilling the marriage contract with the He family, the Ning family members involved can receive five percent of the shares of Ning’s Kangning Grand Hotel.”
Ning Yichu blinked.
He Shixia continued, “The Ning family is different from the He family. Although the He family also has a board of directors and shareholders with different surnames, the He family members have absolute control in the board. The head of the family has absolute control, and other directors can make suggestions, but if the head doesn’t listen, there’s nothing they can do.”
The Ning family, on the other hand, due to poor initial business planning, went through a near-unsustainable crisis. At that time, to survive, they ceded many rights to the board of directors, even pledging ten percent of the shares to be collectively managed by the board.
The head of the He family at that time was the great-grandfather of the current He Grandmother, and he also got involved and took a share. He also got to know the ancestors of the Ning family, and after getting acquainted, they found they got along very well.
Once, when the two families went out on a trip together, an accident occurred, and the Ning family ancestor even risked his life to save them. As a result, the He family ancestor felt a bit embarrassed about “taking advantage” of Kangning.
The He family ancestor then mediated in the Kangning board, and eventually, a marriage contract between the He and Ning families was established. The board agreed that when the He and Ning families fulfilled the marriage contract, half of the ten percent of shares managed by the board, which were nominally in the hands of the Ning family but actually managed by the board, would be given to the Ning family descendants as a wedding gift.
However, over three generations, and now with Ning Zeshu’s generation being the fourth, the marriage contract between the two families has never been fulfilled for various reasons.
He Shixia said, “So, it’s not that the Ning family can’t do without me, they’re just eager to get back that five percent of the shares.”
Ning Yichu pondered, “No wonder, I was wondering why they valued Ning Zeshu so much, why they insisted on him for the marriage alliance.”
Author’s Note: