AWB Chapter 345 Eric's Abnormal Behavior
Chapter 345 Eric's Abnormal Behavior
January 16, 2000, 1 PM, San Francisco International Airport.
As Ling Yun stepped out of the cabin, the California sun made him squint. He stood on the jet bridge for two seconds to adjust to the light, then continued walking.
There weren't many people going through customs. He handed his passport to the window, the immigration officer flipped through a couple of pages, looked up at him, and said, "Mr. Ling, welcome back."
Lingyun nodded and put the passport in his pocket.
Stepping out of the terminal, a cold wind hit my face. The weather in San Francisco in January is warmer than in Jinan, but the sea breeze still made it a bit chilly.
At 3:10 p.m., the Mercedes stopped in front of Lingyun's villa in Silicon Valley.
Ling Yun pushed open the door and went in. Fiona was already standing inside, wearing a dark gray sweater, her hair tied in a ponytail, and a happy expression on her face. "Mr. Ling, you're finally back."
Ling Yun walked in, threw his travel bag on the sofa, and sat down.
Fiona sat down in the chair in front of the coffee table, opposite Ling Yun.
Fiona took a folded piece of paper from her pocket, unfolded it, and placed it on her lap. She didn't look at it, but simply pressed it down with her hand. "President Ling, I'd like to give you an update on the recent situation. On the day you boarded the plane, people from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley came to the company."
"What are you here for?"
"Check the patents."
Ling Yun paused, looking at her. "What patents are you investigating?"
"All the patents for the Star System, as well as the registration documents for the software copyrights. They also brought a lawyer, spent four hours in the conference room, and made a bunch of copies."
"Who received you?"
"Eric".
Ling Yun didn't speak, but his brows were furrowed.
Fiona continued, "They scheduled the meeting three days in advance, saying it was routine due diligence. But the financial due diligence was just completed last month, and the patent issue isn't mandatory."
"Anything else?"
"Last Wednesday, a representative from HP invited Dell to dinner alone at a restaurant in Menlo Park. The meal lasted three hours. The next day, Dell's technical director called to inquire about the progress of our ARM architecture development."
"Who told you that? Is the information accurate?"
"The purchasing agent from Dell is from the same hometown as me; we talked about it privately."
Ling Yun stood up and walked to the window. "What about Anderson?"
"Last Thursday night, he and people from Morgan Stanley stayed at the golf course until midnight. The next day, Goldman Sachs sent an email suggesting the formation of a 'strategy committee' to oversee major investment decisions, with copies sent to all directors."
"What did Eric say?"
"He told me that this is normal, and that if shareholders care about the company's development, they can just discuss it in a meeting."
Ling Yun turned around and looked at her. "What do you think?"
Fiona paused for two seconds, then said, "I don't think this is normal."
She handed Ling Yun the paper on her lap, which he took and unfolded. On the paper was a diagram drawn with a ballpoint pen—the names of Anderson, Winston, the HP representative, and Dell were circled, connected by lines, with arrows indicating times and locations.
"Is this your schedule for this week?" Ling Yun pointed to the bottom line.
"Yes. I remember where I go every day, who I meet, and what time I come back. Last Friday night, someone followed me. They followed me from the company to my apartment building and stayed for twenty minutes before leaving."
"Did you see who it was?"
"I didn't see clearly. I stayed in the car the whole time and didn't get out. The car was a black Ford and didn't have license plates."
Ling Yun folded the paper and placed it on the coffee table. "How has Eric been behaving these past few days?"
"Performance is normal. Arrive at the company at 9 am and leave at 7 pm every day. Speak in meetings, review code, just like before."
"When did his wife buy that Porsche?"
Fiona paused for a moment, "Porsche? I didn't know that."
"Go and investigate, but don't let anyone know."
Fiona nodded, took out a small notebook from her pocket, and made a note.
"There's one more thing." She closed the notebook. "Last month, when you asked me to organize the patent certificates, before I took the patent certificates to your office, I passed by Eric's office, and Eric asked me about them."
Ling Yun's hand rested on the window frame, which was made of stainless steel and felt a little cool. "What did I ask you?"
"He asked me what documents I was sending him, and I said patents. He asked why I was looking at patents. I said I didn't know, the boss can look at them if he wants. He then asked which ones I had looked at. I said I wanted to look at them all, there was a whole stack. He offered to carry them for me and deliver them to me, but I didn't agree. He didn't say anything more and just left."
The room quieted down. The air conditioner hummed, and the faint sound of traffic outside the window could be heard.
Ling Yun stood there, his back to her, looking out at the parking lot.
"Do you think it's him?" Fiona asked.
Ling Yun didn't answer. After a few seconds, he turned around.
"When you get back, don't do anything. Go to get off work and attend meetings as usual. Just like before."
"About the patent..."
"Ignore it, let them investigate."
Fiona stood up and put the notebook back in her pocket. She walked to the door, placed her hand on the doorknob, and didn't move.
"President Ling."
"Um?"
"Eric has been with you for three years. As the systems manager, he knows a lot of the company's secrets."
Ling Yun looked at her and said, "Yes, I know. You don't need to worry."
The door opened, and Fiona stepped out. The door closed softly with a click.
Ling Yun took out his phone, found Eric's number, looked at it for a few seconds, and didn't dial it.
The phone screen displayed the name: Anderson.
Ling Yun looked at the name and waited for it to ring five times before answering.
"Ling, I heard you've arrived?" Anderson's voice came through the receiver, as warm as ever. "Are you free tonight? Let's have dinner together."
"Not today, I need to adjust to the time difference. I'm too tired after such a long flight."
"What about tomorrow? I have a few things I'd like to discuss with you."
"Then let's meet at the company tomorrow morning."
"Okay, I'll come over to talk to you at nine o'clock this morning."
The phone hangs up.