Yao admitted that ever since the founding of their company, he hadn't come home on time as he used to. But he argues that there was a good reason for it.

"As the company was forming, as a man, I had a lot of things to take care of. I had to maintain close ties with vehicle owners for business and supply of goods. I had to make friends and talk with people to handle affairs. All this left me less time to spend at home, as I had a lot of dinner parties in the evenings."

Gradually, Yao grew disgusted with his wife's conjectures.

"It is natural in today's society that men and women have contact with one another. Be they friends or business relations, people sometimes go out to have dinner or have fun. It's quite normal, isn't it? But she didn't believe me."
Perhaps out of self-protection, Gao recorded her husband's schedule every time he left the house. This further upset Yao.

"When she knows it's normal for me to go out at that hour, she writes down 'normal.' But if I was out for some time when she is not aware of it, she feels doubtful and puts a question mark."

Yao felt that ever since their marital problems began, Gao developed her own designs on the company's funds. Once, in order to take their daughter on a vacation to Europe, she withdrew 200,000 yuan from the company. She said the money was a cash deposit for the travel agency. But Yao recalled that when the deposit was refunded, Gao didn't give the money back to the company.

Yao also learned that Gao was addicted to card games. She lost large sums of money and withdrew funds from the company periodically.

"Once, she withdrew more than 300,000 yuan. But once the money was drawn, it was never entered into the account book."
Conflicts broke out. Yao didn't allow Gao to enter the company, a move that quickly drove their relationship to an impasse.

One day, Gao called her family to come over while she questioned Yao whether they could still live together. Yao recalls his thoughts at the time.

"In all honesty, it was never my intention to get a divorce. First, it's not good for a child. Second, neither of us is young. Had I harbored that intention, why would you be able you take away so much money? How could you go out for fun? You just think. "

Yao Changrong said though his wife and her family had come for a showdown, he hadn't thought about divorce up to that point. But as the talks went on, he caught sight of something in the narrow space between the cushions of the sofa where his wife's family was sitting.

"I saw something glittering. What was it? I took it out to have a look. It turned out to be a tiny tape recorder. She had put the recorder in between our sofa, trying to trick me into telling her about my so-called affair. While I went to further examine the recorder, she held me off and picked up something to swing at my head."

What will become of the couple's relationship? And how will it affect the company? Don't go away. We'll be right back after this.

Due to Gao's blow, the couple became estranged. At the end of 2004, Gao Weiping filed for divorce. In addition to dividing up the family's property, she also proposed carving up the company's assets.