BF Chapter 54

Halfway through the company’s administrative meeting, Lin Meina suddenly barged in.

 

Although this Second Sister-in-law didn’t work at Zhaoqi, as chairwoman of the Zhaoqi Charitable Foundation, she also held voting rights on Zhaoqi’s board, which had previously always been exercised on her behalf by Xu Ziren.

 

Xu Shen had the meeting paused and asked her: “Second Sister-in-law, you suddenly came to the company. Is something wrong?”

 

Lin Meina sneered, walked over, found herself a seat, and said, “I came to take a look around the company.”

 

Her gaze swept over everyone before finally landing on Zhan Shili, stopping as she said with contempt: “To see whether someone has been selling Zhaoqi out.”

 

Whispers immediately rose around the conference room. Xu Shen asked, “Who has been selling Zhaoqi out? Second Sister-in-law, please make yourself clear.”

 

Lin Meina took a stack of documents from her bag and threw them onto the conference table, the photographs mixed among them scattering out.

 

“See for yourselves.”

 

Someone quickly reached out to take them. Several directors flipped through the photographs and documents, shocked and uncertain, glancing at Zhan Shili from time to time. Finally, someone asked: “Assistant Zhan, have you been in contact with people from Zhuosheng? What’s going on? Shouldn’t you give us an explanation?”

 

Lin Meina snorted: “Ziren said before that he couldn’t be trusted. You didn’t believe him when he said Assistant Zhan knew about Silicon and failed to report it. Surely you believe it now? No wonder Zhuosheng has managed to gain the upper hand every single time they’ve gone against us. He’s a corporate spy. He had harboured bad intentions from the very beginning!”

 

After what happened to Xu Ziren, the person Lin Meina hated most was Huang Minli, followed by Xu Shen, and then undoubtedly Zhan Shili, who was definitely in cahoots with Xu Shen.

 

She didn’t know who had sent these things to her, but no matter who it was, she wouldn’t let Zhan Shili off. If she could sever one of Xu Shen’s arms, they would still have a chance.

 

The discussion in the conference room grew even louder as one accusation after another was hurled at Zhan Shili.

 

He calmly took the stack of documents and flipped through several pages, the expression on his face gradually darkening.

 

They contained detailed records of his past, including his ties to Zhuosheng. The photographs were secretly taken shots of He Mingzheng’s secretary contacting him.

 

The first person he looked toward was Xu Shen. Xu Shen was looking at him too, his eyes calm and tranquil, his beautiful dark pupils watching him serenely, as though he had already foreseen everything.

 

Zhan Shili understood. Any explanation or sophistry at this moment would only be superfluous, and he didn’t want to argue anymore either.

 

After a moment of silence, Zhan Shili put down the documents in his hand and stood: “I have nothing to explain. I resign.”

 

An uproar ensued.

 

One director exclaimed, “Are you really a corporate spy sent by Zhuosheng?”

 

Zhan Shili said, “If that’s what you think, then so be it.”

 

“You can’t just leave like this!” someone said agitatedly. “You’ve been at Zhaoqi for so many years, and you were Brother Ji’s assistant. Who knows how many of Zhaoqi’s trade secrets you’ve passed to Zhuosheng! This is illegal! We’re calling the police!”

 

Zhan Shili tilted his head slightly and stared coldly at the speaker: “Do you have evidence? Call the police if you want. I’m not afraid of being investigated.”

 

“You!”

 

“Nic,” Xu Shen called to him gently, silencing the others’ interrogation.

 

Zhan Shili’s gaze returned to Xu Shen, and his eyes softened: “Sorry, Young Master Shen. I have nothing to say.”

 

Xu Shen looked at him: “Nothing to say to me either?”

 

Zhan Shili paused for a beat but still repeated: “Sorry.”

 

“Alright,” Xu Shen said, disappointment evident in his eyes. “You want to resign?”

 

Zhan Shili said, “Given the situation now, there’s no way I can stay at Zhaoqi anymore. I can only resign.”

 

Lin Meina mocked him: “What, Fourth Brother, you still can’t bear to let him go? This man has been harboring malicious intentions all along. Don’t tell me you still want to shield him? Is this how you behave as Zhaoqi’s acting chairman?”

 

She deliberately tried to redirect the trouble toward Xu Shen, but he showed little reaction: “Why don’t you tell me what I should do then, Second Sister-in-law? Call the police? With what? A few documents about his past and a handful of photographs of him meeting and talking with someone else? If we call the police with that, do you think the Commercial Crime Bureau will actually send officers?”

 

The others protested indignantly, “So we’re just letting him go like this?”

 

Xu Shen made the final decision: “We’ll conduct an internal investigation first. If we find solid evidence, then we’ll talk.”

 

Zhan Shili returned to his office and packed up his belongings. When he came out, the assistants and secretaries in the chairman’s office all lowered their heads and averted their eyes, the entire area utterly silent.

 

Zhan Shili ignored them and went to see Xu Shen before leaving.

 

Xu Shen leaned back in his office chair, lost in thought, toying with his gold coin between his fingers.

 

Zhan Shili knocked and entered. Xu Shen slowly lifted his eyes, watching him approach and stop in front of the desk. After a moment of silence, he spoke: “There’s no one else here now. You still don’t want to explain anything to me?”

 

Zhan Shili looked steadily at him for a long while before saying, “What explanation do you want to hear? My father was one of Zhuosheng’s original shareholders, and I still hold a small amount of Zhuosheng shares now. After I entered the orphanage, the person who kept supporting me and later sent me to study in the UK was He Mingzheng. I joined Zhaoqi at his request too. I did learn a great deal at Zhaoqi over these years, and I only got to where I am today because your dad and you gave me opportunities, but it’s also true that I came here with ulterior motives and malicious intent.”

 

Xu Shen asked, “That’s it?”

 

Zhan Shili said, “What else do you think there is?”

 

Xu Shen’s fingers stopped turning the gold coin: “Nic, are you really the kind of person who repays kindness? You entered Zhaoqi to become a corporate spy for He Mingzheng just to repay him? I’m not buying it.”

 

Zhan Shili didn’t answer, so Xu Shen continued, “You’re clearly just as profit-driven as I am, yet even when I offered you the position of Zhaoqi CEO, you weren’t tempted. What can He Mingzheng even offer? He’s Zhuosheng’s chairman, and his own son is the CEO. No matter how things are arranged, it would never be your turn, so what on earth are you thinking?”

 

“Young Master Shen.” Zhan Shili’s voice lowered. “I’m not obligated to explain all of that to you, am I?”

 

“You’re so heartless,” Xu Shen sighed. “I thought that with the relationship between us, you would put me ahead of everyone else, but turns out I’m just being presumptuous…

 

…But Nic, you know every single one of my secrets. Why won’t you tell me yours? Do you not trust me? I’ve told you so many times that you’re all I have. Do you really have to break my heart like this?”

 

If Zhan Shili hadn’t known perfectly well what kind of person Xu Shen was, he might actually have been fooled by his tone and expression now. He said, “You could have just asked me directly; why did you use the Second Young Mistress to instigate an exposé at the board meeting? Young Master Shen certainly acts swiftly and decisively without leaving himself any retreat. The methods are truly more formidable than the boss’s.”

 

“So you know,” Xu Shen admitted. “I gave you a chance. I asked you to go make trouble for He Wenhui, and you refused.”

 

Zhan Shili said, “You already said yourself that He Mingzheng isn’t someone to mess with. If I went after his son and he traced it back to me, what then?”

 

“So in your eyes, he’s still more important?”

 

Xu Shen was genuinely angry now: “Am I not as good as him, or is Zhaoqi not as good as Zhuosheng? Is it really that impossible to make you stay?”

 

Zhan Shili stared into his eyes and suddenly said, “That night, you asked me what I wanted, and I already answered you. Is Young Master Shen willing to give it to me?”

 

What he had said that night was that he wanted Zhaoqi’s chairman. There had indeed been another meaning behind it.

 

Xu Shen couldn’t give that, and he wouldn’t.

 

Xu Shen’s expression gradually turned cold.

 

Zhan Shili didn’t say anything more either and finally said, “I’ll go back first.”

 

Even after he walked out of the office and the sound of the door closing rang out, Xu Shen still didn’t speak. The gold coin slipped from his hand onto the desk, this time landing on tails.

 

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That evening, Xu Shen asked Cai Lihao out for drinks. He was in a bad mood and drank a lot.

 

Cai Lihao had an arm around a girl as he sang. Later, noticing that Xu Shen was drinking too much, Cai Lihao reached over to intercept the new bottle of foreign liquor Xu Shen had just ordered: “Enough. Stop drinking so heavily. If you drink yourself to death at my place, I’m not taking responsibility.”

 

Xu Shen frowned: “Then I’ll go buy it myself.”

 

Cai Lihao had someone bring him a bottle of beer instead: “What’s wrong with you? You look so miserable, are you heartbroken or something?”

 

Xu Shen shook his head: “You’re the one who’s heartbroken.”

 

Cai Lihao didn’t take that seriously at all: “Brother Paul gets something fresh and exciting every day. I’m nothing like you, getting so hung up on one thing. No matter how fun a toy is, after playing with it for this long, shouldn’t you be tired of it by now? Speaking of which, are you really planning to drive Nic out of Zhaoqi?”

 

Cai Lihao hadn’t attended the meeting that afternoon, but he had heard what happened there.

 

Handing over dirt on Zhan Shili to his Second Sister-in-law and inspiring her to storm over to the company and publicly confront him—he sure was ruthless.

 

“I told you,” Xu Shen said impatiently, “I gave him a chance. He was the one who didn’t know what was good for him. Even the position of Zhaoqi CEO couldn’t move him. What he wants is too much.”

 

“You really have too much time on your hands, even planning to use the CEO position to keep him. That’s not like you at all,” Cai Lihao took a sip of his drink and offered him a suggestion. “For an ungrateful traitor like that, just tie him to a rock and sink him.”

 

Xu Shen seemed to freeze when he heard that, his voice strained: “You’re crazy.”

 

“Who’s crazy?” Cai Lihao saw right through him. “You can’t bear to do it? Do you still remember what happened to those moles who betrayed us back then?”

 

Xu Shen had no interest in talking about it: “Forgot.”

 

Cai Lihao insisted on reminding him: “Tying them to rocks and sinking them into the sea for a quick death was already letting them off easy. You used to be so ruthless, even more so than me. What, now that it’s Nic, you’re hesitating?”

 

“You’ve washed your hands of all that,” Xu Shen pointed at Cai Lihao, then at himself. “And I’ve turned over a new leaf too. I’m Zhaoqi’s acting chairman now, running a legitimate business. Cut it out.”

 

“As if I don’t run a legitimate business too. Fine, fine, I won’t give you any more lousy ideas.” Cai Lihao had only been talking nonsense in the first place, taking the opportunity to poke fun at Xu Shen: “I know you can’t bear to do anything to Nic.”

 

Xu Shen ignored him. The alcohol he had just drunk churned violently in his stomach. He hauled himself up from the sofa, rushed into the bathroom, and vomited until his head spun.

 

Xu Shen only felt a constant buzzing in his head, miserable beyond words. He cupped water from the tap and splashed it over his face, then looked up and saw his own bloodshot eyes and flushed cheeks in the mirror. Cai Lihao was right: he looked utterly wretched.

 

The alcohol had left his whole body weak. He could barely stand, and his body slid downward until he sat against the wall beside the sink. He kept closing his eyes and opening them again, barely able to remember who he was.

 

Xu Shen pulled out his phone, swiped several times before managing to unlock it, then poked at the screen with his finger and hazily dialed Zhan Shili’s number.

 

It rang three times before the call was answered.

 

Zhan Shili didn’t speak, and Xu Shen didn’t either. His breathing was heavy.

 

The suffocating silence made Xu Shen feel even worse. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore and spoke first: “Nic, you bastard.”

 

“Where are you?” The voice over the phone was a little unclear.

 

Xu Shen cursed, “It’s none of your business where I am. You don’t care anyway, you have no conscience…”

 

Zhan Shili asked again: “Where are you?”

 

Xu Shen was beyond frustrated: “I told you that it’s none of your business. Who do you think you are? I’m a young master of the Xu Family, Zhaoqi’s acting chairman. As long as I want, there are plenty of people who want to climb into my bed. Why should I get so hung up on you?

 

You’re not that great either. You’re involved ambiguously with so many people. I must’ve been blind to fall for you. I’ve had my fun, I don’t want to play with you anymore. Get lost.”

 

Xu Shen was terribly drunk, his words were difficult to make out and a little nonsensical.

 

Zhan Shili was driving, aimlessly circling the streets. At that moment, listening to Xu Shen’s complaints and curses, his mind went blank for a moment. Only when cool wind poured into the car did his thoughts return: “You’re drunk?”

 

Xu Shen hung up on him immediately.

 

Zhan Shili glanced outside the car. Without realizing it, he had already driven near the vicinity of Cai Lihao’s bar.

 

Xu Shen returned to the private room. After sitting down again, his dizziness became even worse.

 

Cai Lihao had someone bring in a fruit platter: “Feeling better after throwing up? Eat some fruit to soothe your throat.”

 

Xu Shen swayed as he sat up and speared a small piece of watermelon, putting it into his mouth. The juice was very sweet, but his mouth was full of the bitterness of alcohol, and he couldn’t taste much of anything.

 

Cai Lihao sent everyone else in the private room away and asked him, “Is it really that bad?”

 

His earlier comment about Xu Shen being “heartbroken” had only been a joke, but now he was starting to think he might actually have hit the mark.

 

Xu Shen’s eyes drooped, and he was slow to react, taking a long time to look up at Cai Lihao:  “What did you just say?”

 

Cai Lihao was speechless: “I said, what exactly are you thinking? Since Nic was so decisive about resigning, he’s clearly chosen Zhuosheng over Zhaoqi. Why are you still involved with him like this? He’s really patient, lying low in Zhaoqi for eight years. Who knows what he did behind the scenes, and he still managed not to leave behind any evidence of crossing legal lines, so there’s nothing you can do to him. Even I find someone like that a little frightening.”

 

Zhan Shili reached the door of the private room. It was left slightly ajar. He placed a hand on it, but when he heard the faint voices coming from inside, his movement to push it open stopped.

 

“No idea.” Xu Shen no longer wanted the fruit. He lit a cigarette, and amid the smoke, his head finally cleared a little compared to before. “I knew from early on that his motives weren’t pure, he’s just more capable than I thought.”

 

Cai Lihao asked, “Then what are you planning to do from now on?”

 

“If we’re compatible, we’ll stay; if we’re not, we part,” A trace of ridicule appeared at the corner of Xu Shen’s lips. “He’s using me, but aren’t I using him too? It’s all an act anyway. You’re right, no matter how fun a toy is, you get tired of it after playing with it long enough. The only reason I kept holding on to him was because he still had value to me. Besides, you have no idea how happy it makes me every time I see that idiot Xu Zikang acting like he’ll live or die over him, ha…”

 

Cai Lihao was unaware of the grudges between Xu Shen and Xu Zikang from when they were children and asked, “You stole Nic from Xu Zikang just to spite that Third Brother of yours?”

 

“What else?” Xu Shen tilted his head, propped one hand against his temple, and slowly spoke as he flicked ash from his cigarette. “I wanted revenge, to torment him mentally. Everything he had, I wanted to take away, people included.”

 

Cai Lihao’s expression became exaggerated: “Seriously?”

 

Xu Shen smiled and continued carelessly: “On my very first day in the Xu Family, I stumbled upon the relationship between Xu Zikang and Nic. Back then, I thought, ‘this is really interesting, there’s no way I’m not getting involved.’ Then you see, Nic isn’t exactly some upright gentleman either, taking the bait very easily. Men are all the same, aren’t they?

 

I’ve told you before. Watching Xu Zikang want him but never get him, then watching Nic slowly fall hopelessly in love with me while hesitating and struggling, unable to let go even when he betrays me… that feeling really is addictive.”

 

Cai Lihao was skeptical: “You’re really just playing with him?”

 

Xu Shen took a deep drag from his cigarette and slowly exhaled a ring of smoke: “What else did you think it was?”

 

Cai Lihao burst into laughter.

 

Mixed into the laughter were Xu Shen’s indistinct curses.

 

Outside the door, Zhan Shili lowered his eyes and stood in silence for a moment before giving up the idea of pushing the door open, turning to leave.

 

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t/n: Advance chapters up to ch 68 are up on kofi shop~ ^^ 

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