BF Chapter 43

Zhan Shili carried Xu Shen straight back to the bedroom. Their little illicit affair had left both of them more than a little impatient.

 

As they fell onto the bed, Xu Shen reached up to undo the buttons of Zhan Shili’s shirt. Zhan Shili’s kisses trailed down from his lips to his chin, then his neck and Adam’s apple, kissing and biting along the way. In the end, he caught Xu Shen’s hand and pushed himself up slightly, apparently finding Xu Shen far too slow. He tore open the rest of the buttons himself in a few quick motions, shrugged off his shirt, and tossed it carelessly onto the floor.

 

Xu Shen watched him with a low laugh, both hands settling on his shoulders before wandering across his chest, caressing him with affectionate appreciation.

 

Zhan Shili’s breathing grew heavy. He quickly stripped Xu Shen fully naked. Xu Shen cooperated readily; at times like this, he was always proactive and passionate, letting Zhan Shili do whatever he wanted to him.

 

Once there was nothing left between them, Zhan Shili lowered the full weight of his body over Xu Shen, caught his hands again, and kissed him deeply.

 

Xu Shen cupped Zhan Shili’s face in both hands and asked between breaths, “Nic, does it feel good to sleep with me like this?”

 

Zhan Shili grabbed one of his legs, firmly prying it apart, his voice terribly hoarse: “What do you think?”

 

“I’m the young master and you’re the assistant. I’m letting you to fuck me. Does it feel good?” Xu Shen persisted.

 

“Why do you have so many questions? Am I not satisfying this young master?” Zhan Shili pinched his leg all the way down to his ankle and drove into him with all his strength.

 

Xu Shen’s body jolted upwards, only for Zhan Shili to drag him back down, breathless moans spilling uncontrollably from his lips. Zhan Shili felt him tighten around him in that instant and fought hard to endure it, only to lose all restraint in the next moment, dragging Xu Shen with him into the full force of the raging storm.

 

Xu Shen was caught somewhere between exhilarating pleasure and utter torment. Through his constantly shaking vision, he met Zhan Shili’s eyes, black as ink, desire gathered thick within them yet still restrained. This kind of person—fierce and cunnning—was all animalistic instinct beneath the surface, the hardest kind to control.

 

But he liked it.

 

He laughed, pulled Zhan Shili down by the neck, and offered another kiss of his own accord.

 

It was nearly ten when Zhan Shili casually pulled a pair of trousers from the wardrobe and put them on, then headed outside to prepare their long-overdue dinner.

 

Xu Shen followed him out, stopping behind him to admire his smooth, bare back for a while: broad shoulders, narrow waist, the muscles of his back sheened with a thin layer of sweat—powerful, and very, very sexy.

 

Xu Shen laid his fingers against him and slowly traced downward along the shallow groove of his spine.

 

Without turning around, Zhan Shili said, “If you want to eat anytime soon, behave yourself.”

 

Xu Shen gave a soft laugh, withdrew his hand, and opened one of the blackout curtains to look outside.

 

The sea was calm at night, serenely reflecting the city lights scattered far and near. This part of the marina was even more tranquil, with only the occasional yacht lit from within. Who knew who else was spending a pleasant night together here, just like them.

 

Xu Shen thought about making himself a cup of coffee, but when he reached for it, he changed his mind and poured himself some milk instead. Zhan Shili glanced over, confirmed that he wasn’t secretly drinking coffee, then looked away again.

 

“Actually, I want a cigarette,” Xu Shen said, leaning against the island counter. “Otherwise, my mouth feels like it’s missing something.”

 

Zhan Shili didn’t look up: “No.”

 

“Nic, you really are domineering,” Xu Shen complained softly. “This is my yacht, I can do whatever I want.”

 

Zhan Shili repeated, “No.”

 

“Fine.” Xu Shen reluctantly gave in. “I won’t smoke. If you don’t like it, forget it. I’ve almost quit anyway.”

 

Zhan Shili suddenly turned and leaned in. Before Xu Shen could react, he caught his lips between his teeth, pushed his tongue into his mouth, and swept it around once. When he drew back, he murmured, “Still missing something now?”

 

Xu Shen snapped out of his reverie and laughed again: “Oh.”

 

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The next morning, they returned to the company separately.

 

As Zhan Shili was about to head upstairs from the parking lot, he ran into Xu Zikang, who had also just gotten out of his car. Zhan Shili held the elevator doors open and waited for him to come in.

 

“Morning.”

 

Xu Zikang entered the elevator, and Zhan Shili greeted him as naturally as ever.

 

As the elevator rose, Zhan Shili lowered his head to look at his phone while Xu Zikang subconsciously began to study him.

 

He didn’t know whether Zhan Shili had gone home before coming to the company. He was wearing a different set of clothes, so perhaps he hadn’t gone home at all, which would mean he kept a change of clothes aboard Xu Shen’s yacht. Then, that would mean they had met there for dates more than once.

 

At the thought, Xu Zikang clenched his fingers hard, barely managing to keep himself from reacting too strongly and losing his composure.

 

Zhan Shili seemed to sense something and looked over: “Not feeling well?”

 

Xu Zikang did his best to steady his voice and asked, “Nic, were you entertaining clients until very late last night? I sent you a message afterward, but you didn’t reply.”

 

On his way home last night, overwhelmed and distraught, he had sent Zhan Shili another message asking where he was. Then he had waited until it was nearly dawn without receiving a reply.

 

Zhan Shili had been on a date with someone else and couldn’t even be bothered to placate him with a perfunctory response.

 

“I didn’t look at my phone,” Zhan Shili said. “Was something wrong?”

 

“No,” Xu Zikang bit his lip and said quietly, “I was just asking. I was worried because you still hadn’t gone home so late.”

 

Zhan Shili gave a brief hum and reminded him, “We’re here.”

 

The elevator doors opened, and Xu Zikang wheeled himself out. When he turned back, Zhan Shili said gently, “Work hard,” then pressed the button to close the doors.

 

—The gentler this man was, the more he was deceiving him.

 

It was only today that Xu Zikang truly realized that.

 

The elevator doors closed completely and continued upward. Xu Zikang lowered his eyes and sat there in a daze for a while, a chill spreading little by little through his heart.

 

Xu Shen arrived at the company twenty minutes later. Once back in his office, he immediately instructed his secretary to arrange an executive meeting for 11:00 A.M. and notify all directors and senior executives to attend.

 

His secretary informed him that Xu Ziren had taken leave as usual.

 

Xu Shen wasn’t surprised in the slightest. Ever since he had become acting chairman, Xu Ziren had made himself absent from every executive meeting, but Xu Shen had no intention of indulging him any longer.

 

“Tell his secretary that if he’s absent again today, I’ll assume that he’s incapable of fulfilling his duties as CEO, and I’ll propose to the board that we find someone more competent to replace him.”

 

For a younger brother to speak about his elder brother this way, Xu Shen clearly had no intention of saving him even the slightest bit of face.

 

His secretary wanted to advise him otherwise, but Xu Shen merely raised his eyes: “Is there a problem?”

 

The secretary probably knew what kind of temper he had and swallowed the words back down: “No. I’ll go make the call now.”

 

The meeting began promptly at eleven. Xu Ziren walked in at the very last minute before it started and took the first seat to Xu Shen’s left, his expression cold as he remained completely silent.

 

Xu Shen didn’t waste words either and gestured to Zhan Shili: “Nic, go ahead.”

 

Zhan Shili nodded and went straight for the CFO, demanding that he explain the problems with the company’s accounts and clarify exactly what the funds transferred to Southeast Asia a month ago had been used for.

 

Xu Zikang observed the tacit understanding between Xu Shen and Zhan Shili, his hand unconsciously pressing the pen hard enough to drag a line across the paper in front of him.

 

The CFO had already coordinated his story with Xu Ziren, so he no longer tried to hide it and said directly, “The CEO previously signed an acquisition agreement for the Xingdu Port project with Malaysia’s development authorities on behalf of the company. That money was the initial upfront payment.”

 

Xu Shen asked, “Why did the board know absolutely nothing about this?”

 

Xu Ziren said coldly, “I happened to discuss the project with the government officials while I was in Malaysia, so I signed it on the spot. There wasn’t time to notify the board.”

 

One of the directors challenged him, “You didn’t tell us afterward either, did you? Why did you suddenly acquire Xingdu Port? I heard construction on that port project stopped not long after it began. Back then, it was a joint project spearheaded by the mainland government, only to end up a complete failure. Why is Zhaoqi now taking over this mess?”

 

Back then, it had been a massive, high-profile project intended to create the largest seaport in Malacca, only to come under attack from multiple forces after threatening the interests of too many people. Political factors had only made matters worse, with Malacca’s local government changing leaders several times in quick succession and its administration descending into chaos. In the end, construction had been forced to stop, leaving the initial development an uninhabited ghost town that had remained unfinished to this day. Now, however, it has been taken over by Zhaoqi.

 

Xu Ziren explained with complete confidence, “The first phase wasn’t even completed back then. Once we take over, we’ll scale the project down and only build a cruise terminal and develop a luxury private resort island. That won’t interfere with the interests of the local powers, nor will it cost too much. We may even turn a profit. By helping them solve this problem, they’ve agreed to give Zhaoqi a share of the development rights for the new-energy eco-city project in central Kuala Lumpur that I mentioned before. I had a detailed project proposal prepared. Everyone can take a look first.”

 

With that, Xu Ziren instructed his secretary to distribute the proposal.

 

Everyone flipped through the documents, discussing them among themselves animatedly.

 

The last time Xu Ziren had proposed investing in the project, his explanation had been vague and no one had shown any interest.

 

This time, he had come prepared, as the project proposal was practical and detailed. Particularly, the profit projections immediately won over quite a few people at the table.

 

Xu Shen was reading through the proposal as well when Zhan Shili suddenly got up and walked over to him. Bending down, he held out his phone for Xu Shen to see. Xu Shen read the news on the screen, one eyebrow lifting as he raised his eyes to Zhan Shili.

 

Zhan Shili gave him a meaningful look and nodded slightly.

 

Xu Zikang, who had been distracted from beginning to end, had been watching them the entire time. The tip of his pen carved an even deeper line into the paper until it tore straight through.

 

Zhan Shili returned to his seat. Xu Shen tossed the proposal aside and asked Xu Ziren, “Second Brother, you said the Malaysian government agreed to give us development rights. How exactly did they agree to it? Did you sign a memorandum with them?”

 

Xu Ziren said, “I’ll fly over again next week and formally sign the agreement with them—”

 

“Looks to me like they scammed you,” Xu Shen cut in directly. “Everyone, take out your phones and check the news. A press conference and signing ceremony for the Kuala Lumpur project were held just this morning. Only one company from Hong Kong is participating in the project, and it isn’t Zhaoqi, but Zhuosheng. He Mingzheng is in Kuala Lumpur right now and has already signed a formal joint development agreement with them.”

 

Xu Ziren’s expression changed drastically as he immediately unlocked his phone.

 

One after another, everyone else took out their phones, and an uproar swept through the room.

 

“Second Young Master, don’t you owe us an explanation?! What the hell is going on?!”

 

Xu Ziren stared fixedly at the photo in the news article on his phone, capturing Chairman He at the signing ceremony, looking thoroughly pleased with himself.

 

Xu Shen asked him, “Second Brother, how many times have we lost to Zhuosheng now? Again and again. Don’t you think you owe everyone on the board a proper explanation?”

 

Xu Ziren locked his phone angrily: “I’ll fly over there this afternoon and find out exactly what happened.”

 

“I think you can spare yourself the trouble,” Xu Shen’s voice was icy. “You signed an acquisition agreement on your own initiative without the board’s approval and delayed the progress of the company’s other projects. What you should be doing is apologizing and resigning to take responsibility.”

 

Xu Ziren nearly exploded in fury: “You’re trying to force me to resign?”

 

Xu Shen corrected his wording: “I’m not forcing you. The fact is, after everything that’s happened, you’re no longer fit to serve as the company’s CEO.”

 

Everyone else at the meeting fell silent. No one wanted to involve themselves in a direct confrontation between the two brothers at a time like this.

 

“Impossible!” Xu Ziren practically forced the words through gritted teeth. “I won’t resign! Don’t even think about it!”

 

Xu Shen had no interest in wasting more words on him: “Second Brother, not only are you unfit to remain CEO, you’re no longer fit to remain on the board either. I’ll propose convening an extraordinary general meeting¹Extraordinary general meeting here is referring to the actual business term, extraordinary isn’t just a regular adjective. Search it up, “extraordinary general meeting” or EGM for short. to remove you as a director.”

 

⋆⋆⋆⋆

 

After the meeting ended, Xu Shen returned to his office and kept only Zhan Shili behind, gesturing for him to close the door.

 

Once they had sat down, Zhan Shili said, “The Second Young Master is probably lashing out from humiliation by now, he’s at his wit’s end.”

 

Xu Shen said disdainfully, “If he hadn’t been lucky enough to be born into the right family, he never would’ve been qualified to be Zhaoqi’s CEO in the first place.”

 

Zhan Shili said slowly, “Apart from the Xu family, the shareholders holding more than one percent include your aunt Chen Ping and another five people. Three of those five are company directors, but even the largest holding among them is only a little over four percent. You have the authority to exercise the boss’s shares, plus the Third Young Master’s holdings. Even if the Second Young Master manages to win everyone else over, he shouldn’t pose much of a threat.”

 

Xu Shen laughed: “There’s my godbrother too. Huang Dexing’s shares have already been transferred to him, so he’s a Zhaoqi shareholder now. He also picked up some shares on the market himself. Altogether, he has a little over three percent.”

 

Zhan Shili asked, “The boss and the others still don’t know about that. Is your godbrother coming to the shareholders’ meeting too?”

 

Xu Shen nodded: “Once I kick Xu Ziren out, I plan to bring my godbrother onto the board.”

 

Zhan Shili reminded him, “Aren’t you afraid the boss will get suspicious if you do that?”

 

“Once Xu Ziren is out of the picture, he can get a little bit more ill,” Xu Shen said without concern. “If he wants to be suspicious, let him.”

 

“Mn,” Zhan Shili said nothing more. “Since you’ve already planned everything out, we’ll do it that way.”

 

Xu Shen, however, asked him, “Nic, Zhuosheng cut Zhaoqi out of another project this time. Was it Xu Ziren’s pretty secretary who tipped He Mingzheng off? And what about you? Did you know about this beforehand?”

 

“Probably,” Zhan Shili said lightly. “I only found out when I saw the news this morning.”

 

“I thought you knew everything,” Xu Shen smiled, seemingly getting at something more with his words. “Turns out you don’t.”

 

Zhan Shili shook his head slightly.

 

With everything settled, Zhan Shili got up to return to his own office. As he turned away, however, he paused and said to Xu Shen, “Sorry.”

 

Xu Shen looked up at him in mild surprise: “Sorry for what?”

 

Sorry for lying to you again.

 

Zhan Shili only said, “I’m going back.”

 

Xu Shen clicked his tongue.

 

Zhan Shili returned to his office. Once seated, he loosened his tie and leaned back in his chair, momentarily lost in thought.

 

He had regretted the words almost immediately after they slipped out, avoiding Xu Shen’s gaze.

 

The feeling of things gradually slipping beyond his control was deeply unpleasant, and he found it difficult to remain clear-headed and rational.

 

The phone resting on his desk vibrated softly. Zhan Shili picked it up and saw a new message from Xu Shen.

 

[I accept.]

 

Zhan Shili replied: [Accept what?]

 

Xu Shen: [Whatever you were sorry for, I accept your apology.]

 

For a moment, Zhan Shili was moved. He stared at the words, imagining the expression on Xu Shen’s face right now, losing himself once more in thought.

 

His final reply was: [Thank you.]

 

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t/n: Advance chapters up to ch 62 are up on kofi shop~ ^^

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Continue Reading Ch. 44-62: click me <3

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  Extraordinary general meeting here is referring to the actual business term, extraordinary isn’t just a regular adjective. Search it up, “extraordinary general meeting” or EGM for short.