Chen Yu maintained his furious expression until he climbed into his own car. But once the divider separating him from the driver was raised, his face became chillingly emotionless.
Checking his condition in the mirror, Chen Yu ran his fingers over the bruises on his throat, feeling strange. The sight was unnaturally familiar, because Zhao Cui had also loved to bite and suck on his neck.
There was no way Zhao Cui could have tracked him to another world, he was simply a background character in a mission. Besides, if he had followed, he shouldn't be a slag like Feng Kuo.
Still, Chen Yu carefully tried to find any decisive similarities between the two. Even after a lengthy examination, there was nothing that made him certain. No point was distinctive enough—drinking whiskey, obsessing over his neck...he suddenly sat up.
Feng Kuo had mentioned Ren Yijun asking his secretary for money, but those conversations had occurred strictly when no one else was around. There was no way he could have found out about that unless he had an in with Secretary Xi or bugged the room.
His focus diverted, Chen Yu pondered whether to perform another sweep for cameras, but he eventually decided to leave them alone for the time being. Although Feng Kuo shouldn't interfere in such trivial family squabbles, if the cameras were removed now, he could be irked and do more than merely replace them.
Anyway, he was used to being monitored...
Chen Yu closed his eyes and leaned against the car seat. So the two did share a somewhat odd tendency to stalk him, but he knew that logically, Feng Kuo couldn't be Zhao Cui. He just didn't want to face it.
---
Whether Chen Yu wanted to think about him or not, Feng Kuo contacted him increasingly frequently during the next couple months. Chen Yu usually accepted the near-daily calls and occasionally the invitations to dinner, entertainment, and so on, in case the madman did something more time-consuming otherwise.
His attention, however, remained mostly on Ren Anjin's side. It appeared they'd sped up their plans as he wished, so he excitedly arranged his response as well.
The evening before Ren Anjin's attack was scheduled to take place, Feng Kuo called Ren Yijun. "Pet, remember the offer I made some time ago?"
Chen Yu hummed in agreement, busy putting the final touches on the videos he was editing.
From that reaction alone, Feng Kuo was well aware that the heartless man wasn't concentrating on him. Despite the fact that they interacted often these days, Jun had returned to his polite but disinterested façade, while implying strongly that he was only there to prevent future abductions.
Nevertheless, over time Jun had revealed some small idiosyncrasies, like his sweet tooth, his habit of spinning pens, knives, anything sharp, on his thumb when he was distracted, what sounds he made that indicated he was thinking. The supplementary material from the surveillance camera footage helped Feng Kuo to observe as well. From all of this, he knew that humming guaranteed that the other person was preoccupied.
Still, he needed to imprint in Jun's mind that his first emergency contact should be him—Feng Kuo had changed his intention from directly pressuring Ren Yijun into submission, because after further interaction, he understood that Jun probably wouldn't give in to a direct opponent. Since that was the case, he had to return to his original plan, which was to save him from Ren Anjing. But to succeed, Jun would have to instinctively depend on him and ask him for help.
So Feng Kuo continued, "Well, my arms are always open. Remember to contact me if anything comes up, alright?"
Chen Yu agreed and hung up directly, rolling his eyes. As if he couldn't tell that the snake was just waiting to swallow him whole? It wasn't his arms that were open but his bed.
Later that night, all the major shareholders except Yang Shu and her children were anonymously sent information regarding the new CEO's embezzlement. The evidence was meticulous, including records of fund transfers, under-the-table pay raises, and signed documents authorizing large-scale relocation of assets to the CEO's bank accounts. The more influential investors checked the reliability of the news, but the results indicated that everything was true. In fact, it was through some of Ren Daquan's closer friends calling Ren Yijun to scold that he 'discovered' the rumor.
As expected, in the morning, Ren Development Group's stock price dropped sharply, and, with Ren Anjing's subtle guidance, a special shareholder meeting was called for the next day.
Yang Shu represented their family to ask Ren Yijun what was going on, but she relaxed once her son assured her he had everything under control. To show their support and to protect him, Yang Shu, her daughters, and Du Guang all made him the proxy for their votes. Chen Yu accepted, because while it wasn't necessary, it would be fun to swing 45% of the stocks around in his uncle's face.
Initially, most of the employees had no idea why the company was suddenly in danger, but Ren Anjing's higher-class personnel hinted that it was because the CEO was caught stealing the group's funds. Thus, when Ren Yijun strode into the company, many of the eyes on him were accusing. Chen Yu didn't care, he'd suffered much more severe beatings, curses, even stampedes when he'd faced crowds before, and in any case, these mob characters weren't worth much interest.
After all, a far juicier target was approaching.
Ren Anjing's face was wan when he blocked Ren Yijun, and he sadly trailed off, "Yijun, how could-how could you...to your Dad's company..."
These words indirectly confirmed that CEO Ren was responsible. Watching the employees whisper and point at the young man, Ren Anjing jeered at both his incapable nephew and the gullible commoners. Satisfied, he then staggered away at a deceptively rapid pace, not allowing Ren Yijun a chance to defend himself.
Chen Yu resumed walking as if nothing had happened, almost reaching the elevators. Seeing his shamelessness, several individuals stepped forward to interrogate him on what he'd done and how he'd compensate them.
Chen Yu frowned. These people weren't important, but they kept interrupting his play.
Dissatisfied, Chen Yu shot them a glance, motioned to the security guards nearby, and said, "All of you don't have to come to work anymore. The guards will accompany you to collect your belongings."
The self-righteous expressions on the faces of those who'd complained cracked. They hadn't expected to lose their jobs over this! The boldest of them demanded, "Who are you to fire us? You're the one who stole company money!"
Ren Yijun looked at the protestor as if he was stupid. "I'm the CEO, you're an employee, naturally I can fire you." The crowd was stunned. That...seemed to be right? Ren Yijun continued, "If you utter another word, I'll also be the person seeing you in court for slander." Strolling past, he finished with a casual "Want to question me on who I am to sue you as well?" The man turned red, shaking his head and retreating. No one dared to say anything or stop him anymore. Regardless of whether CEO Ren had committed a crime or not, he would have the backing of Ren Jia.
When Chen Yu reached his office, he was met with the sight of Secretary Xi frantically shredding files. Secretary Xi noticed the figure at the door, so he hurried to stuff the last of the documents he'd forged. The moment it turned into a pile of trash, his heart calmed down.
Smoothing his hair back, he turned to Ren Yijun, explaining, "CEO Ren, there are some dangerous rumors going around. Don't worry, I've destroyed all the evidence that could implicate you."
Chen Yu shook his head, admiring, this secretary was too loyal, really believing that he was one with his superior.
On the outside, however, Ren Yijun slammed the door closed and shouted, "What evidence? I didn't do anything wrong!"
Secretary Xi rushed to agree and placate the brat, encouraging himself with the thought that tomorrow would be the last day he'd have to deal with him.
On the other hand, Chen Yu was mourning that he'd lose a playmate tomorrow. He ordered that no one disturb him, so that he could prepare a perfect farewell present.
By the end of the work day, gossip about CEO Ren's crime had spread to every level of the company, and Feng Kuo was unhappily waiting for Jun's distress signal. He almost contacted him first, but in the end, he held off. Perhaps Jun would be desperate enough after being confronted by the shareholders.
As if oblivious to all of this, Ren Yijun left his office at 5 o'clock sharp and had a good rest.
The next morning, Chen Yu wore a serious expression as he entered the shareholders meeting, anticipating a good show.