As Xiaoyun put the letter back into the envelope, he took out the plastic-covered and ripped it open.
To his surprise, the paper was a series of financial transactions in which the stockholder used company money for luxury trips and houses.
"So this was what grandpa meant when he said they wouldn't be there if it weren't for him..."
After reading it, he quickly puts it back into the suitcase before resuming and putting his clothes into his closet.
---
A month has passed since Xiaoyun had bought the house.
He still hasn't found Leyan. None of his calls or messages were answered, almost as if she had vanished from society.
With nothing else to do, he was now sitting in the coffee store every morning, waiting for her to show up.
More and more days began to pass until one day, his phone suddenly got a call.
He immediately took it out in excitement. But much to his disappointment, it was some stranger's phone number.
"Hello?"
"Hello, is this Chen Songming?" A middle-aged man's voice came out of the phone.
"Yes, this is Songming. Who is this?"
"I'm Li Ping, and I'm the representative of the board of directors of Songjia's Conglomerate's manufacturing section.
The collective stockholder selected me to call at this time to invite you to come back and work for the company again."
Li Ping's words confused Xiaoyun a little, but he didn't end the phone call right away.
"Didn't I already resign and give Songyi as CEO?"
"His shares were only 30%. The board of directors has discussed internally that due to his poor management, he will be stepping down soon."
The call paused for a second, then continued.
"Mr.Chen, we are willing to give you 5% of the company in stock as long as you come back here to work as the CEO again."
Seeing that Xiaoyun did not answer in silence, Li Ping raised his stake again.
"Mr.Chen, we can offer you 10%. That is the most we can offer... Please, the company needs you.
You don't want the old man's work to go to waste, too, right? We need your guidance to bring it back on track."
Xiaoyun still didn't respond, remaining silent as they could have asked him to stay months ago when he quit.
The fact that they only asked him now and never even gave him any shares of the company to keep him on board showed how much they 'valued' him.
"Fine. We can give you 20%, but you will need to convince Songyi to sell parts of his share of the company, and we'll give it to you."
"You know, before Grandpa left, he gave me a letter," Xiaoyun suddenly said.
"Grandpa? Do you mean that old man Songyun? What about the letter?" Li Ping asked in confusion.
"Oh, the letter just contained certain people using company money for their private affairs.
Surely you wouldn't do something illegal, would you, Mr.Li? You wouldn't be using money for your family's private flight, right?"
After a short silence, Li Ping finally answered back.
"Yeah, I would never do such a thing. The accountant's audit showed n-no wrongdoing, nor do I need that money to do that."
The slight stutter gave everything Xiaoyun needed as he made his decision.
"I'll accept your offer... Would you mind hosting a board of directors meeting tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I will do that. I will call them immediately."
Li Ping's voice finally sounded a little relieved, knowing he had at least accomplished his mission.
"Good, see you tomorrow at the company then."
As Xiaoyun hung up the phone, he realized he had fallen into a trap he had just dug himself out of.
"Why am I dragging myself back into this? Is it just because I don't want to see Grandpa's legacy fall into ruin?"
With a sip of black coffee, he let out a sigh as he watched the sunset on the horizon.
---
The next day...
Early in the morning, Xiaoyun was already at the coffee shop, sipping coffee as he looked towards the people walking past the street.
Some of them were dressed for work, while some were just students going to school.
Much to his disappointment, none of them were the ones that he was looking for.
"Sir, you have been here every day. Are you waiting for someone?" the waiter curiously asked.
Xiaoyun's brain froze for a second, realizing that he could have asked the waitress to watch for him the whole time.
"Yes. I am waiting for someone. Have you seen a girl who is slightly taller than me, with a round face and long hair and a small black hair clip?"
"Oh, and her name is Leyan."
After a short moment, the waitress shook her head, taking a step back as Xiaoyun stood up too close in excitement.
"Sorry... I don't think I had served someone with that description."
"Thank you... If you see her, please call me. Here's my phone number."
Xiaoyun quickly handed her his old business card, sitting back down in his seat, defeated upon hearing the news.
"No problem."
An hour later...
After finishing the coffee, Xiaoyun waved goodbye to the waitress as he drove straight to the company.
The moment he walked past the glass door, he could notice everyone's attention looking at him.
"Mister Songming? Is that you?" The receptionist asked in shock as Xiaoyun entered the building.
"Yes, that's me. I'm back... Actually, can you do me a favor?"
Xiaoyun quickly whispered something to the receptionist before taking the elevator upstairs.
As soon as he arrived in the meeting room, every single major stockholder he knew of was already inside.
Many of them were familiar faces, as Xiaoyun had seen them from the last revenue meeting a few days before he left.
"Well, well, well, good morning, everybody. I am sure you gentlemen know what I am here for."
Xiaoyun casually sat down on the opposite side of the host seat, with Songyi sitting right across from him.
"Why the hell is he here?"
Songyi suddenly stood up in anger, compared to everyone's calm expression, as if they had been told beforehand.
"Did nobody inform him? I am being hired to be the CEO again... Right, Mr.Li?" Xiaoyun asked.
Within the crowds, a middle-aged man stood up from his seat, signaling the other stockholders to push Songyi back down.
"Mr.Li, you said this board of directors is willing to give me 20% if I join as the CEO, right?" Xiaoyun asked again.
"Yes, but you will convince Songyi to sell his stock." The middle-aged man answered, nervously looking away from Songyi.
"What? How? Did none of you bastard tell me about this? I will never sell my shares!"
Songyi adamantly refused as he grabbed onto his armrest before being pushed down by two other stockholders.
All of the stockholders let out an awkward laugh, except for Li Ping, who looked a little nervous as he revealed their actual intended plan.
"Xiaoyun, it seems that Songyi doesn't want to sell. But since you're already here, how about we make a compromise?"
"What compromise?"
"We will pool our shares together, skipping Songyi altogether. We'll be the one to offer you 20% after five years if you can meet the growth target you promised in your recovery plans."
Xiaoyun sat in silence, realizing the trap they had made for him that looked too lucrative not to take.
It almost seemed too good to be true, considering that as long as his plan was resumed, everything would return to the original projection.
"Actually, you guys don't need to worry about Songyi selling. I'm getting my 20% today. Or should I say more than just 20%?"
All of the stockholders looked a little puzzled. They were a little confused about how he was going to achieve that.
"I am not here to convince Songyi to sell. Rather, I am convincing everybody here to sell their shares of the company."
The entire room fell into silence until the first stockholder opened their mouth, followed by the second and the third.
"What? No one is going to do that."
"Why would we do that? It just makes no sense."
"Yeah, hell no, that's never going to happen."
"Just because the stock is down doesn't mean it's worthless. Songming, you have stepped over the line."
As the chattering continued and started evolving into even hurling insults at him, he remained calm in his seat.
The only one who wasn't angry was Songyi and Li Ping.
The first one is more than happy to see Xiaoyun already being expelled, as that meant he would have the majority to become the CEO again.
The second looked a little nervous, as his mind was racing with what Xiaoyun had said near the end of the phone call.
Just as one of the stockholders started talking about asking the security to kick Xiaoyun out, he reached inside his suit to take out a letter.
"A beach house purchased for three hundred thousand, a Lamborghini costing over two hundred thousand dollars for their daughter's birthday.
A trip to Hawaii costing over one hundred thousand dollars for a month... Do I need to read more?"
The chattering instantly fell into silence as soon as Xiaoyun read out the actions in the letter.
"This total ups almost several millions of dollars! Fucking millions! How the hell did you guys even embezzle this much?
Grandpa trusted you guys to run the company with him, and this is how you treated him back?
If I call the security commissioner right now, all of you will be in prison for embezzlement for the rest of your life!"
As soon as Xiaoyun finished talking, several of the stockholders started wiping sweat off their foreheads.
"Shit, how did this bastard know?"
"I don't know either?"
"Must be damn Songyun writing it down. I knew we couldn't get away that easily."
"It wasn't even that big of a purchase."
The stockholders began to talk among themselves as almost all of them were involved or benefited from the embezzlement.
"No wonder this company is so god damn hard to run! All you damn leeches!"
Songyi slammed the table and stood up from his seat, pointing his finger at them in anger.
"Fuck you all! I am going to report this myself!"
As soon as he tried to start walking toward the door, Xiaoyun suddenly spoke up.
"I wouldn't let him leave if I were you guys... Unless you all wanted to end up in prison."
Within seconds, several of the nearby stockholders rushed over to Songyi, tying him up and preventing him from leaving his seat.
"We will be all screwed if neither of these two snitched." One of the stockholders yelled out loud.
Several of the stockholders immediately had their own ideas as they began walking toward Xiaoyun. However, other stockholders quickly prevented them from getting closer.
"Looks like we still have some smart people in the crowd. Do you think I would only have one copy?
This is just a warning. If I don't leave here alive within ten minutes, the receptionist downstairs will call the police and the press."
Xiaoyun paused for a second, then continued.
"Let's see if any of you still have the courage to risk it all, just like how you all quit your old job to join Grandpa's company when he first started.
All it takes is for one of you guys to take me out and take all the blame. None of this will be leaked out if I just die here."
With both hands raised into the air, Xiaoyun showed zero signs of resistance.
Yet not a single one of them moved forward.
"You do it."
"No, you do it! I still have families to take care of at home."
"No, why don't you do it? I have two elderly and three kids to take care of!"
"Just take the bullet, or else we are all going to be in prison, you idiot!"
Seeing the stockholders infighting among each other, Xiaoyun sat and watched in silence until he had enough.
"Actually, how about I offer you all a deal? You all sell your stocks at 50% of market value. When I turn this company private, I will burn all the records as if it never happened."
The offer instantly triggered fury from the stockholders, all of them realizing how bad of the deal it was.
"What?"
"The stock price is so low. That's like pennies worth of values in stocks!"
"Hell no, I am never doing that."
"Yeah, I am not doing that either."
"That's actually daylight robbery."
With all of the stockholders stubbornly refusing, Xiaoyun cleared his throat to remind them of something.
"Ahem, you guys have five minutes left. I would hurry and decide if I were you."
A few minutes later...
As the stockholders finally finished talking to each other and convincing others, they all reached a common counter-demand.
"We can accept your deal. But we want at least double the market price currently."
Li Ping nervously asked, being picked as the presentative for the group again.
"Do you guys look like you are in a position to leverage the deal? I am being merciful by letting you guys off the hook."
With the cold response from Xiaoyun, several of the stockholders started to get impatient as they sneakily moved closer and closer to Xiaoyun.
Just as they moved halfway towards him, someone suddenly knocked on the door.
"Come in."
"Mister Songming, your paper is here."
The office worker quickly handed Xiaoyun the paper and left the room without asking any questions about what was happening.
"Well, the contract is here. It's up to you all to sign it or not... Remember, getting some money is better than going to prison."
"I accept the deal."
Li Ping's sudden switch side shocked the groups of stockholders as he signed the paper before going back to his seat.
After just less than a minute, another stockholder signed the contract and went back to his seat.
Eventually, all of them signed the paper one by one, except for Songyi, who sat in silence.
"Well, congratulations, you guys are all free now. You got your money and crime off, and I get the company I want."
After double-checking that everyone's name was on it, Xiaoyun was now the majority owner of the company, at least on paper.
Even though he doesn't have the money to pay for any of it, he has a plan inside his head.
"We will remember this... You better keep your promise."
Just as one of the stockholders opened the door, a group of policemen suddenly rushed in.
"Everybody freeze, you are all under arrest for unlawful embezzlement of a publicly traded company.
Mr.Chen has already provided all the information, and the accountant has already been arrested."
The entire room immediately became chaotic as several of the stockholders tried to rush out.
"Stop resisting!" One of the officers yelled as a few of the stockholders tried to run away.
After a short struggle, the police were easily able to handcuff everyone one by one.
"You bastard! Songming, you fucking snitched to the cops on us!"
One of them yelled in disbelief as he pointed at Xiaoyun. But he ignored it as he bowed down in gratitude to the security commissioner.
"Thank you for intervening in this."
"No problem, I owed Songyun a favor... I know I shouldn't intervene in your family affairs, but can you be lenient to Songyi?
He never had a parent that took care of him... I had watched him grow up without loving parents to take care of him."
As Xiaoyun turned his attention to Songyi, his face looked defeated and hopeless as he sat in his seat.
"I have nothing to use against him. He's cleaner than everyone here despite going into prison before.
And I promised the old man that I'd be nice to him... As long as he doesn't get in the way on purpose."
"Thank you."
---
After ten minutes, the meeting room was finally cleared, and only Songyi and Xiaoyun remained in their seats.
Walking up closer and closer, he quickly untied Songyi from the chair before speaking up.
"You are free to go now, Songyi... If you want to sell your stock, I can offer you triple the market price. Or you can just hold it. It's up to you."
After a long silence, Songyi finally spoke up to ask a question.
"When did Grandpa give you that letter?"
"He didn't give me the letter... It's just that you have been in prison for too long and lost touch with reality."
Xiaoyun quickly made up a small lie, feeling a little bad that Songyi was already crushed by the betrayal he had felt in a single day.
"How did I lose like this? Songming... What did I do wrong?"Songyi asked, looking down at the floor in shame.
"I already told you. You didn't lose because of the letter. You had been too arrogant and showed no respect to your workers.
Earlier, I walked around the office block, and I could tell all the workers were unmotivated, unsatisfied, and lost in their directions.
The old man always told me to treat the workers with respect. But it seems prison hasn't taught you anything."
After answering him, Xiaoyun started heading towards the door with the papers in hand.
"Wait. I will sign the paper... Maybe you are right. I didn't learn my lesson hard enough."
After signing the paper, Songyi left the meeting room, leaving Xiaoyun the only one inside.
As soon as he walked out of the room, the security commissioner greeted him outside.
"Congratutation Mr.Xiaoyun. It looks like you are the only majority owner now. Are you planning to file for full privatization?"
"What do you think?"
Xiaoyun smirked a little, not telling him the answer as he headed towards the executive office.
"Every stockholder in the public market is panic selling... You really are ambitious. Just like Songyun."
The security commissioner muttered to himself as he watched Xiaoyun leave the office.
---
A month has passed since the incident.
The sudden change in leadership was quickly plastered all over the news, with published reports and media interviews regarding the scandal and embezzlement that broke out.
The company stock plummeted to almost zero as the panic selling soon turned into a cliff, making it even easier for him to buy up as much as he could.
To his surprise, his plan to request a massive bank loan was surprisingly accepted, allowing him to privatize and restructure the company.
After three months of hard work and using every single connection, he was finally able to perform a miracle turnaround.
Soon, the entire company was back on track, almost as if he had never left with everything going good for him.
Until one day, Xiaoyun was invited by his business partner to a social gathering.
---
"Mr. Chen, has anyone told you that you look so young?" The business partner asked curiously as he approached Xiaoyun.
"Well, I am only in my twenties. I have only left college for about two years now," Xiaoyun replied.
"No wonder why everyone calls you the most successful young entrepreneur. You really are one of a kind."
The man takes a sip of wine and waits for Xiaoyun to reply.
"I wouldn't call myself that. I think I am more of just a good boss to his workers and consider their advice. Besides, I shouldn't take all the credits. The Songjia company was already big before I gained control."
Xiaoyun replied as he took a sip of the wine as well.
"Don't be so humble. Everyone knows your miracle turnout is the one recorded for the history books." The business partner argued.
"Thank you, thank you."
As the two cheered, the social gathering was coming to an end soon.
"You know, a lot of people are eager to invest in your company when you make the company public again. Myself included."
The business partner's sudden mention caught Xiaoyun a little off guard, but he didn't outright go against it.
"Maybe in the future, perhaps. I haven't decided it yet. But I'm sure we can make a deal in the future."
The two cheered once again and took a sip together.
"Perhaps I can introduce my daughter to you. I am sure you two will make a great match."
Despite the business partner's joking tone, his heart was hoping Xiaoyun would accept it.
"Sorry, I'm already taken," Xiaoyun murmured as his mind thought back to the promise he had made.
"Let's get back to business then..."
The business partner quickly noticed Xiaoyun's dislike of talking about marriage, so he quickly shifted the topic.
A few minutes later...
As the social gathering ended, Xiaoyun was a little drunk, slowly walking towards his car as everything was spinning a little.
"Shit, I'm drunk. I can't drive the car... Wait, I have my driver today."
Shaking his head, he cleared his mind a little as he continued walking in the dark parking lot.
However, just as he was about to see his car, he suddenly saw a hooded figure appearing around the street corner.
Before he could react, he could feel a sharp object stabbing through his chest and leg as the person ran away from the scene.
"Shit!"
As he fell to the ground, the last thing he could hear was a man rushing towards him.