Six Years (2)

Shi Yan continued. "I understand that I have no evidence of what I'm telling you, so you can't believe me," he said. "But I have a request if you don't mind fulfilling it."

"What is it?" Yuan Shun question sharply. He hoped it wasn't one of Shi Yan's schemes to put him off his guard by fabricating lies.

Shi Yan sighed. "I have two daughters. I don't think you've met them, but they mean everything to me as well as my wife," he admitted.

Yuan Shun listened.

Shi Yan pulled out a photo of his daughters. One of them smiled, while the other looked as reserved as her father. Yuan Shun widened his eyes. "How old are they?"

"My eldest is 19, and my second is 18. You see, Mr. Yuan, I wouldn't do anything reckless to compromise the future of my daughters."

Yuan Shun rubbed the space between his brows.

Did he really ruin the company of a man that had a family he was also trying to protect? Shi Yan always appeared to be cruel and intimidating, without a single thing he cared for. But Yuan Shun had been wrong.

"What will happen to them?"

"If I fail to keep my company from collapsing, then my whole family will suffer," Shi Yan replied. "Which is why I came to you."

"What could I do?" Yuan Shun asked.

"I am going to ask you to sign a contract. In it, the terms will be stated carefully. If I fail to keep my company intact, I will state that Yuan Bank will take all of its assets in the form of bankruptcy. But in the case that Shi Group should revive again in the future, then it would pass to my eldest daughter, Shi Yenni. But, Shi Yenni should not take it back until those who have come after me, have been caught." He paused. "Mr. Yuan, if I fail, then I am not ready to pass it onto my Yenni, it may be dangerous for her. People scheme to get what they want, you know that."

Yuan Shun stared at him, registering his words.

Shi Yan continued. "I am already losing, and I can't figure out how it's happening. But Shi Yenni shouldn't be dragged into this. She's only nineteen years old, and she isn't ready for this weight. If I was to die soon and the company passes onto her, she will be bankrupt for years. She will fail before she had the chance to start. She will lose everything and be forced to live with her mother's side of the family, who already disowned her for being a Shi."

Shi Yan then bowed on the floor with his hands and knees. "My daughters will lose everything and be forced to pay the price of my failures. Please, Mr. Yuan, take the burden. If you feel any guilt for what you have done, even if you were misled, I will forgive you if you accept my request. Take Shi Group from Shi Yenni's hands. You can save the company and my daughters."

Yuan Shun was breathing hard. He'd never seen Shi Yan beg, ever. He'd never heard of it either, so he was more desperate than he imagined.

"What if your daughter attempts to take it back?" Yuan Shun questioned.

Shi Yan grinned slightly. "Most likely, she would. She's my pride and joy. Many of my peers had said that it was a shame that I didn't have a son. But I thought, why would I feel shameful when my Yenni and Ailin are everything, I could have asked for?"

Yuan Shun shuddered, closing his eyes. He gritted his teeth. Even his father didn't care about him and his siblings as much as Shi Yan had with his daughters. Yuan Shun envied those women.

"I will do it," Yuan Shun said.

Shi Yan's eyes widened. He rose to stand. "You also cannot tell my daughters!" He said. "If Yenni figures it out, then she'll use the clause from the contract to claim it back. If she does, then they will come after her, too. I will sign two contracts, one with her inheritance and one without it."

Yuan Shun considered it. "You make it seem that you will definitely fail. And you act as if you will die."

"I take every precaution seriously," Shi Yan replied. But it still didn't sit well with Yuan Shun.

"All right. I'll do it. I promise," Yuan Shun said.

Shi Yan then gestured the man behind him. "This is Master Wong. He will be the one to ensure the terms we've discussed have been obliged in case I were gone."

Yuan Shun shook Master Wong's hand.

"I will contact you tomorrow," Shi Yan continued. "Thank you, Mr. Yuan."

Yuan Shun was puzzled. "Mr. Shi. If you don't mind me asking, but why have you come to me and not my brother?"

Shi Yan looked at him directly. "You seem to be the smarter one."

Yuan Shun didn't understand what he meant by that when Yuan Ning was the one who did everything he could to run the company smoothly.

At that, Shi Yan turned and strolled away with his companion shadowing him. Yuan Shun then sat down in silence.

He did some research on Shi Yan's daughters, but he found little. He then requested Fang Qi to do some of his own diggings. At first, Fang Qi looked surprised at the demand, but his expression quickly dissipated.

The events that followed weren't kind. It was as if Shi Yan knew his fate before it ended. They both signed the contract, and not long after, he watched as Shi Group wasted away. A few weeks later, the media reported his death along with his wife.

Yuan Shun gritted his teeth. What the hell was going on? He wondered. And what will happen to those poor girls he left behind?

Yuan Shun told Fang Qi to watch after them, and he reported it every time. Yuan Shun took over Shi Group. He rebuilt it by making the proper investments, and within a couple of years, it was running back to normal. He let Shi Yan's daughters keep some of the assets he was supposed to take, including their estate.

Yuan Shun convinced the world that he was cruel and wicked for taking everything from the Shi family. When the truth was, he was determined to get Shi Group to where it once was, and once Shi Yenni was safe and ready, he would give it back to her as the rightful successor.