Chapter 512 Uncle Shixiu
“Mrs. Shi, do you really think that I will yield under your threats?” Shi Nuan glowered at Jiang Yu and Shi Jingzheng. Then, she said, “Mr. Shi, Mrs. Shi is not in her right mind now. I hope you’re not the same.”
Shi Jingzheng furrowed his brows at Shi Nuan. Jiang Yu gave his hand a jerk and said, “Zheng, are you still going to be indecisive now that we’ve come to this? Shi Nuan is here to destroy our family. She will not leave until our home is ruined!”
Shi Jingzheng frowned. “Just hand over the shares. Jiang Yu and I will spare you for the sake of our past familial relationship, otherwise…”
“What if I refuse?” Shi Nuan’s gaze turned cold. She glared at Shi Jingzheng and Jiang Yu unblinkingly. “Granddad left these to me. There’s no chance I’m giving them to you guys!”
“Don’t beg for mercy then!”
Jiang Yu shot the hooligans a look and the group dashed over.
However, before they could make a move, they were immediately stopped by another group of skilled men.
Soon, the ruckus was contained before it could erupt into something bigger. Jiang Hu’s chilly gaze swept across the hooligans on the ground. Then, he walked over and greeted, “Mrs. Fu, are you all right?”
“I’m fine. You’re so quick.” Shi Nuan laughed. She had not even called for help yet and Jiang Hu had already brought the men in.
Jiang Hu rubbed the back of his head sheepishly when he heard Shi Nuan’s compliments. “Mr. Fu, I’m really flattered. Mr. Fu will skin me if you get hurt.” With that, Jiang Hu turned to the group of hooligans and exclaimed, “You guys have some guts. How dare you try to harm Mrs. Fu?”
“We’re sorry! We won’t do it ever again!”
Jiang Yu landed a few ferocious kicks on the leader of the hooligans before he turned around and looked at Shi Jingzheng and Jiang Yu menacingly. “Which one of you wanted to bully Mrs. Fu just now?”
Jiang Hu was muscular and tall. When he walked toward Jiang Yu and clenched his fist, the latter almost fell to the ground as her limbs weakened out of fear.
Jiang Hu looked at Jiang Yu, who was now sitting on the ground, with utmost contempt as if he couldn’t be bothered to spare her an extra glance. “You need to face my fists first if you want to lay your finger at Mrs. Fu.”
“Jiang Hu, where’s Yan?” Shi Nuan called out.
“Mr. Fu has an urgent matter to attend to. He asked me to pick you up and take you home,” Jiang Hu said and walked to Shi Nuan’s side like a tamed lion. “Mrs. Fu, do you need anything else?”
“It’s okay. Send these people to the police,” Shi Nuan said while looking at the hooligans on the ground.
“No problem. Mrs. Fu, do you want me to send you home now?”
Shi Nuan cast a sideways glance at Shen Shixiu. “Uncle Shixiu, do you have time now?”
Shen Shixiu squinted his eyes and nodded. “Yes, of course.”
Jiang Hu immediately turned to Shen Shixiu defensively and asked, “Mrs. Fu, isn’t he…”
“It’s okay, he’s my uncle, Shi Yu.” Shi Nuan chuckled lightly and continued, “Jiang Hu, I will just catch up with Uncle Shixiu for a moment.”
“All right. I will be on guard.” Jiang Hu’s only mission at the moment was to protect Shi Nuan at all times and made sure no harm came to her.
Shi Nuan found it quite amusing and comical to see a brawny guy like Jiang Hu constantly in a state of nervousness.
“Uncle Shixiu, should we find a place to talk?”
“Sure.” Shen Shixiu nodded.
The place was decided by Shi Nuan. It was not far from the Shi residence. Back then, Shi Nuan often went there when she was a child. At that time, she and Shi Yu were still studying. Shi Yu was in junior high while she was still a primary school student.
She always asked Shi Yu to carry her on his back at that time. This persisted for several years until she eventually grew up and Shi Yu left the Shi family.
It did feel like a dream when Shi Nuan reminisced about the old days. “So you’re Shi Yu, why didn’t you admit it at first?”
“Admit about what? It’s not necessary.” Shen Shixiu smiled at Shi Nuan.
“Why not? You’re my uncle!” Shi Nuan blurted out before she paused and smiled bitterly. “No, you’re Shen Shixiu, not Shi Yu. I just don’t understand why you came to the Shi family when you’re actually one of the Shen family?”
Shen Shixiu squinted his eyes, and his pensive gaze fell on Shi Nuan. “Do you really want to know?”
Shi Nuan shook her head at first, but it turned to a nod in the next moment. “Yes.”
She did not think it was merely a coincidence. There must be some secret Shen Shixiu was hiding from her.
Shen Shixiu glanced at Shi Nuan deeply. “To repay a favor.”
“Favor? Whose favor was that that needed you to come all the way to Jiang City from the capital and away from home for these many years?
Shen Shixiu merely smiled at Shi Nuan resignedly. “It’s to repay my savior, and it’s related to your mother.”
Shi Nuan’s expression stilled, and her smile froze at her lips.
“Your mother saved my mother’s life back then, do you know that?”
Shi Nuan nodded. “Yes.” Su Huaibei told her about the story before and Fu Chengyan had looked into the incident as well. There was nothing out of the ordinary between Shu Qing and Shen Feng. Hence, Shen Qianan was her sister too.
“What does that have to do with you coming to the Shi residence?”
“My father did something wrong back then and felt guilty toward your mother. He would like to atone for his wrongdoing. Shen Qianan was left in the Shen family but you were being sent to the Jiang family and eventually ended up in the Shi family. My mother felt worried about you and always sent people to visit you. Seeing that you were having a hard time here, she asked me to come over and look after you.”
Shi Nuan looked at Shen Shixiu in astonishment. “T-This is incredible!”
Seeing this, Shen Shixiu also smiled. “It’s hard to believe, isn’t it? In fact, I couldn’t believe it too at first. It was actually my mother’s decision. I didn’t know about the real relationship between my father and Shu Qing back then, so I didn’t come here willingly.”
Shi Nuan suddenly recalled that Shen Shixiu was not really fond of her when they first met.
“Do you still have any doubts?”
Shi Nuan shook her head. “No.”
“In this case, let’s talk about Huancheng shares first. As far as I know, most of Huancheng’s shares are now in Fu Chengyan’s hand, so Huancheng’s largest shareholder is Fu Chengyan, not Shi Jingzheng.”
“How do you know?” Shi Nuan looked at Shen Shixiu in surprise.
Shen Shixiu raised an eyebrow. “Secrets can’t be buried forever, Nuan.”
Shi Nuan pursed her lips. “What do you mean?”
“I had no interest in meddling with the Shi family’s business. As for why Old Mr. Shi insisted on giving me the shares, I’m pretty sure he just didn’t want me to completely remove myself from all the trouble!” Shen Shixiu had been a son of Shi Yunsheng for several years, naturally, he knew what was in the old man’s mind.
Since Shi Yunsheng did not want Shi Jingzheng to inherit Huancheng, he had no choice but to give it to Shi Nuan. Then, Shi Yunsheng was worried that Shi Nuan would not be able to handle the company even with Fu Chengyan’s help. That was why he left a five percent share for Shen Shixiu so that he would jump in to help when needed.
Shen Shixiu had to applaud Shi Yunsheng’s practical and strategic move. Any smart man would know Huancheng was nothing more than an empty shell now and did not have much value.
If Fu Chengyan made his move, he would be bound to fill up this big hole. Generally, a businessman would tend to avoid meddling in a business like this. However, Shi Yunsheng took advantage of Shi Nuan’s soft spot and forced Fu Chengyan to take over this mess.
“But… This is Granddad’s hard work.” Shi Nuan knew that it would be a bottomless pit. These shares might look valuable, but in reality, they were worthless as the company was deeply tangled in embezzlement. If Fu Chengyan made a move, he would suffer a loss.
Shi Jingzheng and the others failed to see the underlying problem and thought that the shares were priceless.
Shen Shixiu let out a small smile. “Nuan, you’re too kind.”
Shi Nuan smiled resignedly. “This is not kindness, this is just what I should do. Granddad was so kind to me. I can’t just walk away now when Huancheng is in trouble.”
Shen Shixiu furrowed his brows. “Do you know that the stock market in Z Nation experienced volatility recently? Not only the capital and Sheen City was affected by the wave, but it has also impacted Jiang City as well. There might be a storm coming soon.”
Shi Nuan was flabbergasted. She frowned. “Why are you telling me this?”
“The recent incidents were not merely a coincidence. Please be careful. Ask Fu Chengyan to be careful too.”
Shen Shixiu tapped his slender fingers on the table and continued, “You can come and find me at Jiang City if you need anything. I will be staying there for the time being.”
“All right.”
Shi Nuan had been very preoccupied after she came back. She started to feel uncertain when she thought of what happened recently in the Shi family and what Shen Shixiu had told her.
It was not until Fu Chengyan was finally back at home that Shi Nuan’s mind was at ease.
“Yan.”
“Did you meet Shen Shixiu today?”
Fu Chengyan took off his coat. Seeing that Shi Nuan was deep in thought, he asked, “What did he tell you?”
“He’s Shi Yu, Granddad’s adopted son.”
However, Fu Chengyan did not seem to be surprised by the revelation. Shi Nuan looked at Fu Chengyan incredulously. “Why are you not surprised at all?”
Fu Chengyan smiled. “Why should I be surprised?”
“But…” Shi Nuan heaved a sigh. “All right then. Did you already know that Shen Shixiu was actually Shi Yu early on?”
Fu Chengyan merely quirked up his brows and said nothing to deny it. Shi Nuan sighed again. “So you already knew about it. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“What’s the point? He didn’t want you to know.” Fu Chengyan wrapped his arms around Shi Nuan and gestured for her to sit down. Then, he started to massage her shoulder.
Ning Xin, who had just come downstairs, broke into a smile upon seeing Fu Chengyan and Shi Nuan. “You two are so sweet!”
“Aunt Ning, you’re awake.” Shi Nuan patted off Fu Chengyan’s hands and got up.
Ning Xin nodded. “What’re you guys talking about?”
“Nothing!” Shi Nuan shook her head and helped Ning Xin to sit down. “Where’s Uncle Heng? I haven’t seen him around these few days.”
“Oh, he went to Summerbank for a gathering. He thought of bringing me together, but you know how frail my body is. That’s why I didn’t go with him.” Ning Xin reached her hand out and patted Shi Nuan’s hand, then said, “I’ve heard from your sister about Old Mr. Shi, my condolences!”
“No problem, Aunt Ning.” Shi Nuan nodded.
Seeing that Shi Nuan was all right, Ning Xin turned to Fu Chengyan. “Old Mrs. Yun of the Yun family is holding a birthday banquet a few days later. Why don’t you and Nuan attend the banquet?”
“The Yun family?” Fu Chengyan frowned.
Ning Xin nodded, “Yes, it was always your father who went there. Since your father and Uncle Heng are not around now, and Dad is old, I guess it’s your turn to go now.”
