Chapter 84 The engagement is hereby nullified.
Hong Kong, the top-floor conference room of Shang's branch office.
Shang Qiuzhu sat on the main sofa, leaning back slightly, his posture relaxed. He didn't even look at the Yan couple opposite him, who were sitting on pins and needles. He simply used the lid of his cup to slowly wipe away the tea foam, but the silent pressure had already permeated the entire space.
Du Yunchuan sat next to him, trying his best to maintain a cold, emotionless demeanor, but the little voice inside him was already rubbing his hands excitedly and starting to spam the screen:
It's here! The classic segment, "CEO Shang Teaches You How to Be a Person," is back! This time, it's the VIP exclusive live version!
Zhou Yaqin tried to force a smile, but her voice was a little dry: "Qiu Zhu, President Du, why did you suddenly come to Hong Kong..."
Shangqiu Zhu raised her hand and coldly interrupted her: "Let's get down to business."
Yan Zhenye's heart sank.
Du Yunchuan took out the first document from the file bag. "Chairman Yan, according to the evidence we have, Zhenxin Energy, a subsidiary of the Yan Group, has used the new energy industrial park project it is building in cooperation with the Shang and Du families as a cover to smuggle controlled strategic rare earth resources out of the country under the guise of ordinary industrial raw materials a total of seventeen times in the past four months. This is a detailed list of customs declaration numbers, container numbers, actual cargo identification reports, and the flow of funds back to the country."
He pushed the documents in front of Yan Zhenye, whose face turned pale instantly, his fingers trembling, and he didn't even dare to touch the papers.
Before he could defend himself, Du Yunchuan produced a second, even thicker document: "Secondly, with your tacit approval or even instructions, Chairman Yan, core members of the Yan Corporation's technical team illegally stole the project's most critical core architecture code, V7.0, and three months ago, secretly sold it to our direct competitor, CoreTech of Canada, for $80 million. Here are screenshots of source code comparison and identification, emails documenting secret negotiations, unexplained bank transfer records in Switzerland, and," he paused, emphasizing, "screenshots of monitoring the locations and times of your three secret meetings with the CTO, as well as transcripts of the recorded calls."
"No! This isn't real! It's a frame-up! It's fabricated!"
Zhou Yaqin screamed excitedly and stood up abruptly, but was stopped in her tracks by Shang Qiuzhu's cold gaze.
Du Yunchuan remained expressionless as he continued to pull out documents: "In addition, there are seven other issues, including related-party transactions involving the transfer of benefits and misappropriation of project funds to cover other losses of the Yan Group. Here are the audit report and the chain of evidence. All of these," he concluded, his voice like a hammer blow, "are conclusive evidence and logically sound. Once submitted, they will be enough to send Chairman Yan to prison for a considerable period of time and enough to ruin the reputation of the Yan Group and force it into bankruptcy liquidation."
Du Yunchuan almost lost his composure, thinking to himself that he was just a heartless document reader.
Yan Zhenye seemed to have all his bones removed, his whole body slumped in the expensive leather sofa, his face ashen, his lips trembling, but he couldn't utter a single clear syllable.
Zhou Yaqin, no longer caring about her composure, collapsed to her knees on the cold marble floor. She crawled to Shang Qiuzhu's feet, tears streaming down her face, and grabbed his trouser leg, pleading, "Qiuzhu! Qiuzhu, I beg you! For the sake of our families' long-standing relationship! For the sake of me watching you grow up! For the sake of you and Youyou's upcoming wedding! You can't be so heartless! Please, have mercy and let us go this time!"
Yan Zhenye seemed to be brought back to his senses by his wife's cries. He struggled to slide off the sofa, tears streaming down his face. He kept bowing to Shang Qiuzhu, his voice broken and shattered: "Qiuzhu, I was bewitched! I've let down Brother Shang and the Shang family! I deserve to die! I'm a bastard! But the Yan family is the result of generations of hard work! It can't be destroyed like this! Please, give us a way out, just please spare the Yan family this time."
Yesterday, Chairman Yan and his wife were full of vigor, but now they are like stray dogs, crawling on the ground without any dignity, begging for mercy.
Shangqiu Zhu finally put down his teacup, and the two people on the ground trembled violently.
He slowly lowered his head, looking at Zhou Yaqin and Yan Zhenye, who were in a sorry state, at his feet.
"A way out?" He parted his thin lips slightly, his voice not loud. "It's not like there isn't one."
Yan Zhenye and Zhou Yaqin suddenly looked up.
"First, all ongoing collaborative projects between the Shang and Yan families are to be terminated immediately. The Shang family will initiate liquidation and divestment procedures immediately."
"Terminate everything?!" Yan Zhenye suddenly raised his head, forgetting his fear, and said urgently, "Qiu Zhu! I know I was blinded by greed in the new energy project, I've let you down, I've let the Shang family down! I'll accept whatever punishment you give for this project! But the other projects, port logistics, real estate development... those are all clean! The profits are considerable, and it's good for both of us..."
He tried to persuade Shang Qiuzhu with the promise of benefits, and even looked at Du Yunchuan beside him, hoping that he could speak up for him: "President Du, you know very well! The sudden termination of those projects, just the penalty fees and market shocks alone, will cripple the Shang family. This is too irrational!"
Du Yunchuan adjusted his glasses. What Yan Zhenye said was indeed true. The other projects themselves were fine, but their sudden and complete termination would result in heavy losses, and the Shang Group's board of directors would certainly have objections.
However, Shang Qiuzhu's gaze did not waver in the slightest. He knew, of course, that there would be losses, even more so than Du Yunchuan had anticipated.
But he no longer cared.
These collaborative projects, like intertwined threads, bound him, the Shang family, the Yan family, and especially Yan You together.
Every day they work together, that damned marriage contract lasts one more day.
He wanted to completely sever himself from the Yan family. He couldn't wait any longer; he had no patience to wait for these unimportant projects to be completed slowly.
"I can afford it."
"What I want is a complete break. I only care about efficiency. I don't want to see any projects related to the Shang and Yan families still running within a week."
Yan Zhenye was completely dumbfounded. He couldn't understand Shang Qiuzhu's crazy behavior of sacrificing a thousand of his own to kill eight hundred of the enemy.
Shangqiu Zhu gave him no further chance to ask questions and directly stated the following condition: "Secondly, my engagement with Yan You is hereby nullified."
"No!!!"
Zhou Yaqin, who had just been slumped on the ground, disregarded her disheveled state, her eyes bloodshot as she glared at Shang Qiuzhu, her voice sharp and distorted:
"Shang Qiuzhu! You can't treat Youyou like this! You can't be so heartless! If it weren't for her, you would be gone by now! And you wouldn't be the CEO of Shang today!"
Tears streaming down her face, she tried to use this old grievance to tether the cold-hearted man before her: "She saved your life! Is this how you repay her? By kicking her when she's down and breaking off the engagement? Shang Qiuzhu, are you even human?! Do you have no heart?! Don't you know the meaning of gratitude?!"
This heart-wrenching cry was a mother's last desperate attempt to protect her daughter, but also a form of moral blackmail born of despair.
Yan Zhenye's voice trembled: "Youyou is your savior! For the sake of that kindness, you can't go too far! The engagement can't be canceled! At least... at least not now!"
Du Yunchuan stood to the side, his brows slightly furrowed.
Shangqiu Zhu listened quietly to their roars, her face showing no emotion, but instead she smiled very slightly.
"Gratitude?" He repeated the word with a playful tone, "Aunt Yan, you know best what your Yan family did to make this marriage happen."
He paused, his gaze lingering on Zhou Yaqin's face, which had turned deathly pale. He spoke each word softly and slowly: "Do you really need me here to remind you of everything, one by one?"
He didn't say it explicitly.
He didn't want her name and this sordid affair to be mentioned again in this setting, even if only as a victim.
But they immediately understood what Shangqiu bamboo referred to.
Seeing their utterly terrified reaction, as if they had seen a ghost, Shangqiu Zhu's eyes grew even colder and more disgusted.
He proposed terminating all cooperation, not only to quickly sever ties, but also to precisely strike at the core interests of the Yan family, to make them suffer, and to make them pay a heavy price for what they did to Yan Shuang.
Behind every harsh condition lies his cold determination to seek justice for the girl who was sacrificed and neglected.
Looking at the couple's wretched state, he felt no pity, only a sense of satisfaction as he watched Yan Shuang fall into the mud.
If he hadn't wanted to keep Yan Shuang from getting involved in a more complicated situation, the revenge he inflicted would have gone far beyond this.
If it weren't for Yan Shuang, based on their crimes of smuggling rare earth and selling core code—crimes that would have ruined the Yan family—he wouldn't be sitting here talking to them now. Instead, he would have sent the evidence directly to the appropriate authorities, sending them to jail for life.
"We have already repaid the Yan family more than enough for the favors we have shown them over the years. As for the engagement, it will definitely be dissolved tomorrow. If anyone dares to make a fuss about this again, I won't hesitate to let everyone know what kind of people the eldest daughter and Mrs. Yan really are."
After saying that, he didn't look at them again, turned around and strode away.
Outside the door, Lin Sheng came forward, holding Shang Qiuzhu's personal cell phone in his hand, his expression somewhat solemn.
"Mr. Shang," Lin Sheng said in a low voice, handing over his phone, "The old gentleman and his wife called one after the other, they seemed very urgent, and they want you to call back immediately."
Shangqiu Zhu didn't even lift her eyelids, let alone answer the phone.
He knew perfectly well what his parents would say: they would question him for his impulsiveness, for sacrificing the Shang family's own interests to sever all ties with the Yan family immediately, accuse him of disregarding the bigger picture, and perhaps even bring up that damned engagement...
He's not in the mood to listen to any of this right now.
He raised his hand, pinched his brow with a slightly weary expression, and completely ignored Lin Sheng's words.
"Where is Yan Shuang? What is she doing?"
The question was so unexpected that Lin Sheng was stunned for half a second, but his high level of professionalism allowed him to react immediately.
"Old James just reported from Los Angeles ten minutes ago," Lin Sheng said in a steady and clear voice. "Secretary Yan has arrived at the school safely. She bought breakfast on her way to the school: a cup of black coffee and a croissant sandwich."
When reporting these trivial daily events, Lin Sheng's tone was completely calm, as if he were reporting the most important business data.
However, these ordinary daily routines seem to possess a magical power.
The cold and oppressive aura surrounding Shangqiu Zhu eased at a visible speed, her tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly, and even the violence and anxiety deep in her eyes quietly faded away.
He hummed in agreement.
He then reached out and took the phone that Lin Sheng had been holding up, without even glancing at the missed calls, and stuffed it directly into his suit's inner pocket. "Have you made an appointment at the workshop?"
Lin Sheng immediately bowed and replied, "As you instructed, I have already made an appointment at Master Ventiga's private studio. Are you going there immediately?"
After finishing his report, a fleeting look of undisguised surprise crossed Lin Sheng's eyes.
He knew all too well how packed his boss's schedule was, and that there were still a lot of urgent matters to be dealt with and decided upon immediately after the storm had just subsided.
Shangqiu Zhu's gaze was already fixed on the elevator. "Let's go now."
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