Chapter 298: Heart-pounding
Chi Wenyan smiled slightly, but that smile was so cold that it made people's heart palpitate: "It seems that it is better for me to be a dead person, right, second uncle?"
Uncle Chi took two steps back, his face pale. “Back then, Lin’er said you died abroad.”
"Really?" Chi Wenyan raised his eyebrows. "Well, I'm standing in front of you now. How are you going to explain?"
He pointed to the two urns on the ground and said in a cold voice, "And this one, why are my parents' ashes buried here?"
Uncle Chi looked at the two urns with a complicated expression. After a moment of silence, he suddenly sighed, "Wen Yan, some things are not what you think."
"Oh? What is that?" Chi Wenyan asked coldly.
Uncle Chi looked around and lowered his voice: "This is not the place to talk. Come with me."
Chi Wenyan looked at him warily and did not move.
Uncle Chi gave a bitter smile and said, "Son, if I wanted to harm you, I would have called someone just now. Believe me, I have my doubts about your parents' death too."
After hesitating for a moment, Chi Wenyan followed his uncle Chi Er to a small pavilion deep in the garden. Under the moonlight, the pavilion was surrounded by swaying shadows of trees, appearing quiet and mysterious.
"Your parents' death was not an accident." Uncle Chi said bluntly.
Chi Wenyan's heart suddenly shrank: "I know."
Uncle Chi looked at him with a complicated expression: "Do you know who did this?"
Chi Wenyan was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Chi Lin?"
Uncle Chi took a deep breath and said, "Things back then were very complicated. Your father was in charge of the Chi family's core industries and held most of the real power in the Chi family. And Lin'er was ambitious and unwilling to be just a side branch."
"So he killed my parents." Chi Wenyan said coldly.
"I have no direct evidence."
Uncle Chi shook his head. "But not long after your parents died, Lin'er took over all the businesses, and even the old man couldn't stop him."
Chi Wenyan's eyes were sharp: "Then why am I still alive? Why didn't he kill me too?"
"Perhaps it was because you were still young at the time and didn't pose a threat," Uncle Chi said thoughtfully. "Then you went abroad. He might have thought you had left the Chi family and wouldn't come back to fight for the inheritance."
Chi Wenyan sneered: "But I'm back now."
Uncle Chi suddenly lowered his voice: "Wen Yan, we can join forces."
"Join forces?"
"That's right." A sharp glint flashed in Second Uncle Chi's eyes. "Over the years, Lin'er has monopolized power, and we, the side branches of the family, have been marginalized. He even plans to take back the part of the business I'm in charge of. I have some leverage over him, but it's not enough. If you come back, as the eldest son of the eldest wife,
Chi Wenyan narrowed his eyes: "You want to use me to fight against Chi Lin?"
Uncle Chi remained noncommittal: "This is a win-win cooperation. You want to avenge your parents, and I want to maintain my position."
The night wind blows, and the leaves rustle, as if telling some secret.
Chi Wenyan was silent for a long time, and finally said: "Okay, we can cooperate."
His voice was cold, his eyes determined. "But I have one condition—I need more truth about my parents' death."
Uncle Chi nodded: "I will help you find out."
Chi Wenyan looked towards the two urns again, and a sense of determination surged in his heart.
Father, mother, I will definitely seek justice for you.
Chi Lin, your end is near.
Ji Wan stood in front of the Ji Building, looking at the group of people holding banners at the door, his heart felt like it was being gripped by an invisible hand.
"Ji Group deceived investors!"
"Give me back my hard-earned money!"
"Ji Wan, get out of the Ji family!"
The bright red words on the banner stung her eyes.
Sun Tian rushed over, her face pale and beads of sweat oozing from her forehead. "Sister Wan, this is bad. The bank has frozen all our accounts, and our suppliers have also suspended cooperation. They said they received a notice from the court."
Ji Wan frowned, clenched his fists, and dug his nails into his palms. "Chi Lin is going to kill me this time."
This week, the Ji Group has encountered an unprecedented crisis.
First, someone reported Ji's financial fraud, then the media exposed Ji's profiteering with multiple companies. Even worse, several major clients simultaneously terminated their contracts, causing the stock price to plummet. Subsequently, banks and suppliers tightened their cooperation terms.
This series of blows was like a carefully designed series of punches, aimed directly at Ji's lifeblood.
Ji Wan understood that Chi Lin must be behind this.
In the office, Ji Wan faced the computer screen, the numbers kept jumping, and the company's stock price had fallen by 40% in just one week.
My phone suddenly vibrated. It was an unfamiliar number.
Ji Wan pressed the answer button, and Chi Lin's familiar yet disgusting voice came from the other end.
"Boss Ji, have you considered it?"
Ji Wan sneered, "Chi Lin, you are playing with fire."
"Ji Wan, I gave you a chance." Chi Lin's voice was filled with the confidence of a determined win. "You rejected my kindness, so don't blame me for being rude."
"What do you want?" Ji Wan held the phone tightly, his voice cold and hard.
"It's simple. Come to work in my company and I'll let Ji go."
Chi Lin spoke in a relaxed tone, as if discussing the weather. "You only need to announce one thing to the outside world—the Ji family's predicament is the result of your personal misjudgment, not the work of my Chi family."
Ji Wan's eyes were filled with anger, "You're dreaming!"
"Haha, then I can only let the Ji family collapse completely."
Chi Lin chuckled softly, "You still have 24 hours to think about it. I'll be waiting for you at the Chi Building at this time tomorrow."
After hanging up the phone, Ji Wan clenched his fingers and threw the phone heavily on the sofa.
She knew she was cornered.
Chi Lin's move was indeed vicious. It could not only defeat Ji Shi, but also bring her under his command, killing two birds with one stone.
The sun was shining brightly outside the window, shining on Ji Wan's tense face, but there was no trace of warmth in her eyes.
In the evening, Ji Wan came to a small bar alone.
This place is remote and quiet, a place she often comes to. She doesn't want to go home, and she doesn't want anyone to see her vulnerability at this moment.
He drank glass of whiskey one after another. The spicy taste of the liquid burned his throat, but it could not dispel the chill in his heart.
Ji Wan rarely gets drunk, but tonight is an exception.
"Another drink, with ice," she said to the bartender, her voice already a little unclear.
The bartender looked at her worriedly, "Miss, you've had quite a few drinks. Do you want to call someone to pick you up?"
"No, I'm fine." Ji Wan waved his hand, his eyes falling on the shaking amber liquid in the cup.
The alcohol warmed her brain slightly, but it couldn't dispel the gloom in her heart.
Chi Lin's conditions left her with little room for refusal. The Ji family was the blood and sweat of her parents, and she couldn't bear to see it fall.
"Drinking can solve the problem?"
A low voice came from the side. Ji Wan looked up in a daze and met a pair of familiar eyes.
It’s Chi Wenyan.
Ji Wan chuckled and raised his glass, "It can't be solved, but it can be temporarily forgotten."
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