Chapter 4: A Windfall

"Call me 'Dad!'"

"…"

"What do you mean by that? Shen He, do you want your commission or not? If you do, get over here right now."

"Call me 'Dad,' and I'll come over."

Beeps echoed as the call was abruptly hung up.

Shen He glanced at his phone and let out a soft, derisive laugh.

Back at the company, he had thought Wang Long was pretty shameless, but now it seemed he couldn't swallow his pride after all.

Apparently, the stakes weren’t high enough for him yet.

He’d even gone out of his way to have his brother-in-law call from his own phone—crafty, that one.

Shen He opened his laptop, found a file, and emailed it to Zhao Hu.

—

At a tea house.

Zhao Hu watched the tea master’s every move, nodding occasionally, as if he truly understood the art.

The tea master handed him a cup with a smile.

Zhao Hu brought the cup to his nose, inhaling deeply, and exclaimed, "Excellent tea!"

The very next moment—

Bang!

The tea room door was flung open as a flushed Wang Long stormed in, phone in hand.

He grabbed the tea before him and gulped it down.

A second later, he sprayed it out in a violent cough, splashing it all over Zhao Hu’s face.

He flailed his hands, fanning his mouth. "Hot… hot…"

Two tea leaves clung to Zhao Hu’s forehead; his face was grim, and his glare toward Wang Long was murderous.

Sensing trouble, the tea master slipped away.

Zhao Hu hurled his cup at Wang Long. "Damn it, you useless wretch. All you do is embarrass me!"

Wang Long howled in pain, clutching his head. "Brother-in-law!"

Zhao Hu took a deep breath. "Has that Shen guy come yet?"

At this, Wang Long’s face flushed even deeper. Through gritted teeth, he said, "Brother-in-law, that Shen bastard knows no shame. He made me call him 'Dad' on the phone—he wants to be your father-in-law…"

Zhao Hu felt as if something had seized his heart.

Ding! You have new mail, please check your inbox.

Zhao Hu steadied himself, picked up his phone, and opened his email. It was a message from Shen He.

An encrypted document.

After extracting it, he found a stack of forms—each bearing Zhao Hu’s own signature.

The more Zhao Hu scrolled, the more his heart pounded.

He looked up, fixing Wang Long with a deadly stare. "If he tells you to call him, you call him. Get him here, whatever it takes."

Wang Long’s face was a mask of disbelief.

He wanted to protest—Brother-in-law, he’s trying to become your father!

But seeing Zhao Hu’s murderous glare, he reached for his phone.

Zhao Hu frowned. "Use your own phone."

With a muted "okay," Wang Long turned and left.

—

In a rented room, Shen He changed into the same clothes he’d worn on his first day at the company.

Neat. Respectable.

His phone rang—it was Wang Long’s number this time.

He answered, and after a long silence, Wang Long’s voice came through: "Dad…"

Shen He grinned, "What? I didn’t catch that."

A moment later, Wang Long’s voice exploded from the phone, "Dad! My brother-in-law wants you to meet him at the Youjia Tea House!"

Shen He chuckled, "Alright, my boy. Wait there, your dad’s on his way."

The call ended abruptly.

Shen He regarded his reflection in the full-length mirror, nodding in satisfaction.

After today, he would no longer be a workhorse.

—

About twenty minutes later.

Shen He looked up at the sign: "Youjia Tea House."

So there really was a place with such an abstract name.

He walked in and immediately ran into Wang Long, who was heading out.

Enemies meeting face to face—the tension was palpable.

Wang Long’s expression turned red-hot in an instant. He eyed Shen He, who was dressed sharply, and his fists clenched until his knuckles cracked.

Shen He beamed, "Well? Planning to hit your old man? Trying to turn the world upside down?"

Wang Long took a deep breath. "Follow me."

He led Shen He into a tea room, opened the door, and stepped inside.

Shen He entered and sat down directly across from Zhao Hu, who wore a gloomy expression.

"Well?" Shen He said nonchalantly. "Have you made up your mind?"

Zhao Hu replied, "You’ll get your commission, but I want you to destroy everything you have right here in front of me."

Shen He smiled. "My commission this year is eight hundred thousand, and the big deal’s commission is one point two million. I want it all, paid to me through the company’s official channels—right now, in front of me."

Wang Long erupted, "That one point two million is mine! The deal was mine!"

Zhao Hu frowned slightly. "You’re making things difficult for me."

"Difficult?" Shen He spread his hands, then slammed them onto the table and stood up with a grin. "Then don’t do it. Let’s see who the company takes down, you or me."

He turned to leave.

Zhao Hu drew a deep breath. "Fine. I agree."

Wang Long’s eyes widened. "Brother-in-law!"

Zhao Hu frowned. "Address me by my title during work."

"He gets the money, you get the credit. That’s final."

Shen He smiled. "Now that’s more like it. Harmony brings wealth. I only wanted what’s rightfully mine. Why make such a fuss?"

Zhao Hu stepped into the side room to make a call.

When he returned, Shen He’s phone vibrated with a message: severance pay and the agreed-upon commission.

"Your account ending in 9641 has received a deposit of 2,057,689 yuan on July 14. Available balance: 2,359,689 yuan."

Years of hard work, topped off with this windfall—his balance now exceeded 2.3 million.

A look of satisfaction appeared on Shen He’s face.

Zhao Hu said, "Once you’ve received the money, delete everything in front of me."

Shen He picked up his phone. "No problem."

A moment later, Wang Long interjected, "Delete your cloud drive, too—everything."

Shen He nodded and, in their presence, erased all the files he’d collected, including those in his cloud storage.

Finally, Zhao Hu let out a long breath and slumped back in his chair.

Shen He glanced at Wang Long. "You treacherous son—your old man’s leaving."

With that, he stood and departed.

Wang Long watched Shen He’s retreating figure, nearly grinding his teeth to dust.

Just then, Zhao Hu sat up, rolling his neck. "Get in touch with your cronies. Set up a game and win back that two million."

Wang Long rubbed his fists eagerly. "Don’t worry, brother-in-law. I’ll get that money back."

—

On the street outside.

Shen He felt refreshed, almost buoyant—he’d finally gotten rich.

As for the job he’d lost, it hardly mattered.

Would he ever have gotten his commission and bonus if he stayed at the company?

He’d deleted every bit of Wang Long’s incriminating data right in front of their eyes, even wiping his cloud storage.

But he didn’t have only one account. Would he really have no backups? Only a fool would do that.

Glancing at the map on his phone, he thought of Task Two: gather enough supplies to last a month.

He hailed a cab and headed for the nearest grain and oil shop.