Chapter 11

No matter what the truth was, my uncle’s instinct was always to think I was bullying Han Xu.

I didn’t pull my arm away. I simply looked at him calmly.

“Uncle, do you know what his reasons are?”

I put the stack of stamped bank statements into his hand.

“Look at these.”

“He transferred all the tea estate’s money out and planned to mortgage the old house to loan sharks.”

“If I hadn’t acted today, tomorrow the debt collectors would be up at Nanshan, driving both of us out of our hometown.”

My uncle’s hands trembled. The papers scattered across the floor.

He couldn’t read, but he recognized the red stamps.

He turned and looked at Han Xu in disbelief.

“Han Xu… is what A Chi says true?”

Han Xu lowered his head, unable to meet my uncle’s eyes.

He drew a deep breath. When he looked up again, his face had regained its false gentleness.

“Uncle, I had no other choice.”

“The tea estate needs money everywhere if it’s going to grow. Shen Zhi doesn’t manage anything. She only holds out her hand for profit distributions every month.”

He shifted all the blame away from himself.

“I used some of the money as working capital because I wanted what was best for the family. What did I do wrong?”

“What did you do wrong?”

My uncle’s lips trembled. His face went pale.

He looked at the young man he’d watched grow up and loved almost like a son, as if he no longer recognized him.

“You took the money A Chi needs to live and used it to fill your holes. You drained everything her mother left behind, and you still ask what you did wrong?”

My uncle suddenly raised his hand, as if he wanted to slap him.

But his hand stopped in midair. It became a wrenching fit of coughing instead.

“Cough, cough… cough, cough, cough…”

He doubled over, coughing so violently it seemed he might bring up his insides.

Chen Lan hurried forward to support him and rub his back so he could breathe.

Han Xu stood where he was, watching my uncle suffer. A complicated emotion flickered in his eyes, but it was quickly covered by coldness.

“Uncle, things have come to this. What’s the point of saying any of that?”

He even tried to sound reasonable, almost cruelly so.

“Business is a battlefield. I just made one bad move. Without me, the Shen family would’ve fallen apart long ago.”

“Shut up!”

My uncle finally caught his breath. He pushed Chen Lan away and pointed at Han Xu, his voice hoarse.

“Shen Peifeng, I’m blind. I let a wolf into the house!”

“Did you think you succeeded entirely on your own? Without the rare tea plants A Chi’s mother left her, would the leaves you sold ever have won a gold medal?”

My uncle was shaking with anger. He turned to me, his cloudy eyes full of remorse and guilt.

“A Chi… I’m sorry.”

“I’m old and confused. They used me as a tool, and I didn’t even know it. I nearly ruined your whole life…”

His knees gave way, and he started to kneel.

I immediately caught his arm and steadied him.

“Uncle, I don’t blame you. This isn’t your fault.”

My voice was soft but left no room for argument.

“I told you long ago: you can choose who manages it.”

“If you chose the wrong person, you can replace him.”

I turned to Liu Zhengming.

“Lawyer Liu, call the police. We suspect embezzlement through abuse of position and commercial fraud. Follow the proper legal process.”

Liu Zhengming immediately took out his phone and called the economic-crimes police.

Seeing the situation turn against them, Xiao knew there was no way to save it.