Chapter 30 Clue

Chapter 30: Clues

A week later, both Shen Shiyan and Shen Ci got two pieces of good news.

Yuhe had expanded—the company and the factory had both undergone a major expansion.

The other news was about Shen Siwen's underground casino; they'd finally gotten a lead.

As for Shen Ci—

First, Shen Wenzhou wasn't feeling well, so morning training was canceled, and he could sleep in every day.

Second, he ranked 17th in his class on the final exams. It wasn't top of the class, but he'd passed every subject!

During the exams, Shen Ci felt he'd never been so mixed up—a jumble of nerves and excitement that left him flustered while answering questions and caused him to forget many things he should have remembered.

During a break between exams, he chatted with Song Qiuchi.

Song Qiuchi said as she packed her bag, "Maybe it's because it's your first time taking final exams."

Shen Ci thought it over and decided she had a point.

Now that he had what other kids had, he was incredibly happy just to have taken part in the fifth-grade final exams.

"Daddy! This shouldn't count as too bad, right?" Shen Ci leaned over, half his body tilting into Shen Shiyan's arms as they looked at the report card together.

Shen Ci's hair brushed against Shen Shiyan's chin, tickling him.

Shen Shiyan gave Shen Ci's head a gentle shove, a hint of pride in his eyes at Shen Ci's total score of 399 across five subjects.

To him, this result was average, even somewhat poor. After all, Shen Shiyan had mostly gotten perfect scores since starting school. Even later, when he began studying finance and management in middle school, he kept up with all his regular classes.

He handed the report card back to Shen Ci, coughed, and said, "Looks like I can keep supporting you for a while longer."

Shen Ci blinked. "How long is 'a while'?"

Shen Shiyan replied, "Until your next final exams."

Shen Ci pouted, ignoring Shen Shiyan's joke. He was too caught up in his excitement to care. He opened WeChat and messaged Song Qiuchi to share his excellent score of 399.

The reply came quickly.

"Song Qiuchi: So impressive!"

"Song Qiuchi: *eye-roll emoji*."

Then she sent a photo of her own report card with a score of 487.

"..."

Shen Ci suddenly regretted his boastful behavior. After thinking for a moment, he simply forwarded Song Qiuchi's two messages back to her and added two "fist bump" emojis afterward.

Shen Shiyan didn't quite understand this childish behavior.

He took out his phone, intending to send Shen Ci a red envelope as a reward. Before he could open the chat, Miss Qi sent him a file.

Shen Shiyan opened it. It was a list of employee benefits and some regular subsidies, with seven or eight entries highlighted in red by Qi Zizhu.

Just as suspected.

As the year-end approached, Shen Shiyan was preparing for the annual party and bonus distributions in his role as proxy. He noticed last year's employee benefit list—used as a reference—seemed to cover more departments than his plan for this year.

Qi Zizhu quickly investigated. The individuals she had highlighted in red were not employed at Chonghe, and no social security payment records could be found for them.

Shen Shiyan replied to Miss Qi with a "received" emoji, then forwarded the list to Song Xianghan.

Gambling was pretty common in Yuncheng, but going back three generations in the Shen family—to Shen Wenzhou's great-great-grandfather—gambling had nearly destroyed the entire family fortune. Since then, the Shen family had established a strict rule: their business must never have the slightest connection to gambling or drugs.

Since Shen Shiyan entered the Shen family, Shen Wenzhou had emphasized more than once that the family business must remain completely separate from gambling or drugs.

Song Xianghan's efficiency was always high. Soon, the identities of those unfamiliar individuals were delivered to Shen Shiyan's inbox in a professional-looking PPT.

Flipping to the last page, Shen Shiyan's brow furrowed into a shallow crease.

The young woman named Su Xinrou on the screen looked vaguely familiar.

Shen Ci had just finished his casual chat with Song Qiuchi and glanced over at Shen Shiyan, who was searching his memory for the person.

"Daddy, this older sister looks a bit like one of the aunties in our house." Shen Ci loved observing people around him. He usually quickly memorized everyone's appearance and name, even their habits and preferences—a skill he had developed while wandering the streets to please others.

Shen Shiyan looked into Shen Ci's eyes. "Which auntie?"

Shen Ci said, "The one who serves tea during breakfast."

He thought for a moment, then added, "She must be specifically in charge of tea, because it was always that auntie before."

Shen Shiyan recalled.

Indeed, they looked similar.

He hummed in acknowledgment, studying the photo for a while longer. Su Xinrou's eyes and eyebrows resembled that auntie's, but her nose and mouth...

They seemed somewhat like the driver who shuttled Shen Rong to and from school.

Merging the two faces in his mind, Shen Shiyan pieced together most of Su Xinrou's appearance.

Shen Shiyan compiled the existing information and sent it separately to Qi Zizhu and Song Xianghan.

After some thought, Shen Shiyan changed his mind about sending Shen Ci a red envelope. Instead, he decided to borrow a driver from Shen Siyu to take Shen Ci out for a stroll.

"Shen Ci," Shen Shiyan said, turning off his phone screen, "go change your clothes. I'll take you out in a bit."

Shen Ci was playing a small game on his phone. Upon hearing this, he immediately crashed his game character into a wall, then hopped into the bedroom.

Shen Shiyan usually only moved around his own courtyard within the Shen residence. Shen Siyu's residence wasn't too far. After saying a few words to Shen Ci, he headed out directly.

About seven or eight minutes later, Shen Shiyan stopped in front of a small villa decorated in European style. Shen Siyu was smoking on the lawn. A flicker of surprise passed through his eyes when he saw Shen Shiyan.

"Second Brother." Shen Shiyan spoke first, his expression no different from usual. Even though he was asking for a favor, he didn't put on a smiling face.

Shen Siyu took a drag of his cigarette. "What a rare guest."

Shen Shiyan got straight to the point. "Second Brother, Shen Ci mentioned that the driver who shuttles Xiao Rong to and from school drives very smoothly. I just got my driver's license and would like to ask him to sit in the passenger seat and give me some pointers."

Shen Siyu raised an eyebrow, not expecting Shen Shiyan's first visit to be for borrowing a driver.

"You're naturally talented; you don't need guidance from others." Shen Siyu held his cigarette between his fingers, his gaze fixed directly on Shen Shiyan.

Shen Shiyan smiled modestly. "Second Brother, you flatter me too much."

Shen Siyu neither agreed nor spoke. The cigarette was almost burnt out, but he still couldn't figure out what Shen Shiyan was playing at.

After a long pause, he stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray on the courtyard table and said, "I'm a pretty good driver myself. Want me to give you a few tips?"

Without a moment's hesitation, Shen Shiyan replied, "Thanks, Second Brother. I appreciate it. I was planning to head out now anyway, just to drive a few loops around the city."

The wind picked up a bit of ash from the ashtray, landing on the edge of the pure white table.

Shen Siyu hadn't managed to get a read on Shen Shiyan.

He reached out, brushed the ash off the table, then pinched his own shoulder and said, "Forget it, I have work later. The driver will be waiting at your door in about fifteen minutes."

Shen Shiyan lowered his gaze and said again, "Thank you, Second Brother."