Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Shen Gali saw her smirking face and knew she was certainly gearing up to find fault again.

He didn't want to argue with anyone; he wished that when faced with communication problems, he could just say, "Why don't you call the police?" and be done with it.

Yu Huaisu twirled her pen, her tone casual: "Gali has been acting as interim CEO for over a week now. In handling work, he's neither made great contributions nor committed mistakes, but no mistakes doesn't mean he's innocent."

Shen Gali: "I'm just filling in temporarily. Why would I have to go to jail?"

Yu Huaisu smiled, then thumped the pen on the table, her tone turning colder: "You keep saying that Liu Jing personally entrusted you with the interim CEO position. At the time, the situation was urgent, and we had no choice but to trust you against our better judgment. But the more I think about it, the more questions arise."

"As everyone knows, an authorization for proxy requires notarized certificates and trust company contracts. But to this day, no one has seen either of those documents. Relying solely on a single letter to take charge of the company's power—isn't that too reckless?"

Yu Jinzhu chimed in, with a smug and petty demeanor: "Whether the letter was written by President Nan or forged by you is hard to say."

Shen Gali finally had the chance to say, "Why don't you call the police?"

"Don't try to use calling the police as a cover-up. That won't work on us. Criminals all claim they're innocent, but as long as there's no evidence to prove otherwise, the law has the right to judge them." Yu Huaisu raised an eyebrow, looking self-satisfied.

"Now, either produce those two proofs, or, as you said, let the law enforcement agencies decide."

As Yu Huaisu put it, with only a letter, even if handwriting analysis confirmed it was written by Nan Liujing himself, without an authorized proxy document, it had no legal force. If Yu Huaisu sued Shen Gali, he could indeed face jail time.

Now that Nan Liujing's intelligence had regressed to that of a six-year-old, he was considered a person without civil capacity. Even if he proved he had indeed entrusted Shen Gali, it would be too little, too late—the law wouldn't recognize it.

Shen Gali firmly believed the two authorization documents existed, but he didn't know where Nan Liujing had put them.

Seeing Shen Gali silent, Yu Huaisu couldn't help but feel smug. For a sudden situation like Nan Liujing's, how could he have foreseen it and prepared the authorization documents in advance? The letter was most likely forged by Shen Gali.

He usually seemed unassuming and honest, but in reality, he had a thousand cunning tricks up his sleeve.

"Gali, how about this: I know you're just trying to help Liu Jing. After all, you're still my son-in-law. I'll give you one chance. Within two hours, we want to see the authorization documents. Otherwise, for the sake of fairness, I'll have to show no mercy even to family."

Yu Huaisu said this because she wanted Shen Gali to remember that she had given him this chance, to remember her kindness, and to remember that he owed her a huge favor.

Shen Gali's heart leaped with joy: "Does that mean I can go home?"

Without waiting for a follow-up, Shen Gali stood up in an instant and called Driver Yang to pick him up.

Amidst the complex gazes of the crowd, Shen Gali made a glorious exit.

Yu Jinzhu looked at Yu Huaisu, his flattery overflowing: "I've long disliked him. A greenhorn with no experience—how can Huanhai, such a vast enterprise, be allowed to be messed around by a mere kid? Mrs. Yu, your arrival is like a godsend. Admirable, admirable."

Yu Huaisu wasn't in the mood to listen to his empty flattery: "Everyone, go take a break. Gather here in two hours. Also, Feiyao, follow me."

Nan Feiyao lowered his head and followed Yu Huaisu into the office.

Yu Huaisu stood in silence for a while, arms crossed, looking out the window. Nan Feiyao barely dared to breathe, head down and hands hanging, like a schoolboy waiting to be scolded.

After what felt like an eternity, Yu Huaisu finally pulled a kraft paper envelope from her handbag and threw it over, her expression stern: "This is the last time I help you. This matter—only you and I know about it. Don't let a third person find out, or you'll be the one going to jail."

Nan Feiyao took the envelope, opened it, and pulled out the documents inside. After reading them, his face changed dramatically: "Mom, this is a for—"

"Shut up!" Yu Huaisu gritted her teeth and cut him off. "What else can I do? What else can I do with a son like you? You better keep your mouth shut and stop causing me trouble!"

This was a forged document, stamped with the official seal of Huanhai Group, looking almost authentic at first glance.

Ever since the wedding date between Nan Feiyao and Shen Lanqing was set, Shen Lanqing had been increasingly depressed. Nan Feiyao thought he was having second thoughts about the marriage, and after much coaxing, he finally got Shen Lanqing to reveal the truth.

Shen Lanqing said that his family's company was built by his maternal grandfather with hard work. His mother had devoted half her life to the company, only to make a foolish decision—selling shares to an American company, hoping to expand and grow. But then the subprime mortgage crisis hit the U.S., dragging the company down into a steep decline and mountains of debt. Not wanting to see the efforts of two generations destroyed, his mother begged Shen Lanqing to ask Nan Feiyao for help.

It was the same investment plan as before. She had first approached Nan Liujing, but was rejected and humiliated, so she turned her attention to Nan Feiyao.

But Nan Feiyao, unlike his brother who formally managed the company, was short on funds. Yet he couldn't bear to see his beloved Shen Lanqing crying every day, so he eventually made a bold decision.

Previously, Nan Liujing had assigned him the follow-up work on a Japanese precision parts project. Coincidentally, the partner company went bankrupt during the collaboration, returning the deposit and breach-of-contract fees to Nan Feiyao's side—exactly 200 million yuan, which just happened to cover his mother-in-law's investment project.

This money originally belonged to Huanhai Group, but Nan Feiyao, to please Shen Lanqing, gave it to his future mother-in-law. As long as Nan Liujing remained incapacitated, no one would question this matter.

Embezzling 200 million yuan of public funds—even the chairman's son couldn't escape that. It could lead to life imprisonment or even the death penalty.

To avoid discovery, Yu Huaisu, leveraging her experience as a former CFO, exploited loopholes to forge the feedback documents, just to ensure no one would find out.

But Yu Huaisu had calculated everything except that even though Nan Liujing had gone mad, Shen Gali had taken over the work. She didn't know exactly how capable Shen Gali was, but he definitely couldn't be left around.

Yu Huaisu wanted to cry, but she couldn't. If she let her guard down and this matter came to light, she and her son would be facing a long prison sentence. For now, she had to bring down Shen Gali—it was the only way to survive.

Please let those two authorization documents not exist.

*

In the car, Shen Gali leaned wearily against the window, thinking about where the two authorization documents might be.

He had just called Uncle Li to ask Nan Liujing. When Nan Liujing heard Shen Gali's voice, he grabbed the phone: "Honey, I've kept the flowers you gave me safe. When are you coming back?"

Shen Gali had no mind for flowers: "In the letter, you mentioned two authorization files. Do you remember where you put them?"

Nan Liujing: "What are authorization files? Honey, when are you coming back?"

It was hopeless. He didn't even know what an authorization document was.

Right—how could a six-year-old understand the rules of the adult world?

Shen Gali: "Tsk. Does that mean I'm really going to jail? Maybe I should fake an illness to get medical parole? I don't want to spend every day working at a sewing machine."

Driver Yang in the front seat sighed deeply, feeling sorry for both Shen Gali and his boss.

"President Nan used to be a man of great planning. Whatever he did, it was methodical and well-organized. Seeing him ramble incoherently yesterday, I felt both regret and pain."

Shen Gali stared out the window, lost in thought. At Driver Yang's words, his eyes suddenly widened.

A casual remark unlocked the puzzle in my mind. BGM

Nan Liujing, always meticulous and orderly—why had he scrambled the numbers in the letter? That wasn't like him.

He remembered the sequence: 6, 1, 7, 8, 2, 3, missing 4 and 5. This shouldn't be just a random sequence; it must be some kind of clue.

Shen Gali racked his not-so-bright brain, recalling the scene that day.

Nan Liujing hadn't come in that morning. He showed up at noon with two files in hand, then asked Driver Yang to take him somewhere.

"Driver Yang, on the 28th of last month, around noon, Nan Liujing came back from outside and then had you drive him somewhere else. Where did you go?"

Driver Yang thought for a moment: "Home. He didn't say what he needed to do, but I glanced from downstairs and saw him go into the bedroom."

Shen Gali: "Home. Now."

Shen Gali returned to his previous residence, went straight to Nan Liujing's bedroom, sat on the bed, and looked around.

Could 6-1-7-8-2-3 be a password?

But... he had woken up very early that day, and the back-and-forth between work and home had consumed most of his energy. Now he just wanted to sleep well without caring about anything.

He figured he might as well take a quick nap, just ten minutes.

To avoid oversleeping like before, he thought about setting an alarm.

Where had he put his phone? It seemed he had left it at the company. Whatever, it didn't matter. Something this important, he would wake up on time.

Shen Gali took off his shoes, lay down on the bed, and went still, peaceful.jpg.

...

The clock on the wall slowly moved its hour hand toward twelve.

In the company's conference room, only the president's seat was empty; the others sat rigidly in their places, waiting in bitter impatience.

Another hour had passed since the two-hour deadline Yu Huaisu had set.

The leaders kept glancing at their watches, complaining inwardly: They had done nothing all morning, just been at that woman's beck and call. When would this end? It was noon, time for lunch.

Yu Jinzhu irritably rubbed his bald head and looked at Yu Huaisu: "Mrs. Yu, it's been three hours. Are you sure Shen Gali is coming back?"

Yu Huaisu looked up at the clock, her gaze following the movement of the second hand: "Wait a little longer. Maybe there's heavy traffic at this hour."

"Could it be that sister-in-law has fled out of guilt?" Nan Feiyao said, extremely impatient. He had arranged to call Shen Lanqing during lunch break, but because of that damned Shen Gali, he and Shen Lanqing would have to skip a few lines of their conversation.

Yu Huaisu glanced at him, hinting that he had no right to speak and should just wait obediently.

"Click."

The clock's minute hand, second hand, and hour hand all pointed exactly to twelve. Yu Huaisu suddenly stood up:

"No more waiting. Call the police now, and arrest Shen Gali on charges of forging documents to usurp an official position."

The leaders exchanged glances, but no one moved.

A new emperor brings new ministers. Although Shen Gali had only been in charge for a few days, they had all shown utmost loyalty during his tenure. Now that the regime had changed, their fate as former loyal ministers was to be purged and stripped of their positions.

It was over...

Yu Huaisu, seeing the unmoved leaders, gave a half-smile: "What, unwilling? Giving you the chance to call the police is an opportunity. Since ancient times, those who support a rebel faction end up dead. Or do you think I have no real power, and my words are as worthless as farts?"

With a sharp roar, the leaders all hunched their shoulders and bowed their heads in fear.

Yu Jinzhu was the first to show loyalty, no longer hesitating as he decisively dialed the police.

Yu Huaisu wasn't done yet; she sneered and asked the leaders if they wanted to join her in witnessing the arrest.

At this, the leaders dared not refuse, each pushing the other to go first, until they finally stood up begrudgingly.

On the way to Shen Gali's home, Yu Huaisu sent a text to Nan Feiyao next to her:

"You don't have to be afraid. Mother always finds a way. Don't mope. Laugh last."

Nan Feiyao forced a smile uglier than tears, but in his heart, he thought about not being able to call Shen Lanqing.

The police and the entire Huanhai leadership crowded noisily outside Nan Liujing's home. They knocked on the door multiple times, but no one answered. Yu Huaisu called Nan Feng to get the electronic lock password, then gave the password to the police, telling them to go in and arrest the person.

They swarmed into the house and split up to find Shen Gali's hiding place.

But...

Shen Gali wasn't hiding at all; instead, he was lying flat on the bed with a peaceful expression.

Yu Huaisu: "He killed himself to escape punishment!"

The police: ...

The police shook Shen Gali, waking him up.

Shen Gali slowly opened his eyes.

As expected, he had overslept again.

Shen Gali looked at the unfamiliar faces in the room and rubbed his sleepy eyes: "What's up?"

"We suspect you of forging documents to usurp an official position. Please come with us to the police station for investigation."

Shen Gali: ...

The thought process of some law enforcement officers nowadays is truly chilling.

The leaders who still had a favorable impression of him couldn't bear to watch and left the room with sighs.

Yu Huaisu piled on while he was down: "Gali, Mother gave you a chance, but you didn't cherish it. It can't be helped. For the sake of fairness and justice in this world, I must place justice above family. You understand, right?"

Shen Gali was annoyed: "Why are you so dramatic?"

Yu Huaisu sneered: "I'm performing this for you, as a send-off."

Shen Gali climbed out of bed, opened Nan Liujing's closet, and asked casually: "Farewell? Where are you off to, Auntie? Jail?"

That nap had recharged him, and he remembered many small details.

For instance, when he retaliated against Nan Liujing for sticking stickers on his clothes, he had been so tired that he hid in the closet to rest a moment. It was there he discovered a built-in safe.

After keying in 617823, the safe clicked open and the door popped open.

Shen Gali saw two files inside, wrapped in brown kraft paper.

Sure enough, if he believed they existed, they did.

Without even looking at the contents, he took out the files and handed them to the police and said simply: "The power of attorney."

She suddenly tensed up, and she couldn't help staring wide-eyed as she leaned in to get a look.

The officer took out the file and read it carefully. After a moment, he glanced helplessly at Yu Huaisu and handed the file to her: "Madam, please verify the facts before calling the police next time. Don't waste police resources."

The two files were from the National Notary Office and Zhonghua Trust, clearly printed in black and white with official seals: If any accident occurred during Nan Liujing's tenure, all work would be fully delegated to the agent, Shen Gali.

Below the second party was Shen Gali's personal signature.

Shen Gali recalled the six documents that Nan Liujing had given him to sign earlier; the power of attorney was mixed in with them for him to sign.

Looking at Yu Huaisu's face, which showed no remorse but instead angry, red-rimmed eyes, Shen Gali finally understood why Nan Liujing hadn't directly stated the location of the power of attorney in the letter.

It was part of his contingency planning. Otherwise, someone like Yu Huaisu, if she had known about the power of attorney in advance, would have tried to get and destroy it herself, then pin the charge of usurping the official position on Shen Gali.

What Nan Liujing wanted was for all the leaders of Huanhai Electronics to witness it personally, to win everyone's wholehearted acceptance and prevent Yu Huaisu from interfering.

The letter of authorization was never meant to be made public, but since it was accidentally exposed, there's nothing to be done about it.

Nan Liujing, the god of military strategy.

But Nan Liujing still overestimated Shen Gali's intelligence; he thought that by scrambling the number sequence to create an anomaly, Shen Gali would spot it immediately, but Shen Gali didn't understand, or rather, he was too lazy to think about it.

The police filed out, and the leaders crowded around Shen Gali, congratulating him one after another on his vindication.

"Mrs. Yu, since this is a misunderstanding, you should at least apologize to President Shen to show your good faith," a leader suggested.

Backed into a corner, Yu Huaisu had no other choice.

She lowered her head slightly, her fingers clenched tightly, nails digging deep into her palms, and said in a voice lacking confidence: "I'm sorry, Jiali, I misunderstood you without checking the facts, but I did it for the company's sake. I hope you'll be big enough to forgive my small fault."

But Shen Gali was thinking:

The best way to solve a communication problem? Just call the police.

Leaving the house, Yu Huaisu looked back at the mansion, hatred in her eyes.

After a long moment, she took out her phone and called a media contact she knew: "Release the news that Nan Liujing's IQ is only that of a six-year-old, that he has lost his memory and doesn't even recognize his own family."

One Shen Gali had already caused such trouble; if Nan Liujing ever regained his memory and resumed his work, he would surely discover the embezzlement of 200 million.

As long as everyone believed he was an idiot and unable to resume work normally, even if he recovered, no one would dare reinstate him.

*

After work, Shen Gali dragged his tired body home.

As he opened the door, he saw Nan Liujing sitting at the entrance, holding a camellia. When he saw him return, a smile spread across his face: "Wife, you're back. I missed you so much. Look, I completed the task you gave me."

Shen Gali casually took the camellia and said, "Why are you sitting here?"

Li Shu helped take his coat and said with a smile: "Mr. Shen, ever since you left this morning, the young master has been sitting at the door waiting for you to come back, never leaving your side."

"Never leaving?" That's a bit creepy.

"Yes, he even ate his meals at the doorstep. I advised him to go back to his room to rest, but he insisted on staying, saying he must be the first person Mr. Shen sees when he comes home."

Nan Liujing was like a loyal puppy; every step Shen Gali took, he would slide his wheelchair forward one step, clumsy and stubborn. If he had a tail, it would probably be wagging like a propeller.

But Shen Gali didn't have the energy to be a qualified pet owner. He couldn't be bothered to care about his puppy, and he collapsed onto the bed, exhausted, barely able to breathe.

Nan Liujing followed, sitting by the bed, took Shen Gali's hand and gave it a gentle shake: "Wife, are you tired? Let me give you a shoulder rub."

Shen Gali gave a faint "mm," half-opened his eyes, and looked at Nan Liujing.

The once-arrogant Nan Liujing had become like this, wearing a ridiculous puppy-patterned sweater, head down, earnestly and haphazardly massaging his arm without any technique.

A trace of bitterness welled up in his heart.

It was clear that Nan Liujing cared a lot about the reward for protecting the camellia. His gaze frequently drifted to the flower, but because he couldn't bear to see his wife tired, he bit back his words.

He wondered if the six-year-old Nan Liujing had been like this too—wanting many things but learning to give up all desires after losing his mother's support.

"Nan Liujing." Shen Gali pulled his hand back.

"What's wrong? Did I hurt you?"

"No. I said if you could protect that flower, I would give you a reward."

The moment the words left his mouth, Shen Gali regretted it instantly.

But I just wanted to lie down!

But seeing Nan Liujing's excited little eyes, he could only think, 'Oh well, forget it.'

In the courtyard.

Nan Liujing held a sparkler, bright yellow sparks shooting and bursting into countless little stars.

The faint light illuminated his face, revealing a childlike, innocent smile.

Shen Gali leaned sideways against the wall, also holding a sparkler.

Not having a romantic bone in his body, the best reward he could think of was to light fireworks with Nan Liujing.

But Nan Liujing was very happy. Whether the reward was fireworks or something else, as long as his wife was by his side, he was happy.

He looked at Shen Gali and saw that he still looked tired, barely able to support himself against the wall, with no smile on his face.

Nan Liujing took his hand: "Wife, are you very tired?"

Shen Gali: "Mm."

"If you're tired, sit down. Sit on my lap, I'll hold you."

Shen Gali glanced at his legs and thought, better not.

The doctor said his legs had a minor fracture and he needed to rely on a wheelchair temporarily.

Already paralyzed from the waist down, and now a minor fracture—might as well cut off these legs and sell them. I doubt even a cannibal would want these useless legs.

But something felt off.

Temporarily? Why "temporarily"?

Shen Gali couldn't figure it out but decided not to trouble himself; he would just take what others said at face value.

Seeing him not move, Nan Liujing gripped the armrests to support his upper body, shifted slightly to the side to make a little space, and pulled Shen Gali to sit down.

In the narrow wheelchair, the two sat close together, the sparklers still burning in their hands accidentally touching, bursting into even more intense sparks. They tried to pull them apart, but the high heat had almost fused them together, inseparable.

"They're stuck together," Nan Liujing murmured. "Just like us, stuck together."

Shen Gali was speechless. After losing his memory, Nan Liujing not only lost his former temper but also some cleverness in his speech. "Stuck together," huh...

"Mwah~" An unexpected soft touch landed on Shen Gali's cheek.

He looked over immediately; Nan Liujing had stolen a kiss and acted as if he had taken a huge advantage, cheeks flushed, shaking the sparkler as if nothing had happened.

"Wife," he said, head down, unable to hide the smile on his face, "It's been hard on you, taking care of a fool like me."

Shen Gali looked at him quietly, expressionless.

"From now on, I will always protect you and love you forever."