Chapter 204: Vicious Schemes

The main body of the lawyer's letter was generally divided into two parts.

The first part informed Shen Xun that during the existence of his marriage to Jiang Lai, all assets under his name constituted joint marital property, and that his unauthorized gifting of approximately 118 million yuan worth of joint marital property to a third party—including but not limited to luxury cars, high-end residences, several pieces of valuable jewelry, and other major movable assets—was legally deemed an invalid civil act.

Both he and the recipient, Ms. Lin Shutong, bore the obligation to return the full amount.

The second part was a formal notice from the law firm on behalf of the client: return the assets within ten days; if not returned within the deadline, the law firm would file a lawsuit in the People's Court on behalf of the client, and not only would the property need to be returned, but the litigation fees, attorney fees, and so on would also have to be borne.

Shen Xun's fingers gripping the lawyer's letter were trembling, his eyes wide open, staring until they grew sore and red.

Jiang Lai truly had no regard for their marital bond and was going to take it this far.

Qiao Chuan felt a jolt of alarm after seeing the lawyer's letter, yet when he saw the figure of 118 million, he thought to himself that it was surprisingly little.

Based on his estimate, there should have been at least another fifty or sixty million more.

This was probably the limit of what Jiang Lai had been able to uncover.

Good heavens—118 million. Right now, getting President Shen to scrape together even the eight-million-odd remainder would mean selling houses, cars, and stocks.

Lin Shutong?

Even if she sold everything she owned, she still couldn't repay it.

Qiao Chuan drew in sharp breaths inwardly. No wonder people said never to provoke a decent person—when a decent person turned ruthless, no one could handle it.

Qiao Chuan watched President Shen with eyes about to split from rage, silently stepping back a pace, and reminded him: "President Shen, the Snow project is about to launch. If Madam actually takes this to court, the consequences… would be unthinkable."

Even without his reminder, President Shen should have understood the magnitude of the chain reaction this matter would bring.

Qiao Chuan was also somewhat panicked inside. He was President Shen's assistant; if President Shen fell, Star Universe Technology wouldn't keep him either, and even if he stayed, he'd be marginalized—a fate worse than death.

How could Shen Xun not understand the consequences this matter would bring? Right now his stomach wasn't the only thing hurting—his head hurt too, the back of his skull throbbing violently.

He murmured in a low voice: "Jiang Lai, does it have to be like this…"

He suddenly noticed the ten-day deadline on the letter, his eyes lighting up slightly. He turned to look at Qiao Chuan: "Go find Lin Shutong. She must have received a lawyer's letter too. Join forces with her—have her sell everything she can sell. If she can't, have her find a way. Within ten days, return this money to Jiang Lai."

Qiao Chuan recalled what the receptionist had said about six days ago, glanced at the date on the letter, and his heart went ice-cold.

"President Shen, there are only four days left." Four days wasn't even enough to sell houses and cars at cut prices, let alone handle the transfer paperwork and everything else.

"What?" Shen Xun was stunned for a moment, then looked down at the date at the very bottom.

Qiao Chuan: "This EMS document arrived at the company six days ago. The front desk signed for it…"

His voice grew quieter and quieter.

Shen Xun instantly flew into a rage, berating Qiao Chuan: "Why wasn't I notified that very day! What is the front desk even doing!"

Qiao Chuan actually didn't know either, because at that time he was still in G Province. Who could have known that in just a few days away, so much would happen in A City.

It was truly a troublesome "winter."

But he still quickly pieced together some clues based on what he knew: "President Shen, when this document was delivered, the waybill didn't indicate the contents. It looked just like an ordinary document. After opening it, inside was a blank envelope, and only inside the envelope was the lawyer's letter—nested like matryoshka dolls. Sending a lawyer's letter in such a roundabout way was clearly a deliberate pro—"

Provocation.

He didn't dare say the full word.

This was a lawyer's letter sent by a lawyer on Jiang Lai's behalf, so it must have been with Jiang Lai's approval.

Shen Xun caught the implication in Qiao Chuan's words. This was more than a deliberate provocation—it was a form of disguised torment.

She could have directly filed a lawsuit, but instead chose to send a lawyer's letter first, going through the motions before suing?

With Jiang Lai's aloof and cool temperament, she couldn't possibly have come up with such a vicious scheme.

"No, it wasn't Jiang Lai." Shen Xun's gaze suddenly turned sinister as he said through gritted teeth, "It was Ke Zhongyu. It must have been Ke Zhongyu who put her up to this!"

In his career, what Shen Xun resented most was someone like Ke Zhongyu—born with a silver spoon, a heaven-sent prodigy, yet also a business genius. Not only that, he possessed one thing that many wealthy young masters and corporate heirs envied: his father's willingness to hand over power.

In short, Ke Zhongyu felt like someone born to be an "emperor of the mortal realm."

No matter how hard others tried, they couldn't even reach the hem of his garment.

Crushing him in business was one thing, but now Ke Zhongyu had also stolen his wife and was teaching his wife to play dirty!

Shen Xun smashed the water cup on his desk, eyes blood-red.

Qiao Chuan waited for his boss to calm down slightly, then reminded him: "President Shen, what matters right now is how to stop Madam from filing the lawsuit. Madam suing Miss Lin is one thing, but this also involves President Shen, and it will also involve your divorce. Snow's side is still waiting for you to bring Madam to attend tomorrow."

Shen Xun took a deep breath.

They were truly going to drive him to his death.

Jiang Lai was pressuring him on one side, and the Fu Family was pressuring him on the other.

But there was nothing he could do about the Fu Family.

He could only… go find Jiang Lai.

Qiao Chuan reminded him at the right moment: "President Shen, the matter you sent me to G Province to handle this time—everything is in order."

Shen Xun's heart tightened.

The reason he had been able to think of that child named Ping'an, and to think of sending Qiao Chuan to G Province, was because he wanted to use news about Ping'an in exchange for Jiang Lai seeing him and hearing his explanation.

But Jiang Lai divorcing him was already a done deal.

Then the matter of Ping'an…

Shen Xun lowered his eyes in thought, and after a long while lifted his gaze, asking Qiao Chuan: "Did you get a local number in G Province?"

Qiao Chuan nodded: "I did. It makes things easier."

A local number had always been more convenient than an out-of-town number for getting things done. Locals were generally wary when receiving calls from out-of-town numbers, thinking it might be a scammer. A local number would make people subconsciously assume the caller was someone nearby; even if the accent didn't match, they'd still subconsciously believe this person was in the local area and couldn't easily run away.

To find news about Ping'an, he had tapped no shortage of local connections and run all over the place.

Getting a number was absolutely necessary.

Shen Xun reached out his hand toward him.

Qiao Chuan pulled the SIM card out of his own phone and handed it over.

Back then, in order to contact Jiang Lai through Fu Youlin's side and see Jiang Lai's updates, Shen Xun had specifically bought an extra phone.

The G Province SIM card was inserted into his regular phone.

In the brief minute from when the second card lost signal to when it regained signal, Shen Xun felt as if he had endured a battle.

Finally, he took his phone and walked to the window, his back to Qiao Chuan, and dialed that familiar phone number.

Jiang Lai saw it was a call from G Province and answered immediately.

"Hello?"

There was no sound right away on the call, which made Jiang Lai think of Ping'an, who has autism.

"Is that Ping'an?"

"Ping'an, I'm your sister, Jiang Lai, your sister."

When Ping'an first started speaking, he didn't shout "Jiang Lai sis!" but said: "Jiang Lai, sis."

That means, Jiang Lai is the sister.

Jiang Lai always treats the children at Fuli Yuan with patience and gentleness; she repeated once more: "I, Jiang Lai, am the sister."

Maybe the other party dialed wrong.

But Jiang Lai didn't dare hang up, because Ping'an really seldom speaks; maybe he is already trying to speak, and she needs to give him a little time.

If she hung up, what would happen if Ping'an encountered an emergency?

After another half-minute of silence on the call, a man's voice came from the other end.

"Jiang Lai, it's me."

Shen Xun!

Jiang Lai's face instantly turned cold; she looked carefully at the number, which indeed showed G Province.

"Jiang Lai, I've found Ping'an. If you want to know his news, let's meet tomorrow morning, okay? At the place where I proposed to you."