505: Chapter 50 A Complete Family

Shen Yan's figure disappeared at the doorway.

Ma Kai slumped onto the chair, picking up the paper covered with formulas from the desk.

Those lines of elegant characters now looked like a devil's contract in his eyes.

But he knew he would sign it.

Four-thirty in the afternoon.

Shen Yan glanced at his wristwatch.

He closed the laptop in front of him and said to Wu Ya and Chen Guangke, who were reporting on work,

"That's all for today."

He picked up his coat and walked toward the exit.

"Yan Zi, leaving so early? You have a dinner engagement tonight."

Chen Guangke called out from behind.

Shen Yan did not stop walking.

"Canceled."

"I'm going to pick up Youyou from school."

The afterglow of the setting sun coated the city in a warm golden hue.

The entrance of the aristocratic kindergarten was already filled with waiting parents.

Shen Yan's car was parked not far away.

He didn't get out, just watched the school gate quietly.

The noise and laughter here were completely out of place with the business world he was accustomed to.

The bell rang.

Groups of little angels dressed in various beautiful clothes poured out of the teaching building, chattering.

Shen Yan's gaze searched through the crowd.

Soon, he spotted the small figure wearing a pink princess dress and sporting two pigtails.

Shen Youyou.

She was holding hands with Liu Hui, talking about something as they walked.

When her eyes swept across the road, she saw the familiar car.

Her eyes instantly lit up.

"Daddy!"

A crisp shout filled with immense surprise.

She shook off Liu Hui's hand and, like a happy little butterfly, flapped her short legs, dashing toward the car.

Shen Yan pushed the car door open and got out.

Just as he steadied himself, a small, soft body crashed into his embrace.

"Daddy!"

Shen Youyou clung tightly to his leg, rubbing her little face against his pants.

"I missed you so much!"

Shen Yan's body stiffened for a moment.

He couldn't remember how long it had been since he had seen his daughter like this, at a normal time.

Yesterday when he returned home, she was asleep.

This morning when he left, she hadn't woken up yet.

Counting it up, it seemed he truly hadn't spoken to his daughter while she was awake for more than half a month.

His hand gently landed on Youyou's head, stroking her soft hair.

"Daddy missed you too."

His voice was much gentler than when he was at the company.

Liu Hui walked over with a smile.

"Why do you have time to come over today?"

"Finished handling things temporarily."

Shen Yan gave a simple explanation, then bent down and picked Youyou up.

The little girl immediately hugged his neck happily and gave him a loud kiss on the face.

"Daddy, look at the drawing I made for you!"

As if presenting a treasure, she pulled out a crumpled piece of drawing paper from her small backpack.

She unfolded it in front of Shen Yan.

It was a typical child's drawing.

Wobbly lines, bold and bright colors.

A house, a patch of grass, and a huge, smiling sun in the sky.

Youyou's little finger pointed at the drawing.

"This is Daddy!"

She pointed to the tallest stick figure in the drawing, which was holding a square block in its hand.

"Daddy is the tallest, he has to go to work to earn money!"

Shen Yan looked at the comical stick figure, and a hint of a smile, which he hadn't even noticed himself, appeared in his eyes.

"This one is Youyou!"

She pointed to a smaller stick figure next to Daddy, which had two circles on its head representing pigtails.

"Youyou wants to hold Daddy's hand!"

"This is Auntie Huihui!"

She pointed to another stick figure on Daddy's other side, drawn with long hair.

"Auntie Huihui is the prettiest!"

Liu Hui, listening from the side, beamed with joy.

"Our Youyou really knows how to talk."

"And! And Auntie Yaya too!"

Youyou pointed to another stick figure holding her.

"Auntie Yaya buys Youyou lots of delicious things!"

On the drawing, four people stood on the grass.

Holding hands, all with upward-curving smiles drawn on their faces.

A complete home.

Shen Yan's gaze lingered on the drawing for a long time.

"Daddy, is it nice?"

Youyou asked, looking up with a face full of anticipation.

"It's beautiful."

Shen Yan said.

"This is the most beautiful drawing I have ever seen."

His voice was soft, but very serious.

He carried Youyou into the car.

The car started smoothly.

Shen Yan didn't speak, just watched the street view receding outside the window.

In his hand, he tightly clutched that drawing.

Shen Yan's fingers unconsciously caressed the children's drawing.

The stick figure holding the briefcase in the drawing was him.

The one standing in the center, held by everyone's hands, was also him.

His world always seemed to be divided into these two distinct halves.

One half was the cold commercial empire, a deep chess game of deceit.

The other half was his daughter's soft embrace, the clumsy yet warm sun on the drawing paper.

He glanced at the rearview mirror.

Liu Hui was looking down, gently talking to Youyou, helping her tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

This woman was like a warm light, carefully shining into the ruins of his heart that had long been frozen over.

She didn't know that just now, in the teahouse, he had written the first chapter of a behemoth's downfall with just a few sentences.

She also didn't know that just now, with a line of code, he had shaken the foundation of another industry, securing eight hundred million in cash and an immeasurable future for himself.

She only knew that he was Youyou's father, her future husband.

A man who needed to come home for dinner.

Shen Yan withdrew his gaze, tucking the coldness that could potentially overturn countless destinies back into the deepest part of his eyes.

The car drove steadily.

The direction of home was clear.

Meanwhile.

In the private room of the Quiet Heart Teahouse, only Zhang Jufeng remained.

He sat in place, motionless for a long time.

The tea on the table had gone completely cold.

Just like his heart at this moment.

He finally stood up and picked up the old briefcase filled with evidence of crimes committed by Yuanshan Heavy Industry and Jiangnan Group.

It was heavy.

It made him feel slightly breathless.

He didn't go home.

Instead, he drove to an abandoned factory in the suburbs.

The night wind was cold, making the corrugated iron roof rattle.

Zhang Jufeng found an open concrete area and opened the briefcase.

He took out the documents inside, stack after stack.

There were yellowed procurement receipts, handwritten private notes, and thick asset stripping lists.

Every single piece of paper recorded the death of an enterprise, and also recorded the tragedy of his master.

He once thought these were the only obsessions of his remaining life.

The only weapon to seek justice.

But now, they were just 'firewood' in Shen Yan's words.

The fire had already been lit.

Zhang Jufeng took out a lighter.

Click.

A small flame flickered in the night wind.

He brought the flame close to a corner of the paper.

The flame suddenly shot up, greedily licking the paper, turning the black-and-white text into black butterflies dancing in the air before vanishing into nothingness.