507: Chapter 52 The Final Moment

This single word, like a needle, instantly pierced the nerve that Zhang Jufeng had kept taut for over a decade.

He suddenly remembered something, his voice trembling almost imperceptibly.

"Wang Zhenting, that Wang Zhenting, on TV, I saw him."

"He's finished." Shen Yan's voice was calm, as if stating an established fact.

"Jiangnan Group, too, will be soon."

"Congratulations."

These three words, light as air, yet carried the weight of a thousand jun, crashing down.

Zhang Jufeng could no longer hold it in.

He covered his face, hot tears seeping through his fingers.

Years of suppressed hatred, grievances, and unwillingness all burst forth at this moment.

A man in his forties, like a child, sobbed uncontrollably on his end of the phone.

"Master... I'm sorry..."

"I spent so many years, and couldn't do anything."

"I'm useless, I'm useless!"

He cried incoherently, as if repenting to his master's spirit in heaven, and also as if venting to that unseen controller.

Shen Yan on the other end of the phone did not offer comfort.

He just listened quietly.

Until Zhang Jufeng's cries gradually turned into low sobs.

Only then did Shen Yan speak again.

"Done crying?"

Zhang Jufeng was startled, his sobs abruptly ceasing.

"Yuanshan Heavy Industry, do you want to see it rise again?"

This question, like a clap of thunder, exploded in Zhang Jufeng's mind.

Of course he did!

He dreamed of it!

That was his master's life's work!

He wiped his face, nodded vigorously, and then remembered that the other party couldn't see him.

"Yes! Of course I do!"

"But... but Yuanshan's foundation has long been hollowed out, leaving only an empty shell and a group of old workers waiting to be fed..."

His voice dropped again, filled with a sense of powerlessness.

Overthrowing Jiangnan Group was just revenge.

But rebuilding Yuanshan required money.

A massive amount of capital.

He didn't have it.

He hesitated for a long time, then steeled his heart, almost summoning all the courage of his life.

"President Shen... I have one more presumptuous request."

His voice was as soft as a mosquito's hum.

"I know I shouldn't trouble you again; you've already helped me tremendously."

"But Yuanshan truly cannot just disappear like this."

"I want to ask you... could you invest in Yuanshan?"

After saying this, he felt almost drained.

He felt his cheeks burning terribly.

He felt like an insatiable beggar.

Shen Yan had already given him the weapon for revenge, and now he was still asking for bread.

On the other end of the phone, there was another silence.

Zhang Jufeng's heart sank to the bottom.

He thought, 'Right, why should he?'

There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world; he had already received too much.

Just as he was about to say, "Forget I said anything," Shen Yan's voice rang out again.

"Alright."

Again, just two simple words.

Zhang Jufeng suspected he had misheard.

"President Shen, you... what did you say?"

"I said alright." Shen Yan's tone remained calm. "I need a stable raw material supplier, especially in the heavy industry and construction materials sector."

"In the future, my industrial parks and real estate projects will have a huge demand for steel and special cement."

"Keeping the supply chain in my own hands ensures quality control and can also drive down costs."

"I'm not investing in your Yuanshan; I'm investing in my own future."

Every word was like a solid cornerstone, striking Zhang Jufeng's wavering heart.

He didn't say anything about "help" or "sympathy."

What he spoke of was business.

A cold, purely commercially logical investment.

But to Zhang Jufeng, these words felt warmer and more dignified than any comfort.

Shen Yan wasn't giving him charity.

He was giving him an opportunity.

An opportunity for Yuanshan Heavy Industry to become a player at the table once more.

Zhang Jufeng's eyes reddened again.

This time, it wasn't due to hatred, but to rebirth.

"President Shen, you are the reborn parents of Yuanshan!"

His voice choked, filled with immeasurable gratitude.

"On behalf of all the old Employees of Yuanshan, thank you for your help! I bow to you!"

"Dinner! President Shen, I must treat you to dinner! When are you free?"

"No need."

Shen Yan flatly refused.

"I'm very busy these two days."

"My assistant will contact you regarding the specific financing plan. Prepare all the remaining asset information for Yuanshan Heavy Industry."

"That's all."

With that, the call was abruptly ended.

Only a cold busy signal remained in the receiver.

Zhang Jufeng held his phone, stunned in place, not moving for a long time.

He could still feel the bone-chilling calm and power emanating from the other end of the phone.

That man was like an extremely precise computer.

No superfluous emotions, no unnecessary chatter.

Only the goal, and the most efficient path to achieve it.

He looked out the window.

The city's night view no longer seemed so distant.

He knew that from this moment on, his life, and the fate of Yuanshan Heavy Industry, would sail into a new course, planned by the man named Shen Yan.

At the same time.

Top floor CEO office.

Shen Yan put down his phone, the screen's light reflecting on his impassive profile.

Outside the window was the city's most brilliant nightscape, with countless lights converging into rivers of light beneath his feet.

He wasn't looking at the scenery.

His gaze was fixed on the three huge, floating virtual screens in front of him.

On the screens, countless lines of green code flowed rapidly like a waterfall.

That was the core code of the "janus" project.

An artificial intelligence project poised to disrupt the existing technological landscape.

"Yan Zi, you haven't slept in two days."

Chen Guangke walked in with a steaming cup of coffee, his face etched with worry.

He gently placed the coffee next to Shen Yan's hand.

"Even a man of iron can't endure this much. Go rest for a while; we'll keep an eye on things here."

Shen Yan's gaze did not leave the screen.

His fingers continued to tap rapidly on the optical keyboard below.

"This is the final stretch; we can't slack off."

His voice was light, yet carried an undeniable resolve.

Chen Guangke sighed, knowing he couldn't persuade his brother.

From the day Shen Yan decided to enter the field of Artificial Intelligence, he had entered this almost frenzied work state.

He looked at Shen Yan's back, tall yet tinged with a hint of loneliness.

This man carried too much on his shoulders.

"Oh, right," Chen Guangke remembered something. "Things are getting chaotic with Jiangnan Group; their stock price has already hit the limit down. Wang Zhenting has been suspended from all his duties by the Board of Directors and is undergoing an internal investigation. That Deputy Manager, Zhao Guang, was apparently taken away directly by the police."

"Mm."

Shen Yan merely acknowledged, as if listening to a trivial matter. His fingers paused, embedding a new logical algorithm at a certain node in the code.