Chapter 16: Shen Anyu, The Strength of a Top Noble!
Wang Hai's mind went completely blank at that moment, stunned into silence like a wooden chicken. The arrogant grin was wiped cleanly from his face, replaced by the hollow look of a man whose reality had just shattered.
Panic surged through him, hot and suffocating. He slammed his hands onto the table and immediately roared hysterically at Liu Hesheng, his most loyal ally and shareholder, who sat to his right.
"What is going on?! Liu, speak to me!"
Liu Hesheng and the other shareholders exchanged glances. The fear that usually governed their interactions with Wang Hai was gone, replaced by faint, pitying smiles. It was the look one gave to a dead man walking.
Liu Hesheng slowly shook his head at Wang Hai and said calmly, "Wang Hai, we don't support you."
The other shareholders also spoke up one after another, their voices overlapping in a chorus of betrayal.
"Wang Hai, don't even think about it. We don't support you!"
"Haha, Wang Hai, your expression just now was quite amusing. Did you really think you had won?"
"Wang Hai, alas... don't blame us. We want to live."
"..."
Watching all the shareholders, big and small, reject him one by one, Wang Hai felt as if he had fallen from heaven straight into a bottomless abyss. His vision blurred, black spots dancing before his eyes. His head spun with vertigo, and his legs gave out. He slumped directly into his leather chair, trembling uncontrollably as he looked at the faces of the men he thought he owned.
"Who..." Wang Hai rasped, his voice shaking. "Who do you support?"
These shareholders supported neither Qin Ningbing nor him. Could there be a third party entering the scene?
How could that be? For all these years, Magic City Renxin Hall Pharmaceutical Company had always been a binary struggle between his faction and Qin Ningbing's faction! There was no one else strong enough to intervene in this muddy water.
Liu Hesheng straightened his tie, looked toward the closed door with reverence, and respectfully uttered two words:
"Young Master!"
The other shareholders also chimed in unison, their voices filled with fanaticism: "Young Master!"
"We all support Young Master!"
"Besides Young Master, we recognize no one else!"
"..."
All these shareholders, big and small, had expressions of utmost respect on their faces. There was not a trace of slackness; their postures were rigid, their heads bowed slightly as if in the presence of royalty, even though this "Young Master" was not yet in front of them.
In fact, their faces were full of flattery and fawning, a desperate eagerness to please that bordered on servitude.
Seeing this scene, Wang Hai was stunned! He had painstakingly cultivated and wooed these shareholders for so many years, taking them to dinners, promising them riches, massaging their egos. Yet not one of them had ever treated him with such absolute submission.
Who exactly was that Young Master?
Qin Ningbing sat frozen in her seat. She had regained her composure on the surface, but her beautiful eyes still held a strong sense of shock and horror.
She whispered to herself, her voice barely audible, "Who exactly is... Young Master?"
She wanted to know. After all these years of open and secret struggle with Wang Hai, fighting tooth and nail for her father's legacy, who exactly had she lost to? Was it a competitor? A foreign investor?
Wang Hai's face was distorted with rage and panic. His eyes were bloodshot, veins bulging on his forehead like worms. He roared, spitting saliva across the polished table:
"Which Young Master dares to pluck my fruit?!"
"I will definitely not let him off!"
"I will certainly kill him!"
So many years of hard work, countless hours of scheming, bribing, and maneuvering. He was so close. Yet at the moment of impending success, he had failed!
Wang Hai was utterly furious and resentful to the extreme! He even had thoughts of murder. If this "Young Master" walked in, he would strangle him with his bare hands.
Liu Hesheng and the other shareholders sneered, looking at him like he was an idiot.
However, at this very moment, a loud and respectful shout suddenly came from the corridor outside, cutting through Wang Hai's screams:
"Young Master has arrived!"
In an instant, the top-floor conference room fell silent! The silence was absolute, heavy enough to crush a man.
Everyone turned their heads in unison, looking towards the conference room door.
At this moment, Qin Ningbing, Wang Hai, Liu Hesheng, and the others all held their breath. The air seemed to vibrate with anticipation.
Especially Liu Hesheng and the others. They stood up with a bang, chairs scraping loudly against the floor. Their faces were full of eager smiles, and they bowed deeply toward the door, bending at the waist until they were nearly parallel to the floor, not daring to look directly.
Swoosh!
The heavy double doors to the conference room burst open.
A large group of black-clad bodyguards rushed in like a tidal wave!
Ten! Twenty! One hundred! Two hundred!
A full two hundred black-clad bodyguards poured into the room, lining the walls in seconds. Each one exuded a sharp, terrifying Aura, their eyes cold and alert like fierce tigers hunting prey. Their suits were immaculate, their earpieces discreet, their movements synchronized.
Especially the leading few bodyguards, who strode with powerful steps, their presence as majestic as a mountain. They radiated the strength of martial artists, not mere hired muscle.
Two hundred black-clad bodyguards quickly split into two rows, creating a path from the door to the head of the table. They bowed in unison, snapping their waists down, and respectfully roared:
"Young Master! Please!"
Two hundred elite bodyguards roared in unison, their shouts echoing off the walls, almost tearing off the roof!
ROAR!
Everyone's eardrums in the top-floor conference room buzzed painfully. The sheer volume of the shout was a physical force.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Then, a series of footsteps came from the hallway.
These footsteps were slow, steady, and powerful. Each step seemed to land with the weight of authority, as if even heaven and earth could not shake them. Just by listening to these footsteps, one could feel the immense Aura of the person approaching.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, a young man stepped in.
He was of unparalleled handsomeness, like a god descended from the heavens. He wore a bespoke suit that cost more than the entire building, cut to perfection to highlight his tall, lean frame. His face was sculpted, his eyes deep and unfathomable, holding a cold indifference that chilled the blood.
When this handsome young man appeared, the many black-clad bodyguards bowed even deeper, each showing deep respect and a fanaticism bordering on worship.
And a gentle and kind middle-aged woman respectfully followed behind this handsome young man. Her demeanor was humble, but her eyes were sharp.
These two were naturally Shen Anyu and the female housekeeper, He Ying.
Shen Anyu walked into the room, his gaze sweeping over the trembling shareholders without pause. He stopped at the head of the table, looking down at the distorted-faced Wang Hai with a half-smile.
He said faintly, his voice calm but echoing in the silent room:
"Was it you who wanted to kill me?"
Wang Hai was drenched in cold sweat. He looked up at Shen Anyu, feeling an overwhelming pressure crushing his chest. He wasn't a fool. With such a powerful display—the army of bodyguards, the submissive shareholders, the sheer aura of this man—this Young Master's background was probably sky-high.
He immediately softened, his knees knocking together under the table. He stammered, "Young Master... no, it's a misunderstanding... I didn't mean..."
However, Shen Anyu had no interest in talking to him. He was an ant.
He waved his hand dismissively and said lightly:
"Take him away. I don't want to see him again."
As his voice fell, two black-clad bodyguards appeared behind Wang Hai like ghosts. They moved with terrifying speed. One on each side, they seized his arms with grips like iron vices.
"No! Wait!"
Wang Hai's scalp tingled, his eyelids twitched wildly. He tried to struggle, but he was lifted out of his chair as easily as a child. He screamed in terror:
"What are you doing? This is kidnapping! You can't do this! I have rights! You..."
His screams were cut short as a hand clamped over his mouth. He was dragged out the door, his heels dragging uselessly on the carpet.
At this moment, Qin Ningbing sat frozen in her chair. She watched the scene unfold with wide eyes. Her gaze shifted to the woman standing behind Shen Anyu.
"He Ying..." she murmured.
Qin Ningbing sighed softly, realization dawning on her. "So it's the Yanxia Shen Family!"
Looking at He Ying, who stood respectfully behind Shen Anyu, she seemed to understand everything.
He Ying used to be the CEO of a listed company under the Shen Corporation. A long time ago, when Qin Ningbing's father was still alive, he had even taken her to visit He Ying to discuss business. She recognized that face.
Combined with He Ying's identity as a servant to this young man, how could the intelligent Qin Ningbing not guess Shen Anyu's identity?
The 'Shen' in this Young Master's name was probably that most terrifying 'Shen' of the Yanxia Shen Family!
Indeed, he was sky-high!
A thousand-year-old family!
It had survived Dynasty changes without falling! Emperors rose and fell, governments changed, but the Shen Family remained, growing stronger in the shadows.
It was hard to imagine what kind of foundation and power it possessed!
Just one Shen Corporation controlled trillions in wealth! And that was just the tip of the iceberg visible to the public.
"Yanxia Shen Family?!"
Qin Ningbing's soft sigh fell into the silence, but it landed in the ears of the remaining people like a thunderclap.
Especially Wang Hai, who was being dragged down the hallway. He heard it.
He had just threatened the Young Master of the Yanxia Shen Family??
Wang Hai's face turned ashen, his body trembling violently. He wanted to beg for mercy, to kowtow until his head bled, but the bodyguards had already covered his mouth and nose with a cloth, dragging him away into the darkness. His fate was sealed. Financial ruin and prison were the best outcomes he could hope for now.
Shen Anyu turned his gaze to the room. He waved his hand again.
"Leave us."
Liu Hesheng and the other shareholders of Magic City Renxin Hall Pharmaceutical Company, as well as the many black-clad bodyguards and He Ying, all bowed deeply.
"Yes, Young Master."
They respectfully exited the top-floor conference room, filing out silently.
He Ying was the last to leave. She gave Shen Anyu a knowing look before she closed the heavy doors, leaving the two of them alone.
Click.
The lock engaged.
The room was suddenly very large and very quiet.
Qin Ningbing's pretty face changed slightly. She stood up slowly, smoothing her skirt, trying to regain some semblance of control. Her beautiful eyes looked at Shen Anyu warily.
She said, her voice steady but tense, "Young Master, what do you intend to do?"
"A mere Magic City Renxin Hall Pharmaceutical Company shouldn't be worth your attention!"
Although Magic City Renxin Hall Pharmaceutical Company was currently worth tens of billions, and would be hundreds of billions after going public, to the Shen Family, this was pocket change. It was a drop in the ocean of their wealth.
But how could it be worth the personal attention of the Young Master of the Yanxia Shen Family? Why was he here?
Qin Ningbing became vigilant. She instinctively crossed her arms, a defensive posture.
Clap! Clap!
Shen Anyu clapped his hands lightly, the sound sharp in the empty room. He walked slowly around the table, his gaze admiringly sweeping over Qin Ningbing's angelic face and devilish figure. He looked at her not as a business partner, but as a prize.
He stopped a few feet away from her, invading her personal space.
He slowly said, "As expected of a beautiful CEO. Both in beauty and intellect, you are top-notch!"
"I came here precisely for you!"
"Submit to me, and I will give you everything you desire. I will crush your enemies, fund your research, and make your company a global empire. Otherwise..."
He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a whisper that sent shivers down her spine.
"...I will destroy everything you have. I will bankrupt this company, ruin your reputation, and leave you with nothing."
Shen Anyu's eyes were cold and indifferent! There was no warmth, only the absolute certainty of a predator who had cornered his prey.
If he was the best boyfriend in front of Su Hongmian—gentle, teasing, and doting—then, in front of Qin Ningbing, Shen Anyu was domineering. He was a tyrant.
Because only in this way could he conquer this calm, rational, intelligent, and proud beautiful CEO! She wouldn't respect a simp. She wouldn't love a weak man. She needed to be conquered by someone stronger than herself.
Qin Ningbing's face lost color. Her bad premonition indeed came true. The Shen Family didn't do charity. They wanted ownership.
But the words 'Yanxia Shen Family' made her unable to breathe. The weight of that name was crushing.
Qin Ningbing could barely breathe, her red lips parted, taking small gasps of air. Her chest rose and fell rapidly.
After a long while, she carefully and cautiously said, trying to find a way out without offending him, "Young Master, thank you for your affection... but Ningbing already has a fiancé!"
Although Qin Ningbing had always been dissatisfied with the arranged marriage her deceased father had made—a marriage to some country doctor she had never met—and even had thoughts of breaking off the engagement...
But now, it didn't prevent her from using it as a shield. It was her only defense.
Shen Anyu smiled. It was a dazzling smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. His gaze was cold as he looked at Qin Ningbing, as if scrutinizing his prey before the kill.
He reached out and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, his fingers brushing against her cold skin.
"No one can refuse what I want!"
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