Shen Yelan returned to the Shen family estate hours later, just as the sun was starting to set. When she entered, everyone was in the main hall. They paused what they were doing and looked at her.
Shen Yelan rolled the lollipop in her mouth and gave them a nod to acknowledge them, then made her way to the stairs.
"Stop right there!" Shen Chengwei's voice boomed across the hall.
Shen Yelan stopped at the base of the stairs and turned around to look at him.
"Where have you been? School ended four hours ago. Why are you only coming back now?" he demanded.
"Honey, let's not get angry at her. She is back in the city after years. She probably went out with some friends to look around," Feng Xin said with a smile, but anyone with half a brain could hear what she was really saying: Your daughter is out running wild, doing who knows what with who knows who.
"What friends could she possibly have? Surely not those troublemakers from her school, right?" Shen Chengwei scoffed, looking at Shen Yelan with obvious disdain.
Shen Yelan took out the lollipop from her mouth and smiled sweetly, but somehow, it made Shen Chengwei shudder.
"So Father is aware of what kind of school he sent me to. And here I was, thinking Father was just so concerned about my education that he enrolled me without knowing its background. But now that I know Father sent me there fully aware of its... reputation, I can rest easy.
Shen Chengwei's brow furrowed. "What do you mean by that?"
"It means Father won't mind if my friends and I cause a little trouble here and there, right?" Shen Yelan tilted her head, still smiling. "I mean, that's what students at No. 17 High School are known for. Fighting, breaking rules, skipping classes, and failing grades. Since Father specifically chose that school for me, he must be okay with all of that."
"You-"
"All these years living away from home, I was so worried. I thought maybe Father hated me for causing him trouble before. But it turns out Father still cares about me! He's giving me permission to have some fun by sending me to a school famous for troublemakers. Isn't that right? I mean, why else would you send me there, Father? Unless..."
She left the sentence hanging, but everyone in the room understood what she was implying.
Unless you wanted to completely destroy what little reputation I had left.
A vein in Shen Chengwei's forehead started to throb visibly. His eyes darted to his wife. She was the one who had suggested sending her there. Now, he was regretting agreeing to her.
"You..." He glared at her but did not know what to say. Finally, he just waved his hand dismissively, as if swatting away an annoying fly. "Go to your room.
"Of course," She smiled sweetly and headed up the stairs, putting the lollipop back in her mouth.
Shen Chengwei stared at her disappearing figure until she could no longer be seen. He picked up the nearest object, which happened to be a glass, and threw it across the room. "Bastard! She has no respect left for me! Her own father!"
"Dad, calm down. Sister must be sad that she was sent away to live in the countryside and is just throwing a tantrum. She doesn't understand yet that everything you do is for her own good. Give her some time, and she'll come around." Shen Wanwan said softly.
It was such an obvious lie that even the servants standing by the walls had to hide their expressions. But Shen Chengwei, blinded by his own ego and need to feel righteous, seemed to believe her. He was Shen Yelan's father after all. Whatever he did, she was supposed to follow without a complaint.
"You're right," he said, his breathing slowly returning to normal. He patted Shen Wanwan's hand. "You're such a good daughter. If only your sister could be more like you."
Upstairs, Shen Yelan, who had just heard what her dear sister had just said, rolled her eyes. She went into her bedroom at the end of the hallway, which once used to be a small guest room, and closed the door behind her.
.
.
Later that night, when everyone was supposed to be sleeping, Shen Yelan was still wide awake. In her hand, she was holding a tablet with a report on Taiping Pharmaceuticals.
"Are you sure you didn't leave out anything?" she asked the person on call.
"You think something's wrong with this too?" Su Anran asked. "When I first looked into them, I also felt like something didn't add up. But I checked everything three times. The numbers are clean."
She continued, " Taiping Pharmaceuticals used to be a small company and were on the verge of bankruptcy. The only reason they were able to raise was because of the cough epidemic fifteen years ago."
Shen Yelan remembered that epidemic from her past life. It had spread rapidly through several provinces, and the mortality rate had been frightening.
"They were successfully able to make the antidote that was later funded by the government for mass production and was distributed nationwide. Almost overnight, Taiping went from drowning in debt to being one of the most important pharmaceutical companies in the country. It also raised the status of the Chen family and became the reason for the marriage between Chen Yufang and Shen Meli."
"What about their other projects?"
"There is no issue with them either."
Shen Yelan thought for a moment, "Trace their money stream over the past twenty years. Look for any unexplained large amounts of money being used somewhere."
"Got it. This might take some time, though. Twenty years of financial records is a lot to sort through."
"Take the time you need. Just be thorough."
Shen Yelan ended the call and stared at the report on her screen for a while longer. This really did not make sense. On paper, everything about Taiping Pharmaceuticals looked legitimate. Then why did the files she found pointed to them?
After thinking for a while longer and getting nowhere, Shen Yelan decided it was better to just go to sleep. But before doing that, she sent another message.
[White Rabbit: Send someone inside Taiping Pharmaceuticals.]