Within just two days of transmigrating into Shen Yanzhi’s phone, Chi Yu had roughly figured out his daily routine.
Despite being a young CEO in his twenties, his private life was as austere and disciplined as a ninety-year-old man’s.
He woke up and left for work at precisely the same time each day. The first thing he did upon returning home each evening was exercise, then he went to bed promptly before ten o’clock. He rarely attended social engagements and abstained from alcohol entirely.
During her own life, Chi Yu had juggled various part-time jobs and had been a dedicated night owl since high school.
Witnessing Shen Yanzhi’s regimented lifestyle these past two days felt like opening a door to an entirely different world.
“President Shen, President Shen is working inside. You cannot enter without an appointment!”
“What’s this?! I can’t even enter my own family’s company?!”
A sudden commotion from outside caught Chi Yu’s attention.
Lying within the phone, she realized the noise was coming from outside the office.
The sound of chaotic footsteps grew closer.
Within two minutes, the office door was forcefully pushed open from outside, and a large group of people walked in.
Chi Yu activated the panoramic camera.
Flanked in the center were two older men—one appeared to be over fifty with graying temples, while the other was somewhat younger.
Both wore scowls and bore an aggressive air, clearly arriving with ill intentions.
Behind them trailed several young men in suits, along with Assistant Chen, who had tried but failed to stop them.
Assistant Chen shot Shen Yanzhi an apologetic glance.
Shen Yanzhi rose calmly to his feet and greeted them: “Uncle, Third Uncle.”
“Nephew, it’s become quite difficult to get an audience with you these days,” said Shen Hongguo, the eldest uncle of the Shen family.
Third Uncle Shen Yuanzhong added sarcastically, “Nephew, you really ought to discipline these dogs around you. They have absolutely no manners! We just wanted to come up for some tea with you, and they kept making excuses to stop us!”
It suddenly dawned on Chi Yu that these two men were Shen Yanzhi’s paternal uncles.
However, judging by their manner of entry and tone, their relationship with Shen Yanzhi was clearly far from cordial.
“If Uncle and Third Uncle were here for a normal company inspection, no one would have stopped you. My staff are not your concern,” Shen Yanzhi replied with steady composure, completely unaffected by their words.
He even added calmly to Assistant Chen, “Uncle and Third Uncle seem quite hot-tempered. Go prepare two cups of bitter tea to help cool them down.”
“Right away.” Assistant Chen immediately turned to leave.
Chi Yu was stunned by Shen Yanzhi’s direct confrontation with his elders.
Given how these two uncles threw their weight around and flaunted their seniority, excessive respect was indeed unnecessary.
The lethality of a calm retort was in no way inferior to that of a furious one!
Confronting them without delay—applause, applause!
Chi Yu silently enjoyed the spectacle from within the phone.
While she was thoroughly entertained, Shen Hongguo and Shen Yuanzhong were about to explode with rage.
“Nephew, what do you mean by that?!” the hot-tempered Shen Yuanzhong demanded angrily.
“Nothing much.” Shen Yanzhi settled back into his chair. Even seated while they stood before him, he held all the advantage—if anything, he looked more like a boss delivering a reprimand. “If Uncle and Third Uncle don’t want tea, you may leave directly. I still have much work to finish and won’t detain you further.”
Shen Hongguo’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly as he walked over to sit on the sofa.
Shen Yuanzhong was left speechless by Shen Yanzhi’s words, his anger flaring sky-high.
What he detested most was this eldest nephew—always wearing that cold expression, every word designed to choke a person.
Yet the old patriarch played favorites, doting on Shen Yanzhi exclusively. He had even bypassed both brothers entirely to pass the company down to Shen Yanzhi directly across generations.
Toward this blood nephew, Shen Yuanzhong harbored no elder’s pride or kindness—only resentment at having his path to wealth and status blocked.
Hearing Shen Yanzhi’s words, Shen Yuanzhong sneered coldly, “This is the Shen family’s company, not your personal fiefdom, Shen Yanzhi! What, don’t we even have the right to come and take a look?!”
He added bitterly, “The old man really should see your cold-blooded disrespect for your elders!”
Entrusting the company to such a person—even if it was his own father—Shen Yuanzhong still had to say: The old man must have been blind!
Shen Yanzhi replied indifferently, “Third Uncle, please do as you wish.”
Seeing his impervious demeanor, Shen Yuanzhong suffered internal damage from sheer fury—damage dealt to the enemy: 0; self-inflicted internal injury: +∞.
Chi Yu stifled a grin inside the phone.
Just then, Assistant Chen returned with two cups of bitter tea, placing one before each man.
Looking at the two cups of lukewarm, brownish tea without a trace of steam, Shen Yuanzhong’s already ugly expression instantly darkened further.
Shen Hongguo observed their exchange and pushed the offensive tea aside, speaking in a conciliatory tone: “Nephew, we didn’t come all this way to quarrel with you. Your Third Uncle has always been impulsive and blunt—that’s nothing new. Please be understanding.”
Chi Yu was astonished by these words.
This Third Uncle had to be at least forty and was Shen Yanzhi’s own uncle.
They had barged into Shen Yanzhi’s office making a scene, and now it was somehow Shen Yanzhi’s fault?
Indeed, dogs that bite don’t bark.
This Eldest Uncle looked like a kindly old man on the surface, but his methods were far more formidable than Third Uncle’s.
Shen Yanzhi’s tone remained calm: “I’ve only heard of elders being tolerant of juniors, never of juniors having to accommodate elders. If Third Uncle is willing to be my nephew, that could be arranged.”
Chi Yu: …Pfft.
Shen Hongguo’s face darkened.
Shen Yuanzhong was so enraged he shot up from the sofa, pointing at Shen Yanzhi and roaring, “Shen Yanzhi, don’t refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit! You think you’re so capable?! You failed to secure that excellent Huai City project—the old master already knows about this! If you can’t manage our Shen family’s company properly, step down sooner rather than later!”
Shen Yanzhi’s gaze sharpened as he looked at them: “So Uncle and Third Uncle came today to call me to account?”
“Let’s not phrase it that way—we’re also concerned about the company’s development,” Shen Hongguo interjected.
But Shen Yuanzhong couldn’t contain himself and pressed accusingly, “You lost the Huai City project to the Su family because you lack ability and competence. The Guang City project was supposed to be Huang Sheng’s responsibility—why did you remove him yesterday and replace him with your own man?”
Shen Yanzhi asked calmly, “Who is Huang Sheng?”
Thinking he was deliberately playing dumb, Shen Yuanzhong raged, “Qin Nan, your man! After returning from Huai City, he immediately took Huang Sheng’s position! Someone who couldn’t even secure such a promising bidding project—if I were you, I’d fire him directly!”
A young man who had been standing behind Shen Yuanzhong stepped forward at this moment, addressing Shen Yanzhi with a somewhat haughty expression: “President Shen, I’m Huang Sheng. I’ve been responsible for the Guang City project from the beginning. Everything is ready and construction is about to commence, yet yesterday you inexplicably removed me from my position and replaced me with Qin Nan.”
Huang Sheng clenched his fists, his expression defiant: “Even if you want to pad your own protégé’s résumé, there are better ways to do it!”
Shen Yanzhi glanced at him, suddenly seeming to recall something, and spoke with understanding: “Ah, so you’re Third Uncle’s rather useless nephew from his wife’s side of the family.”