Chapter 25

12 years ago.

Li Shaoze just turned 18. Legally, he was free to do whatever he wanted. He could do things adults could. But the thing he desperately wanted to achieve was just to get out from the Li manor.

It was the moment he had waited for patiently in his life. Even if Li Junfeng's presence could help him render his depression, Li Shaoze still felt he should get out from the toxic environment in the manor before he became someone he himself couldn't recognize.

So, Li Shaoze made the drastic choice to leave his home. Li Junfeng knew he was planning to leave but was unable to persuade him to stay. When Li Shaoze finally took the taxi and traveled to another city, he felt liberated.

He found himself a small apartment studio and lived frugally with the money he had saved up. He worked part-time as a freelancer and taught himself the way of stocks. Everyday, he went to the public library to look into stocks and market-related books to further hone himself.

In Li Shaoze's mind at the time, he felt content. He felt he could go on living alone forever if he could. His prediction and analysis in the stock market was almost like a pro's. He had no problem supporting himself that way.

Li Shaoze couldn't sleep at night so he was often listless at the morning. He began to neglect his diet. Li Junfeng wasn't there to be by his side and look after him either, so Li Shaoze also stopped caring about his well-being.

Gradually, Li Shaoze forgot his initial intention to live far better than when he was at the manor. Instead, his lifestyle turned for the worse. Being alone in a strange city cut off any connections he had with anyone. He was alone and the power of loneliness was fatal.

Even without the abuse from his cold grandmother, unfeeling father and selfish stepmother, Li Shaoze still couldn't live his best life outside. Their ridicule and disregard haunted him down. His mentality turned pessimistic.

Slowly, Li Shaoze turned to self-harm. At random intervals, he would be triggered to commit suicide. But he persevered. He taught himself to hold on.

But soon, he became more depressed. He developed the eating disorder.

His world was wider than when he was at the manor, but his vision became clouded and more restricted. He didn't make any friends and the unfamiliar city was like a new kind of hell to him. He cut off contact with Li Junfeng after he realized the failure he had become.

Several months passed by while he lived an empty life.

Until Qin Meili appeared one day in front of him.

Li Shaoze's life changed with her appearance. She took him in, became his guardian and then sent him overseas for further studies. He learned how to do business directly under her and he also came to know her core directors in Quze Industries. Those five older people were her most trusted subordinates, and also his elders who looked after him during his most difficult time.

***

Back to present.

"Shaoze, won't you eat? This is your aunt's favorite," Liu Gang said with a kind, elderly smile.

Li Shaoze came back from his daze.

Liu Gang's warm smile never changed from 12 years ago when he first met him. But Li Shaoze still couldn't bring himself to truly relate to the sentiment.

He once again was reminded of how broken he was that he couldn't even appreciate kindness from others.

'I'm just living,' that was correct. When Qin Meili first came to see him 12 years ago, he decided to do what she wanted so that he could find himself a path to walk on.

He didn't lead himself towards who he was today. Instead, it was Qin Meili who gave him the way and direction. He just followed.

In fact, Li Shaoze didn't know if he still had any lingering feelings towards his dead mother. He also didn't know if Qin Meili was really his mother's older sister. At the time, he just followed her along so that he could stop living aimlessly.

Qin Meili found him just so that she could hone him as her successor. Their relationship was plain business. All she did was give him a way out and it was up to Li Shaoze whether to do it or not.

To Li Shaoze, Qin Meili's existence bordered around a curse and a blessing. She was just a phase in his past. She claimed to share the same blood with his mother but never acted like family. But she gave him a new path to walk. A brighter road to stroll on.

He was grateful to her and also resented her a little bit.

"It's been two years, when are you going to take over?" an old woman who was the marketing legend in the industry said. She poked a salmon and ate it gracefully.

"Just give me more time. I won't run away," Li Shaoze said as he drank plain water to moisten his throat. Seeing the five of them today had actually brought him nostalgia.

The old woman glanced at him and sighed. She knew Li Shaoze didn't want to take over. He liked his current position so much that he didn't want to sacrifice his low-key lifestyle. He was content being just a nameless CEO of a subsidiary company.

"You can't take too long, Shaoze. It's your aunt's legacy after all," another old woman said in a stern manner. She was a Human Resource Director who held many insider contacts within the industry, Chen Ying.

Since they all had known Li Shaoze when he was still a youngster, they chose to call his first name directly even if he was their future chairman. The five of them had mentored Li Shaoze personally until he was 22 and calling him informally didn't change their thoughts on him.

Li Shaoze kept quiet but just nodded to the older woman. He didn't promise anything to them but he at the very least didn't want to be irresponsible.

"I'll come by the headquarters soon. Please guide me on anything I'm still inadequate about," Li Shaoze said simply. He then continued to eat as if wanting to stop the conversation.

When he took a marinated shrimp out of the bowl, he was reminded of Qin Meili. She preferred seafood than anything else when having her meal and when they did eat together sometimes, the table would be full of lobsters, crabs and abalones.

Li Shaoze never had any preference in his food, but he suddenly realized he had more liking towards seafood than meat.

His hand instinctively stopped working on the plate.

"Will you come visit her grave? It's her death anniversary soon," Liu Gang mentioned Qin Meili slowly, trying to gauge Li Shaoze's reaction.

The surrounding became subtle but Li Shaoze wasn't bothered, or rather, he pretended he wasn't.

"... I'll go,"