Chapter 25: Files are missing

"Ugh, I wonder who's trying to set me up," Shentu Jing pinched the space between his brows.

His aunt was a handful to deal with. Every now and then she would try to set him up with all kinds of blind dates. His dates always fail because they were after his money. Even if they were after his heart, their end goal was still to gain his trust, get his money or inherit his properties. They were nothing but gold-diggers and money grubbers underneath the gentle sweet smile they put on. He wasn't interested in any women other than Little Pearl. Little Pearl was different, he felt it. There was something in the way she glared at him every time.

"News spreads fast. Now everyone knows I have a fiancée," Shentu Jing started to go through the documents on his desk.

"Mother says you have to be careful. What happens if she steals your money away and seduces you? But mother's happy that you brought a girl home nevertheless," Jiang Zhaoling leaned in to whisper those words to Shentu Jing because she knows how much her cousin dreaded explaining his sexuality to everyone.

She wanted to piss Shentu Jing off on purpose and it worked. She smirked at him.

Shentu Jing stood up and was about to strangle the life out of his annoying cousin when she suddenly stood up too and said, "Alrighty, jokes aside!" She announced loudly to push that matter away. She suddenly remembered something more important than their usual little antics.

Although they were cousins, Shentu Jing saw her as his little sister.

"Guess what I saw today, Brother Jing?" Jiang Zhaoling asked with so much enthusiasm that Shentu Jing thought she had finally gone mad. She always had this crazy glint in her bright eyes.

"What? I'm no more for any games so out with it. Or get out of my office," Shentu Jing replied grumpily.

"Aish," Jiang Zhaoling waved his grumpy words away. "Try guessing," she insisted.

"You did something to my house?"

Shentu Jing usually referred to his huge grand mansion as house because the word was shorter and much easier to say. He didn't like to blow his trumpet unless he had some plans in mind.

"Nope," she shook her head.

"You painted one of my things Barbie pink?"

"Nope," she shook her head again.

"Painted everything pink?"

"Uh uh," she shook again. Playing guessing games with brother Jing was fun. He could never guess anything right.

"You broke one of my collector's items?"

"Noooo,"

"Then what?" He was already feeling frustrated. This could go on and on until into the next morning.

"I saw Shentu Hu today,"

He sighed and turned away from her. That wasn't important. He'd just wasted his time playing games with his big baby cousin.

"In your office," Jiang Zhaoling dropped the last sentence like a bomb because Shentu Jing went incredibly still. He turned slowly to face Jiang Zhaoling.

"What? Here? In my office?" Disbelief washed over him. How did Shentu Hu enter? Didn't the old man kick Shentu Hu out of the family already? Didn't father strictly tell the security guards to never let anyone, especially Shentu Hu, take one step into his premises? How did this happen?

Jiang Zhaoling just nodded her head, sensing Shentu Jing's growing anger.

"He seems to be going through your office, maybe he was searching for something," Jiang Zhaoling hinted at something that both she and Shentu Jing knew so well.

Immediately, his expression turned sour and he began to check through his desk drawers, cabinets and file boxes placed near his desk. His office was really similar to any office one might find in one of the office buildings in the cities.

"Help search. Don't just stand there," he shot Jiang Zhaoling an annoyed look when the girl in question didn't bother to offer any help. Instead Jiang Zhaoling just sat on his desk, watching him leisurely.

"Alright. Fine, no need to get so worked up," she said. She slid off the desk and began to help her cousin who was starting to lose his cool. Wait, he already lost his cool.

"Wait a minute, what exactly are we looking for? You know I should know what we are looking for so that I can help you find it faster," Jiang Zhaoling stopped and faced Shentu Jing.

"Files left by Liu Mo and Stinky Tofu," he said.

"Your grandpa," she corrected him. Sometimes he called his grandpa Stinky Tofu because the old man always dressed in white clothes and liked to nag him.

"It's gone," Shentu Jing shook slightly and sighed, then he slumped down in his chair.

"What is gone? Weren't we still in the process of searching? Let's not forget that we still have about fifty rooms where you might have placed it," Jiang Zhaoling said. She came over to his side and put a hand on her cousin's right shoulder.

"The files are gone,"

"What exactly is gone? Aren't there backup copies somewhere? Say something," she gently urged her cousin when he gave no response.

"The files are gone. The one that was written and signed by Liu Mo before he died. He gave me a copy of the business documents he wanted to sign with the Xu family and Chang Geng," Shentu Jing said. He pinched the space between his brows, sighing.

"What was written in those files?" Jiang Zhaoling didn't know the exact details. Maybe she could be of some help, considering her background.

"Liu Mo was the only witness to that accident ten years ago. I only found out about it recently, and then he was silenced. We agreed to meet but....." Shentu Jing trailed off, looking disturbed.

Jiang Zhaoling knew how he must have been feeling. Shentu Jing never revealed his feelings to anyone, other than her and Mingye. Not even his father or elder sister know of his illness. They all thought he only suffered from occasional insomnia.

Shentu Jing started to think about the Shentu Group. The Shentu Group had started to triumph under him, Shentu Jing when he took over. The company's growth was stagnant under his father but yet he had to admit that his father did a good job; a not too good job by the way. At the very least the company didn't go bankrupt under him. His father was very busy dealing with the corruptions in the company and some personal problems hence he couldn't bring the company to greater heights.

"Liu Mo, Liu Mo, Liu Mo. There must be someone else who knows about what Liu Mo has been doing those few years. Oh, you're in a dilemma, reaching another dead end. Bad luck for you," Jiang Zhaoling made a tsk tsk tsk sound, mocking Shentu Jing. She wasn't even one bit serious in such a complicated situation like this!

He shot her a death stare and the latter immediately shut up.

"Okay, Okay. I won't say anymore," she put up her hands to surrender. His cousin was turning into a murderous monster whenever he was angry.

"I remembered he last visited the Qin family. Hmmm..... Although the Qin family is gone, I remember that the heiress is still alive. Do you know her?" Jiang Zhaoling tapped her chin thoughtfully.