Some days later, the Li corporation started experiencing major problems. Apparently, some tax officers had showed up at the company and finally found the tax evasion records that Zhang Ye had planted a while ago.
Zhang Jun had instructed that the Li corporation be brought down at all costs so when the alpha's right hand man slowly wrest control of the company affairs from Li Shu's hands, he went all out.
Bribery, corruption, laundering, tax evasion, forced labour. The man had carried out all manner of business crimes under the cover of the Li corporation with the belief that if any problem should arise, he would be protected by Zhang Jun.
With Zhang Jun's incarceration, the man's cover was blown and the government were quick on the heels of the Li corporation.
"Ha!" The Zhang madam laughed with glee as she watched the news. "They thought they were everything but look at them now, there is no way the Li corporation could survive through all those charges!"
Li Shiyu smiled secretly whilst the family head shook his head. They were all expecting to hear the news of Li Shu's arrest but instead, they were faced with Zhang Jun's right hand man being arrested with a few board members.
They frowned and watched patiently but until the end of that report segment, there was no news claiming the arrest of Li Shu or any direct involvement of the Li family either. They were stunned. What was this? Could it be that they were planning to carry out more investigation before arresting Li Shu?
The next segment of the report truly confused them. It was a press conference held by Li Shu. The alpha was bombarded with questions about the Li corporation by the press but he deflected all of them, saying that neither him nor the Li family had any ties with the Li corporation anymore.
The reporters asked more questions but Li Shu gave no reply, instead, he went on to announce the successful signing of three major deals by the Li Group. The family head frowned.
He'd heard of the Li Group. It was a new company that seemingly popped out of nowhere. The company had been making a steady rise in the business world but it wasn't at an alarming rate.
In fact they were quite low key and had only signed a few deals so the seniors in the business world just let them be. When the family head and Zhang Jun had investigated the company, nothing came up.
They also tried to see if the company had any connection to the Li family due to its name, but they also came up with nothing. The company was very low key.
Before they could delve any deeper, they were caught up in the various issues that kept popping up at the Zhang conglomerate so the family head had pushed the upstart company to the back of his mind ever since.
The family head froze in shock when he heard Li Shu say that the Li Group was actually a company belonging to the Li family. The older alpha's shock turned into constipated amazement when Li Shu expanded on the deals the Li Group had signed.
Those were deals worth hundreds of millions! Together, their collective worth was close to three billion! The family head was quite sure because these were the very deals that Zhang Jun had been eyeing for a company under the Zhang conglomerates.
The family head grit his teeth in regret and eyed his wife angrily. She shouldn't have let that Li Yexi leave! Apparently, Li Shu had dumped the Li corporation to implode on itself and decided to start a fresh company.
This wouldn't even affect their standing in the elite ranks. The Li family had discarded silver in place of a diamond. With those deals, no one would dare mess with the Li Group and people would even flock over to be on the good graces of the Li family!
The Zhang madam looked away in shame when she noticed her husband's eyes on her. That Li Shu truly knows how to hide! If she'd been aware of the Li Group, there was no way she would have left Li Yexi leave so easily.
She would have thrown a tantrum, screamed, even coaxed the omega to keep him here. That way, when people found out about those deals, the Li family's limelight would've rubbed off on the Zhang family and people wouldn't ignore them now.
If only she'd paid more attention to Li Yexi. She thought back to all the years the omega had been married to her son. The boy was so simple minded that a few kind words from her would have been enough to keep him happy and giddy for weeks!
If Li Yexi was still in the Zhang mansion, those shameless elites would have been fawning over the Zhangs because of their connection to the Li family, even if their own Zhang family was in shambles. It was a different issue now though.
News travelled fast in the upper class ranks and she was very sure that a lot of them were aware of the fact that Li Yexi had moved out of the Zhang mansion so their attitudes towards the Zhangs would be lukewarm at best.
'Not giving the Zhangs any trouble because Li Yexi was still married to Zhang Jun but not mingling with them either because the marriage looked shaky.'
She twisted her fingers in regret. No, she had to fix the connection between their families. She was going to head over to the Li home to get Li Yexi back. The omega loved her son so much, she didn't believe he wouldn't return if they promised to kick Li Shiyu out and severe all ties between Li Shiyu and Zhang Jun.
Li Shiyu locked eyes with the Zhang madam. He didn't fail to miss the viciousness that flew across those dark orbs. What was the old lady planning? He was a little uneasy but he kept silent and glared at Li Shu, on the television screen, in hate. This was all his fault!
Why were Li Anjing and his sons always trying to ruin his happiness? What exactly had he done to them to deserve this? Why won't they let him live peacefully? He didn't bother them but why do they keep going after things that rightfully belonged to him, time and time again?
The next day, He Yuan was watching a movie with Li Shu and Li Anjing. He was very happy with the success of the press conference the day before. There were lots of other deals that were signed under the Li Group but those three were actually the best.
He was very satisfied that Li Shu was able to bag them. As for the Li corporation, it was definitely going to be shut down. Thankfully, Li Shu had split the shares owned by the Li family and sold them to numerous different parties before this fiasco happened.
If the alpha was a little later, it was certain that Zhang Jun's man would have looked for a way to heap the blame on Li Shu but now, how on earth was the man going to blame someone who wasn't part of the company for the problems in the company that arose under his own care?
The doorbell rang and the butler went to answer it. The three were in the middle of a conversation about the movie when the Zhang madam walked in. The old lady looked quite elegant in the light green dress that she wore.
The woman in question rushed over to hug He Yuan with a sickening smile and then, pinched his cheeks like they were close. "Son-in-law~ How are you? You never even called after leaving, this old lady missed you."
He Yuan, 888, Li Anjing, Li Shu, the butler, the passing servants, the furniture: '...'
The next moment;
BANG!
He Yuan pulled the Zhang madam by her arm, dragged her out and shut the door in her face without even listening to her reason for coming here. Whatever it was, he was sure it wasn't anything good and he wasn't really in the mood to listen to her bullshit.
"Li Yexi! Is that how you treat your mother-in-law? After all the Zhang family has done for you, how could you be so ungrateful?!" The Zhang madam screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Tsk! People always commented on how classy and elegant the Zhang madam is. Turns out it's just a farce. Look at you, screaming like a banshee in front of other people's homes."
The Zhang madam paused and looked around. It was Gu Mei, a woman in her clique that she always made fun of for being from a lower class family and marrying into the ranks of the elites.
So embarrassing. Gu Mei was the last person she wanted to see her in this state. The Zhang madam quickly pretended not to see the woman and walked away. What was the woman even doing at the Li mansion?
The Zhang madam looked back as she drove away, just in time to see Gu Mei entering the mansion with her omega daughter.
For the next couple of weeks, the Zhang madam tried to speak to Li Yexi but He Yuan avoided her like a plague. He hardly left the Li mansion anyways so it was quite easy.
Whenever the Zhang madam was rejected from entering the Li mansion, she went back home and took out her anger on the only available person, Li Shiyu.
The next eight months were hell on earth for Li Shiyu.