Shi Sheng could hear Sheng Shi Group mentioned, so she replayed it several times and finally put together what was being said.

"We have people high up covering for this. Since Sheng Shi Group won't listen, they deserved their fate! That land is public since they haven't signed the contract yet, what more since the higher-ups already know of it. We're already involved in this; do you guys really think you can back out now?"

The footage was too blurry to make out any of their faces, but the background looked a bit familiar.

"Where'd you get this?" Shi Sheng asked Yu Jiu.

"Nicked it from Yin Mo." Yu Jiu answered truthfully.

'Yin Mo' Shi Sheng made a copy of the video.

"Can I take a look at the documents?" Shi Sheng pointed at the other files in the folder.

"Of course. What's mine is yours."

There were a lot more documents than videos. Shi Sheng opened them up one by one. Most of them were accounts involving large sums, some even having remarks at the end.

There were also documents with just words, though they were mostly just some important contracts that had nothing to do with Sheng Shi Group.

Only when she got to the last two did she see Sheng Shi Group mentioned.

The first was a contract for purchase of land. The buyer was Sheng Shi Group and they had already signed and stamped.

But the seller hadn't signed, nor was there any information on them.

Not even the location of the land was included, merely using "JY" to substitute for the name.

The second one was a name list. Most of them were surnamed Sheng and had a red cross next to them.

There were quite a few names here, probably in the range of 40 to 50. The names of Sheng Xia's parents were included. Shi Sheng saw that behind Sheng Xia's name was a question mark.

The only other name with a question mark beside it was Sheng Yang.

Sheng Xia didn't remember this name, but it had appeared in the original storyline.

Sheng Yang had returned from overseas and he was the deceitful type who always opposed the female lead, as if he had some great enmity with her. In the end, he was naturally killed off like cannon-fodder.

"Damn you're playing a big game ah!" 'No matter how you look at it, there's a grand scheme playing out in the storyline!

It was definitely that idiot system that added this! Go fuck a dog!'

Shi Sheng chased Yu Jiu away and got him to handle his own affairs while she investigated all the names on the list.

All of these people had died in an accident. After the death of Sheng Xia's parents, everyone besides Sheng Yang and Sheng Xia were dead.

'Just what was worth the effort of killing so many people?'

Shi Sheng carefully re-read the contract again. Since it involved a sum above a hundred million, it was quite the large contract, so Sheng Shi Group should've kept records. Of course, there was also the possibility the records had been wiped.

So, the easiest method was to ask Gu Yan and Yu Xingyun.

But Shi Sheng felt like they weren't in the know. This name list made it quite clear that someone was very unhappy with the Sheng Family, yet she'd lived a safe and peaceful life all these years. Someone should have secretly helped to wipe all the information on her.

Yet Gu Yan and Yu Xingyun supported her decision to return to Sheng Shi Group. Once that happened, the mastermind who had killed off the Sheng Family was sure to know about it.

Did Gu Yan and Yu Xingyun have ulterior motives? That wasn't right.

Shi Sheng grabbed the name list and left the house, heading straight to Gu Yan's company. When she got there, he was still in a meeting.

Shi Sheng waited outside for him and, when the meeting ended, pulled him into the office.

"Xiaoxia? What is it?" Gu Yan was utterly confused.

"Uncle Gu, tell me honestly: what are you and Uncle Yu planning?"

'I can tell Gu Yan and Yu Xingyun truly care for Sheng Xia.'

Gu Yan's brows furrowed. "Oh, what are you on about now?"

Shi Sheng placed the name list down in front of him. "My p[1]"

She hadn't managed to say anything before Gu Yan frowned, swept the name list a glance, and placed his index finger at his mouth, shaking his head at her.

Shi Sheng immediately changed what she was going to say. "My relationship with Yu Jiu is none of your business, so stop interfering already."

"We were just worried. It's better to get engaged sooner rather than later." Gu Yan followed up. "Have you eaten? Honestly, it's not ladylike to just come barging in like this."

"No." Shi Sheng shook her head.

"Then wait awhile for me to finish these documents. I'll be done soon."

Shi Sheng nodded. Seeing that Gu Yan had really sat back down to continue dealing with the documents, Shi Sheng wandered around the office.

Roughly half an hour later, Gu Yan got up and beckoned Shi Sheng to leave with him.

After they left the company, Gu Yan remained silent till they entered a restaurant. "Ol' Yu's right. You're very smart."

Gu Yan sighed nostalgically. "You're like your mother."

Shi Sheng remained silent. The atmosphere in the room was heavy as the seconds ticked by.

In the end, Gu Yan sighed. "There are people keeping an eye on Ol' Yu and me. It started probably around two years ago. I hadn't wanted you to inherit Sheng Shi Group, but Ol' Yu's right; since they've started to watch us, it proves they already know of your existence.

And you're very smart, so we decided to go all in. If we win, we'll be able to discover the truth. If we losewe'll all die. Xiaoxia, have you thought it through?"

"How'd my parents die?"

Gu Yan shook his head. "Even till now I'm not sure about the details. I received a call from an anonymous number in the middle of the night. It was your mother. She told me to go to your house and take you away, and that no matter what, I mustn't appear, nor allow you to be seen.

Thenthe news of your parents dying in a plane crash was released."

Gu Yan wasn't really connected to Sheng Shi Group. Only two to three people knew he was rather close with the old CEO.

Sheng Xia's father had saved Gu Yan's life once, and had even given him money to start his own company. That was the reason why Gu Yan was able to reach his current accomplishments.

He obeyed Sheng Xia's parents and didn't appear even when they died, not daring to let Sheng Xia leave the house either.

And then he discovered that people from the Sheng Family were dying off one-by-one in accidents.

The phone call already had Gu Yan on tenterhooks, and this situation exacerbated the fear in his heart.

But back then, his company had only just started up and was still competing with other low-level companies, so he had no way of finding out what truly happened.

Just as he was about to bring Sheng Xia out of the country with him, he received an anonymous package dated the day Sheng Xia's parents had left the country.

There were several documents inside and a share transfer letter, an authorisation letter, a bank card, all information on Sheng Xia as well as a written letter.

In that letter, Sheng Xia's parents wrote to Gu Yan asking him to take good care of Sheng Xia. They'd already requested a friend to get rid of her information, so there was no need to flee the country with her.

They did a good job of protecting her by never letting Sheng Xia appear in the public eye, and always referred to her by her nickname. Hence, the public only knew they had a daughter. But as to what her name, appearance, and age was, no one but people from the Sheng Family knew.

And the Sheng Family had pretty much died out.

Although Sheng wasn't a rare surname, it wasn't exactly common either, so a sudden departure would be more likely to draw attention than not. That was why Gu Yan had followed their instructions and remained in the country.

Sheng Xia had vague memories of that period, but she'd fallen ill, and Gu Yan was rather muddled about the events. So by the time she'd gotten better, two months had already passed.

[1] In case you were wondering, she was going to say "parents" but changed her mind later on

Author's note:

There weren't surveillance cameras everywhere back then, and the internet wasn't as developed, so it'd be much easier to hide a person.