"Yes, we're already so wealthy. Why do we still have to take risks?"
With his back to his daughter, Wang Shoucai gave a soft sigh. He sounded almost as though he were asking himself, his tone full of mockery and a little helplessness.
He slowly turned and walked toward Wang Lili. "When you have no money, you fear nothing; when you have money, you live in fear. The Shen Family fell, and six families rose. If my Wang Family falls one day, how many people will trample through our blood and shamelessly divide up our corpses and wealth?"
Wang Lili's brows knitted tightly.
Wang Shoucai clasped his hands behind his back and lowered his head. "When we went to the provincial capital, those gentlemen in their official chairs told us their share of next year's profits had to increase by twenty percent. If you refuse, you're getting too big for your boots. If you agree, where are those extra profits supposed to come from?"
She remained silent, unsure how to answer her father.
Wang Shoucai walked up beside his daughter, reached out to take her wrist, then turned and gently led her toward the window. "There are still survivors of the Shen Family, and Gao Jiansheng is watching like a hawk. The unscrupulous things we once did to rise in the world are precisely why we lie awake all night now. How difficult it is to retire safely after achieving success."
Holding his daughter with one hand, he ran the other over the large, luxurious desk and chair as he walked back to the window.
Father and daughter gazed outside. The residence's servants were already busy at work, putting up longevity characters and arranging tables, chairs, and benches as they cheerfully prepared the venue for today's birthday banquet.
Wang Shoucai