Li Estate — Main Hall
The doors of the main hall stood open when Li Feng and Li Xue arrived, the echo of their footsteps slipping into a space already thick with silence and tension.
Xue's gaze flickered upward, but her posture stayed straight, composed the way she had practiced in the car. Feng walked beside her, steady and unhurried, guiding her in with the faintest tilt of his shoulder.
Inside, the hall was full.
Not crowded like a market — assembled.
Every important figure of the Li Family was already present:
— First Branch seated together, faces cool and proud
— Third Branch whispering among themselves
— Fourth Branch lounging with calculated arrogance
Behind them, rows of senior executives from the Li Group's core subsidiaries sat poised with their folders and tablets — PR heads, finance directors, tech division managers.
Even the patriarch's inner-circle guards lined the perimeter, still as statues.
This was not a normal family gathering.
This was a corporate tribunal wearing the clothes of a family meeting.
As Feng and Xue stepped past the threshold, dozens of eyes shifted their way. Some assessing. Some hostile. Some merely curious.
But most settled on Feng.
Xue walked close to him, her fingers lightly wrapped around her milk tea cup, but she didn't shrink. She moved with soft confidence — a flower in an iron garden, held upright by her own quiet will.
Feng, for his part, ignored every stare.
He guided Xue toward the seats reserved for the Second Branch, settling in with the same calm he would have at the breakfast table.
Whispers flickered through the hall.
"The Second Branch came early?"
"Where's Guohua?"
"Did they finally panic?"
"No… look at the boy. He doesn't look shaken at all."
"And the girl… is she seriously drinking milk tea right now?"
Xue sat with her cup resting neatly at her side, posture impeccable.
Back straight. Chin steady. Hands composed.
To the casual eye, she looked perfectly poised—almost serene.
Only those who stared long enough might notice the faint stiffness in her fingers and the tiny pause before each sip.
But sitting beside her brother, anchored by his quiet certainty, her composure held without a crack.
Feng rested his hands loosely on his knees, eyes half-lidded as he swept the hall once.
He noted everything.
— Positions of executives
— Seating arrangement of the branches
— The subtle number shift in guards
— The unreadable expression of the patriarch at the head seat
Nothing surprised him.
He had expected every piece of it.
---
The hall continued to buzz lightly with distant conversations, a low tide of voices rising and falling around them — the kind of background noise people stopped hearing after a minute.
But then a presence pressed into their periphery, deliberate and uninvited.
Li Han.
He leaned down, trying too hard to sound superior.
"So you two really showed up…"
His lips curled.
"Brave… or maybe you just didn't have a choice."
Xue didn't flinch this time.
She simply took a sip from her straw, exhaling once — the soft, patient kind of breath meant for dealing with annoying relatives.
Feng didn't look at Li Han until he finished speaking.
When he finally did, it was with a quiet, unreadable calm — the kind Li Han hated the most.
"Li Han," he said lightly, "how did your meeting with Director Zhao go?"
Li Han froze mid-smirk.
Xue didn't react — not outwardly.
She'd grown used to this: Feng saying something impossible to know, and what came after it — watching someone crumble under the truth of it. She simply observed quietly, eyes steady.
Li Han swallowed. "Wh—what meeting? I don't—"
Feng's tone remained soft, almost gentle.
Li Han stumbled back half a step, pulse visible in his neck.
"Y-You…"
He swallowed hard, retreating as quietly as he had come, too pale to maintain his earlier arrogance.
"It didn't go the way you hoped… did it?"
The blood drained from Li Han's face. His composure cracked just enough for Xue — with her growing perceptiveness — to see the real fear underneath.
"You… you're talking nonsense."
Feng's tone didn't rise, didn't sharpen — it simply held the weight of truth.
"You should be less foolish," he continued, voice barely above a whisper. "If the patriarch heard about that meeting..."
The rest was left unsaid.
No threat. No intimidation.
Just the truth, placed precisely where it would hurt most.
Li Han stepped back quickly, unable to hold Feng's gaze.
"I—I don't need to explain myself to you…"
He left just as fast, retreat clumsy, dignity leaking with every step.
Xue took a sip of her milk tea, unruffled.
"…He really thought he could get under your skin," she murmured quietly.
Feng glanced at her, a small approving warmth in his eyes.
She really was growing.
Before he could respond, the hall doors opened.
Guohua entered — steady, composed, but eyes sharp as they found his children.
He exchanged a brief look with Feng.
Silent. Certain.
Ready.
---
The hall fell into a settled hush as the patriarch rose from his seat.
No signal.
No order.
Just the faint shift of an old man standing — and every person in the room instinctively quieted.
Li Zhonghai's eyes swept once across the room, acknowledging the assembled branches, the senior staff, and the executives lining the walls.
Then his gaze returned to the Second Branch.
Not just to Guohua.
Not just to Feng.
To all three of them.
Guohua — tense but composed.
Feng — calm, unbothered, unreadable.
And Xue — sitting straight, milk tea cup settled neatly by her leg, expression serene.
It was Xue that made his eyes narrow slightly.
She should've been nervous.
Uneasy.
Afraid.
But instead she sat like a small, self-contained flame — soft, still, steady.
Unshaken.
It prickled at him.
Something was off.
His gaze shifted away, but only after a second longer than necessary.
"We resume where the last meeting ended," he began, voice firm, carrying cleanly to every corner of the room. "Everyone here knows the reason for this assembly."
Silent Hands.
He did not say the name yet, but the gravity of it hung in the air nonetheless.
"As stated previously, the Second Branch will hand over all rights, patents, materials, and future development authority regarding Silent Hands."
A few nods from the First Branch.
Tense silence from the Third and Fourth.
He continued:
"In recognition of your branch's effort, Guohua, you will be transferred from electronics retail to another subsidiary. A stable position. One suited to your… abilities."
A polite insult wrapped as generosity.
"Refusal," he said, his tone cooling, "means forfeiture of every benefit the Li Family has provided."
His words struck like precision-cut steel.
"Positions. Properties. Shares. Support."
Each term dropped heavier than the last.
Then—
He leaned back, eyes sharpening, and this time he did not hide that his attention was on the Second Branch.
All three of them.
Guohua.
Feng.
And Xue.
"This is the Li Family's decision," the patriarch said quietly.
"Second Branch… you may respond."
---
A thick quiet settled in the hall.
All eyes were trained on the Second Branch — the weakest branch, the smallest branch, the branch everyone expected to fold.
Guohua straightened slowly in his seat.
Not defiantly.
Not fearfully.
Just… steadily.
He cast a brief glance sideways — toward his son and daughter.
Feng met his eyes first.
A small, grounded nod.
Xue followed a heartbeat later — calm, poised, the very picture of quiet conviction.
A wordless exchange passed between them.
We're ready.
Just as planned.
Let's do it.
Guohua exhaled once, turned toward the patriarch, and spoke.
"Father," he began, tone respectful, steady, "as I stated in the previous meeting… Silent Hands does not belong to me. Nor does it belong to the Li Family."
A ripple of disbelief swept through the hall.
He continued without hesitation:
"It was developed entirely by Feng and Xue.
They used no Li Family funding. No Li Family facilities. No Li Family support."
Each sentence landed cleanly, carefully measured — exactly as they had agreed.
"They built it with their own abilities."
"The project belongs to them. Not to me."
"And not to the family."
A sharp intake of breath came from the Fourth Branch seats.
The First Branch frowned deeply.
The patriarch's gaze turned cold.
But Guohua didn't falter.
He had already chosen his stance — long before setting foot in this hall.
"Therefore," he finished with quiet finality, "we cannot hand it over."
Silence.
A deep, pulsing silence.
Guohua's hands rested calmly on his knees — not clenched, not trembling. His eyes lowered respectfully, but his back remained straight.
Feng sat beside him, expression unreadable — but the faintest thread of approval touched his gaze.
Xue kept her composure as well. Her small shoulders were square. Her expression steady.
They weren't just refusing.
They were united.
And that… shocked the room more than the refusal itself.
For the first time, the Second Branch didn't look like prey.
They looked… prepared.
Reay.
---
A moment later, the silence snapped.
Like a stretched wire finally breaking.
The patriarch's eyes narrowed, the faintest tightening at the corners — not shock, but cold displeasure.
"So," he said slowly, voice like granite, "this is the stance you choose to take."
It wasn't loud.
But it didn't need to be.
Before Guohua could respond, the First Branch moved.
Li Guowei leaned forward, voice sharp.
"Second Brother, do you even understand what you're saying? You intend to reject the patriarch's arrangements?"
His wife, Zhao Lihua, clicked her tongue softly.
"Silent Hands is far beyond your branch's capacity. Without the family, you'll achieve nothing."
From the Third Branch, Li Guotao scoffed audibly.
"What exactly are you planning? Form your own empire? With what? Your meager savings from that electronics store?"
Liu Meiyu folded her arms, disdain dripping from her voice.
"You finally get offered a decent position in the family, yet you behave like this?"
Han Zhiyuan of the Fourth Branch added with a cold smile,
"Surely you're not foolish enough to believe the Li Family needs you or your branch."
Noise rose.
Heat.
Accusations.
Derision.
Each branch speaking over the other, as if competing for who could belittle the Second Branch most effectively.
"You're being ungrateful—"
"Are you rebelling—?"
"You think you're above the family—?"
"You'll lose every privilege—!"
"This is the patriarch's generosity—!"
It was an avalanche.
But at the center of it—
Feng sat still.
Xue sat still.
And Guohua… did not retract a single word.
Finally—
"Enough."
One word from the patriarch, and the hall froze.
Completely.
He looked at the Second Branch — at Guohua, at Feng… then his gaze lingered a moment longer on Xue.
Displeasure sharpened into something colder.
"Li Guohua," he said quietly, "you understand the consequences of defying this directive."
It wasn't a question.
And he didn't wait for an answer.
"For the Li Family to grow, sacrifices must be made. Obstacles must be removed. If your branch chooses to reject the family's arrangement… then whatever follows is of your own making."
A murmur rippled through the hall, fearful and eager in equal measure.
The hall believed the Second Branch was cornered.
That they would soon break.
That pressure would force obedience.
---
Meanwhile — in Longhai city
Somewhere far outside the estate…
A notification began spreading across phones.
A newly published article.
Posted few minutes ago.
By a certain mid-sized tech company.
And within minutes…
It would ignite a storm powerful enough to hit the Li Family's gates.
But the people inside the hall—
They were still shouting, accusing, preparing the next round of pressure.
Unaware that the world outside had already shifted under their feet.
---
Hello, Author here,
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