Chapter 145: Asking for Shares!

When they saw the woman at the door, who happened to be pregnant, Zhong Qi’s face turned pale—something bad was about to happen.

Before the police could react, the fugitive, who seemed to have been preparing to surrender, suddenly stood up and rushed toward the pregnant woman.

“I’m going to die anyway; dragging someone down with me isn’t too much to ask, right? Hahaha!”

Everyone watched the pregnant woman in horror. If anything happened, it would mean two lives lost, possibly three.

The fugitive pulled out a small handgun from nowhere, pointed it at the pregnant woman, and prepared to fire.

“Get down!”

A gunshot echoed through the skies of Aowen Town.

Zhong Qi darted forward and shielded the pregnant woman. Meanwhile, the fugitive was gunned down by the surrounding police officers and no longer showed any signs of life.

“Captain Zhong!!”

With the immediate danger cleared, the officers quickly gathered around him.

“Hiss!”

Zhong Qi gasped in pain.

Even though he was wearing a bulletproof vest, the impact of the bullet was still intense! It took him a while to recover from the shock of the near-death experience.

Sitting on the ground, stunned, his mind inexplicably replayed the words Shen Fei had said. He touched the dent in his bulletproof vest where the bullet had hit and felt a surge of complex emotions.

—

Meanwhile, at Longguang Media.

Shen Fei was unaware of the events happening in Aowen Town. He was leisurely wandering around the large office. By the time he had finished his tour, Ji Jiaming and the others emerged from the meeting room.

“Mr. Shen!”

“Hm? Have you reached a decision?” Shen Fei asked, his back still facing them, smiling.

“Yes! Mr. Shen, we have another proposal. Instead of annual salaries, we’d like shares instead. Each of the six of us would hold 5%, for a total of 30%. What do you think?”

As Ji Jiaming spoke, a trace of awkwardness crossed his face.

Their company was in such poor shape, yet Shen Fei had still offered to acquire it and proposed extremely favorable terms. It was clear that Shen Fei wasn’t interested in the company itself, but rather in them.

Moreover, Tianjue was only 40% complete. Its success was far from guaranteed. And yet, despite the uncertainty, they had the nerve to ask for shares.

Still, Tianjue represented their collective passion, hard work, and dreams. If they settled for salaries, effectively becoming employees, they wouldn’t be able to accept it.

After careful consideration, they mustered their courage to make the request, though they knew rejection was likely.

As they nervously waited for Shen Fei’s response, Shen Fei glanced at their reflections in the glass, observing their expressions.

To him, this was no surprise at all. In his previous life, he had learned about Longguang Media. Back then, each of them had held 8% of the company, collectively holding 48%.

Now they were only asking for 5% each—clearly, they were more than satisfied with his 50-million investment.

Moreover, with or without shares, Shen Fei knew they would be motivated to complete Tianjue with their full effort.

“Alright! We’ll split it 70-30.” Shen Fei nodded.

“You’re really agreeing to this?”

The six of them were stunned for a moment.

“Thank you, Mr. Shen!”

Once they recovered, they immediately expressed their gratitude.

Shen Fei and the team discussed the contract details. Ji Jiaming and the others, now feeling much closer to Shen Fei, openly shared the company’s situation and the current progress of Tianjue.

In the following days, Shen Fei alternated between his home and Longguang Media.

After transferring the promised 50 million, Shen Fei surprised them with an additional 20 million. Ji Jiaming was both shocked and overjoyed, raising his expectations for Tianjue even higher.

With the company now operational again, the team was full of renewed enthusiasm, eager to see Tianjue through to completion.

Meanwhile, the incident involving the Mercedes owner and the smashed car quietly disappeared after a public apology from Mr. Li.

However, the story of the fugitive, who had been on the run for 15 years before being gunned down, became a headline on major news outlets.

To avoid unnecessary public attention, authorities worked to suppress online discussions about Zhong Qi’s heroic act of saving the pregnant woman. The government didn’t want Zhong Qi to suffer the same fate as others who had been excessively glorified and then torn down by public opinion.

For Shen Fei, though, the situation seemed odd.

After all, hadn’t he saved Zhong Qi’s life indirectly by warning him? Why hadn’t Zhong Qi shown any sign of gratitude yet? Not even a simple text message!

—

As night fell.

“Shen Fei, tomorrow is Lixin’s big day. What time should we go?” Han Xinyan asked, a little worried.

“Up to you. I’m fine with anything.” Shen Fei replied casually while playing with Shen Jiayue.

But Han Xinyan’s face clouded with concern. Her parents always wore sour expressions whenever they saw Shen Fei.

“How about we go separately tomorrow? I’ll take Yueyue first, and you can come later around mealtime.”

The situation could easily be resolved—Shen Fei just needed to drive his luxury G-Class around and casually mention their 200-square-meter villa. That would surely change her parents’ attitude toward him.

But Han Xinyan didn’t want that.

She didn’t want her parents to see Shen Fei as a cash cow. While she knew they couldn’t hide it forever, she preferred to delay the inevitable.

“Sure, I’ll do whatever you decide.” Shen Fei said.

Just then, his phone rang.

Before his meeting with Longguang Media, Shen Fei had disabled the “reject unknown calls” feature.

Seeing an unfamiliar number, he frowned. He suspected it was yet another villager from Lijiazhuang calling to pester him.

Although he didn’t want to pick up, he didn’t want to be repeatedly bothered either.

After some thought, he reluctantly answered the call.