My father's inheritance is my mortal enemy.

"Uncle Xiang, it's not that I'm unwilling to give it to you." Li Bo raised an eyebrow, looking like he was doing it for the other person's own good: "Even if I give you the shares, the Zhou family won't agree. You won't be able to hold onto them; they'll just be bought up by Zhihuai insiders."

Zhou Qian was quite prestigious in Zhihuai.

It is difficult for the shareholders' meeting to approve a change of ownership.

Li Bo was able to gain Zhi Huai's favor for two reasons: first, because of Zhou Yanshao, and second, because of the trusted confidants left behind by Zhou Huiyuan.

Uncle Xiang is merely a shareholder of Zhihuai. He has neither the support of the Zhou family nor the surname Zhou. Without Zhou Huiyuan's will, neither Zhou Huiyuan's confidants nor Zhou Qian would have allowed him to become the chairman of Zhihuai.

How did Uncle Xiang manage to hold onto Zhihuai's shares?

"I have my own methods, of course." Uncle Xiang's jaw tightened, somewhat annoyed. "Zhou Huiyuan's shares should have been half mine! Back when Zhihuai was in turmoil, and he inherited the old chairman's estate, I helped him out! But what happened? He gave the shares to Wan Tongzhi as a dowry, and didn't give me any!"

"He said we'd be brothers for life, but he's not even as good as a woman, hahaha—"

Uncle Xiang's laughter echoed in the warehouse, creating a very sinister atmosphere. When he spoke of the past, his face was filled with undisguised anger, hatred, and disappointment!

"So you poisoned and killed Wan Tongzhi?"

"What a joke! I don't need to kill a defenseless woman to get shares!" Uncle Xiang said with disdain. Although he was disheartened by Zhou Huiyuan's behavior, he knew that it had nothing to do with Wan Tongzhi.

Li Bo smiled and asked, "So, how did Uncle Xiang obtain the shares and shareholder votes? By cooperating with Li Yao?"

"This is none of your business!" Uncle Xiang pulled out a document and threw it in front of Li Bo, his condescending attitude showing no respect whatsoever, and his tone was practically condescending:

"Sign it. I will allow you to leave Northern Europe and will give you more money than you can spend in this lifetime. You will no longer need to live under the name Li Bo, nor will you need to act according to Zhou Huiyuan's will."

"Li Bo, sign this equity transfer agreement, and you'll be completely free."

Freedom is something Li Bo has always been pursuing.

Uncle Xiang believes that nothing is more tempting to Li Bo than freedom.

Although Uncle Xiang didn't know why Zhou Huiyuan trusted Li Bo so much, to the point of entrusting Zhihuai to Li Bo's management, Uncle Xiang knew Zhou Huiyuan very well. His confidants and subordinates were all under Zhou Huiyuan's control.

People's hearts are fickle; only real, tangible evidence can control them.

Li Bo was also a manipulated puppet.

Without puppets, one cannot desire freedom.

Uncle Xiang granted Li Bo freedom in exchange for shares.

Uncle Xiang had already obtained Zhou Huiyuan's confidants' incriminating evidence before Zhou Huiyuan's death, and with the additional shares Li Yao had acquired... he would certainly be able to firmly hold the position of the largest shareholder.

He made a deal with Li Yao: if he killed Li Bo, Li Yao would give him a crucial vote in the election. But Uncle Xiang wasn't a fool; Li Yao was a cunning and shrewd man.

Uncle Xiang would never kill Li Bo immediately or easily believe Li Yao's words. He could only restrain Li Yao by controlling Li Bo's movements. Only after he had completely acquired Zhihuai's shares could he hand Li Bo over to Li Yao.

Li Bo is still a valuable pawn at the moment.

Li Bo didn't even lift his eyelids before rejecting Uncle Xiang's threat: "Uncle Xiang, that's not very nice of you. Now I've offended the Zhou family, the Wan family, and the Li family. I don't think you have the ability to protect me in front of the three families. If I easily hand over the shares, I won't even have a chance to negotiate if this happens again."

Li Bo smiled: "Power is only meaningful when it's in your own hands. What do you think, Uncle Xiang?"

Li Bo refused to give out the equity.

Uncle Xiang sneered: "You may have misunderstood. I'm not negotiating with you. If you don't agree, you won't even have the chance to meet the next negotiator."

Judging from Li Bo's appearance, Uncle Xiang was afraid that Li Bo would not hand over the shares unless he was taught a lesson.

Li Bo is a tough nut to crack.

Uncle Xiang lowered the warehouse temperature and glanced at Li Bo: "If you disagree, then you've lost your value. Think it over carefully; you'll understand."

Uncle Xiang closed the door to the freezer and left.

The temperature inside the freezer was dropping little by little. Li Bo's hand, which was scraped and bleeding, hurt as if needles were pricking it. He tried to move, curling up his body to prevent his body temperature from dropping too quickly.

The temperature set by Uncle Xiang won't kill anyone, but someone with Li Bo's physical condition would definitely catch a cold and get a fever, and who knows, he might even burn himself to death.

There were no windows in the cryogenic chamber, and Li Bo didn't know how to tell time. His hands were still tied, and he didn't want to escape. The busyness and exhaustion of the day, coupled with the cold air around him, made him grit his teeth, his thin lips trembling slightly, and he quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Before he fell into a deep sleep, many scenes flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern.

A frail mother in childhood, a thin and weak child, days of being beaten like a walking corpse, a determination to study... The appearance of Zhou Yanshao, Zhou Yanshao's care, Zhou Yanshao's promise to take care of him, Zhou Yanshao's confession... It seems that all the happy days were related to Zhou Yanshao.

Li Bo thought to himself, his obstacles had not been completely cleared, and he could not die here.

The next morning, when Uncle Xiang came to the cold storage, Li Bo had a high fever. He splashed warm water on Li Bo to wake him up, but Li Bo choked on the water and coughed incessantly.

Uncle Xiang grabbed Li Bo's hair and lifted Li Bo's face: "How's your decision?"

Li Bo just smiled, and despite the pain from his scalp being pulled, he didn't say a word.

Uncle Xiang thought that freezing him wasn't enough, so he ordered his men to beat Li Bo up every two hours. The superficial injuries wouldn't kill him, but they would definitely hurt and were very torturous.

Li Bo simply curled up, remaining silent.

Li Bo was beaten from a young age. His mother, Lin, was mentally ill and started beating him when he was very young. Li Bo had long been used to it.

But today... is the day of Zhou Yanshao's competition.

Li Bo had promised to watch Zhou Yanshao's match, but he broke his promise after Zhou Yanshao won a trophy.

He didn't go to the competition.