Chapter Four: Twenty-Four Hours

No restructuring could bypass its 370 votes. At nine, Liang Sen arrived from Mingchuan, sealed the warehouse, and ordered director Shen Guoan to sign an asset-management agreement. Shen's daughter was abroad awaiting surgery. He could not afford defiance. The coin offered a wager. [Within ten minutes, Shen Guoan will sign or disclose the accounts.] Everyone expected a signature. Zhou Lin noticed an old thermos with a faded staff photograph under it. Shen had kept the same office for thirty years, but hidden his daughter's surgery notice inside the books. He wanted to save her—and wanted the workers to know why he had betrayed them. “I wager he discloses. My collateral: one instance of my trust in Xu Zhi.” She stared. “Trust can be counted?”