CH 4

Shen Ji handled the matter of Shen Xi going abroad very quickly. In just three days, Shen Ji completed the relevant formalities and put a bunch of documents in front of Shen Xi.

“This is the admission notice from St. Rudolf Language School. You will first study the language there for a year, and after a year I will arrange for you to go to university.”

As Shen Ji was standing in the door of Shen Xi’s room with a business-like look, his attitude was as alienated as ever.

Shen Xi blocked the doorway, having no intention of letting Shen Ji in. Taking the information from Shen Ji’s hand blankly, Shen Xi sneered while looking through it quickly. So fast; it seemed that Shen Ji didn’t want him to continue to be an eyesore in front of him either.

Shen Xi’s head was lowered and Shen Ji couldn’t see his face clearly, but when Shen Ji casually glanced past him, a look of surprise flashed on his face. Shen Xi’s room was unexpectedly neat and tidy, with all the items arranged in order from largest to smallest. Shen Ji was surprised, inadvertently looked at Shen Xi and met his impatient eyes, “Money!”

The grumpy look on Shen Xi’s face was all too familiar, and the hint of incongruity that Shen Ji felt at the sight of Shen Xi’s room was left behind. Handing over the card in his hand, Shen Ji added, “I’ve booked a flight for you for the day after tomorrow, so pack up and someone will take you to the airport.”

Shen Ji’s words were greeted by Shen Xi’s turned back and the door slamming shut.

Shen Ji’s brows furrowed tightly as he looked at the closed door for half a second before turning to leave.

Inside the room, Shen Xi looked at the bank card in his hand, a sneer habitually appearing on his face. There was no need to check it specifically, he knew there was a lot of money in it. He had never understood why his father, who clearly disliked him, was so indulgent with him when it came to money. Not only did he not care about his reckless spending, but there was even a hidden sense of connivance. Only after he was imprisoned did he realise: wasn’t it as simple as trying to raise a waste of a man?

Shen Xi smirked and stuffed the card into his wallet. No matter what his father’s intentions were, the more money he had, the better.

After putting the card away, Shen Xi was about to put the information in his hand into his luggage when his mobile phone rang all of a sudden.

Shen Xi grabbed the phone. He didn’t need to look at it to guess that it must be a call from one of his so-called friends, nothing but curiosity to see if he was really as irritated as it was rumoured among them. In the past few days, Shen Xi had received many such calls, each of them probing his relationship with Shen Rong under the banner of concern. Tian Wenyao and Shen Rong had been seen by many people when they appeared at Shutu that night.

Shen Xi subconsciously wanted to hang up, but stopped when he saw that it was an unfamiliar number. After a moment of hesitation, Shen Xi picked up the phone and soon a look of surprise appeared on his face. A few minutes later, Shen Xi hung up the phone and pondered.

The person who called him was his father’s personal lawyer, Wang Changlin, with whom Shen Xi had not had any contact in the past. Shen Xi couldn’t understand what Wang Changlin had to say to him, and the other party did not reveal any information on the phone, but only said that he had been entrusted to give something to him.

Entrusted? By whom? And what was it that he was going to give him?

With these questions in mind, the next day Shen Xi appeared at a coffee house near the Shen Group according to the address provided by the phone.

At this time, it was office hours and there were very few customers in the coffee house, so Shen Xi saw the man who had called him  almost at a glance.

In his impression, Wang Changlin seemed to be a little older than his father, but the man in front of him looked only about forty. At this time, he was wearing a light grey suit, his hair was neatly combed, and he was wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. He was elegant and looked quite polished in his gestures.

Wang Changlin obviously also saw Shen Xi, nodded at him and beckoned, “Sanshao (third young master).”

Shen Xi walked over expressionlessly and sat down without saying a word, looking at the other party in silence.

Wang Changlin was not at all impressed by Shen Xi’s attitude and looked at him with a complicated gaze, then said with emotion, “In the blink of an eye, Sanshao is already so big.”

Shen Xi frowned unconsciously. He was a little confused by Wang Changlin’s attitude. This comment was a little too intimate for their relationship.

Wang Changlin also seemed to realise it, smiled covertly and beckoned to the waiter, “A cup of mocha.” He then looked at Shen Xi, “Sanshao?”

Shen Xi shook his head. He didn’t come for any coffee. He was just curious about what Wang Changlin revealed over the phone.

Wang Changlin did not insist, pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose and smiled slightly at Shen Xi, “Sanshao must be curious about what I said over the phone.”

Shen Xi nodded and said, “What do you want to give me?” 

Shen Xi’s directness took Wang Changlin by surprise. He couldn’t help but smile bitterly, “Sanshao’s temper is really exactly as rumoured.”

Impatience flashed in Shen Xi’s eyes and the bitter smile on Wang Changlin’s face intensified. He could only pretend not to see Shen Xi’s expression, “I am Mr. Shen’s personal lawyer, Sanshao must have known about it.”

Shen Xi said nothing with a cold face.

Wang Changlin knew what was going on between the father and the son and didn’t say anything more about it, but continued, “Before I came to Mr. Shen’s side, I had been Elder Han’s personal lawyer.”

The words “Elder Han” made Shen Xi’s heart jolt, and he looked at Wang Changlin in surprise.

The bitter smile on Wang Changlin’s face changed to a nostalgic look, “Elder Han was kind to me, and I was fortunate enough to be by his side for a few years.” Seeing that Shen Xi did not say anything, Wang Changlin stopped selling the nostalgia, “I think Sanshao has guessed that it was Elder Han who left some things for Sanshao as a reminder. According to Elder Han’s request, these things can only be handed over to Sanshao after Sanshao turns eighteen years old. I have been in charge of them before.”

Wang Changlin’s words were like a bomb thrown into Shen Xi’s heart, and Shen Xi was in shock at this point. Grandfather had left something for him? Why had he been completely unaware of this in his previous life? Even if he had been imprisoned the next day after his birthday, why had no one ever mentioned it in the ten years that followed? And where did all those things end up?

The questions in his mind followed one after another, but Shen Xi forced himself to calm down. There was no way to verify what happened in his previous life, and no matter what, the things would be in his hands in this life.

Wang Changlin seemed to be waiting for Shen Xi to digest this news. Only when Shen Xi’s expression calmed down did Wang Changlin speak softly, “Very few people know about this matter. It is normal for Sanshao to be surprised.”

Shen Xi was silent. Wang Changlin pushed the documents in his hand in front of Shen Xi, “This is the specific information of the items that Elder Han left to Sanshao. The items have been kept in the safe of the Bank of Zhongjing. They can be collected only by Sanshao himself. Sanshao, please take a look.”

Shen Xi’s gaze fell on the papers, his expression serious.

The Zhongjing’s Han family was a well-known jewellery family in China. Anyone in such a family would know that there inevitably would be some treasures at the bottom of the box. Back then, when the Han family’s business was in trouble, there were rumours in Zhongjing that Han Fuli had sent a few of his unparalleled treasures abroad to dispose of them in an attempt to save the family from its predicament. But no one could have predicted that within just a few days Han Fuli would receive the tragic news that both children had died. In the face of great grief, business was no longer Han Fuli’s concern. Instead of selling the jewellery, he left it to the only person in the world he cared about, his grandson, Shen Xi.

As he turned page after page, Shen Xi’s expression became more and more solemn. The documents indicated in detail every item left behind by Grandpa, until the last page, where a slightly yellowed photograph was sandwiched on top of a clean white paper. The photograph appeared to have been taken accidentally. It showed Grandpa sitting in a wide rattan chair, smiling kindly, holding a tiny baby in his arms. Behind Grandpa, his frail uncle was staring at the baby in his arms curiously, and beside him, his mother was looking at him tenderly with a light smile on her face.

Shen Xi’s hands trembled, his eyes instantly moistened.

As he was still very young when his mother and grandfather passed away, he did not have anything in his hands to keep as a souvenir. He didn’t think that there would be a family photo left here. If only he knew… What if he knew?

Shen Xi clenched his hand hard, lowering his head to hide the tears in his eyes as he tried to calm the emotions in his heart.

A hand gently patted Shen Xi’s shoulder, and Shen Xi’s emotions slowly calmed down. Carefully laying down the crumpled papers in his hands, Shen Xi raised his head and glanced at Wang Changlin gratefully.

Wang Changlin looked at Shen Xi with concern in his eyes, “Sanshao, when do you think we will go to the bank?”

Shen Xi shook his head, “I’m going abroad soon, so these things should continue to be kept in the bank. I just need to take this photo and that’s it.”

Wang Changlin was obviously very surprised by the news that Shen Xi was going abroad and looked at Shen Xi for half a second before shaking his head and sighing, “Mr. Shen is a bit too strict to Sanshao.”

When Shen Xi didn’t answer this comment, Wang Changlin hesitated for a moment before making up his mind to speak, “Does Sanshao know about the handling of the Han family’s property before the death of Elder Han?”

Shen Xi nodded, “Grandfather used all of the Han family’s assets in exchange for a third of the Shen family’s inheritance rights for me.”

Wang Changlin smiled bitterly, “When Elder Han passed away, Sanshao should have been the only heir to the Han family. But at that time, the Han family’s business suffered a heavy blow and Sanshao was too young to take over the family business. Elder Han had no choice but to make this decision.”

Shen Xi laughed at himself, “Grandfather was making plans for me because he knew that father didn’t like me and was worried that he wouldn’t leave me anything in the future.”

Wang Changlin shook his head, “Of course Elder Han meant this, but he also thought about finding a safe person to guard the family’s property for Sanshao. But Mr. Shen took the initiative to make this proposal and Elder Han chose to agree after some deliberation.”

Shen Xi was suddenly taken aback, “What did you say?”

There was a hint of pity in Wang Changlin’s eyes, “This offer was mentioned by Mr. Shen first.”

Shen Xi’s face looked ugly. It turned out that his father was the one who proposed it. No wonder! Although the Han family’s business had been badly hit back then, it had been in operation for decades and could not be shaken so easily. It was simply economically unreasonable for his grandfather to exchange the Han family’s business for one-third of the inheritance rights of the Shen family for him. Shen Xi always thought that his grandfather was worried that he would not be able to keep the Han family’s business because he was too young and that his father was too biassed and wouldn’t give a share of the Shen family’s business to him, so he used the Han family’s business in exchange for Shen Xi to become a heir of the Shen family. But it turned out that everything was just his father’s calculations.

Wang Changlin sighed, “I wasn’t going to tell Sanshao about this, but Elder Han had high hopes for Sahshao. So if Sanshao continues to be ridiculous like this, I really feel sorry for Elder Han. I just hope you won’t let Elder Han down again after you go abroad.”

At the mention of his grandfather, Shen Xi nodded forcefully with a gloomy face.

Because of Wang Changlin’s attitude, by the time the two left the coffee house, they were no longer strangers to each other like at the beginning and were much closer. Wang Changlin also repeatedly asked Shen Xi to take care of his health after he left the country and to remember to contact him if he needed anything.

Shen Xi nodded in a rare moment of good temper and watched Wang Changlin leave.

The moment he turned around and walked away, Shen Xi lowered his head to hide the vigilance in his eyes.

There was nothing wrong with Wang Changlin’s words, but for someone who had been by his father’s side for ten years and had gained his trust, his attitude, Shen Xi vaguely felt, was unspeakably incongruous. Wang Changlin encouraged him to be motivated, but he should have known his father’s intentions well after ten years by his father’s side. Him being motivated was the last thing his father wanted to see. Could it really be because of Grandpa?

Shen Xi was a bit confused and silently repeated the name “Wang Changlin” in his mind.

As Shen Xi watched Wang Changlin leave, he was unaware that on the other side of the road, a tall man stared at him thoughtfully for a while before turning to go.