CH 9

Shen Dehan’s hospitalisation was originally a secret, but it was quickly discovered by well-informed reporters. As soon as Shen Dehan entered the hospital, a large number of reporters surrounded the hospital. Had the hospital not reacted quickly and dispatched a large number of security guards to keep the reporters away, the whole hospital would likely have been stirred up.

Despite the strict security measures, many reporters managed to sneak into the hospital with the intention of obtaining Shen Dehan’s hospitalisation records.

If not everyone believed that Shen Dehan was seriously ill before, then the second hospitalisation within a short period of time added a heavy weight to the authenticity of the news. All of a sudden, various families in Zhongjing who had business dealings with the Shen family called to confirm Shen Dehan’s condition. Although Shen Ji explained on the phone that his father was just overtired, they were still sceptical. After all, as the head of the Shen family, Shen Dehan and his condition were directly related to the rise and fall of the Shen family’s stock price, and it was not impossible that his state of health was concealed in the eyes of the public for this reason.

After a round of phone calls, Shen Ji felt deeply powerless and his hatred for the person who broke the news also increased.

As the person who had caused Shen Ji’s hatred, Shen Xi was also quite astonished. It was just an impromptu move to stimulate the crowd and he didn’t expect the results to be so surprisingly good.

Shen Xi watched the various speculations of the reporters on TV regarding the consequences of Shen Dehan’s hospitalisation on the Shen family, and smiled slightly. Since everyone knew that he was back, it would be unreasonable not to play the role of a filial son of a doting father at this time.

Looking in the mirror to put on a sad face, Shen Xi ran out of the hotel anxiously and hurried to the hospital.

Shen Xi’s arrival made the reporters at the hospital entrance very excited. Unfortunately, Shen Xi looked pale and concerned throughout the whole process and was not in the mood for an interview. As they watched Shen Xi hastily push through the crowd and rush into the hospital, many reporters were secretly surprised. It was no secret in Zhongjing that Shen Xi and his father were not getting along, but looking at Shen Xi’s anxious expression, the reporters could not help but sigh in their hearts. No matter what, a father and a son were naturally related by blood and Shen Sanshao apparently had really grown up.

Shen Dehan’s ward was arranged on the top floor, and Shen Ji had taken the liberty of reserving the entire top floor to avoid harassment from reporters and brought the family’s bodyguards there.

When Shen Xi arrived at the top floor, all he saw was seven or eight men in black guarding the corridor vigilantly. The bodyguard closest to Shen Xi did not seem to know him and subconsciously wanted to come up to block his way, but another bodyguard stopped him.

“Sanshao!” The other bodyguard greeted in a low voice, and everyone in the corridor looked over with surprised expressions on their faces, clearly not expecting Shen Xi to appear here.

Shen Xi glanced over, ignoring everyone’s surprise, walked to the ward with an unchanged expression and pushed the door in.

“Shen Xi!” Shen Cheng, who was closest to the door, was the first to shout out. He obviously did not know that Shen Xi had returned to Zhongjing and was currently looking shocked.

Shen Xi ignored him and instead turned his gaze to the centre of the ward. At this moment, there were quite a few people there, five or six doctors with nurses gathered together, doing various tests in an orderly manner. Because there were too many people, Shen Xi did not see his father. But he didn’t think Shen Dehan would have any reaction to his arrival anyway; it seemed that he was unconscious at the moment.

Shen Xi only had time for a fleeting judgement; Shen Cheng had already walked up to him and asked in a low voice, “What are you doing coming back?”

Shen Xi turned his eyes to Shen Cheng, gave him a provocative look and lowered his voice to a whisper, “I heard that my father is seriously ill and about to die. What do you think I am coming back for?”

“You!” Shen Cheng was obviously infuriated by these words and instantly forgot where he was, grabbed Shen Xi’s collar and raised his hand to punch him.

Shen Cheng’s action immediately alarmed everyone in the room, making the people there look over.

Shen Xi looked at Shen Cheng with a pale and shocked face, seemingly not expecting him to make a sudden move. Shen Ji said quickly, “Stop, Shen Cheng.”

Shen Cheng’s movements stopped after these words, his fist just a few centimetres away from Shen Xi’s face.

The doctors and nurses in the room regained their senses after Shen Ji’s words and hastily lowered their heads to continue to do what they were doing, not daring to look at the two brothers again. Shen Xi turned his head sideways, avoiding Shen Ji’s gaze, and gave a malicious smile to Shen Cheng.

Shen Cheng looked at Shen Xi angrily, breathing heavily and appearing extremely tempted to swing his fist. But perhaps because he thought of where this was, Shen Cheng’s raised fist eventually slowly went down.

A wave of disappointment welled up in Shen Xi’s heart. It seemed that trying to provoke Shen Cheng was not going to work. Shrugging off Shen Cheng’s restraint, Shen Xi softly said to Shen Ji who came over, “Big brother!”

Shen Ji gave Shen Xi a cold look, “When did you come back?”

Shen Xi raised his eyebrows with a look of surprise, “Didn’t cousin Mingxuan tell big brother? We came back together.”

Shen Ji’s face turned ugly. If it weren’t for Shen Xi and Mingxuan to come back together and be blocked by reporters at the airport, how could his father have been so irritated that he was hospitalised?

As if Shen Xi could not see Shen Ji’s face, he lamented with a fearful expression, “Fortunately, I suddenly wanted to go back to China, otherwise, if there was an accident with my father, wouldn’t it be too regrettable that I was far away from home?”

Shen Ji’s eyes flickered as he was about to speak, but Shen Xi had already said first, “Speaking of which, what happened to father? What the reporters said is not true, right?”

The words once again succeeded in angering Shen Cheng, who was about to lunge at him, but Shen Ji stopped him in time, looked at Shen Xi and said word for word, “Father is just a little irritated, there is nothing serious. Because he was worried about your studies, father specifically instructed not to tell you.”

Shen Xi relaxed and spoke in a light tone, “That’s good, I thought you were deliberately hiding it from me because father was seriously ill. But it turned out father arranged it this way because he cared about me.”

Shen Xi deliberately emphasised the word “cared”, allowing everyone in the audience to interpret it according to their wishes.

Shen Ji did not speak again and only looked coldly at Shen Xi, who looked back without fear, a provocation flashing in his eyes.

Although the conversation between the three of them at the door was quiet, it still reached the ears of the doctors and nurses. Seeing that the three brothers seemed to have finished talking, one of the doctors said, “Mr. Shen’s examination is over.”

Shen Ji, not bothering to look at Shen Xi, strode back to the hospital bed, followed closely by Shen Cheng. Shen Xi nodded amicably to the doctor who had spoken, and then followed suit.

Shen Dehan’s examination report was not much different from last time, except that his blood pressure was a little high due to the stimulation. The doctor made it clear that at his age, high blood pressure was the most dangerous for Shen Dehan and could easily cause brain haemorrhage, cerebral infarction and a series of other old age diseases, and hoped that his family would pay more attention in the future. The brothers nodded in assurance. Perhaps it was an illusion, but the doctor deliberately glanced at Shen Xi when he talked about the stimulation. Shen Xi pretended to be oblivious, but in his heart he remembered the doctor’s name, intending to ask Lao K to check the doctor’s background.

As the doctors left, Shen Ji instructed Shen Cheng to go back and rest first and come back tomorrow. Shen Cheng was a little reluctant, but nodded in agreement when he saw the look in Shen Ji’s eyes. Shen Ji then looked at Shen Xi, who, without waiting for him to say anything, took the initiative to say that he was too tired after a day of flying and needed to get over jet lag, so he would go back first. Shen Ji didn’t say anything, thinking that he couldn’t wait for Shen Xi to leave.

Before he left, Shen Xi went to his father’s bed and looked at unconscious Shen Dehan. A strange smile flashed across his face very quickly.

Hurry up and wake up, father, you’ll love the big surprise I’ve prepared for you!