CH 32

The Yunrou cancer scandal continued to rage in the media and online, but unlike the initial one-sided attack on Yunrou, different voices were gradually emerging.

Some reports left aside the question of whether Yunrou contained dioxane and instead mentioned Yunrou’s plans to be listed abroad, implicitly pointing to the suppression of domestic brands by foreign ones, suggesting that there was a huge struggle for profit behind all this. Some reports questioned the extent to which the Yunrou cancer incident had spread online – how could it have spread across the country overnight when it was just an obscure tabloid report? Others began to focus on the effectiveness of Yunrou shampoo, interviewing a group of Yunrou users to highlight its image in terms of efficacy.

These different voices were often followed by a chorus of curses, but the water army hired by Shen Group was obviously very dedicated, holding on tenaciously against the curses.

Shen Xi had fun reading online news and spent the morning on them.

Before noon, Lao K called him again. The two of them had commissioned an agency to register a film and television company, and the licence was obtained. The legal representative that Lao K chose to fill in was Shen Xi. Shen Xi did not intend to come to the forefront at first, but Lao K felt that once Shen Group went bankrupt, Shen Xi needed an identity with legal income, so he insisted on putting Shen Xi’s name on it. Lao K had good intentions and Shen Xi had no choice but to agree.

In addition to this, Lao K also mentioned something else during the phone call. He helped Shen Xi contact a director who was looking for investment and arranged to meet in the afternoon near Shen Xi’s apartment.

At the appointed time, Shen Xi arrived at the place Lao K had mentioned, a tea room with an old-fashioned atmosphere. The other party obviously recognised Shen Xi and greeted him warmly as soon as he entered.

The director Lao K had found was called Chen Zhiwei. He had a certain reputation in the entertainment industry, but because of bad luck, he had lost money on several movies in a row, and no one was willing to invest in his new film this time. Just as Chen Zhiwei was begging for help, Lao K found him and expressed Shen Xi’s intention to invest in his new movie. Chen Zhiwei was thrilled, but to his surprise, Lao K offered to sign Chen Zhiwei to Shen Xi’s newly established company as a condition of investment. Chen Zhiwei finally agreed after some hesitation, and this was the first time Chen Zhiwei and Shen Xi met.

Chen Zhiwei had actually heard of Shen Xi’s name a long time ago. Although there had been less news in recent years because Shen Xi was not in the country, in recent months the name of the Shen family became widely known once again with the journalists’ revelations about the heir controversy and now the Yunrou incident.

When he first heard that the owner of the company was Shen Xi, Chen Zhiwei found it very strange. After all, why would Shen Xi, as the heir to Shen Group, want to set up a small film and television company on his own? But his assistant reminded him that Shen Xi had previously told reporters he was not interested in Shen Group, and Chen Zhiwei secretly guessed that Shen Xi’s move might be a further proof that he was indeed not interested. Or, of course, he might be interested but couldn’t compete and had no choice but to make a statement to the public.

No matter what Chen Zhiwei thought about Shen Xi in his heart, it was an undeniable fact that this young man in his twenties would soon become his boss. If you wanted the boss to spend money, you had to flatter the boss. This was the summary written in blood and tears during Chen Zhiwei’s difficult career in the past few years. So when he saw Shen Xi’s figure appear from afar, Chen Zhiwei greeted him with a smile on his face. Unexpectedly, the first thing he saw was Shen Xi’s face covered in bruises. Chen Zhiwei’s smile froze awkwardly, and he sighed in his heart, wondering what this young master had done yesterday.

Shen Xi didn’t care about his expression, went straight to the table and sat down.

Chen Zhiwei quickly adjusted his expression and sat down opposite Shen Xi, but looking at Shen Xi’s cold face, he couldn’t say a word of the opening speech he had prepared in advance.

Under Shen Xi’s puzzled eyes, Chen Zhiwei finally had a bright idea and started to tell Shen Xi about the script. This was his masterpiece that he had spent countless efforts on, and he believed that if he could get investment, he would be able to make a beautiful turnaround in the industry. Chen Zhiwei was so confident in his script that after he finished speaking about it, he felt certain he would be able to attract Shen Xi’s attention. But the only thing he was asked was, “How much money do you need?” and not even a mention of the script was made.

Chen Zhiwei’s heart felt indescribably lost. He felt that Shen Xi did not appreciate the quality of the script and was worried that Shen Xi would not invest more in it because he found it boring. At that moment, he hesitantly looked at Shen Xi and said tentatively, “30 million? If it really doesn’t work, 25 million is okay?”

Shen Xi pondered for a moment, “I will give you 35 million, and you can do as you wish with the actors and crew, I just want to see the final film. But the theme song of the movie needs to be reserved, I will find someone to sing it.”

Chen Zhiwei looked at Shen Xi in surprise. He did not expect Shen Xi to be so easy to talk to. Although he actually had a suitable candidate in mind for the movie’s theme song, seeing that Shen Xi’s intention was obviously to leave it to one of his own, he naturally wouldn’t be stupid enough to argue and immediately nodded to indicate that there was no problem.

The two reached an agreement on the main issues, and Shen Xi pushed Chen Zhiwei back to Lao K. He really didn’t care to know the details.

Thinking about his own plans, Shen Xi said goodbye to Chen Zhiwei and drove straight to meet Fang Luowei. This time they didn’t dare to meet in the alley but made an appointment near the bar where Fang Luowei worked.

When he saw Shen Xi driving over, Fang Luowei hurriedly greeted him. He had received a notice from Shen Xi last night and did not dare to go home but stayed at a colleague’s place. When he received Shen Xi’s call, Fang Luowei hastily asked for leave. He always felt that Shen Xi was hiding something last night.

The bruises on Shen Xi’s face surprised Fang Luowei, and in addition to being surprised, he blamed himself. The incident originally had nothing to do with Shen Xi who had been involved in an unwarranted disaster solely because of him.

Fang Luowei looked at Shen Xi guiltily, “I’m sorry, it’s all because of me.”

Shen Xi didn’t want Fang Luowei to think too much and smiled soothingly, “Don’t worry, I didn’t suffer a loss, it was them who suffered.” And Li Mingxuan, Shen Xi silently added the latter half of the sentence in his mind.

Despite Shen Xi’s words, Fang Luowei still blamed himself.

Shen Xi thought for a moment, “How about you treat me to dinner tonight as a way to make amends?”

Shen Xi said it playfully and Fang Luowei couldn’t help but smile and nod in agreement. Having said that, Shen Xi told Fang Luowei about Li Mingxuan’s promise to find Brother Wang, and Fang Luowei looked at Shen Xi in surprise.

“Can you really settle this matter?”

Shen Xi was very confident in Li Mingxuan, “Since my cousin took the initiative to take it, he should be sure.”

Fang Luowei got excited, “Then I really have to thank him.”

Shen Xi pretended to be displeased, “Hey hey, just to thank him?”

Fang Luowei laughed, “Of course not, first of all, I’d like to thank you.”

The huge stone that had been weighing on his heart was put down, and Fang Luowei was obviously in a very good mood, laughing and joking with Shen Xi.

What neither Shen Xi nor Fang Luowei knew was that in his previous life, Fang Luowei had been imprisoned because of Brother Wang. Brother Wang, formerly known as Wang Li, the leader of the small-time gang in the area, had been attracted to Fang Luowei since the first time he had accidentally seen him, and was determined to get his hands on him. In his previous life, Fang Luowei repeatedly refused Wang Li, and Wang Li was furious and followed Fang Luowei’s traces to the hospital. He intended to hold Fang Luowei’s grandparents hostage to threaten him, but who could expect that under the push and pull, his grandmother was stimulated, fell seriously ill and soon died. His grandfather was devastated by this loss and followed her in a few days. Fang Luowei was full of hatred, found Wang Li and stabbed him to death.

In this life, Shen Xi found Fang Luowei and inavertently involved Li Mingxuan, thus rewriting Fang Luowei’s fate.

The two of them were sitting at a barbecue stall when Shen Xi told about his plan to make a movie and invited Fang Luowei to sing the theme song.

Fang Luowei looked at Shen Xi in surprise, “You want to make a movie?” Then he hesitantly said, “Does your father know?”

These days, the Yunrou incident had become too big; especially since Yunrou was a subsidiary of Shen Group, Fang Luowei couldn’t help but be very concerned. Although Fang Luowei knew that the relationship between Shen Xi and his family was not good, at this moment Shen Xi did not say that he would contribute to the Shen family but was going to invest in some kind of movie. For outsiders, it might have seemed that Shen Xi was really heartless, and Fang Luowei was afraid that Shen Dehan would also be very unhappy.

Shen Xi understood Fang Luowei’s meaning and laughed, “Don’t worry, the further I am from Shen Group, the happier father will be.”

Fang Luowei did not expect Shen Xi’s relationship with his family to be this bad, and thinking about Shen Xi’s expression at the hospital last time, he felt very sorry for Shen Xi.

Shen Xi was reluctant to talk more about Shen Group and changed back to the previous topic, “How about it?”

Fang Luowei hesitated, “How did you know I could sing?”

Shen Xi realised that the Fang Luowei in front of him was not the Fang Luowei who had told him about his dreams in his previous life in prison, and quickly found an excuse, “Grandpa told me about it at the hospital last time.”

Fang Luowei was taken aback, then laughed helplessly, “Grandpa likes to tell this to others every time.”

Shen Xi was curious, “What?”

Fang Luowei was surprised, “Did Grandpa not make it clear?”

Shen Xi looked natural, “Grandpa only said that you like to sing, he didn’t say anything else.”

Fang Luowei looked at Shen Xi’s curious eyes and spoke helplessly, “It’s nothing really, it’s just that I won first place in a singing competition in my hometown before, and as a result, I was discovered by a talent scout and signed to Zhongjing.”

Although Shen Xi already knew this from Lao K’s investigation, he still made a surprised expression, “Then why are you still working in a bar?”

Fang Luowei’s face darkened as he obviously thought of his bad experience.

“The company’s unspoken rules are too strong, and the manager wanted me to accompany the boss or else I would be blocked. I beat up the boss in a fit of rage, and then you know.” There was no regret in Fang Luowei’s tone, as if he was just talking about a trivial matter.

“Then how about you simply sign up to my company?” Shen Xi was originally worried about how to convince Fang Luowei to sign up with his own company, so at this point, he naturally went along.

Fang Luowei looked at Shen Xi hesitantly. He had always been able to feel Shen Xi’s goodwill. From the very beginning when they met, Shen Xi’s attitude towards him had been very different. He didn’t know how to describe that feeling, but he knew that Shen Xi didn’t have any malice towards him.

If it was just to sing the theme song of the movie, he could say that he was doing a favour for his friend, but if he changed the company, the breach of contract would be a considerable amount of money, and Fang Luowei didn’t know whether he should say yes to Shen Xi.

When Shen Xi looked at Fang Luowei’s hesitation, he knew that his actions still seemed to Fang Luowei a bit abrupt. He originally wanted to approach Fang Luowei slowly, but he was really worried about Fang Luowei repeating his fate from his previous life. The only way he could think of was to take Fang Luowei by his side, watch him and help him change his destiny.

Shen Xi blinked, “What? Are you worried that I also have unspoken rules?”

Not waiting for Fang Luowei to react, Shen Xi smiled and bumped his shoulder, “We’re friends, and I’m expecting you to become the company’s cash cow after you hit it big.”

The words “we are friends” touched Fang Luowei; he looked at Shen Xi and smiled slowly. In his smile, Shen Xi seemed to have found the feeling of being with Fang Luowei in his previous life.

While Shen Xi was chatting happily with Fang Luowei, Li Mingxuan was sitting quietly in the Sichuan restaurant on the other side of the alley, and opposite him was the man known as Brother Wang.

The reason why Li Mingxuan knew Brother Wang was because the Li family had acquired a piece of land in this area last year. Although the Li family was a powerful family, they knew that a strongest dragon could not suppress a snake on the ground (people who follow the law can’t suppress a local gangster who is above the law), and although these punks were nothing, they were enough to cause a headache if they were determined to make trouble. At that time, Li Mingxuan was in charge of the project, and in order to avoid trouble, he deliberately met with the leaders of the thugs in the area.

The Li family was very good at what they did, and they used both grace and authority, so the punks in the area naturally did not take the initiative to provoke the Li family. Therefore, the project went very smoothly, and both sides were very happy. After a few contacts, Li Mingxuan and the local punks all had some face.

Last night, looking at the way Li Mingxuan was protecting the kid behind him, Wang Li knew that this matter would not be easily forgotten by Li Mingxuan, and as a result, he received a call from Li Mingxuan today. Without saying a word, Wang Li brought his men here, but to his surprise, Li Mingxuan did not mention yesterday’s incident but mentioned Fang Luowei.

Wang Li was just coveting Fang Luowei’s looks and wanted to get his hands on him. Now that Li Mingxuan had stepped in and made it clear that he did not intend to pursue yesterday’s matter, naturally Wang Li would not offend Li Mingxuan for a Fang Luowei.

“Don’t worry, since Fang Luowei is your friend, he is also my friend. I will inform my brothers later that they should never give him a hard time again.”

Li Mingxuan smiled lightly, “Brother Wang is really accommodating. Although yesterday’s incident was a misunderstanding, my little cousin did act a bit harshly, so this is also a gift from me on his behalf.”

As Li Mingxuan said it, he pushed a check in front of Wang Li.

Wang Li swept a glance at the zeroes in the back and the smile on his face grew even bigger, “Xuan Shao is welcome. Speaking of which, we have to say sorry to Sanshao, it’s really wrong that those bastards didn’t recognise Sanshao yesterday.”

Li Mingxuan smiled and didn’t say anything.

The two of them exchanged a few perfunctory words, and Wang Li left the place satisfied with the check. Li Mingxuan frowned, thinking about how to keep Shen Xi away from here in the future.

“How did you get involved with Wang Li?” Ye Han pushed the door in directly after Wang Li left, obviously very disapproving of Li Mingxuan having dealings with Wang Li, “It is said that Wang Li has several lives on his back, you’d better stay away from him.”

Li Mingxuan let out an “en”. “Yesterday Xiao Xi was beaten up by his people.”

Ye Han raised his eyebrows, “Shen Xi?” He still remembered the last time he met Shen Xi, who lost his temper at Li Mingxuan here, and gave him a meaningful glance, “He’s quite capable of causing trouble!”

Li Mingxuan glared at Ye Han with dissatisfaction, “It has nothing to do with Xiao Xi, he was also innocently implicated.”

The defence in Li Mingxuan’s words was so obvious that Ye Han’s heart skipped a beat. He had felt something was wrong last time, but seeing no further indication from Li Mingxuan, he thought it was his own imagination. Right now, Ye Han felt that he needed to say something as a friend and his expression became serious, “Mingxuan, tell me honestly, are you treating Shen Xi as?…”

Ye Han did not finish his words, but his meaning was already clear.

Li Mingxuan looked at Ye Han with a bitter smile, “So obvious?”

Ye Han sighed, knowing that Li Mingxuan must also be extremely torn in his heart, otherwise he wouldn’t be reacting like this.

After thinking about it, Ye Han sat down next to Li Mingxuan, “Mingxuan, you know that it is impossible for you and Shen Xi.  Auntie will never accept it, so you should give up before it’s too late.”

Li Mingxuan lowered his head; Ye Han could not see the expression on his face but his voice was weak, “I know, I just need a little time.”

Ye Han shook his head and did not persuade him anymore. Some things had to be thought through by the person concerned.

There was silence in the private room. A few moments later Li Mingxuan looked up, “I’ll come to your place tonight, I was injured a little yesterday and need medicine.”

Ye Han instantly got up, “Then let’s go now.”

Who expected that Li Mingxuan did not make any move to get up. Ye Han was puzzled, “What?”

Li Mingxuan smiled bitterly, “Xiao Xi also needs medicine.”

Ye Han looked at Li Mingxuan, completely speechless.

An hour later, Li Mingxuan returned to Shen Xi’s place with a few packaged signature dishes, but to his disappointment, Shen Xi was not at home.

Li Mingxuan took out his mobile phone, looking at the words “Shen Xi” and hesitated to press “dial”. He was vaguely afraid, although he did not want to think about what he was afraid of.

That night, Shen Xi returned home very late. As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, Shen Xi saw Li Mingxuan standing in front of his apartment with a food box.

Following the sound of the elevator, Li Mingxuan slowly looked up. There were too many emotions in his eyes that Shen Xi could not understand.