CH 37

While Shen Xi was missing Li Mingxuan’s embrace, Li Mingxuan was also thinking about Shen Xi.

After reading the last document in his hand, Li Mingxuan relaxed and casually put the documents together, got up and walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window.

The branch office of the Li family in Haicheng was located on the top floor of the most prestigious Gemini Building on the financial street. From the office, the view of the whole Haicheng was unobstructed and could only be called excellent. Li Mingxuan used to love this place, and when he was tired of working, he would always stand by the window and look out at the scenery. But this time Li Mingxuan could not concentrate, and the only thing that appeared in his mind was Shen Xi.

It had been ten days since he came to Haicheng, and the original seven-day trip was prolonged by him for three more days. These days, he deliberately used his busy schedule to anaesthetise himself just to avoid thinking of Shen Xi. But this only had an effect during the day.

He got used to holding Shen Xi to sleep every night, and got used to their bodies being intertwined every night. Now Li Mingxuan would always wake up in the middle of the night alone, feeling the emptiness around him, and his thoughts would surge from the bottom of his heart. After that, Li Mingxuan could no longer sleep, but could only paint a picture of Shen Xi in his mind, and spend the long nights missing him.

Although Li Mingxuan felt that he was going crazy with longing, he still held back from making any contact with Shen Xi. He knew he was running away, he just couldn’t make a choice. From the moment he discovered his feelings for Shen Xi, he had been struggling internally. Reason reminded him to stay away from Shen Xi, but his emotions indulged him to come closer again and again. Li Mingxuan originally wanted to deceive himself and stay by Shen Xi’s side as a cousin, but his father’s words before he left sounded like a wake-up call in his ears.

At that time, Li Mingxuan had just sent Shen Xi home and returned to the Li family’s house to pack his things for his business trip. To his surprise, his father, who had always gone to bed early, suddenly appeared at the door of his room, posing for a casual chat.

Li Mingxuan didn’t think much of it at the time. In the past, his father would chat with him casually like this. He put down his half-packed luggage and sat down with his father.

The topic that the two of them talked about at the beginning was nothing more than matters related to the business trip. Li Mingxuan had done a good job in preparing for the trip and Li Xiyong was very satisfied with it. Seeing that Li Mingxuan was fully prepared for the trip to Haicheng, Li Xiyong suddenly changed the subject, “Mingxuan, do you have someone you like?”

Li Mingxuan was startled; his face had an unnatural expression for a moment, and then he quickly reacted and looked at his father as if nothing had happened, “No, Dad, why would you ask that?”

Li Mingxuan’s momentary unnaturalness did not escape Li Xiyong’s eyes, but he did not show it. Even after hearing Li Mingxuan’s denial, he just smiled as usual and did not continue the topic.

Seeing that his father still had the intention to go on chatting, Li Mingxuan didn’t dare to take it lightly anymore and dedicated all his attention to the conversation. Even so, when Li Xiyong asked another question carelessly, Li Mingxuan was still stunned for a moment despite being mentally prepared.

“Mingxuan, you seem to be very close to Shen Xi recently?”

Although his father’s expression was the same as usual and he seemed to have asked it casually, when Li Mingxuan thought of the other question his father had just asked and these two unrelated questions put together, he didn’t dare to guess what it meant.

Fighting the waves of shock in his heart, Li Mingxuan looked at his father as frankly as he could and found an excuse that even he did not believe, “Mom asked me to take care of Shen Xi more.”

Li Xiyong nodded noncommittally, as if he didn’t take the issue to heart. He casually chatted with Li Mingxuan for a few more minutes before instructing him to rest early and leaving the room.

Li Mingxuan wondered if his father had noticed something. He had always known that his father’s intuition was very keen, and the Li family had avoided many crises over the years by relying on his father’s intuition. But when his father used it on him one day, it didn’t feel so good.

He should have thought that his frequent sleepless nights would surely attract his father’s attention, but he had convinced himself time and again that this was the last time. And yet each time he could not control himself. Now his father’s reminder had made the choice for him. He had to stay away from Shen Xi.

This matter was his fault alone from the beginning to the end. He was the one who had thought of Shen Xi in the way he shouldn’t have. He was not afraid to face his family’s reproach, but Shen Xi was innocent and Li Mingxuan did not want him to be misunderstood by his family, especially when the Shen family was in such a chaotic situation.

Li Mingxuan let out a long sigh. Ye Han was right, Shen Xi’s position in the Shen family was already embarrassing enough. He shouldn’t have burdened Shen Xi out of his own selfishness.

Although he understood everything, when the time came to make a decision, Li Mingxuan still could not make up his mind, which was why he had repeatedly delayed his return from Haicheng.

The thoughts in his mind were so complicated that Li Mingxuan lit a cigarette irritably. Unnoticed by him, the dusk had already settled outside the window, and in the hazy night, countless lights were lit up, the whole city full of ambience and beauty.

There were no lights on in the office. The darkness hid Li Mingxuan’s expression, and only the bright point of the cigarette in his hand could be seen.

The phone rang suddenly, breaking the silence of the room. A faint white light shone from the table, illuminating the silent figure of Li Mingxuan in front of the window. Li Mingxuan did not turn around and let the phone ring a few times and then go quiet again.

In his mind, the only people who would call at this time were his family and a few friends. He didn’t want to talk now, he just wanted to be left alone.

In Zhongjing on the other side, Shen Xi hung up the phone with a gloomy expression. It had been ten days; he had not heard from Li Mingxuan for ten whole days.

If at first Shen Xi was bothered by being unable to sleep well without Li Mingxuan by his side, then later Li Mingxuan’s silence was enough to make Shen Xi understand what was going on.

Thinking of Li Mingxuan taking care of him before going on a business trip, Shen Xi sneered. Li Mingxuan really thought that after he approached him, he could leave so easily? How could he allow it?

He could guess what Li Mingxuan was thinking in his heart, based on his character. It was nothing more than struggling with the blood relationship between the two, worrying about Shen Xi’s disgust. Shen Xi didn’t mention it before because he thought it was good to maintain the status quo. Li Mingxuan was by his side every night anyway. But now, Shen Xi frowned irritably, it seemed that he was going to take the initiative.

Although he was planning to take the initiative, Shen Xi didn’t bother to dial Li Mingxuan again. After thinking about it, Shen Xi called Lao K and Fang Luowei and invited them to sing together.

These days, Shen Xi did not stay idle. Firstly, he rented a big office and put up the logo of the film and television company. Secondly, he asked Lao K to set up a manager position and recruit a few employees. In any case, this would be his business for some time to come, so he had to take care of it. As for Fang Luowei’s previous contract, he didn’t bother much. With the name of the Shen family’s Sanshao it was just a piece of cake.

With the start of filming of Chen Zhiwei’s movie, rumours began to circulate in the community that the movie was paid for by Shen Xi. Shen Xi did not deny it. As a result, everyone was convinced that Shen Sansao, who had always been fooling around, seemed to have no intention of entering Shen Group and instead planned to join the entertainment industry.

When the news spread, Shen Xi’s father took the initiative to contact him once, and his words were full of curiosity about Shen Xi’s movements.

Shen Xi sneered in his heart, but in front of his father, he showed that he was very eager to enter the entertainment industry. He didn’t want to join Shen Group anyway, so it would be good for him to start his own company for fun. Since he was not good at anything and loved to have fun, the entertainment industry would suit him best.

Shen Xi’s father did not doubt what Shen Xi said. Even though Shen Xi had been out of the country for the previous five years, news about Shen Xi was constantly coming to Shen Dehan. He had always been confident that he knew Shen Xi very well, and in his eyes, Shen Xi’s behaviour this time was just a new way of playing when he was tired of playing something else. As for Shen Xi’s words about being interested in the entertainment industry, Shen Dehan only snorted. He had heard the rumours that Shen Xi was making such a big fuss just for a little singer surnamed Fang.

During this period of time, because of Yunrou’s case, there had been some minor turmoil in the board of directors, especially when Gao Qiulin started to stir up trouble again, and Shen Dehan was quite anxious. He was most worried that Shen Xi would be encouraged to have some thoughts about Shen Group. Seeing that Shen Xi was having fun on his own, Shen Dehan finally put his mind at ease and generously gave Shen Xi a sum of money, leaving him to his own devices. As long as Shen Xi didn’t mess with Shen Group’s affairs, he was allowed to do whatever he wanted. Anyway, Shen Xi’s dividends were enough for Shen Xi to spend freely.

Lao K and Fang Luowei became acquainted through Shen Xi. Of course, Fang Luowei only knew that the man in front of him was Wang Xinghai, a friend of Shen Xi, and he didn’t know that this man was the famous Lao K from the dark side of Zhongjing. Shen Xi had no intention of telling Fang Luowei about Lao K’s identity, as he did not want to involve Fang Luowei in what he was going to do.

When he received Shen Xi’s call, Lao K was not very interested, but Fang Luowei was very happy, and in a two-against-one situation Lao K was forced to appear in front of Shen Xi.

“What kind of expression is it?” Shen Xi had a disgusted look on his face.

Lao K said bitterly, “A happy one!”

Shen Xi snorted coldly and Fang Luowei smiled, kindly interjecting, “Have we booked a room yet?”

Lao K nodded and glanced at Shen Xi sadly, “It’s obvious that people want to go to the Shutu to see the world, but Xiao Xixi is only willing to bring them to a place like this.”

Behind Lao K, the word “Congress” shone brightly, and Fang Luowei gave Lao K a curious look, “What’s Shutu, isn’t Congress already the best KTV in Zhongjing?”

Lao K was about to explain, but suddenly remembered that Shen Xi didn’t seem to want to talk much about Shutu, so he changed the subject with a chuckle.

Fang Luowei smiled and didn’t ask any further questions.

To put it mildly, Fang Luowei sang the best among them, while Lao K was second, and it was Shen Xi who sang very much out of tune. Lao K’s original reluctance turned to positivity after mocking Shen Xi, and he refused to put down the microphone.

Fang Luowei smiled and stood next to Lao K, cheering him on. Shen Xi sat alone at the back, looking at the two figures in front of him and smiling faintly.

Fang Luowei turned around without thinking and saw Shen Xi’s smiling face, only to feel a twitch in his heart, as if something was different.

While they were having a good time over here, Li Mingxuan was rushing back to Zhongjing overnight.

After being alone and quiet for a long time, Li Mingxuan finally switched on the lights in his office and packed his things to go back to the hotel.

Casually picking up the mobile phone on his table, Li Mingxuan remembered the previous call and opened the call log. The words “Shen Xi” were reflected in Li Mingxuan’s eyes, and his whole body froze in place. This was the first time Shen Xi had called him, and Li Mingxuan didn’t even think about it before calling back. But no matter how many times he dialled, there was never any answer on the other end.

Li Mingxuan could not tell how he felt at this moment. All the thoughts he had deliberately suppressed resurfaced. His reasoning was left behind, he just wanted to see Shen Xi immediately.

Without hesitation, Li Mingxuan took a taxi to the airport and asked his assistant to book the nearest flight back to Zhongjing.

On the way to the airport, Li Mingxuan still refused to give up dialling the familiar number.

Inside Shen Xi’s bag, the screen of his mobile phone flashed continuously, the ringing tone so faint that it did not make a single ripple under the sound of the room’s huge stereo.