The news that Shen Ji had moved out of the Shen family’s house soon became known to everyone.
Shen Bixue rushed to the Shen family’s home, but left unhappily after arguing with Shen Dehan. Shen Dehan stubbornly wanted to leave Chu Qianqian to recuperate at home. Shen Bixue couldn’t make him change his mind, so she called Li Mingxuan angrily to complain.
“What’s all this talk about being stimulated and not being able to leave his side, can’t he send her to the hospital?
“In case a reporter takes a photo, with that face, the Shen family will be involved in a scandal again. Did your uncle ever think about Shen Ji and the rest? Both Fang Yun and Han Rou have passed away. If they are implicated in this kind of scandal again, will they have any face left?
“Saying she will leave when she is well, your uncle only deceives himself and others with this phrase.”
Shen Bixue was already so angry that she didn’t know what she was saying, and Li Mingxuan patiently calmed her, “Uncle is getting older, and his nature will inevitably become stubborn.”
“Is this stubbornness? When he kept Zhou Mingmei, outsiders could barely accept that Fang Yun had died and he was transferring affection to Zhou Mingmei. But now he’s keeping that little nurse? That little nurse is young enough to be your uncle’s granddaughter, can this also be used as an excuse for transferring affection?”
Li Mingxuan coughed lightly as he listened to his mother’s uncontrollably angry words. There were some things his mother could say, but he didn’t need to hear.
Shen Bixue obviously also realised that it was not good to tell Li Mingxuan these things and sighed, “Your uncle was not like this before. How could he become like this now? A good family is about to be torn apart.”
Li Mingxuan didn’t answer. Shen Dehan was getting farther and farther away from the way he remembered him.
Shen Bixue smiled bitterly, calmed down a bit and changed the subject, “How is Xiao Xi? What happened yesterday?”
Li Mingxuan said softly, “Xiao Xi is fine, it’s fine.”
Shen Bixue hesitated for a while before finally speaking, “If he really doesn’t want to come here, don’t force him. As long as he is good with you, nothing else matters.”
Li Mingxuan gave a low “en”. In his heart he wanted Shen Xi to have a good relationship with his parents, but he also knew that the weight on Shen Xi’s heart was too heavy and that there were things he could not force.
After hanging up the phone, Li Mingxuan returned to the bedroom where Shen Xi was sleeping curled in a ball. Perhaps hearing his footsteps, Shen Xi woke up in a daze, hugging the blanket with his eyes closed, and muttered, “Cousin, what time is it?”
Shen Xi looked really cute, and for a moment, Li Mingxuan felt his heart soften into a puddle. Sitting beside Shen Xi with a gentle expression, Li Mingxuan couldn’t help but reach out his hand and rub his face, chuckling, “It’s almost night.”
Shen Xi discontentedly avoided Li Mingxuan’s hand and let out a low “en”, slowly opened his eyes and was about to sit up when Li Mingxuan leaned down and kissed him.
The kiss was soft and gentle, with a deep sense of affection. Li Mingxuan squeezed Shen Xi’s lips a little bit and moved in his tongue, gently intertwining it with Shen Xi’s.
Shen Xi was soon completely awake; he slowly relaxed, reaching out to embrace Li Mingxuan and tilting his head back in a cooperative kiss.
Shen Xi’s cooperation made Li Mingxuan’s heart overwhelmed with joy. His body slowly became hot and Li Mingxuan was no longer satisfied with a simple kiss. He reached his hands into Shen Xi’s clothes and rubbed along Shen Xi’s naked back. The sensation under his palms was too beautiful, Li Mingxuan roamed over Shen Xi’s body longingly and finally pressed him down.
As Li Mingxuan moved, Shen Xi’s clothes were gradually stripped off. Instead of refusing, Shen Xi took the initiative and reached out to unbutton Li Mingxuan’s pyjamas and kiss his neck.
Li Mingxuan’s heart pounded fiercely, overwhelmed with excitement from Shen Xi’s kisses.
Their bodies were soon intertwined, and the sounds of joining, groans and panting mingled with each other and did not dissipate for a long time.
It had been a long time before their breaths gradually calmed down.
Shen Xi lazily rubbed himself against Li Mingxuan’s arms, “I’m hungry.”
Li Mingxuan touched Shen Xi’s slightly wet back and lowered his head to kiss him, “Xiao Xi, go take a shower first, I’ll cook.”
Shen Xi frowned, really not wanting to move. Li Mingxuan chuckled, got up and picked up Shen Xi, whispering, “Cousin will help you wash.”
An hour later the two of them came out of the shower. Li Mingxuan took a look at the time and thought about ordering takeaway.
Shen Xi once again lay back on the bed, suddenly remembering that his mobile phone had not been switched on since it was switched off last night, and he wondered if Lao K had something to look for him for.
“What is Xiao Xi looking for?”
“The phone.”
Li Mingxuan handed Shen Xi his phone from the living room and casually said, “By the way, Fang Luowei and Wang Xinghai both looked for you and called me.”
“Wang Xinghai?” Shen Xi hesitantly looked at Li Mingxuan.
Li Mingxuan smiled, “It was thanks to his guess I found you at the cemetery yesterday.”
“Oh!” Shen Xi had already anticipated how Lao K would gossip privately about yesterday’s incident, and suddenly felt a headache.
Li Mingxuan looked at Shen Xi and was a little hesitant to tell him about Chu Qianqian’s stay at the Shen’s house. According to his uncle’s attitude, this matter could not be concealed for long, and it would probably become a big deal later. Rather than Shen Xi learning about it from the random reports in the newspapers, he might as well tell him himself first.
When Li Mingxuan hesitated, Shen Xi already noticed something, “What’s wrong?”
Li Mingxuan leaned down and wrapped his arms around Shen Xi, saying softly, “Do you remember that Nurse Chu?”
Shen Xi nodded quietly, “The nurse who looks like Big Brother’s birth mother?”
Li Mingxuan gave an “en”. “She was taken to live with the Shen family temporarily by Uncle.”
Shen Xi froze, then snorted, “Does that mean the Shen family will soon have a new Mrs. Shen?”
Shen Xi’s reaction was greatly unexpected, and Li Mingxuan said with concern, “You don’t mind?”
Shen Xi said indifferently, “What do I have to mind? The one who should mind this matter is Big Brother, right? By the way, there is also Zhou Mingmei. After twenty years of hard work she is still not as good as a little nurse.”
Looking at the mockery in Shen Xi’s smirk, Li Mingxuan sighed in his heart and rubbed Shen Xi’s hair, “It’s good that you don’t care.”
A few days had passed by the time the news of Chu Qianqian living in the Shen family’s house reached Zhou Mingmei’s ears. In the past, when Shen Dehan was attached to Zhou Mingmei, the servants of the Shen family would occasionally inform Zhou Mingmei of some news, but now with Chu Qianqian, they had forgotten about Zhou Mingmei, just like Shen Dehan.
Taking a deep breath, Zhou Mingmei tried hard to suppress the jealousy in her heart towards Chu Qianqian. Thinking about it, she could only rely on Wang Changlin now. The video incident had been over a long time ago but Shen Dehan remained completely indifferent to Shen Rong. And now with the presence of Chu Qianqian by his side, the mother and son’s status might have been totally lost.
Although she had followed Shen Dehan for so many years, she did not have much savings, and some time ago, because of the failed investment in “Against the Current”, all her savings had gone down the drain. She had to rely on Wang Changlin to find a way out as soon as possible, otherwise what would she and Ah Rong do in the future?
After thinking for a long time, Zhou Mingmei made up her mind to bring Shen Rong to see Wang Changlin as soon as possible.
When he received Zhou Mingmei’s call, Wang Changlin was not surprised. If Zhou Mingmei had not seen the situation clearly by now, it would have meant she had followed Shen Dehan for so many years for nothing.
After hanging up the phone, Wang Changlin tapped his desk and thought deeply.
Was Chu Qianqian’s appearance a coincidence or a deliberate arrangement?
If it was a coincidence, she had done him a favour. The more chaotic the Shen family was, the more convenient it would be for him to act. If it was arranged by someone, then who could it be? Thinking about Gao Qiulin’s last mention that there seemed to be another person behind the scenes, who was that person? But Gao Qiulin had always been a man who mixed truths and lies, so it was not certain that the so-called person behind the scenes really existed or was just his fantasy.
Wang Changlin thought about Gao Qiulin’s refusal to let go of his shares, and sneered secretly. After a while, he might as well regret not taking action now.
In the blink of an eye, it had been more than half a month since Shen Dehan was discharged from the hospital. Because of Chu Qianqian, Shen Dehan had stayed at the Shen’s house to take care of her and visited Shen Group just a few times. When Shen Dehan was admitted to the hospital, Shen Cheng became solely responsible for the affairs of Shen Group. Now that Shen Dehan was out of the hospital, he mentioned to the board of directors that Shen Ji should return to the position of general manager. But the board of directors refused to agree to this and Shen Dehan did not insist, thinking that he would wait for some time and let Ah Cheng take care of it for a while.
These days, Shen Ji had not set foot in the Shen family’s house and had only met with his father a few times at the office. Shen Ji did not say anything about Shen Cheng being in charge of Shen Group and just went about his daily business as usual.
If at first Shen Cheng was used to discussing everything with Shen Ji, as he became more and more proficient in handling company affairs, and because of Wang Changlin and Lu Gesen’s intentional coaxing, Shen Cheng gradually became accustomed to making his own decisions and rarely asked Shen Ji’s opinion.
Shen Ji was keenly aware of the change in Shen Cheng and could not hide the loss in his heart.
Although after Shen Cheng replaced him as the general manager of Shen Group, he had already expected that there would be such a day, and he even thought that if Shen Cheng was interested in Shen Group, it would be okay for Shen Group to be handed over to Shen Cheng. But when Shen Cheng really showed his intention, Shen Ji could not tell what he felt.
For Shen Ji, who was raised as the heir to the Shen family, his feelings towards Shen Group were too complicated. He had treated Shen Group as his own since he was a child, and all his efforts during his studies were only for the betterment of Shen Group in his hands in the future. All this time Shen Cheng also never showed interest in Shen Group and he thought…
Shen Ji thought of this and did not think further. He once resented his father’s suspicions of his aunt, and now it was his turn to find that he couldn’t be as free and easy as he thought. Taking a deep breath, Shen Ji stood silently in front of the window. Shen Group was very important to him, but Ah Cheng was more important than Shen Group.
In the middle of Shen Ji’s thoughts, the door of his office was suddenly knocked on heavily. Shen Ji came back to his senses, “Come in.”
The assistant pushed the door open with an anxious expression, “Ji Shao, there’s a problem.”
Shen Ji’s expression changed slightly, “What’s wrong?”
The assistant said urgently, “I have just received news that Anchor Corporation in Country M has been involved in a financial fraud scandal, with over 30 billion in falsified profits, and may face bankruptcy. Cheng Shao just bought several hundred million of Anchor’s financial derivatives half a month ago.”
Shen Ji’s expression turned solemn, “Does Ah Cheng know about it?”
The assistant nodded, “I just ran into Special Assistant Lu, he also received the news and was about to report it to Cheng Shao.”
Shen Ji was worried, “I’ll go check on Ah Cheng, you continue to keep an eye on Anchor’s news.”
Quickly walking to Shen Cheng’s office, Shen Ji directly pushed the door open. In the office, Lu Gesen was talking to Shen Cheng.
“Big Brother?” Shen Ji’s appearance was like a life-saving straw. Shen Cheng immediately stopped talking with Lu Gesen and grabbed Shen Ji, “Big Brother, what should we do? Is Anchor going to close down?”
Shen Ji steadied his mind, “How much did you invest?”
Shen Cheng gave Shen Ji a hesitant look and gritted his teeth, “One billion.”
Shen Ji’s face suddenly turned ugly. Shen Cheng was chagrined, “How did I know Anchor would collapse, it was fine yesterday, the last investment was made just yesterday.”
Shen Ji did not care to blame Shen Cheng and looked at Lu Gesen, “How likely is it that Anchor will collapse?”
Lu Gesen looked serious, “About 80%.”
Shen Ji smiled bitterly, “Then it looks like we’re going to lose money this time.”
Lu Gesen nodded in silence. With Shen Ji staying in Shen Cheng’s office, Lu Gesen quietly retreated. As he closed the door, Lu Gesen gave the two men in the office a silent glance and lowered his head to hide the calculations in his eyes.