CH 73

At 7 p.m., Yuanhui, the place second only to Shutu in Zhongjing, was bustling with brightly dressed people.

On his way back from the cemetery, Shen Xi received a phone call from Chen Zhiwei. It was his birthday today and he had invited a group of friends to get together. He hoped that Shen Xi would be able to attend. Of course, during the call, Chen Zhiwei specifically emphasised that Lao K and Fang Luowei would also attend. Although Shen Xi was not interested in such a party after his rebirth, Chen Zhiwei took the initiative to invite him, and since he was in a bad mood today, Shen Xi did not refuse and drove straight to Yuanhui after calling Li Mingxuan to tell him about it.

Chen Zhiwei had received a big red packet from Shen Xi not long ago, and was now in the midst of the best time in his life, so he was naturally very generous and had booked the most luxurious VIP room in Yuanhui. Although Shen Xi had never been here before, the waiters who worked in Yuanhui were not stupid. They recognized Shen Xi at a glance, so they did not wait for Chen Zhiwei to come out and respectfully guided Shen Xi to the VIP room.

At this moment, there were already a lot of people gathered in the room. It was a lively event, and Shen Xi’s arrival was a surprise to the crowd. Half of the people Chen Zhiwei invited today were from the cast of “Troubled Times”, so when they saw Shen Xi, the boss, they naturally came up to say hello, while the remaining half also tried to climb on Chen Zhiwei’s bandwagon and get to know Shen Xi. After all, there were many talented people in this circle, but not many people who were rich and quick to pay.

By the time Shen Xi had finished greeting everyone, he was already full of alcohol. After turning down a few of the young actors who tried to get close to him, Shen Xi naturally sat down next to Fang Luowei and Lao K.

“Why did you drink so much? You’ll have to drive later.” Fang Luowei scolded him softly. He did not join the crowd to go over to Shen Xi when he appeared, so he did not know that Shen Xi would drink so much. Now he quickly poured him a glass of orange juice.

When Shen Xi appeared, Lao K keenly felt that Shen Xi was in the wrong mood. Thinking about the afternoon call, he thought that Shen Xi was still in a bad mood because of Wang Changlin. He wanted to comfort him with a few words, but Fang Luowei was by his side. Some things were not easy to say; after all, what he and Shen Xi were doing was hidden from Fang Luowei.

Shen Xi smiled lightly and took the orange juice from Fang Luowei’s hand, and was about to say that it was not a problem when Chen Zhiwei came over with a smile, “Luowei, let’s go! I’ll take you to meet some friends.”

Through the time he spent with Shen Xi, Chen Zhiwei felt that he already knew Shen Xi very well. Shen Xi didn’t like this kind of socialising. It was obviously enough for him to be able to attend today and not refuse to toast to everyone. He didn’t dare to bother Shen Xi, and could only sell his goodwill to him through Fang Luowei.

Although Fang Luowei was worried about Shen Xi, he could not refuse Chen Zhiwei’s kindness. He told Lao K to keep an eye on Shen Xi and not to let him drink any more, and then got up and left with Chen Zhiwei.

Lao K couldn’t help but secretly praise Chen Zhiwei in his heart. He was worried about finding a chance to spend some time alone with Shen Xi. Seeing Fang Luowei walking away with Chen Zhiwei, Lao K turned to Shen Xi, “Not in a good mood?” They were in the corner of the room, and because of Shen Xi’s earlier rejection of the young actors, no one dared to come over, so there was no need to worry about anyone eavesdropping on their conversation.

Shen Xi nodded.

“Because of Wang Changlin?”

Shen Xi froze and quickly shook his head. Lao K’s eyes flicked over Shen Xi, “Then it’s because of Li Mingxuan?”

Shen Xi lifted a glass of wine in front of him and took a sip. Instead of denying it he nodded slightly.

Under the influence of alcohol, Shen Xi’s thoughts began to drift away. The appearance of Wang Changlin suddenly made him realise that his original plan to destroy the Shen family step by step was expected to be completed ahead of schedule, due to Wang Changlin’s identity and Shen Dehan’s trust in Wang Changlin. But as soon as this thought came to him, Li Mingxuan’s name suddenly appeared in his mind, reminding him that while he was retaliating against the Shen family, there was still a problem that needed to be solved.

When he was with Li Mingxuan at the beginning, it was simply because Li Mingxuan had the kind of warmth he craved. It happened that Li Mingxuan liked him, and all Shen Xi needed was someone to accompany him. To him, it made no difference whether the person was Li Mingxuan or someone else. In his consciousness, he did not even think about the future of the two of them. He had already made the decision to leave Zhongjing and settle abroad once he had finished taking revenge on the Shen family, and the reaction of Li Mingxuan at that time was not within his scope of consideration.

But as he spent time with Li Mingxuan, their relationship grew closer and closer, and many things changed without him realising it. Despite his repeated evasions, he had to admit that now Li Mingxuan was different from the others in his heart. He could not imagine the look on Li Mingxuan’s face when the dust settled and he knew the truth. The thought of that day made his heart indescribably sad.

Shen Xi’s expression was noticed by Lao K. He could not help but sigh. He did not know what he should say. Having known Shen Xi for five years, he thought that there was no one else in the world who knew Shen Xi better than he did. No matter how much Shen Xi pretended in front of everyone, what Shen Xi had shown him from the beginning was his true self.

Lao K knew that although Shen Xi usually acted indifferent, under his cold outer shell, he was just a man desperately in need of warmth because of his family’s long-standing indifference. Perhaps because he had felt so little warmth in the past, Shen Xi’s thirst for warmth was almost obsessive. And Li Mingxuan had done too good a job, infiltrating Shen Xi’s life little by little. Even he couldn’t find fault with Li Mingxuan. It was only natural that as time went on, Shen Xi would not be able to let go.

Lao K struggled to sort out the wording in his mind, thinking of how to comfort Shen Xi. Shen Xi looked at him and suddenly laughed, “I’m fine, I know what I want.”

Everything Lao K wanted to say was blocked by Shen Xi’s words. Shen Xi’s smile faded and he said in a soft voice, “No matter what the reason is, I will not give up taking revenge on the Shen family.” Shen Xi lowered his eyes. No matter how good Li Mingxuan was to him, there was still a fundamental difference between them. From the day he climbed out of the abyss, he was very clear what his purpose was. There was nothing that he couldn’t give up for it.

Shen Xi’s words were so firm that Lao K fell silent, saying nothing in the end.

The atmosphere in the room was getting noisy. A bunch of people heckled and shouted at Chen Zhiwei to sing. Shen Xi frowned slightly, got up and said, “I’ll go out for a while.” 

Lao K knew that Shen Xi didn’t like this kind of atmosphere and immediately said, “I’ll accompany you!”

Shen Xi nodded, “Okay.”

The two of them turned around and left the box after waving to Chen Zhiwei from afar. They walked out of Yuanhui quietly all the way. Lao K glanced at the time and suggested, “It’s already late. Why don’t I take you home? There’s no point in staying.”

Shen Xi didn’t answer, frowning and looking ahead.

“What’s wrong?” Lao K asked in surprise.

“Shen Rong is there.”

“Shen Rong?” Lao K followed Shen Xi’s line of sight and his expression changed slightly. Ahead of them, inside a car, Shen Rong was sitting with a man in his early thirties, and several packets of white powder were quickly handed from the man’s hand to Shen Rong’s.

Shen Rong quickly took out a roll of money and stuffed it into the man’s pocket, then hurried away with his head down. The strange man looked around and his eyes swept over Shen Xi and Lao K with a knowing smile.

Lao K frowned and pulled Shen Xi in a different direction.

Both of them could see clearly what Shen Rong was doing just now. Shen Xi did not expect Shen Rong to dare to get involved in drugs. Thinking about his father who was still lying in the hospital, Shen Xi thought about finding a suitable opportunity to reveal this to his father. Shen Dehan’s expression would definitely become very exciting.

Because of Shen Rong’s appearance, Shen Xi was not in the mood to stay any longer. Lao K was not at ease with the drunken Shen Xi and insisted on driving him home. The two of them were about to get into the car when there was an ear-splitting sound of brakes not far away. Shen Xi and Lao K subconsciously looked over and were both shocked with what they saw.

In front of them, Shen Rong was driven hard into a corner by a car that almost hit him. With the sound of the brakes, the car door opened and Shen Cheng jumped from inside.

“You’re crazy!” Shen Rong shouted in shock and anger as he was pressed to the wall by Shen Cheng who had just gotten out of the car.

Shen Cheng looked very strange at this moment. His face was pale, his hair was in a mess, and his clothes were obviously put together haphazardly, his expression twisted and hideous.

“I’m going to kill you!” Shen Cheng shouted fiercely as he lunged towards Shen Rong. Shen Rong was unable to dodge and was pinned to the wall, his neck squeezed by Shen Cheng until his breath was cut off.

“You… you let go!” Shen Rong desperately tried to break free from Shen Cheng’s grip but couldn’t do so because Shen Cheng was choking him with all his strength.

At the moment of life and death, Shen Rong had a flash of inspiration. He gave up on trying to break free from Shen Cheng’s hands and instead groped in his pocket with great difficulty, quickly pulling open a packet of powder and sprinkling it on Shen Cheng.

The white powder was blown at his face and his nose was filled with the tantalising smell. Shen Cheng’s movements immediately stopped and his eyes involuntarily moved to follow the flying powder. In the end, he couldn’t hold back and let go of Shen Rong. He quickly squatted down and started gathering the powder on the ground. He grabbed it casually, put it under his nose and sniffed hard, as if enjoying it.

A trace of astonishment appeared in Shen Xi’s eyes not far away.

Shen Rong broke away from Shen Cheng’s grip and clutched his neck, coughing hard. As Shen Cheng’s expression became more and more engrossed, a winning smile appeared on Shen Rong’s face. Raising his foot to kick Shen Cheng who was kneeling there, Shen Rong said triumphantly, “Do you still want to kill me, Second Brother?”

Shen Cheng looked up at Shen Rong. His eyes were full of resentment, but his hands were clutching the white powder despite himself.

Shen Rong smiled slightly, “Second Brother, you don’t want people to know that you are addicted to drugs, right? According to your status, it’s not suitable for you to come out and buy these things by yourself. You see, I can help you. As long as I don’t say anything, no one will know that you are addicted. Isn’t that good?”

With the last trace of clarity Shen Cheng said in a dumb voice, “If it wasn’t for you, how would I have become addicted?”

Shen Rong apologised insincerely, “Then I’ve really wronged Second Brother. Do you want to tell Father, tell Big Brother, tell everyone that I got you addicted to drugs?”

Shen Cheng stared deadly at Shen Rong, who smilingly fished out another bag of white powder from his pocket, and Shen Cheng’s eyes immediately changed, vaguely revealing greed.

Shen Rong laughed in satisfaction.

As Shen Rong and Shen Cheng left, Shen Xi stepped forward from the shadows. The drug addict turned out to be not Shen Rong but Shen Cheng. So this was going to be even more hilarious.