CH 74

“What are you going to do about it?” On the way back, Lao K asked while driving steadily.

Perhaps because he had been drinking a little too quickly, Shen Xi felt dizzy since he got into the car and was quietly leaning back in his seat with his eyes closed. When he heard Lao K speak, he slowly opened his eyes and rubbed his temples hard to wake up, “What do you propose?”

Lao K thought about it and said, “How about finding a few people to keep an eye on the two of them and collect some evidence to send to Shen Dehan? Let Shen Dehan see how one of his sons lured the other into taking drugs. By the way, we can also find some reporters to break the news. You know how much reporters love such stories.”

Lao K’s proposal was good, but Shen Xi was not going to let the matter go simply like that. Changing his position comfortably, Shen Xi lazily said, “I remember that citizens are obliged to report drug addicts, and the government seems to offer certain rewards?”

Lao K was stunned and quickly understood, “You want to call the police?”

Shen Xi said, “Shen Cheng is using drugs and Shen Rong is dealing drugs, so as a law-abiding citizen, I naturally have the obligation to report them.”

A trace of strangeness flashed across Lao K’s face; he tried hard to suppress his smile and nodded, “Good, we are all good law-abiding citizens, leave this matter to me.”

The corners of Shen Xi’s mouth slowly curled up, but there was not the slightest smile in his eyes.

The distance from Yuanhui to Shen Xi’s home was not far, just a twenty-minute drive. Halfway through the journey, Shen Xi received a call from Li Mingxuan asking when he would be home and if he needed to pick him up. Shen Xi glanced at Lao K beside him, shook his head and said that he would be home soon and did not need Li Mingxuan to make another trip.

The two soon arrived downstairs in Shen Xi’s community. Lao K parked the car and gestured to Shen Xi, “Do you need me to take you upstairs?”

Shen Xi shook his head, “Forget it, I’m fine on my own.”

Fang Luowei was different, but for Lao K it was better to appear in front of Li Mingxuan as little as possible. Lao K knew Shen Xi’s concerns and did not insist.

After seeing Lao K leave, Shen Xi endured dizziness and pressed the button of the elevator. When he got out of the elevator, it seemed there was a problem with the sound-controlled lights in the hallway, because there were no lights on and the entire corridor was black. Shen Xi was searching for the keys in his pocket when the door suddenly opened, revealing Li Mingxuan’s smiling face, “You’re back.”

At that moment, Shen Xi’s whole body was merged with the boundless darkness behind him, while a step away, Li Mingxuan appeared in front of him with a gentle smile, a soft light glowing behind his back. Shen Xi stood in the corridor, looking straight at Li Mingxuan not far away. The boundary between darkness and light was clearly visible between the two.

“What’s wrong?” As he looked at Shen Xi standing motionless, worry surfaced in Li Mingxuan’s eyes. He stepped forward and pulled Shen Xi closer.

The moment their bodies came into contact, Shen Xi felt a fierce flutter in his heart, followed by an abnormal throbbing. Almost instinctively, he reached out and hugged Li Mingxuan, burying his head tightly against the other man’s neck. The faint smell of alcohol wafted out from Shen Xi’s body, and Li Mingxuan smiled, thinking that Shen Xi’s earlier abnormality was due to his drinking. Habitually, he reached out and rubbed Shen Xi’s hair, “Drunk?” The tone of his voice was full of doting.

Shen Xi shook his head and didn’t say anything, his soft hair brushing over Li Mingxuan’s earlobe, his warm breath spraying on his neck. Li Mingxuan couldn’t help but hug Shen Xi tighter. Only after a while did he realise that they were still in the corridor.

Li Mingxuan carefully carried Shen Xi into the apartment, lowered his head and kissed him, “Tired? Do you want to rest for a while first?”

Perhaps the aftereffects of drinking made Shen Xi feel even more dizzy. Letting go of Li Mingxuan, Shen Xi frowned and stood straight, “I want to take a shower.”

Li Mingxuan’s eyes flashed slightly, his face overflowing with a smile, “Okay!”

After undressing and getting into the bathtub filled with the warm water Shen Xi felt finally more comfortable, and even the dizziness wasn’t as bad as before. Leaning in the bathtub in relaxation, Shen Xi recalled the fluttering that had just flashed through his heart, and the expression on his face became puzzled. This was not the first time he had felt a throbbing in his heart for Li Mingxuan, but this time the feeling was so strong that it seemed a warm current washed over his heart in an instant, making it beat violently. Shen Xi stretched out his hand and placed it on his chest. His heart was still beating with excitement until now, as if there was a strong force stirring in it, refusing to be calmed down.

What Li Mingxuan saw when he pushed open the bathroom door was Shen Xi sitting naked in the bathtub, his right hand on his heart, staring blankly at the surface of the water.

“What is Xiao Xi thinking about?”

Li Mingxuan’s voice suddenly reached him and Shen Xi subconsciously looked over. With the wet hair sticking to Shen Xi’s face and his dazed expression, Li Mingxuan felt his heart instantly soften. Shen Xi now looked like a soft little animal to him. With an unconscious smile in his eyes, Li Mingxuan moved quickly to take off his clothes and walked over to Shen Xi.

When a small bathtub accommodated two grown men, their bodies inevitably overlapped. Li Mingxuan sat behind Shen Xi and held him in his arms. Shen Xi obediently leaned against Li Mingxuan’s chest and closed his eyes slightly. The water in the bathtub was gentle and the embrace behind him was so reassuring that Shen Xi only wanted to close his eyes and rest for a while, but he actually fell asleep without realising it.

When Li Mingxuan realised that the man in his arms was actually asleep, an odd look couldn’t help but appear on his face. With a bitter smile, he stood up and left the bathroom holding the wet Shen Xi in his arms, trying to ignore the little brother standing upright below.

The sleeping Shen Xi unconsciously expressed his trust in Li Mingxuan and pressed tightly to his chest. Li Mingxuan obediently lay down beside Shen Xi, lowered his head and tenderly kissed him on the cheek, then swept him up in his arms and fell asleep together.

Since his return from the cemetery that day, Shen Xi stayed at home for several days without going out. As for Shen Cheng and Shen Rong, Lao K arranged for someone to keep an eye on them, with the intention of finding a suitable opportunity to stir up the matter. According to Lao K, Shen Cheng hadn’t been addicted to drugs for long. The reason why he was so out of shape last time was because he had locked himself up in the hotel for two days to try to kick his drug addiction, but who knew that he would not be able to resist in the end and would be desperate to find Shen Rong. After a few days of observation, it seemed that Shen Cheng gave up the idea of quitting and never mentioned getting clean again.

Shen Xi huddled on the sofa, switching the TV channels haphazardly as Lao K’s words flashed through his mind. To be honest, he was also a bit confused about Shen Rong’s motives. Shen Cheng was the one with the best attitude towards Shen Rong in the Shen family, why would Shen Rong do this? Was it because he saw Shen Ji being expelled from Shen Group and thought that by destroying Shen Cheng he would have a chance to rise to the top?

After thinking about it for a long time and not understanding it, Shen Xi was too lazy to think about it anymore and comfortably changed his position, closing his eyes and preparing to take a nap. The ear-piercing ringing of his mobile phone sounded abruptly. Shen Xi looked at the words “Li Mingxuan”, slightly stunned, and then quickly answered.

“Cousin?”

Li Mingxuan’s serious voice came over, “Xiao Xi, stay at home today, if there are any strange calls, don’t answer them.”

“What’s wrong?” Shen Xi’s first thought was that Shen Cheng’s drug use had been exposed.

Li Mingxuan hesitated slightly for a moment, “Ah Cheng has been arrested for using drugs.”

Hearing the expected answer, Shen Xi cooperated, saying in surprise, “What?” Then he added, “What does that have to do with me?”

Li Mingxuan patiently explained, “The one who was arrested together with him was Shen Rong who might be involved in distributing drugs. The reporters outside are going crazy, and there is a possibility that you and Shen Ji will be involved.”

Shen Xi understood the meaning of Li Mingxuan’s words. The reporters probably wanted to implicate all of them in the drug incident for the sake of gaining a bigger story.

When he was preparing to expose this matter, Shen Xi had already predicted that he would definitely be affected. After all, his previous reputation was too notorious and he could easily be involved in such matters. But how could Shen Ji be involved? That was rather strange.

“I see.” Hanging up the phone, Shen Xi opened the computer and was about to look for some relevant reports when Lao K’s call came in.

“Are you saying that someone else is behind this matter?”

Lao K let out an “en”, “The Tian and the Fang families are both behind this.”

In the past few days of watching Shen Cheng, Lao K had been unable to find a suitable opportunity to expose this matter. Because Shen Rong and Shen Cheng usually meet at clubs, and these clubs all had powerful backgrounds behind them, Lao K was not in a position to act rashly. When Shen Cheng stayed at the hotel yesterday and Shen Rong rushed there early in the morning, Lao K immediately arranged for the police to be called and informed the reporters by the way.

He originally only planned to make this matter a big deal, but he didn’t expect that several competitors of the Shen family had heard the news and pushed the boat along the water behind his back to involve Shen Xi and Shen Ji, with the Tian family in particular being the most active and thoroughly trying to discredit the Shen family.

Lao K roughly explained the process, “Now that Shen Cheng and Shen Rong have both been arrested, reporters are surrounding the police station, I reckon some reporters might try to contact you to get a quote, so pay attention.”

Li Mingxuan had already warned him before, and Shen Xi was prepared.

Lao K said with worry, “Should we find a way to stop the news that concerns you?”

Shen Xi laughed, “What’s there to stop, everyone knows I’m notorious anyway, so one more stain is nothing. Besides, it’s not like I got caught directly like Shen Cheng. The reporters are just doing their work. I don’t care, it’s Mr. Shen and Big Brother who are really going to be angry.”

Lao K also knew that once this story broke out, Shen Xi would definitely be affected. But being affected and being deliberately smeared were two different situations. He was a bit worried that the reporters would go too far with it. But now that Shen Xi didn’t mind, he didn’t say anything else.

Hanging up again, Shen Xi squeezed the phone and smiled lightly.

In the past, the Shen family was a behemoth, and although the people around it secretly coveted it, they did not dare to touch it. Now after a series of storms starting with Yunrou, the Shen family was like a badly wounded prey, and everyone around couldn’t help but pursue it, following the smell of blood.

This was good, this would save him a lot of effort.