CH 77

When the news of Shen Rong being released on bail by the Shen family reached Shen Xi’s ears, he was surrounded by reporters downstairs at his company.

Since it was Shen Xi’s first appearance since the drug-related incident, the reporters were obviously very excited and were chasing after him to try to get some exclusive information. Shen Xi’s face was expressionless as he dismissed all the microphones in front of him with the words “no comment”, until a reporter shouted out the news that Shen Rong had been released on bail by the Shen family. Only then did Shen Xi’s expression change.

The reporter was obviously keenly aware of Shen Xi’s expression and quickly repeated what he had said before. Shen Xi frowned slightly, glanced at the reporter, and said nothing.

The company’s security escorted him into the company. Lao K was already in his office early.

When he saw Lao K, Shen Xi thought of the reporter’s words earlier and said in confusion, “What is the matter with Shen Rong being bailed out by the Shen family? Didn’t Mr. Shen already know the truth about Shen Cheng’s drug addiction? Why was he still willing to bail him out?”

Lao K seemed to have something on his mind and didn’t hear Shen Xi’s words. Shen Xi patted him suspiciously, “What’s wrong?”

Lao K shook his head without saying anything, but handed a report in front of him to Shen Xi.

“You should read this first.”

Shen Xi took it in confusion; his eyes darted over the contents, and as his eyes moved down, his body visibly froze.

Lao K looked worriedly at Shen Xi, whose expression he couldn’t see. He couldn’t guess how Shen Xi was feeling at the moment, but he knew he wouldn’t be calm. The report didn’t really contain much; it was everything he had found out about the Han family. There was only one exceptional thing he had inadvertently discovered, and that was the reason why he had asked Shen Xi to come to the office. As Shen Xi lingered on the report for longer and longer, the worry in Lao K’s eyes grew deeper. He did not know what kind of impact this matter would have on Shen Xi, but he had no right to hide this matter.

The office fell into silence. After a while, Shen Xi raised his head looking as usual, “Have you checked the results of this test?”

Shen Xi’s tone was very plain, as if he had casually asked a perfectly normal question. Lao K hid the worry in his eyes and shook his head, “It’s been too long. We could only find out that Shen Dehan had this test done back then, but we can’t find out what the test results were.”

Shen Xi listened quietly to Lao K’s words, his eyes once again falling on the report in front of him. The words “DNA test” reflected in his pupils, two familiar names on it deeply mocking. Shen Xi subconsciously squeezed the report, and the memories of his previous life in prison and his childhood flashed through his mind, finally focusing on the cold face of Shen Dehan.

Shen Xi could not tell what he felt in his heart at this moment. There was anger, confusion and a vague fear of the outcome. His long-standing belief was crumbling, as if it would collapse at the slightest push.

In his previous life, Shen Xi had asked himself countless times why his father did not like him. Why didn’t the Shen family like him? He had always thought it was because of his mother, because of the ridiculously misplaced anger, but now the truth was coming out. Shen Dehan’s coldness, Shen Dehan’s disregard, Shen Dehan’s indifference to his imprisonment, all of it had a logical explanation. He was not Shen Dehan’s child.

Shen Xi had imagined countless reasons, but had never thought in that direction. If he was not Shen Dehan’s child, then what was the point of his revenge? What was the purpose of his rebirth? From ten years in prison in his previous life to his rebirth in this life, what supported him was his belief that the Shen family owed him, and he wanted to get back every bit of what he was owed. He wanted to make the Shen family lose their father-son bonds and turn brothers against each other, and he wanted to destroy the Shen family with his own hands. But now he suddenly found out that he might not be the Shen family’s child, so did the Shen family still owe him?

Shen Xi’s silence made Lao K very uneasy; things were developing beyond their expectations. Lao K didn’t know how to persuade Shen Xi, and in fact his mind was full of questions. What had happened between Shen Dehan and Han Rou back then? Why would Shen Dehan suspect that Shen Xi was not his son? Especially since Shen Dehan had done the test not long after Han Rou died, was there something else they didn’t know about Han Rou’s death? The most crucial thing was what the result of the test was back then. Thinking about the way Shen Dehan had been treating Shen Xi, Lao K had a vague suspicion.

Lao K racked his brain to try to say something to break the silence in the room, but before he could think of a suitable topic, Shen Xi suddenly raised his head.

“Do you think this whole thing is ridiculous?”

For the first time, Lao K felt he couldn’t keep up with Shen Xi’s thoughts, and Shen Xi didn’t seem to need an answer from him.

“I hate Shen Dehan, I hate his heartlessness towards my mother, I hate his indifference towards me, I hate the fact that he never treated me as his son. I hated everyone in the Shen family because they were a family and I was always like an outsider around them. I took revenge on them, I designed to make the father fall out with the sons and to turn brothers against each other. Because I never had their affection, I wanted to destroy the affection between them too. But now I suddenly realise that I might really be just an outsider to them, that what I expected should never have belonged to me in the first place. So what did I do all this for?”

Shen Xi’s tone revealed confusion and self-denial, and Lao K became anxious. “Xiao Xi!” he interrupted him directly, “This matter has not been investigated clearly, it is too early to draw a conclusion, maybe it’s not at all what you think.”

“It’s not what I think?” Shen Xi gently fondled the report in his hand and made up his mind, “I’ll go to the hospital.”

Regardless of whether the truth of the matter was the same as he thought, he needed Shen Dehan to give him the answer to this matter.

Lao K let out a silent sigh. His intention was to get some of Shen Dehan’s hair through Chu Qianqian to re-do the DNA test with Shen Xi. This way, whether it was true or not, the shock that Shen Xi would face would be much less than directly asking Shen Dehan for verification. But looking at the determination in Shen Xi’s eyes, Lao K knew that he could not dissuade him and had to acquiesce to Shen Xi’s actions.

Shen Xi’s arrival came as a surprise to the bodyguards at the hospital, as it was no secret to them that Shen Xi was not on good terms with his father. Even Chu Qianqian was very surprised to see Shen Xi appear alone, and the astonished expression on her face was very clear.

“Is Mr. Shen here?” Shen Xi noticed everyone’s reaction, but he did not care, just asking Chu Qianqian expressionlessly.

Chu Qianqian snapped back to attention. Although she felt that Shen Xi’s search for Shen Dehan was very odd, she did not show it.

“Mr. Shen is asleep, does Sanshao want to wait?”

Shen Xi nodded in silence, pushed open the door of the ward and walked in. After a moment’s hesitation, Chu Qianqian decisively left the ward. She was keenly aware that Shen Xi’s mood was not normal and it was better for her to hide away while Shen Xi took care of his affairs.

The bodyguards looked at each other and hesitantly informed Shen Ji of the incident. As for how Shen Ji would react, it was not their concern.

Shen Xi did not care about the thoughts of the people outside the ward; his attention was drawn to Shen Dehan lying on the hospital bed. Compared to half a year ago, Shen Dehan, who was lying in bed with his eyes closed, had obviously aged a lot, and his complexion was not as rosy as it used to be, but rather grey, and a lot of white hair could be seen on his head.

Shen Xi stood there quietly. Shen Dehan had the standard appearance of the Shen family, with a wide forehead and square face. She Xi had the impression that his grandfather was also like this, not to mention Shen Ji and Shen Cheng who looked very similar to Shen Dehan. He was the only child in the Shen family that was not like Shen Dehan at all. As he grew older, he looked more and more like his deceased uncle. It was no wonder that Shen Xi suspected that he was not a child of the Shen family.

Shen Xi just stood there in silence. He didn’t know how much time had passed when Shen Dehan’s eyes moved and there was a vague sign of him waking up.

In a daze, Shen Dehan felt someone standing in front of him and subconsciously said, “Qianqian?”

Shen Xi replied faintly, “It’s me.”

Shen Xi’s voice took Shen Dehan by surprise. When he opened his eyes, he saw Shen Xi standing right in front of him, his eyes dark and deep, full of emotions he could not understand.

“What are you doing here?” Shen Dehan said with disgust.

Shen Xi’s eyes swept over his father’s expression and he said slowly, “I have something I want to know the answer to.”

Shen Dehan’s heart twitched as he stared at Shen Xi suspiciously, “What do you want to know?”

Shen Xi stared straight at Shen Dehan and said word for word, “Am I a child of the Shen family, am I your son?”

When these words reached Shen Dehan’s ears, he was unable to conceal his shock. After the astonishment, a trace of annoyance flashed across Shen Dehan’s face extremely quickly, “You unfilial son, what are you talking about?”

Shen Xi was indifferent to his father’s reaction and simply repeated his question, “I want to know if I am your son.”

His tone caused Shen Dehan’s instant rage; he haphazardly grabbed a few magazines by his pillow and threw them viciously at Shen Xi.

“You evil son, you think if you weren’t my son, I would have put up with you living in the Shen family for so many years? I would have strangled you to death as soon as you were born!”

Despite lying in the bed, Shen Dehan’s furious strength was not small. The magazine hit Shen Xi’s face hard, and the sharp cover cut a bloody mark on his cheek. Shen Xi didn’t care about it, looked straight into his father’s fire-breathing eyes and  let out a low laugh.

“So it turns out I am your son, a child of the Shen family.”

Shen Xi’s tone was full of mockery and a sense of relief that Shen Dehan could not comprehend. Shen Dehan’s anger was once again ignited, “What kind of tone is that? Do you think the Shen family has wronged you?”

Shen Xi stared at Shen Dehan indifferently, saying to himself, “You have never liked me since I was a child and never regarded me as your son. I used to think that you were angry with me because you didn’t like my mother, but today I learned that you suspected my origin. I asked you just to know the real reason why you ignored me for so many years. But now that you have admitted that I am your son, tell me, compared to Shen Ji and Shen Cheng, where did the Shen family not wrong me?”

Shen Xi’s voice was unhurried, but it caused Shen Dehan to become completely furious. The scene in front of him brought back embarrassing memories. Shen Xi’s face looked exactly like Han Yu’s back then. After Han Rou’s death, Han Yu questioned him with a grim face in front of everyone about him wronging Han Rou. The condemning eyes of the crowd made Shen Dehan feel ashamed of himself for the first time, but he could not speak up to defend himself and could only let Han Yu humiliate him.

Shen Dehan’s trembling right hand pointed at Shen Xi. Where had he wronged them, Han Rou or Shen Xi, where had he wronged them?

Shen Xi’s face gradually overlapped with Han Yu’s in his memory, and all of Shen Dehan’s anger piled up as he shouted, “You evil son, what do you know! You think the Shen family has wronged you, do you think the Han family is better? What do you think the Han family is? I’m telling you, the Han family are all madmen, a bunch of madmen! Do you think your mother was wronged, do you know what she did back then? She set up a trap with that crazy uncle of yours using the Han family’s century-old foundation to drag the Shen family down with it. I wronged her? Where did I wrong her? She wronged me! Why do you think she jumped out of the window in the first place? It was because she was pregnant, the baby wasn’t mine, and she jumped to cover up the scandal. Do you know that all these years when I see you, I think of her, of the sinful child in her belly, of the wild man she slept with I don’t know where!”

Shen Dehan gasped violently as he said it all in one breath. Han Rou’s cheating was a lifelong shame for him. He had always thought that Han Ruo really loved him, but Han Ruo’s cheating was a slap in his face. The most ridiculous thing was that he couldn’t defend himself, he could only hide this matter in his heart; even when Han Yu humiliated him like that, he couldn’t say a word to defend himself.

Shen Dehan stared at Shen Xi grimly. So what if Shen Xi was his son? All these years, Shen Xi’s existence was only a reminder of how that woman Han Ruo had played him for a fool.

When Shen Xi had read Lao K’s investigation report about Shen Dehan’s suspicion of his origin, he already had a vague thought that his mother had cheated on Shen Dehan. Looking at Shen Dehan’s shameful expression, Shen Xi couldn’t help but sneer.

“I’ve never seen a scumbag man like you, Mr. Shen! You say it’s my mother who wronged you. Why don’t you ask yourself? You just think it’s a shame that my mother slept out there with another man, but what about you? What about you keeping Zhou Mingmei outside? If you hadn’t broken my mother’s heart, why would she have found someone else outside if she loved you so much? You only put all the blame on my mother, you don’t even think that the source of everything is you. If you didn’t love my mother, why did you marry her in the first place? If you are married, why do you only have demands for my mother but not for yourself? You refuse to take even the most basic responsibility as a man. After all, you are just a selfish man who only has himself in his heart.”

Shen Dehan’s face turned red with anger at these words. He trembled, pointing at Shen Xi, unable to say a word for a long time.

Shen Xi took a step forward and leaned down to look at Shen Dehan, “You said that my mother joined hands with my uncle to set up the Shen family. Ask your own conscience what you did to make Uncle so angry that he wanted to set you up even at the expense of the Han family’s hundred-year foundation? You’ve been on guard against me all these years, and you’ve even been trying to raise me as a waste deliberately. Is it because your shadow was behind the Han family’s downfall back then that you’re afraid, afraid that I’ll learn the truth, afraid of what I’ll do to the Shen family when I grow up? You said the Shen family didn’t do me wrong, do you think it was enough for the Shen family to raise me and give me money to spend? You seem to have forgotten that it was the nanny who raised me, and the money spent on me was all left behind by Grandpa back then.”

Shen Xi’s tone was full of ridicule, and Shen Dehan couldn’t say a word against it.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Shen, I am really not interested in Shen Group at all. What is there for me to be interested in a business that is going to go bankrupt? Mr. Shen, instead of focusing on guarding against me, why don’t you think about whether you still have a son who can hold up this mess of Shen Group? I seem to remember that my elder brother was expelled from Shen Group by the board of directors, and my second brother is completely wasted after taking drugs. Oh yes, you still have a beloved illegitimate son, why don’t you accept him into the Shen family? I’ve heard that after Tian Wenyao, he’s gotten close to Zhang Qiu, and based on his interactions, I don’t think Mr. Shen needs to worry that the hundred-year foundation of the Shen family will be cut off in the hands of this generation of the Shen family. Of course the first thing Mr. Shen needs to do is to clear his name of drug trafficking. It’s really hard for Mr. Shen.”

If a gaze could kill, Shen Xi was sure he would have died under Shen Dehan’s gaze many times, but unfortunately the tall, magnificent man he remembered from his early childhood was now nothing more than a frail old man lying in a hospital bed unable to move, only able to stare at him with hatred.

Shen Dehan struggled to keep his emotions calm and said with difficulty, “Don’t forget that your surname is also Shen, and you will be nothing without the Shen family.”

Shen Xi smiled faintly, “That’s not something you need to worry about, Mr. Shen.” After saying this, Shen Xi straightened up and took a step back, “By the way, Mr. Shen, please make sure you take good care of your health. I’m waiting to see your final retribution.”

Ignoring the murderous gaze of Shen Dehan, Shen Xi turned around and pushed open the door of the ward. One step away from the door, Li Mingxuan stood there quietly.