CH 80

When Li Mingxuan arrived home in the evening, Shen Xi had not yet returned. The night was getting dark quickly in winter, and the apartment was already dim.

Throwing the car keys aside, Li Mingxuan didn’t turn on the lights, but sat quietly at the desk in the darkness.

He had spent the whole afternoon listening to his mother’s account of the past. His mother said that both the Han and the Shen families had done wrong, and Shen Xi was the most innocent of all. His mother said that his grandfather had regrets before his death, but it was too late for him to make amends. His mother said that it was impossible to tell who was right and who was wrong. She said that the past was the past, and she hoped that Shen Xi could look forward. She said…

Li Mingxuan stared at the desk in silence, recalling what his mother had said. The more he thought about what she had said, the more bitter he felt in his heart. He wondered if all this could really become the past for Shen Xi, and what if it couldn’t? What would happen to Shen Xi?

The sound of a key opening the door reached him, and Li Mingxuan subconsciously got up and walked over. Shen Xi had just pushed the door in when he was hugged tightly in Li Mingxuan’s arms.

“Cousin?” Shen Xi said in surprise.

Li Mingxuan said “en” and hugged him even harder.

Shen Xi quietly stayed in Li Mingxuan’s embrace. Li Mingxuan lowered his head and kissed Shen Xi, saying softly, “Mother told me something about the past today, do you want to hear it?”

Shen Xi vaguely guessed that Li Mingxuan’s strange behaviour was due to something that was related to him. Hearing Li Mingxuan’s words, he admitted: “Cousin, you know I was investigating the past in private.”

Li Mingxuan was surprised by Shen Xi’s simple words. He thought that Shen Xi would hide this matter from him; he did not expect Shen Xi to be so frank. He smiled bitterly, “I will tell you.”

In the darkness, the two sat quietly on the sofa, and no one turned on the light. Li Mingxuan’s expression was hidden in the shadows, and only a rough outline of his figure could be faintly seen. His low magnetic voice sounded, unveiling the dusty past. The marriage between Han Rou and Shen Dehan, the birth of Shen Xi, Han Rou’s suicide, Elder Han’s calculations against the Shen family and Grandpa Shen’s will concerning Shen Group.

Shen Xi’s gaze gradually became complicated as Li Mingxuan kept telling the story. The impact of these words on him was no less than of the words Shen Dehan said yesterday. He believed that it was the truth; many memories he thought he had forgotten were interspersed with Li Mingxuan’s narrative, and for the first time, everything he did not know about the past was spread out in full before him.

Li Mingxuan’s voice paused as he looked at Shen Xi seriously, “Xiao Xi?”

“En?”

“What are you going to do?”

Both of them knew what Li Mingxuan was talking about. Shen Xi looked at Li Mingxuan quietly, the thought of telling the truth flashing through his mind several times before finally turning into three words, “I don’t know!” He really didn’t know, the 20% of shares belonging to him according to the will was something completely unplanned for him. In his previous life, he did not know about the will, and no one had ever told him about it. If he had known, he would not have passed up the opportunity to acquire Gao Qiulin’s shares in the first place, and there would have been many other options for him to take revenge on the Shen family.

“Cousin, what do you want me to do?”

Faced with Shen Xi’s rhetorical question, Li Mingxuan was silent for a while before finally whispering, “I don’t know.”

Ever since he had confirmed the contents of the will from his father this afternoon, Li Mingxuan had vaguely guessed the future in front of him. After hearing yesterday’s conversation, he could no longer deceive himself any further about what kind of feelings Shen Xi held for Shen Dehan and the Shen family. His heart ached for Shen Xi’s past and he understood his resentment, so he could not advise Shen Xi to put it all behind him as his mother had said. He could not be selfish enough to ask Shen Xi to give up the hatred in his heart, but he could not face Shen Xi’s possible retaliation calmly either.

Li Mingxuan looked at Shen Xi bitterly. He did not know what answer he expected to hear from Shen Xi. A boundless silence spread between the two, and no one said anything else.

Before Li Mingxuan could think clearly about all this, the news that Shen Rong, who had just been released on bail two days ago, got in a sudden car accident and suffered comminuted fractures in both legs once again pushed the Shen family into the limelight. Was it a mere accident or a deliberate conspiracy? If it was a conspiracy, then who was behind it? Was there any connection between this car accident and the previous drug-related case? All kinds of speculations were being made on the internet, and the drug-related case of the Shen family that was originally planned to be handled in a low-profile manner was once again exposed to the public.

In the hospital ward, Shen Rong, who had just undergone surgery, was still unconscious. Zhou Mingmei, who had always been calm and elegant in front of outsiders, lost her composure for the first time, pulling the doctor and asking him repeatedly, “Wasn’t the operation a success? Why is there still no guarantee that he will stand up for sure?”

The doctor was used to all kinds of questions from the patients’ families and did not take it personally, “Although the operation was successful, the patient had suffered comminuted fractures of both legs. Whether he can stand up or not will only depend on the subsequent recovery, the hospital cannot give a definite guarantee.”

Seeing Zhou Mingmei disheartened by his words, the doctor thought of the previous blood test and compassionately reminded her, “Miss Zhou, for the patient, the most important thing now is not the recovery of both legs, but to find a way to quit drugs.”

“Quit drugs?” Zhou Mingmei lost her voice, “Impossible, Ah Rong doesn’t take drugs!”

The pity in the doctor’s eyes intensified, “Whether Miss Zhou believes it or not, drug residues have indeed been detected in the patient’s blood, and based on the projection of the concentration, the patient already is possibly addicted.”

Car accident, drug addiction, Zhou Mingmei repeated these words in her mind. She originally did not believe that Shen Rong’s car accident was an accident, and now she heard that drug residues were detected in Shen Rong’s blood. She did not need to guess to know who was behind the accident. Besides Shen Ji, who else would hate Ah Rong so much?!

A trace of ferocity flashed across Zhou Mingmei’s face. She was originally not too willing to tear her face off with Shen Dehan, and her previous agreement with Wang Changlin was also a last resort. Shen Rong’s bail showed her that Shen Dehan wanted to cover up the scandal of the Shen family, and she thought that the incident of Shen Rong’s drug trafficking could pass without consequences. But now that Shen Rong had been involved in a car accident and might never stand up again, and drugs were detected in his blood, even if he didn’t go to prison, he was still completely ruined. Although Shen Rong could no longer be used in a battle, he was still her only son, the only one she could rely on for the rest of her life. She had been calculating for so many years, and seeing that she was getting farther and farther away from her goal until she had completely lost hope, how could she bear this anger?

Since Shen Ji refused to give her and her son a chance to live, don’t blame her for not leaving any room for manoeuvre for him either.

Shen Rong was not awake yet when Zhou Mingmei contacted the reporters. Shen Rong’s car accident was not an accident but a premeditated attempt on his life. She also implied that it was related to the previous drug-related case and connected to Shen Cheng. She had evidence in her hand to prove it. When the news broke out, reporters suddenly surrounded the hospital where Shen Rong was staying, and for a while, rumours of a drug-related case that involved Shen Rong taking the blame for Shen Cheng and Shen Cheng hiring someone to silence him were rampant.

Shen Ji put down the newspaper in his hand and looked at Li Mingxuan who was caught up in his own emotions since he arrived.

“You have something on your mind?”

Li Mingxuan came back to his senses and avoided the question, “How is Ah Cheng?”

Shen Ji shook his head, not asking anymore, and said, “Still the same. You know drug rehabilitation requires perseverance. Ah Cheng has never suffered since he was young. If he hadn’t been tied up all the time, he would have given up long ago.”

Li Mingxuan sighed and his eyes fell on the newspaper, “What are you going to do about Shen Rong?”

Shen Ji’s eyes went cold, “Zhou Mingmei wants to pin the car accident on Ah Cheng, how can it be so cheap and easy? Since she said she has evidence, let her bring it out.”

Shen Ji originally hired someone to follow Shen Rong with the intention of kidnapping him and injecting him with drugs. If Shen Rong dared to addict Shen Cheng to drugs, he would want Shen Rong to suffer the same pain. But he never expected to witness Shen Rong’s car accident. Although his intention to take advantage of the chaos was also achieved, Zhou Mingmei wanted to place this matter on Ah Cheng’s head. Did she really think he would care about his father’s face and wouldn’t touch her?

Li Mingxuan naturally knew that the car accident had nothing to do with Shen Ji, but the question now was who was behind the car accident. Shen Rong had just been released on bail when the car accident happened, and those who knew the inside story of Shen Cheng’s drug use before would inevitably link it to Shen Ji. Looking at Zhou Mingmei’s attitude, it was clear that this was what she thought, which was why she was so determined to bite Shen Cheng to death.

“Do you think it was an accident or man-made?” Li Mingxuan said.

Shen Ji frowned, “Do you think it could have been done by the Tian family? Previously, the Tian family tried to implement Shen Rong’s drug trafficking charges, but Father bailed him out, so it’s inevitable that the Tian family would be indignant and do something else.”

“The Tian family isn’t stupid and wouldn’t do something like this directly.” Li Mingxuan shook his head.

“It was neither me nor the Tian family, was it really an accident?”

Shen Ji’s doubts were also exactly what Shen Xi was wondering about.

“The Tian family would only lend a hand and would not take action on their own. And Shen Ji is not stupid enough to attract the attention of reporters at a time like this. Could it really be an accident?”

Lao K scoffed at the idea of the so-called accident, “You think there would be such an unexpected accident? He had a car accident right after he was released on bail, then drugs were found in his blood, a series of events all vaguely suggesting that it was Shen Ji taking revenge. It’s clear that someone wants to see the Shen family fight internally. Aren’t the rumours that Zhou Mingmei let out to the public enough to explain the problem?”

Shen Xi laughed, “According to your analysis, the only one who wants to see the Shen family infighting is me. Could it be that I did it sleepwalking?”

Lao K was serious, “It’s really possible.”

Shen Xi was amused by Lao K’s face, and the depression that had built up in his heart due to past events was swept away.

“What are you going to do with the shares in your hands after you turn 23?” Lao K asked. 

Shen Xi hesitated, “I learned about the will too late, otherwise I would have bought the shares in Gao Qiulin’s hand at that time. Now these shares are not of much use to us, what’s your best idea?”

“Sell them?” Lao K suggested.

Shen Xi pondered, “Selling is definitely the way to go, the key is who to sell to? When is the right time to sell?”

Lao K looked at Shen Xi, “What do you think about the person who took over Gao Qiulin’s shares? Gao Qiulin’s shares plus yours are enough to make him the majority shareholder of Shen Group.”

“Cooperate with him?” Shen Xi’s expression became serious.