Li Mingxuan felt that he had touched another side of Shen Xi.
That night, Shen Xi’s body was free from the caution of detachment, free from the suspicious inquiry, and even his hidden sharpness had disappeared. He took off the mask he had been using to disguise himself and revealed a side of himself that he had never shown before, soft and sensitive.
He shrank quietly in Li Mingxuan’s arms, one hand clutching Li Mingxuan’s pyjamas tightly, his brow relaxed and his expression peaceful as he let out a shallow breath.
In the faint orange light, Li Mingxuan’s eyes were soft; one of his arms was under Shen Xi’s body and his other hand was on Shen Xi’s back, patting him lightly. Li Mingxuan didn’t know how long he had been doing this, but he was willing to go on like this forever.
That night, in this small bedroom, Li Mingxuan did not think about the disgust Shen Xi might feel for him, or the reaction of his family when they found out about it. He just completely followed the guidance of his feelings and looked at Shen Xi quietly, Shen Xi’s appearance engraved in his heart over and over again.
The night became darker little by little and then the sky grew whiter. There was already a faint light outside the window. Li Mingxuan stayed in place for the whole night without the slightest hint of drowsiness.
Shen Xi slept very deeply and peacefully, the scattered hair on his forehead slipping down and likely making him feel uncomfortable. Li Mingxuan reached out to brush away the strand and finally could not resist lowering his head and giving Shen Xi’s smooth forehead a light kiss.
This kiss brought great satisfaction to Li Mingxuan. He looked at Shen Xi tenderly, his heart softening.
At seven in the morning, Shen Xi slowly opened his eyes and woke up. The early morning sunlight was soft, not dazzling. Shen Xi slowly stretched his back. After a good night’s sleep his mood improved.
“Awake?” A gentle voice sounded from the doorway, vaguely tinged with a hint of laughter.
Shen Xi followed the voice and looked over as Li Mingxuan walked in and very naturally offered a hand to him.
Shen Xi hesitantly glanced at Li Mingxuan, reached out and accepted his hand, and was pulled up by Li Mingxuan. Memories of last night returned to his mind one by one. It seemed he once again had thought of the man in front of him as his grandfather, weakly drawing warmth from him. Shen Xi lowered his eyes, hiding the complexity in his gaze.
Li Mingxuan pretended not to see Shen Xi’s hesitation and said with a smile, “Hurry up and clean up, I’ve made breakfast.”
Shen Xi had an indescribable feeling in his heart and nodded slowly.
Li Mingxuan’s cooking was unexpectedly good, the porridge was thick and fragrant, the bread toasted crispy, and with the fried eggs, everything looked very appetising.
Shen Xi ate quietly, slowly but cleanly. As he was about to put down his chopsticks, Li Mingxuan chucked the last fried egg into his bowl, “Eat more.”
There was a momentary pause in Shen Xi’s movements, and then he slowly ate it. Shen Xi didn’t want to admit it, but in his heart he enjoyed the feeling of being cared for, as if a huge hole in his heart was being filled up little by little, and he even wanted more of it.
Opposite Shen Xi, Li Mingxuan looked at him with a gentle expression, the corners of his mouth curled up to reveal a faint smile.
After finishing the breakfast, Li Mingxuan didn’t let Shen Xi do anything and naturally cleaned up the bowls in the kitchen.
Leaning against the doorway, Shen Xi watched Li Mingxuan’s skillful handling of the bowls and casually asked, “Cousin, did you recognise the gang of punks yesterday?”
“What?” Li Mingxuan immediately stopped and turned his head to look at Shen Xi, “What is Xiao Xi going to do?…”
Although Li Mingxuan didn’t finish his sentence, Shen Xi heard the meaning of his words. Shen Xi’s face showed mockery, “What does Cousin think I’m going to do?”
Li Mingxuan let out a silent sigh. The softness of last night had faded away and the Shen Xi in front of him was once again covered in thorns. He put down the bowl and walked up to Shen Xi, “Xiao Xi, those people we met yesterday are different from us and different from the people you met before. They live at the bottom of society and are willing to do anything for money. They ignore all morals and laws and are fearless because they are ignorant. Any one of them is ruthless enough, especially the last man you saw yesterday. Don’t mess with them, understand?”
Li Mingxuan’s tone was serious and earnest, and Shen Xi lowered his eyes, “You think too much, Cousin. It’s just that a friend of mine has offended them and I want to see if it can be resolved.”
“Friend? Which one?” Li Mingxuan asked.
Shen Xi mocked, “Does Cousin know any of my friends?”
This sentence made Li Mingxuan’s eyes flash in sadness, and he said softly, “Sorry!”
This apology was completely unexpected. Shen Xi gave Li Mingxuan a deep look and inclined his head without speaking.
“I’ve dealt with them before and I still have a bit of face. Tell me your friend’s name and I’ll go talk to them, it’s much better than you stepping in.” Li Mingxuan was unwilling to let Shen Xi get even remotely involved with that gang and took the initiative to resolve the matter.
Shen Xi hesitated for a moment, and after thinking about it, he gave Fang Luowei’s name. Even though Li Mingxuan had already guessed the name in his heart, he could not help but have a dark look in his eyes. But the expression on his face did not change in the slightest, he just smiled and nodded to Shen Xi, “I’ll take note of it.”
“Thank you, cousin!” Shen Xi thanked him very simply, and then added, “Cousin, be careful.”
This ‘cousin, be careful’ made Li Mingxuan’s mood better. Nodding at Shen Xi, Li Mingxuan turned around and continued to clean. By the time he was done, it was time for him to go to work. Looking at Li Mingxuan, who was standing at the door to say goodbye, Shen Xi felt a little strange. But before he could think about it, Li Mingxuan had already closed the door gently. Shen Xi frowned and dialled Lao K’s number.
“Why are you awake so early?” Lao K’s voice still had a hint of sleep in it as he muttered a complaint.
Shen Xi simply ignored his words, “What’s Shen Group’s reaction?”
“Hey hey, don’t you even watch the news yourself?”
Shen Xi straightened up, “I was beaten up yesterday, I’m injured and can’t move around.”
“What! Who did it? It couldn’t be that Shen Ji knew it was you who was messing around and got someone to beat you up, could it?” Lao K guessed irresponsibly.
“Fuck off!”
“Hey hey, when are you going to release that news?” Lao K behaved himself and changed the subject.
Shen Xi rubbed his head, “Wait a little longer, Yunrou is still holding up right now. If the news comes out too early, people will be able to tell the fake at a glance.”
“I’ll listen to you, but Shen Group seems to be letting out the wind to reporters, alluding to the fact that the mastermind behind all this is a foreign household chemical giant, in order to stink up Yunrou’s reputation and stop Yunrou from being listed abroad. Shen Group seems to be trying to portray itself as a ‘national hero’ to gain the sympathy of domestic consumers. You know people are sensitive to this, and a little encouragement can easily stir up this kind of patriotic sentiment.”
Shen Xi sneered, “If Shen Ji wants to make others take the blame, he has to check if they are willing to do so. Tell Bai Su to interview those cancer patients and expose the recordings of them being bribed by Shen Group first.”
Lao K gave an “en”, “Understood!”
After they finished talking about business, Shen Xi was about to hang up when Lao K’s hesitant voice came over, “Hey, Xiao Xixi, you didn’t really get beaten up yesterday, did you?”
Shen Xi’s heart warmed and he slowly smiled, “When have you ever seen me suffer a loss?”
Hanging up the phone, Shen Xi found all the information Lao K had given him before and flipped to the page on Wang Changlin.
Wang Changlin, Shen Dehan’s personal lawyer, was also one of Shen Group’s legal advisors and was deeply trusted by Shen Dehan. Many of Shen Group’s legal documents were handled by Wang Changlin; especially some of the important contracts were basically Wang Changlin’s responsibility.
Shen Xi gently tapped on the words “important contracts” and wondered if he could get close to Wang Changlin in the name of his mother.
Shen Xi was thinking about Wang Changlin when the phone suddenly rang, the words “Lao K” flashing on the screen. A trace of doubt swept through Shen Xi’s heart.
“What’s wrong?”
“Someone is checking you.” Lao K obviously felt that this matter was very important and his tone was very serious unlike his previous carelessness.
“Who?”
“Lu Gesen.”
“Who is Lu Gesen?” This name was very unfamiliar to Shen Xi.
“Shen Ji’s assistant. He returned from studying abroad a year ago and applied for a job at Shen Group. He has just recently arrived at Shen Ji’s side and is very much appreciated by Shen Dehan.”
Shen Xi’s face sank, “What is he checking?”
“That’s the rather strange part. What he’s asking to check is your past, including everything you’ve done since you were a child.” Lao K’s words were tinged with doubt; apparently he was also a bit confused as to what Lu Gesen was up to, but because of Lu Gesen’s status, he couldn’t help but focus on it.
Shen Xi mused, “Give him a copy of the information and treat him as an ordinary client.”
“You’re not worried about Shen Ji being behind this?”
“Even if it’s Shen Ji, what can he see? My experience in the past few years has been so innocent, nothing but spending money, so feel free to let him investigate.”
Lao K laughed lightly, “It’s good that you’re not afraid.”
Once again hanging up the phone, Shen Xi did not take this matter to heart. No matter why Shen Ji wanted to investigate him, his history was clean without a single flaw. However, Shen Xi was a bit confused, why would Shen Ji suddenly want to investigate him? If it was because of Yunrou cancer incident, he shouldn’t have associated it with him. After all, everyone knew that Shen Sanshao was a parasite of the Shen family, and the fall of the Shen family would not benefit him at all, so why would he do that?
Shen Xi was speculating about Shen Ji’s thoughts, while on the other side, Shen Ji, who had arrived at the office early in the morning, was looking over Yunrou’s sales in various markets across the country in the past few days, and as each shocking figure appeared, Shen Ji’s face turned ugly.
“Mr. Shen?” There was a soft knock on the door.
“Come in.”
A serious looking young man walked in and handed the document in his hand to Shen Ji, “This is what the chairman has just sent over.”
Shen Ji took it and glanced at it. The document was the Yunrou funding plan that he had sent to the board of directors earlier. Apparently it had been rejected by the board.
Shen Ji’s face became even more ugly, and in his heart, he simply hated those people in the board of directors.
The young man stood calmly in front of Shen Ji, oblivious to his expression.
Shen Ji took a deep breath and said to the young man, “Gesen, revise this plan and re-submit it.”
The young man nodded, not having any doubts about Shen Ji’s request, turned around and walked out with the report.
Returning to his office, the young man habitually closed the door and quickly skimmed through the document in his hand. This report was previously prepared by Shen Ji himself, and the young man did not have access to it. This time the young man’s gaze fell on the next development plan of Yunrou attached to the report, and a glimmer of light flashed in his eyes.