Rebirth: Different Way

by Usui Takumii

not mine, yun yun yun translations. Beware BL. Total: 101 chapters.

2. 11 to 20

Chapter 11

In the blink of an eye, it had been a few days since Shen Xi returned to China.

As Shen Xi's father was still hospitalised, Shen Xi had to go there every day to play the role of a filial son.

As expected, Shen Dehan was not happy about his arrival, but the family was in a critical situation and he had to accept Shen Xi's presence in the hospital.

Shen Xi did not care about his father's attitude and was happily active around Shen Dehan every day. Seeing Shen Dehan being clearly disgusted by his presence but having to endure it in front of the doctors and nurses gave Shen Xi an indescribable pleasure.

That day, Shen Xi arrived at the hospital as usual. As the elevator doors opened, Shen Xi was about to enter, but unexpectedly a young man suddenly rushed out from inside and collided with Shen Xi.

Due to the height difference, Shen Xi's chin hurt a little bit, but the other party hit his nose hard.

Looking at the other man who lowered his head, clutching his face for a long time silently, Shen Xi had to ask, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm sorry." The other man was obviously in great pain and his voice sounded slightly tearful.

Shen Xi said, "Do you want me to take you to a doctor?"

"No, no, I'll be fine soon." The other man said while trying to raise his head to look at Shen Xi. The moment their eyes met, both of them froze.

Shen Xi was very surprised, "Li Mingfei?"

The young man whom Shen Xi called Li Mingfei looked at Shen Xi blankly, and only after a second did he speak dumbly, "Hello, Cousin Shen Xi."

Shen Xi could not help but chuckle.

Li Mingfei was Li Mingxuan's younger brother, but his personality was completely different from Li Mingxuan's. Since he was a child, he was timid and shy and would hide behind adults in fear at the slightest movement. In his previous life, Li Mingfei liked to follow Shen Xi very much, but Shen Xi did not like his character and bullied him every time he saw him. Surprisingly, despite Shen Xi's bullying, he still followed Shen Xi again and again, until one time Shen Xi bullied him and was seen by his aunt. Li Mingfei had never come to see Shen Xi since then and the Li family intentionally or unintentionally kept the two of them apart.

Seeing Li Mingfei again after so many years, Shen Xi had long forgotten his history of bullying and instead missed the little tail that followed his ass.

"You're here to see Father." Shen Xi used an affirmative tone.

Li Mingfei probably didn't expect to meet Shen Xi here. He was in a daze for a long time. After hearing Shen Xi speak, he nodded blankly.

"Alone?" Shen Xi asked while pulling him to the side of the elevator.

Only then did Li Mingfei react, withdrawing his hand and shaking his head, "Mother and Big Brother are up there." Li Mingfei looked a little embarrassed as he said, "I forgot the gift I brought to Uncle in the car and Big Brother asked me to come down and get it."

Shen Xi looked at Li Mingfei's blushing face when he said that, and raised his eyebrows. He didn't expect that Li Mingfei's personality hadn't changed over the years and he was still getting shy so easily.

Since they met, Shen Xi said casually, "I'll go with you to get it."

Li Mingfei gave Shen Xi a surprised look and a cautious smile appeared on his face.

It only took a few minutes to get from the hospital lobby to the parking lot and back, and Shen Xi was slightly curious as he surveyed a small sculpture in Li Mingfei's hand, a naive puppy.

Li Mingfei surreptitiously observed Shen Xi's expression, nervously holding the puppy in his hand, "Do you like them, Cousin?"

"Like what?" Shen Xi was taken aback.

Li Mingfei lowered his head, "Puppies."

Shen Xi casually responded, "I like them."

"Really?" Li Mingfei looked at Shen Xi in surprise and got excited, "When I knew about your return, Cousin, I specially made one for you too."

Shen Xi did not expect Li Mingfei to remember him. Looking at Li Mingfei's serious expression, Shen Xi smiled slightly, "Thank you."

With just two words, Li Mingfei was instantly embarrassed. Shen Xi's mood relaxed, and the weirdness and estrangement between the two when they first met gradually disappeared.

Along the way, the two talked about their respective lives. It was only then that Shen Xi remembered that the information Lao K had collected mentioned that Li Mingfei had entered the sculpture department of the Zhongjing Academy of Fine Arts two years ago, but because Shen Xi paid little attention to Li Mingfei, he had skimmed over it.

As they returned to the ward, Li Mingfei was about to reach out and push the door open, but stopped when he heard the conversation from inside the room.

Shen Dehan's voice came out, "Let Shen Xi stay in a hotel if he wants to, just so he doesn't go back to the Shen family's house to be an eyesore."

Li Mingfei looked awkwardly at Shen Xi, who stepped forward as if nothing happened and pushed open the door. The sound inside the ward came to an abrupt halt and everyone's gazes converged on the door.

A hint of mockery flashed across Shen Xi's face as he looked at the people in the room calmly.

Shen Xi's aunt, a well-maintained middle-aged beautiful woman, was the first to speak, "Xiao Xi, you're back? Have you met your cousins Mingxuan and Mingfei?"

Shen Xi nodded and was about to say something when Shen Dehan said, "It's too stuffy in the room, Bixue, accompany me for a walk outside."

Bixue was the name of Shen Xi's aunt.

Shen Bixue smiled decently at Shen Xi, "You brothers have a good time together, I will accompany your father for a walk, it is not good for his health to stay in the ward too much."

With the departure of Shen Dehan and Shen Bixue, only Shen Xi, Li Mingxuan and Li Mingfei were left in the room.

Li Mingfei gave Shen Xi a careful look. Clearly eager to say something but not knowing how to do so, he looked at Li Mingxuan imploringly.

Li Mingxuan stepped forward. Shen Xi took a step back and lowered his eyes, "Make yourselves comfortable and I'll be out for a while."

After leaving the room, Shen Xi discovered that Shen Dehan had taken all the bodyguards in the corridor with him, apparently guarding against reporters. Shen Xi smiled coldly. He was already used to the way his father treated him. No matter what Shen Dehan said, he couldn't hurt him anymore. But he couldn't stand the pity in Li Mingfei's eyes and he didn't want to have anything to do with Li Mingxuan.

Shen Xi left the ward and walked to the end of the corridor, only to find that it was actually facing the garden. As he looked down inadvertently, an unexpected face appeared in his sight. Chu Qianqian.

Unlike the last time when she wore heavy makeup and was dressed seductively, the current Chu Qianqian looked simple and clean in her hospital nurse attire, indescribably fresh and pretty. She was standing on the garden path looking somewhere to the left. Shen Xi followed her line of sight and Shen Dehan's figure appeared in front of his eyes.

Shen Xi raised his eyebrows. He just mentioned that Shen Dehan was currently in hospital and Chu Qianqian was so quick to think of a way to get close to him. She was really unexpectedly dedicated.

Not long after, Chu Qianqian called out to a little boy passing by, lowered her head and said something to him. Soon Shen Xi saw the little boy running in the direction of Shen Dehan, and Chu Qianqian chased after him with an anxious look until she was unexpectedly stopped by a bodyguard.

Chu Qianqian smiled at the bodyguard embarrassedly and looked innocently in the direction of Shen Dehan. They were too far away, and Shen Xi could not see his father's expression, but from his movements he could imagine how shocked Shen Dehan was at the moment.

As he watched his father rush to Chu Qianqian despite his aunt's obstruction, Shen Xi's eyes darkened and he turned to leave without looking any further.

This day Shen Xi left the hospital early without saying goodbye to anyone. He did not go back to the hotel but went to the cemetery.

Standing in front of his mother's grave again after five years, Shen Xi did not say anything but looked at her picture in silence.

On the tombstone, his mother's smile was bright and happy. Shen Xi slowly stretched out his hand to block her smiling face, and a wave of sadness welled up in his heart.

Although the appearance of Chu Qianqian was arranged by him, looking at his father's extreme reaction, Shen Xi still couldn't help feeling bitter. Shen Dehan was not worthy of his mother.

Shen Xi wondered what made his mother fall in love with his father.

In her best years, she had given up her single life and the countless outstanding peers around her and insisted on marrying a man fifteen years older than her. Their married life was devoid of happiness, and even when his mother was pregnant, his father never gave her an ounce of warmth. Instead, he tried to convince her to give up her child on the grounds of her poor health, but in reality fearing that the birth of Shen Xi would affect the inheritance rights of Shen Ji and Shen Cheng. Not to mention the fact that his father had another woman and another child on the way at the same time.

How could such a cold and selfish father gain his mother's deep love!

Shen Xi laughed out in a low voice, a quiet, sad sound that echoed through the cemetery for a long time.

Chapter 12

After Shen Xi returned from the cemetery, his mood was not good.

He didn't want to go back to the hotel alone, so he casually strolled along the busy commercial street of Zhongjing in the twilight. At this time, Shen Xi couldn't help but miss his group of friends from the past, not the people, but the feeling of having company.

As the night gradually enveloped Zhongjing, Shen Xi casually found an inconspicuous bar, nestled in a corner, and began to drink alone in silence.

Shen Xi couldn't remember how much he had drunk by the time a man dressed as a waiter snatched the glass from his hand and looked at him disapprovingly, "Guest, you've already drunk too much, you can't drink any more."

Shen Xi was already dizzy at this moment, and only his nervous energy kept him from collapsing. He didn't understand what the other party was saying. Looking at the wine glass in the waiter's hand, Shen Xi subconsciously went to fight for it but was suppressed by the waiter, "Guest, where do you live? I'll call a taxi for you."

The waiter seemed to say a lot more but in a daze Shen Xi only heard the words "where do you live" clearly. He felt that the man seemed to be kind, so he forced himself to look up. In a trance, he thought he saw Fang Luowei and couldn't help but say, "Fang Luowei, so you are here."

After finishing this sentence, Shen Xi passed out and his body collapsed limply on the sofa. He did not see the waiter's surprised expression and did not hear him muttering, "Strange, how do you know my name is Fang Luowei."

Fang Luowei carefully looked at the drunk man. Under the dim light, the man looked no more than twenty-something and was very handsome. Perhaps because of the wine, the man's face was flushed with an odd shade of red, and his brows frowned tightly. It could be seen that he was not in a good mood.

After looking at him for half a second, Fang Luowei could not find the slightest impression of the man in his memory and had to keep his doubts to himself.

Seeing that the man was completely drunk, Fang Luowei resigned himself to leaning over to get the man's wallet and mobile phone, trying to see if he could find any clues related to the man, or at least find someone to take him home.

"What are you doing?" A low voice sounded behind him.

Taken aback, Fang Luowei turned around sharply. Several men and women, obviously customers, were standing behind him. The one who asked the question was a tall slender man in the front, now looking at him with a cold face and a scrutinising expression.

Fang Luowei blinked and explained, "This guest is drunk, I'm looking if I can find any clues to send him home."

Perhaps it was because Fang Luowei's attitude was so sincere that the customers easily believed his words. The man who had asked the question came forward and gave the drunk man a complicated look, leaned down and carefully picked him up.

Fang Luowei said instinctively, "You know this guest?"

The tall man nodded and turned his head to look at his companions, "I'll take him home, you guys can play by yourselves."

His companions had disappointed expressions on their faces and one of them, a petite girl, hurriedly asked, "Are you coming back, Mingxuan?"

The man called Mingxuan shook his head, "No, I have to rush home in the evening."

The disappointment on the girl's face was obvious but Li Mingxuan seemed to be completely blind to it and left the bar with Shen Xi in his arms.

Fang Luowei watched in disbelief as the man carried the drunk guest away, then suddenly remembered something and chased after him, "Wait, I still have the wallet."

Li Mingxuan carried Shen Xi out of the bar. As soon as the night breeze blew, Shen Xi felt chilly and instinctively leaned towards the nearest source of heat. Li Mingxuan looked at Shen Xi, who was persistently squeezing into his arms, and tightened his arms helplessly, holding him closer to his chest.

After carefully placing Shen Xi in the passenger seat, Li Mingxuan got into the car and leaned over to carefully fasten Shen Xi's seat belt. He was about to drive away when Fang Luowei chased him, "Wait, I still have his wallet and phone."

Li Mingxuan looked at the young man trotting over and thanked him politely, "Thank you."

Fang Luowei waved his hand with a smile and gave Shen Xi a concerned look, "This guest drank too much wine at night. You'd better feed him some honey water when you send him back, so he'll feel more comfortable."

Li Mingxuan nodded, indicating that he had made a note of it, and then drove off in the direction of the hotel.

The drunk Shen Xi was very quiet and did not make a fuss like other drunk people, but just slept all the way. Li Mingxuan let out a sigh of relief; that was good.

Today, he originally made an appointment for dinner with a few classmates he had been abroad with. Somehow, one of the classmates mentioned that there is a nice bar there. Thinking that it was still early, Li Mingxuan followed them; he didn't expect to meet Shen Xi here.

Seeing Shen Xi drunk alone in a bar, Li Mingxuan felt a strong emotion surge in his heart, both sympathy and pity, just like at the hospital today when he saw Shen Xi trying to look indifferent after Shen Dehan's cold words.

Li Mingxuan let out a sigh and looked sideways at Shen Xi. The night's neon lights coloured Shen Xi's face through the car window in rainbow patterns. Shen Xi seemed to be affected by the lights and his sleep turned restless as he shifted his body from side to side in an attempt to avoid the light.

Li Mingxuan quickly parked his car on the side of the road, took off his jacket and covered Shen Xi's face. Shen Xi stopped squirming and slept peacefully.

When the two of them returned to the hotel, Li Mingxuan fished out the room card from Shen Xi's wallet and carried Shen Xi all the way to the room ignoring the eyes of the people around.

After carefully placing Shen Xi on the bed and taking off his jacket, Li Mingxuan covered him with the blanket and was about to leave when he suddenly thought of something and turned towards the living room.

A few minutes later, Li Mingxuan, carrying honey water, came back. Lifting Shen Xi up, Li Mingxuan carefully brought the honey water to Shen Xi's mouth. Perhaps Shen Xi was too thirsty; he drank all the honey water in one gulp with his eyes closed and fell asleep again.

With a wry smile, Li Mingxuan made another cup and placed it in front of the bed, gave Shen Xi one last look, turned off the light and left. Behind him, Shen Xi slept, unaware of anything.

By then, it was already the early hours of the morning. Li Mingxuan carried his jacket in his hands and drove straight back to his home in the western suburbs.

To his surprise, his mother, who was used to going to bed early, was not resting yet and was sitting alone in the living room watching TV, looking as if she was waiting for him to return.

"Mom!" Li Mingxuan said in surprise.

Shen Bixue smiled at him gently and stood up, "Are you hungry? There is porridge in the kitchen."

Li Mingxuan was about to stop her but Shen Bixue suddenly looked at him, "You've been drinking?"

Li Mingxuan hurriedly explained, "I'm not hungry, and I didn't drink, I met Shen Xi who was drunk at the bar and got the smell from him when I sent him back to the hotel."

The words "Shen Xi" attracted Shen Bixue's attention; she sat down with Li Mingxuan and sighed, "Shen Xi is also a poor kid."

Sitting next to his mother, Li Mingxuan said soothingly, "Shen Xi is already an adult. I think after returning to China he is a lot more sensible than before. Mother doesn't need to worry."

Shen Bixue shook her head with a bitter smile, "I haven't bothered with Shen Xi at all over the years, so there is no need to say anything about worrying. It's just that as I get older, when I think about him, I feel that the Shen family has really wronged him."

Li Mingxuan knew that his mother had been thinking about the recent publications in the media, so he said, "Grandpa left Shen Xi a huge inheritance, enough to feed and clothe him for the rest of his life. Don't think too much about it, Mom."

Shen Bixue smiled bitterly, "Is having money enough?"

Li Mingxuan did not say anything. Shen Bixue sighed and spoke slowly, "Everyone says that Shen Xi has a bad personality, that he only knows how to eat, drink and play, that he is a straw bag without education and skills. But you have to understand why he has grown like this. Without the connivance of the Shen family, without our indifference, how would he have become this way?"

Shen Bixue looked at Li Mingxuan, "I still remember how Shen Xi looked when he was just born, a tiny little ball. Sometimes when I think about it, if your uncle hadn't favoured Shen Ji and Shen Cheng so much and hadn't wanted to leave the Shen family to Fang Yun's sons so much, he wouldn't have been so tolerant of Shen Xi. And if Shen Xi wasn't the grandson of the Han family, your grandfather wouldn't have worried whether Shen Xi would have some ideas when he grew up and wouldn't have acquiesced to your uncle's attitude of raising Shen Xi as a waste.

"If Han Rou and your uncle had a better relationship, your uncle might have been able to take care of Shen Xi for the sake of their father-son relationship. Or maybe if I ignored your grandfather's and uncle's wishes and looked after Shen Xi more, he might have grown up to be a different person. He might like to study, he might be good at it. Of course he might still be as unmotivated as he is now, but at least he wouldn't have to stay in a hotel alone and he wouldn't be drunk in a bar without anyone caring about it. Ask Shen Cheng, would he dare to do that? Not to mention your uncle, Shen Ji would break his legs."

Li Mingxuan listened to his mother's words in silence. He didn't know what he should say at this point. His mother obviously didn't need him to reply, she just wanted someone to talk to.

"I've been holding these words inside my heart for too long." Shen Bixue smiled apologetically at Li Mingxuan, "Ever since your grandfather passed away, I didn't know who to talk to. Your uncle wouldn't talk about it, and I didn't want to say anything about it to your father, so finally I caught you today and let myself talk about it."

Li Mingxuan smiled softly, holding Shen Bixue's hand, "Mom, don't worry about talking, I'm listening."

Shen Bixue smiled bitterly again, "Your grandfather had regrets before he passed away. He shouldn't have agreed to your uncle and Han Rou's marriage back then. Then Han Rou would not have died young, and so many tragedies would not have happened to the Han family."

Li Mingxuan said softly, "Life and death are determined by fate. They have nothing to do with Grandpa."

Shen Bixue shook her head, "You don't understand, your grandfather and Elder Han have been friends for decades. He really regretted it."

Speaking of this, Shen Bixue let out a long breath, "As for your uncle, your mother really can't understand. If he really had Fang Yun in his heart, he should not have agreed to marry Han Rou. Since he married Han Rou, he should have taken responsibility as a man, but he had another woman outside. Your uncle says he really loved Fang Yun, so what about Zhou Mingmei? Is it true love to keep a woman who looks like Fang Yun? What did he make Shen Ji and Shen Cheng think?"

Li Mingxuan smiled bitterly when he heard this. Although he could not comment much on the affairs of the elders, Shen Ji had a lot of complaints about his uncle because of Zhou Mingmei. To think about it, it was the kind of thing that would upset anyone.

Shen Bixue patted Li Mingxuan's arm, "Your mother talks so much. But I don't mean anything, I just want to say that you have a good relationship with Shen Ji, so you should persuade Shen Ji to do something about it. No matter what, Shen Xi is his legitimate younger brother, and now that Shen Xi is like this, he's not a threat to him. If he is on good terms with Shen Xi, your uncle might also treat him better. Then your grandfather would feel at peace underground, and those reporters wouldn't make up nonsense in the newspapers every day. You should also look after Shen Xi more when you have time. The Shen family owes him a lot, after all."

Li Mingxuan's mind flashed back to Shen Xi's drunken appearance at the bar, and he nodded.

Shen Bixue took a look at the clock and smiled as she rushed Li Mingxuan to bed, "Get some rest, I'm going to bed too."

Li Mingxuan watched his mother walk back into the bedroom before turning towards the kitchen. He was really hungry after all this talk. Neither Shen Bixue nor Li Mingxuan noticed that at the corner of the stairs, Li Mingfei was standing quietly, thinking about something.

Shen Bixue returned to the bedroom and found that her husband had not slept and was leaning on the bed with his glasses, reading some documents.

"Back?" Li Xiyong put down the papers in his hand.

Shen Bixue nodded, and he smiled, saying, "Talked to your son about your pain?"

As Shen Bixue glanced at him, he took off his glasses and lay down, "Let me say, Dehan is a good businessman, but he is inevitably confused when it comes to women."

Shen Bixue did not say anything, and Li Xiyong continued, "Don't think too much, let Dehan go. Anyway, it is his son, if he doesn't care, who will?" He said, "What's the name of the nurse you said looked like Fang Yun today?"

"Chu Qianqian, a girl who is only twenty one years old."

Li Xiyong looked suspicious, "Dehan wouldn't have any ideas, would he?"

Shen Bixue gave him a blank look, "How is that possible, there is such a big age difference between the two."

Li Xiyong shook his head, "This is not easy to say."

Shen Bixue didn't bother to refute, turned off the lights and went to bed.

After a while, a faint sigh sounded in the dark, "Fang Yun!"

Chapter 13

Waking up from a hangover, Shen Xi felt nothing but a splitting headache.

Struggling to get up from the bed, Shen Xi looked at the familiar surroundings and his crumpled shirt, and for a moment was in a daze.

He remembered that he had been drinking at the bar last night because he was in a bad mood, and he seemed to have gotten drunk. What had happened? How did he get back?

Shen Xi rubbed his temples as he tried to remember his experience last night. It seemed that someone had asked him where he lived and he seemed to have said something. Was it the waiter from the bar? Could it be that he called a taxi for him?

Shen Xi fumbled for the glass of water beside the bed. He didn't care how long ago the water was poured into it, picked up the glass and eagerly raised it to his mouth. However, as soon as he swallowed a mouthful of cool water, Shen Xi noticed that something was wrong. The glass was filled with honey water.

Shen Xi looked at the half-emptied glass of water suspiciously. Where did the honey water come from? Could it be the hotel staff who made it?

Shen Xi's mind was in a state of confusion; he could not think of anyone other than the hotel staff who could have made it for him, so he put the matter aside and did not take it to heart.

After a quick shower and a change of clothes, Shen Xi felt refreshed. When he took his mobile phone, there were two missed calls, both from Lao K. Shen Xi dialled back without hesitation.

"Hello."

"One good news and one bad news, which one do you want to hear first?" Without wasting any time Lao K simply got to the point.

Shen Xi leaned back on the sofa relaxed and spoke lazily, "The good one first."

"Shen Dehan commissioned an investigation into Chu Qianqian's background yesterday afternoon."

Shen Xi raised his eyebrows, "So soon?"

Lao K smiled, "Guess Chu Qianqian must have left a deep enough impression on him yesterday."

"What about the bad one?"

"There was another client this morning who asked to investigate the background of Chu Qianqian."

"Shen Ji?" He was the first Shen Xi thought about.

"No, it's Shen Bixue."

Shen Xi was surprised, "Aunt?" Then he smiled lightly, "This is actually considered good news, right? After all, my aunt's reaction also confirms that Chu Qianqian really left a deep impression on Father."

Lao K smiled, "Do you need me to do anything?"

Shen Xi mused, "No need, just follow the normal procedure."

Hanging up the phone, Shen Xi sat on the sofa and pondered. Yesterday, when Chu Qianqian appeared, his father and aunt were together. His aunt must have learned Zhou Mingmei's lesson and it was reasonable for her to be suspicious. The key point now lay with Chu Qianqian. He just hoped she would start off brilliantly and nothing unexpected would happen in the middle.

While Shen Xi was still asleep, Li Mingfei ran to the hospital early because of a conversation he overheard yesterday. Only after searching around and not finding Shen Xi did Li Mingfei realise his behaviour was too impulsive. He didn't know why he was so eager to see Shen Xi after hearing his mother's words yesterday. There was nothing he could do; neither could he make his uncle treat Shen Xi better, nor did he understand anything. So, probably the only thing he could do was to drink with Shen Xi to save him from getting drunk alone.

Despite feeling very incompetent, Li Mingfei still wanted to see Shen Xi. But to his disappointment, he had been in his uncle's ward for an hour, and Shen Xi, who was usually supposed to be here, was still nowhere to be seen.

After holding back for a long time, Li Mingfei finally asked his uncle carefully, "Uncle, is Cousin Shen Xi coming today?" He knew that his uncle didn't like Shen Xi, but he was still Shen Xi's father, so he should have known something about him, Li Mingfei reassured himself.

It seemed that Shen Dehan had not heard his question and was staring out of the window with a distracted look on his face.

"Uncle?" Li Mingfei repeated in confusion; he noticed that today his uncle was somehow distracted all the time.

Li Mingfei's calling him uncle made Shen Dehan regain his wits. He looked at Li Mingfei and smiled strangely, "What did Mingfei just say?"

Li Mingfei repeated the previous question in a small voice, and as he spoke, the smile on Shen Dehan's face immediately disappeared.

Shen Dehan looked down, "I can live a few more days without him coming."

Li Mingfei got up in embarrassment. As far as he could remember, his uncle had never spoken to him like this before. He didn't know how to take his uncle's words for a moment. The atmosphere in the ward became colder and Li Mingfei was tempted to leave, but he felt that it was inappropriate for him to walk away after making his uncle angry, so he was in a bit of a quandary.

Fortunately, at the most awkward moment, there was a gentle knock on the door of the ward and a doctor came in for a routine check-up.

Li Mingfei was surprised to find that his uncle's expression was momentarily excited when he saw a nurse following the doctor. Shen Dehan soon regained his composure, but disappointment flashed in his eyes. Li Mingfei couldn't understand his uncle's psychology. What was there to be excited about seeing a nurse? As the doctor examined Shen Dehan methodically, Li Mingfei hurriedly took the opportunity to say goodbye, "Uncle, I'll leave first, I'll see you again sometime."

Shen Dehan nodded and instructed Li Mingfei to be safe on his way. Li Mingfei obediently said that he would. It was not until he walked out of the hospital that he showed his disappointment. Shen Xi did not come to the hospital, where should he go to find him?

Shen Xi did not know that Li Mingfei had gone to the hospital to look for him this morning. Because he got up late after being drunk, Shen Xi arrived at the hospital relatively late that day, just in time to miss Li Mingfei.

Waiting for the elevator, Shen Xi took a casual glance around. As his gaze swept across the corner, Shen Xi frowned, thought for a while, turned and strode there.

In the corner of an empty corridor in front of him, Chu Qianqian was talking to a young doctor, winking at him coquettishly. Looking at Chu Qianqian's body leaning towards the doctor, Shen Xi snorted coldly and walked up closer.

Chu Qianqian suddenly shivered and quickly moved away from the doctor. Shen Xi didn't know what Chu Qianqian said to the doctor, but very soon Chu Qianqian hurriedly came up to him.

Chu Qianqian greeted Shen Xi with a smile, "Mr. Shen."

Shen Xi sneered, "Have you forgotten the purpose of coming here?"

Chu Qianqian looked at Shen Xi awkwardly, "I was just looking for him to inquire about Shen Dehan's situation, nothing else."

Shen Xi had a mocking look on his face, "Did you inquire about it?"

Chu Qianqian was even more embarrassed, "He is in charge of the paediatrics department, he doesn't know what I wanted to inquire about."

Shen Xi looked at Chu Qianqian and laughed gently. After laughing, he suddenly said in a cold voice, "Do you know what the first thing my father did after your encounter with him yesterday?"

"What?" Chu Qianqian was confused.

Shen Xi leaned over and whispered, "Found a private detective to investigate you."

"What!" Chu Qianqian was stunned.

Shen Xi looked at Chu Qianqian mockingly, "Do you think you did a successful job yesterday, so you can be a bit complacent today? You think you can climb onto my father just because you're a woman? I remember telling you that if it wasn't for this face of yours, he wouldn't even look at you if you stripped naked."

Chu Qianqian gritted her teeth and didn't say anything. Shen Xi coldly snorted, "It seems like you should remember that you are now not some lady of the night but a newly graduated student from the nursing school. Pretend to be pure, I don't need to teach you this."

Chu Qianqian nodded fiercely. Shen Xi added, "Don't let me see you hooking up with a male doctor again, you should know that 10 million is not that easy to earn."

Looking at Chu Qianqian's back as she walked away, Shen Xi frowned. It seemed that he still needed to talk to Lao K.

Because of Chu Qianqian's incident, Shen Xi appeared in the ward much later than expected. Speaking of it, due to the unpleasantness of their first meeting, the three Shen brothers had been tacitly adjusting the time they appeared at the hospital to avoid running into each other as much as possible.

Shen Xi glanced at his watch. If nothing was wrong, it was Shen Ji's time to appear in the ward. After thinking about it, Shen Xi decided not to avoid him. Anyway, he just needed to show his face in front of Shen Dehan.

Shen Xi walked out of the elevator with this thought in mind, but stopped curiously when he saw the two people confronting each other in the corridor.

From Shen Xi's point of view, he could only see Shen Ji's back, while opposite Shen Ji was Shen Rong whose face Shen Xi would never forget.

The two did not notice Shen Xi's arrival, arguing fiercely in low heated voices, or rather the one arguing was Shen Rong.

"Big Brother, I know you hate me, but no matter how much you hate me you can't erase the fact that both you and I are our father's sons."

Shen Ji did not say anything. Shen Rong spoke again, "Big brother, father's health is not good. He doesn't say it but in his heart he must want to see us brothers in harmony. Can you bear to let father down?

"Big Brother, I don't want the Shen family's money, I don't want anything from the Shen family, I just want to call my father 'Father' in front of everyone openly and honestly. This is my only wish."

Shen Xi couldn't help but snort when he heard this. His laughter quickly alerted the two people in front of him.

Shen Ji coldly turned his head and glanced at Shen Xi, but Shen Rong took advantage of Shen Ji's inattentiveness and a hint of jealousy flashed in his eyes.

Shen Xi walked over, mockingly looking at Shen Rong, "What did I just hear? You don't want anything from the Shen family? You seem to have forgotten that the Shen family's will does not have your name in it in the first place. As for any brotherly harmony, sorry, I don't have a younger brother who likes to make sex videos."

"You!" Shen Rong's expression twisted up; Shen Xi's words had poked at his scars. The video from five years ago was a lifelong shame for him. Even though the news was quickly suppressed with the help of both the Shen and the Tian families, all the news on the internet was deleted cleanly and even the circulating articles were secretly withdrawn by Shen Dehan, but what happened was what happened, and when Shen Rong thought that many people had seen that video, he felt extremely humiliated.

Shen Xi raised his eyebrows, "What? Did I say something wrong?"

Shen Rong gave Shen Xi a fierce look, nodded at Shen Ji and turned away to leave.

Shen Xi moved his gaze back to Shen Ji. Shen Ji's face was cold, "I don't have such a younger brother either. "

Shen Xi looked at Shen Ji and smiled slightly.

Chapter 14

Shen Dehan had been in hospital for some time and according to the doctor, there was no longer any serious problem with his health and he did not need to stay hospitalised and could be discharged at any time. Shen Ji came here today to discuss his discharge with Shen Dehan.

Shen Xi coldly watched his father's momentary unnaturalness when Shen Ji mentioned discharging from hospital, and knew that in his heart his father wanted to stay in the hospital.

As expected, Shen Dehan expressed his intention not to be discharged from the hospital for the time being, and Shen Ji was very surprised by this.

"Father, your body needs to recuperate now. The environment at home is much better than the hospital, and it is also convenient for Xiao Cheng and me to take care of you. "

Despite Shen Ji's earnest words, Shen Dehan refused to go home. Although Shen Ji had doubts in his mind, he did not want to go against his father's wishes, so he had to agree for Shen Dehan to stay in the hospital.

Shen Xi never opened his mouth from the beginning to the end. Looking at the genuine worry on Shen Ji's face, Shen Xi could not help but smile coldly in his heart. He wondered how Shen Ji would feel when he learnt that the reason for his father's reluctance to leave the hospital was because of another woman who looked just like his mother.

Shen Xi didn't bother to look at his father anymore, thinking that he had already shown himself in front of Shen Dehan today and the reporters outside had also taken his photos, so he didn't need to stay any longer. After casually saying a few words to Shen Dehan, Shen Xi left the ward.

While waiting for the elevator, Shen Xi's mind suddenly flashed back to Fang Luowei whom he had seen in a daze last night. He wondered if it was his illusion or did Fang Luowei really appear in Zhongjing in advance? Maybe he should go there again?

As the elevator door opened, Shen Xi subconsciously looked over and met the eyes of the man inside.

Shen Xi was taken aback for a moment, and then a pleasant smile appeared on his face, "Cousin Mingxuan."

Li Mingxuan didn't expect to meet Shen Xi at the hospital at this time of the day. Seeing Shen Xi standing in front of the elevator looking refreshed, he didn't know why his mind flashed back to Shen Xi's drunken state last night.

Judging by Shen Xi's appearance, he didn't seem to remember what happened last night, and Li Mingxuan didn't want to mention it, "Going back?"

Shen Xi nodded; Li Mingxuan stepped forward and walked out of the elevator. The moment he passed by, he whispered in a ghostly voice, "Drink less in the future."

Shen Xi looked at Li Mingxuan's back in bewilderment and sniffed his own body. It did not smell of alcohol. What made Li Mingxuan say that?

Shen Xi couldn't understand, didn't bother to think about it and went directly to Lao K. The only friend he had in Zhongjing now was Lao K.

A few days passed and Shen Xi still showed up at the hospital every day; but this day he deliberately arrived much later than usual. He had received news that his father had gotten Chu Qianqian's background information yesterday and today he transferred Chu Qianqian to the top floor ward to be his exclusive caregiver.

The corner of Shen Xi's mouth slowly curled up when he thought of that background information that he had purposely created.

At the same time, Shen Dehan was also thinking about the background information he had gotten yesterday. From Chu Qianqian's birth to her adulthood, from the time she gave up going to university and started working early because her family was poor, to her working hard while not giving up hope of going to university and studying hard at night school, all these experiences flashed through his mind over and over again, overlapping with his treasured memories. It was as if he saw Fang Yun, the woman he loved so much, again.

He remembered that Fang Yun was also like that. She had an excellent character and learning ability but missed out on university because of her family's poverty and had to work early, and she also refused to give up.

At that time, Shen Dehan had just returned from abroad. He met Fang Yun by chance and was immediately attracted to her. He was born into the Shen family of Zhongjing and had seen all kinds of women, beautiful, pretentious, unruly and arrogant, but he had never seen a woman like Fang Yun. She looked soft and fragile on the outside, but she was tough as nails on the inside. It was clear that her past life had given her much suffering, yet she never complained and always faced life with a smile.

Shen Dehan thought that his life would be like his father's, that he would find a woman of the right age, get married and have children and live a dull life. But then God made him meet Fang Yun and he realised that he could not live the kind of life he had imagined before. He wanted to be with Fang Yun and only with Fang Yun.

Soon his and Fang Yun's affair was known to his family and unexpectedly met with strong opposition from his parents. He pleaded with Fang Yun to give him time to work things out, but Fang Yun, who was pregnant at the time, cried and said she did not want to ruin his relationship with his parents and would rather leave him to bring up the child alone. That was the first time he had seen Fang Yun cry and he was even more determined to be with her. In the end, his father could not resist his determination and spat out his consent to his marriage to Fang Yun.

The days that followed were the happiest of his life. Their family of four was together, and he thought they would live like this forever, never imagining that…

Shen Dehan didn't want to think about it anymore. The period when Fang Yun died was worse than death for him. If it wasn't for Shen Ji and Shen Cheng, he didn't think he would have been able to keep going.

Shen Dehan closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. In the blink of an eye it had been more than twenty years since Fang Yun had left him. All these years he had been looking for Fang Yun's shadow in Zhou Mingmei, but he could not find that feeling. Little did he know that God would send a Chu Qianqian to his side.

The first time he first saw Chu Qianqian, he thought he saw Fang Yun. She was too similar, the two of them were just too much alike. By the time he saw her information, Shen Dehan had already decided in his mind that she was Fang Yun. God must have seen that he missed Fan Yun too much and sent Chu Qianqian to him.

Shen Dehan was lost in his own thoughts when there was a soft knock on the door.

Shen Dehan looked excitedly in the direction of the door; as the door was pushed open, the figure that was etched on his heart appeared in front of him.

Chu Qianqian smiled tenderly at Shen Dehan, "Mr. Shen, do you still remember me? We met last time in the garden. From today onwards I am your exclusive caregiver."

Shen Dehan suppressed his excitement and nodded. He was no longer the brat he had been back then; after many years he had been able to successfully hide his excitement underneath the calmness.

Remembering Shen Xi's instructions, Chu Qianqian smiled at Shen Dehan once more.

One deliberately ingratiated herself, the other had a good impression, and soon the two became acquainted.

By the time Shen Ji and Li Mingxuan arrived at the hospital, they saw a young nurse sitting opposite Shen Dehan who was talking about something with a gentle expression.

Shen Ji didn't think much of it at first and smiled as he stepped forward, "Father seems to be in a good mood today."

Shen Dehan did not have time to speak. Chu Qianqian had already smiled and stood up, "Mr. Shen, someone is here to see you, I will go out first. You can ring the bell anytime if you need anything, I am right next door."

As Chu Qianqian finished speaking and turned around, the smile on Shen Ji's face froze.

Shen Ji stared deadly at the face in front of him, and then his gaze shifted bit by bit to Shen Dehan. There was an indescribable expression on Shen Ji's face. He looked at Shen Dehan in silence and said in a dumb voice, "Father."

This period of silence obviously made Shen Dehan realise something. He looked at Chu Qianqian who was standing innocently in the middle of the ward, startled with Shen Ji's strange expression, and waved his hand, "You go out first."

Chu Qianqian nodded obediently and was about to leave when Shen Ji suddenly stepped forward and stopped her, turning his head to look at Shen Dehan, "Who is she?"

A hint of displeasure flashed across Shen Dehan's face. But it was Shen Ji standing in front of him, so Shen Dehan was still patient, "Ah Ji, don't be rude, this is Nurse Chu, the exclusive nurse of this ward."

Obviously not understanding the situation in front of her, after hearing Shen Dehan's introduction, Chu Qianqian politely turned to Shen Ji and gave a gentle smile, "Hello Mr. Shen, I am Chu Qianqian, I am now in charge of this ward."

The smile on Chu Qianqian's face was too dazzling. Shen Ji gave her a cold look and said in a low voice, "Get lost!"

This "get lost" caused Chu Qianqian to freeze for half a second and subconsciously glance at Shen Dehan. Chu Qianqian tried to squeeze out a smile and said in a trembling voice, "Sorry, I'll go out first, please, Mr. Shen, ring the bell if you need anything." After saying this, Chu Qianqian did not look at anyone else and quickly walked out of the ward with her head lowered.

The moment the door was closed, Chu Qianqian felt that her tightly wound nerves finally relaxed. She thought angrily, no wonder that Shen Xi proposed the reward of 10 million. This really tested both her acting skills and courage, and she wouldn't mind if he increased the fee.

The look on Shen Ji's face just now came back to her mind, and Chu Qianqian could not help but feel a little sympathy. With a sigh, Chu Qianqian was about to turn around but suddenly took a step back. A few steps away from her, Shen Xi was leaning against the wall, looking at her expression with interest.

Chu Qianqian gave Shen Xi a vicious glare and walked straight past him. The moment she passed by, she gritted her teeth and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "You're such an asshole!"

Shen Xi smiled faintly, "Thanks for the compliment. By the way, your performance just now was wonderful!"

Chu Qianqian snorted and glanced at the bodyguards scattered on both sides of the corridor, realised that they were not paying attention to her conversation with Shen Xi, and returned to the duty room next door calmly.

Shen Xi returned to his place in front of the ward in a happy mood and continued to listen to Shen Ji's rare loss of control inside.

"Why?" Shen Ji looked at Shen Dehan angrily.

A trace of guilt flashed on Shen Dehan's face under Shen Ji's glare, but his attitude was still tough, "Why what?"

Shen Ji couldn't help but step forward and shout at Shen Dehan in irritation, "Why are you looking for such a woman? Isn't one Zhou Mingmei enough?"

Shen Dehan felt his dignity was offended. Glancing at Li Mingxuan who was standing silently nearby, he said in a stern voice, "Ah Ji, is this how you speak to your father?" After saying that, Shen Dehan added, "Nurse Chu is not the kind of woman you think she is."

Shen Ji smiled coldly, "Father, you don't want to be discharged from the hospital because of her, right?"

When Shen Ji said this, Shen Dehan thought of what he had said that day and couldn't help but blush, saying forcefully, "The matter of discharge from the hospital has nothing to do with this."

Shen Ji shook his head and looked at Shen Dehan with disappointment, his expression full of pain.

Li Mingxuan smiled bitterly and stepped forward to smooth up the situation, "Uncle, Ah Ji is also worried about you." While saying this, he gave a wink to Shen Ji.

Shen Ji did not see Li Mingxuan's wink; his entire attention was on Shen Dehan at the moment.

Shen Dehan looked awkwardly at Li Mingxuan and said, "Mingxuan, you go back first, I'll talk to Ah Ji."

Li Mingxuan gave Shen Ji a worried look and nodded as he walked in the direction of the door. No matter what he said now, Shen Ji probably wouldn't listen to him, so it was better to let him vent out.

After leaving the ward, Li Mingxuan gently closed the door and turned around to leave, but his eyes changed slightly when he saw the man across the hallway.

Shen Xi was standing on the other side of the corridor, his face innocent, his eyes meeting Li Mingxuan's gaze. The corners of his mouth slowly hooked up to reveal a gentle smile.

Inexplicably, a trace of coldness flashed through Li Mingxuan's heart.

Chapter 15

The conversation between Shen Ji and Shen Dehan ended in an unhappy disagreement.

Shen Ji could not accept the presence of Chu Qianqian, but Shen Dehan insisted on keeping Chu Qianqian by his side. Shen Ji finally left the hospital with a cold face.

Throughout the whole process, Shen Xi leaned quietly in the hallway and listened to the argument inside the ward, with an expression on his face that the others could not understand.

The thing that just happened had happened countless times in the Shen family in the past, except that the protagonist had always been Shen Xi, while Shen Ji was always one of the uninvolved spectators. This time the roles were reversed, and Shen Xi coldly watched Shen Ji's anger and the disappointment in his eyes. An indescribable feeling of pleasure welled up in Shen Xi's heart.

What made Shen Xi even more excited was his father's expression. In his memory, when his father quarrelled with him, there had never been any expression other than disgust on his face, but what did Shen Xi see just now? There was a look of anger and disappointment mixed with a hint of unacknowledged pain on his father's face. Shen Xi was almost fascinated as he recalled his father's look over and over again. The huge void that had been gaping in his heart since his rebirth was finally filled!

Satisfied, Shen Xi stepped into the elevator and took one last look at the ward where his father was, smiling faintly.

The curtain had been raised, and he hoped that the next actor to take to the stage would not let him down.

Zhongjing at night was always lively and extravagant, with countless bars and clubs dotted around, attracting waves of men and women in beautiful clothes to shuttle among them.

Inside a nondescript bar, Shen Ji was sitting expressionlessly at the bar counter, repeating the words "one more drink" over and over again under the sound of the loud background music.

The barman tonight was a young man who had been working in this bar for three years and was known as Xiao Wu.

In the past three years, Xiao Wu had seen many men like Shen Ji, men who wanted to drink to drown their sorrows. He was not at all bothered by Shen Ji's behaviour but just filled up his empty glass again and again as soon as Shen Ji shouted "one more".

Shen Ji didn't know how much he had drunk, but after once again emptying his glass, he pushed it to Xiao Wu and gestured with his eyes to fill it up.

Xiao Wu obediently took the glass, and soon the crystal liquid filled it, glowing brilliantly under the bar lights. In a daze, Shen Ji watched the glass being filled, then suddenly raised his head to look at Xiao Wu, "What do you think it is like to really love someone?"

After hearing this question, Xiao Wu gave Shen Ji a pitying look, lamenting in his heart that there was another fool trapped by love.

Xiao Wu reckoned that Shen Ji was already drunk and probably didn't even know what he was talking about, so he didn't bother to pay any attention to him. But Shen Ji stared at him stubbornly and repeated his question once again.

Xiao Wu felt helpless, thought for a while and said, "True love is when the person is unique in your eyes and there is no one else like them."

Shen Ji didn't seem to hear Xiao Wu's answer, continuing as if he was talking to himself, "When the person you love dies, will you keep looking for a substitute?"

This question was much more interesting to Xiao Wu than the last one. Xiao Wu's gossip-loving heart flared up and he took the initiative to offer his insight, "I'd say, buddy, you're wrong about this. It's not right to find a substitute after the death of a loved one. She's unique in your eyes, can you still find a substitute to replace her? That means it's not true love at all!"

"Not true love?" Shen Ji repeated dumbly

Xiao Wu looked disgusted, "Yes, it's so simple, can't you understand it? Let's think about it in another way. For example, you are dead. I mean, for example, your lover is with someone who looks like you under the banner of missing you. Will you feel bad about that? You're supposed to be unique, how can you just be replaced?"

When Shen Ji heard Xiao Wu's words, he slowly turned his eyes to look at Xiao Wu, and his face was filled with a desperate pain.

Xiao Wu was shocked by Shen Ji's expression, "I'd say, buddy, are you alright?"

The word "right" ended in a loud crunching sound.

Xiao Wu subconsciously looked in the direction of the sound, only to see several men sitting in a booth not far from the bar counter and a bottle of wine broken into pieces on the floor. One of the men was gripping the waiter's arm, sneering and saying something.

"Fuck me, Fang Luowei!"

Xiao Wu let out a startled cry. No longer caring about the bar, he jumped out and rushed over, "What's going on?"

Under the stares from all sides, Fang Luowei pulled his arm in embarrassment, "Guest, please let go."

The man holding Fang Luowei's arm sneered, "Let go? What about the fact that you've soaked my brother's clothes?"

Fang Luowei gave the "brother" the man mentioned a disgusted look, turned his head and whispered, "I apologise, I will pay for all your consumption tonight."

The man didn't relent, "You think I'm short of this money?"

Fang Luowei endured the discomfort and looked at the man, "What do you want to say, guest?"

The man laughed arrogantly, "It's simple, my brother has a crush on you, so if you have a drink with my brother and let my brother have a good time, we can forget about this."

Fang Luowei frowned, "Guest, this is a bar, I am a waiter, not an escort."

Xiao Wu heard this and finally understood the situation. He knew that it was probably Fang Luowei's face that caused the trouble again, so he smiled and stepped in front of the man, "Big brother, you see, we are a regular business place, there is no escort service. Why don't I have a few drinks with you?"

The man pushed Xiao Wu away, "Who do you think you are?"

Xiao Wu gave Fang Luowei a worried glance and was about to continue, when an unexpected figure had passed by him and blocked Fang Luowei.

"Let go of him." Shen Ji said coldly.

The man gave Shen Ji a sidelong glance, "And who are you?"

Shen Ji's anger that had been pent up all day burst out at this moment. Stimulated by alcohol, Shen Ji's mind was too hot to think about anything, so he directly picked up a bottle of wine on the table and smashed it down on the man's head.

The red liquid smelling of alcohol flowed down from the man's head, and the whole bar froze as if a pause button had been pressed.

The next moment, everyone came to life. Some stood at a distance to watch the fun, others left the bar in a hurry, and the man's "brothers", after an initial daze, instantly stood up and pounced on Shen Ji.

Xiao Wu stared dumbfounded at the few people in the melee in front of him, unable to understand how things had developed to this point.

In the chaos, someone gave Xiao Wu a punch and Xiao Wu immediately lunged into the melee in anger.

"Beat him to death, boy!"

"Call the police, call the police."

"Watch out, guest!"

Chaotic voices rang around and the whole bar was in a mess.

When Li Mingxuan received Shen Ji's call, he listened to it twice before he understood what had happened. Shen Ji had actually gotten into a fight with some customers at the bar and was now being taken to the police station.

After hanging up the phone, Li Mingxuan first asked someone to help him contact the head of the police station and was relieved to hear that Shen Ji could be released after giving a statement on this matter. After rushing to the police station, Li Mingxuan saw Shen Ji sitting alone by the flower bed. At this moment, Shen Ji did not look like a young master of the Shen family. His clothes were torn and tattered, and half of his face was black and blue. Li Mingxuan walked over in amusement, "You're a grown-up, ah, almost thirty years old, and still tossed to the police station."

Shen Ji was in a strange state of mental excitement, stimulated by both alcohol and violence, and his mind was in confusion because of Xiao Wu's previous words, so he couldn't be bothered to refute Li Mingxuan's remark.

Li Mingxuan refused to let Shen Ji off, smiling and teasing, "I heard that you also came to the rescue of a beauty like a hero. So, where is the beauty? Let me take a look."

Shen Ji thought of the young man who had been pulled into the melee. He tried to smile, but the wound at the corner of his mouth was so painful that he could only gesture in the direction of the police station, "He's still inside making a statement."

Li Mingxuan walked up to Shen Ji and gently kicked him, "Let's go, I'll take you back."

Shen Ji shook his head, "Wait for Fang Luowei."

Li Mingxuan gave Shen Ji a surprised look and was about to say something when soft footsteps came from behind him.

"Mr. Shen, thank you for helping me today."

Shen Ji stood up propping himself against the flower bed. Li Mingxuan turned to follow his gaze and was somewhat startled when he saw the man in front of him.

Fang Luowei was originally facing Shen Ji, but when he saw the person next to Shen Ji turn around, he subconsciously showed a smiling face, followed by a surprised look, "Huh, it's you."

Li Mingxuan nodded. He also didn't expect the Fang Luowei that Shen Ji was talking about would be the waiter from the bar that day. He had sent the drunk Shen Xi back to the hotel that day and did not take the incident to heart afterwards, but he did not expect that the world was so small and he would meet up with Fang Luowei again.

Li Mingxuan thought that Fang Luowei would not know Shen Xi's name, but Fang Luowei quickly smiled, "That guest last time was called Shen Xi, right? After you sent him back, I heard your companions guess as to what happened to him."

The one to be shocked by the words "Shen Xi" was not Li Mingxuan but Shen Ji, who looked at Li Mingxuan with a look of disbelief, "Do you have private dealings with Shen Xi?"

Li Mingxuan frowned, ready to explain the whole story, but Shen Ji was already laughing coldly, "So the reporters weren't just talking nonsense. Is the Li family planning to make two bets on me and Shen Xi separately?"

Li Mingxuan's face turned ugly at these words and he said in a deep voice, "Ah Ji, do you know what you are saying?"

Shen Ji took a step back and continued to sneer, "Of course I know, no wonder I never found out who was behind the scene the last time you and Shen Xi took a flight back to China. You dare to say that everything was really just an accident? If it wasn't for the reports of you coming back together that pissed father off and landed him in hospital, how would he have met that woman?" The more Shen Ji spoke, the higher his voice rose, and by the end he was simply shouting hysterically.

Li Mingxuan never expected to hear such heartbreaking words from Shen Ji's mouth. He grew up with Shen Ji; apart from being related by blood, Shen Ji was not only his best friend, but also his brother for life.

And this was the brother he had known for nearly thirty years standing here questioning his actions. Li Mingxuan looked at Shen Ji's face distorted with anger, let out a deep sigh and stepped forward, "Ah Ji, you're drunk and don't know what you're talking about, let me take you home to rest."

Shen Ji shook his head at Li Mingxuan and walked towards the opposite side of the road without looking back, quickly stopping a passing taxi.

Li Mingxuan watched the taxi go away, a faint disappointment welling up in his heart. He could understand Shen Ji's feelings at this moment, but he could not forgive him for doubting his attitude in the first place.

Shen Ji and Li Mingxuan's argument occurred in front of Fang Luowei's eyes, and he gave Li Mingxuan an awkward look. Although he did not know what had happened between Shen Xi and those two, if he had not mentioned the name Shen Xi, Shen Ji would not have suddenly exploded. He could tell that Shen Ji was drunk-talking, but drunken words also could hurt.

Li Mingxuan turned around, and Fang Luowei stepped forward, "I'm sorry, I didn't know he had a conflict with Shen Xi."

Li Mingxuan shook his head, "It has nothing to do with you, it's just that he is in a bad mood."

Fang Luowei still felt very sorry, but Li Mingxuan changed the subject, "Where are you going?"

"Back to the bar to do something."

Li Mingxuan glanced at the empty street and thought for a moment, "I'll take you back, it's not easy to stop a taxi now."

Fang Luowei wanted to refuse, but once he thought that he had just received a call from his boss that he had been fired and needed to go back and settle his wages as soon as possible, he could only agree with a bitter smile.

The trip was uneventful. Almost as soon as he saw the shadow of the bar, Fang Luowei hurriedly pushed open the car door, thanked Li Mingxuan and ran all the way to the back door of the bar.

At that moment, Shen Xi, who had just been looking for Fang Luowei in the bar to no avail, was standing in front of the bar in disappointment, wondering where Fang Luowei might have gone. He didn't expect that what he had seen that day was not an illusion but the real Fang Luowei, but unfortunately he was a step too late. The people in the bar said that Fang Luowei had just been fired for fighting, and Shen Xi could only sigh with regret when he heard this.

Li Mingxuan saw Shen Xi standing at the door of the bar. Under the warm yellow glow of the bar's signboard, Shen Xi was standing alone, looking at the distance with a confused expression, thinking about something.

Li Mingxuan's mind flashed back to the last time Shen Xi was drunk, and he honked the horn.

Shen Xi looked up in surprise. The two of them were more than ten metres apart from each other. Li Mingxuan made a motion for him to get into the car. Shen Xi froze for a moment, then the corners of his mouth slowly raised and he smiled faintly at Li Mingxuan.

In the warm yellow light, Shen Xi's smile was clean and clear, and the corners of Li Mingxuan's mouth couldn't help but slowly hook up.

Chapter 16

"Shen Xi and Li Mingxuan meet at night to have a very pleasant talk. The Li family bets on Shen Sanshao!"

The large headline was eye-catching and titillating on the front page of the newspaper.

Below the headline was a candid photo, with the hotel where Shen Xi was staying in the background. In the photo, Li Mingxuan and Shen Xi could be clearly seen standing together, and from the angle the photo was taken, Li Mingxuan was turning sideways to talk to Shen Xi with a smile on his face.

This was a newspaper that came out today, and it was placed in front of Li Mingxuan.

Li Mingxuan's eyes did not linger on the sensational headline, but fell directly on the photo below it.

From the photo, the smile on his face was obvious, and it was clear he was in a good mood at the time. Li Mingxuan's expression was slightly stunned for a moment. He remembered that he was just chatting with Shen Xi, but perhaps he didn't realise that his expression would be so relaxed. Without the suspicion and defensiveness of their first meeting on the plane, Li Mingxuan felt he could treat Shen Xi as a cousin just like Shen Cheng, as long as Shen Xi…

Li Mingxuan did not continue with this thought. Subconsciously, he did not want to maliciously guess the purpose of Shen Xi's return anymore. In fact, Shen Xi did not do anything after he came back. His relationship with his father was as bad as ever, and Li Mingxuan's heart had a vague feeling of relief.

The phone rang right in time, interrupting Li Mingxuan's thoughts. Shen Ji's voice was full of exhaustion.

"Mingxuan, I'm sorry!"

This was the first time that Shen Ji said sorry to Li Mingxuan in all the years they had known each other. Although Shen Ji did not explain, both of them knew what he was sorry for.

Li Mingxuan laughed silently, a little bitterly. The incident last night had obviously left a mark on the two of them. Otherwise, based on their friendship, Shen Ji would have passed it off as a slip of the tongue and there would be no need to apologise.

With a deep sigh in his heart, Li Mingxuan said, "Ah Ji, you know I didn't take it to heart."

Li Mingxuan's voice was no different from the past, and Shen Ji seemed to relax, his tone much lighter than before, "Well, I know, we are brothers for life."

Li Mingxuan's eyes once again fell on the newspaper in front of him, and after a momentary pause, Li Mingxuan repeated in a heavier voice, "Yes, we are brothers for life."

Hanging up the phone, Li Mingxuan looked at the table with complicated eyes and stretched out his hand to cover up the newspaper on top.

On the other side, Shen Ji held the silent phone and looked at the newspaper in front of him with the same complicated eyes. Li Mingxuan's smile in the newspaper bothered him deeply.

Shen Ji read the report over and over again with a grim face, then suddenly crumpled the newspaper into a ball and threw it far away. His mind kept repeating Li Mingxuan's words just now – we are brothers for life.

Shen Ji took a deep breath and raised his head to look at the ceiling unconsciously. The past twenty years or so spent side by side with Li Mingxuan flashed through his mind like a silent old movie. Shen Ji closed his eyes. They were brothers for life. He shouldn't have doubted Li Mingxuan. All this was just a reporter's fabrication.

But there was always a voice in Shen Ji's heart asking why Mingxuan had appeared in front of Shen Xi after they had separated last night.

This question hovered in the back of Shen Ji's mind like a magic spell, and he left the house with his coat in his hand, distraught.

That day, Shen Xi once again arrived at the hospital later than usual, but to his surprise, Shen Ji, who was supposed to be at the hospital, was not there. Instead, it was Shen Rong who appeared in the ward.

Shen Rong seemed to be very surprised by Shen Xi's appearance. A hint of jealousy flashed in his eyes; he affectionately took Shen Dehan's arm and looked over, "Elder brother!"

Shen Xi mockingly glanced at Shen Rong's movements and responded coldly, "I am the youngest in the Shen family tree, how come I didn't know I had a younger brother."

Shen Rong's smile froze on his face and Shen Dehan's expression became gloomy. Shen Xi pretended not to notice and continued as if nothing had happened, "I remember the last time I met Big Brother at the hospital, Big Brother said the same thing. There are only three brothers in the Shen family and he can't afford to have a younger brother with a special hobby."

Shen Xi emphasised the words "special hobby" and saw sullen expressions of Shen Dehan and Shen Rong's at the same time. But these words were said by Shen Ji, and even though Shen Dehan liked Shen Rong, Shen Rong had to take second place to Shen Ji. Shen Rong naturally understood this in his heart, and could only laugh lightly in embarrassment, avoiding the confrontation.

Shen Xi glanced at Shen Rong with a sneer, and then looked at Shen Dehan casually, "Father, I heard that there is a new nurse in the ward, why haven't I seen her?"

Shen Xi's question caught Shen Rong's attention. He knew that Shen Xi would not ask about a nurse for no reason. Could it be aimed at him again? Shen Rong looked at Shen Xi warily and was met with a mocking look from Shen Xi.

Shen Rong's heart tightened and he instinctively peeked at his father's expression, sensitively noticing that Shen Dehan's face seemed to have changed a little when Shen Xi mentioned the nurse. Shen Rong lowered his eyes silently, trying to figure out what the matter with the nurse was all about.

The door to the ward was pushed open at that moment, accompanied by a sweet voice, "Mr. Shen, it's time for you to take your medicine."

Shen Rong subconsciously looked over at the voice and froze when he saw the visitor clearly, his expression looking as if he was struck by lightning.

Chu Qianqian appeared at the door with the medicine, noticed that there were other people in the room and looked at Shen Dehan in embarrassment, "Sorry to disturb you, Mr. Shen, I didn't know you had guests."

Shen Dehan's expression became kind as soon as he saw Chu Qianqian. When he heard her mention taking the medicine, he smiled even more, "It's okay, it's time to take the medicine, Xiao Chu, just go about your business."

Chu Qianqian smiled faintly at the people in the room, and when her eyes swept over Shen Rong, she revealed a look of surprise. Shen Rong stared at the woman who had appeared in front of him in a daze, not knowing what kind of expression he should wear at this moment.

Chu Qianqian quickly turned away from Shen Rong and carefully placed the medicine beside Shen Dehan.

Looking at Chu Qianqian familiarly helping Shen Dehan pour water and dispense medicine, Shen Rong stood up stiffly, giving her place.

Shen Rong didn't know how he got out of the ward. The empty hallway was silent, the bodyguards quietly standing in the two ends of the floor.

The sound of footsteps came from behind him, and Shen Rong instantly snapped back to attention, rushing to Shen Xi who had come out right after him and saying in a low voice, "It's you, it's you, isn't it? You found that woman, didn't you?"

Shen Xi raised his eyebrows with an innocent look, "What do you mean?"

Shen Rong's expression twisted, "Don't you understand what I say? You knew that Father liked Mother and deliberately found a similar woman, didn't you?"

Shen Xi looked at Shen Rong with a face full of mockery, "Is that really what you think?"

Shen Rong shrank suddenly and then he looked back hard.

Shen Xi faintly smiled, leaned to Shen Rong's ear and said word by word in a pitying tone, "In fact, you know very well in your own heart, don't you? Whether it's you or Zhou Mingmei, you're just substitutes for a dead person. Do you think Father likes you? He just wants to find that woman's shadow in your face. Looking at your face, Father must have regretted it countless times: why was your birth mother Zhou Mingmei and not the woman in his heart? Does Father love to see your smiling face the most? Why do you think it is? Because Father loves you? It's just that you look most like that woman when you smile. Now that someone younger and more similar to that woman has appeared, what value do you think your existence has?"

Shen Rong's expression was fierce as he listened to what Shen Xi had said. His eyes seemed to be breathing fire but not a word could come out of his mouth.

Shen Xi straightened up with satisfaction, a sneer curving the corner of his mouth, "Wake up, don't deceive yourself. Father's love for you is nothing but a joke."

These words became the last straw that completely broke Shen Rong's back. The anger in Shen Rong's heart could no longer be restrained and he ruthlessly threw a punch at Shen Xi.

Shen Xi's mind flashed instantly; should he dodge or take the punch on purpose?

He only had time for a fleeting thought when with a sound of sharp footsteps a familiar figure stepped in front of Shen Xi and a hand caught the swinging fist.

Both Shen Xi and Shen Rong looked stunned for a moment, but Shen Xi was the first to react and took a step back.

Shen Rong froze; Li Mingxuan released Shen Rong's clenched fist and looked at him coldly, "What are you trying to do?"

Shen Rong gritted his teeth and glanced at Shen Xi, stubbornly silent.

Li Mingxuan frowned imperceptibly, oblivious to Shen Rong's expression, "Uncle needs to rest, you better not start any conflict here."

Shen Rong lowered his head and sent a fierce glance at Shen Xi while Li Mingxuan was not paying attention, turned around and walked to the other side of the corridor.

The bodyguards saw that the situation was under control and dispersed once again.

Seeing that there were no more people around, Li Mingxuan turned to Shen Xi and lowered his voice to reveal a hint of anger, "Why didn't you dodge just now?"

Shen Xi was stunned and before he could react, Li Mingxuan asked another question, "Did you think that if you suffered a loss from Shen Rong, you would make Uncle favour you? You know very well…"

Li Mingxuan's unfinished words stopped under Shen Xi's mocking gaze. Shen Xi sneered, "I know very well what? That even if I died in front of my father, my father would not look at me, let alone if I was merely punched a few times by my father's favourite bastard son?"

Shen Xi lowered his eyes, "You are thinking too much. Just now Shen Rong's action was too fast and I didn't have time to avoid it."

After Shen Xi finished speaking, he turned his head and was about to leave, but Li Mingxuan suddenly stretched out his hand and pulled him back, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that."

Li Mingxuan's voice was sincere. Shen Xi paused; after a moment, he slowly turned around and looked at Li Mingxuan with a smile, "It's okay, I know you meant well."

Shen Xi's smile was as clean and gentle as it had been last night, but Li Mingxuan felt a deep sense of alienation in it.

Chapter 17

Since he had met Chu Qianqian at the hospital a few days ago, Shen Rong had not appeared to visit his father for a few days in a row.

Shen Xi did not care about this. Shen Rong's reaction was what he expected. It was Zhou Mingmei he was paying attention to. Unfortunately, Zhou Mingmei was very calm, as if she was completely unaware of Chu Qianqian's existence, and did not respond in any way.

It surprised Shen Xi and made him even more wary of Zhou Mingmei.

Another one who surprised him was Li Mingxuan. It was not that Shen Xi didn't feel some signs of goodwill from Li Mingxuan, but it was precisely what made him alert. He didn't believe the newspaper articles about the Li family making two bets, so what was Li Mingxuan after? Did he sympathise with him? Shen Xi felt that this idea was ridiculous. Based on Li Mingxuan's friendship with Shen Ji, how could he possibly feel sympathy for him? In his previous life, he had never seen this cousin of his since the moment of his imprisonment till his death, and he did not think that being reborn would suddenly create a deep brotherhood between them. So what exactly did Li Mingxuan want? Was there something about him that the Li family wanted?

Shen Xi had never been afraid to guess the worst about the people's intentions, but no matter how much he thought, he could not guess what Li Mingxuan was thinking.

However, when he thought about the news shared by the reporters, the corner of Shen Xi's mouth curled up into a sneer. As the saying goes, three men make a tiger (repeated rumour becomes a fact); he didn't believe that Shen Ji could look at these articles day in and day out and still be firmly convinced in Li Mingxuan's brotherly love!

That day Shen Xi did not go to the hospital as usual, but arrived at the cemetery early in the morning.

Today was Shen Xi's mother's birthday, and Shen Xi really did not want to go to the hospital to play the role of a filial son to a doting father on this day. For five years he spent abroad, except for the first year, every year after that, Lao K had come to the cemetery to pay respect to Shen Xi's mother in his place. This time Shen Xi would finally be able to accompany his mother in person.

The cemetery in the early morning was quiet and solemn, and Shen Xi lightly manoeuvred between the marble tombstones with his mother's favourite lilies of the valley in his hand.

In the flower language the lily of the valley meant happiness, and it was said that if you received a lily of the valley, you would be favoured by the god of luck. Unfortunately, many people did not know the other name of the lily of the valley, "Our Lady's Tears".

Shen Xi did not believe in these statements, but when he thought of his mother's life, he could only sigh silently.

Looking at his mother's tombstone from a distance, Shen Xi paused in confusion. As he came closer, he could be sure there was no mistake. A bouquet of white lilies of the valley lay quietly in front of his mother's tombstone, its faint fragrance filling the surroundings.

Shen Xi took a look around. There was no one else but him, so who would be sending flowers today? What's more, who would be sending his mother's favourite lilies of the valley?

Lao K's name flashed through Shen Xi's mind and then he shook his head. Lao K knew he would come to the cemetery in person today and would not do such a superfluous thing.

After thinking about it for a long time, Shen Xi couldn't think of who this person would be, so he could only suppress the doubts in his heart for now. No matter who the sender of the flowers was, Shen Xi was grateful for the thought.

Gently placing the flowers in his hand together with those in front of the tombstone, Shen Xi sat down against his mother's tombstone and began to recount the events of the past few days, as he always did. When he reached the point where his father had a big fight with Shen Ji and insisted on keeping Chu Qianqian by his side, a hint of mockery appeared on Shen Xi's face.

"Look, Mom, he is such a selfish person. He claims to love Fang Yun, but he still finds one substitute after another, first Zhou Mingmei and then Chu Qianqian. He told everyone that Shen Ji was his most cherished son, but he knew that the existence of Zhou Mingmei and Shen Rong was a thorn in Shen Ji's heart, and yet he still jabbed this thorn into his heart day after day. And now he has scolded his beloved son for the sake of a Chu Qianqian whom he has seen just once."

Shen Xi snorted, "So he doesn't love anyone, he only loves himself."

A gust of wind blew by and the lilies of the valley in front of the tombstone gently swayed with the wind.

The corners of Shen Xi's mouth slowly curled up to reveal a smile, "Mom, you agree with me?"

The lilies of the valley swayed even more.

The smile on Shen Xi's face grew bigger, but his eyes gradually moistened. If his mother could hear him in heaven, would she regret having fallen in love with such a selfish man back then? Would she regret giving up her life so easily at such a beautiful age?

Unfortunately, Shen Xi would never be able to know the answers to these two questions.

After staying quietly all morning, Shen Xi left the cemetery near noon.

This was when Lao K called him. "At the cemetery?"

Shen Xi gave a soft "en". "Just leaving."

Lao K chuckled. "Come back early, I'll be waiting for you to have a hotpot tonight."

Shen Xi said "en" again, thought for a moment and checked, "Did you send flowers to the cemetery?"

"Send flowers?" Lao K was puzzled and then denied, "No, why?"

Shen Xi mused, "I came to the cemetery this morning and found that someone had come before me and left my mother her favourite lilies of the valley."

"Could it have been your father?" Lao K asked cautiously.

Shen Xi laughed coldly, "How could it be? Father is in the hospital with Chu Qianqian, how could he think of mother!"

"Should we check it out?" Lao K suggested.

Shen Xi thought about it and rejected Lao K's offer, "Forget it, whoever it is, it is a token of appreciation."

Hanging up the phone, Shen Xi was too lazy to call for a taxi, and walked slowly along the quiet road in front of the cemetery, carefully considering what he was going to do next.

Only when Shen Xi had checked everything in his mind and felt that there was nothing wrong did he come back to his senses and realise that at some point the sky had darkened and there were vague signs of rain.

Shen Xi's brow furrowed as he looked around the empty road without a single car passing by. The cemetery was located in the suburbs and it was difficult to find a taxi there, and now the weather was getting worse. For the first time, Shen Xi regretted that he was used to taking a taxi after returning home and was too lazy to buy a car.

The rain started to fall. At first it was a light rain, nothing but two or three drops, but soon it turned into a heavy rain, pouring down. There were a few thunderous noises from time to time and the whole sky was as black as ink.

Shen Xi stood in the rain in embarrassment; there was no place to shelter from the rain around. His clothes were wet quickly, and the chill started to seep into Shen Xi's body little by little.

Shen Xi shivered and fished out his mobile phone but it automatically switched off when it unexpectedly got under the water. Shen Xi thought bitterly, fortunately, Lao K knew he was here and would definitely come looking for him later.

The rain was getting heavier without any sign of stopping. Shen Xi simply took off his jacket, put it on top of his head and found a high place to sit down. He was soaked to the bone anyway and it didn't matter if he would catch a cold.

Shen Xi stared unconsciously at the raindrops that kept splashing at his feet. The ear-piercing sound of brakes sounded on the side of the road, and Shen Xi looked over in surprise.

A familiar face appeared in the rolled down car window.

"Get in!"

Chapter 18

"Get in!" The two simple words were like a voice from heaven to Shen Xi, devastated by the rainstorm.

Shen Xi was about to get up instinctively but when he saw the driver clearly, he hesitated. It was not Lao K but Li Mingxuan who called him to get in the car.

Shen Xi did not move.

Li Mingxuan thought that thunder was too loud and Shen Xi hadn't heard his words, so he shouted again, "Get in!"

With this shout, Li Mingxuan clearly saw Shen Xi's hesitation. Glancing at the heavy rain outside, Li Mingxuan said nothing, opened the car door and jogged towards Shen Xi in the rain.

The moment he touched Shen Xi, his hand felt cold. With a slight effort, Li Mingxuan pulled Shen Xi up and rushed to the car in a few steps to shove Shen Xi in.

Li Mingxuan's action was so fast that before Shen Xi could react, he was already sitting in the car. In an instant, Li Mingxuan neatly bypassed the front of the car, opened the door and sat beside Shen Xi.

Shen Xi's brow furrowed slightly; he was about to say thank you when a clean jacket was handed over to him.

"Take off your shirt and change into this, be careful not to catch a cold."

Hearing unquestionable concern in this low magnetic voice, Shen Xi hesitantly glanced at Li Mingxuan and took the jacket as he was told.

Seeing this, Li Mingxuan could only let out a silent sigh.

At first he was a bit angry, planning to ask Shen Xi why he refused to get in the car, but when he saw Shen Xi's current appearance, his anger disappeared. Perhaps because he had been trapped in the rain for too long, Shen Xi looked miserable at this moment, drenched from head to toe, and his face was even paler than usual, but there was still the aura of rejection around him, as if he was a thousand miles away. For some reason, Shen Xi's appearance reminded Li Mingxuan of a puppy he had seen not long ago.

It was a rather pretty little golden retriever, and it was a rainy day when Li Mingxuan saw it. Under the pouring rain, the little golden retriever was wet all over and was lying on the side of the road shivering. Mingfei, who was sitting in the back of the car, felt sorry for it and wanted to take it home. But no matter how Mingfei tried to entice it, the little golden retriever refused to come near them and looked at them warily. Eventually Mingfei had to give up in desperation. As they drove away, Li Mingxuan looked out of the car window and saw the little golden retriever shrinking into a ball, deeply alienated from all the humans around him who tried to get close to it.

Mingfei was sure that the puppy must have experienced abandonment by its owner to become so wary and detached from humans.

So what had Shen Xi experienced to make him wary and alienated?

When Li Mingxuan thought about it, his heart softened.

Speaking of which, Li Mingxuan now had very mixed feelings about Shen Xi. In the past twenty years or so, Shen Xi had been a stranger related by blood to Li Mingxuan. He was the younger brother that Shen Ji didn't want to talk about, he was the fop who caused trouble according to Shen Cheng, he was the nephew that his mother felt guilty about, and he was an outcast by default for the entire Shen family, including the Li family.

But all that started changing when he met Shen Xi on the plane back to China.

Perhaps because the two had spent more time together in this period than in the previous twenty years, Shen Xi in Li Mingxuan's eyes was no longer just a name or a topic of conversation of other people, but a living person.

Shen Xi would laugh, he would be aggrieved, he would pretend to be strong, and he would get drunk late at night alone. Every time Li Mingxuan met Shen Xi, he got to know him better. He could no longer be indifferent to Shen Xi as he used to be and turn a blind eye to Shen Xi's affairs.

Li Mingxuan smiled silently and bitterly. Perhaps everyone's indifference to Shen Xi stemmed from this. Because of indifference there would be no feelings, and when faced with a choice, a decision would be made without hesitation.

Li Mingxuan's gaze couldn't help turning to Shen Xi. At this time, Shen Xi had just stripped off his wet clothes, revealing his fair skin.

Noticing Li Mingxuan's gaze, Shen Xi looked back suspiciously. Showing a kind smile, Li Mingxuan averted his eyes, handed the tissues to Shen Xi and asked while driving, "Take you back to the hotel?"

Shen Xi nodded and put Li Mingxuan's jacket on, adding after a moment's thought, "Thank you, Cousin Mingxuan."

Li Mingxuan chuckled and asked teasingly, "Why did you refuse to get in the car just now, so I had to go and invite you personally?"

Shen Xi explained, "Because I already found a friend to pick me up and I didn't want to bother Cousin."

"Then do you want to talk to your friend?" Li Mingxuan asked casually.

Shen Xi shook his head, "The phone got wet and I don't remember his number."

Li Mingxuan smiled and changed the subject, "Why did Xiao Xi think of coming to the cemetery today?"

After the question was asked, there was silence in the car. Shen Xi did not answer and Li Mingxuan looked at Shen Xi in surprise. The smile on Shen Xi's face disappeared and he lowered his eyes, "Today is my mother's birthday."

Li Mingxuan paused, looked at Shen Xi for a while, and said seriously, "Sorry! "

Li Mingxuan's eyes were so solemn that Shen Xi evaded and responded indifferently, "It doesn't matter, it had nothing to do with you."

Yes, it didn't matter; Shen Xi's expression was indifferent as he looked out the window. He was used to it, used to being ignored by the Shen family, used to the fact that he was the only person in the world who remembered his mother. Maybe you could also add the unknown man who left the flowers. Thinking of the bunch of lily of the valley flowers in front of the tombstone, Shen Xi felt his mood improve, but he didn't want to speak anymore.

Once again, Li Mingxuan sighed silently.

The rain outside the window was getting heavier and heavier, the sky was getting darker and the whole world seemed to be immersed in the rain.

Shen Xi sat quietly in the car; the chill in his heart seemed to recede a little with the chill in his body.

Li Mingxuan didn't speak again, concentrating on driving the car carefully through the rain. From Shen Xi's perspective, Li Mingxuan's profile looked very handsome, and with that focused expression on his face, he was very attractive.

Shen Xi had known Li Mingxuan all his life. Unlike his own notorious reputation, Li Mingxuan's reputation in the upper class circles of Zhongjing was very good. He was a graduate of a prestigious school, the heir of the family, capable and skillful, and more importantly, Shen Xi had never heard of any scandal involving Li Mingxuan over the years. Such a clean-cut man was naturally the ideal son-in-law in many people's eyes, and of course so was Shen Ji. Both of them had always been recognized as golden bachelors in their circle.

Thinking of this, Shen Xi suddenly glanced at Li Mingxuan strangely. The situation of Li Mingxuan and Shen Ji was too similar. The two of them couldn't really have an affair, could they?

Shen Xi's gaze was so strange that Li Mingxuan was vaguely aware of it, "What's wrong?"

Shen Xi shook his head, "Just thinking when I can get back to the hotel."

Li Mingxuan glanced at the GPS and said soothingly, "Should be there soon."

Shen Xi looked away, his previous suspicions surfacing once more. Li Mingxuan's concern for him did not seem fake, so what was he really after?

Shen Xi was so engrossed in his thoughts that he missed the moment the hotel had already appeared in front of him.

Taking a look at the rain that was not decreasing at all, Shen Xi thought about the difficult road conditions and took the initiative to invite Li Mingxuan, "Cousin Mingxuan, do you want to go up and sit down?" As he said that, Shen Xi's gaze fell on Li Mingxuan's half-wet clothes.

Li Mingxuan was surprised by Shen Xi's offer and nodded without hesitation.

Returning to his room wrapped in Li Mingxuan's jacket, Shen Xi found a few clothes that he hadn't worn much and handed them to Li Mingxuan, motioning him to take a shower first. There was not much height difference between the two of them, but Shen Xi was thinner. These clothes might be tighter on Li Mingxuan, but they were more comfortable than wet clothes.

Li Mingxuan did not take the clothes, "Xiao Xi, you wash first." Li Mingxuan was more worried about Shen Xi than about himself. After being stuck in the heavy rain for so long, even now Shen Xi's face hadn't recovered much colour.

It was this kind of concern again. Shen Xi faintly resisted it in his heart, but after taking a look at his drenched pants, Shen Xi nodded and didn't insist anymore.

The sound of water soon came from the bathroom, and Li Mingxuan casually looked around the living room. The last time he had sent the drunk Shen Xi back, he hadn't paid much attention to the state of the room. Only when he took a look this time did Li Mingxuan notice the oddity.

The entire room was surprisingly tidy. All of Shen Xi's personal belongings were neatly arranged without any clutter. The hotel cleaning usually did not touch the guests' personal belongings, so did Shen Xi do this himself?

Li Mingxuan's amazement only lasted for a moment before his attention was quickly drawn to a photograph on the table. The photo seemed to have been taken when Shen Xi was a baby and it looked like it was of Shen Xi's grandfather, mother and uncle. Shen Xi was estimated to be less than a year old at that time, and was smiling happily at the camera in ignorance.

Li Mingxuan fell silent, unable to imagine how Shen Xi would feel looking at this photo every day.

The phone in the room rang at this moment.

"Xiao Xixi, you're back at the hotel? You're so bad, you had me worried sick." Li Mingxuan had just picked up the phone and before he could say anything, the other side of the phone had already rattled a few phrases. What puzzled Li Mingxuan even more was that the voice coming from the phone clearly belonged to a man but it seemed the other party was pinching his throat in a pretentious manner.

Li Mingxuan's face couldn't help but darken. Could this be the friend who was going to pick up Shen Xi? It made him wonder what kind of people Shen Xi usually associated with!

Enduring his discomfort at the other party's voice, Li Mingxuan said, "I'm Shen Xi's cousin, Shen Xi is taking a shower. Who are you?"

"Cousin? You're Li Mingxuan?" The other party's voice suddenly rose and then the man shot a question, "What did you just say, Shen Xi is taking a shower?" It was a tone of complete disbelief.

Li Mingxuan was surprised by the other party's attitude, but still gave an "en".

There was silence on the other side of the phone, and only after a while did a feeble male voice say, "Please tell Xiao Xi that Wang Xinghai is looking for him. I'm relieved he's back home."

The phone was quickly hung up and a thoughtful expression appeared on Li Mingxuan's face.

"Who's calling?" Shen Xi's voice came from behind.

Li Mingxuan turned his head to look, but saw Shen Xi standing at the door of the bathroom fully dressed.

Thinking about the tone of the man on the phone just now, Li Mingxuan laughed lightly, "A man calling himself Wang Xinghai is looking for you."

"Wang Xinghai?" Doubt flashed in Shen Xi's eyes; then it occurred to him that wasn't Wang Xinghai the name of Lao K? Back then, he had even used this name to make fun of Lao K. A big guy with a scummy beard with such a literary name.

With a casual nod, Shen Xi gestured to the direction of the bathroom. After Li Mingxuan went in, Shen Xi dialled back the number in the call log.

"Hello, it's me!"

"The stimulation is too great, I am in a weak state, please do not disturb."

"Get lost!" Shen Xi said dryly.

Lao K immediately came to life, "What's going on? Why is Li Mingxuan with you, and you're taking a shower?"

Shen Xi snorted coldly, "Isn't it because you were too slow to get to the cemetery? I just happened to meet him and came back first. Don't you take a shower after getting wet?"

The gap between Shen Xi's answer and Lao K's expectations was too wide, and Lao K immediately lost all interest, lazily humming on the phone.

"Where are you now?" Shen Xi asked kindly.

"Guess what, I got stuck in the cemetery in the pouring rain trying to pick you up. I don't dare drive in this damn weather!" Lao K immediately complained. Shen Xi chuckled and suggested seriously, "Well, the cemetery in the rain is something special, you can take your time and enjoy the view."

"Xiao Xixi, you're so heartless!"

Shen Xi couldn't help laughing out loud.

The two of them just chatted away, and Shen Xi tried to hang up the phone several times, but was stopped by Lao K crying and making trouble. Thinking of Lao K getting trapped in the cemetery because he went to pick him up, Shen Xi indulged him on a rare occasion.

What Li Mingxuan saw when he came out of the shower was Shen Xi smiling with the phone in his hand.

Although Shen Xi was not smiling at him, the heartfelt pleasure on Shen Xi's face seemed to be infectious. Looking at Shen Xi's curved eyes, Li Mingxuan was stunned for the first time.

Chapter 19

Li Mingxuan did not stay with Shen Xi for too long; after the rain had subsided a little, he chose to say goodbye. Before he left, he wrote down his phone number on a sticky note for Shen Xi, in case Shen Xi needed to call him for something in the future.

Shen Xi politely thanked Li Mingxuan for his kindness and did not take it seriously. From the bottom of his heart, Shen Xi didn't want to have too much to do with Li Mingxuan. Thinking of Li Mingxuan's friendship with Shen Ji, he couldn't help but doubt Li Mingxuan's motives for approaching him.

Li Mingxuan could see Shen Xi's detachment, smiled and left the phone number without saying anything else.

When he left the hotel, Li Mingxuan threw the changed clothes he was carrying into the back seat, but unexpectedly a black object slipped out of the clothes.

Li Mingxuan was taken aback, only to remember that he deliberately turned off his mobile phone to avoid his mother's calls today, and then casually stuffed it somewhere. No wonder there had been no phone calls all morning.

After thinking about it, Li Mingxuan picked up the phone and turned it on. A long beep sounded and a dozen missed calls popped up, most of them from the Li family.

Li Mingxuan got a headache; he didn't expect his mother to be this persistent.

Having no wish to go home now, Li Mingxuan sat quietly in the car, lit a cigarette and listened to the rain outside the window as he fell into deep thought.

Speaking of which, Li Mingxuan was able to meet Shen Xi because he, like Shen Xi, went to the cemetery today. Like Shen Xi's mother who was buried in this cemetery, Li Mingxuan's grandfather was also buried there.

Grandpa Li valued Li Mingxuan the most during his lifetime and cultivated him as an heir since he was a child. Li Mingxuan never failed to live up to his family's expectations. He studied and took over the family business; everything satisfied the family, except for one thing that deeply hurt Grandpa Li's heart.

Before Grandpa Li died, Li Mingxuan was already an adult. When he returned to China to take over the family business, Li Mingxuan had a serious conversation with his family.

Ignoring the shocked eyes of his family, Li Mingxuan admitted that he was not interested in women and that perhaps he would fall in love with a man in the future. He knew that as the heir of the family, his fate was to marry and to give birth to the next generation of heirs, but he could not guarantee that he could do this.

His sexuality was innate and there was nothing he could do to change it. If his family could accept it, then he would take over the family business according to the family's arrangements. If the family could not accept it, then he would choose to stay abroad and start his own business, and the Li family would still have time to train Mingfei as the heir.

Li Mingxuan's words were like dropping a bomb on the family. Everyone, including Shen Bixue, was blown away by the news. But looking at Li Mingxuan's serious expression, everyone could not help but believe in his determination.

At one point, Shen Bixue even wondered if Li Mingxuan liked Shen Ji. Li Mingxuan had to explain countless times until his family was convinced that he really did not have any feelings for Shen Ji.

Although Shen Ji was ruled out, the family was still not happy. Grandpa Li was so stimulated by this incident that he fell seriously ill. Li Mingxuan felt guilty but he couldn't compromise. It was Li Mingxuan's father who finally came to his senses first. As far as he was concerned, as long as Li Mingxuan could support the Li family, a marriage was not necessary. As for the next heir, didn't they still have Li Mingfei? His only worry was that Li Mingxuan would die alone, but when he thought of his son's conditions, Li Xiyong eventually put his mind at ease.

With Li Xiyong as his guide, Grandpa Li finally accepted his grandson's choice, and Shen Bixue also had no choice but to agree.

After Grandpa Li passed away, Li Mingxuan remained single for so many years, and the hope in Shen Bixue's heart was rekindled. Even if Li Mingxuan liked men, hadn't he never met the one he was attracted to in all these years? So why couldn't he try to be with a woman?

With such a thought in mind, Shen Bixue arranged for Li Mingxuan to meet with a daughter of a family friend today. What Shen Bixue didn't expect was that not only did Li Mingxuan not show up today, he even turned off his mobile phone, silently indicating his attitude.

Thinking of this, Li Mingxuan could also guess how angry his mother would be. With a bitter smile, Li Mingxuan stubbed his cigarette and drove away from the hotel. When he returned home, unsurprisingly, Shen Bixue was sitting in the hall waiting for him.

Looking at Li Mingxuan come in, Shen Bixue's worry for her son prevailed over her anger, and although her face was dark, she couldn't help but ask, "Did you get caught in the rain?"

Li Mingxuan smiled and sat beside Shen Bixue, "I got a little wet, but I took a shower at Shen Xi's place."

"Shen Xi?" Only then did Shen Bixue notice that the tight clothes Li Mingxuan was wearing were not his own.

Li Mingxuan told her about his encounter with Shen Xi today, and Shen Bixue's attention was immediately drawn to the incident. After listening to it, she sighed deeply and said no more.

Li Mingxuan was about to leave with an excuse when Shen Bixue turned her attention back to him, "What? Just going to muddle through today?"

Li Mingxuan smiled bitterly and stared at Shen Bixue seriously, "Mom, you know, I like men."

Shen Bixue eagerly retorted, "But haven't you never met someone you're attracted to? Can't you try to be with a girl?"

Li Mingxuan shook his head, "Since there is going to be no result, why delay other people."

Shen Bixue gave Li Mingxuan a disappointed look, "But you're already approaching thirty. In case you never meet the one you're attracted to, do you want to stay single forever? Your father and I are both getting older and we can't say when we will be gone. When Mingfei has his own life, who else will stay by your side?"

Shen Bixue's words were overflowing with deep concern, and Li Mingxuan could only smile and say soothingly, "Don't worry, Mom, I won't be alone all the time."

Looking at Li Mingxuan's clear unwillingness to talk more, Shen Bixue could only give up helplessly, "I know what you mean, I won't arrange anything for you without permission again, but you must also promise me that if you really meet someone you like, you must bring them home for me to see them at the first opportunity."

Li Mingxuan naturally nodded without hesitation.

After convincing his mother, Li Mingxuan let out a sigh of relief.

After returning to his room and changing his clothes, Li Mingxuan took a look at the time. It was just two o'clock in the afternoon; he thought for a while and went to his study, where there were still a lot of things waiting for him to deal with.

Time always flies when you are busy, and when Li Mingxuan looked up, he realised that it was already after 6pm. Stretching out for a long time, Li Mingxuan looked at the drizzle that was still pattering outside the window, and a thought flashed across his mind. What was Shen Xi doing now?

The thought was only fleeting when his mobile phone suddenly rang. An unfamiliar number appeared on the screen.

"Hello?"

"Hello, are you a friend of Mr. Shen Xi?" From the phone came a thin female voice that seemed to carry a hint of anxiety.

Li Mingxuan's brow furrowed involuntarily, "I'm Shen Xi's cousin, what's the matter?"

"Great, you're Mr. Shen Xi's family!" The other party's tone immediately revealed a feeling of relief, "The thing is I'm a room service worker at the Jinghao Hotel. This afternoon we accidentally discovered that Mr. Shen was sick, but we were unable to contact Mr. Shen's family. We found this number in the trash can…"

The other party hesitated a little when she said this; she seemed to feel that she shouldn't have said the number was found in the trash can.

Li Mingxuan directly interrupted her words, "What's wrong with Shen Xi now?"

"Mr. Shen has a fever, we've given Mr. Shen medicine, but he needs someone around to take care of him." There was a hint of urgency in the other party's tone, obviously worried that Li Mingxuan would not come over.

Li Mingxuan said, "I'll be right there."

Hanging up the phone, Li Mingxuan felt like he was about to laugh out loud angrily. As soon as he had given his number to Shen Xi, Shen Xi threw it in the trash. Should he be glad that Shen Xi didn't tear it apart?

What Li Mingxuan didn't know was that Shen Xi did tear it apart, but it was just torn in half and could be put back together by the hotel staff. Speaking of which, if it weren't for Shen Xi's mobile phone that was wet and couldn't be turned on, the hotel wouldn't have called Li Mingxuan with the idea of giving it a try. At this moment, the torn note was lying quietly on the bedside table, waiting for Li Mingxuan's arrival.

Li Mingxuan didn't delay much. After finding a few antipyretics at home, he mentioned to his mother that there was something he had to do in the evening and hurried to the hotel.

Li Mingxuan had followed the road from his home to the hotel several times, but never once had he been as anxious as now. Fortunately, it was only drizzling and the road was relatively easy to drive. Half an hour later, Li Mingxuan was already standing at the door of Shen Xi's room.

Only when the hotel staff saw Li Mingxuan's arrival did they let out a real sigh of relief. Although they all knew Shen Xi's identity, they were unable to contact Shen Xi's family. They just had to give the phone number in the trash can a try, they never expected to find Li Mingxuan. Thinking of the gossip about Shen Xi and Li Mingxuan's night meeting a few days ago, the people in the room couldn't help but look at each other.

Although they were curious, they had not forgotten the doctor's instructions. Jinghao Hotel was one of the top hotels in Zhongjing, and for the convenience of its guests, there was always a specially hired doctor in the hotel to serve the guests. As soon as Shen Xi was found to be ill, the hotel quickly sent a doctor over. After examination, the doctor concluded that the fever was caused by catching a cold from the rain. The illness was not serious, the only trouble was that someone needed to be around to take close care of the patient.

That was why Li Mingxuan was found.

After listening carefully to the doctor's instructions, Li Mingxuan nodded to indicate that he had taken note of them. The hotel staff placed the medicine on the bedside table, gestured to Li Mingxuan and left the room quietly.

It was only at this time that Li Mingxuan got a good look at Shen Xi's current appearance. Different from his pale complexion at noon, Shen Xi's face was flushed and his brow was furrowed, obviously very uncomfortable.

Li Mingxuan carefully stretched out his hand and touched Shen Xi's forehead, which felt extremely hot, obviously burning very badly.

After a worried glance, Li Mingxuan was about to pull back, but to his surprise, Shen Xi held him tightly and refused to let him go.

"Grandpa, don't leave Xiao Xi," Shen Xi murmured in a low voice, holding Li Mingxuan's arm with both his hands.

This murmur was like a feather brushing over Li Mingxuan's heart, instantly softening it.

After carefully adjusting Shen Xi to a new position, Li Mingxuan sat on the edge of the bed and gently patted him with his free hand to soothe him.

Shen Xi seemed to find this very comfortable and his eyebrows slowly relaxed, but his whole body rubbed against Li Mingxuan's side more and more. Seeing that Shen Xi was about to fall off the bed, Li Mingxuan had to press him back. But as much as he pressed Shen Xi back, time and again Shen Xi unconsciously rubbed against him. In desperation, Li Mingxuan had to squeeze into bed and sit next to Shen Xi.

Shen Xi soon squeezed his whole body into Li Mingxuan's arms and hugged him like an octopus. Li Mingxuan wanted to put Shen Xi down, but Shen Xi refused to let go, clinging to him.

"Grandpa, don't leave Xiao Xi."

Shen Xi kept whispering these words. Li Mingxuan sighed and acquiesced to Shen Xi's hugging.

That night, Li Mingxuan managed to stay awake till the middle of the night and finally couldn't help falling asleep. With the change of Li Mingxuan's pose, Shen Xi quickly found another comfortable position in his arms and continued to cling to him, deep in sleep.

Half asleep, half awake, Li Mingxuan noticed Shen Xi holding onto him and slightly adjusted his position, carefully protecting him in his arms.

Chapter 20

Shen Xi felt as if he had gone back to his childhood.

At that time, before his mother jumped out of the window, Grandpa and Uncle were still by his side, and little Shen Xi loved to lie in Grandpa's arms. Grandpa would gently pat him while telling him a story.

Shen Xi didn't remember what the story was about. The only thing he remembered was the warm and reassuring feeling of lying in his grandfather's arms.

This feeling was once again present now.

Shen Xi hugged his grandfather tightly, trying to shrink his whole body into his grandfather's arms. Sensing that Grandpa was trying to push him away, Shen Xi became anxious and wrapped both his arms and his legs around Grandpa, begging pitifully, "Grandpa, don't leave Xiao Xi!"

Grandpa seemed to be moved by Shen Xi's tone and stopped pushing him away. Satisfied, Shen Xi held harder.

Grandpa's embrace was as warm as he remembered, and seemed to have an extra good smell.

Shen Xi worked hard to squeeze into the arms of his grandfather, sniffing the smell greedily, his heart full of happiness.

"Grandpa, don't leave Xiao Xi, don't leave Xiao Xi behind like Mommy did."

Shen Xi repeated these words over and over again, feeling that Grandpa seemed to be hugging him back, and laughed happily.

For a whole night, Shen Xi was immersed in this feeling of happiness. Without the troubles of the previous life, Shen Xi had a rare good night's sleep.

The rain that had been falling all day and night finally stopped in the morning. The dark clouds had not yet dispersed but the sun was already eager to appear in the east.

Li Mingxuan woke up in the pale sunlight. The moment he opened his eyes, he was still in a bit of a daze. What appeared before him was not his familiar surroundings. Where was this? The thought was fleeting, and then a huge source of heat in his arms caught his attention.

Lowering his head, Li Mingxuan saw Shen Xi's sleeping face with a smile on it. Li Mingxuan didn't know what Shen Xi was dreaming about, but the corners of his mouth were raised high and he looked happy.

Li Mingxuan smiled unconsciously, then thought of something, pulled out his hand pressed under Shen Xi's body and put it on his forehead. It was still a little hot but already much better than yesterday. Li Mingxuan let out a sigh of relief. Last night, he had used up all the ice packs left by the doctor and even planned to take Shen Xi to the hospital in the middle of the night at one point. Only when Shen Xi had a tendency to cool down did Li Mingxuan put his mind at ease.

Carefully moving Shen Xi, who was still asleep, aside, Li Mingxuan sat up rubbing his numb arms. When he glanced at the time, it was already ten in the morning. Fortunately, he called his father last night to explain the situation and was able to take an extra day off today.

After washing up quickly, Li Mingxuan called room service and asked them to send breakfast and cook a bowl of porridge separately. The phone was just hung up when the doorbell rang.

"Hello, room service!"

Li Mingxuan was taken aback; it was so fast. When he opened the door, he found that the room staff at the door was pushing a trolley for cleaning and there was no breakfast that he wanted. Li Mingxuan realised that this service was not his service.

Perhaps knowing that there was a sick man in the room, the room staff moved very lightly. One of the young girls with a round face asked with concern, "How is Mr. Shen's condition?"

Li Mingxuan nodded politely, "He's cooled down."

"That's good, the hotel has arranged for a doctor to come for a review around eleven o'clock, do you think that's okay?" The young girl confirmed with Li Mingxuan, and he nodded slightly.

The girl smiled and stepped aside.

Li Mingxuan vaguely felt that the girl looked very familiar; after thinking about it, he said, "Were you the one who found Shen Xi and took care of him yesterday? I was in such a hurry yesterday that I didn't thank you properly."

The girl smiled, "No need to thank me, that's what we should do. It was our turn-down service that found Mr. Shen sick last night."

The girl thought of something as she said that and looked at Li Mingxuan with a flash of embarrassment in her eyes.

Li Mingxuan smiled, "Then it was also the turn-down service that found my phone number in the trash?"

The girl nodded in embarrassment and added, "Cleaning is originally one of the responsibilities of the turn-down service."

Speaking of which, the hotel's biggest headache was to encounter a single guest who was sick and whose family couldn't be contacted, especially when it came to people like Shen Xi. Last night, they had originally thought of using the found number to see if they could contact Shen Xi's family but they never expected the owner of the phone number to come directly.

Strictly speaking, they had to be thankful for Li Mingxuan's presence, otherwise the hotel would have been in trouble in case something happened to Shen Xi.

As soon as the girl finished speaking, she started tidying up. Because Shen Xi was still asleep, her movements were very light.

After cleaning up the living room and the bathroom, only the bedroom where Shen Xi was sleeping was left. Li Mingxuan intended not to change the bed sheets or anything else, but the girl touched the bed sheets and the quilt and suggested changing them together. Only then did Li Mingxuan realise that Shen Xi had sweated all over last night and that the clothes on his body also needed to be changed.

After Li Mingxuan carefully picked Shen Xi up, the room staff quickly changed the bed linen and quietly left the room after nodding to Li Mingxuan. Li Mingxuan looked at Shen Xi, who was still sleeping, and wondered if he should change his clothes.

Although Li Mingxuan didn't have any thoughts about Shen Xi and just regarded him as a younger brother who needed to be taken care of, however, because of his own sexual orientation, Li Mingxuan paid special attention not to get too close to other men, let alone take care of someone in such an intimate manner.

After a hesitant glance at Shen Xi, Li Mingxuan leaned down and began to unbutton his shirt.

As the buttons were undone one by one, Shen Xi's delicate collarbones were gradually revealed. Li Mingxuan's mind suddenly flashed back to the scene he saw in the car yesterday, his fingers suddenly trembled, and then he was embarrassed to find that his body was actually reacting.

Chagrined, Li Mingxuan stopped.

"A man's erection is not subject to moral constraints", these words were said by Li Mingxuan's father to him on his eighteenth birthday, closely followed by another sentence, "But to be a successful man, the most fundamental self-control is indispensable."

Born into a family like theirs, they had to face all sorts of temptations from a young age, among which the temptation of women was essential. Li Mingxuan's father had seen a lot of women in his life who either actively or passively pursued him and was very worried that his son, who had just reached adulthood, would not be able to resist such temptations. Of course, at that time his father did not know that Li Mingxuan was not interested in women at all.

At that time, Li Mingxuan was about to leave the country, and his father made it a point to warn him about these things, in hope that Li Mingxuan would know how to exercise restraint and not fool around too much abroad.

What Li Xiyong didn't expect was that because of his words Li Mingxuan, who was not interested in women, would remain distant from all the men who appeared around him. In the past few years abroad, there was not a single person he would have an ambiguous relationship with, not to mention any other nonsense.

After Li Mingxuan returned to China, he gradually took over the company from his father's hands. After a few busy years, he was still alone. Li Mingxuan also had the normal impulses of a man, but with him usually spending time alone, he had never encountered such a situation.

Li Mingxuan was embarrassed and wondered if he should continue.

Shen Xi, who was deep in sleep, moved restlessly. He felt that his grandfather was leaving him step by step, and the surrounding scenery gradually changed into a scene in prison. It seemed that someone put his hand on him, and Shen Xi sneered. Another guy who didn't want to live was trying to hit on him? Didn't anyone in prison tell him what happened to all those men who had this idea?

Almost subconsciously, Shen Xi grabbed the hand on his body, kicked out with his right leg and pressed the man underneath him in one movement.

Li Mingxuan was caught unawares by the sleeping Shen Xi's kick that landed right at the root of his thigh. If not for the fact that Shen Xi was still feverish and his body didn't have much strength, Li Mingxuan would probably have to worry about his happiness for the rest of his life.

Even so, Xiao Mingxuan quickly went soft.

In the next instant, the still puzzled Li Mingxuan was flipped over onto the bed by Shen Xi. Li Mingxuan looked at Shen Xi in surprise and was met with the undisguised killing intent in Shen Xi's eyes.

The moment their eyes met, Shen Xi blinked and the original killing intent quickly receded, replaced with a bewildered look.

"Cousin?"

Before Li Mingxuan could answer, Shen Xi's arms suddenly went soft and he fell down onto Li Mingxuan. As soon as Shen Xi came back to his senses and realised that it was not his previous life, the violent spirit in his heart immediately dissipated. Plus he was still suffering from a fever at the moment and was already weak. He had just used up his strength and his hands and feet went limp.

This was the first time their bodies were so seamlessly pressed together when they were awake.

The first thought that flashed through Li Mingxuan's mind was that it was fortunate that Shen Xi had kicked him, otherwise he would feel quite embarrassed now. But soon he realised that the situation wasn't much better. Shen Xi was lying bonelessly on top of him, breathing right on his neck, and Li Mingxuan's body was uncontrollably aroused under those warm exhalations. When he felt that Xiao Mingxuan was about to stand up again, Li Mingxuan didn't care what Shen Xi might be thinking, flipped them around and pinned Shen Xi underneath him.

When the eyes met again, Shen Xi's face was still confused. This series of actions happened so quickly that Shen Xi had not yet reacted to what was going on.

Li Mingxuan quickly got up from Shen Xi and sat beside him as if nothing had happened, "Did Xiao Xi have a nightmare?"

"Nightmare?" Shen Xi thought of his dream and subconsciously looked at the clothes on his body.

Li Mingxuan coughed lightly with a calm face, "You were sweating, I was about to change your clothes."

Shen Xi blinked in confusion and finally asked the question he was most puzzled by, "Why are you here?"

The author has something to say:

There is a long explanation from the author that the turn-down service (the preparation of a room for a guest to sleep in by slightly turning back the comforter on the bed, turning down the lights, and so on) really exists and they come in early in the evening, so it was not just a random thing she'd come up with.