Rebirth: Different Way

When Li Mingxuan returned to Shen Xi’s place at night, it was already past 11 o’clock. He did not expect to stay with his father at the hospital for such a long time.

He opened the door gently; the living room was brightly lit, with the sound of the news broadcast on TV. Li Mingxuan subconsciously searched for Shen Xi’s figure, and the corners of his mouth could not help but curl in a smile when his gaze swept over the sofa.

On the large sofa, Shen Xi was hugging a pillow, curled up in a ball, sleeping peacefully, apparently falling asleep while waiting for him. Li Mingxuan’s heart softened and he couldn’t resist reaching out and brushing away Shen Xi’s hair from his forehead, then leaned down and dropped a tender kiss on it.

Li Mingxuan’s lips were slightly cool, and Shen Xi said in a daze, “Cousin?”

Li Mingxuan let out a soft “en” and kissed Shen Xi’s lips, gently extending his tongue to grind.

With the familiar embrace and the familiar scent, Shen Xi subconsciously stretched out his hand to pull Li Mingxuan closer and automatically found a comfortable angle in the other party’s arms. Li Mingxuan smiled gently and reached out to pick up Shen Xi, then walked towards the bedroom.

Carefully placing Shen Xi on the bed, Li Mingxuan lowered his head and gave him a kiss, “Be good, you sleep first, I’ll go take a shower.”

Shen Xi nodded with his eyes closed, but after Li Mingxuan left, he found that he could no longer sleep. Frowning in annoyance, Shen Xi simply got up and leaned on the head of the bed, waiting for Li Mingxuan to come out of the shower.

“Awake?” When Li Mingxuan came out of the shower and looked at Shen Xi waiting for him, he immediately regretted it. He knew that Shen Xi was not sleeping well; he should have held back from kissing him just now.

Shen Xi nodded, looked at Li Mingxuan sitting down beside him and casually said, “Why are you back so late?”

Li Mingxuan was about to reach out and hug Shen Xi but stalled slightly, thought of something and said in a low voice, “Father and Uncle had an argument over something, so it was a bit late.”

A surprised look appeared on Shen Xi’s face. Li Mingxuan did not hide anything, “Do you still remember the last time Mother said she wanted to transfer the shares in her hands to Ah Ji? Uncle hopes that Mother will change her mind and transfer those shares to Ah Cheng.”

Immediately, Shen Xi understood Shen Dehan’s intention. Because of Shen Ji’s accident, Shen Group could only be handed over to Shen Cheng in the future. In order to ensure Shen Cheng’s dominance in Shen Group, Shen Dehan had given up on Shen Ji and chosen Shen Cheng. Despite knowing all this, Shen Xi still had a surprised look on his face, “Why? Didn’t Mr. Shen always like Big Brother very much?”

Li Mingxuan didn’t think Shen Xi would know about the recent events at Shen Group. Hearing Shen Xi’s words, he carefully explained what he knew.

Shen Xi duly showed a weird look on his face, “Big Brother privately instructed someone to misappropriate Shen Group funds to trap Second Brother and was expelled from Shen Group?”

Li Mingxuan nodded and frowned slightly, “This matter is not that simple. Both Ah Ji and Ah Cheng must have been set up by someone.”

Shen Xi looked at ease, “I also believe that Big Brother wouldn’t frame Second Brother. But now won’t Big Brother be unable to run Shen Group in the future? Is Mr. Shen willing to give up Big Brother? He didn’t fight for Big Brother?”

“This matter involves Ah Cheng, and with the board of directors calculating on the side, the situation did not leave Uncle any choice .”

Shen Xi said carelessly, “Is that why Mr. Shen changed his mind?”

Li Mingxuan nodded with a sigh. There was nothing wrong with Shen Dehan’s decision intellectually, but emotionally it was too much for him to accept. Not only he, but also his father did not agree with it and insisted on transferring the 6% shares to Shen Ji as originally intended, and it was because of this that his father had argued with his uncle.

“So did Uncle agree?”

This was exactly what Li Mingxuan didn’t understand. His father didn’t agree at first, but then his uncle said something to his father alone. His father’s face distorted, and he quickly agreed to his uncle’s proposal. Li Mingxuan once asked his father on the way back. His father glanced at him calmly and said nothing. From that glance, Li Mingxuan immediately realized that this matter should be related to Shen Xi. Could his uncle still be preventing Shen Xi from joining forces with the Li family?

Shen Xi was still waiting for Li Mingxuan’s answer. Li Mingxuan collected his thoughts and let out a low “en”.

When Shen Xi heard this, he yawned softly and pulled Li Mingxuan down, “Sleep, this has nothing to do with me.”

Closing his eyes, She Xi couldn’t help but laugh in his heart. No matter how good Shen Dehan usually was to Shen Ji, but at this time when he felt that Shen Ji was useless, he immediately gave up on him without hesitation. He wondered what Shen Ji felt like when he heard the news. Now he couldn’t wait to see Shen Ji and Shen Cheng completely turn against each other.

Li Mingxuan kissed Shen Xi’s closed eyes and reached out to hug him tightly. A flash of deep thought passed through his eyes. What exactly was Uncle worried about? Shen Xi had no shares in Shen Group, and the Li family had no intention to interfere in the Shen family’s affairs. What else was there to worry about?

Li Mingxuan’s doubts were exactly what Shen Bixue had scruples about.

“How could Big Brother make such a proposal? How does he want Ah Ji and Ah Cheng to get along in the future? Just because Ah Ji can’t run Shen Group, Big Brother immediately chose to give up on Ah Ji?”

After listening to Li Xiyong’s words, Shen Bixue suddenly became emotional and couldn’t help but speak out in dissatisfaction.

Li Xiyong looked at Shen Bixue’s exasperated expression gently, “Dehan is guarding against Shen Xi.”

“Shen Xi? What is there to guard against Shen Xi? He’s not in Shen Group, he doesn’t have any shares in Shen Group, is Big Brother still worried that we will support Shen Xi behind his back?”

Shen Bixue looked at Li Xiyong with a bewildered expression, obviously not knowing what Li Xiyong meant by his words. Li Xiyong guessed from Shen Bixue’s attitude that she did not know about the will, so he sighed quietly, “Have you never seen the will your father made back then?”

Shen Bixue did not understand, “Will? What does it have to do with my father’s will? You know that my father’s will was collected by my elder brother. I didn’t say anything because I thought it had nothing to do with us. What can be in that will?”

Li Xiyong didn’t hide it, “Father-in-law bypassed Dehan back then to divide Shen Group shares. Ah Ji, Ah Cheng and Shen Xi will each get 20%. And the condition for them to get the shares is Shen Xi being 23 years old. This is what that will was about.”

“What are you saying?” Shen Bixue looked at Li Xiyong in surprise.

Li Xiyong also found it very surprising when he first heard about it. He immediately affirmed, “This is what Dehan said.”

After digesting this news, Shen Bixue understood why Li Xiyong had agreed to transfer the shares to Shen Cheng. In the past, Shen Xi did not have any shares of Shen Group in his hands, and because Shen Xi was with Mingxuan, they still had to avoid suspicion. Now that Shen Xi was about to turn 23 years old and Shen Ji was expelled from Shen Group, there was no telling what Shen Dehan would think, given his suspicious nature.

Shen Bixue smiled bitterly, “No wonder Big Brother didn’t announce the will to the public back then.”

Li Xiyong patted Shen Bixue soothingly. Shen Bixue shook her head and said softly, “Back then after Father was hospitalised, Big Brother’s relationship with Father was once very tense. I think it must also be because of this will. Father must have felt sorry for Shen Xi in the end.”

Although Li Xiyong knew more about the Shen family’s entanglements back then than outsiders, there were some matters that involved the Shen family’s privacy, so Li Xiyong refrained from asking questions. Now, when he heard Shen Bixue say this, Li Xiyong did not know what to say. He had always wondered what had happened between Han Ruo and Shen Dehan back then, so much that it could make Shen Dehan hold a grudge against Han Ruo for years and even take it out on Shen Xi. Unlike Mingxuan and the others, who simply thought that Shen Dehan favoured Shen Jie and Shen Cheng, Li Xiyong did not think that Shen Dehan would ignore Shen Xi for so many years just because of this, not to mention that behind Shen Dehan was Elder Shen. Even if Han Rou was no longer liked by the Shen family, Shen Xi’s blood ties to the Shen family were unquestionable. But Elder Shen acquiesced to Shen Dehan’s attitude, so there must be some reason behind it.

Li Xiyong had always refrained from meddling in the affairs of the Shen family and had always let Shen Bixue’s attitude prevail when dealing with it. But now, for the first time, he asked, “What happened between the Han and the Shen families back then?”

Shen Bixue looked at Li Xiyong with a bitter smile and said, “Do you remember when Shen Xi was six years old and the Han family’s business was suddenly in trouble?”

Li Xiyong nodded and recalled, “I remember that the Han family had asked the Shen family for help.”

“And the Shen family didn’t agree.” Shen Bixue followed Li Xiyong’s words. Li Xiyong nodded. Shen Bixue sighed lightly, “Everyone was privately saying that it was because Han Rou did not please the Shen family, so Dehan convinced his father to refuse to lend a helping hand, but that was actually not the case. The Han family’s predicament back then was nothing more than a set-up, with the intention of trapping the Shen family.”

Li Mingxuan’s expression changed slightly. Although he vaguely felt that there was something odd about the Han family back then, he did not expect it to be like this.

“The Han family moved against the Shen family? For what? Han Rou?”

Li Xiyong looked very puzzled. If the Han family was doing this to vent their anger for Han Rou, then why would they do such a thing so suddenly? Han Rou had been married into the Shen family for six years and the Han family had not said anything before.

Shen Bixue sighed, “What exactly happened in the middle of this matter is unclear. We only know that it was Han Rou who begged Han Yu to help her deal with the Shen family. You know that Han Rou had a bad time since she married Big Brother but she insisted on not getting a divorce. Years of grievances piled up, and at some moment Han Rou must have started to have the idea of destroying the Shen family. Han Yu watched Han Rou suffer for so many years. Before, Han Rou refused to leave the Shen family and he had no choice. Now that Han Rou herself proposed that she would divorce Big Brother, Han Yu would naturally not refuse.”

Originally, Han Yu’s plan went very smoothly. Although Shen Dehan did not like Han Rou, he could not ignore the Han family’s problems. He had already planned to give a helping hand but inadvertently found out that Han Rou was pregnant. At that time, Shen Dehan and Han Rou had already separated for a long time, so the baby could not be Shen Dehan’s. In his anger, Shen Dehan began to investigate Han Rou and realized that the Han family’s business problems were a trap. So he pushed the boat along the water and moved behind the scenes, causing the Han family’s business to have real problems.

Afterwards, Han Rou chose to jump out of the window for some reason, Han Yu had a car accident at Han Rou’s funeral, Elder Han couldn’t bear the shock and fell seriously ill, and the Han family fell into ruin. Han Rou died but Shen Dehan had suspicions about Shen Xi’s origin, and even though it was confirmed that Shen Xi was indeed his child, because of Han Rou’s infidelity, Shen Dehan already disliked Shen Xi, and later on had even more ill feelings towards him, so much so that he completely ignored Shen Xi. Although there was a reason for the Shen family’s actions, it was also the cause of the Han family’s downfall. Elder Shen was worried that when Shen Xi grew up, he would hear rumours or would be instigated by someone with an ulterior motive, so he acquiesced to Shen Dehan’s attitude of raising Shen Xi as a waste. 

Shen Bixue recounted all this with a deep sigh and fell silent. After so many years, between Shen Dehan and Han Rou, who could say who was right and who was wrong. But Shen Xi was the most innocent and both she and her father had done something wrong.

Li Xiyong did not expect there to be so much entanglement in the history of the Han and the Shen families, and pondered for a moment, “Don’t tell Mingxuan about this for now.”

Shen Bixue nodded. If Mingxuan knew about it, he would definitely tell Shen Xi. The grievances of the previous generation had already passed; she really did not want Mingxuan’s generation to be involved. But when she thought of Shen Dehan’s attitude, Shen Bixue was worried that the inside story would suddenly come out to the light one day.