Rebirth: Different Way

The drug-related incident of Shen Rong and Shen Cheng shocked the whole of Zhongjing. The internet was full of related news, and the reporters were excitedly surrounding all the places where the Shen family members might appear, trying to dig up further news.

Inside the police station, Shen Cheng, pale-faced, sat against the wall holding his head, his body trembling slightly. He was in a small room, empty, nothing but him. The sound of footsteps seemed to come from afar. Shen Cheng looked up expectantly as the footsteps passed by the doorway, and the anticipation in his eyes dimmed a little. Shen Cheng began to shiver more and more, his vision gradually turning unfocused, his eyes showing madness. When the police appeared, he was halfway through getting his dose and was interrupted. His unsatisfied addiction was causing him extraordinary pain. If it wasn’t for the fact that his mind was still clear, he didn’t know what he would have done. Now the calmouring inside him was getting stronger and stronger, and his whole body was as uncomfortable as if it was being gnawed by ants. Shen Cheng wailed lowly and his sanity started to blur.

When Shen Ji arrived at the police station, this was the state he saw Shen Cheng in. Although he had already prepared himself mentally when he first received the news, Shen Cheng’s condition was still far beyond his expectation.

The sound of the door opening startled Shen Cheng. He didn’t even look at who it was and pounced directly, “Give it to me, give it to me!”

Shen Ji’s face distorted as he grabbed Shen Cheng, “Ah Cheng!”

This voice made Shen Cheng lurch, and then surprise appeared on his face as he obviously recognised Shen Ji, “Big Brother, will you take me away, Big Brother, I don’t want to stay here, I want to go home.”

Shen Ji suppressed his anger and said in a cold voice, “The lawyer is dealing with the formalities, you will be able to leave soon.”

“Really?” Shen Cheng gripped Shen Ji tightly, the elation of being able to leave temporarily suppressing the desire for drugs in his heart.

Shen Ji turned away without looking at Shen Cheng and said in a cold voice, “Let go!”

“Big Brother?” Shen Cheng held on as if he regarded Shen Ji as a life-saving driftwood, clutching his hand.

“You still remember that I am your big brother?” Shen Ji sneered, “You’ve forgotten what I told you, haven’t you? How dare you touch drugs?!”

“I didn’t forget, it wasn’t me, I was set up by Shen Rong,” Shen Cheng argued loudly.

“Set up?” Shen Ji stared at Shen Cheng bitterly, “The first time was a set-up, and every time after that was a set-up?”

Pain flashed in Shen Cheng’s eyes; his body trembled even more, and he murmured in a wailing voice, “Big Brother, I can’t control it, I really can’t control it, I want to quit, really.”

Shen Cheng’s tearful voice softened Shen Ji’s heart and he was about to speak when the lawyer knocked softly on the door and walked in.

“Dashao, Ershao’s formalities have been completed. The Wang team asks what you plan to do about Shen Rong.”

When he thought of what Shen Cheng just said about being framed by Shen Rong, a trace of coldness flashed through Shen Ji’s eyes, “Isn’t Shen Rong suspected of drug trafficking? What should I do? The Shen family doesn’t have such a family member as him.”

The lawyer nodded calmly, seemingly completely unaware of Shen Cheng’s strange appearance, turned around and left the room. After the lawyer’s figure disappeared, Shen Cheng carefully reached out and took Shen Ji’s arm, “Big Brother?”

Shen Ji gave him a cold look and left the place without saying anything, and Shen Cheng hurriedly followed him.

The fact that Shen Cheng was taken away by Shen Ji and Shen Rong stayed at the police station quickly became known to everyone. According to the statement given by the case officer, since Shen Cheng had been using drugs for a short period of time and was a first-time offender, he could leave in accordance with the rules after he agreed to participate in compulsory drug rehabilitation and pay a certain amount of fine, but Shen Rong was different. Because he was suspected of selling drugs, Shen Rong needed to cooperate with them for further investigation.

Wang Changlin heavily shut down the computer in front of him, his eyes cold. He did not expect that Shen Rong, his pawn, would be wasted so quickly. The original plan for addicting Shen Cheng to drugs went very smoothly, but the matter was exposed unexpectedly, causing all his calculations to come to naught. Who was behind this? There were many drug addicts among the children of wealthy families in Zhongjing, how come that Shen Cheng was the only one to be reported, and it became such a big deal? Who the hell was it? Most importantly, why did Shen Ji only take away Shen Cheng? According to his understanding of Shen Ji, even if he disliked Shen Rong, for the sake of the Shen family’s reputation, he would have definitely tried to suppress the matter. But he didn’t. Did Shen Cheng say something? No, he had already told Shen Rong to keep this a secret and not to let Shen Cheng see any clues. Wang Changlin had doubts in his heart, but no matter how he thought about it, there was only one reason; otherwise Shen Ji would never have let Shen Rong discredit the Shen family.

A fierce look flashed in Wang Changlin’s eyes. Shen Rong was no longer of use, should he take this opportunity to discard him? However, thinking about Zhou Mingmei, Wang Changlin couldn’t make up his mind for a while. That woman knew too much; he had to think carefully about what he should do.

The phone rang abruptly. Wang Changlin glanced at the number. Of course, it could only be Zhou Mingmei.

“Changlin, you must think of a way this time.” Zhou Mingmei’s words were straight to the point, omitting any pleasantries.

At the very beginning of the incident, Zhou Mingmei wasn’t too worried. Shen Rong was merely buying drugs for Shen Cheng, and he could say that he had been forced by Shen Cheng and was unable to refuse. Taking into account Shen Rong’s awkward status in the Shen family, this reason made perfect sense. What’s more, the scandal involved the Shen family; even though Shen Dehan had been indifferent to Shen Rong since the last video incident, he would never have let Shen Rong smear the family’s reputation by leaving him without help. But her certainty began to waver when Shen Ji appeared and only took away Shen Cheng.

What was the meaning of Shen Ji’s behaviour? Did he find out something or did Shen Cheng say something? Was it his private decision or Shen Dehan’s? Zhou Mingmei did not dare to think about it. After mobilising all the connections she could use, she was horrified to discover that the matter was not as simple as she had presupposed, and that someone intended to implement Shen Rong’s drug trafficking charges. The first person Zhou Mingmei thought would do this was Shen Ji. He must have discovered something. He wanted to whitewash Shen Cheng’s name and retaliate against Shen Rong.  Once Shen Rong was convicted, Shen Cheng could logically put all the blame on Shen Rong, thus turning himself into a victim.

After Zhou Mingmei thought about all this clearly, she immediately called Wang Changlin. In fact, she didn’t trust Wang Changlin much, but he was the only one she could only rely on now.

Wang Changlin said quietly, “Mingmei, what do you want me to do?”

Zhou Mingmei said coldly, “Ah Rong must not be charged with drug trafficking, it’s a crime that will lead to jail time. I know you must have a way to get Ah Rong out of it.”

Wang Changlin’s tone was uncomfortable, “Mingmei, you should have guessed that Shen Ji is behind this matter, I may not be able to help much.”

Zhou Mingmei sneered, “You seem to have forgotten who Ah Rong obeyed when he did this.”

“Me.” Wang Changlin’s tone was unexpectedly frank, “But I remember that you seemed to agree very much with my proposal at the time.”

Zhou Mingmei was speechless for a moment, and only after a pause did she say, “What do you mean?”

Wang Changlin said softly, “Mingmei, nowadays, you and I both know that the Shen family absolutely will not tolerate Ah Rong anymore. In fact, after the last video incident, the Shen family no longer has a place for Ah Rong, and I remember that we have already reached a consensus on this matter.”

“What exactly do you want to say?” Zhou Mingmei interrupted Wang Changlin’s words coldly.

A strange aura flashed in Wang Changlin’s eyes, “I am saying that the only way for Ah Rong to get out of this now is to completely tear his face with the Shen family and put everything on Shen Cheng’s head.”

Zhou Mingmei fell silent, “How sure are you of that?”

Wang Changlin said quietly, “It doesn’t matter if I’m sure or not, what matters is that I’m the only one you can trust me, right?”

Hanging up the phone, Wang Changlin smiled in satisfaction. If Shen Rong could use this incident to bite Shen Cheng to death, then he would give Shen Rong another chance, but it would be best if both sides lost and hurt each other. In that case, the only thing left for Shen Dehan would be to choose Shen Xi, and things would become correspondingly much easier in the future. Of course, the most important thing now was to find out how Shen Dehan could not know about such a lively affair.

Shen Xi had the same thought as Wang Changlin.

After seeing the news that Shen Ji had only brought out Shen Cheng, Shen Xi immediately guessed that Shen Ji already knew the inside story of Shen Cheng’s addiction to drugs. Thinking about the activities of the Tian family trying to implement Shen Rong’s drug trafficking charges, Shen Xi sneered. Shen Ji’s actions made him mistakenly carry the blame for the Tian family’s doings. How could he leave Mr. Shen in the hospital unaware of such a hilarious event?

A simple text message was sent to Chu Qianqian. Shen Xi believed that with Chu Qianqian’s intelligence, she would know what to do.

As Shen Xi had expected, Chu Qianqian quickly pretended to be troubled in front of Shen Dehan. Occasionally, she looked at Shen Dehan with indescribable pain in her eyes, but immediately averted her eyes after he looked at her. After a few times, Shen Dehan naturally noticed and became suspicious of Chu Qianqian’s behaviour, asking her if something had happened to her.

Chu Qianqian shook her head, her gaze wandering, not daring to look at Shen Dehan.

Shen Dehan became more and more suspicious, “Qianqian, what exactly are you hiding from me?” His tone also became stern.

Chu Qianqian lowered her head, not daring to look at Shen Dehan, “No, there’s nothing.”

“Qianqian!” Shen Dehan pushed away Chu Qianqian’s hand in dissatisfaction and struggled to sit up, “If you don’t say anything, I’ll ask the others.”

“Mr. Shen!” Chu Qianqian hurriedly stopped him. After meeting Shen Dehan’s eyes once again, Chu Qianqian looked at Shen Dehan embarrassedly, “Mr. Shen, promise me, whatever I say, you must not get angry.”

Shen Dehan nodded. Chu Qianqian seemed to have made a decision, looked at Shen Dehan and said softly, “I saw the news. Ershao was arrested for drug use in the morning.”

These words caused a great shock to Shen Dehan. His face immediately turned red and he stared at Chu Qianqian with a deadly stare, “What did you say?”

Chu Qianqian subconsciously defended Shen Cheng, “Mr. Shen, you can’t blame Ershao for that, I heard that Ershao was lured into taking drugs by Shen Rong.”

Shen Dehan clutched his chest tightly, breathing heavily, trying to ease his emotions. Chu Qianqian patted Shen Dehan’s back worriedly, her voice turning to sobbing, “You promised me you wouldn’t get angry!”

Shen Dehan was still breathing heavily, struggling to speak, “I’m fine, what else did you hear, Qianqian?”

Chu Qianqian refused to say anything more, shaking her head and avoiding Shen Dehan’s gaze. Her behaviour clearly indicated that there was a secret behind this matter, and Shen Dehan’s emotions fluctuated violently once more, “I allow you to speak.”

Chu Qianqian seemed to be frightened by Shen Dehan’s emotional turmoil and couldn’t help but say, “I heard that because Shen Rong lured Ershao into using drugs, Dashao wants to retaliate against Shen Rong by having someone identify Shen Rong as a drug dealer to put him in jail.”

Although he had prepared for the worst, Chu Qianqian’s words still overwhelmed Shen Dehan. All three sons were involved in the same scandal! Especially when he thought of the rumours that Shen Rong had lured Shen Cheng into taking drugs, Shen Dehan felt as if a knife was plunged into his heart. He didn’t want to believe that what Chu Qianqian said was true, but how could he not believe?

Shen Dehan’s face became very ugly. 

“Mr. Shen, Mr. Shen?” Chu Qianqian shouted in fear and hurriedly found a doctor. A sedative was administered and Shen Dehan fell asleep, his face dark.

Chu Qianqian curled up her lips, once again applauding her acting skills; it was a pity that no one was there to appreciate them.

Shen Dehan slept for a whole afternoon and did not wake up until the evening. Opening his eyes in a daze, Shen Dehan saw Chu Qianqian’s eyes red and swollen as she sat by his side, “Qianqian?”

Chu Qianqian looked over in surprise, “Mr. Shen, you’re finally awake!” Saying that, Chu Qianqian seemed to think of something and guiltily lowered her head, murmuring, “It’s all my fault, I shouldn’t have told you about Ershao using drugs.”

These words of Chu Qianqian once again stirred up Shen Dehan’s memories, and the blankness on his face was gradually replaced by gloom.

“Did those evil sons come over?” Shen Dehan asked in a cold voice.

Chu Qianqian froze and quickly nodded, “They did, they did, they were all here, I told them to go home first and come back tomorrow.” After saying that, Chu Qianqian instinctively lowered her head, trying to avoid Shen Dehan’s gaze once more.

Her guilty look instantly made Shen Dehan understand something. A breath of air seemed to be stuck in his chest, making him unable to speak.

Because of the huge stimulation, Shen Dehan’s condition, which had already begun to improve, deteriorated. The most obvious thing was that the left half of his body that had been able to sense external stimuli through exercise became rigid again, while the right half of his body also had a vague feeling of numbness. The doctor gave Shen Dehan a stern warning that if he was unable to control his emotions, he would be in danger of total paralysis.

Shen Dehan’s condition was soon revealed to the press, and along with Shen Rong’s drug-related incident, Shen Group stock price began a new round of frantic decline.