Rebirth: Different Way

Li Mingxuan had a dream.

Everything in the dream seemed to unfold before his eyes one scene after another as if it were a movie. At the beginning of the dream was a place he knew very well, the hall of the Shen family’s house, and he recognized almost immediately that the young child hiding under the stairs, alone and holding a teddy bear, was Shen Xi. He didn’t know why he was seeing the young Shen Xi, but he couldn’t help but walk over to him when an argument came from upstairs, stopping Li Mingxuan in his tracks. Han Rou was arguing with his uncle over something fiercely, and Li Mingxuan was quite upset. Shen Xi was so little, how could his parents quarrel in front of him?

Li Mingxuan looked at Shen Xi with concern, but Shen Xi seemed to be used to such scenes and did not cry and fuss like a normal child, but just quietly hugged the bear and looked up the stairs in silence. The argument between Han Rou and his uncle soon came to an end, and he saw his uncle leave the house in a rage, while Han Rou chased him to the living room, smashing everything in the living room to pieces in anger.

Shen Xi carefully got out from under the stairs and tugged at Han Rou’s sleeve, saying sensibly, “Mommy, I don’t want Daddy anymore, I have Mommy and Little Bear and that’s enough, don’t fight with Daddy.” Han Rou seemed to hug Shen Xi and cry. Li Mingxuan didn’t pay attention to what Han Rou said, his mind was full of the words Shen Xi had just said. After the quarrel, Han Rou took Shen Xi back to live with the Han family for half a month. During this half month, he watched his uncle go to Li’s house day after day to accompany Shen Ji and Shen Cheng, and watched his uncle take time to visit Shen Rong at Zhou Mingmei’s place. But his uncle never set foot in the Han family, completely abandoning Shen Xi.

Half a month later, Han Rong returned to the Shen family with Shen Xi in her arms and began another wave of arguments with his uncle.

The scenes in the dream changed quickly, and Li Mingxuan was shocked to realise that Shen Xi had been living in the midst of Han Rou and Shen Dehan’s quarrels until he was six years old. As he watched the two of them fight fiercely because of his uncle’s indifference, Li Mingxuan’s heart ached for Shen Xi, who was hiding in the shadows alone. He had no friends and his only playmate was the teddy bear by his side. Li Mingxuan noticed that Shen Xi rarely smiled at home and would only be happy like a normal child when he went to Han’s house.

Li Mingxuan had heard too many bad things about Han Ruo in the past. She was unruly and domineering; she had tossed the Shen family into chaos. But in the dream, even though Han Rou had a thousand bad qualities, she was the only one who touched Shen Xi. She loved Shen Xi in her own clumsy way. As Li Mingxuan watched her quarrel again and again with his uncle over his coldness towards Shen Xi, pushing him further away as a result, as he watched her struggle to give Shen Xi a normal home, Li Mingxuan could only let out a silent sigh and feel even more heartbroken for Shen Xi. Shen Xi grew up day by day and Han Rou’s state became worse and worse until she made a decisive jump to her death on that rainy day. Li Mingxuan watched Shen Xi witness all this, watched him falling very ill, watched him recover and forget everything he had seen that day, watched him losing his family members and being left on his own. Li Mingxuan’s heart clenched; he wanted to be by Shen Xi’s side, wanted to hold him tightly, but he could do nothing but watch quietly as the scenes unfolded before him.

He had heard his mother and Shen Ji talk about things that happened next, but it was never as shocking as seeing it with his own eyes. He watched Shen Xi grow up under his uncle’s indifference, watched him skip school, race cars and take psychedelic drugs at a young age, watched him spend his days getting drunk and dreaming of dying in different ways. No one in the Shen family asked him about his studies, no one asked him about his life, and no one even asked him where he lived when he didn’t return home for days on end. Although Li Mingxuan had regretted his indifference to Shen Xi countless times, this time he truly understood what their indifference had done to Shen Xi.

Shen Xi grew up in this way under the indifference of everyone until the day of his eighteenth birthday. He clearly heard Shen Rong and Tian Wenyao’s conversation and saw Shen Xi lying there with an expression of anger and despair on his face. In the aftermath things seemed to unfold differently than Li Mingxuan remembered, and as he watched Shen Xi drive his car into Shen Rong and Tian Wenyao, he felt overwhelmed with shock.

The police soon arrived at the scene, and Li Mingxuan frantically rushed over shouting. 

“No, that’s not what happened!” 

Shen Xi didn’t crash into Tian Wenyao with his car, he remembered that Shen Xi didn’t do anything that night, Tian Wenyao had been with Shen Rong until the sex video scandal broke out a few days later, but why did he see something different in the dream? The police were taking Shen Xi away and he tried desperately to stop them, but his presence was like an illusion and he couldn’t do anything.

“Xiao Xi!” Li Mingxuan’s eyes snapped open, and the glowing signboard of Shutu, Tian Wenyao’s face distorted with pain, bright red blood spilled around, they all receded from his mind, leaving only Shen Xi’s thin back as he was taken away.

“What’s wrong?” Ye Han poked his head in the doorway, “Dreaming of Shen Xi again?”

The words “Shen Xi” seemed to be a magic spell, and Li Mingxuan instantly woke up. The scenes in the dream flashed one by one; Li Mingxuan covered his forehead, feeling a headache, and said urgently, “Do you still remember the video scandal with Tian Wenyao that broke out five years ago?”

“Why do you suddenly remember this? I remember the other party involved was that bastard son of the Shen family. What’s the matter?”

Ye Han’s confirmation made Li Mingxuan breathe a huge sigh of relief as he shook his head, “It’s nothing.”

Fortunately, what happened in the dream was not the same as reality. Shen Xi did not hit anyone with his car, was not taken away by the police, did not lose everything in despair.

Ye Han gave him a concerned look, “You’re not going to sleep anymore? You didn’t sleep all night last night.”

Li Mingxuan shook his head with a bitter smile, “I had a nightmare, I’m not sleepy anymore.”

Ye Han winced helplessly; he really didn’t know what kind of nightmare Li Mingxuan could have when he shouted Shen Xi’s name? Did the two of them break up again in the dream?

Because of this dream, Li Mingxuan became more concerned about Shen Xi and continued the secret investigation of Lu Gesen and Wang Changlin, not mentioning it to others. What Lu Gesen wanted, considering his identity, was clear without guessing. But why Wang Changlin would be on the Han family’s side was something he could not understand. Thinking about what Ye Han had said about Wang Changlin’s previous identity falsification, Li Mingxuan couldn’t help but want to find out what was going on.

While the results of Ye Han’s investigation were not yet available, the Shen family’s affairs continued to develop. 

The rumours of Shen Dehan being dumped in public at a press conference had not yet subsided, when Shen Group that was in financial trouble was involved in the scandal of alleged bribery connected to several financial projects at the beginning of the year. As soon as the rumours broke out, the companies that had been interested in these projects withdrew their investments, further exacerbating Shen Group’s financial woes and bringing its capital chain to the brink of collapse. Under these circumstances, the few remaining minority shareholders of Shen Group gave up their wait-and-see attitude towards Shen Group and chose to sell their shares. At this point, the value of Shen Group shares was less than a tenth of what it was before, and several shareholders only wanted to get rid of the shares as soon as possible before Shen Group bankruptcy and did not dare to quote too high a price. They were originally worried that no one would be interested in Shen Group shares with the bankruptcy of Shen Group imminent, but to their surprise, as soon as the news of the sale was released, someone secretly contacted them and took over the shares.

Wang Changlin was satisfied with the 34% share of Shen Group shares. As long as there were no surprises and 20% shares in Shen Xi’s hands became his, he would become the controlling shareholder of Shen Group. By then, he alone would have the final say on whether Shen Group would live or die. Years of arrangement were about to bring results. Wang Changlin, whose mood was usually very level, was revealing some signs of joy. The condition was Shen Xi’s complete break with the Shen family, but Wang Changlin is not worried about it, considering how Shen Xi had been treated by his father over the years. But just in case, it would be best for him to strengthen his ties with Shen Xi.

In an instant, Wang Changlin turned his head to look at Lu Gesen with his gaze full of emotions, “Gesen, the day after tomorrow is Xiao Xi’s birthday. Once the will comes into effect and Xiao Xi sells the shares in his hands, we can take control of Shen Group. By then, the Han family’s great revenge will be completed and I can go underground to see Elder Han without fear.”

“Foster Father!” Lu Gesen interrupted eagerly, “I have yet to be properly filial to my foster father, and my foster father has yet to see Xiao Xi and I marry and have children to enjoy our family life. How can you say such words?”

Lu Gesen’s expression was so sincere that Wang Changlin smiled gratefully, “Fine, I don’t say anything, don’t say anything. By the way what are your plans for Xiao Xi’s birthday? All these years the Shen family has never celebrated Xiao Xi’s birthday, so this year since we are here, why don’t we call a few of Xiao Xi’s friends and have a lively celebration for Xiao Xi?”

What Wang Changlin said was exactly Lu Gesen’s original plan, but this proposal was politely rejected by Shen Xi last time. When he heard his foster father’s concern, Lu Gesen explained with a smile, “Xiao Xi seems to have a girlfriend, so I think he will celebrate his birthday with her. But don’t worry, we’ll find some time to celebrate after his birthday.”

A look of regret flickered in Wang Changlin’s eyes and he smiled covertly, “A girlfriend? Xiao Xi has really grown up.”

If Lu Gesen had been paying attention, he would have heard the contradictory meaning of Wang Changlin’s words, but he trusted Wang Changlin so much and admired him from the bottom of his heart that he would not have thought anything about it. Since he could not use the celebration to strengthen his relationship with Shen Xi, Wang Changlin had to wait patiently for Shen Xi’s birthday.

While Wang Changlin was secretly acquiring Shen Group shares, Li Xiyong also noticed the change in Shen Group shareholders. But Wang Changlin had been hiding in the shadows and only his agents were acting in the open. Although Li Xiyong felt that there was something different about the change in Shen Group shareholding, he could not guess who was hiding in the dark.

Li Mingxuan sat quietly opposite his father. Once the news of the change in Shen Group shareholding spread, he had a sneaking suspicion that it was Lu Gesen. After all, Shen Group was on the verge of bankruptcy and no one would be stupid enough to acquire Shen Group shares at this time unless they had an agenda. It was just that he was a bit doubtful whether Lu Gesen had such great financial power.

Thinking of Lu Gesen, Li Mingxuan could not help but think of Shen Xi once again. The scenes from the dream replayed in his mind one by one, finally settling on Shen Xi’s fragile back. He had repeatedly confirmed with Ye Han that Tian Wenyao was still alive and kicking in Shutu instead of having his legs crushed as in the dream, and that Shen Xi had not been taken away by the police but had chosen to study abroad five years ago. But he still felt scared; the scene in his dream was too vivid, giving him the illusion that it was reality.

As Li Mingxuan was lost in thought, his father suddenly said, “The day after tomorrow is Xiao Xi’s birthday. Mingfei has been clamouring to celebrate Xiao Xi’s birthday, do you want to bring Xiao Xi for dinner here?”

Li Mingxuan was taken aback. His heart felt bitter, but his face remained calm as if nothing had happened, “I’m afraid I won’t have time on Xiao Xi’s birthday, I’m busy at work.”

Li Xiyong gave him a glance, nodded and skipped the topic. The two didn’t say anything else, and as Li Xiyong watched Li Mingxuan’s slightly gloomy back, he frowned thoughtfully.

When he returned to his office, Li Mingxuan pulled open the drawer of his desk sadly, and a small, red, four-square gift box appeared in front of his eyes. Li Mingxuan took it out; inside was a gift he had carefully prepared for Shen Xi, originally wanting to give him a surprise on his birthday. But now he feared he would never have a chance to give it.

A long sigh echoed through the office. Soon, Shen Xi’s birthday that everyone thought about arrived.

The day before his birthday, Shen Xi received a call from the lawyer arranged by his grandfather back then. He was informed to arrive at the hospital early in the morning to prepare for the reading of the will. For this reason, Shen Xi showed up at the hospital early, along with Shen Ji and Shen Cheng. No one expected the three of them to meet in the elevator. Shen Xi swept a glance at Shen Ji and Shen Cheng and stood with no expression on his face.

Shen Ji didn’t seem to have changed much, he was still the same as before, but Shen Cheng looked like a different person. Perhaps because of detoxification, Shen Cheng’s whole body was in an unhealthy state, his complexion was extremely pale, and he looked much thinner and very spiritless.

At Shen Xi’s appearance, Shen Ji nodded slightly, and Shen Cheng only gave him a lazy look, not as domineering as before.

The moment the elevator door closed, Shen Cheng looked at Shen Xi strangely, “Why didn’t Cousin Mingxuan come with you?”

Shen Xi guessed that Shen Cheng did not know about his breakup with Li Mingxuan, so he did not mention it and simply said, “He had something to do.” The answer sounded very alienating.

Although Shen Cheng was not happy with his attitude, he frowned and held back, thinking of Shen Ji telling him not to cause any trouble.

The elevator fell into silence as the floors changed one by one. Shen Cheng impatiently scratched the door; Shen Ji reached out and took hold of his hand, and Shen Cheng suddenly became quiet.

For the first time, the three of them calmly appeared in front of Shen Dehan at the same time.

Perhaps it was the severity of this bout of illness, or perhaps it was the despair of Shen Dehan who knew that he could no longer be cured, but he aged with a rapidity visible to the naked eye. His eyes were cloudy, their previous clarity gone. His skin hung loosely on his face, and there was a faint aura of decay and death about him. This was the first time Shen Xi had seen Shen Dehan in this state, and instead of the expected elation, Shen Xi was strangely very calm, looked at Shen Dehan with a hint of pity in his eyes.

The once towering father lay frail before him, no longer able to manipulate his life, no longer able to inflict indifference and dislike on him. What’s more, a few hours later, he would be left with nothing. The Shen Group that he had poured all his heart and soul into and spent his life defending would be destroyed at his hands.

Shen Xi smiled faintly at Shen Dehan when no one was looking, and saw a look of anger on his father’s face. Unfortunately, Shen Dehan could not say anything, but just kept babbling in vain in Shen Xi’s direction.

Shen Xi looked back innocently, “What do you want, Mr. Shen, speak louder, I can’t hear you clearly.”

Following Shen Xi’s words, Shen Dehan’s voice got even angrier. The nurse at his side patiently stepped forward to coax him to quieten down, completely treating him as if he was mentally incapacitated.

Shen Cheng was obviously seeing Shen Dehan in this state for the first time, his eyes showing concern, “Will Father always be like this?”

The nurse nodded and explained softly, “This is considered good, at least old Mr. Shen can still recognise people and has some basic sanity. Many stroke patients are not sane nor do they recognise people because of the compression of the blood vessels in their brain.”

Shen Ji sighed in his heart, went forward and patted Shen Cheng, then sat down next to Shen Dehan, gently held his hand and accompanied the nurse to coax him patiently.

Perhaps because of Shen Ji, Shen Dehan’s mood gradually normalised, and the lawyer who had been standing in the corner pretending to be invisible stepped forward.

“I think everyone should know that what I am holding is the will that old Mr. Shen Jiacheng made before he passed away. According to Mr. Shen Jiacheng’s wishes, this will will come into effect when Mr. Shen Xi reaches the age of 23 and will be confirmed by Mr. Shen Ji, Mr. Shen Cheng and Mr. Shen Xi together. In other words, there are two conditions for this will to take effect, one is that Mr. Shen Xi, the youngest son of the Shen family, reaches the age of 23, and the other is that all three are present at the same time to confirm it. Well, now if there are no comments, I am going to start reading the will.”

The lawyer finished the necessary opening remarks and looked around with his customary smile, but unexpectedly met Shen Xi’s focused gaze. The smile on the lawyer’s face froze and he averted his eyes, struggling to maintain his previous smile.

“I want to know what will happen to the will if one of us can’t make it here today?” Shen Xi suddenly said with an expressionless face.

The lawyer was taken aback and quickly laughed, “Mr. Shen Xi, there is no need to worry. If someone couldn’t make it today, then according to the conditions that need to be met for the will to take effect, the time for this will to take effect would be postponed until everyone of you confirms it at the same time.”

Shen Xi said in a cold voice, “If I am unable to show up at all, will the commencement of this will continue to be postponed indefinitely?”

The lawyer nodded, “Of course.”

“What if one day I die?” Shen Xi said in a deep voice.

His words immediately took everyone present by surprise, and even Shen Ji had a stunned expression on his face. The lawyer looked at Shen Xi oddly, unable to guess how Shen Xi could ask such an unlucky question.

Shen Xi didn’t look like he was joking at all and repeated the question, “What if I die?”

The lawyer wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead and said with a bitter smile, “If something happens to Mr. Shen Xi, this will will naturally be null and void. Shen Group property will be inherited by Mr. Shen Dehan according to the law, and then after that it will depend on Mr. Shen Dehan’s personal arrangements.”

After listening to the lawyer’s explanation, Shen Xi fell silent and did not say anything else.

After his rebirth, Shen Xi rarely wondered at whose hands he had died in his previous life. As far as he was concerned, both the Tian family and the Shen family were suspect, and since he had changed his fate in this life, it was useless to think more about the events of his previous life. He would not take the initiative to take revenge on the Tian family because of the possibility of dying at their hands; after all, if he had not done the wrong thing on impulse back then, nothing that followed would have happened. What he hated since the beginning was not the Tian family but the Shen family. It was the Shen family who knew that he was delirious from the hallucinogens he had taken at the time but never said a word in his defence.

When he had heard the news about the will from Li Mingxuan earlier, he also vaguely thought that this could be the cause of his death in his previous life. But now, after hearing the lawyer’s explanation, Shen Xi had doubts. If the Shen family wanted him dead, he would not have survived his first year in prison. But the fact was that while his first few years in prison had been very dangerous, it was not dangerous enough to kill him. The Tian family just wanted to humiliate him at first, but in the next few years, he was already famous throughout the prison and his life was much more stable. If he had not been killed in the end, he would likely have died in prison of old age. In this way, while Shen Dehan certainly meant to use his imprisonment to delay the commencement of the will, he did not necessarily intend to kill him. So who was it that finally dealt with him? Was it the Tian family, or the Shen family who wanted to take advantage of the will’s annulment?

Shen Xi lowered his eyes to hide his thoughts. The lawyer looked around and saw that no one had any questions, so he quickly read out the will in his hand.

Everyone present knew the contents of the will in advance, and no one expressed surprise. Even Shen Cheng had been told about it by Shen Ji before he arrived and only looked at Shen Xi with a puzzled expression.

Shen Ji stepped forward and looked at the lawyer, “Is the will in effect now?”

The lawyer nodded and patiently explained, “The will is now in effect, but because the shares were previously concentrated in Mr. Shen Dehan’s hands, we need a day to transfer the shares to the three of you. Of course a series of formalities that need to be carried out have been prepared by me and my colleagues, all you need to do is to sign and confirm.”

Shen Xi said lightly, “If I intend to resell the shares in my hands, do I need to sign before reselling them or can I transfer the shares directly to the other party now?”

“What, you want to sell the shares?” As soon as Shen Xi’s words came out, Shen Cheng already shouted before the lawyer could say anything.

Shen Xi gave him a cold glance without speaking, his eyes fixed on the lawyer’s face.

The lawyer was obviously also very surprised but still replied with a smile, “In fact, the will is now in effect and Mr. Shen Xi can of course transfer the shares directly from Mr. Shen Dehan’s hands to the other party without having to go through this step himself.”

“I understand, I will ask the other party to contact you directly.”

When Shen Xi said this, everyone understood that he had already found the buyer. Shen Cheng was in shock and rushed to him, “Are you really crazy, how can you sell the shares of Shen Group, are you still a member of the Shen family?”

Shen Xi snorted, “I’m not a member of the Shen family if I sell my shares in Shen Group, what about you? Shen Group almost collapsed in your hands, so what are you? Besides, have you ever thought of me as a member of the Shen family in your life? It’s too ridiculous to remember that I’m a member of the Shen family at this time.”

“You!” Shen Cheng was half-dead with anger, yet he could do nothing because what Shen Xi said was the truth.

Shen Ji quietly walked over, looking straight at Shen Xi, and said in a low voice, “Have you thought about it carefully?”

Shen Xi nodded with a calm expression. Shen Ji wanted to say something, but after looking at Shen Xi he finally said nothing.

The people were over here arguing about the fate of the shares in Shen Xi’s hands, while Shen Dehan was lying on the bed listening to Shen Xi’s words, his whole body stiff with anger, as he babbled loudly, trying to attract the attention of the others.

“Unfilial son! Unfilial son! How dare you sell the shares in your hands, I disagree, I disagree!”

Shen Dehan tried hard to make a coherent word, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not speak clearly, he just kept babbling. What made him even more angry was that Shen Xi had obviously noticed his expression, but pretended not to see it, sneering at him and turning his head to look out the window.

“Evil son! Evil son!”

Shen Dehan was so furious that these words were the only thing that came to his mind. Finally Shen Ji heard his father’s movements and walked over.

“Father!”

Shen Dehan desperately gestured to Shen Ji with his eyes, “Stop Shen Xi, stop that evil son!”

Shen Ji looked at Shen Dehan in silence. He understood what Shen Dehan meant but had no intention of stopping Shen Xi, nor could he stop Shen Xi at all. He knew very well what Shen Group was like now. After a series of storms, Shen Group was now powerless to fly again. Only if Shen Group was split up, separating the few businesses that were still making money and auctioning off the rest before bankruptcy, would there still be a little bit of the foundation left; otherwise Shen Group bankruptcy was bound to be irreversible. But in order to make such a decision, one had to hold an absolute controlling stake in Shen Group. His father had previously disagreed with his proposal, and now that Shen Dehan had lost the controlling stake in his hands, he and Shen Cheng together only had 46%, which was simply not enough to qualify for a controlling stake, and Shen Xi was definitely not going to side with them. This made Shen Group bankruptcy inevitable, so why should he stop Shen Xi?

Shen Ji’s silent refusal made Shen Dehan even more angry, and he shouted “Uh-uh”, his face turning red.

“Evil son! You are also an evil son! You are all unfilial sons!” Shen Dehan gave vent to his anger.

“Mr. Shen doesn’t seem to be happy. I wonder what us unfilial sons have done wrong again?” Shen Xi said calmly.

“Uh-uh!” Shen Dehan struggled to turn his head, his eyes spitting fire as he looked at Shen Xi.

Shen Xi looked very puzzled, “Why is Mr. Shen so upset? I remember that what Mr. Shen was most worried about since I was a child was that I would have some ideas about Shen Group. Now Mr. Shen can rest assured, I don’t even want the shares of Shen Group, completely according to Mr. Shen wishes. I will absolutely never meddle in Shen Group affairs, what else does Mr. Shen have to be upset about?”

“Shen Xi!” Shen Ji couldn’t help but interrupt him.

Shen Xi looked over mockingly, “Isn’t this what Big Brother was also worried about before? Did I do something wrong?”

Shen Ji gave Shen Xi a deep look and avoided his eyes for the first time.

That morning, Shen Xi and others signed a large number of documents, and it was around noon until they managed to sign them all. Noticing that Shen Ji was leading Shen Cheng to say goodbye to the lawyer, Shen Xi suddenly thought of something and turned around to walk to Shen Dehan’s side.

“You evil son, what do you want?” Shen Dehan tried to force Shen Xi back with his eyes.

Shen Xi smiled faintly and leaned down to his father’s ear, “Mr. Shen still remembers Chu Qianqian? She was a special gift from me to you. Yes! It is what Mr. Shen is thinking, she was the one I took the trouble to find and arrange for Mr. Shen. How about that? Doesn’t she look most like Fang Yun? I had to search for a whole year to find a woman who looked so much like Fang Yun. She cost me ten million just staying by Mr. Shen’s side for six months. I wonder if she’s worth that price in Mr. Shen’s eyes?”

“Uh-uh-uh!” Shen Dehan shouted fiercely, looking at Shen Xi with hazy eyes.

A sneer appeared at the corner of Shen Xi’s mouth; he got up and left Shen Dehan with a look of contentment.