The following week, everything surged forward in a chaotic rush.
The first cooperation project of the Shen Group’s new quarter ran into trouble. Several managers, wearing mournful expressions, pushed open the chairman’s office door, an office they hadn’t stepped into for half a month, under the sympathetic gazes of others.
The office lights were bright.
The familiar man stood with his back against the panoramic floor-to-ceiling window. His brows were deep-set, his expression cold and blank, and the look he gave them was as if he were staring at a bunch of useless, bloated wastrels. Ice-cold.
The familiar oppressive pressure swept back in.
The managers’ scalps tingled. Trembling, they said, “President Shen, it’s like this—”
……
The contract for the cooperation project had issues. Shen Shi did not need to handle the aftermath; he only needed to come back to steady the troops. The subsequent tasks could be handled by a few vice presidents and special assistants.
Xu Wen was so busy he almost lost his mind, nearly forgetting day and night altogether.
One week later, on a breezy evening, he finally finished his workload after working overtime.
There was no one left in the president’s office area. Shen Shi had three special assistants in total; aside from him, the other two were in charge of different areas. Tonight Shen Shi had a dinner engagement and had taken Assistant An, the one with the best alcohol tolerance.
At the same time, the background check on the investors who injected capital into the Ye Group had reached its final stage. Over the week, Xu Wen had investigated the Cheng family chairman, the eldest son, and several vice presidents and shareholders who held substantial shares but none of them were connected.
He could feel Shen Shi’s increasingly icy, deathly gaze day by day. In desperation, he included the last few “small fry” in the investigation. These people didn’t require him to act personally; the work was tedious, so he left it to his subordinates.
Today was the day the results would come out.
Xu Wen had no real hope for it and had already decided to start over from another angle.
New emails flashed on his computer. He sipped the bitter coffee and clicked open the latest one.
In the dim light, Xu Wen skimmed rapidly. When his eyes landed on one line, his pupils abruptly constricted as if he had seen something entirely unexpected. His hand tightened around the mouse unconsciously.
A few seconds later, without thinking, he shot to his feet, dialed Shen Shi, and ran out the door.
“Beep—”
“Beep—”
Tonight’s dinner was hosted by the Jiang Group, with the Shen Group providing support.
The two leading giants of Haicheng had invited several equally wealthy bosses. They called it a private gathering, but in truth it was to discuss the plots of land in the southern part of the city.
With Jiang and Shen joining hands, they were bound to win the “King of Land.” But they would not compete for the remaining plots.
Whatever the companies privately planned, tonight’s dinner was harmonious.
The private room buzzed with voices.
The round table was a mess. Several bottles of Maotai and red wine stood in the center, half-finished. Now that they had entered after-dinner conversation, a few older executives smoked, smoke curling upward as they looked toward the two men seated at the head.
The man on the left wore a warm smile. Well maintained, he didn’t look over fifty. He was Shen Shi’s maternal uncle, Jiang Guozheng.
Jiang Guozheng cheerfully declined a few invitations to play golf the next morning. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Shen Shi and lowered his voice. “What’s wrong? Why such a bad mood tonight?”
“Nothing.”
Shen Shi lifted his eyelids. His expression held a trace of weariness; the top two buttons of his shirt were undone, and he lounged casually against the chair. His long fingers held a lit cigarette. Smoke drifted upward. He didn’t smoke it, only flicked the ash idly as he said, “I’m going back to Beijing in a couple of days.”
“Why are you running to Beijing?” Jiang Guozheng’s smile vanished. “What’s so great about Beijing?”
Haicheng and the capital disliked each other mutually. Each believed it was the true economic powerhouse. There were no open conflicts, but under the surface, the tension was strong.
Shen Shi’s tone remained lazy. “It’s a place of outstanding people and prosperous land. Pretty nice.”
“……”
If they were talking about “outstanding people and prosperous land,” it should definitely be Haicheng!
Laughter erupted from another corner of the table.
Several executives were drinking noisily together.
Shen Shi looked over and spotted an unfamiliar face. “Who’s that?”
“Oh, you don’t know. That’s the one I mentioned, the real estate company that relocated from Beijing to Haicheng. I heard he’s very well-connected. Only a month here, and he’s already made friends with plenty of bosses.”
Shen Shi wasn’t interested. “Is he competing for the land as well?”
“No one can control that,” Jiang Guozheng chuckled. “He’s new here. I’m curious to see how he plays it. But the ‘King of Land’? He can forget it.”
If Jiang Group were alone, Jiang Guozheng wouldn’t be so confident. But he knew Shen Shi’s methods, far more ruthless and capable than Shen Hanqing had been in his youth. Sharp, decisive, deep-minded. In a few years, the Shen Group would become entirely his domain.
Such a man was terrifying as an opponent, but reassuring as a partner.
A faint buzzing sound seemed to ring beside his ear. Jiang Guozheng looked over and saw Shen Shi taking out his phone. His eyes were pitch-black. Just as he was about to answer, across the room, the newly arrived Boss Huang suddenly burst into loud laughter.
“Isn’t that right? Kids nowadays are all rebellious. My nephew, for example, oh my, a graduate from Beijing University, handsome and impressive. A few days ago he started insisting he wants to get engaged. Fine, fine, getting engaged young isn’t bad. Saves worry later.”
“But guess what, this brat… ah, it’s embarrassing to even say it… he likes men! My brother-in-law almost broke his legs. And even then he insists on getting engaged to that guy—”
“My brother-in-law’s family runs a small business. You probably haven’t heard of it.”
Boss Huang held up his wine glass, his face flushed, basking in the attention of the crowd as he continued loudly, “The Cheng family… yes, that Cheng family in Beijing.”
The Cheng family?
Indeed, they hadn’t heard of it.
Jiang Guozheng listened with amusement, clicking his tongue in disbelief. Kids these days were wild. The next second, a low, rough male voice sounded next to him. Shen Shi put out his cigarette, pinched the bridge of his nose, and rasped, “What is it?”
A voice from the center of the room cut in loudly.
Jiang Guozheng looked up. Boss Huang was still laughing boisterously as he continued, “Not my brother-in-law’s eldest son. My eldest nephew is outstanding—”
“It’s my younger nephew!”
……
“Boom—!”
The pitch-black night sky was suddenly torn open by a vicious bolt of lightning.
A violent storm swept in at once.
The world was gray and ominous.
The capital was wrapped in mist and rain. Heavy raindrops slammed against the ground and treetops, accompanied by sky-splitting thunder.
A Bentley sped through the storm like a bloodthirsty beast lurking in darkness.
The car arrived at the Ye residence.
The familiar villa district came into view.
The garden, carefully maintained by Ye Ran, had been blown into disarray, broken branches and scattered leaves everywhere.
“Ding-dong—!”
“Ding-dong—!”
The urgent doorbell shattered the silence.
Soaked in rain, without any expression, Shen Shi stood outside the door of the Ye residence. Behind him, Assistant Xu hurried up with an umbrella.
It was Mother Shen who answered. After a week apart, her face was filled with worry. Seeing him there, she visibly jolted, staring instinctively at his wet hair. “L—Little Shi…”
Without responding, Shen Shi brushed past her into the living room.
A chilling, oppressive cold radiated from him. His eyes were like spilled black ink, void of any light, deep and terrifying. As he passed, Mother Shen could almost feel the cold seeping from his rain-soaked clothes.
Her heart jumped wildly. Without thinking, she hurried after him.
“Little Shi?… Little Shi, you, you’re…?”
Only a few night lamps lit the living room.
As soon as Shen Shi walked in, he spotted Ye Ran sitting with his back to him.
The young man, seated quietly in a single armchair, was outlined by the dim yellow light. He looked even thinner, paler.
There were others in the room. He heard Father Shen questioning sternly.
And the confused gaze of a young stranger.
……
All these noisy, aggravating voices fell away. In front of everyone, in this stormy night, the man who had barged in walked toward Ye Ran step by step, breath steady.
The moonlight cast his shadow long and distorted behind him like a dangerous, hidden predator.
“Boom—!”
Another thunderous crack split the sky.
Lightning lit the villa for a brief moment. Shen Shi crouched down, and in that eerie silence, he raised his head and called calmly:
“Ye Ran.”
Ye Ran froze. He lifted his pale face. “Older Brother Shen Shi…?”
“Mm. It’s me.” Shen Shi looked at him quietly, though a dark, heavy fury churned beneath his gaze. Water dripped from the hem of his coat onto the wool carpet, but he seemed not to notice. His voice remained gentle, as always. “I’ll handle the engagement.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Ye Ran paused. His voice was soft.
“You know, too?”
He lowered his eyes quietly. His long lashes cast a layer of gray shadow. His lips were so pale they were almost colorless. “He told me… the Ye Group is my mother’s keepsake. He wants to help me protect it.”
Who “he” referred to required no explanation.
The air froze completely.
In the corner, the unfamiliar young man clenched his fists in fury, his whole body trembling.
Shen Shi’s eyes turned pitch-black, as if capable of devouring everything.
His expression didn’t change. Even crouching, he was calm, steady, compelling, making everything seem solvable in his hands. He stared quietly at Ye Ran, tracing his emotionless brows and eyes. Yet his own heart felt crushed in a giant vice, suffocating.
The rose he had protected so carefully all this time, coaxed into blooming with sparkling pearls and warmth, had, in just a week, wilted rapidly, drained of life.
“It’s what I and the Ye Group owe him.”
Ye Ran’s lips curved faintly, yet no softness touched his cheeks. It was a smile meant to reassure everyone in the room, including himself. “Being engaged isn’t so bad.”
“The Ye Group was revived… and my mother’s keepsake is safe.”
Cheng Jiaming also liked him that much, and finally got what he wished for.
This should be the best outcome.
……
……
That entire night, the atmosphere in the Ye household was tight with the feeling of an impending storm.
Outside, lightning flashed, thunder roared, and the wind howled.
With An Yu accompanying him, Ye Ran returned to his bedroom to rest.
Only Father Shen, Mother Shen, and Shen Shi remained in the living room.
The strange feeling in Mother Shen’s heart lingered endlessly. After Ye Ran left, Shen Shi sat down in the same spot he had been sitting in earlier. His damp shirt clung tightly to his body; his clothes were wrinkled, and he looked like a silent, icy statue. It was clear he had just come straight from the dinner table and flown to Beijing.
Mother Shen wanted to tell him to take a shower so he wouldn’t catch a cold, but for some reason, when she looked into Shen Shi’s calm, deep eyes, she couldn’t say anything at all.
Shen Shi only sat quietly on the single sofa, his eyes slightly lowered. The dim lighting of the living room cast a long, wavering shadow beside him. He seemed to sense something and lifted his eyelids. His dark eyes were like ink, bottomless, like a deep pool.
In that instant, Mother Shen seemed to see an intense, freezing hostility in his eyes.
Her mind buzzed. Before she could speak, Father Shen said first, “Why are you…”
“This engagement—”
He was abruptly cut off. Mother Shen’s breath caught as she quickly looked over. She saw only Shen Shi’s indifferent expression. His tone was neither light nor heavy as he asked them, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
That strange, unsettling feeling slowly faded under Shen Shi’s calm question.
Mother Shen exhaled unconsciously and said, “We only found out yesterday… That child suddenly came knocking yesterday, and there were slap marks on his face—”
She fell into the memory, her eyes full of lingering confusion. “The moment Ranran saw the injuries on him, he let him inside.”
“I… your father and I…”
She and Father Shen had traveled widely for many years and had seen all sorts of things. Naturally, they did not discriminate against homosexuality. Even if Ye Ran were gay, they would still treat him like their own child.
It was just that the boy, smiling brightly despite a swollen, bruised face, barging straight into the Ye household without the slightest sense of propriety left both her and Father Shen rather displeased.
Who comes out of the closet and meets the parents like that?
Ye Ran had never told outsiders about his connection with the Shen family of Haicheng, so the boy treated them casually. He simply called them “uncle” and “auntie” and then began talking to Ye Ran about finding experts to treat Ye Huaishan.
Mother Shen frowned unconsciously. A few seconds later, realizing that her words might sound biased, she added, “But that child really is good… He converted all his shares into funds to inject into the Ye family and revived the Ye Corporation.”
That kind of decisiveness and courage wasn’t something ordinary people had.
It was clear he genuinely cared about Ye Ran.
Shen Shi listened quietly, then looked at Father Shen.
Father Shen felt helpless under his gaze and finally spoke as well. “Not telling you was our oversight.”
He had always been slow when it came to personal matters. Just like Mother Shen, he had assumed that Shen Shi didn’t care about Ye Ran or the Ye family. They were afraid that if they told him Ye Ran was gay, it would disgust him.
So the two had easily agreed to hide it first and wait for the right time to see how he reacted.
They never expected… Shen Shi actually did care about Ye Ran. The moment he found out, he rushed back without stopping.
Thinking of this, Father Shen fell silent for a moment and added, “By the way, the Cheng family wants to meet tomorrow to discuss the engagement. Are you going?”
“Tomorrow?” Shen Shi lifted his eyelids, forcibly suppressing the violence and darkness inside him, and asked casually, “So soon?”
“Yes, far too soon,” Mother Shen sighed.
To discuss engagement matters this quickly, just how seriously did the Cheng family regard Ye Ran?
Mother Shen had once walked the path of becoming a young bride herself, so she couldn’t help feeling uneasy.
Even ordinary families struggled to accept a male spouse… What would a family as powerful as the Cheng family do to Ye Ran?
Everyone present was intelligent.
Shen Shi understood Mother Shen’s underlying meaning almost instantly.
The hand resting on his knee tightened sharply. The violent impulse in his chest was nearly impossible to suppress. His eyes darkened, like a beast on the verge of spilling its killing intent.
…The Cheng family.
Very well.
“I’m going too,” he said.
Of course he was going. He wanted to meet this so-called young master, the one Father and Mother Shen described as someone willing to die for Ye Ran.
Willing to die for Ye Ran…
Shen Shi let out a cold, emotionless twitch of his lips.
He truly wanted to see just what kind of “death” that meant.
Author’s Note:
Big Shen: Don’t just talk about dying. Hurry up and die.
Big Shen has officially begun his path of taking by force.
Next chapter begins—
Cheng Jiaming could never beat Big Shen, especially since he’s already dirty.
But he’s very good at pretending.
