25. Fuchuan

The current head of the Shen family is Shen Cizhu. In the past year, he presented irrefutable evidence of the criminal activities of the board members of the Shen Group to the court. The internal structure of the Shen Group has been completely replaced with his own trusted associates.

The youngest group of heirs in the capital looks up to Shen Cizhu as their leader, and he can control them perfectly.

Shen Cizhu is gentler, kinder, and more compassionate than the older generation of tycoons. He sympathizes with the suffering of ordinary people. Unlike profit-driven capitalists, he resembles a compassionate and benevolent bodhisattva. His strikingly handsome appearance naturally makes him popular and admired by everyone.

The century-old Shen family has expanded its influence in the business world with a more youthful approach, gaining widespread recognition and maintaining a high position.

Shen Cizhu is far more outstanding than his father, Shen Heng.

In the past year, Shen Heng has aged rapidly and is now seriously ill. The snake-headed cane that once symbolized his early glory has been discarded by Shen Cizhu like trash.

It was at that moment that Shen Heng realized Shen Cizhu hated him.

In the eyes of outsiders, the compassionate and beautiful bodhisattva is actually a calculating and habitually hypocritical snake, his “son.”

When Wen He learned that Shen Cizhu was going to Budapest, he hurried back from Iceland. He knelt in front of Shen Cizhu, screaming at the top of his lungs, begging him not to go.

Shen Cizhu was truly puzzled. In the past, when his younger brother learned that he had ousted the members of the board, fearing he would be targeted, he had fled to Iceland to study. He even gave up on Shen Cizhu’s beloved Sheng Xiaoning, whom he had been pursuing for months.

Upon learning this, Sheng Xiaoning rolled her eyes.

A year later, Wen He suddenly returned to the country.

He cried profusely, grabbing onto the hem of Shen Cizhu’s suit pants.

“Brother, don’t go!!! That Xiao Fuchuan is definitely going to kill you. He’s such a big shot; even our family can’t afford to provoke him…” Wen He cried so hard that he couldn’t catch his breath. His good brother directly slapped him across the face.

“What nonsense are you talking about?” Shen Cizhu’s eyes showed impatience as he scolded him.

He really felt that his brother was too weak. This brother of his, this illegitimate child of the Shen family, he picked him up from the orphanage not out of the kindness others spoke of, but only because his mother wished for it. However, he turned out to be a troublesome and cunning troublemaker who wanted to snatch the family business along with the board members.

After winning, Wen He voluntarily exiled himself to Iceland. Now he returned only after hearing that Shen Cizhu had accepted the invitation to the cruise auction hosted by Mr. Xiao, also known as Xiao Fuchuan.

“Why not let me go?” Shen Cizhu bent down, pinching Wen He’s handsome face. “Do you want to go for me? Do you want to be the Shen CEO? Huh? You’ve lost your backing. Or is it that you’re still connected with that organization?”

“I haven’t! I haven’t betrayed you!!” Wen He widened his eyes and hastily said loudly.

“I don’t even know what that organization is. I didn’t go… Brother, I haven’t done anything wrong.” Wen He panicked, lowered his eyes, and stammered, “I, back then… The people from the board told me that as long as I got the Shen family, you would finally look at me directly. I… I followed them… But they lost, and I was afraid you wouldn’t want me anymore, so I ran away by myself…”

Shen Cizhu raised an eyebrow, sat on the living room sofa, and played with an orange in his hand.

“Brother, Sheng Xiaoning told me. She said she likes you. She was willing to marry me back then because of you. I was so angry at that time, so I… I did something wrong… Brother, I’m sorry. I just, really wanted you to notice me.” Wen He sat in a corner, looking like he summoned courage and was also trying hard to please.

At that time, when Shen Cizhu returned to the country, he knew that his brother had colluded with the board to secretly plot against an organization to plunder the Shen family. So Shen Cizhu asked Sheng Xiaoning for help, faking an engagement. Due to a wedding arrangement accident caused by Shen Cizhu, the engagement was canceled, and this made Wen He seek revenge against Shen Cizhu.

However, the ones chasing Shen Cizhu on the highway that night were just a bottom-tier group. The police couldn’t find much, and that was when Shen Cizhu realized that his brother simply didn’t have the qualifications to infiltrate the organization. In short, he was too dumb, unwanted, just a pawn with money but no brains.

But this pawn surprisingly had some intelligence.

“So, what’s with that cruise ship?” Shen Cizhu glanced sideways at Wen He, his peripheral vision focusing on him.

Wen He nodded.

“Brother, do you remember the explosion case on the Danube River cruise ship last year?” Wen He cautiously looked at Shen Cizhu.

Nearly a hundred well-known wealthy individuals went missing, a globally sensational case that everyone remembered.

Shen Cizhu casually said, “Did you do it? My little brother has grown up.”

“No, I didn’t. I just heard about it, heard it from those people in the board… It was actually Xiao Fuchuan who did it. There were a few who had slept with Huang Chuan Die on that cruise ship… He’s really sick. Clearly, he gave Huang Chuan Die to others back then, and only regretted it when he got old. He directly lured those people onto the same ship and calmly dealt with them, three died.”

“He left nearly a hundred for show. He gave them a hush fee and made those people completely disappear. Even international organizations couldn’t find them, and they had to publicly announce that no one survived.”

“Brother, don’t provoke him.” Wen He finally took a deep breath, speaking clearly, looking at Shen Cizhu. “With someone of his stature, dealing with individuals is as simple as having a meal. Don’t go on that cruise ship. I… I can go for you.”

Shen Cizhu’s fingertips moved slightly. He looked at the lukewarm water in the glass on the coffee table, the surface was exceptionally clear, as if he could see his own eyes.

He shifted his gaze away, half-truthfully and half-jokingly smiling at Wen He. “Raising you wasn’t in vain.”

Wen He was delighted. He felt that he could atone for his sins, make amends. Sacrificing his life for his brother wasn’t a big deal; after all, it was just blowing up a cruise ship.

Closing and opening his eyes, and it would be over.

But Shen Cizhu said, “I will go there in person.”

“Brother! But he will kill—”

“I want Xiao Fuchuan to know what he did wrong back then. He needs to make amends himself.” Shen Cizhu threw the orange he had crushed into the trash without even looking at it.

“Wen He, he killed my mother.”

“You still can’t let go after so many years.” Wen He stood still, he sighed bitterly. “Mrs. Shen was very kind to me. She died, and I also wanted to help her… but I didn’t have the ability.”

“But… Brother, I believe you can do it.” Wen He stood up, bowed to Shen Cizhu. He bowed too vigorously, and for a moment, he felt dizzy as if his vision had also gone wrong.

When he stood up, he saw the stunningly beautiful snake-like eyes of Shen Cizhu, which were slightly reddened. Yet, his cheeks were snow-white, with a kind of lifeless, withered beauty.

In a daze, his head felt hot, and he blurted out, “Brother, your expression is like that night a year ago… when you were brought back by Xie Yan.”

“Let’s go.” Shen Cizhu restrained his smile and lowered his eyes. He raised his hand, gesturing for Wen He to leave.

After Wen He left, Shen Cizhu raised his eyes. His deep green eyes sparkled, and his long hair slid down, covering his shoulders.

He looked at the ceiling, thinking for a while.

A year ago?

Shen Cizhu remembered that night, the night he and Xie Yan were together, and Xie Yan saw it with his own eyes. Later, Xie Yan took him home and said he wanted to give him some medicine…

Afterward, Shen Cizhu couldn’t remember. After his father knew about all this, Shen Cizhu couldn’t find Xie Yan anymore.

He couldn’t even find Xie Hou.

“Xie Yan.” A light pink tint appeared on Shen Cizhu’s thin eyelids, his eyelashes trembled lightly, murmuring the name of Xie Yan between his lips.

Xie Yan.

Before heading to Budapest, Shen Cizhu received a call from Mr. Xiao in the United States.

At the same time, the financial channel reported the recent uproar in the business world, caused by the biological son of Mr. Xiao—

Xie Hou.

The future heir of the Xiao family.

The Xiao family was a more formidable and higher-level conglomerate than the Shen family. Any move by this family could spell the end for the business world, not to mention the sudden emergence of an heir.

What path will this heir lead the Xiao family on, glory or downfall?

The reporter on the financial channel was very excited. Facing the screen, she praised Xie Hou, the heir of the conglomerate, endlessly. She mentioned his achievements as a top science student, a teenage genius who obtained multiple national research patents before coming of age. He is now the chief researcher at the top research institute in the capital. Such a genius shines anywhere, especially considering he’s only nineteen years old. His youth, beauty, and intelligence naturally cause a sensation.

He is now widely known, enjoying immense popularity.

Shen Cizhu twisted the phone cord around his fingers as Mr. Xiao spoke to him.

“My son seems to be very interested in you, so I want to meet you. Will you come to the auction?” Mr. Xiao said casually.

“Of course, I will come.” Shen Cizhu turned off the TV and spoke slowly. He said to Mr. Xiao on the other end of the phone, sounding like praise, “Your son is excellent. You must be very proud.”

“But his mother is still a stain. Huang Chuandie is a foolishly beautiful intersex person. You know that. But besides you, I don’t want to hear this fact from others in the country,” Mr. Xiao said calmly.

“Huang Chuandie gave birth to your only son. You should be grateful to her. That is your biological son.” Shen Cizhu squinted slightly.

“I heard from my mother before she died that Huang Chuandie was very kind, so everyone liked him, including my father. Huang Chuandie seems to have a past with my father.”

After a moment of silence, Xiao Fuchuan chuckled softly.

Hearing the laughter transmitted through the phone, Shen Cizhu wrinkled his nose slightly.

“Shen Cizhu, you are trying to provoke me, but you are too young. You are not worthy of being my opponent,” he said. “I won’t be affected in the slightest.”

“But you did something wrong.” Shen Cizhu clenched his five fingers.

“Mr. Xiao, my mother died, and you were present. Huang Chuandie’s husband, who is also Xie Yan’s biological father, died, and you were also present. It’s too coincidental. Your power conceals everything.”

Sitting in a dim, cramped room, with only a beam of light escaping through the slits of the blinds, Shen Cizhu didn’t look. He covered his eyes with his palms, lowered his eyelashes. At this moment, he was talking to Xiao Fuchuan with a deeply resentful mindset, even though he didn’t need to see his face, he still felt nauseous.

“Your child still believes that his poor mother killed someone until now. You know, when he was seventeen, he kept trying to prove that he didn’t have a criminal gene, proving that he was a good child who wouldn’t commit crimes.” Shen Cizhu tilted his head.

Shen Cizhu’s Adam’s apple moved slightly, swallowing down the hatred. His tone remained extremely gentle.

“Xie Hou doesn’t need to know the truth. He just needs to remember that his mother was a promiscuous whore.” Xiao Fuchuan’s tone was elegant, like top-quality porcelain and jade.

But this sacred tone was now used to curse “whore.”

The word “bitch” echoed softly in Shen Cizhu’s ears, and his eardrums stung for a moment. He understood that Xiao Fuchuan was insulting him.

“It seems like you really dislike me,” Shen Cizhu said gently. “So, you set your sights on the Shen family, Mr. Xiao? Are the people you arranged in the board of directors just minor roles?”

Xiao Fuchuan neither confirmed nor denied, “How long do you think the Shen family can hold on? Before you board that cruise ship.”

Shen Cizhu listened politely.

“Shen Cizhu, you are still too young, just a child who recently took power. If you refuse my invitation, the Shen family will also become… very miserable.”

This was a clear threat to Shen Cizhu.

Since the charity auction in Budapest had a bombing a year ago with no survivors, the same could happen this year. This time, Shen Cizhu would be the one to die.

“Mr. Xiao, for someone like you, the Shen family may not be worth mentioning. Why do you go to such lengths to obtain it?”

“Because your father slept with my lover back then,” Mr. Xiao said indifferently. He moved the Buddhist beads in his hand, his expression calm without desire. “And he made her pregnant.”

Made her pregnant.

Made her pregnant.

Pregnant with a child…

The child of Huang Chuandie…

“This is impossible! What the hell are you talking about! Xiao Fuchuan, he cannot be my father’s—” Shen Cizhu suddenly gripped the phone receiver tightly, making urgent and hoarse sounds.

His eyes widened, and his breath, like paper, momentarily choked him to a pale state.

Xie Hou couldn’t be Shen Heng’s son!

If that were true, everything Shen Cizhu had concealed would become a joke.

He had to get the Shen family. Xie Hou couldn’t take away everything from him, absolutely not!

“Shen Cizhu, I detest you very much. Xie Hou has become gay because of you. If you were like Huang Chuandie, intersex, I might spare you. But you are a man, unable to bear children, unable to bring new hope to my family.”

Xiao Fuchuan paused for a moment and said with a tone of pity, “Moreover, you are an unknown bastard. You don’t even know who your biological father is, right? Xie Hou’s bloodline is nobler than yours.”

In the dim room, Shen Cizhu bent down, his sharp teeth biting his lip, and blood streaks appeared.

What does this mean?

This couldn’t be possible!

Xie Hou couldn’t be his father’s child. Xie Hou not only embarrassed him in front of Xie Yan, but now he wanted to take away his father and family?

Shen Cizhu held the phone line tightly, his fingertips leaving red marks on his palm. His eyes stared fixedly at the sliver of light coming through the blinds not far away, the remaining light causing him pain.

Shen Cizhu had secretly conducted a genetic test on Xie Hou’s hair with Shen Heng, and the result was 0. But why—

Oh, if Xie Hou could deceive the board of directors by manipulating genetic tests, he could certainly manipulate his own.

Is it true?

Shen Cizhu stood up and walked to the window, feeling the warmth of the sunlight on his skin.

Don’t believe him.

Stay calm, Shen Cizhu.

Shen Cizhu thought to himself.

All of this, perhaps, might not be the truth?

Huang Chuandie had so many men, who could guarantee which one fathered the child.

Shen Cizhu restrained his emotions. His pupils flickered with a touch of iris purple.

“Xiao Fuchuan, do you really like raising other people’s sons like this? It’s ridiculous, but why should I believe what you say? No matter why you told me all this, I promise—”

“You old bastard won’t live much longer.” Shen Cizhu finally revealed his intentions, his tongue lightly licking his lips, each word chilling.

He ignored Wen He’s advice and openly provoked Xiao Fuchuan.

“Then let’s give it a try.” Xiao Fuchuan spoke each word elegantly and indifferently. “I told you that you are too young, you can’t even compare to Xie Hou.”

“I hope that child’s father is me, not Shen Heng. He should inherit my family, not Shen Heng’s. The Shen family, I will eradicate it in the near future. I want you and Shen Heng to understand that everything about the Shen family will be—”

“Not worth mentioning.” Xiao Fuchuan’s lips curled, almost mocking.

Shen Cizhu’s pupils contracted slightly.

“Shen Cizhu, if you want to send me to prison for your mother, then give it a try. I look forward to that day, I hope it happens on that cruise ship.”

Xiao Fuchuan lightly tapped his finger and hung up the phone.

Then he casually set fire to the red line of the antique desktop telephone with a lighter.

With a cigarette between his fingers, he blew smoke rings as the phone line emitted a pungent haze. He exhaled the smoke gently, his eyelids hanging coldly.

Xiao Fuchuan sat alone in his opulent office, holding an old photograph between his fingers.

The photo was obviously taken by a private detective in a hidden and dark corner. There were two people in the photo.

The tall one was Xie Yan’s father, Xie Hou’s stepfather. He was a simple and sturdy tall man, pushing a shopping cart in a small supermarket, holding hands with his petite wife.

His wife was a beautiful and recently pregnant male beauty named Huang Chuandie.

Huang Chuandie was only twenty-one at the time, and he used to be Xiao Fuchuan’s lover.

But Xiao Fuchuan had a strange condition; he enjoyed watching others “bully” Huang Chuandie. When Huang Chuandie was taken away by Shen Heng, Xiao Fuchuan found him shortly afterward when he was already pregnant. He cried in deep sorrow, saying he was scared of being pregnant.

But Xiao Fuchuan wanted to see him give birth.

After Huang Chuandie escaped from Xiao Fuchuan, instead of sending someone to bring him back, Xiao Fuchuan personally monitored everything about him.

Huang Chuandie’s face was covered in dirty tears. Afraid of the dark, he knocked on the door of a stranger’s house in the night for help. That man was a widower with a nine-year-old son.

The boy’s name was Xie Yan.

Xiao Fuchuan sat in his luxury car and witnessed all of this firsthand.

He even had a wicked thought: would the widower take advantage of this pregnant beauty? But he didn’t.

Later on, they got married.

Now, it had been twenty years.

The child born from Huang Chuandie’s womb was now nineteen.

Xie Hou.

Actually, Xiao Fuchuan didn’t understand whose son he really was, but he was born to Huang Chuandie, so Xiao Fuchuan wanted to keep him.

He hoped that this child was born of Huang Chuandie.

Xiao Fuchuan caressed the old photograph in his hand.

In the photo, Huang Chuandie wore a snow-white spaghetti strap dress, and his jet-black, well-cared-for long hair was loosely tied with a butterfly hair tie. Stray strands softly covered his cheeks, and even though he was pregnant, the curve of his chin remained pitifully slender, as if it would break off with a single pinch.

His eyes were very round, like those of a rabbit, with a delicate crimson mark at the end, hidden by long, soft eyelashes.

Crying again, he cried while acting coquettish with his husband, the man whom Xiao Fuchuan would forever hate.

Xiao Fuchuan pinched this nearly twenty-year-old old photo. Under this saint-like appearance, his jealousy, like a bitter fruit, uncontrollably surged through his limbs, causing the veins on the back of his hand to bulge. His fingertips caressed Huang Chuandie’s cheek in the photo.

He closed his eyes, and in his memories, Huang Chuandie was forever begging and crying for mercy.

Why did he have to love other men?

He had done too many wrong things to obtain Huang Chuandie.

The sins brought about by these wrongs lingered and entwined, even reaching the next generation, impossible to escape.

Shen Cizhu’s mother.

Xie Yan’s father.

Huang Chuandie.

All died because of him, Xiao Fuchuan.

Perhaps Xie Hou and he shared the same bloodline, and so both father and son were born with the innate gift of jealousy.

Regardless of your life or death.

The one you love can only be me.

TN:
I feel so sorry for Huang Chuandie😭. What kind of existence is this that you don’t even have autonomy over your own body and who you are intimate with?? They didn’t deserve such a wretched life.