How Long Do You Know I've Been Waiting to See You?

Shen Chi was the first to speak when he saw the man. "You're only showing up this late, Su Nanxing? Why didn't you wait until after dinner to come? Then I wouldn't have to be annoyed by the sight of you."

Shen Father and Shen Mother scolded Shen Chi for not knowing how to speak properly. Shen Chi did not care about being scolded. He was only thinking about how Su Nanxing would snap back and how he should retort afterward.

Su Nanxing had barely said, "Sorry, I lost track of time while recording a song, so I came late. My apologies, Uncle and Auntie."

When everyone heard Shen Can's inner voice: [Su Nanxing, ahhh, do you know how long I've been waiting to see you?]

Shen Chi could not help frowning. What the hell? Is his little brother a fan of Su Nanxing's? Didn't Can Can know that he and Su Nanxing were sworn rivals? Of all people to be a fan of, why did it have to be Su Nanxing?

[He's handsome, and his voice is so nice. No wonder he's the hottest singer right now, and everyone's pick for the future King of Pop.]

[Help! Third Brother has it way too good. He has it this good and still doesn't know how to appreciate it. No, switch with Can Can—I'll go instead!]

Shen Chi was already dumbfounded, his handsome face filled with confusion. What did it mean that he had it too good? Could something happen between him and Su Nanxing in the future? Impossible. Absolutely impossible. He and Su Nanxing were sworn rivals.

[If Big Brother and Sister-in-Law are a one-night-stand-and-pregnancy-escape story, and Second Brother and Lu Shao are an I'm-secretly-in-love-with-my-straight-male-roommate-brother story, then Third Brother and Su Nanxing are a my-sworn-rival-kept-me-after-I-went-bankrupt story.]

Shen Chi frowned. What was that supposed to mean? Su Nanxing would keep him? Had Su Nanxing eaten tiger guts and leopard courage or something?

[After Shen Ze died, Shen Father and Shen Mother passed away, and Shen Yu became a vegetable, the Shen Household still went bankrupt. That was because Shen Chi and Shen Yao knew nothing about the company and did not have the ability to turn the tide in a short time.]

[And with so many families watching them closely, the Shen Household's bankruptcy was inevitable. The male lead's family swallowed up the Shen Household's business partners, decent projects, and some companies' proprietary technologies. Other families picked apart the remaining scraps.]

[And because everyone knew Shen Chi's identity, there was no way he would remain unaffected after the Shen Household went bankrupt. Anyone could tell there was something serious behind a family's bankruptcy. Most directors were afraid of offending people from other wealthy families and simply did not dare hire Shen Chi for films.]

[No work meant no money. Third Brother and Fourth Brother wanted to cure Big Brother, so they desperately needed money. Fortunately, he and Fourth Brother still had quite a bit in savings. Together, it could keep them going for a while. He thought they would eventually find a way.]

[But then Shen Yao suddenly disappeared, leaving Shen Chi no information at all. Third Brother recalled that it had already been strange for Shen Yao to remain home for so long after returning from the military. Maybe he had returned to carry out some mission.]

[So his sudden disappearance could not possibly be a good thing. Shen Yao must have gotten into trouble, but there was nothing he could do. He could only call the police and wait for the results of their investigation.]

Shen Yao had not expected his ending to be disappearance. His mission truly was not simple. When he accepted it, he had already considered every possible outcome. No matter what happened, it had been his own choice.

But he had not expected it to happen under those circumstances—when there was barely anyone left in the Shen Household. If he disappeared, Shen Chi would be left all alone.

The Shen family did not feel very good. Now that they knew the plot that had originally belonged to their family, how could they possibly be happy? Not a single decent person in their family would be spared, and even the grandson would suffer in the end. Wasn't that wiping out their entire bloodline?

What had they done to deserve such a miserable fate? Was it simply because their family was better off than Shen Keke's family, so they had to receive an ending like this?

[After Shen Yao disappeared, Big Brother's affairs could only be handled by Third Brother. Third Brother began to grow desperate, but he still could not find a production crew willing to take him in.]

[No one was willing to take on an unknown risk, and the entertainment industry had always worshipped the strong and trampled the weak. Once Third Brother lost his identity as a young master of the Shen Household, no one needed to curry favor with him anymore. They all revealed their true faces.]

[For the first time, Third Brother realized how cruel this industry was, but he had no choice but to adapt. For the first time, he attended dinner gatherings. For the first time, he tried to cater to those directors and seniors.]

[At one dinner gathering, Third Brother ran into Su Nanxing. Third Brother was embarrassed and awkward, not knowing where to put his hands and feet. Su Nanxing asked Third Brother to step outside with him. Third Brother thought Su Nanxing wanted revenge for all the times they had clashed.]

[But Third Brother still went out with him. Yet after Su Nanxing called him out, he did not say anything. Third Brother was still waiting for that acting opportunity. That movie was very important to him; whether he would have any projects to act in afterward depended on it. So Third Brother wanted to go back, but Su Nanxing would not let him.]

[They argued. Third Brother thought Su Nanxing was deliberately making things difficult for him, that he simply did not want to see him rise again. That was not the case, but how could Third Brother understand? Especially when Su Nanxing's next words were, "Stay with me."]

The moment Shen Ze heard this, he felt certain that his third younger brother and Su Nanxing would not get along well afterward. He knew Shen Chi too well. Shen Chi was far too proud.

When a former sworn rival wanted to keep him after he had fallen into hardship, Shen Chi would absolutely not give Su Nanxing a pleasant look. Shen Chi would definitely think Su Nanxing had finally found an opportunity to humiliate him.

[Third Brother was so angry that he laughed and kept cursing Su Nanxing. But Su Nanxing's expression did not change in the slightest. Only after Third Brother finished did he say that he would open projects specifically for him and invest in movies for him.]

[Third Brother was silent for a long time. Thinking of Shen Yu lying in the hospital and Shen Yao, whose whereabouts were unknown, he agreed. He needed money—a great deal of money. Not only did he need money to cure Big Brother, he also needed money to find Shen Yao.]

[Actually, Su Nanxing wanted to help Third Brother because he had overheard the director, assistant director, and screenwriter at the dinner gathering planning to drug Third Brother. He could not just watch Third Brother fall into such a miserable fate.]

[Because Third Brother had actually once helped him, though Third Brother had probably forgotten. Forgotten how, as a child, he had helped a child being bullied by his stepmother's son and exposed the bullying in front of his grandfather—before every guest there that day.]

[It was Third Brother who made Su Nanxing's grandfather notice that he was being bullied, giving Su Nanxing the chance to be raised by his own grandfather. So, in truth, he was grateful to Third Brother.]

Shen Chi had indeed forgotten about it, but after thinking carefully, it really had happened. Back then, he had attended some banquet and seen one child being pelted with stones by another, younger child without fighting back.

It had infuriated him. He had thought the child being hit had to be an idiot. Then he rushed over and told him to fight back, but the child said he did not dare. If he fought back, he would be beaten when he got home and locked inside, forbidden from going out.

Then he asked who the child lived with. After learning that he lived with his father, Shen Chi asked whether anyone else from his family was there. When he learned that his grandfather was there too, he grabbed the child and rushed over to where a group of old men were playing chess.