The moment Shen Chi saw him, he was the first to snap, "You're only showing up this late, Su Nanxing? Why didn't you wait until after dinner to come? Save me the annoyance of seeing 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 retort, and how he should fire back afterward.
Su Nanxing had barely said, "Sorry, I was recording a song and lost track of time, so I'm 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 Su Nanxing fan? Didn't Can Can know that Su Nanxing and I are sworn enemies? Of all people, why did he have to be Su Nanxing's fan?
[He's so handsome, and his voice is so nice. As expected of the hottest singer right now, and everyone's favorite candidate for the next King of Heaven.]
[Help! Third Brother has it way too good. He has something this good and still doesn't know how to appreciate it. No, switch him out—let Can Can take his place!]
Shen Chi was already dumbfounded, his handsome face full of confusion. What did it mean, 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 enemies.
[If Eldest Brother and Sister-in-law are in a one-night-stand-pregnancy-and-run romance, and Second Brother and Lu Shao are in an I'm-secretly-in-love-with-my-straight-roommate-and-brother romance, then Third Brother and Su Nanxing are in a my-sworn-enemy-kept-me-after-I-went-bankrupt romance.]
Shen Chi frowned. What? Su Nanxing was going to keep him? Had Su Nanxing eaten bear guts and leopard gallbladders?
[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 simply did not understand the company's affairs, nor did they have the ability to turn the tide in a short time.]
[And so many families had been watching them closely, so the Shen Household's bankruptcy was inevitable. The Shen Household's business partners, its decent projects, and some companies' proprietary technologies were basically swallowed up by the male lead's family, while other families took some of the rest.]
[And because everyone knew Shen Chi's identity, the Shen Household's bankruptcy could not possibly leave him unaffected. Everyone could see that a family bankruptcy involved major trouble. 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 Eldest Brother, so they desperately needed money. Luckily, he and Fourth Brother still had quite a bit of savings, and together they could hold out for a while longer. He thought they would always find a way.]
[But then one day, Shen Yao suddenly disappeared, leaving Shen Chi no information at all. Third Brother recalled that Shen Yao's long stay after returning from the military had already been suspicious. Perhaps he had returned to carry out some mission.]
[So his sudden disappearance was definitely not a good thing. Something must have happened to Shen Yao, but he had no way to do anything. He could only call the police and wait for the results of their investigation.]
Shen Yao had not expected his ending to be disappearance. This mission truly was not simple. The moment he accepted it, he had considered every possible outcome. No matter what happened, it was 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 then, Shen Chi would be left all alone.
The Shen family did not feel good about it. Now that they knew the original plot belonging to their family, how could they possibly be happy? It did not spare a single one of them, and even their grandson would suffer in the end. Was their family supposed to die out completely?
What had they done to deserve such a miserable fate? Was it simply because their family was better off than Shen Keke's family that they had to end up like this?
[After Shen Yao disappeared, Eldest 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 flattered the powerful and trampled the weak. Third Brother had lost his status as a young master of the Shen Household, so no one needed to curry favor with him anymore. They all revealed their true faces.]
[For the first time, Third Brother understood the cruelty of this industry, 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 met Su Nanxing. Third Brother was embarrassed and awkward, not even knowing where to put his hands and feet. Su Nanxing told Third Brother to come out with him. Third Brother thought Su Nanxing wanted revenge for how they had once been at each other's throats.]
[But Third Brother still went out with him. Yet after calling him outside, Su Nanxing said nothing. Third Brother was still waiting for that chance to join the cast; that film was extremely important to him. Whether he would have projects to act in afterward depended on that film. So Third Brother wanted to go back, but Su Nanxing would not let him.]
[They argued. Third Brother thought Su Nanxing was deliberately screwing with him, that he simply did not want to see him rise again. That was not actually the case, but how could Third Brother understand? Especially when Su Nanxing's next words were, "Stay with me."]
The moment Shen Ze heard that, he felt that his third brother and Su Nanxing would definitely have a very unpleasant time afterward. He understood Shen Chi too well. Shen Chi was far too proud.
When a former sworn enemy wanted to keep him after he had fallen on hard times, Shen Chi would absolutely not show Su Nanxing a pleasant face. Shen Chi would definitely think Su Nanxing had finally seized the chance to humiliate him.
[Third Brother was so angry 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 create projects specifically for him and invest in films 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, because he needed money—lots of money. He needed money not only to cure Eldest Brother, but also 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 planning to drug Third Brother. He could not possibly stand by and watch Third Brother fall into such a miserable end.]
[Because Third Brother had actually done him a favor, though Third Brother had probably forgotten. Forgotten how, when he was young, he helped a child being bullied by his stepmother's son, exposing the bullying to his grandfather and to all the guests present that day.]
[Third Brother was the one who made Su Nanxing's grandfather notice that he was being bullied, giving Su Nanxing the chance to be raised by his grandfather's side. So he was actually grateful to Third Brother.]
Shen Chi had indeed forgotten about it, but after thinking carefully, he remembered that something like that had happened. Back then, he had attended some kind of banquet and seen one child being pelted with stones by another, younger child without fighting back.
It had infuriated him. He thought the child being hit must 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 Shen Chi asked who he 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 also present, he grabbed the child and rushed toward where a group of old men were playing chess.
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