Shattered Illusions

The words "bed partner" thundered in Shen Chi's ears. They made him uncomfortable, but given how he had acted in the story, it was clearly impossible for anyone to like him.

Shen Father and Shen Mother had complicated, indescribable feelings. It truly did not sit well with them that their son had ended up being kept by someone.

But Su Nanxing had done it to protect Shen Chi and keep him from suffering even more terrible things, so they were still grateful to him.

Although Shen Chi was their son, Su Nanxing was innocent too. At the same time, Shen Chi had not known Su Nanxing meant well, so it seemed Shen Chi had not really done anything wrong either.

They simply did not know what to say about this. Still, wasn't Shen Chi a little too bad at cherishing people? How could he disregard the other person's feelings entirely and care only about his own comfort?

But that had been when Shen Chi was full of resentment. They did not know whether he would still be like that under normal circumstances. If he was, they would have to ask Shen Yu and Shen Ze to set him straight.

But although we don't know whether Su Nanxing actually liked Third Brother, Third Brother probably did start to fall for him later, right? Otherwise, after Su Nanxing's stepmother's son stole his company and then arranged his death, Third Brother wouldn't have driven over and killed that mother and son.

Before Third Brother went to hit them with his car, he deposited all his money into Eldest Brother's medical account. Then he left Fourth Brother a letter and went without hesitation. He had always hoped Eldest Brother would wake up and Fourth Brother would return, but once he learned of Su Nanxing's death, he stopped caring about anything else.

Su Nanxing's stepmother's family managed to take everything from him because the protagonist gong and shou helped them. Since Su Nanxing stepped in to help Shen Chi, he was going against them. Protagonists simply don't allow anyone to oppose them.

You could say Su Nanxing died for Third Brother. I wonder if he realized there were other people helping his stepmother's family. If he knew, would he regret helping Third Brother? Probably not. Since he had wanted to repay the favor from the beginning, he must have been prepared for everything.

But none of that will definitely happen now. Our Shen Household won't go bankrupt. Likewise, Third Brother and Su Nanxing probably won't have any connection anymore, right? Wouldn't that be a bit of a shame?

But Su Nanxing might not like Third Brother. At first, he was only using it as an excuse to repay him. Them getting together was an accident, and Third Brother definitely doesn't like Su Nanxing now either. Forget it, I won't think about it. It's not like I can force them together. I'll let nature take its course.

After thinking that through, Shen Can began eating seriously. But his inner thoughts had left the Shen family too unsettled to enjoy their meal, and each of them was thinking about something.

Even Shen Zhuo, a child, was pondering things. He kept looking toward Su Nanxing's table. Though he had not understood most of it, he understood that this man had protected Third Uncle and had even died for the Shen family.

Su Nanxing, at that table, was even less calm. He had only been here a short while when he heard an inner voice. The speaker had called himself Cancan, so he must be Shen Can, the younger brother who had returned not long after Shen Chi came back to the country.

He actually knew that Shen Chi had helped him as a child. Even Shen Chi himself had forgotten it. Only he remembered, and he had never told anyone. Yet Shen Can knew.

His inner voice spoke of things that might happen in the future, but the premise for those events was that something happened to the Shen family. And now that nothing had happened to them, was it because of his inner voice?

Earlier, after hearing the inner voice and growing curious, Su Nanxing had found an opportunity to look over. He discovered that the Shen family's expressions changed along with Shen Can's thoughts.

Of course, the changes were tiny. If he had not heard the inner voice as well, he would never have noticed.

Shen Can thought too highly of him. In truth, in the original story, he had not been acting entirely out of gratitude. Part of him had deliberately wanted to mess with Shen Chi.

He had always remembered that Shen Chi helped him. After returning from another province with his grandfather and transferring to Shen Chi's school, the first thing he did was look for him.

Yet Shen Chi walked right past him. When he called out and asked whether Shen Chi remembered helping a child before, Shen Chi cut him off before he could finish, saying that he had helped plenty of people and that using such a line to strike up a conversation was unbearably cliché.

It was normal that Shen Chi did not recognize him. After all, he had grown up and naturally looked different from before. But he had merely asked a question and gotten snapped at, so of course he was unhappy.

His excitement at returning to A City and attending the same school as Shen Chi immediately turned into displeasure. Shen Chi was not what he had imagined, and he felt disappointed.

Over the years, Shen Chi's image in his heart had become utterly perfect. He was the hero who had saved him, and in his imagination, he had piled every beautiful word he could think of onto Shen Chi.

Yet their first meeting after growing up had been so unpleasant. The vast difference between fantasy and reality irritated him, like the feeling of a failed online romance meeting in person. So he immediately snapped back, saying Shen Chi was too narcissistic.

Shen Chi was unhappy too. He had already been in a bad mood that day. This person had clearly come to strike up a conversation, but after being called out, he accused Shen Chi of being narcissistic. They nearly came to blows before being pulled apart, and that was how they became sworn enemies.

After that, not a single one of their meetings was peaceful. They argued every time they met, and kept it up for years. Only after Shen Chi entered the entertainment industry and became busy did their arguments lessen.

Then Su Nanxing entered the entertainment industry too, and they had more chances to argue again. After people in wealthy circles learned they were sworn enemies, both sides' fans found out as well.

In the story, he had actually used liking Shen Chi as his reason. People in the industry would surely imagine that his past clashes with Shen Chi had been a deliberate attempt to attract Shen Chi's attention.

But that truly was not the case. At least in the beginning, he had genuinely been driven mad because his fantasy had been shattered. As for later, they had simply grown used to clashing every time they met. Did he like Shen Chi? Even he did not know.

Just as Su Nanxing finished eating and stood up, a child grabbed the hem of his trousers. Looking down, he saw Shen Zhuo.

"Handsome Uncle, are you leaving?" Shen Zhuo asked, clutching Su Nanxing's trouser leg.

Su Nanxing shook his head. "I'm not leaving. Are you Shen Zhuo, Big Brother Shen's son?"

"Yep, I'm Little Zhuo. If Handsome Uncle isn't leaving, can Little Zhuo play with you this afternoon?" Shen Zhuo did not think at all about whether Su Nanxing would be playing with him or he would be playing with Su Nanxing.

The Shen family walked over as well, and the first thing Su Nanxing heard was Shen Can's inner voice.

Su Nanxing's voice is so nice. No wonder he's someone I've wanted to meet for so long.

His voice is heavenly, he can play instruments, and he comes from a good family. He'd be a perfect son-in-law for anyone. Even if you and Third Brother don't end up together, that's fine. Cancan will find you someone better.

Shen Chi wanted to ask what the hell that was supposed to mean. Why was Shen Can already thinking of introducing someone to Su Nanxing? Shen Chi had not even stated his position yet.

Then he thought about it more carefully. State what position? He and Su Nanxing were still sworn enemies, and those things definitely would not happen anymore. Su Nanxing would have nothing to do with him, so why would he need to state anything?

"You're Cancan, right? I heard long ago that you'd returned from abroad, but I never found the time to meet you," Su Nanxing said, greeting Shen Can first.

No one thought anything was strange. After all, Su Nanxing had met everyone in the Shen family except Shen Can, so it was only natural that he would greet the one person he had not met first.

"That's right. I've wanted to meet you for a long time too. I've heard your songs—they're really good." Shen Can really had heard them. After reading the descriptions in the story, he had long been curious about what Su Nanxing sounded like when he sang, so he had listened to them long ago.