36. The bright moon hides the egret.
◎Perhaps you could try playing with me; I'm quite interesting. ◎
Li Xiran suddenly seemed like a cunning fox seducing an innocent girl, so Shang Xinuan didn't even realize when he cupped her cheeks and pulled her close until his hot breath brushed against her forehead.
"You're being a pervert!" The young lady, both embarrassed and angry, slapped his hand away.
Li Xiran immediately frowned and clutched his chest, "Ouch, that hurts."
Did you aggravate the wound?
Playing the victim to gain attention is a tried-and-true method.
"The wound must be starting to heal, which is why it's been both painful and itchy lately."
Since he got injured, Shang Xinuan has completely dropped her spoiled princess attitude in front of him.
In particular, after the caregiver choked on water while feeding Li Xi, she had to eat by blowing on a small spoon to cool it down before feeding her.
"What should I do to make you feel better?" Her eyes were full of concern; anyone who saw it would have to say that she was spoiling him terribly.
“Or you can gently smooth it with your hand, which will reduce the itching,” he said.
Shang Xinuan could only watch the nurses change his dressings every day, as if he were experiencing the pain of being suddenly stabbed by a sharp blade.
Not to mention touching his wounds; even a slight frown from him would make me incredibly nervous.
"I dare not, I'm afraid I won't be able to control my strength."
"Then shall I hold your hand?"
Shang Xinuan bit her lip, still looking very troubled, "Do you really have to have me?"
"If you touch me, I'll be so happy that I'll forget the pain."
These words were so cheesy and suggestive that Shang Xinuan blushed instantly, and her body felt burning hot.
"Can you stop acting like a pervert?" He was perfectly normal when he was with the medical staff and people from the Li family, but whenever he looked at her, his eyes seemed to have a strange filter on them.
"Warmth." He avoided her answer, gently stroking the back of her hand with his fingertips. "Is that alright?"
In the end, Shang Xinuan was defeated by his pitiful eyes and handed him her hand with a look of utter despair.
The one who succeeded ran his fingers through the back of her hand and then guided her hand to the wound wrapped in a thick layer of gauze.
"Doesn't it hurt?" This is the question she's asked most often lately. It seems the young lady is very afraid of pain.
Li Xiran, however, looked completely satisfied. Even after the tingling sensation in his chest subsided, he still didn't let go of her hand.
The two remained in that position, with Shang Xinu supporting herself on one arm beside him and gently stroking his chest with the other.
"Is your heart beating a little fast?" Shang Xinuan asked after holding back for a long time.
Li Xiran actually had a normal heartbeat. Staring into her eyes, he asked, "Nuan Nuan, are you sure it's my heart that's beating fast?"
The young lady then realized what was happening, and her cheeks flushed red again.
But the next moment, she immediately covered her neckline with her other hand, "You..."
"From my angle, I can't see it," he replied immediately, as if he had guessed what she was going to ask.
"rogue..."
"Little girl, when have I ever done anything indecent to you?"
He was an overly upright person, the kind of person who would refuse even when she drunkenly sat on his lap.
“I suddenly thought, if I had just given in to you a long time ago, would we be much happier?” Li Xiran held her hand. “At least you would be much happier.”
That way, she wouldn't have to go through so many heartbreaking moments during her sensitive teenage years. He would rather she remain innocent and carefree forever, without having to change anything.
"No," Shang Xinuan replied. "You won't."
People change after experiencing all sorts of things.
Just like she always says that if she could go back to the past, she would never fall in love with him.
But if she could go back to that early spring when she was 18, she would still fall in love with him at first sight.
That was a behavior that even she herself couldn't understand before. Why was it that when he stood in front of her, he didn't need to do anything to attract her attention?
Only now has she found the answer.
Falling in love with someone requires a stroke of luck, with the right timing, location, and people.
He was simply lucky to be in the midst of her first heart-fluttering moment, a choice made by her in the carefree and bright years of her youth.
Humans cannot resist themselves and allow themselves to lose.
So he only won against her in the passage of time, which is why for many years to come, no one could rival him.
In the banner of youth, even hatred will always reign supreme in her world.
"..." Li Xiran didn't say anything more, but just gripped her hand even tighter.
The VIP ward area was very quiet in the summer, and the two of them tacitly remained silent.
Through the cuffs of her summer hospital gown, her gaze would always inevitably drift to that dark brown tattoo.
Finally, he asked, "I want to understand these tattoos."
Li Xiran was clearly stunned for a moment before slowly speaking.
His deep, hoarse voice suggested he was recalling a very unpleasant experience.
“It’s Chen Shaoyi,” he said. “Her mental state has actually been poor all these years.”
"Hurting people is a common thing for her. It's just that she'll be more ruthless when she's facing me."
Initially, it was just physical violence, such as slapping, grabbing, and pinching.
Later, it became a matter of picking up any object at random, even an ashtray could become a weapon.
Finally, one day, Chen Shaoyi suddenly barged into his bedroom.
She questioned him about why he betrayed her and why he refused to tell her about having an illegitimate child. Was he already planning to bring Li Xiran and Anya home and send her back to the Chen family?
Li Xiran guessed that she had mistaken someone for someone else due to her mental confusion. During the repeated tug-of-war, Chen Shaoyi suddenly pulled out a knife and dagger from somewhere.
“The year I went to Cambridge to study, there was a tattoo shop near the school. I described my ideas to the owner, and he designed them for me.”
His situation was like a sharp sword stuck in the mud, entangled and hindered by thorns covered in sharp spikes.
So he hoped he could have wings so he could escape, completely escape from Chen Shaoyi's side.
"And what about the one on your wrist?" Shang Xinuan asked in a low voice, "It sounds like a girl's name. Was it tattooed for her?"
Li Xiran raised his hand to show her.
It was a string of English words without any illustrations: "Andrea is my mother's name."
Although she had considered this possibility before, she couldn't help but feel satisfied when she heard Li Xiran say it.
“When I was ten years old, my father died in a car accident, and my mother also unfortunately became a vegetable. Later, she and I were taken back to Shanghai by Chen Shaoyi, but she disappeared in the hospital not long after.”
From the age of ten, he had been searching for Anya's whereabouts both at home and abroad.
"I was afraid I would forget her if too much time passed, so I got the tattoo on my elbow." But in fact, no one forgets their mother.
“Li Xiran, I understand how you feel.” She was even relieved that Anya had only gone missing, rather than dying in the car accident with Li Qianyun.
People need many things to hold onto in order to sustain their lives.
She would also question "Shang Chenshu" on countless sleepless nights, asking why he refused to live, leaving her without both a father and a mother.
“Last year, I heard that someone had seen someone who looked a lot like her in a private hospital in England. But by the time Chen Ti and I got there, that person had already been discharged.” As Li Xiran spoke, his eyes shone with hope. “We then went to the countryside and asked around, house by house.”
"Unfortunately, they only look very similar."
Li Xiran's eyes began to redden. "I was being ridiculous, insisting on staying at that family's house."
"She...she really looks so much like my mother."
So much so that people who see someone on the street who looks like Anya from behind can't help but stop and stare.
"We'll find it." Seemingly touched, Shang Xin warmly grasped Li Xiran's hand and said.
"Nuan Nuan, meeting you, I really feel that heaven has been kind and merciful to me." He is no longer the murderer who was cursed to be forever miserable in Chen Shaoyi's words.
"So, what are you planning to do about Chen Shaoyi?"
Before Li Xiran could answer, Chen Ti knocked on the ward door. Behind him stood a group of people dressed in suits and ties.
The two were very intimate; from behind, it looked like Shang Xinuan was leaning down to kiss Li Xiran.
Upon seeing someone approaching, she immediately withdrew her hand shyly, saying, "Since you still have work to do, I'll excuse myself for a moment."
"No need, I have no secrets from you."
The expressions of those around them began to become ambiguous, and they looked at each other with knowing smiles.
Shang Xinuan wasn't oblivious to what these employees were thinking. "I've made plans to go shopping with Xixi, who wants to accompany you to a meeting?" she said, her voice becoming coquettish and charming.
After saying that, she grabbed her handbag and ran out.
-
Only after Shang Xinuan's figure disappeared around the corner did Chen Ti close the ward door and begin today's secret meeting.
"We spoke with Mr. Li Yuzhan this morning. It will probably be very difficult to make a legal judgment on Chen Shaoyi."
She first suffered from mental illness, and secondly, she was Li Xiran's legal mother.
The Chen family will definitely use this as a breakthrough point, and may even use this special adoptive mother-son relationship to wage an ethical and public opinion war.
Because Li Xiran is an illegitimate child, they will inevitably portray him as a vicious person who wants to seize the family property and drive the original wife crazy.
This will have a significant impact on Li Xiran's reputation in the business world and will also affect his decision-making power within the Li family.
He pinched the space between his eyebrows, his worry forming the character "川" (river) between his brows.
"Therefore, the best way is to send Chen Shaoyi to a sanatorium on the grounds of mental illness and not pursue the matter further. Only by making it a family matter of the Li family can we separate the Chen family from the Empress Dowager faction on the board of directors."
"This is indeed the best strategy at present," Li Xiran nodded and said, "Then, in conjunction with the secret acquisition of shares, the group of people behind Chen Shaoyi are the biggest hidden danger of the Li family."
"Yes, how long does Chairman Li expect to take? That way we can develop different plans."
"All the troubles within the Li family must be resolved before October."
Logically speaking, such battles require a long preparation period.
In the past, Li Xiran would give at least six months, but now he wants two months.
Moreover, most of those who could become part of the Empress Dowager's faction were the old men left behind by Li Qianyun.
"Wouldn't it be too rushed to be here before October?" They had long been accustomed to fighting a protracted war, having followed Li Xiran.
Recently, Li Xiran suddenly changed to a decisive and swift style, which they haven't been able to adapt to yet.
“My daughter will be going abroad to study in October, and after that, I won’t be in China often.”
...
When Shang Xinuan returned, the meeting had just ended.
She met Chen Ti and his group face to face.
"Is it over?" she asked.
“Yes.” Since Xiao Su and Shang Xinu became good friends, Chen Ti felt more relaxed when they spent time together in private. “Chairman Li has really changed a lot now.”
"What?"
"Ask him yourself what he's going to do in England after October."
With her questions in mind, Shang Xinuan returned to her hospital room.
Li Xiran first noticed the shopping bag she was carrying. "What's that?"
“I bought you a watch.” Shang Xinuan took out a long box from the bag. “The salesperson said that this Apple Watch can monitor when you sleep, your heart rate, blood oxygen, and other health conditions.”
"So high-tech?" As he took the box, a receipt fell out.
UnionPay payment: 9799 yuan.
Li Xiran raised an eyebrow; none of his watches had ever cost less than seven figures.
"I even specifically chose the most expensive one in the store, what do you think?" the young lady asked proudly.
"Hmm! From now on, all my watches can be put away. None of them have the high-tech features that Nuannuan gave me."
The little girl, beaming with satisfaction, immediately sat down beside his bed and explained, "I'll connect your watch to my phone so I can monitor it on my phone at the same time."
"Oh?" Li Xiran's curiosity was finally piqued. "Besides monitoring sleep, heart rate, and blood oxygen, can you also monitor when I miss you?"
Shang Xin's hand paused for a moment, speechless. This person, as soon as he recovered, started spouting nonsense.
"Please, Mr. Li, be serious for once." The young lady raised her eyes and glared at him. "I haven't asked you yet what you're going to England for in October?"
Li Xiran touched his brow. "Did Chen Ti tell you?"
"He told me to ask you myself."
Li Xiran had no intention of hiding it from her in the first place, and said frankly, "I'll go to school with you."
Although she didn't say it, Li Xiran could guess that the young lady had a hidden fear of studying abroad.
The shadows left by childhood often accompany a person throughout their life.
"And then there's Grandpa..."
"Your grandfather can only solve your life problems; he can't stay abroad with you forever."
Everyone has their own life and work, especially Shang Zun, who has the Shang family to manage.
"So you don't have to work?"
"Cheng Guoan left a mess in London, so this is a good time to clean it up."
It turns out he was just keeping me company.
The young lady's heart, which had just been filled with joy, felt a little disappointed.
"And another thing is that it's all over the British student community, there's a beautiful girl from Shanghai," Li Xiran said, putting on his armband and casually taking pictures with his phone. "I have to be careful, in case someone beats me to it. Then I'll regret it."
She used to be afraid that some girls would suddenly appear around Li Xiran, so she even chose the university in Shanghai that was closest to Li's family.
The young lady enjoys seeing Li Xiran jealous; it's like another way of feeling cared for.
“I don’t date international students,” she said, then added, “I’ve heard it’s more interesting to date foreigners.”
Li Xiran suddenly narrowed his eyes and frowned, gripping her chin with a dangerous signal. "Miss Shang, I'm also half a foreigner."
"Perhaps you could try playing with me; I'm quite interesting."
A note from the author:
Li Xiran is a person who is passionate about cosplaying with his wife.
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