Chapter 56 [VIP]
Shen Jinshan left.
Watching the man's departing figure, Chenmian almost collapsed and withdrew her gaze.
She haphazardly rubbed the back of her hand against her wet cheek, trying to erase all evidence of her vulnerability.
Immediately, he felt as if his bones had been removed, and he slid softly into the depths of the blankets. The boy nonchalantly wrapped himself tightly in the soft down jacket and continued sleeping, without even turning on his phone placed beside his pillow.
When Lin Langli returned home in the afternoon, he found that Shenmian was still asleep.
The boy was curled up in the blanket, his face flushed from sleep. Lin Langli leaned over and touched his face with the back of his hand to make sure his temperature was normal. Then he turned to look at him and asked, "Chen Ci, is there something you need?"
“Lin Langli,” Shen Ci stepped out from the shadows outside the door and entered the room. He looked at Lin Langli’s intimate touch with Chen Mian, his expression unfriendly, and reprimanded him in a low voice, “Get out.”
Lin Langli chuckled softly, turned his head to continue examining Shenmian's face closely, softened his tone, and said calmly, "There's no such logic. Meeting someone else's boyfriend without permission and then making the person in question leave."
"Boyfriend?" Shen Ci seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world, a mocking smile curving his lips. "Lin Langli, do you deserve him?"
He walked past Lin Langli and went straight to the bedside. Looking at Shen Mian's unguarded face as she slept, Shen Ci frowned, reached out, and gently stroked Shen Mian's slightly flushed cheek with a tenderness he himself didn't realize: "He's never slept this much before. You two last night..."
Lin Langli's gaze was fixed on the hand that Shen Ci was pressing against Shen Mian's face. The intimacy that Shen Ci took for granted stirred a violent impulse in his chest.
He answered almost immediately, his tone carrying an almost cruel frankness and boastfulness, each word deliberate and laced with a malicious declaration: "Yes, we did it last night. Just like you imagined, it took a long time, he's exhausted, so he's still sleeping. Are you satisfied with this answer?"
"..." The air froze at that moment.
He awoke from his slumber to the noise, his long eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings as he adjusted to the dim light.
The noise around her was incessant. Chenmian struggled to sit up and glanced around. She found the room in a mess again. Upon closer inspection, she saw that Chen Ci was fighting with Lin Langli!
The two fought to a standstill. Shen Ci had learned systematic combat from a young age, but Lin Langli was no weakling either. He was even more ruthless than Shen Ci, and the fight was surprisingly evenly matched.
Chenmian squinted, feeling very tired. He didn't get out of bed, but just sat against the headboard, complaining softly, "It's so noisy."
Why won't one or two of them let him rest?
Lin Langli stopped first and looked at the person on the bed, but in the brief moment of stopping, Shen Ci seized the opportunity to punch him.
Shen Mian's brow twitched: "Shen Ci, you're not allowed to hit Lin Langli!"
Shen Ci wanted to say that Lin Langli's scathing criticism was aimed at him from the shadows, but when he looked over, Lin Langli had already changed his murderous expression and was now lowering his eyelashes to look like he had been wronged.
He felt nauseous, and his scalp started to throb and twitch again.
Lin Langli ignored Shen Ci, as if the punch had caused him no pain. He walked straight to the bedside, sat down beside Shen Mian, and reached out to touch him: "Mianmian..."
Chenmian impatiently pushed his hand away and looked at Chen Ci beside her: "Who started it?"
"Lin Langli!" Shen Ci quickly pointed out, "He's been provoking me all along!"
Lin Langli ignored Shen Ci's accusations and stared intently at Shen Mian, his voice low and strangely focused: "He touched your face."
His tone was as if his possessions had been touched by someone else.
Shen Mian didn't care much. His mind was still full of the shock brought by Shen Jinshan. He rubbed his forehead and sent Shen Ci away, showing no intention of acting as a judge to uphold justice for the two of them.
Since Shen Ci wouldn't leave, Shen Mian had no choice but to say to Lin Langli in front of him, "Shen Jinshan knows about our relationship."
"Oh?" Lin Langli's eyes darted around. "How did he know?"
His dormant temper flared instantly. The thought that Shen Jinshan might have been "monitoring" or "investigating" them in some way filled him with a sense of intrusion, anger, and shame.
At this point, his temper flared up, and he grabbed a bedside ornament and threw it to the ground, yelling, "That freak!"
A crisp cracking sound exploded in the room, causing Chenmian's chest to heave violently and her whole body to tremble involuntarily.
Lin Langli immediately moved closer. This time, he didn't give Shenmian a chance to push him away. He forcefully reached out and tightly grasped Shenmian's hand, which was trembling slightly with anger. Then, he pulled her into his arms.
Chenmian's body stiffened for a moment, then as if she had found a foothold, she involuntarily relaxed, nestled into that warm chest, trembling slightly, whether it was just because of anger or some other emotion mixed in.
The young man glanced silently at the neck of the person in his arms, noticing the faint marks that belonged to him embedded in the flesh, then stared at the rosy lips of the sleeping woman, his eyes dark and unfathomable.
Shen Jinshan found out... He really did find out.
While he was away, she sneaked in and said something to his Mianmian.
A complex mix of displeasure at the invasion of territory and a sense of "I knew it" welled up inside me.
Lin Langli despised Shen Jinshan's outrageous behavior, but at the same time felt that it was good to break through this barrier.
Otherwise, it would be really off-putting to act like that in front of everyone.
In fact, Lin Langli secretly sighed, thinking that Shen Jinshan was quite tolerant.
But he still wore a worried expression and asked in a low voice, "Mianmian, will he try to break us up?"
Chenmian was in a state of turmoil and remained silent for two seconds before speaking. But after only two seconds of hesitation, Lin Langli's eyes suddenly sharpened and his aura became deep.
“…We won’t separate,” Chenmian said, her voice a little weak, as if she were trying to convince Lin Langli rather than encouraging herself.
Shen Ci, who had been listening nearby, couldn't help but speak up, her tone barely concealing her displeasure: "Chen Mian, Lin Langli is no good."
Seeing Chen Mian look up at him coldly again, Chen Ci softened his tone a little: "Does your older brother also disagree with you? Actually, it's not just my older brother and me; if Mom and Dad knew, they wouldn't agree either."
"Why?" This time, Chenmian was genuinely puzzled. "Mom and Dad have always wanted me to get along well with Lin Langli. Isn't our relationship good enough now?"
Looking into his innocent eyes, blinded by so-called emotions, Shen Ci felt a wave of powerlessness wash over her.
He wanted to tear away all of Lin Langli's pretenses, to lay bare all his dark thoughts and vengeful intentions before Shen Mian and explain them to him in detail, but he was also afraid that this naked truth would completely crush Shen Mian.
Lin Langli is quite cunning, but he pretends to be a different person in front of Shen Mian. Although Shen Mian has a bad personality, she is still innocent and naive because she has been protected by her family. She will probably believe whatever Lin Langli says.
But this cannot be blamed on Chenmian. The blame lies with Lin Langli for his clever words and flattery, with him being taken advantage of due to his momentary carelessness, and with his family for insisting that the two of them live together.
Looking back on his decision now, Shen Ci felt nothing but regret and helplessness.
Lin Langli coldly observed Shen Ci's pain and Shen Mian's confusion, a sense of control rising within him once more. He gave Shen Ci no further chances, issuing a direct order to leave, his tone brooking no argument: "Shen Ci, get out."
Shen Ci stubbornly refused to leave, and Lin Langli suddenly chuckled, his laughter filled with a wicked meaning: "I'm going to coax Mianmian and be intimate with him—do you want to see that too?"
The sleeping girl in his arms, feeling embarrassed and annoyed, lightly slapped Lin Langli, trying to break free from the young man's embrace.
But Lin Langli hugged the man even tighter, affectionately stroking his soft hair against his head. He looked at the person beside him, his tone unusually cold: "Chen Ci, why don't you leave?"
Is it because he can't bear to see Chenmian fall into his arms?
Or is it because she is unwilling to slumber in the arms of anyone other than him?
In the end, she was just like Shen Jinshan, except that Shen Ci was even more of a failure than Shen Jinshan, never even stirring the slightest emotion in Shen Mian.
Lin Langli was not afraid of him and dismissively withdrew his gaze.
But the feeling of having one's own possessions coveted and scrutinized by others was truly unpleasant. Lin Langli secretly plotted how to completely drive away Shen Ci and Shen Jinshan.
Lin Langli eventually asked Shen Ci to leave. The soft sound of the door closing acted as a dividing line, separating the somber atmosphere inside the room from the outside world.
He returned to the bedside, looking at the drowsy figure sitting there, his eyes churning with emotions that ultimately culminated in a barely audible sigh. Lin Langli leaned down and pulled Chenmian, blanket and all, into his arms, his chin gently brushing against the boy's soft hair.
"Were you scared?" the young man asked, his voice deliberately softening. "I didn't want to fight him. I know it'll be difficult for you to be caught in the middle, but I'll be jealous, Mianmian. I won't do it again next time."
Chenmian didn't make a sound, but buried herself deeper into his arms, like a young animal seeking protection.
Lin Langli's heart softened slightly, and a sense of satisfaction mixed with pity and possession quietly grew within him.
Shen Ci learned of their relationship and even witnessed their intimacy.
Now Shen Jinshan also knows.
This was all within his expectations; in fact, it could be said to be the result of his gradual, behind-the-scenes efforts and his satisfaction with its outcome.
However, the Shen family might not be willing to remain asleep with him, and Lin Langli could roughly guess what others were thinking.
Unfortunately, his eagerness to openly and honestly be with Shen Mian now seems far greater to others than he did at the beginning, causing Lin Langli to feel a little uneasy, which he quickly suppressed.
He was about to say a few more words of comfort.
The person in her arms suddenly asked, "Why is Shen Jinshan treating me like this? He hates me so much, yet he still wants to continue controlling me?"
Chenmian murmured to herself, "He refuses to admit that he likes me and wants to be with me, yet he still pesters me. It's really too much."
Lin Langli froze, his gentle patting of the boy's back stopping. He then saw another tear fall from the person in his arms, landing on the blanket and seeping into the fabric, darkening a small patch.
"Lin Langli, do you really like me? Shen Jinshan said you're not a good person."
Lin Langli lifted Chenmian's chin and gently kissed his face: "Can't you feel how much I love you?"
"If he didn't like you, why would he treat you so well? Why would he be willing to give up pursuing you? Why would he be willing to fight with them for you?"
He could only shed tears in his sleep; he still felt no sense of security whatsoever.
The conflicts between him and Lin Langli were too great and too deep. Shen Jinshan and Shen Ci both felt that Lin Langli was not sincere. They were smarter than him, and perhaps the outsiders saw things more clearly.
But emotions are like water; only the person drinking it knows whether it's hot or cold. The dependence and habit that grew in this twisted relationship, as well as Lin Langli's later sincere protection and possession, so truly soothed his heart that longed to be loved and needed.
Shenmian finally sensed Lin Langli's love for him.
Lin Langli watched as the boy's tears continued to fall, her heart filled with a mixture of frustration and pity. She whispered in the boy's ear:
“I love you, Mianmian. When we’re old enough, let’s get married, okay? Didn’t you tell me before that you wanted to adopt a baby? How about we raise you, Mianmian, as our baby first? And Little Bread too, let’s start our family of three…”
As she recalled these promises, her spirits lifted and she stopped crying.
"But Shen Jinshan said he would tell Mom and Dad. What if they don't agree?"
He recalled Shen Jinshan's last words before he left, which lingered in his mind like a curse:
“Mianmian, no matter what you think of me, I will tell our parents about your relationship with Lin Langli. He is not a good person. No matter how bad your brother is, he never really meant to hurt you, but he may not.”
—
Shenmian slept until the afternoon before getting up to wash up, and in the evening he was unwilling to go downstairs for dinner. Shenci made up an excuse for him, saying that he had a fever.
At the dinner table, Su Yueqiu's beautiful brows furrowed with worry upon hearing this: "Jinshan also said this morning that Mianmian seemed to be feeling unwell and had been sleeping the whole time. I should have stayed to check on him then."
She turned to her eldest son, who was eating silently at the other end of the table, and asked with concern, "Jinshan, when you went to see a doctor this afternoon, did you call the doctor?"
Before Shen Jinshan could answer, Lin Langli gently put down his chopsticks, a perfectly gentle smile on his face, and naturally took over the conversation: "Mom, don't worry. Mianmian's health has been a bit weak this semester, and he's been sick a few times, but I've taken care of him each time, so I'm experienced. He doesn't like seeing doctors, and he'll be fine after a rest, so there's no need to bother him."
His tone was calm, with a familiarity that made him feel like he was the one most intimate with Shen Mian.
Su Yueqiu glanced at him, then at the silent Shen Jinshan, and finally said, still worried, "I'll go see him myself later. It's always uncomfortable to be sick." After saying this, she ate absentmindedly, barely touching her food before leaving the table.
As soon as his mother left, Shen Ci glared at Lin Langli fiercely, his eyes filled with warning and rejection.
Deep down, he was extremely unwilling to let his relationship with Lin Langli be exposed to his family.
He was afraid, afraid that once this relationship was revealed to his family, it might bring unpredictable storms.
What's even more frightening is that, in the face of weighing the pros and cons, the family might tacitly approve of such a relationship in the name of balance or compensation.
Lost in thought, Shen Ci was completely unaware that Shen Jinshan, sitting beside him, had barely touched his chopsticks during the meal, only drinking water constantly.
Chenmian lay sprawled on the carpet, legs propped up on the small sofa, watching the projector absentmindedly. Su Yueqiu knocked and entered, bringing a small bowl of meat soup with chicken legs torn into small pieces and the oil skimmed off the top.
"Mianmian, have something to drink. Haven't you eaten all day?"
Chenmian got up from the ground and obediently drank the soup.
Su Yueqiu rubbed her son's face, examined him carefully, and felt that he was indeed alright, so she was a little relieved: "Baby, your grandparents asked you about it when you didn't go to their house today."
Sleeping, he didn't believe it and chewed chicken with his cheeks puffed out.
Su Yueqiu could only smile helplessly and leaned over to assure him, "Mianmian, don't blame Xiaoli for receiving so many things this year. It's hard for Dad to say anything, but Mom will leave all the things for Mianmian, okay?"
“Mom…” Chenmian said awkwardly, “You should divide it equally, otherwise Lin Langli will think you’re being biased, and I already have a lot.”
However, he couldn't access his assets yet. His shops, houses, and funds were all tightly controlled by his father, Shen Mianjun, who was afraid that he would become a spoiled rich kid who wasn't thinking straight, be led astray by others, or be cheated out of his money.
Compared to him, Shen Ci and Lin Langli were much more reassuring to their father, at least they weren't as strictly controlled as he was.
“Mianmian, you are Mom’s favorite child.” Su Yueqiu affectionately pinched her son’s nose and sat down on the sofa with him in the same position as Mianmian. “From childhood to adulthood, no one has ever made Mom put in more effort and energy than Mianmian, not even your father or your older brother.”
A smile played on Shenmian's lips, her heart bubbling with smugness and happiness.
The Lin family only has one child, Lin Langli, while his family has three. So his mother should love him more to be fair.
After slowly finishing the chicken soup, Chenmian put the bowl aside and leaned against Su Yueqiu without any backbone, picking at her fingers and talking.
"Mom, Shen Jinshan said some really hurtful things last time. He said he used to change my diapers when I was little. Is that true?" Shen Mian scratched her face, but couldn't help asking.
Su Yueqiu thought for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh out loud, saying with great amusement, "I was wondering why you've been ignoring your older brother. Did he make you shy?"
Seeing that Chen Mian was looking at her somewhat angrily, Su Yueqiu straightened her expression and explained, "It seems there was such a thing, back then..."
Shenmian stayed in the hospital's incubator for a long time. After the first and second surgeries, her vital signs were temporarily stable, and the Shen family took Shenmian home to take care of her.
Back then, the Shen family had far more members than they do now. There were four nannies to take care of Shenmian, as well as an entire medical team to care for him.
Chenmian was smaller than Chenci, but her cries were exceptionally loud.
At that time, Shen Jinshan had just started elementary school and didn't have much academic pressure, but he had a lot of skills classes.
The piano teacher came to give a lesson, and Chenmian burst into tears downstairs again, her cries so loud they seemed to shake the heavens.
Even then, slumber had already revealed its wicked temper.
Shen Ci shared a large crib with Shen Ci, and Shen Ci never cried or fussed, staying there obediently.
When he was asleep, he often cried. Not only did he cry by himself, but after he learned to roll over and crawl, he also liked to kick and hit Shen Ci, forcing his brother to cry with him.
Shen Jinshan was utterly amazed when he first discovered that Chen Mian was like this.
Su Yueqiu and Shen Mianjun laughed incessantly, praising Chenmian as a clever baby.
One day, after school, Shen Jinshan went to the nursery to check on his younger brothers as usual, only to find Shenmian awake, kicking his legs and chewing his fingers with a grin. He noticed that Shenmian was wearing open-crotch pants but no diapers, leaving his bottom bare.
The baby was drooling a little, which made Shen Jinshan feel a bit disgusted, but he couldn't ignore it. He grabbed a piece of cloth from the side and used it to stop Shenmian from biting her hand.
When Chenmian saw him, she giggled and kicked her legs even more excitedly.
Shen Jinshan repeatedly pulled away the baby's finger several times, but every time he took it away, Shen Mian would put it back in. After several times, he gave up and his gaze fell on Shen Mian's little feet.
How could it be so small, not even as big as his hand? Shen Jinshan found it amazing. He picked up Shen Mian from the crib and gestured with his palm, but Shen Mian kicked him away.
"Hehe..." Chenmian was still laughing.
Shen Jinshan found it boring; a child this age wasn't even as smart as a puppy. But as he put it back, he suddenly felt his sleeve was wet and warm.
When Su Yueqiu arrived, it was a scene of all three children crying.
She was driven crazy by the noise. On one hand, out of maternal love, she wanted to focus only on the crying Shenmian Shenci, but on the other hand, she couldn't help but look at Shen Jinshan, who was silently shedding tears.
"Jinshan, what's wrong?" she asked.
Shen Jinshan wiped his face with the sleeve that Shen Mian hadn't peed on, too angry to speak: "Shen Mian, Shen Mian peed on me."
Su Yueqiu remained silent for two seconds before bursting into laughter, which drew a glare from her eldest son.
"Jinshan, it's okay, the baby's pee isn't dirty." Su Yueqiu said against her will. She called for the auntie twice more, but no one came. So she had to put a diaper on Chenmian herself to cover her bottom.
Shen Jinshan watched from the side.
Su Yueqiu opened the diaper packaging, glanced at her eldest son who was still angry, and asked softly, "Jinshan, do you want to change your brother's diaper?"
"I don't want to!" Shen Jinshan was initially very resistant, but Shen Ci next to him started crying even louder.
Su Yueqiu looked and exclaimed, "Oh dear, both children have wet themselves!" There was nothing she could do but change the diapers for each of them.
Shen Jinshan stiffened as he touched the baby's soft, warm body, which was like a marshmallow. He let Shenmian kick him wildly and followed his mother's movements, opening the diaper, supporting the baby's waist with one hand, and finally sticking the two little wings on.
Chenmian started giggling again in his hands. Shen Jinshan looked at the baby's fair and tender face and wondered how Chenmian's eyes could be so big and her eyelashes so long. It was truly amazing.
“…What is this?” Chenmian said indignantly, “Just this once? I thought he had said this many times before. What’s so special about saying it once? He’s just like all those bad men out there!”
Su Yueqiu couldn't help but laugh and continued, "It wasn't just once. He did change it for you many times afterward. I even asked him if he had changed it for Shen Ci, and he said that Shen Ci was well-behaved and didn't need him, but you weren't well-behaved, so... haha."
"...I'm the best behaved!" Chenmian blushed and denied it.
Su Yueqiu squinted as Shenmian nudged her with his head. Just as she was about to raise her hand to gently coax her son, her eyes were suddenly drawn to the long red mark hidden under Shenmian's pajamas on his neck.
She avoided Shenmian's gaze and examined him closely, then couldn't help but widen her eyes.
While Chenmian was still fussing in her arms, Su Yueqiu's mind was in turmoil, completely blank.
"Mom," Chenmian called hesitantly, "Why aren't you saying anything?"
Su Yueqiu regained her senses, barely managing to maintain her composure, and hurriedly left.
She returned upstairs, feeling uneasy. As she passed her husband's study, she could faintly hear voices talking inside. Su Yueqiu hesitated for a moment, then reached out and pushed open the door.
In the study, Shen Mianjun and Shen Jinshan, who were sitting to the side, both looked up at her. Su Yueqiu approached as usual and gently asked her eldest son to leave.
Shen Jinshan said, "Mom, you're here too. I happen to have something to tell you, but I don't know if I should."
The couple looked over at the same time.
Shen Jinshan stepped forward, took out a thin kraft paper envelope from the inside pocket of his suit, placed it on the desk, and pushed it toward Shen Mianjun.
"I was still hesitant about whether to be so ruthless. But now it seems there's no turning back."
Shen Mianjun's gaze fell on the envelope, as if he had been burned.
He took a deep breath, with a sense of foreboding, and slowly opened the envelope.
Several photos slid out from inside, not the kind of blurry candid shots, but clearer, even intimate photos with some deliberate traces.
The woman in the photo has her eyes closed, red and teary, her hair damp and clinging to her forehead and cheeks, her neck and shoulders flushed, and there are several noticeable hickeys on them.
The young man whose face had been cut off held Shenmian in his arms in a possessive posture.
Their fingers were clasped tightly together, intertwined in an inseparable way.
"This is...?!" Shen Mianjun's hand clenched the photo tightly, his knuckles turning white, his chest heaving violently. He looked up at Shen Jinshan in disbelief, "Where did you get this?!"
“It’s Lin Langli,” Shen Jinshan said softly. “He anonymized the email and sent it to my email. I had been trying to find out who it was, but yesterday I accidentally discovered that Lin Langli and Shen Mian were very close… After watching the surveillance footage, I found that the two of them had been hugging in the corridor on the second floor as early as the 28th day of the Lunar New Year.”
"I also went to ask Mianmian, but Chenmian actually said that the two of them were sincere, little did she know that this photo had already been sent to me..."
He left the unsaid words behind. Shen Jinshan quietly awaited his parents' reaction.
Su Yueqiu leaned closer to look at the photo, her vision blurred, and she almost fainted, but Shen Mianjun caught her in time. She clutched her chest, tears instantly welling up: "How could he... how could he do this to Mianmian?! He's driving Mianmian to her death!"
Neither of them had time to be surprised by the fact that Shen Mian and Lin Langli were together; all their attention was focused on the photograph.
If Lin Langli could take such photos to demonstrate against Shen Jinshan and his family, he probably has even more in his possession.
“Because he hates us,” Shen Jinshan continued, stating his conjecture. “He hates that Shenmian has everything he lost, and he hates that we are biased and protect Shenmian. Shenmian said they were truly together, but he didn’t know that his so-called affection was just a way to get revenge on Shenmian. He didn’t want Shenmian; he wanted to watch Shenmian be dragged into the mire, and watch our Shen family suffer and be torn apart because of it!”
A note from the author:
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
