“This is between the two of us. Why are you sticking your nose in this, you little brat? You disagree? In what capacity do you disagree?”
As Xia Zhichu spoke, she hit Shen Zhinian on the arm again.
Shen Zhinian started clutching his other arm. “What are you two Alphas messing around with?”
“What is wrong with two Alphas? It is not like there are not Alphas together,” Xia Zhichu said. “What? Has the young master’s life been too comfortable, making you completely ignorant of the outside world, so innocent?”
Shen Zhinian was so angry he could not even feel the pain in his arm anymore, his expression turning genuinely cold. “What are those two Alphas together for, and what are they doing? Do you have any idea?”
What are they doing?
To seek a different kind of thrill.
Some people enjoy watching Alphas experience pain and submission at certain moments.
They love seeing those who usually hold the initiative become passive.
While true love does exist among them, it is exceedingly rare, a tiny, exceptional minority.
“Well, true love exists there too,” Xia Zhichu said.
“You had better hope you are talking about true love,” Shen Zhinian’s voice chilled further. “Xia Zhichu, if I find out you are messing around with any of that weird stuff out there, see if you can even walk out this door.”
Xia Zhichu froze, looking at Shen Zhinian’s stern face.
“I am not joking,” Shen Zhinian said.
Xia Zhichu stared for a moment longer, then chuckled. “He really has grown up, daring to lecture even me.”
Shen Zhinian remained silent.
Right then, Bo Chengjing walked over. “Are you two done talking? If you are done, come to the study and talk with me.”
With that, he headed toward the study.
Shen Zhinian glanced at Xia Zhichu, turned, and followed Bo Chengjing. “Brother, stay away from her. She is a bit dangerous. Her thoughts about you are impure.”
Walking behind them, Xia Zhichu scoffed. “You are not dangerous, and your thoughts are pure. You circle around him all day long, you are the most dangerous one.”
“You are talking nonsense,” Shen Zhinian retorted.
“Oh. Am I talking nonsense?” Xia Zhichu took a couple of quick steps to catch up to Bo Chengjing, looking at him. “Am I talking nonsense?”
Bo Chengjing glanced at her. “Then do you want me to take you seriously?”
“Uh…” Xia Zhichu retraced everything she had just said. “There is no need to take it completely seriously.”
Bo Chengjing pushed open the study door and walked in.
Xia Zhichu and Shen Zhinian exchanged a glare at the doorway, both refusing to back down, and then entered the study together.
Each taking a sofa, Shen Zhinian spoke up. “Alright, spill it. Why did you come back?”
“Did you carefully read the Weibo post exposing the Shen Group?” Xia Zhichu asked.
Shen Zhinian thought for a moment. “Are you talking about the contract bearing Shen Tiancheng’s signature?”
“Mm,” Xia Zhichu nodded, pulling out her phone, swiping a few times, and placing it on the coffee table for Shen Zhinian to see. “An image of the original document.”
Shen Zhinian took a look.
He remembered the contract from the image leaked online, there had been a logo in the top left corner that was censored with a mosaic.
Anyone unfamiliar with the logo might not recognize it, but for those who had seen it, even with the pixelation, it was instantly recognizable at a glance.
“You think the leaked, censored contract is real?” Shen Zhinian asked.
“Yes,” Xia Zhichu said. “I ran a technical restoration on that image. While it was not a hundred percent recovery, after doing a rough comparison, I think…”
Xia Zhichu gave both of them a significant look.
Shen Zhinian caught her meaning. “You think the primary purpose of this leak is to warn us? Just like the letter you received containing only the laboratory’s logo?”
Xia Zhichu nodded.
That was why she had rushed back immediately upon seeing the news last night.
She felt that both Shen Zhinian and Bo Chengjing might be in danger.
“Why did you not suspect I was the one who leaked it?” Shen Zhinian asked.
Xia Zhichu froze, instinctively looking at Bo Chengjing.
Bo Chengjing looked at Shen Zhinian. “Now, let us talk about your business.”
A faint, ambiguous smile brushed the corners of Shen Zhinian’s lips. “What business of mine?”
“Do not want to talk about it?” Bo Chengjing watched him and asked.
Shen Zhinian’s expression stiffened. After a moment, he slumped into the sofa and said, “How is it that nothing can ever be kept from you?”
“Wait, do not tell me you actually leaked it,” Xia Zhichu said.
“It was not him,” Bo Chengjing said.
“Then what are you two talking about?” Xia Zhichu asked.
“The source of this matter,” Shen Zhinian said.
Xia Zhichu frowned.
The source… the things Shen Zhinian said at school, claiming Shen Tiancheng sold him.
Xia Zhichu suddenly pieced it together.
In truth, Shen Zhinian handled things with extreme methods, either going all out to resolve an issue at lightning speed, or dragging it out bit by bit, wearing you down mentally until both your mind and body bore crushing pressure through repeated torture.
The words he dropped at school in front of a crowd likely belonged to the latter approach.
After a brief silence, Xia Zhichu asked, “Did you trace the cause of your mother’s death?”
Bo Chengjing looked at Shen Zhinian.
Shen Zhinian nodded.
There were many reasons he returned to the Shen family, and longing for the place where his mother had lived was one of them, investigating her death was another.
He had never believed Shen Tiancheng’s public claim that his mother had committed suicide by taking sleeping pills.
His mother loved him too much, she had promised to take him to the science museum the next day and had told him many little stories before bed. The moment he woke up, his mother was supposedly dead by suicide.
It was an absolute impossibility.
And not long after his mother passed away, Shen Tiancheng sold him off.
He only learned after getting out of the laboratory that a year later, Zhao Yi had brought Shen Mingyi into the household.
The Shen family had a new mistress.
“So what now?” Bo Chengjing asked. “What is the plan?”
“Things have already reached this point,” Shen Zhinian said. “Since they are splashing dirty mud on me, the only option is to wrap this up quickly.”
Originally, he had wanted to slowly drain the life out of Shen Tiancheng piece by piece.
That was why he had publicly exposed Shen Tiancheng for selling him in front of so many people at school that day.
He enjoyed watching people trapped in a dead end struggling in their final moments.
Too bad he would not get to see it.
Someone had hijacked this incident to issue a warning while giving the whole affair a massive push.
Shen Zhinian raised an eyebrow slightly, remaining silent.
“Should I handle it?” Bo Chengjing asked.
Shen Zhinian looked at him and, after a moment, nodded.
With things having escalated to this stage, he had lost interest in playing games.
Seeing him agree, Bo Chengjing said, “We have not tracked down the source of the Weibo leak. Since we cannot find it, we will just wait for them to show their hand.”
Xia Zhichu nodded.
Seeing Weibo had filled her heart with deep anxiety.
Seeing Bo Chengjing’s calm attitude set her mind much more at ease.
“Do you need my help with Shen Tiancheng?” Xia Zhichu asked.
“No,” Bo Chengjing replied. “Go get some rest.”
“Alright,” Xia Zhichu stood up. “Then I am off to bed.”
With Xia Zhichu gone, Bo Chengjing turned his gaze back to Shen Zhinian.
Shen Zhinian was lounging in the sofa, turning his head to look back. The previous sharpness had faded away, leaving him looking soft and vulnerable once more, his eyes radiating a pure innocence.
If it were ten years ago, Bo Chengjing really would have walked over and pulled him into an embrace.
“When did you find out?” Bo Chengjing was referring to the cause of his mother’s death.
“Before the college entrance exams,” Shen Zhinian lowered his gaze slowly. “I dug up some clues, though I was not entirely certain. So I intentionally dropped hints in front of Shen Tiancheng, making him think I knew more than I did, and then… he made a phone call to verify it. I overheard the conversation, that call was made to the person who illegally procured the sleeping pills back then.”
“Shen Tiancheng had someone buy the drugs through illicit channels,” Shen Zhinian closed his eyes. “The idea came from that procurer, too. I have the evidence in my hands to confirm it. He killed someone, he killed his wife, he killed my mother.”