Rebirth: Different Way [(重生) 殊途]

Chapter 42

This evening, Li Mingxuan appeared in front of Shen Xi in a wretched state that had never been seen before.

The moment he opened the door, Shen Xi was stunned, "Cousin, what happened?"

Li Mingxuan smiled reassuringly at Shen Xi and took off his jacket, "It's okay. I told Shen Ji that we are together."

Shen Xi watched Li Mingxuan for a while, and then sneered, "Let me guess, Big Brother must have thought that I seduced you with the intention of competing with him for Shen Group, right?"

The self-deprecation in Shen Xi's words made Li Mingxuan's heart ache. He turned to Shen Xi, his eyes serious, "It was me who seduced you."

Shen Xi couldn't help but snicker; he walked past Li Mingxuan to sit on the sofa, looked up at Li Mingxuan and said as if inadvertently, "If I really plan to compete with Big Brother for Shen Group, Cousin, who will you help?"

Shen Xi's expression was careless, as if he was just asking casually.

Li Mingxuan looked at Shen Xi; a flash of pain surfaced in his eyes, and then his expression gradually became firm. He quickly sat down next to Shen Xi with a frank and serious expression, "I'm sorry, Xiao Xi, I don't know."

Li Mingxuan carefully reached out and gathered Shen Xi into his arms, his low voice ringing in Shen Xi's ears, "Xiao Xi, I don't want to lie to you. If I said I would help you, it would be a lie. If it was before, I would have chosen Shen Ji, but now I really don't know. You are the one I love and Shen Ji is my brother, I can't bear to hurt you and there is no way to hurt Shen Ji. I just hope I will never have to face this choice one day."

Shen Xi did not say anything and Li Mingxuan smiled bitterly, "Now you must think I'm just a greedy bastard, right?"

Shen Xi did not repeat his question but broke away from Li Mingxuan's embrace, "Why does everyone assume that I will definitely compete with Big Brother for Shen Group? Starting from Grandfather, to Father and now to Big Brother?"

Shen Xi's expression was puzzled, as if he had encountered some difficult riddle.

There is a presumption in jurisprudence that can be called a guideline, namely the presumption of innocence, which simply means that anyone should be considered innocent until proven and judged guilty. For two lifetimes, Shen Xi wondered why he had never shown the slightest thought about Shen Group but it seemed that everyone had decided that he would definitely compete with Shen Ji for Shen Group in the future.

Even before he was born, Shen Dehan began to worry that his birth would affect Shen Ji's position as heir and was determined to deny him the right to come into the world. After his birth, when he was still in his infancy and unaware, everyone seemed to assume that he would grow up to compete with Shen Ji just as his father feared. What was even more ridiculous was that for the sake of the future that was still unknown, Shen Dehan came up with a way to cut him off at the very beginning, and he was deliberately raised to be a waste who knew nothing.

If Shen Cheng and Li Mingfei had somewhat relaxed requirements because of the customary system of eldest son succession in Zhongjing and were even deliberately guided to develop in other directions, then why were they not willing to give him a chance to do so?

Why did all his options have to be cut off since he was a child?

Shen Xi just looked at Li Mingxuan quietly, his face full of undisguised mockery.

Li Mingxuan's heart clenched tightly, as if someone was gripping it vigorously and it hurt terribly. He wanted to explain to Shen Xi, but he didn't know what to say.

Being in a family like theirs, and having seen so many cases of siblings turning against each other over property, good families falling apart in the blink of an eye, he had to admit that Shen Dehan's worries were not unreasonable. Fang Yun was from an ordinary family and Han Ruo was from a powerful one; it was only natural that Shen Dehan, who favoured Shen Ji, would have such worries.