CFRFGC Chapter 118

⌈In the short term, no one should want to set foot on the Shen family’s territory.⌋

It exploded?

What exploded?

Mr. Yang gestured wildly, his speech incoherent.

Shen Hongyuan and Shen Xingyu both instinctively froze in confusion.

Shen Hongyuan even reflexively glanced at his phone, thinking Mr. Yang might have seen some groundbreaking business news while idly browsing his phone in the restroom.

It wasn’t until Mr. Yang’s face showed a mixture of awkwardness and anger that he added another sentence: “The toilet exploded!”

Only then did Shen Hongyuan and Shen Xingyu realize what had happened. Frowning, they rushed into the restroom in a panic.

Shen Hongyuan muttered to himself as he went: “That’s impossible. I double-checked everything myself.”

But his words abruptly stopped when he saw the scene in the stall.

Inside the stall, where everything had previously seemed calm and normal, the toilet bowl erupted with a cascade of strange beads.

These beads were crystal-clear, multicolored, and looked rather dreamy at first glance.

But that illusion only held… if you ignored the odd bits of other things mixed in with them.

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the beads seemed almost alive, gurgling and surging out of the toilet bowl.

Apparently, the beads being lighter had pushed everything else—what was originally flushed—back up.

The rush of beads overflowed the bowl, spilling all over the floor.

“You… your toilet!”

Mr. Yang’s face turned from pale to red, then to a livid green.

When he had dashed out just moments earlier, there had been a faint trace of embarrassment on his face.

After all, it was already bad enough to use someone else’s bathroom and have the toilet explode. What kind of mess was this?

But now!

Seeing the scene for himself, it was obviously the toilet’s fault!

Mr. Yang’s anger flared instantly.

He shot a cold glance at Shen Hongyuan and sneered: “Shen, you’re truly something else. If you’re dissatisfied with my terms, just say so outright. There’s no need to pretend to agree on the surface while secretly playing such disgusting tricks to humiliate me.”

Hearing this, Shen Hongyuan panicked.

He hurriedly explained: “Mr. Yang! This is just an accident! It must have been some prank by one of the children at the banquet. Look, this stall is fine…”

As he spoke, he quickly opened the door to another stall.

To prove his point, he even reached out and pressed the flush button.

Water gushed eagerly from the tank into the bowl.

At first glance, everything seemed perfectly normal.

But soon, due to the high water pressure, the quietly festering water beads lurking below surged upward in an instant.

With a loud “whoosh”, they pushed the waste above them, splashing it high into the air.

The crystal-clear water beads, mixed with strange and unmentionable substances, danced mid-air.

A few even landed directly on Shen Hongyuan’s head.

For a moment, the entire restroom fell deathly silent.

Not long after, the unfortunate Mr. Yang stormed off, his sleeves flicking in anger.

The other presidents, who had witnessed the entire fiasco, were equally shaken to their core.

In the short term, it was unlikely anyone would dare step foot on the Shen family’s property again.

The Shen family’s villa, which had been bustling with excitement all night, finally grew quiet.

After some time, Shen Hongyuan’s furious roar echoed from the restroom.

“Lu Ran!”

The explosion of the Shen family’s restroom created significant obstacles for Shen Hongyuan’s investment plans.

However, the HZ project was highly profitable. For the time being, the Shen family remained the darling of Beijing’s elite.

Even Shen Xingzhuo’s struggling studio managed to secure a few investments during this critical juncture, reviving its operations.

It was the first time Shen Xingzhuo had made progress in his career, prompting him to return to the Shen family for a visit.

Unfortunately, his timing was poor—Shen Cheng had also come by the Shen household that day.

Shen Xingyu and Shen Hongyuan were in the middle of a heated argument about the matter.

When Shen Xingzhuo stepped into the house, he overheard Shen Xingyu’s sharp retort: “This time, I won’t agree to any financial allocation.”

This was immediately followed by the crisp sound of a cup shattering.

It seemed Shen Hongyuan had thrown the cup in a fit of rage.

Shen Xingzhuo hesitated for a moment but ultimately continued inside.

Having moved out as a teenager, he had little impression of Shen Cheng, his paternal uncle.

He vaguely remembered that when he was younger, this uncle used to visit frequently.

Before Shen Hongyuan assumed his current position, Shen Cheng, hearing that their grandfather was dissatisfied with Shen Hongyuan, had gone out of his way to fawn over their grandfather, playing the dutiful relative.

It was obvious he was hoping to profit from the situation.

After Shen Hongyuan rose to power, Shen Xingzhuo assumed his father wouldn’t take kindly to this uncle.

Surprisingly, despite his flaws in other areas, Shen Hongyuan seemed to maintain a genuine brotherly bond with Shen Cheng.

Over the years, Shen Hongyuan resolved numerous problems for him.

The last time Shen Cheng got someone pregnant outside, it was Shen Hongyuan who stepped in with money to smooth things over.

That incident had even caused Madam Shen to grow suspicious and paranoid.

Shen Xingzhuo walked into the living room just in time to hear Shen Hongyuan clutching his chest and saying to Shen Xingyu: “He’s my brother! Don’t you understand that as an elder brother?”

For some reason, those words struck a nerve with Shen Xingyu.

He froze on the spot, his expression blank.

He seemed unsure of what to say. Pressing his lips together, he stood there silently for a long moment before finally lifting his head to look at Shen Hongyuan again.

At that exact moment, Shen Xingzhuo caught Shen Xingyu’s gaze.

He vaguely felt that, in that brief moment, Shen Xingyu’s gaze toward Shen Hongyuan carried a trace of envy.

Shen Xingzhuo even thought Shen Xingyu might give in.

But Shen Xingyu took a light breath, opened his mouth as if to speak, and ultimately said nothing.

He simply bent down, picked up the suit jacket that had fallen on the floor, draped it over his arm, and turned to leave the living room.

As he did, he came face-to-face with Shen Xingzhuo.

The two brothers had never gotten along well.

Shen Xingzhuo hadn’t even attended Shen Xingyu’s birthday or sent him a gift.

They stared at each other, the atmosphere tense for a few seconds.

In the end, Shen Xingyu broke the silence, habitually reminding him: “Be cautious with the recent investments in your studio.”

Shen Xingzhuo had always hated hearing him speak in that tone.

It was as if, in the entire Shen family, only Shen Xingyu was competent and everyone else was just causing trouble.

Shen Xingzhuo smirked sarcastically and replied, “That has nothing to do with you. Worry about your own business.”

Shen Xingyu said no more, his face dark as he walked out.

Watching him leave, Shen Hongyuan let out a deep breath as he sat on the sofa.

His expression wasn’t one of anger, but rather concern.

Seeing Shen Xingzhuo, he instinctively snapped, “So you finally remembered to come home? Is your studio out of money again? What future could you possibly have!”

Shen Xingzhuo’s temper flared instantly.

“If you’re angry, go take it out on Shen Xingyu or Shen Cheng! Don’t vent it on me!”

With that, he stormed upstairs to his room on the second floor.

Upstairs, Madam Shen was still in her walk-in closet, video-chatting with her friends.

She was showing off a new limited-edition piece of jewelry she’d recently received.

Hearing the commotion downstairs, she instinctively went over to close her door before resuming her conversation with her friends.

Shen Xingran stood quietly at the corner of the third-floor hallway, gazing down at the scene below.

After a while, he descended to the second floor and knocked on Shen Xingzhuo’s door.

Inside, Shen Xingzhuo had lost all the enthusiasm he’d had upon returning home.

He lay on the bed, unsure of what to do with himself.

As he lay there, his mind replayed Shen Hongyuan’s earlier words: “He’s my brother!”

Shen Xingzhuo sat up, bent down, and pulled a cardboard box out from under his bed.

This box was the gift he had prepared on the day Lu Ran formally returned to the Shen family.

But that day, he hadn’t been able to see Lu Ran.

Later, when Lu Ran moved to the Ji family, the opportunity to give him the gift faded even further.

In truth… if Shen Xingzhuo had wanted to, there were always opportunities.

But he kept hoping that Lu Ran would take the initiative to come closer, call him “brother”, and then he could hand over the gift.

Knock, knock.

The door was knocked again.

“Come in,” Shen Xingzhuo called out.

The door opened, and Shen Xingran poked his head in, calling out softly: “Brother.”

For a brief moment, Shen Xingzhuo felt a flicker of joy, as if being addressed as “brother” gave him a sense of belonging and value in this family.

But given the recent tension between him and Shen Xingran, the situation felt slightly awkward.

“If you’re coming in, just come in. Why bother knocking?” Shen Xingzhuo said.

Shen Xingran smiled as he stepped inside, offering a bit of comfort: “Brother, I saw Dad lose his temper just now. Are you okay?”

As he spoke, his eyes fell on the cardboard box in Shen Xingzhuo’s hands, recognizing it as something Shen Xingzhuo had brought home that day.

Shen Xingran feigned curiosity as he leaned closer, saying, “Wow, bro, what’s in here?”

The box contained a collection of old items.

Shen Xingran noticed a colorful, partially deflated rubber ball and instinctively reached out to grab it.

However, his hand was intercepted by Shen Xingzhuo.

For a moment, the atmosphere froze again.

Shen Xingzhuo paused, then decided to close the box, saying, “Just some toys from when I was a kid.”

After speaking, he shoved the box back under the bed.

Shen Xingran slowly withdrew his hand.

But soon, a hint of amusement flickered in his eyes, and he returned to their earlier conversation: “Bro, don’t let it bother you too much. Dad’s been in a bad mood these days because Big Bro keeps suggesting that Lu Ran join the Shen Corporation.”

Shen Xingzhuo was startled and asked, “Shen Xingyu suggested that?”

“Mm…” Shen Xingran nodded, replying casually, “Big bro really wants Lu Ran to come back.”

Shen Xingzhuo fell silent for a moment.

“Oh.” He responded, “That’s good. He should come back.”

Shen Xingran smiled but said no more.

—

Ever since Ji Min was discharged from the hospital, Fang Chen had been in a sour mood.

Lu Ran was already insanely busy most of the time.

When Ji Min wasn’t around, Fang Chen had trouble getting Lu Ran to hang out. Now that Ji Min was back, the time Lu Ran spent with him had dwindled to almost nothing.

Although Fang Chen had plenty of friends, most were drawn to him because of his family’s status.

It was rare for him to find someone as fun as Lu Ran. He wasn’t keen on letting that go.

So, one weekend, Fang Chen went to Ji Min’s house again.

The moment he arrived, he scooped up Da Huang and grumbled, “At this rate, Da Huang’s not going to recognize me anymore.”

He had barely finished speaking when Ji Min walked out of his study.

The man didn’t appear to have much to do, holding a cup as he went to refill it with water.

Passing by the sofa, Ji Min casually greeted him: “Fang Chen’s here. Have fun.”

Fang Chen laughed awkwardly, “Ahaha, hello, Mr. Ji.”

Ji Min nodded in acknowledgment.

Once Ji Min was gone, Fang Chen exhaled deeply and resumed his complaints, “You haven’t asked me to hang out at all recently.”

Lu Ran felt a pang of guilt but still replied, “Ahem, but I’m always there when we play games.”

Fang Chen rolled his eyes and leaned closer, saying, “Do you remember the guy you helped me prank last time? Guess what—he’s had terrible luck lately!”

The two continued chatting while pouring themselves glasses of juice.

Lu Ran had just picked up his glass when Ji Min reappeared from the study.

Noticing the juice in Lu Ran’s hand, Ji Min frowned slightly.

He walked over, pressed his fingers against the boy’s cup, and said helplessly, “Who was the one complaining about an upset stomach last night? And now you’re drinking something cold?”

As he spoke, Ji Min took the juice from Lu Ran and replaced it with a glass of warm water.

After calmly handling the matter, Ji Min looked politely at Fang Chen and explained, “I hope you’ll understand. Lu Ran isn’t very mindful about what he eats or drinks, so I have to watch out for him.”

Fang Chen: “…”

After Ji Min left, Fang Chen picked up his phone, turned off the screen, and stared at his reflection for a long while.

“What are you doing?” Lu Ran asked.

Fang Chen, with a deadpan expression, replied, “Checking to see if I’m glowing.”

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