Rebirth: Different Way [(重生) 殊途]

Chapter 27

n the end, Shen Xi rejected Li Mingxuan's invitation. Faced with Shen Xi's refusal, Li Mingxuan had a vague feeling of relief in addition to disappointment.

His previous actions were not under his control; the moment the words were spoken, his reason already began to resist. He knew it was his body's instinctive warning that his behaviour went beyond expectations.

A few days ago he was shocked to realise that he was paying too much attention to Shen Xi, far more than a cousin would pay to a cousin, not to mention the fact that there was not much affection between him and Shen Xi. He didn't want to think about the reasons for this, and only warned himself to control his behaviour and refrain from paying attention to Shen Xi's affairs. He remembered this resolution but once again behaved out of control. Li Mingxuan had no desire to regret what he had said, he just wanted to pull himself together and get back on track.

When Shen Xi turned him down, Li Mingxuan felt he was back in a safe place. He had been a man of great self-control since he was a child, and he had a detailed plan for his life. There was only one thing in the past twenty years that had deviated from his plan, and that was his sexual orientation. He did not want a second thing in his life to deviate from the plan.

Li Mingxuan calmly drove away, the silhouette of Shen Xi in the rear-view mirror still lonely. Li Mingxuan averted his eyes a little to look ahead.

Left behind by Li Mingxuan, Shen Xi dialled Lao K's phone number, "Let's release the news tomorrow."

"So soon?" Lao K was puzzled.

Shen Xi raised an eyebrow, "That's thanks to Chu Qianqian."

The moment he hung up the phone, Shen Xi turned his head to look at the Shen family's house in the twilight. In the hazy night, the Shen's mansion stood there like a behemoth. After decades of ups and downs, the Shen family seemed to be indestructible. But Shen Xi knew that soon this behemoth would split apart from within. Then in the not too distant future, there would no longer be a Shen family in Zhongjing.

This thought made Shen Xi smile with satisfaction.

The next day, a piece of news quietly appeared in a second-rate tabloid in Zhongjing. The news was just an ordinary sample test report: "Yunrou shampoo found to contain the cancerogenic chemical dioxane".

This unimpressive newspaper, they published many such sensational stories every day, all of them as quiet as a water drop splashing into the sea. But what no one expected was that the story would soon become a hot topic on the internet, and overnight the newspaper, which normally didn't sell much, would be miraculously sold out of stock, while at the same time the news caused an uproar across the country.

"Carcinogens found in Yunrou shampoo!"

"Dioxane = cancer? Yunrou = cancer?"

"Shen Group's subsidiary caught in cancer-causing scandal!"

Countless controversies were stirred up on the internet, with major mainstream media following suit, and Shen Group was once again thrust into the limelight so soon after the inheritance storm.

This time Shen Group was no longer faced with the wild speculations of reporters in the entertainment section, and Shen Group could not just laugh it off as it had done in the past. Looking at the front page headline with huge bold letters "Dioxane", Shen Dehan knew that if this was not handled properly, it would not only ruin Yunrou's reputation, but also Shen Group's reputation of nearly a hundred years.

Shen Dehan sat in his study in deep thought, pondering about the countermeasures for this matter.

Because he had just been discharged from the hospital, Shen Dehan did not rush to go to Shen Group's office, but chose to recuperate at home for a period of time. It was Shen Ji who was currently sitting in Shen Group's office. Six months ago, Shen Dehan was deeply concerned about getting older and had gradually started to delegate his power to Shen Ji. Although the board of directors had some questions about Shen Ji's age, they were all silenced by Shen Dehan's firm attitude. In Shen Dehan's opinion, sooner or later, Shen Group's business would have to be handed over to Shen Ji. Now it was just a few years earlier; while he was still in good health, he could watch and guide Shen Ji if there were any problems.