Chapter 25

Chapter 25

What do you mean, "caught"?

Shen Yan was taken aback. After all, he had just seen Bai Qian at the bar recently—how could he have been arrested so suddenly?

Noticing Shen Yan's dazed look, Hu Chengyu leaned in and whispered, "What's going on?"

They were standing close enough that Hu Chengyu could only faintly make out the word "caught."

On the other end, Shen Lin was equally confused. Why was there a guy’s voice on his brother’s phone?

"Bro, is someone with you?"

Shen Yan: "Yeah, what's happening?"

Shen Lin’s tone turned serious. "Bro, where are you right now?"

He had met Shen Yan’s roommate, Gu Jia, before. Gu Jia’s voice was more youthful, but the person with Shen Yan sounded much deeper.

Shen Yan glanced at Hu Chengyu and mumbled, "It’s Mr. Hu."

Hu Chengyu was used to Shen Yan calling him "Mr. Hu" by now.

Before Shen Lin could ask more, Shen Yan quickly followed up, "What exactly happened?"

Shen Lin’s mind wandered for a moment. Ever since his brother said he no longer liked Hu Chengyu, it seemed like they were running into each other more often.

Shen Yan urged from the other end of the line, snapping Shen Lin back to reality.

"It’s a long story. I’ve got a friend…"

Shen Lin was a good guy and loyal to his friends, so naturally, he had a lot of them.

His friends were well aware of what Bai Qian had done to Shen Yan in the past.

Naturally, Shen Lin didn’t like Bai Qian, and neither did his friends.

It just so happened that today was a friend’s brother’s birthday, and they spotted Bai Qian and a group of people in another private room.

His friend mentioned it to him casually during their conversation.

Shen Lin wasn’t dumb. He knew the Bai family was probably behind what happened to Shen Shubai, so of course, he wanted to teach Bai Qian a lesson.

He asked for the address, but then something unexpected happened.

As soon as Shen Lin arrived, he saw Bai Qian and his group being hauled away by the cops.

Shen Lin anxiously asked his friend, "What’s going on?"

His friend whispered, "Apparently, the cops got a tip that there was a drug party going on here."

Shen Lin: *What?*

"...So that’s what happened. Bai Qian is really reckless, getting involved with that kind of stuff."

Hearing this, Shen Yan sounded worried. "Are you okay?"

Shen Lin was taken aback. "Why would anything happen to me? I’m not a kid anymore, you don’t need to worry."

Shen Yan was somewhat frightened. If it weren't for Bai Qian's situation happening so suddenly, would Shen Lin have ended up fighting with that group of people?

After confirming Shen Lin was fine, Shen Yan snapped into the phone, "Shen Lin! What were you thinking? Didn't I tell you to stay out of this?"

"I told you to stay out of this. Did you not listen? What if something had happened to you? I... I..."

He wasn't sure if he could handle it.

His heart clenched, and his breathing grew heavy. Images of Shen Lin sitting in a wheelchair, looking utterly defeated from the past life, flashed before his eyes.

Back then, Shen Lin would just sit there, staring off into space, his face void of any emotion or life.

Every day, he feared waking up to find that Shen Lin had given up and taken his own life.

Listening to Shen Yan's tearful voice on the phone, Shen Lin was momentarily stunned, looking lost and unsure. "Hey, don't cry. I promise, I won't get involved anymore.

"I'll head back to school, no, better yet, I'll go home. Okay?"

Shen Yan blinked rapidly, trying to hold back his tears, his voice soft, "Just get home quickly."

Shen Yan didn't stay at the hotel. After changing, Hu Chengyu drove him back to school.

On the way, Shen Yan couldn't stop thinking about Bai Qian's situation—reported?

He remembered the info he had sent to Shu Qianfei and had a gut feeling this was connected to her. But he had nothing to back it up.

Either way, Bai Qian got what he deserved.

Shen Yan figured this was the end of it. The only downside was that he hadn't uncovered the other mastermind.

He had messaged 'Cun', who had also looked into it.

This person was extremely cautious, only meeting Bai Qian at the bar and always having others do the talking.

The more mysterious this person was, the more Shen Yan suspected it could be someone the Shen family knew.

Who could it possibly be?

As Shen Yan was lost in thought, Gu Jia suddenly approached with his phone, "Yan Yan, isn't this the Bai Qian who framed you?"

"I can't believe it. Is this even human? This guy's a monster!"

"Check the news—it's trending on Weibo. People are digging up all sorts of stuff about him, including the bullying he did in middle school."

Anyone who saw this video would probably lose it, watching Bai Qian and his gang hurl insults and beat someone up.

Not just bullying, but people found other stuff too—fights, drunk driving, and more. It's like he had a collection of bad deeds.

The most infuriating case left the victim half-paralyzed for life, completely destroyed by this group.

Shen Yan knew the netizens were relentless, and the sheer amount of dirt dug up from last night to now was clearly aimed at destroying any chance of redemption for Bai Qian.

The Bai family was influential in Jing City, and if they really wanted to pull strings for Bai Qian, it wouldn't be impossible.

Sometimes, the truth can be harsh, even if you don’t want to admit it.

No matter how much drama unfolded online, Shen Yan stuck to his routine—attending classes on time and focusing on his competition design.

He had already sketched out the basic design, but choosing the right gemstones was proving to be a challenge.

None of the options he saw seemed to meet his standards.

Shen Yan decided to visit G.E., where he could learn from experienced designers and get some valuable insights.

By Friday, Shen Yan had made up his mind to go home for the weekend and visit the company with Mom on Saturday.

*

Since the start of the new semester, both Shen Yan and Shen Lin had been living on campus, and it felt like ages since the four of them had shared a meal together.

At the dinner table, the atmosphere was unusually tense, and the silence was palpable.

Mom’s expression was unreadable, betraying no emotion.

Shen Lin was probably starving, so he focused on eating without lifting his head.

The only one who seemed different was Dad. Since the incident, he had become quieter, and white hair had begun to show at his temples.

Shen Yan felt a weight in his chest—not from sadness or pity, but from the realization that, beyond blood, there was little emotional connection between them as father and son.

Shen Yan looked away from Dad and turned to Mom. "Can I go to the company with you tomorrow?"

Given how doting Mom was on Shen Yan, she’d probably hand over the general manager’s position if he asked, let alone just letting him visit the company.

After the brief exchange, the silence returned to the table.

Shen Lin suddenly paused mid-bite and muttered, "This feels off."

"What do you mean?" Shen Yan asked.

Shen Lin glanced at Dad, then leaned over to whisper to Shen Yan, "Dad didn’t say any of his usual weird stuff today."

Shen Yan instinctively glanced at Dad.

Even though Shen Lin kept his voice low, it was hard to miss in the quiet of the room.

Sure enough, Dad’s face paled slightly.

Mom remained calm, as if she wasn’t even part of the conversation. After a moment, she calmly added, "You’ll go with your brother tomorrow."

"Sure."

Shen Lin agreed without hesitation, which caught Mom off guard.

She had braced herself for Shen Lin to protest, maybe saying something like, "Why should Shen Yan get to go, and I have to tag along? I’m his brother, not his sidekick," or something like that.

She had even prepared a response, but Shen Lin simply agreed without a fight.

Mom felt a twinge of frustration—old habits die hard.

The next day, the two brothers rode to the company together in Mom’s car. From the back seat, Shen Lin whispered, "Hey, I found a few movies yesterday with great reviews. We should watch them later.

"Otherwise, hanging around the office all day would be boring."

Mom glanced at him in the rearview mirror. "Once you get to the office, follow Suri and learn from her."

Shen Lin was somewhat annoyed by Shu Qianfei's commanding tone. After waiting for a moment and seeing that she had nothing more to say, he asked, "What about my brother?"

"Yan Yan? He’s reading in my office." Shu Qianfei arranged Shen Yan's 'schedule' for the day with perfect ease.

Shen Lin was momentarily stunned, then he protested, "Mom, that’s not fair! Why do I have to work with Suri while my brother gets to lie around comfortably?"

Before Shu Qianfei could bring up Shen Yan’s health, Shen Lin drew out his words, "Oh~, I get it, Mom. You just want me to learn everything so you can give the company to my brother and make me work for him."

"Mom, you’re really biased."

Shu Qianfei was at a loss for words. What Shen Lin said wasn’t entirely true, but it was mostly accurate.

They were all her children, and of course, she wouldn’t let any of them suffer.

Since the last conversation with Shen Yan, she had realized the problem, but her long-standing favoritism towards him was hard to change.

Faced with her younger son’s accusation, Shu Qianfei didn’t know what to say.

If it were the old Shen Lin, he would probably have already started a fuss by now.

But since his relationship with Shen Yan had improved, he seemed like a different person.

Shen Lin leaned close to Shen Yan’s ear and openly plotted, "Brother, how about this: I’ll infiltrate the company first, then transfer the assets, and we’ll run away with the money together."

"What if one day, Dad and Mom argue and divorce, and she only wants you and not me, what will I do?"

"You’re my brother, you have to take care of me."

He demanded it with righteous indignation.

Shu Qianfei had weathered the storms of the business world; even with her son plotting right in front of her, she could still drive steadily.

Her grip on the steering wheel tightened so much that the veins in her hand stood out prominently.

"Shen! Lin!"

Shen Yan reached out and pushed Shen Lin away from her, placing her hand on his forehead: "If you keep talking nonsense, you'll lose your inheritance rights right now."

Shen Lin snorted but became much quieter after that.

Despite his grumbling, he still obediently followed Suri when they arrived at the company.

Shu Qianfei was very busy and had no time to deal with them. She only dropped them off at the company before heading to meet a business partner.

Shen Yan was truly sitting in Shu Qianfei's office, with a high stack of documents on the desk.

Immersed in his own world, time passed quickly.

As noon approached, Shen Lin dragged his weary body into Shu Qianfei's office to find Shen Yan.

After closing the door, he lost the straight-backed, elite demeanor he maintained outside and slumped onto the sofa like a boneless rag doll: "Bro, I'm so thirsty, can you get me a glass of water?"

Shen Yan found the sight somewhat amusing and poured him a glass of water: "That tired?"

"You don't know, Suri treated me like I wasn't human. I didn't sit down all morning." He suddenly sat up, looking mysterious: "But I heard something, not sure if it's true or not."

Shen Yan's eyes remained on the book, but he asked cooperatively: "What did you hear?"

"It's about Bai Qian. It seems Mom was the one who made the move. And," Shen Lin glanced around the office and then whispered, "Mom seems to be in some trouble now, the Bai family is deliberately retaliating against her."