After realizing where he had heard this voice before, Li Xuan quickly washed his face with clean water. He didn't even bother to wipe it off and walked out with water all over his face.
Wang Shuying was rushing in, followed by a young man who looked gloomy, was short, and didn't speak. Only Wang Shuying's voice was particularly loud: "Why isn't he home? Who are you? Where did he go if he wasn't home?"
As she spoke, she saw Li Xuan standing at the bathroom door. She exclaimed, "Isn't he here? Xiao Min, who is this person? He's lying with his eyes open! He insists that you're not here."
Sheng Min understood his mother, and actually knew that he couldn't stop her. But if he didn't stop her, it meant that Li Xuan would be involved again.
He knew that Li Xuan would not blame him, nor would he look down on him for this, but at the moment when Li Xuan and Wang Shuying were face to face, the tide of apology and vague embarrassment once again overwhelmed him, making it impossible for him to make any extra expression.
Li Xuan leaned against the door, looking at the woman walking towards him. She had a jade necklace around her neck, the color of which was very good, and a thumb-wide gold bracelet on her right hand, which was a little tight, which was a perfect example of wearing gold and silver. She was a little thinner than she looked in the video, but still had a short and plump figure. As for her facial features... Li Xuan's gaze lingered for a few seconds, and he really couldn't find any similarities between her and Sheng Min.
"Xiao Min." Wang Shuying quickly walked up to him and asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
The young man following her had already sat down on the sofa. Li Xuan guessed that he was probably Sheng Min's brother who was said to have fought in the bar. He sat with his legs crossed and played with his phone without saying a word. He looked a bit like Wang Shuying, but he was so different from Sheng Min that it was hard to describe.
If he hadn't known about it, Li Xuan wouldn't have been able to tell Sheng Min's relationship with them just from their appearance. He quickly recalled the man in the video, but it was always difficult to tell the original appearance of a sick and haggard person, so it was difficult to tell whether Sheng Min looked like his father.
"What are you doing here?" Li Xuan spoke only after Wang Shuying called him the second time.
"What are you talking about? Mom couldn't get through to you on the phone, and I was worried about you, so I brought your brother to see you." She pointed at Sheng Min, "Who is this? Is he a new employee of your company? He just said he wasn't at home with you. Oh, come on."
Li Xuan didn't have any good feelings towards her. He turned his eyes away and quickly glanced at Sheng Min, whose shoulders slumped slightly and she pursed her lips unconsciously.
"My friend." He then walked over and casually put Sheng Min behind him, separating them.
"Agree to whatever she says and whatever she wants. This way you will leave quickly. I will handle whatever you agree to," Sheng Min lowered her voice and whispered.
Li Xuan didn't say anything, nor did he hint of any response. She couldn't help but frown when she heard the indescribable dryness in his tone, and quickly touched Sheng Min's wrist using her body as a cover. It was cold.
"No friend should be like this." Wang Shuying didn't notice their little action and said unhappily. Li Xuan took back his hand and looked at her expression. He probably didn't know Sheng Min's sexual orientation, so he saved himself from unnecessary trouble.
"He doesn't know you, and you didn't say who you are. Of course he said I was gone." There was no cause and effect relationship between these words, but Li Xuan spoke frankly, "My phone is out of battery, nothing else, I have something else to do later, you guys go back first."
Perhaps because she had never been driven away so abruptly before, Wang Shuying looked at him strangely, but then she smiled again, pretending to be angry: "Are you so busy that you don't even have time when mom and your brother come to see you? ... ... Your brother always says he misses you... Shenghui." She said as she pulled her youngest son, "Didn't you say you wanted to see your brother? You didn't even say hello when you came... Hurry up, kid, you're so stupid..."
"Don't touch my phone! What are you doing? Are you annoying me?"
Sheng Hui was playing the game enthusiastically and refused to cooperate at all. He pushed away Wang Shuying's arm that was pushing him, looked at Li Xuan impatiently, muttered something reluctantly, and immediately turned away. This time he even took out his headphones and put them on.
Compared to Sheng Hui, Li Xuan's attitude just now could be described as kind. However, Wang Shuying didn't mind at all, and just pretended to say a few more words, which were nothing more than shyness, saying that the two brothers hadn't seen each other for a long time. Li Xuan was annoyed when he heard it: "No need to say hello, if you want to see me, I've already seen it."
He looked indifferent. Wang Shuying was stunned for a moment, then she rolled her eyes and pulled out a chair to sit down. She looked very concerned: "What's wrong? Mom saw that you were a little unhappy today."
It would have been better if he hadn't said this. Li Xuan had already guessed that she would come at this time. Once he opened his mouth, he was basically sure. He smiled and said, "I am indeed unhappy, but can you see that?"
This statement left no face at all, and Wang Shuying's face turned a little unhappy: "What do you mean."
"It's meaningless." Li Xuan said indifferently, "Don't beat around the bush, just say it directly."
"What are you talking about? Your mother came to see you, what's your attitude?"
Wang Shuying frowned, feeling that Sheng Min's attitude today was different from usual, and she immediately raised her voice, "Oh, you're a star now, and you don't like me and think I'm embarrassing you?!"
She changes her face faster than turning the pages of a book. Sheng Min pressed his forehead and thought it would start again. After coaxing her, she started to make trouble again. It was always the same routine.
He sighed softly in his heart and wanted to pull Li Xuan's sleeve to signal him not to argue with Wang Shuying. Li Xuan seemed to have eyes on his back and dodged his hand lightly, raised his eyebrows and said to Wang Shuying: "What do you mean? I haven't thought about it that way."
He was going to play dumb to the end. Wang Shuying had originally planned a bunch of excuses, but now she had no time to talk about them, so she could only bring it up herself: "The program crew kindly asked me to record a birthday video for you, but you insisted on forcing me to delete it? Is your mother so shameful? Even the emperor has poor relatives, and you dislike this and that as soon as you became famous?!... "
Li Xuan didn't feel proud when his guess was confirmed. He thought Zhang Zhihua was fast and had already talked to the production team. But how could the production team watch a cooked duck fly away? Zhang Zhihua was probably scared by him and didn't dare to let go. So he had to find Wang Shuying, the one who tied the bell.
Sheng Min didn't know about his request to delete the video, and couldn't help but look at Li Xuan. It was hard to tell whether he agreed or not, only surprise flashed across his eyes and quickly disappeared. The latter happened to glance at him at this time, and when their eyes met, Li Xuan motioned for him to go into the bedroom first. Sheng Min shook his head slightly.
"Then you didn't see it yourself."
Li Xuan stopped trying to persuade her to leave, pulled out a chair and sat down, interrupting Wang Shuying's chattering: "It was the production team who told you I was unhappy. You didn't come here tonight just to see me."
His tone was calm, but the sarcasm was hard to hide. Wang Shuying glared at him and yelled, "Sheng Min, how can you talk like that? Huh?! You despise your father and mother, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't be here today? If you don't allow me to show up, you might as well not acknowledge me as your mother, don't care about the life and death of your brother and me, I'll just die with your father..."
Li Xuan couldn't help but sneer, thinking that would be the best, but he didn't say it after hearing Sheng Min's patient breathing next to him: "Why should I ask them to delete it? You know it very well. I'm really curious about how much money the production team gave you. Why are you selling out your son like this? If you use the same energy as you did to me to deal with them, you don't have to return the money you received. And there's no need for you to make trouble in the middle of the night."
"Money, money, money! You think you're so great now, but you only know how to tell me this!" Wang Shuying's face turned pale, and she stood up and pointed at him, "Is that how much you miss your mother?! I raised you for nothing!"
She slammed the table in excitement, and her finger almost poked Li Xuan's face. Sheng Min quickly stopped her: "Aunt, calm down, he didn't mean it like that." She winked at Li Xuan desperately.
Li Xuan's expression was very calm: "Oh, it's not about that. If you promise not to ask me for money from now on, even if I misunderstood you, I will bow to you and apologize immediately."
"Li Xuan." Sheng Min lowered her voice again and called him, "Don't argue with her."
There was a strong sense of pleading in his tone, and Li Xuan seemed to have returned to the time when he was in the studio earlier.
It's hard to say which is worse, the fans' whispers or Wang Shuying's loud insults. He was just an outsider who was unintentionally involved, but he already found it unbearable. He didn't understand how Sheng Min could live like this day after day.
Li Xuan's sudden silence gave Wang Shuying the opportunity to press on. Her voice became more and more sharp: "You keep talking about money. I'm doing this for you... Your brother asked you to contribute some money to buy a car and a house, but you refused. I don't think badly of you, but can't I find a way to do it myself?... Now you think I'm embarrassing..."
Outrageous. Li Xuan was so angry that he wanted to laugh. This was the only thought in his mind.
He didn't know how she could say such a thing without changing her expression. Li Xuan didn't know the whole story, but he also knew that according to Sheng Min's character, he would never give in to the so-called procrastination. Wang Shuying's thoughts were obvious. He thought Wang Shuying had come to settle accounts with him in such a big way, but before she had settled the accounts, she had already tried to reach into Sheng Min's pocket again.
He looked at Wang Shuying coldly, thinking that Sheng Min was not his son at all, and that even an ATM could not be used like this.
Wang Shuying kept making noises, like sparks falling on a haystack, and her anger, which had not been suppressed at all, spread rapidly. Li Xuan knew rationally that there were other ways to deal with the situation, but he still couldn't help but kick the leg of the dining table. The table suddenly tilted over and made a harsh sound as it rubbed against the ground.
Sheng Min has always been submissive, so today's argument was unexpected. Wang Shuying never expected that he would suddenly lose his temper, and her eyes widened.
"You're not good enough at the market, so you're here to curse, right?!" Li Xuan sneered. He didn't want to care about hiding his identity anymore, and he wanted to kick him out the next second. However, before he could say the next sentence, Sheng Min raised his voice and interrupted him.
"Okay!" Sheng Min said, but his expression was clearly not good. Li Xuan frowned and looked at him. Sheng Min lowered his eyes guiltily and moved his lips slightly. Li Xuan saw his mouth shape: "Please."
Why ask him? Li Xuan thought it was ridiculous. But Sheng Min could only ask him for help. He was the only person in the room who would not ask for anything from him or hurt him.
No one spoke anymore. Even Wang Shuying was silent for a rare time because of the sudden change. In this strange silence, the doorbell rang again abruptly.
This time it was a takeaway. The moment he opened the door, Li Xuan suddenly wanted to leave. The takeaway man was a young man. When he saw Li Xuan, he exclaimed, looking very surprised: "Oh, you are not that, that..."
"No." Li Xuan took the takeaway and closed the door again.
Sheng Min was still trying to persuade Wang Shuying at the table, patiently explaining that he was in a bad mood today, but they all knew what was really useful. So when he started to say how much money was needed and that he would persuade "Sheng Min" to transfer it to her later, Li Xuan felt that he should leave after all.
He didn't want to go there again, so he walked to the living room, threw the takeaway bag on the coffee table, and prepared to go back to the study. Sheng Hui, who had been playing games and pretending to be invisible, raised his eyelids and looked at him: "You didn't take your medicine today..."
Seeing Li Xuan's gloomy expression, the rest of the words were swallowed back.
"What's wrong with you..." He changed the way he phrased it, but his tone was not much better.
Sheng Hui didn't want to come. It was always Wang Shuying who asked for money, and he just had to spend it. If he wasn't in a hurry to buy a car and a house to live with his girlfriend, he wouldn't have come today. He was already unhappy, and he got even more angry when he couldn't get the money smoothly. He grumbled: "What's wrong with asking you for some money... You are a big star, so rich, but you are so stingy..."
"You've opened your eyes, you're right?" Li Xuan didn't want to care at all, but Sheng Hui kept saying dirty things, so he couldn't help but stop, "I was wondering where your mother's face went, it turns out it's on your face."
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Sheng Hui jumped up in anger as if his tail was stepped on.
Li Xuan grabbed his wrist and said, "Why do you still want to fight me?"
"Sheng Min, what are you doing?!" He used all his strength, and Sheng Hui cried out in pain. Wang Shuying, who was sitting next to the dining table, rushed over like an angry lioness.
Sheng Min couldn't stop him at all. The next second, she rushed to Li Xuan and wanted to slap him: "You are so capable now, hit your brother..."
Li Xuan leaned back slightly and let go of his hand in disgust. Wang Shuying didn't care about him anymore and held Sheng Hui's hand like a gold ingot: "Are you hurt? Where did he hit you..."
"No." Sheng Hui treated everyone equally. He was not nice to him and he was not nice to his mother either.
"Show Mom..."
"I said no need." Wang Shuying held his hand tightly. Sheng Hui wanted to pull it away, so he pushed it hard. Wang Shuying's leg hit the leg of the coffee table and she staggered and sat on the ground.
"You didn't stand firmly." Sheng Hui seemed startled, and then argued righteously.
"Ouch." Wang Shuying cried out in pain and tried to pull his hand to stand up, but Sheng Hui subconsciously pulled his hand back.
"Why are you hiding from me?" She was stunned for a moment, and then burst into tears without any warning, "Why did I give birth to a thing like you? Who am I doing this for? You still think I'm embarrassing..."
This is the truth, Li Xuan thought coldly. Sheng Min, who followed, bent down and tried to help Wang Shuying up, but she didn't move. She pointed at Li Xuan again, "And you, an unfilial thing. Your brother and mother can't live anymore, and you still have the nerve to eat. I should have strangled you to death when you were a child..."
The switch in focus was quite smooth. Sheng Min's hands froze for a moment, but he still went to help her up: "Auntie, you get up first..."
Before he could finish his words, at this moment, Wang Shuying suddenly grabbed the takeaway on the coffee table and threw it at Li Xuan.
When she reached out her hand, Li Xuan probably guessed it, and dodged to the side, but did not forget to pull Sheng Min over.
Sheng Min suddenly ran into his warm embrace, with only Li Xuan's breathing in his ears, blocking out all the abuse and allowing him to take a short breath. However, the next second, Sheng Hui screamed, and Sheng Min turned around and found that after they avoided him, the bag of food actually poured all over Sheng Hui's head and face.
"Are you okay? Are you okay? Why didn't you hide?" Wang Shuying stopped making a fuss, grabbed a tissue and stood up to wipe Sheng Hui's face, "You're burned, does it hurt..."
"You're so annoying! You're a psychopath, embarrassing yourself every day." The soup ran down Sheng Hui's face, and his clothes were soaked in oil, yellow and red. He pulled off the half lunch box hanging on his collar, threw it at Wang Shuying, pushed her away, opened the door and ran out.
"Huihui, Shenghui!" Wang Shuying called him twice, but there was no response, so she hurriedly followed him out.
No one expected things to end this way. The room finally became quiet, with only the soup on the coffee table dripping down the edge, making a very subtle sound.
"They're gone." Li Xuan's hands were still around his waist. They were of similar size, and his warm breath fell behind his ears. After a while, Sheng Min whispered.
Li Xuan hummed and gently let him go.
Sheng Min walked over and closed the door, then turned on the phone that was charging in the hallway. Sure enough, there were several missed calls, including from Wang Shuying, Zhang Zhihua, and even the producer of the program.
"Have you contacted Zhang Zhihua about the video? ... It must be very troublesome. I didn't even know about it." He thought of Wang Shuying's words and said softly, "Thank you."
"What are you doing?" Li Xuan did not answer.
Sheng Min pursed his lips, entered the last digit of the password, and simply said, "They won't be here later."
As if to verify Sheng Min's statement, the cell phone rang as soon as he finished speaking.
Sheng Min frowned, glanced at Li Xuan subconsciously, hesitated for a moment, and finally picked up the phone.
"Hello."
Li Xuan was at a distance from him, but he could still hear the abuse on the other end of the phone. Sheng Min listened quietly, and during the pause, he asked very skillfully, "How much more do you want?"
The other end reported a number, and Sheng Min agreed. He hung up the phone and opened the online bank again to transfer the money. He completed all this very numbly, then raised his head and smiled gently at Li Xuan: "I really won't come."
Wang Shuying wouldn't care about her eldest son's abnormal behavior tonight, she would only be angry at his disobedience. However, as long as she got the money for Sheng Hui, her goal would be achieved and everything would be fine, and she could forget about it.
Li Xuan looked at him and thought he was wrong. Even if he was calmer or more arrogant, there was no way to solve the situation tonight. This was an unsolvable problem because Sheng Min did not intend to solve it.
"Let me order takeout again, from this restaurant?" Sheng Min went to get a rag and bent down to wipe off the remaining vegetable juice on the coffee table.
"Are you my biological son?" Li Xuan looked at him thoughtfully and answered the question irrelevantly.
"I am curious sometimes too." Sheng Min smiled, lowered his eyes and continued to wipe the oil stains vigorously.
The light fell on the smooth wooden table, reflecting his vague outline. He looked depressed, but Shengmin knew that it was just a trick of light and shadow, and he had long since stopped being resentful.
It has always been like this, Sheng Hui is always favored, even if there is only one piece of candy in the house, it belongs to him, and he doesn't even have the candy wrapper. When Sheng Hui did something wrong, he was the one who was beaten and scolded because he didn't take good care of his younger brother.
When he was younger, Sheng Min was also upset about this, crying and making a scene, asking why. But there was no reason, and later he figured it out, maybe some children are not loved by their parents.
It was a small stain, and he wiped it clean for a long time. He raised his head with his usual harmless and gentle expression: "Or change to another restaurant? I'm craving for mango sticky rice."
Li Xuan looked at him, trying to find some disguise on his face. But there was none, nothing. But the calmer Sheng Min was, the more uncomfortable he felt.
"I'm not hungry." Li Xuan said, "Can you really eat?"
"If I can't eat now, I would have starved to death." Hearing his unpleasant tone, Sheng Min pretended to joke, but the smile gradually disappeared under Li Xuan's scrutinizing gaze.
"Why?" Li Xuan said.
This question was vague and Sheng Min understood it but did not answer.
"You asked me if the video issue is troublesome. It's not troublesome, not at all." Li Xuan walked up to him and said in a deep voice, "It's not troublesome to solve any problem. It's troublesome to keep dragging it out... Sheng Min, can you please not let others control you at will?"
Sheng Min remained silent.
"Speak." Li Xuan didn't give him a chance to avoid it.
"What do you think I should do?" After a long silence, Sheng Min finally spoke, "It can be solved, of course, but I don't want to, I'm scared... I have poor adaptability, I don't like surprises, I just want everything to be on the same level. She wants money, and if I give her money she will be at peace, so I'll give it to her, it happens that I can give it."
In fact, there are many more things to say, such as from childhood to adulthood, no matter what changes there are in life, it seems that bad things will always happen.
When he was a kid, he went to film a movie outside the city for the first time. When he came back two months later, his father was seriously ill... He played the leading role for the first time at the age of fifteen, in a small web drama. As a result, the producer ran away midway and the crew was temporarily disbanded. He had no staff at the time, so he gave the money to an extra from a poor family in the crew, bought a standing ticket for himself, and stood for two days before going home... Even when the company temporarily recruited someone to participate in a talent show, he almost lost half his life midway... He understands that these things are not related, and are just psychological effects, but whether it is weakness or superstition, he would rather not change and do his best to maintain the precarious status quo.
But he didn't say anything to Li Xuan, it was hard to start, he just said: "Besides, people can't choose their parents, she gave birth to me, raised me..."
"You started filming when you were five years old. Who is supporting whom?" Li Xuan interrupted him unable to bear it any longer.
Sheng Min's eyes flashed, and his Adam's apple moved slightly: "I know you don't like them very much. I promise that these things will only happen this time, and I won't let them appear in front of you again."
"Your method of guarantee is to use more money to fill this bottomless pit? Throwing a stone into the water can make a loud noise, what can you get?"
"I don't need anything." Sheng Min remained calm. "I can't spend all the money. I became famous by accident. I earned far more than I can afford and deserve. If they want it, they can take it... Li Xuan, they are just too scared. I told you that my family was poor when I was a child. They are tired of not having money, so they came to me for it..."
"Do you believe this? Sheng Min, do you have to hypnotize yourself twice a day?" Li Xuan's face was gloomy and he gritted his teeth. "Do you plan to endure this for the rest of your life?"
The lights in the living room have been used for a long time and are not as bright as before. Li Xuan is too close, Sheng Min steps back a little, hiding in the shadows, speaking slowly but clearly: "I don't think my life will be long. So it's no big deal to be patient."
Li Xuan had a complicated expression. After a while, he finally sat down on the coffee table and said with a fake smile: "So your way to solve the problem is to die? That's right, suicide, you are good at cutting your wrists or jumping off a building."
"But I have really seen something." Li Xuan's expression was equally gloomy under the light, "Even if M has become a spirit, it won't be as fond of seeking abuse as you are."
It was clear that he had said unpleasant words to others, but he did not look happy at all, and his tone was full of mockery.
Sheng Min hadn't felt such harshness from him for a long time, as if she had returned to the day when they first met. Suddenly she thought that it wouldn't be bad if they could go back, then he probably wouldn't get along with Li Xuan like this. If the relationship was more distant, Li Xuan might be more relaxed and not have to worry so much about him.
Sheng Min lowered her eyes and watched him press his white knuckles on the table, and sighed softly in her heart. It was not because of Li Xuan's words, but also because of Li Xuan's words.
Out of place, he thought of the story of Yugong moving the mountain. If only the mountain wasn't in front of Yugong's house.
"Li Xuan." As if he had made a great decision, Sheng Min hesitated for a moment and called his name, "I told you not to be angry because of me. Now I say it again, don't be angry because of me. It's not worth it."
His speaking speed was unusually fast, and it seemed that if he was a second slower, he would not be able to finish his words.
The next moment after understanding Sheng Min's meaning, Li Xuan's hands, although clenched into fists, still trembled slightly. He looked at Sheng Min's expression pretending to be calm for a long time, then smiled.
"Yes, that's right." He nodded and said slowly, "I've said it all along, you are a clay Buddha, you have your own reasons. I am not worthy of reading the same sutra with you."
Perhaps because he was too angry, Li Xuan's face turned pale as he spoke. Sheng Min did not expect such a big reaction from him, but the words were out and it was hard to take them back. Li Xuan did not give him another chance to explain, and stood up and went to the door.
He walked to the entrance and stopped, then turned to the study to get his computer.
"Li Xuan!" Sheng Min watched him leave with his bag on one shoulder, and finally couldn't help but call out.
Li Xuan didn't pause, nor did he look back. He slammed the door shut and walked away.
The author has something to say:
I'm back! Sorry, I haven't updated for a long time. First, I was a bit stuck in writing, and I had a cold for a long time. In fact, I felt a lot of psychological pressure every day I didn't update... ..