Chapter 40: Reunion
Shen Cheng contacted the program team, hoping to visit Su Jinli soon. He requested them to make arrangements while keeping it as confidential as possible.
However, he received the unexpected news that Su Jinli has had an accident.
He was already planning to visit Su Jinli and thus had remained in the area, so he quickly rushed to the hospital.
He had done his best to disguise himself, evading paparazzi in a high-speed car chase, and only entered the hospital once he deemed it safe.
For a long time, he hadn't been in crowded places. He didn’t take an elevator, instead ascended the floors on foot.
Upon entering the patient's room, he saw Su Jinli lying on the bed, looking pale. It felt as if a sword had been plunged into his heart; he was overwhelmingly distressed.
It had been years since he last met his younger brother. The next time they met, his brother was in an unconscious state.
If only they had met sooner, this wouldn't have happened.
Su Jinli shouldn't have to experience this. He should always be pure and beautiful.
He asked everyone to leave the room. As he walked to the bed, he removed his hat and mask.
Sitting by the bed, he reached out and held Su Jinli's hand, noticing symbols on the back of Su Jinli's hand.
Understanding the situation, he glanced around and saw a security camera in the ward. He then heard the camera short circuit and explode.
He wiped off the symbols on Su Jinli's hand with his own, not minding the blood on his fingertip.
Actually, the doctor had tried to clean the blood on his hand but was unsuccessful. Only specific individuals could erase these symbols.
After wiping off the symbols, gills appeared on both sides of Su Jinli's neck, and faint fish scales emerged on his skin.
Shen Cheng removed the respiratory aid and opened Su Jinli's mouth to inspect the situation inside. He then placed his hand on Su Jinli's throat.
An ample amount of spiritual energy could be seen along with visible green fluorescence surrounding his hand.
His hand moved slowly from Su Jinli's throat down to his stomach before stopping.
Even for him, it took all of his power to restore Su Jinli's body.
After doing all this, he took a seat, feeling utterly drained.
Because he had nearly depleted his energy, he could not control his bodily functions. Sweat cascaded over him, revealing his fish scales which appeared disgusting and emitted an unpleasant odor.
After sitting still for a while, Shen Cheng recovered and sat at the bedside, reaching out to touch Su Jinli's cheek.
He's grown up so much.
The ward door was suddenly flung open. Shen Cheng immediately glared in that direction. He disliked being disturbed, always requesting the utmost privacy.
The intruder's breach of etiquette by entering without knocking incensed Shen Cheng.
However, upon seeing who it was, Shen Cheng chose to disregard the affront.
This old fox was not one to adhere to etiquette.
"What happened?" Jiang Gu strode swiftly to the bedside, inquiring aloud.
"Why did you descend the mountain?" Shen Cheng retorted with his own question.
Among them, Jiang Gu held high status within the demon clan. All the demons addressed him as 'grandfather'.
A thousand-year-old demon fox, once young and spirited, was now confined to a mountain, protecting their young who had not yet successfully cultivated their powers.
Jiang Gu rarely left the mountain, occasionally visiting nearby towns to browse and buy some essentials, before ascending back to the safety of his mountain.
This visit to the hospital could be considered a rare long journey for Jiang Gu.
"How could you, as an elder brother, let my grandson end up in this state?!" Jiang Gu, overcome with emotion, reproachfully asked Shen Cheng.
When Su Jinli descended the mountains, he was perfectly fine, his spirits high and his enthusiasm reminiscent of the time when he first grew legs--legs that were not yet fully coordinated forcing him to hop around gleefully.
Yet, after such a long time had passed, Su Jinli had turned into this tragic sight.
"Why didn't you tell me he descended the mountains?" Shen Cheng countered.
In reality, Jiang Gu hoped if Su Jinli couldn't locate Shen Cheng, he'd return to the mountains on his own, hence the older fox kept the information from Shen Cheng.
Confronted by Shen Cheng's question now, Jiang Gu was silent, standing by the bed and staring intently at Su Jinli. He lowered his voice and asked, "Who did this?"
"While coming here, I gathered some information. It was a gift from a fan. The food contained corrosive substances which caused the injury. The production crew will bring me all the gifts he received for my examination soon. They will also retrieve surveillance footage," Shen Cheng answered.
"Corrosive substances?"
"The Sacrificial Sky Blood."
"Was it done by people from the Xu family or the Gu family?"
The sacrificial sky blood was only possessed by a junior from the Xu family in recent years.
This blood was not only a thing to be dreaded by souls, but even more so, a fear for demon and spirits. A tiny bit of blood could corrode their bodies and expose their true forms.
Shen Cheng shook his head, "I know that junior of the Xu family. He didn't do it, and he didn't know about it. It was probably the blood left by the Gu family years ago."
"Who bears such a huge grudge to use the sacrificial sky blood?"
"I guess it happened during the competition. He must have crossed someone's path. He won't interact with others anymore."
Seeing Shen Cheng's indifferent expression, Jiang Gu guessed that Shen Cheng must have his own ideas now, but did not want to discuss them in detail.
"If it was done by the Gu family... I will absolutely annihilate every single one of them," Jiang Gu said with a gloomy face.
"People from the Gu family once fought with the Xu family. Now, the Gu family is nothing but a remnant force, who have all retreated back to their base. I guess someone from the Gu family sold the sacrificial sky blood a long time ago."
"What are you going to do?" Jiang Gu continued to probe, but as always, he found it hard to figure out exactly what Shen Cheng had in mind.
However, Shen Cheng was getting somewhat impatient with the interrogation.
Shen Cheng was really irritated. Just after finding his brother, this incident happened. The mix of worry and anger put him in an agitated state, and he could explode at any moment.
However, since Jiang Gu had come, Shen Cheng had been constantly questioned, and he didn't feel like talking.
When he was extremely annoyed, people still insisted on talking to him, and he was really reaching his breaking point.
He looked up at Jiang Gu, seeing the anxiety across his forehead, and held back his irritation.
They were both concerned for Su Jinli.
"I will investigate," Shen Cheng replied. "If someone dared to do such a thing, they must be prepared."
A young child walked to the bed and climbed up to take a look at Su Jinli, calling out with a childlike voice, “Brother.”
After calling several times, there was no response from Su Jinli.
The child transformed into a little white fox, stepping on Su Jinli's chest and rubbing his face. However, Shen Cheng grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and tossed him aside.
On that mountain, Shen Cheng was only friendly with Su Jinli.
He had no sentiment for the other spirits.
Jiang Gu reached out and pressed Su Jinli's forehead, continuously transferring spiritual energy into his body to help him recover.
Shen Cheng got up and made a call to inquire about the investigation results from his dispatched personnel.
"I have checked all the surveillance. No one delivered that gift box to the program group. The gift appeared out of nowhere," the investigator replied.
Shen Cheng hung up the phone and waited for a moment. Then, Jiujiu knocked on the door and entered the room, handing a bag over to Shen Cheng, "I asked for it from the police. Only Su Jinli's fingerprints are on the box, no one else's, it must have been processed."
Shen Cheng accepted the sealed plastic bag, carefully examining it, but didn't sense any aura.
The person who brought the gift had even cleaned up their aura.
No clues or evidence were left behind.
Upon seeing this, Shen Cheng couldn't help but deeply exhale, suppressing his rage.
Jiang Gu let the little fox sit in his arms, patting the soft fur and said, "I want to take him back to the mountain."
He could only feel assured if he personally protected him.
"He has grown up, let him decide for himself." Shen Cheng responded, looking at Su Jinli.
Su Jinli regained consciousness half an hour later. He opened his eyes in a daze and saw Jiang Gu's face close by.
"Grandpa..." Su Jinli uttered, surprised to find he could speak fluently again.
"Huh," Jiang Gu responded, tears welling up in his eyes, "How do you feel?"
"Why are you crying? I'm fine."
"Your brother exhausted his magical powers to repair you, how could anything happen to you?! If your brother and I hadn't found you, would you have ended up as a dead fish?"
"I didn't expect things to turn out this way..." Su Jinli replied, suddenly realizing his brother was there too. He immediately looked to the side and saw Shen Cheng standing there.
Su Jinli originally had a lot to say to Shen Cheng, but when it came to the crunch, he could only say one word: "Brother."
"Mm, I am here." Shen Cheng replied.
Pouting, Su Jinli tried not to cry, but his eyes were already welling up with tears.
"I lost your address... and I even went to the wrong company... I tried to find you last time but couldn't... no one has your contact information..." Su Jinli explained his predicament in broken sentences.
"You rest first, we can talk about this later." Shen Cheng quickly stopped Su Jinli, encouraging him to rest.
Su Jinli's internal organs had just healed, they were still very fragile. His emotional outburst wasn't good for his physical condition.
However, Shen Cheng looked down to see Su Jinli extending a hand that kept hold of his clothes. Su Jinli was also watching Shen Cheng eagerly, as if afraid he would leave.
Shen Cheng's heart softened and he sat on the edge of the bed, comforting Su Jinli further.
What had these past few months been like for a little koi who had never left the mountain before and knew so little of human customs?
Just thinking about it, Shen Cheng felt distressed.
It wasn't until Su Jinli's condition improved that they started chatting, but they kept reminding him to speak as little as possible.
"They even used the sacrificial sky blood, who did you provoke?" Jiang Gu asked.
Upon hearing this, Su Jinli was surprised. He had only heard about such a thing before, and didn't expect it to be used on himself. He could only reply, "I didn't provoke anyone..."
"Did you block anyone's path in the program team or during the selection process?" Shen Cheng continued the investigation.
After thinking, Su Jinli replied: "I took the C-position from Wu Yu, but he's not a bad person."
Mentioning Wu Yu, Shen Cheng also pondered for a moment, then asked, "Anyone else?"
"There's someone in my group... I'm really scared of him. His soul is twisted..."
Shen Cheng and Jiang Gu exchanged glances before continuing, "Who is he?"
A twisted soul... If it was a malevolent spirit, it could indeed manage to leave things in the box without being seen.
"Huasen Entertainment's Zhou Wenyuan," Su Jinli truthfully answered, "But we don't have a lot of interaction, it shouldn't be..."
"I'll investigate this, you should rest well."
"Mm." Su Jinli shifted his position and said to Shen Cheng, "I'm hungry."
"I'll have Jiujiu buy you some porridge. Your body can't handle heavy food now—you can only have lukewarm porridge." Shen Cheng responded.
"I want to eat meat."
"No."
"Oh..." Su Jinli answered in disappointment, and then tentatively asked, "Can I have preserved egg and lean meat porridge?"
Shen Cheng saw Su Jinli's pitiful look and once again his heart melted, nodding his head.
He's always been unable to refuse his little brother's requests, and hasn't been able to change that over the years.
While waiting for the porridge, Su Jinli kept looking at Shen Cheng.
Shen Cheng would occasionally send messages to confirm the progress of the investigation and felt a bit uncomfortable under Su Jinli's gaze.
His little brother's gaze was filled with admiration and joy which made him feel a bit guilty.
He wasn't really a good older brother.
"Do you want to go back to the mountain with me?" Jiang Gu asked.
"I still have to compete, otherwise all the hard work will be in vain." Su Jinli replied.
"Forget about that stupid competition. If you want to be an artist, just hitch a ride on my popularity, or I can help promote you, and you'll become famous." Shen Cheng didn't want Su Jinli to go back to the program group.
"I want to try again." Su Jinli persisted.
"You're in this state."
"I won't eat random things next time!"
Is this about eating random things?
Someone's trying to harm you!
Nevertheless, Shen Cheng compromised. He would protect Su Jinli in the future.
"Brother, can you hold me?" Su Jinli tugged at the corner of his blanket and carefully asked.
Shen Cheng put down the phone, opened his arms to Su Jinli, who immediately flung himself into Shen Cheng's embrace, hugging him tightly and rubbing his face against Shen Cheng's body.
Shen Cheng, a little bit uncontrollable due to the fatigue, was somewhat embarrassed.
Hmm... the familiar fishy smell.
Shen Cheng held Su Jinli, gently stroked his head with a heartache, and whispered, "It's my fault. I should have returned earlier to take care of you. I failed to protect you."
"I'm already an adult, I'm fine, and besides, I have a job now. Do you know how much I earn a month?" Su Jinli boasted proudly.
"How much?"
"Five thousand five hundred dollars. My agent said that I am already considered high-income."
"…"
After saying this, Shen Cheng released Su Jinli and started talking about the contract.
"In the future, you should terminate the contract with the company. If you really want to be an artist, sign under my agency. I will personally guide you and it would be easier for me to protect you, so this kind of situation won't happen again." Shen Cheng seriously talked about this matter.
However, he saw Su Jinli shake his head: "No, I haven't made any money for my studio yet."
"I can compensate them for this."
"No, Brother, people should be grateful. We shouldn't forget what others have done for us, right? They took me in when I was most desperate, taught me everything, I can't just abandon them once I start to see results, right?" Su Jinli spoke really seriously. His sincere gaze made Shen Cheng lost for words.
"That's true, but their training... isn't really worth mentioning. And I will compensate your studio too, at least several times their investment in you. They won't be at a loss."
"Brother, thinking like that isn't right. We should never forget our roots. I need to repay them. How is me doing this different from a man abandoning his wife after gaining wealth? I can't be an ingrate, right?"
"Um... right."
"So I have to stay in the company and ride the waves with them. I believe you understand."
"Hmm..." Shen Cheng didn't understand at all!
"Brother, I knew you're a good man. They always say you're bad, but I never believed them."
"…"
Jiang Gu sat there, listening. He took one glance at Shen Cheng's expression and couldn't help but laugh.
What kind of a good man is Shen Cheng?
He's just helpless with Su Jinli.
Shen Cheng's mood was really colorful at the moment. He wanted to persuade Su Jinli to terminate the contract, but upon seeing Su Jinli's expressions, hearing all he said, he was left speechless again.
He had no choice but to agree with Su Jinli's thoughts and play the role of a "good brother", then he sent a message to Jiujiu: Even if the contract needs to be changed, buy Gu Yu Studio for me.
Jiujiiu: Alright.
3 minutes later.
Jiujiiu: Boss, I called Hou Yong. They said that they have already signed the contract. Moreover, Hou Yong and the others don't even know that Su Jinli had an accident.
Shen Cheng nearly threw his phone in frustration.
Just the thought that Su Jinli would sign a contract with An Zhiyan's company gave him a headache.
That mixed-blood bastard is going to benefit from this.
After some thought, he only had one thing to say: "Jinli, don't renew your contract with the company. Let the contract automatically renew for one year, work hard within this year, and repay the company. After fulfilling your gratitude in one year, cancel the contract with them and come to me, okay?"
"Just one year?"
"Yes, brother misses you. I want to spend more time with you, it's better to be by my side." For Su Jinli, this reason was the most touching.
"Alright, then one year." Su Jinli immediately agreed.
In actuality, even for this year, Shen Cheng didn't want Su Jinli to leave.
An Zhiyan, that gay guy!
"Now that he's fine and you two brothers have met, I'll go back," Jiang Gu stood up, turning the little fox back into a child, and prepared to leave.
"Grandpa, can't you stay a little longer?" Su Jinli asked quickly.
"I have to go back to the mountain. With a group of kids there, I can't be at ease."
"Alright."
Jiang Gu then looked at Shen Cheng: "You'd better handle this matter properly. Otherwise, I'll take action using my methods."
Jiang Gu's methods were simple - even if it meant killing three thousand wrongly, he would never let go of anyone who might be involved.
Thus, compared to Jiang Gu taking action, Shen Cheng's handling of the matter was actually more reasonable.
At least there wouldn't be a river of blood.
"Alright, I understand," Shen Cheng replied.
Jiang Gu left with the child, and the porridge was brought over.
"When you return to the program team later, act like you've lost your voice. It's best not to speak, so they won't find it abnormal that your body has recovered too quickly," Shen Cheng took a spoon, blew on the porridge to cool it down, and then fed it to Su Jinli's mouth.
"Okay," Su Jinli replied vaguely while eating the porridge.
"In a bit, I'll send someone to handle the hospital matters, arrange for your transfer to an environment I'm familiar with. The medical reports can be falsified."
"Okay."
________________________
When An Zhiyan rushed hurriedly to the hospital and walked into the ward, he saw such a warm scene.
His mortal enemy, Shen Cheng, was gently feeding the person he cared about.
Yes, it was so warm that his head was about to explode, and he almost wished he could stab his own eyes.
"Why are you here?" An Zhiyan asked Shen Cheng unhappily.
Shen Cheng didn’t even look at An Zhiyan; he just continued to feed Su Jinli.
An Zhiyan stopped talking with Shen Cheng as well. He just walked over and asked Su Jinli, "How are you feeling?"
Su Jinli couldn’t answer since she was pretending to be mute.
As soon as An Zhiyan got close, Shen Cheng hastily warned, "Don't come near him."
An Zhiyan was very displeased after being scolded by Shen Cheng, but he still sat down. However, he soon realized that Su Jinli was feeling uncomfortable due to the yang energy emanating from him.
An Zhiyan quickly stood up again and backed away several steps. Su Jinli started feeling better.
An Zhiyan watched the two of them, as he himself, feeling wronged, stood near the doorway. He was vexed to the point his stomach was aching before he could catch his breath.
________________________
Author's Note:
Su Jinli: Brother, so you actually can't control the fishy smell either! [Suddenly excited]
Shen Cheng:...[Isn't it all for you?]
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