Final exams ended. Winter break officially began—one and a half months long.
Chen Wei and Lao Gao sent people to their dorm to help the two “young masters” move out. The two adjacent beds were stripped bare, like the first day of freshman year.
Li Yan scooted over to Qi Xu and asked, “Xu-ge, you and Huai-ge not living on campus next semester? You guys cleaned out everything.”
Qi Xu stuffed his laptop into his backpack. “We are. Just bringing stuff home to wash. Oh, by the way—I probably can’t make it to the dorm meetup tomorrow. You guys have fun.”
Feng Zhenjie looked disappointed. “Ah, so Huai-ge’s not coming either? I’ll tell them to cancel two seats.”
The real reason Qi Xu couldn’t go was because the old man had booked him a full-body health checkup. He’d already had one after returning, and the follow-up was set for six months later.
“You can ask him. If he’s free, I’m sure he’ll go.”
Xie Huai walked in from the hallway just then, having finished a call. Feng Zhenjie wasted no time: “Huai-ge! Xu-ge said he can’t make the gathering tomorrow. Are you coming?”
Xie Huai glanced at Qi Xu, who was still bent over packing his bag. “I’ve got stuff too. Can’t make it.”
Neither Li Yan nor Feng Zhenjie looked surprised. Honestly, they’d expected that.
Qi Xu turned to him. “You have plans tomorrow?”
Xie Huai responded with a quiet “mm,” but didn’t say what the matter was.
Since Qi Xu had a medical checkup the next morning, he had to return to the old estate tonight. Xie Huai, on the other hand, had something urgent to take care of.
The two of them shared a kiss in the back of Chen Wei’s car before parting ways twenty minutes later at the school gates.
With finals done and dusted, Qi Xu finally felt like he was officially on break.
Among their five-person group chat, he and Xie Huai were the last ones to start winter vacation. Jiang Zimu had already been off for a full week, and Xu Yichen and Fang Qian had started their break two days ago.
The group chat quickly blew up with unread messages—99+ in minutes. Qi Xu opened it and started scrolling through. It looked like Xu Yichen had single-handedly sent enough messages for an entire classroom.
Just as Qi Xu was about to reply, Chen Wei suddenly hit the brakes.
Qi Xu’s head jerked up and realized they’d arrived at the gates of the old estate. Someone had stopped the car.
It was a group of relatives—those distant branches of the Shen family who had been kicked out of the Shen Corporation by the old man. They’d gotten wind that Qi Xu was starting his break today and had come to ambush him. After the mess they caused online, they didn’t dare show up at his school.
But clearly, they still hadn’t taken the whole thing seriously. In their minds, it was just a drunken slip-up—a few careless words, no real harm done. They figured the old man had overreacted.
Today, they were hoping to use Qi Xu as a go-between to plead their case. But the old master had refused to see anyone, leaving them to freeze in the cold outside the estate gate.
Although these distant relatives shared the Shen surname and were normally free to enter and exit the estate grounds, Qi Xu’s word carried more weight now. If he didn’t want them inside the manor, they wouldn’t be allowed in—not even a single step.
As soon as Qi Xu stepped out of the car, the crowd surged toward him—Uncle Shen San, Little Uncle Shen, and their whole extended families.
“Qi Xu, you’re on break now, right? Come visit Uncle’s place sometime.”
“In a couple of days, how about we take a trip abroad? Bring your cousin along—we’ll have fun.”
Qi Xu didn’t even bother to acknowledge them. He didn’t spare a single glance.
“Wow, you all really are something else,” he said coldly. “What’s your skin made of, rubber? How thick does it have to be for you to still show your faces around me? Grandpa stripped you of your positions, and you still get dividends from Shen Corp. Aren’t you the least bit worried that I might make sure you lose those too?”
Uncle Shen San was fuming. “Qi Xu, no matter what, we’re still your elders. So we said a few things behind your back—so what? You’re just supposed to take it. Harsh words are good medicine—we’re only looking out for you.”
Qi Xu let out a derisive laugh. The gathered crowd had no idea what he was laughing at.
Little Uncle Shen, aware that Qi Xu had already spoken to Shen Zhuohai about shares and intended to enter Shen Corp to compete with Shen Fengkai, thought he saw an opening.
Who didn’t want to be CEO of Shen Corp? Shen Fengkai, Shen Zeyu, and now Qi Xu, who’d been brought back into the family—each one a contender.
Little Uncle Shen, thinking he’d found Qi Xu’s soft spot, leaned in and lowered his voice. “Once you’re inside Shen Corp, we can be your allies. We’ll help you get to the top.”
Qi Xu had already wasted over ten minutes listening to this garbage. He’d been more than patient, but now his tone turned ice-cold.
“Go home and wait for the lawsuit notice,” he said. “You’re all under investigation for orchestrating an assault.”
Uncle Shen San’s face turned pale, though he still tried to bluff. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“January 6th, 10:45 p.m., on Jianshe Avenue. Maybe you weren’t the ones doing the beating, but I’m sure you gave plenty of instructions.”
Little Uncle Shen lunged forward to grab Qi Xu’s arm, but Chen Wei swiftly stepped between them, blocking him with one arm.
Little Uncle Shen spat, “What evidence do you even have? You’re just making baseless accusations! You’ve made so many enemies—you think you can pin this on us?”
“If you didn’t want it known, you shouldn’t have done it in the first place.”
With that, Qi Xu turned on his heel and left.
Of course, Qi Xu was bluffing. None of the three attackers had admitted to being paid off. Even with Xie Huai leveraging the Qin family’s resources, all they’d managed to dig up were a few international wire transfers. It would take more time to trace the source.
The real breakthrough would have to come through Song Ruoming—Shen Zeyu’s loyal ally.
The old estate gates were guarded; barging in by force wasn’t an option.
As Qi Xu stepped into the main hall, Uncle Li shot him a look, trying to signal something. But after the mental drain of finals, Qi Xu’s reflexes were running on fumes—he didn’t catch on.
Then he saw them: the Shen family—both parents and Shen Zeyu—seated inside.
It had been a long time since he’d seen them. In fact, the longer he went without seeing them, the better. He’d have been perfectly happy if this reunion hadn’t happened at all.
The holiday hadn’t even officially started, and coming home already felt like clearing level after level of a boss fight—minions first, now the big ones.
During his hospital stay, Qi Xu hadn’t known what Xie Huai had done behind the scenes. He naively assumed the Shen couple was only here because of public pressure from the internet.
As for Shen Zeyu, he’d always had them shielding him, cleaning up after him. No matter what happened, he landed on his feet.
To be precise, they weren’t just enablers—they were accomplices.
