“What happened afterward, Mr. Shen should already know.”
Bai Xia recalled up to this point. What happened between the two of them afterward was not easy to describe in detail.
“I understand.”
Secretary Xu had only been transferred to headquarters in recent years, but he had also heard something about what happened later.
Moreover, the most crucial part of the matter had already been explained very clearly.
“Mr. Bai, I heard that you still have some evidence from the past. What exactly is it?” Secretary Xu asked.
“There are some recordings of Liu Fengyu and Han Zichen speaking to me privately during the variety show, and recordings from that drinking party that day.”
“Alright. Then the first video that was exposed…”
“It was maliciously edited. Later, I took the original footage and had professionals look at it. It was very easy to tell,” Lin Pei said angrily.
“Can we contact the old variety show production side and obtain the original camera footage?” Secretary Xu asked.
“That might be difficult…” Lin Pei said, quietly glancing at Big Boss Shen.
The main people involved back then definitely could not be relied upon.
Three years had passed, and the production team for Shining Stars had certainly already scattered. Going to ask them one by one would be somewhat troublesome.
Thinking of this, Lin Pei was still angry.
The people who set up the trap back then had truly put in painstaking effort.
After releasing the first video, before the fans and their side had time to verify anything, Yuan Chenguang’s second video immediately came out and hammered the matter to death.
Fans and passersby alike only believed what they were willing to believe.
When emotions surged to the surface, no one cared about the authenticity of the video anymore.
“Then, looking at it now, the most crucial person is the party involved in the second video, which is Yuan Chenguang. We’ve already tried to contact him these past few days, but he seems very resistant to our approach,” Secretary Xu said.
Three years ago, after Bai Xia met Shen Mingjin, Shen Mingjin quickly helped him deal with that pile of bad debts outside.
But at that time, Shen Mingjin was being tightly targeted by people from the Shen family. He himself was overwhelmed and could not conveniently appear in person, so his handling methods had been somewhat simple and forceful.
Because Yuan Chenguang had stepped forward in that incident to “expose” Bai Xia, his popularity had temporarily risen very quickly.
However, his dream of stardom had not lasted long before Shen Mingjin directly cut off his career path.
His agency quickly terminated his contract. Everyone heard, openly or secretly, that he seemed to have offended some incredible big boss. Wherever he went, he was cold-shouldered, and he could no longer survive in the circle.
Because he had once been a public figure, and because his academic background was not high, he could not even enter an ordinary company. Wherever he went for interviews, people pointed and whispered about him.
It was said that in the end, he could only return miserably to his hometown, Z City. After that, there was no further news of him.
His major social media accounts had long become impossible to find.
When the public later discovered that he had disappeared from sight, there were already no clues left to find. They only felt that he had been blacklisted because he had offended Bai Xia.
“What we need now is for him to provide evidence proving that Liu Fengyu and Han Zichen made related transactions with him back then. Otherwise, if he merely comes out and apologises verbally now, the public probably won’t buy it,” Secretary Xu said.
As for Liu Fengyu and Han Zichen, three years ago, they had been sent to prison by the big boss together with Shen Wenbin and Zhou Peng.
The few of them knew very well that the things they usually did were not good, so they had been extremely careful and left almost no evidence.
Later, after everyone searched several times, there really was nothing useful.
“Alright. Let’s stop here for today. Go settle Yuan Chenguang first. Pay close attention to public opinion online. If anything happens, we’ll discuss it again,” Shen Mingjin decided.
He stood up and took Bai Xia’s hand, preparing to go to the restaurant for dinner.
After walking out of the conference room, Shen Mingjin suddenly stopped.
He held Bai Xia’s hand, lightly patted it, and said, “You suffered.”
Bai Xia lifted his head slightly and looked at him. His emotions still could not quite calm down.
“Please don’t say that.”
“Blame me. During that period, I didn’t pay attention to you,” Shen Mingjin said with apology in his expression.
“Don’t say that, Mr. Shen. You’ve already helped me too much.”
Three years ago, it was clearly he who had crashed into Mr. Shen, and only then obtained a sliver of hope.
At that time, to Shen Mingjin, he had been a complete stranger.
However, the other party had not only helped him punish those people, but also provided him with financial assistance, paid his penalty fee with the company, and later even helped his father contact a professional medical team overseas.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was their family’s great benefactor.
Whether back then or now, Bai Xia had always felt full of indebtedness toward him.
During those three years, Shen Mingjin had been entangled in a pile of Shen family matters. The complex relationships within the Shen clan and their fierce struggles occupied a great deal of his time and energy.
Because of that, Bai Xia usually tried his best not to bring his own matters to trouble him.
As the two of them spoke in the corner, they suddenly heard the little one running over with quick little steps.
“Papa, where did you two go just now?”
They had not been in the meeting for very long, but Ningning was very dissatisfied that, not long after he had finally seen Big Daddy today, Big Daddy had taken his papa away.
“Daddy and Papa were busy. Is Ningning hungry?” Bai Xia pulled his hand away and picked up the little one.
Shen Mingjin felt the warmth leave his hand and found it somewhat regrettable.
He could only say to the adult and child, “Let’s go. Eat first.”
Bai Xia was indeed somewhat hungry.
At the dining table, the service staff had already laid out a sumptuous dinner for them and even lit a few candles.
The warm lighting gave the atmosphere a romantic and cosy feeling.
They sat on the top floor of the hotel, beside floor-to-ceiling windows, where they could directly overlook the scenery outside.
At night, the city was brightly lit, traffic flowing like woven threads. Inside the room sat the people closest to one another. The noise of the outside world suddenly seemed distant and peaceful.
Ningning had eaten some small snacks earlier, so he was not very hungry. He also did not need adults to feed him and ate in small bites by himself.
Their meals did not have many formal rules and were rather casual.
Shen Mingjin helped Bai Xia cut his steak, and from time to time placed dishes that were farther away closer to Bai Xia.
Watching Big Daddy’s actions, the little one was not willing to fall behind.
Using his small spoon, he scooped a little piece of mango pudding from in front of him and gave it to Papa.
“Papa, eat this. This one is sweet.”
Bai Xia scooped it up and ate it in one bite.
“Thank you, baby.”
Ningning happily swung his little feet.
“You should eat more too,” Bai Xia said, feeling embarrassed as he watched Mr. Shen continuously add food for him.
“Mm.”
Shen Mingjin looked at the little one with slight smugness.
“……Big Daddy is really childish,” the little one only dared to think in his heart.
The top-floor room came with an independent hot spring pool. It was a spacious and private area.
After a busy day, Shen Mingjin told Bai Xia to go relax and rest.
The pool was large enough to accommodate their family of three. The staff helped them fill the water, placed towels nearby, and put several colourful bath bombs on a tray.
There was also a tray floating on the water’s surface, with red wine and fruit placed on top.
Wearing a swimming ring, the little one was placed into the water by Big Daddy. He looked at this for a while, then played with that, finding everything novel.
He chose a small star-shaped bath bomb himself and placed it in the water.
Watching the bath bomb slowly dissolve, the star shape gradually scattered in the water, releasing a faint fragrance. Listening to the fizzing bubbles rising from it, he played happily by himself.
Bai Xia also stepped into the pool.
In an instant, warm water wrapped around him, and his whole body truly relaxed quite a bit.
Suddenly, he felt Mr. Shen’s hand rest on his body.
His body immediately became tense, and he even subconsciously glanced at Ningning. Fortunately, Ningning was playing with the bath bomb nearby and did not notice.
“Relax. I’ll massage you a little.”
Shen Mingjin saw his reaction. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, but his tone remained unchanged.
Bai Xia had doubts in his heart about Mr. Shen being able to massage, but gradually, under the other party’s strong and steady movements, he relaxed.
Later, he even became so comfortable that he nearly fell asleep.
Ningning played in the water by himself for a while and felt bored. He remembered that ever since Big Daddy and Papa had entered the pool, they had not spoken much and were sitting very close together.
So he wanted to swim over to find his papa.
He had barely moved before he was stopped by a single look from Big Daddy.
The little one felt somewhat speechless, but he obediently stopped.
Before he knew it, Bai Xia felt as though he had taken a nap.
Much of the gloom in his heart had dispersed at once, and his head had also cleared.
When he opened his eyes, he saw Shen Mingjin teaching Ningning how to swim not far away.
He walked over, and the two noticed him.
“Papa, Big Daddy is teaching me how to swim,” Ningning said excitedly. His little feet even splashed the water twice.
“Alright, we should get out now. Soaking in the hot spring for too long isn’t good.”
Bai Xia walked over and pinched his rosy little face.
“It’s fine. You didn’t sleep for long either,” Shen Mingjin said. Still, he first carried Ningning to the shore.
The hotel room had the air conditioning on, so it was not too cold all at once.
The staff did not disturb the family of three. Mr. Shen wrapped Ningning in a small blanket. Seeing Bai Xia stand up, he lightly supported him.
Bai Xia saw all this and thought to himself: how could there be such a perfect man in the world?
Good-looking, with a good figure. Rich and patient. Whether toward Ningning or toward him, he was always so gentle.
In contrast, he himself seemed always to bring Mr. Shen bad things.
If Secretary Xu could hear Bai Xia’s inner thoughts, his usually stern expression would definitely become very interesting.
His boss was indeed tall and handsome.
But as for temperament, Secretary Xu truly did not dare agree. And patience was even more absurd.
How many company executives had been scolded in front of him until they did not dare lift their heads? When he was working, his face was as cold as a block of ice.
New employees within ten metres of him could be frightened to death.
Therefore, in outsiders’ eyes, putting aside everything else, the fact that Bai Xia could get so close to Mr. Shen was already not easy.
After soaking in the hot spring, the three washed up. It was already ten o’clock.
Ningning lay in the very middle of the soft big bed. Beside him were his dearest papa and Big Daddy, and the little one felt full of security.
There were quite a few fairy-tale books in the children’s area of the room.
Bai Xia had casually chosen one earlier and brought it over to tell the little one a bedtime story.
“I’ll read it,” Mr. Shen said.
This experience was very novel for Ningning, so he happily agreed.
The ordinary fairy tale slowly emerged in Mr. Shen’s deep voice. Before long, Ningning fell asleep.
Bai Xia also became drowsy beside him.
Before he closed his eyes, the story still faintly echoed in his mind.
The little prince travelled through thorns and hardship, experiencing many trials. In the end, he arrived at a magical garden.
The garden was full of colourful flowers, and every flower released fragrance.
In this garden, there was a special flower. People called it the flower of healing.
Every petal represented a beautiful emotion: love, tolerance, hope, courage…
The little prince planted seeds in the garden of his own heart. Slowly, he felt the pain and sorrow from his journey disappear.
The magic of the healing flower helped him find inner peace and courage. In the end, he lived a simple and happy life.
Shen Mingjin looked at the sleeping adult and child, warmth filling his heart and a smile appearing on his face.
Carefully crossing over Ningning, he gently kissed Bai Xia on the forehead.
“Good night. Have a good dream.”
