Chapter 38
The sun was setting, and a black car pulled away from the Central District, disappearing into the flow of traffic.
The secretary looked at the darkening sky and turned to the blond man in the back seat: “Sir, are you going back to the office or home?”
The gentleman always strictly followed his schedule and rarely made impromptu arrangements. Yet, today, he had unexpectedly left the office and spent the greater part of the afternoon outside the government service center.
The secretary originally thought he was meeting someone important privately. However, that Omega wouldn’t even get into the car. After he left, the gentleman stayed in the car alone, made a few phone calls, and processed some documents before allowing him to drive.
The man was looking at the documents, and upon hearing this, glanced at his watch. He took off his glasses and casually rubbed his temples with his thumb before leaning back with his eyes closed.
After a while, he instructed: “Go home, and have Shen Ti come over.”
…
Shen Ti was baking at home. The TV was playing a financial news channel, and amid the clear announcer’s voice, he stared blankly at the yellowish heating light in the oven.
He idly took some pictures of the tempting cookies in the oven and sent them to Shu Ci, but after receiving no reply for a long time, he remembered that Shu Ci had been invited to the base to film promotional videos. Communications at the base were strictly managed, and Shu Ci, as a specially invited worker, had to comply.
Shen Ti put down his phone, turned around to get heat-resistant gloves, and caught sight of the scrolling subtitles on the news with his peripheral vision. He lowered his eyes.
A touch of melancholy rose in his heart.
He once thought that compared to the married Omegas who raised children and managed the household, he was already quite happy.
His relationship with his husband from the arranged marriage wasn’t bad. He spent his days leisurely at home as a prominent lady, having afternoon tea with the wives of military and political leaders, and occasionally going back to his family home to handle trivial matters caused by his younger siblings and junior relatives.
But now, he felt that this kind of life was extremely boring.
Although this was the common situation for most families, married Omegas returning to their families was a matter of course, he began to yearn for Shu Ci.
He envied Shu Ci’s persistence in his beloved work amidst a chaotic life. He also envied the support he had from Lu Wan Qing, allowing him to live so freely and unconcerned about the world’s opinions, no matter what he did.
He was a graduate of a business management major, and he had once had his own ambitions, even though those ambitions had been buried one by one after he accepted the arranged marriage. Yet, Cui You had never asked him if there was anything he wanted to do.
The phone rang, startling Shen Ti, who hastily answered.
It was a call from his elder brother’s secretary, asking him to return home.
“Now?” He was slightly stunned, raising his hand to signal to the housekeeper to take the cookies out of the oven. He took off his apron as he walked upstairs. “Did something happen at home? Do I need to prepare anything?”
The secretary’s voice was slow and measured: “Prepare as you see fit, sir is quite tired today.”
“Oh, okay.” Shen Ti suppressed the confusion in his heart and replied.
This was the first time he had been invited back to the family home without a specific purpose.
Shen Ti found a box and ribbon, packed the freshly baked cookies, tied pretty bows, put them in his custom-made tote bag, and returned to the Shen family’s old house.
Passing through the quaint, quiet courtyard and entrance hall, Shen Ti entered the main hall and saw the man on the sofa. He was unlike his usual meticulous and serious appearance as the head of the family. He was completely sunken into the sofa, holding a wine glass with slightly intoxicated eyes, giving Shen Ti quite a shock.
“Brother…Shen.” Shen Ti poked his head in and cautiously looked around. No one from the family was there, not even the cleaning lady.
“You’re here?” The man nodded slightly, his golden hair swaying slightly, “Sit.”
Shen Ti had never seen Shen Lin so relaxed. He was stunned for a moment before quickly walking to the sofa, bypassing the coffee table to put down the tote bag. “These are cookies I just baked today. I brought a portion for you, and also for my cousins.”
Shen Lin glanced at them indifferently and nodded slightly: “You’ve been adopted into the names of my parents, you are the direct lineage’s young master, you don’t have to be so restrained.”
Shen Ti sat upright and shook his head: “Brother adopted me in order to make up for regrets, I can’t be ungrateful.”
The previous head of the family was Shen Lin’s father. Because of framing by political enemies, Shen Lin’s parents were both imprisoned. The child about to be born tragically died in prison. The couple were heartbroken and their bodies worsened until they both passed away before being released from prison.
At that time, the young Shen Lin, under the covetous gaze of many Alpha elders from the side branches, took over as the head of the family. Not only did he govern the family strictly and forcefully, but he also fought his way to the top in the political arena at the youngest age and became a parliamentarian. In Shen Ti’s opinion, the kindest thing Shen Lin had done in all these years was to adopt him into the main branch of the family, becoming his adopted younger brother.
“As you wish,” Shen Lin’s lips curved slightly, “You’ve been running around for your friend lately. How’s the progress?”
Shen Ti was slightly stunned. Did he call him over in his busy schedule to ask about Shu Ci?
“He seems fine now.” Shen Ti pondered. “Ah, the Shu family hasn’t returned his father’s assets yet, because he’s been away from City A for a while. But I don’t think he’s in a hurry about it lately?”
It might have been Shen Ti’s illusion, but he saw Shen Lin seem to smile after he finished speaking.
“Money is a small matter, mainly the harassment from Gu Lan Zhu is more difficult to solve.”
When it came to Shu Ci, Shen Ti became extremely worried.
He became more and more excited, his previous restraint disappearing: “You also know that the Gu family has been domineering for a long time. Those lawyers, upon hearing that they were going to sue Gu Lan Zhu and the Gu family, all backed down. At most, they only want to fight a lawsuit with the Shu family.”
When Shen Lin’s parents were in office, they weren’t in the same camp as Gu’s uncle. Even the incident where they were framed and imprisoned, the Shen family suspected that the Gu family was behind it. The fact that Gu Yi Yuan had remained standing for so many years showed their strength and influence.
“It’s difficult to rely on him alone.” Shen Lin took a sip of red wine.
Shen Lin spoke sparingly, not wasting a single word, and Shen Ti sensed something.
If it was difficult to rely on an individual, it meant relying on a greater force.
Gu Lan Zhu might not pose any threat to Shen Lin, but he seemed to have ambitions to use Gu Lan Zhu to pry the entire Gu family apart.
His eyes lit up, and he leaned forward slightly, cautiously asking: “So, you and Gu Yi Yuan?”
Shen Lin looked at him meaningfully.
This younger brother was more perceptive than several of his think tanks. Not only was he adept at handling the trouble caused by the younger members of his family, but his grasp of the trend was exceptionally accurate. He could immediately understand the meaning behind his unspoken words. Letting this child be the main Omega of the family was truly a waste of his talent.
“The parliamentary election is coming soon,” Shen Lin finished the last drop of wine in his glass, “There is only one chief executive of the parliament.”
…
On the big screen in the base cafeteria, a live broadcast of the various families’ campaign speeches was playing. Shu Ci listened intently, but when he looked up, he found that almost no one was listening.
Yu Xingxing met his puzzled gaze, listened to his question, and burst into laughter.
“It’s the canvassing stage, they can make empty promises and paint a rosy picture. They break their promises after taking office, it happens all the time. Besides, we active-duty personnel can’t participate in voting, so listening is useless.”
Shu Ci nodded knowingly.
Stance is a private matter. Ordinary citizens can argue with each other because of street interviews. If people with abilities have disputes in such a place with strict discipline because of their different supporting factions, it can easily get out of hand.
It might be best not to have a stance. In the end, they will all accept the direct leadership of the winner.
“These old men say the same things every year; I’m tired of hearing them.” Yu Xingxing casually complained, “Let’s eat, I heard General Lu specially ordered dishes for the cafeteria, probably your favorites.”
Shu Ci twitched his lips: “…Oh.”
Such imagination, Lu Wan Qing doesn’t even know what he likes to eat.
Just as he was speaking, the screen switched to the next candidate, and Shu Ci glanced at it, stopping his chopsticks.
Among a group of old men, the blond man in a light-colored suit was particularly unique. The gold-rimmed glasses softened his sharp and dignified eyes, and the faint smile at the corner of his mouth easily brought people closer.
And there were deafening screams from the live broadcast.
“It’s Parliamentarian Shen,” Yu Xingxing happily said, “He’s the star candidate in this election. The resident privacy protection policy this year was promoted by him. He offended several large families, but gained a large number of citizens’ goodwill. He’s also one of the rare people who clearly supports raising the social status of BOs for many years. I bet most of those screams are from Omegas.”
Shu Ci nodded blankly.
Since transmigrating, he’d been focusing on his own troubles with Gu Lan Zhu, only checking the text version of the news. Shen Ti’s elder brother had always lived in their conversations. This was the first time Shu Ci had associated them. His eyes flickered, landing on the subtitles, “Shen Lin”.
“Shen Lin is his name?” Shu Ci frowned.
“Yes.” Yu Xingxing looked at him in some shock.
Why does Mr. Shu’s expression look like he’s hearing Parliamentarian Shen’s name for the first time?
Shu Ci put down his chopsticks, looked at Yu Xingxing with a complicated expression, then closed his eyes, his hands pressed against his temples.
Shen Lin, he knew this name very well.
In the original book of 5000 chapters, each stage had a male second who made Gu Lan Zhu jealous.
Shen Lin was the most persistent and affectionate one.
The original owner met him during an escape, felt pity for him, and Shen Lin fell deeply in love with the original owner, always by his side. Countless Shen Lin fans screamed for him in the comment section. However, the gentle male second still didn’t win against the legally-questionable domineering male lead.
The original book never mentioned the relationship between Shen Lin and Shen Ti, only that he lost his parents at a young age and grew up alone. He didn’t enter politics, nor did he reach such a prominent position, so he never had the chance to contend with the Gu family.
Speechless, everyone and everything related to the plot is so off-track, why is Gu Lan Zhu still so persistent?
“General!” Yu Xingxing glanced at Shu Ci, whose expression seemed a little wrong, and saw Lu Wan Qing and Cui You arriving late, having just gotten their food, so he waved his arm.
Shu Ci was still searching for plot points related to Shen Lin in his chaotic memories and didn’t realize someone had sat down opposite him.
“What’s wrong with him?” Lu Wan Qing looked at Yu Xingxing.
Yu Xingxing pointed at the big screen: “He became like this after seeing Parliamentarian Shen.”
Lu Wan Qing didn’t look at the big screen. His gaze fell on Shu Ci, his eyes involuntarily narrowed, and he squeezed his plate tightly.
Author’s Note:
Someone came to my house in the afternoon, so the update is a bit late!
See you tonight for the next chapter!
___________________
Recommended Reads
![[Esports] I Started an Online Romance with a Big Shot After Retiring](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/esports.jpg)
