After taking a bath, Li Jinshen lay on his bed, lost in thought.
"Qi Han and the Tianhua Group, huh?"
To be honest, he had almost forgotten about them especially Qi Han. In the original plot, they were barely mentioned and hardly relevant.
The story's summary that the system gave him was short:
After the bankruptcy of the Liwei Group, many of their documents, designs, and concepts were taken by other companies, including the Tianhua Group. Since the Li family was destroyed and Li Jinshen disappeared, it was easy for others to seize their assets. Even though Tianhua and Liwei were rivals, many of the documents Tianhua acquired still followed ideas originally left behind by Li Jinshen. As for Tianhua's president, it was briefly mentioned that he was the one who gave the order.
And that was pretty much all the system had to say about them.
In the original novel, the focus was on the romance between Li Jianyu and Qiao Meiyun, so the business side barely got any screen time. The only other detail Li Jinshen remembered was that Tianhua's president, Qi Han, was a playboy just like Li Jianyu before he met the female lead.
Apparently, the two had clashed after both became interested in the same girl two years ago, and since then, they couldn't stand to be in the same room together.
"Isn't that just childish? All this petty fighting just because of a girl..."
Li Jinshen sighed before turning off the lights and trying to sleep.
"Anyway," he thought, "that Qi Han seemed curious about me. Luckily, it's only that, I don't have time to deal with another suitor. Who knows, maybe he'd even try to poison me like-"
His thoughts cut off abruptly, his face tightening in confusion.
"Like who? Did I die by poison?"
His eyes darkened, growing colder and emptier.
"What's wrong with me? I feel like I'm forgetting something important."
He laid there silently for a few minutes before letting out a light laugh.
"Heh, the situation's getting more confusing, but I guess that's what makes it interesting."
Li Jinshen could feel it, the system was hiding something. His memories seemed to be slipping away, and everything felt connected.
It was strange how quickly he'd accepted the situation he was in. Now, he was even acting like the 'original Li Jinshen', as if he truly was him. Acting wasn't his strong suit, and even if he and Li Jinshen shared the same personality and tastes, how could they be that similar? So much so that not a single person, not even his closest family, had noticed anything odd about him.
He wasn't some god-tier actor, and he didn't believe it was a coincidence. Not at all.
But he liked it. He liked how the mysteries kept piling up. He loved it.
Still, now wasn't the time to dwell on it. Everything would come to light soon enough he could feel it. And as far as he could remember, his gut feeling had never been wrong.
--
Two days later, at Li Jianyu's office.
"So, there really was something wrong with my car?" Li Jinshen asked, though he already seemed to know the answer.
"Yeah," Li Jianyu said with a frown. "The people I had check it found that the car was tampered with the brake lines were deliberately cut. If you'd driven it like that, you could've had a serious accident."
"But who would do something like that?" He added, clearly troubled.
Li Jinshen shrugged. They had plenty of enemies given their high positions and their management style. The Liwei Group operated across many sectors, but their core expertise was in technology and infrastructure development, areas where innovation was constant and competition fierce. With the way Li Jinshen and Li Jianyu ran things, some of the older shareholders and some rival companies definitely weren't happy, to say the least.
"Well, all we can do now is investigate," Li Jianyu said, rubbing his temple before sighing. "If someone managed to tamper with your car even with the tight security at Uncle Zhang's birthday, that means their reach is disturbingly far."
Li Jinshen just nodded. Uncle Zhang was an influential man, and his parties always drew a lot of attention. Naturally, he hired top-tier security because people with darker intentions could use those gatherings full of high-status invitees to cause chaos.
"Well, let's investigate quietly and avoid alerting the enemy, okay?" Li Jinshen suggested. Li Jianyu responded with a casual 'okay' sign.
"Oh! By the way, dear uncle" Li Jianyu said, flashing a smile so fake it couldn't have been faker.
Li Jinshen hummed in response, raising an eyebrow.
"How do you know Tianhua's president? You seemed pretty familiar during the party." Li Jianyu said, typing away on his laptop.
"We live in the same apartment building, so we bumped into each other." Li Jinshen said lightly, resting his head back on the couch.
"Oh, I see…" Li Jianyu nodded slowly, then glanced at his uncle sprawled on the couch. "But be careful because last month, we 'borrowed' one of their clients, so they might be harboring some dark thoughts now."
Li Jinshen chuckled and waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about me. You should focus on your job. Have I ever brought trouble?" he asked with a smirk.
Li Jianyu shook his head, then got to the point. "No, of course not. But, as you can see, Qi Han is very handsome." He ground the words out while staring at his uncle, making sure the meaning was clear.
Li Jinshen paused. Another thing he shared with the original Li Jinshen was their common liking for men: homosexuality, or as the old-fashioned called it, 'cut sleeve'. He couldn't deny Qi Han was hot, definitely his type.
"I mean, have you seen that ass?" he thought, before shaking the thought away and refocusing on his nephew.
"Don't worry about that. I'm not the type to get so lost in flirting or pleasure that I'd accidentally spill some important informations," Li Jinshen said snarkily, making a thinly veiled allusion to that one time Li Jianyu got so distracted by a girl he slipped a detail or two about a future project. Luckily, before she could sell it to other companies, he had already taken care of her.
Li Jianyu's lips twitched before he pouted. "You said you wouldn't bring that up again."
"I didn't I'm just talking about myself." Li Jinshen replied with a smile, then laughed as he looked at Li Jianyu's indignant face.
"Okay, okay, sorry. I won't ever bring it up again." Li Jianyu said, raising his pinky finger and wiggling it in mock promise.
Li Jianyu sighed and gave his uncle a gentle shove. "Yeah, yeah. Now go back to your office and let me work in peace. I have a lot to do."
"This is what happens when you leave things until the last minute." Li Jinshen laughed as he stood up. "Oh, by the way today we're going to The Golden Lotus."
"Why?" Li Jianyu asked, confused. He was usually the one to suggest going there.
"Well, I'm feeling happy and generous." Li Jinshen said, flashing his brightest smile. "So as a qualified elder, I figure I should treat you to a meal once in a while."
"Yeah, fuck me sideways if I believe that." Li Jianyu thought deadpan, but he still nodded at the invitation. "What time?"
"10 p.m." Li Jinshen replied, then added, "I'll come by your place at 9 and we can go together."
"Yeah, whatever. Works for me, I guess."
Li Jinshen smiled before leaving the office.
Of course, he wasn't doing this out of goodwill. He wanted to test something. In the original plot, the female lead met the male lead at his favorite restaurant when she was a new waitress trying to make some money.
He wanted to see how strong the plot's influence really was would it bring the two leads together even five months early? Or did it strictly follow the timeline?
If the latter, could he just stop Li Jianyu from going to the restaurant that day? That would be convenient for him, but it also felt too easy. The situation probably wouldn't be that simple.
All he could do was try and see.
---
After getting off work and arriving home, Li Jinshen took a shower before picking out the most comfortable yet fashionable clothes he could find.
He knew there would be paparazzi, after all the restaurant was famous for hosting celebrities, stars, heirs, and the like. So even though he wanted to be comfortable, he had to wear something that wouldn't damage the reputation he'd built.
While taking the elevator down, it stopped on the fifth floor.
"Um?" Li Jinshen thought as the doors opened and Qi Han stepped in.
Qi Han looked slightly surprised to see him understandable, since they hadn't crossed paths in the past 2 days.
"Well, if it isn't Vice President Li in person," Qi Han said with a wink.
"Nice to see you too, President Qin," Li Jinshen replied with a nod before turning his gaze elsewhere.
Qi Han's lips tightened for a moment, then he spoke again.
"You're being a bit cold now, Vice President?"
"Is that so?" Li Jinshen said, locking eyes with him.
"You were talking to me just fine before the party." Qi Han replied, a hint of hurt in his voice.
"That was before I knew who you really were." Li Jinshen sighed, thinking about how much Qi Han and Li Jianyu shared similar traits.
If Li Jianyu were here and heard that, he'd probably be jumping up and down, yelling about how they definitely didn't act the same.
"Well, I don't think that defines me as an individual, Mr. Li." Qi Han said seriously for the first time since they started talking. "You can't just keep me at arm's length now that you know I'm Tianhua's president, especially when things were going so well before. If I've done something to upset you, I wish you'd tell me so I could fix it instead of giving me the cold shoulder, don't you think?"
Li Jinshen looked slightly surprised, then sighed. "I just think it's suspicious that you moved into the same building when there are plenty of nicer places, and at such a… convenient time."
Qi Han blinked, then suddenly remembered what happened last month with their newest client. He laughed until tears welled in his eyes, then got serious again.
"Don't worry, Vice President Li. If you think I moved here as part of some scheme, you're wrong. I'm genuinely interested in you. And honestly, I just moved because a friend recommended this place, no ulterior motives."
Li Jinshen hummed thoughtfully and shrugged. Just then, the elevator dinged, signaling their floor.
"Well, anyway, I hope you won't keep acting cold toward me." Qi Han said with a small smile as he stepped off and headed toward the main exit.
Li Jinshen watched him go for a moment, then turned toward the garage, ready to head to Li Jianyu's house.
_________________________________________
Author's Note:
Hey people.
It's been MONTHS. I'm so sorry it's just that I didn't have time to write with my final exam (grad year) and everything in between I couldn't find time to write :'(
But now that it's all finished I'm trying to get back to writing even though it's hard since now I have zero motivation Ó╭╮Ò
I'm still gonna try my best and write as much as possible. (〃ﾟ3ﾟ〃)
Anyways I Hope you enjoyed this chapter :D