Chapter 264: To Take Drastic Measures
There were too many memories in Shen Chen's head, and they were not coherent. So Shen Chen couldn't be sure what the beginning of the story looked like. He just remembered every ending.
Eighteen years ago, two infants were switched because of Shen Yan's prank. Eighteen years later, the two children met in H Town and became good friends, and then returned to the Shen family at the same time due to an unexpected accident. The adopted son was innocent and kind and had no shrewdness, but the biological son always had a hostility in his heart because he had been living outside since he was a child and was used to the cold world. And this hostility became stronger after Tao Mu witnessed the adopted son's rich lifestyle and always lovable situation. Gradually, the grievances accumulated too deep, and finally got out of hand. So the biological son began to target and frame the adopted son everywhere. The plots here were all the same, the only difference was the ending. Either the biological son had exhausted all his schemes only to instead lose his own life and was reborn to take revenge, resulting in the tragic death of the adopted son who had no shrewdness dying at the age of twenty-eight. Or the adopted son who died from the schemes was reborn to take revenge on the biological son. After the death of the biological son, he continued to be reborn, and came back to take revenge on the adopted son…..the cycle went on and on, and there was no end to it.
"That's not it!" Listening to Shen Chen's description, Tao Mu suddenly realized: "I was reborn in this life, but I never thought about taking revenge, let alone going back to the Shen family. Your inference is untenable."
The corners of Shen Chen's lips curled slightly, revealing a sardonic smile: "Perhaps you have never thought of taking revenge on Shen Yu and the Shen family subjectively, but your existence itself has promoted the development of the plot. As I said, the driving force behind the development of the plot lies in the obsession. And the obsession stems from the fact that you and Shen Yu can't ever get what you want. Therefore, even if you can let go of the Shen family, as long as Shen Yu can't let go, the plot will still develop step by step."
It was just that after so many cycles, the original halo of the plot might have been distorted and couldn't take care of too many details, but could only remember the key nodes of the plot.
Tao Mu sneered, seeing the trace of mockery suddenly flashing in Shen Chen's eyes. He raised his eyebrows and said, "Isn't Shen Yu's obsession the Shen family? He wants to be recognized by the Shen family and wants to return to the Shen family. Then just fulfill his wish.”
Shen Chen was silent. After a long while, he said, "But I also have obsessions."
It would be fine if Shen Chen couldn't remember so many things. But now that he had recalled the Shen family's doom, how could he accept Shen Yu again without any grievances? Don't even mention Shen Yu, an outsider who had nothing to do with the Shen family, even Tao Mu, a fellow blood brother, Shen Chen only felt annoyance the more he looked at him.
Tao Mu understood. All Shen Chen cared about the most in his life was the interests of the Shen family. But no matter what the ending of the story was, the Shen family would inevitably end up in ruins. It was no wonder that Shen Chen rejected him and Shen Yu so much.
Shen Chen originally thought that after he told Tao Mu about these things, Tao Mu would be as upset as he was. After all, this situation of being dominated by an inexplicable plot halo was truly sad and ridiculous. All their joys, sorrows, and all their hard work were ultimately just to promote the development of the plot and make a wedding dress for the so-called ending. When Shen Chen first recalled all this, he was so angry that he wanted to kill someone. He didn't go crazy by relying on his strong restraint, but solved the issue of the Shen Group at the first opportunity, trying to break the plot. But unexpectedly, after Tao Mu knew these things, apart from the relatively big emotional fluctuations at the beginning, he actually appeared quite calm after hearing it.
"It's nothing strange." Noticing Shen Chen's emotions, Tao Mu smiled: "Your current emotional ups and downs were all experienced when I was just reborn. Resentment, unwillingness, and wanting to make everyone who failed me pay the price. Every moment felt like being scorched by fire. But as time goes on, and you meet more people and more things, you will find that the world is actually very big. Those who don’t like you and things that make you unhappy are in the past tense.”
Shen Chen's heart skipped a beat, and he looked at Tao Mu with deep eyes.
Tao Mu laughed self-deprecatingly: "In the past, I really thought that I was worthless. That's why I ended up being betrayed by everyone. My blood relatives don't like me, and even my lover who had been with me for many years betrayed me. But after I experienced many things that I know, it turns out that to become a family also requires fate. The Shen family and I are just not fated to be."
Tao Mu originally had some tiny bit of hope for the Shen family hidden in his heart, but after hearing Shen Chen's description of the memories of so many lifetimes, Tao Mu finally let everything go. He really had no fate with the Shen family. If not, the Shen family would not have turned to Shen Yu every time in so many reincarnations. And there was actually no exception.
Tao Mu knew his own character. Although Shen Chen didn't go into details, Tao Mu knew how far he could compromise when he wanted to fight for something. So Tao Mu could imagine that if he still had obsession with the Shen family and had the memory of rebirth, in order to win the approval of the Shen family, Tao Mu would definitely disguise himself as Shen Yu, and use his innocence and kindness to win over the Shen family's goodwill.
However, even so, in Shen Chen's description, at the beginning of each story, the Shen family had never accepted him like they accepted Shen Yu. All the regrets and sorrow, all happened after Tao Mu's death. As Shen Chen said, maybe these regrets had nothing to do with their true feelings, but were just products to promote the development of the plot.
Tao Mu didn't have as many memories as Shen Chen did, but Tao Mu could use Shen Chen's few words to judge how many disappointments Tao Mu, who had fallen into reincarnation again and again and wanted to win the approval of his family, had experienced, so that he would be like he was now in this life. All obsession with the Shen family disappearing, without anything left behind.
Tao Mu had actually felt strange when he was just reborn! He was clearly such a villain with a stingy and grudgeful heart, and would never give up until he saw the coffin. Yet, after his rebirth, he never thought of returning to the Shen family or taking revenge on Shen Yu. At that time, Tao Mu thought his death in the previous life had erased all his obsessions. But now that he thought about it, since it was an obsession, how could it dissipate so easily. Unless one had experienced too many disappointments, and even gradually saw the essence of the Shen family clearly through rebirths again and again, that was why all his obsessions subconsciously disappeared, and he never thought about revenge or anything else, just wanting to go far away and leave these people alone.
Hearing Tao Mu's words, Shen Chen frowned, and subconsciously wanted to refute Tao Mu's reasoning. However, when the words sat on his tongue, Shen Chen suddenly froze.
"You also found out, right?" Tao Mu chuckled lightly: "If the Shen family had no obsession with Shen Yu, even if I was reborn and forced Shen Yu to death, you wouldn't go as far as to avenge Shen Yu."
"It doesn't matter if you say that my three views are not right, or that I am vicious by nature. I am the real son of the Shen family. Even if I go back to the Shen family and target Shen Yu everywhere, and drive Shen Yu out of the Shen family, I just want him to experience how I have struggled to survive for so many years as an orphan." Tao Mu looked at Shen Chen with a complicated expression, and sneered: "He took my identity, snatched away my family, and lived a pampered life for eighteen years. I just want to let him experience how I had lived for nearly two decades, yet he can't stand it even for ten years as an adult. How dare he have the face to be obsessed and perform sh*t like rebirth and revenge?"
"Bullsh*t!" Tao Mu couldn't help but swear: "How thick-skinned and self-entitled is Shen Yu to dare to give rise to such an obsession?"
"Do you still think that your Shen family is tragic and innocent?" Tao Mu sneered again and again, but his heart was filled with sadness rather than anger: "If your Shen family could put yourselves in the right place for once in these many lives, or at least remember who your real son is and how he struggled to survive while you people blindly dote on a fake, as long as you have a little bit of blood and familial affection for me, you would not be the knife Shen Yu used to deal with me. I am also very surprised, you people actually chose a fake in every lifetime, either treat me badly in life, or become my enemy after Shen Yu's death!"
Tao Mu felt that the idiot who fantasized about the warmth of his blood family and hoped to be recognized by them was truly ridiculous, and he even laughed out loud: "That the Shen family has been reduced to death and destruction in every life, the blame is entirely on yourselves."
Tao Mu's eyes were slightly red. Never had Tao Mu felt that he had seen through the Shen family so clearly.
So after going around in circles for so many lives, only Shen Yu and the Shen family were one true family.
"It's really disgusting." Tao Mu's Adam's apple moved up and down, his emotions tumbling, but his face was calm: "You should go find Shen Yu."
"It's not me, but him who is truly obsessed with the Shen family." Tao Mu smiled, and his shining dark eyes were full of gleeful malice: "Although I don't know why, I'm really glad now that you are also reborn. And in order to get the Shen family out of ruin, you personally destroyed the Shen Group."
"Go ahead and take a guess, after the Shen Group is gone, and the Shen family can no longer be relied upon by Shen Yu to live a good life, will Shen Yu care about the Shen family as much as in previous lives?"
"Let me give you a suggestion." Tao Mu suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and hooked up the corners of his mouth very maliciously: "You take the Shen family to find Shen Yu, how about letting Shen Yu support you? Doesn't he value family affection very much? Doesn't he like very much to snatch other people's parents, siblings, such that even after stealing for several lifetimes he is still not tired of it all? Then how about letting him take on the responsibility of being one's child and sibling?"
"Although you didn't say it, in the previous reincarnations, Shen Yu should have enjoyed the privileges of being the second son of the Shen family, right? He is also 20 years old this year. He is an adult. After enjoying his privileges, he should fulfill his obligations.”
"I heard that Chairman Shen——oh, that's right, he is no longer the chairman. Shen, Shi, Yuan," Tao Mu smiled playfully, and enunciated the name of the person who was supposed to be his biological father word by word: "Got so angry that he had a heart attack and was hospitalized? This is a good opportunity. Why not have your Shen family's most precious adopted son come to the hospital bed to serve his father?"
"After all, both you and your father have been so kind to him from the beginning to the end." Tao Mu thought that even if in this life, Shen Yu was driven out of the Shen family by Mrs. Shen and Shen Yan, Shen Shiyuan and Shen Chen still treated Shen Yu with a loving face and attitude and did not change in any way. He couldn't help revealing an interested smile: "Go find Shen Yu. If after the Shen family lost the Shen Group and will never be able to become Shen Yu's backer and reliance, yet Shen Yu still misses the Shen family and still wants to get your understanding and approval, I will admit that Shen Yu is the real member of the Shen family." Even if there was no blood relationship.
"I swear, if in this life, Shen Yu can continue as before after the decline of the Shen family. Even if there is another life, in the next life, I will definitely have no obsession with the Shen family and Shen Yu. I, Tao Mu, will never be part of the Shen family in this life, afterlife and forever. In this life, afterlife and forever, I will no longer have anything to do with the Shen family."
But what if Shen Yu's attitude changed!
Tao Mu and Shen Chen looked at each other, but neither of them spoke. If Shen Yu's attitude changed, it proved that Shen Yu's obsession was not with the Shen family itself, but with the prosperity and wealth that the Shen family could provide him. Now that you have seen through this point, did it matter if you had obsessions or not?
People live one lifetime, and it was already impressive to be able to live it clear-headed. Who cared about what would happen in the next life? Tao Mu had been reborn so many times, but didn't he only feel that he finally made sense of life today?
At this moment, Tao Mu suddenly felt his body lighten, as if something that was fettered deep in his blood had broken free.
Shen Chen looked at Tao Mu's suddenly relaxed features, and his heart suddenly became empty. It was as if any connection had been cut off.
The two brothers looked at each other. Then silently looked away in tacit agreement. Maybe they only had this life left of being blood brothers!
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