Chapter 58: On the contrary, your side is the calmest.
Holding a wine glass by the stem, Li Hongqiong walked along the red carpet. Inside, a layer of peach-red liquid swirled, the rim refracting the overhead lights.
Huo Niansheng was leaning against the railing, looking down. One arm rested behind him, while the other swirled a whiskey glass.
She couldn’t help but be curious: “What were you and Zheng Yucheng whispering about so secretly inside?”
“Nothing much. Just reminiscing about our green, youthful days.”
“I can’t imagine someone like you ever having ‘green, youthful days.'”
“There’s a lot you can’t imagine. I bet you can’t imagine me being a good family man, either.” Huo Niansheng raised his glass to her, taking in her speechless expression. “At the very least, I make a decent boyfriend—do you want a drink or not?”
“No.” Li Hongqiong furrowed her elegant brows in slight disgust. “Keep your peaty monster to yourself.”
“I actually think this flavor has a story to tell,” Huo Niansheng said.
Friends came and went around them. Someone nearby seemed to have made a joke, sparking a burst of laughter.
Li Hongqiong stopped beside Huo Niansheng, and they chatted casually about other things. Eventually, the conversation circled back to Zheng Yucheng, who had just left.
What puzzled Li Hongqiong was: “Are he and He Wanxin getting close again? I thought that was a lost cause.”
Huo Niansheng replied, “I’m not too clear on that either. I rarely care about other people’s insignificant gossip.”
Li Hongqiong responded to his nonsense with her usual scoff. She smiled and finished her drink.
From her perspective, she actually thought He Wanxin was playing a brilliant game of turning the tables against the wind.
For an illegitimate daughter to firmly secure the trust of her biological father and half-brother proved that her methods were far from trivial. Now that she was officially recognized as a Miss of the He family, and given the extensive business collaborations between the Zheng and He families, a marriage alliance was the most powerful way to solidify their partnership. Zheng Yucheng was the most suitable candidate she could pick for herself—he had a bright future, was easily swayed by emotions, and if she could control him, she would skyrocket to the top.
Previously, He Wanxin’s unyielding infatuation with Zheng Yucheng had caused several farcical scenes. Although unseemly, it served a purpose: now, even if there were other eligible girls in the He family, anyone who cared about their dignity wouldn’t try to steal him from her.
However, every advantage has its drawback. Zheng Bingyi might not favor a daughter-in-law who lacked an understanding of the bigger picture, meaning he would likely weigh the decision more heavily because of this.
Perhaps realizing this, after eliminating external threats, she had recently started playing the good girl. Li Hongqiong heard that He Wanxin had suddenly become enthusiastic about public welfare—one moment cutting ribbons for environmental organizations, the next raising funds to renovate the municipal public library. In short, she was keeping very busy.
Some put love above all else, while others only loved money and power. But who could say how many would actually get their wishes fulfilled in the end?
Li Hongqiong turned her gaze to Huo Niansheng and suddenly asked, “If the child Uncle Zheng adopted back then wasn’t a boy but a girl, the situation might be very different now. Which type do you think he’d prefer when choosing a daughter-in-law? One with a prominent family background, or a virtuous helpmeet?”
Huo Niansheng gave her a casual but solid glare. “I think your hypothetical scenarios are pure garbage.”
Old Li, the driver, opened the car door for Huo Niansheng. As he settled into the back seat, he heard the question: “Mr. Huo, where are you heading tonight?”
Huo Niansheng was about to say Yunding Building but suddenly changed his mind: “Back to Yushui Bay.”
Yunding Building was the apartment where he had taken Chen Wengang last time. Yushui Bay was the Huo family’s main residence.
On the way, Huo Niansheng rested his eyes, maintaining a slight buzz that stopped short of drunkenness.
He had met Zheng Yucheng that night, poured him drinks, and employed psychological tactics, but despite pulling out all the stops, he hadn’t managed to extract anything from him. True, Zheng Yucheng had hemmed and hawed, unable to deny that his friends indeed looked down on Chen Wengang.
But as for physical harm, Huo Niansheng still hadn’t obtained any concrete evidence.
This sense of frustration was rare for him. Or perhaps it simply meant that Zheng Yucheng genuinely knew nothing about such incidents.
Huo Niansheng let out a cold smile.
Chen Wengang’s panic attacks couldn’t have arisen out of nowhere.
He also found it hard to dismiss that nightmare as merely a bad dream. The moment Huo Niansheng closed his eyes, the image of a bruised and battered Chen Wengang felt more like a terrifyingly vivid memory, constantly hanging over his head as a threat.
Huo Niansheng was usually unfazed and rarely tormented himself over pointless things, but this had become one of those rare exceptions.
But it didn’t matter. Being a fool who worried needlessly was better than being a fool filled with unbearable regret.
The driver parked the car at the entrance. “Mr. Huo, we’ve arrived.”
The moment he stepped through the door, a thought suddenly struck Huo Niansheng: if anything were to pose a threat to Chen Wengang, it might very well originate from within the Huo family itself. Once Huo Kaishan was gone, anything was possible.
He frowned slightly, then immediately relaxed his expression.
In the living room, his cousin Huo Zhenfei was rigidly scolding his son: “So why couldn’t you pass?”
The seven- or eight-year-old boy saw Huo Niansheng walk in and immediately cast a pleading look. “Uncle—”
Huo Niansheng smiled. “I think that’s enough. At his age, is it really necessary to make him learn Latin?”
Huo Zhenfei sat there firmly, pulling a long face like a strict patriarch. “I’m doing this for his own good. When he grows up, he’ll thank me.”
The old residence was currently occupied by Huo Niansheng’s Third Uncle’s family. Huo Zhenfei was Third Uncle’s only son, thirty-five years old this year.
Third Uncle Huo had married early, and his son followed suit. With the little rascal in front of them, four generations lived under one roof.
Huo Niansheng wasn’t particularly fond of children, but his playful, cynical attitude toward life surprisingly made kids think he was cool.
Because of this, Huo Zhenfei’s son, Huo Yuxiang, was quite clingy with him. “Uncle, when are you going to take me out to play?”
A slender figure suddenly floated into Huo Niansheng’s mind.
A smile blossomed on his lips. “When there’s a chance. I’ll take you to meet a new friend.”
Huo Zhenfei sent his son upstairs and sat down opposite Huo Niansheng at the bar.
“Drink?”
“No thanks, I had quite a bit tonight.”
So Huo Zhenfei poured a glass only for himself. “I really have to thank you. You’ve finally stopped generating endless scandals lately.”
Huo Niansheng raised an eyebrow. “Are you mocking me?”
“I’m serious,” Huo Zhenfei said. “The news of Grandfather’s critical illness has already dealt a severe enough blow to shareholder confidence, and Fourth Uncle’s branch just got hit with a divorce scandal. To be honest, I was most worried you’d act up. Who knew that when push came to shove, you’d be the quietest one.”
Huo Niansheng chuckled softly. “Aren’t you afraid my old scandals will be dug up?”
Huo Zhenfei looked at him. “Actually, we all know that back then…”
Back then, Huo Niansheng’s biological father, an inveterate philanderer, died amidst his romantic escapades—a playboy in life and a playboy in death. In short, he reported to the underworld early to become a flirtatious ghost. This left Huo Niansheng and Huo Jingsheng essentially fatherless and motherless, tossed into the large family and raised by nannies.
In their generation, Huo Zhenfei was the eldest. Below him was Second Uncle’s son, Huo Yingfei, who was around the same age as Huo Niansheng.
To this day, Huo Zhenfei still remembered that their grandfather, Huo Kaishan, for some unknown reason, always harbored immense dissatisfaction with Huo Niansheng.
Standing in stark contrast to Huo Niansheng was Huo Yingfei—a dashing youth, gentle as jade. Huo Kaishan had once praised this grandson as “gentle and refined, a true gentleman.” But that was exactly the problem. The more he saw Huo Yingfei as polite and principled, the more unbearable Huo Niansheng’s mischievousness appeared.
Over time, Huo Zhenfei also began to see the underlying cause: Second Uncle frequently gossiped in front of Grandfather, slandering Huo Niansheng.
The strange thing, however, was that he rarely targeted Huo Jingsheng—perhaps because Huo Jingsheng was younger, so they remained at peace.
The incident in question happened during Huo Yingfei’s coming-of-age birthday party. He had invited classmates and friends over to celebrate. A large group of teenage boys and girls, many of whom had been drinking, stayed overnight in the guest rooms, making a huge racket. The next morning, a girl ran out crying, claiming she had been molested in the middle of the night.
The security cameras only caught a view from behind of someone entering her room. Both Huo Niansheng and Huo Yingfei had similar builds from behind.
Their physiques were the only ones that matched the figure.
Second Uncle Huo swore to the heavens in front of Huo Kaishan: “It’s impossible for Yingfei to do such a thing.”
Third Uncle Huo said, “The girl had been drinking and couldn’t recognize who it was. Or perhaps an outsider did it. We still need to find more evidence.”
At that moment, Huo Jingsheng suddenly spoke up: “I saw my older brother… leave his room in the middle of the night and sneak into her room.”
Huo Zhenfei could still recall the scene from that moment. After speaking, Huo Jingsheng tightly shut his mouth and hung his head. Huo Niansheng didn’t offer a single word of defense. He stood leaning against the wall, arms crossed, wearing a cynical, careless smile. “Done talking? My business here is finished, then.”
He turned and walked away, while Huo Kaishan smashed a teacup: “If we don’t discipline this vile spawn, he’ll become completely lawless!”
In the end, since no substantial assault had occurred, they didn’t call the police for a DNA test. The girl’s side also didn’t want to blow the matter out of proportion and damage her reputation. To cover up this potentially explosive scandal, the Huo family demonstrated immense sincerity in settling the matter privately and banished Huo Niansheng abroad to weather the storm.
Outside the study, Huo Zhenfei heard Second Uncle suggest this to Huo Kaishan.
When he turned around, he didn’t know when Huo Yingfei had appeared behind him, still wearing that gentle, refined smile.
“It’s just a pity for that girl, having to swallow her grievances silently,” Huo Yingfei said, patting Huo Zhenfei’s shoulder. “He caused a mess, and we have to cover it up for him. But what can we do? He’s family… wouldn’t you agree?”
However, after going abroad, Huo Niansheng seemed to simply give up on himself. He rarely contacted the family. When Huo Zhenfei did hear news of him, it was entirely through various rumors. Word had it that he let himself go, spending his days drinking and womanizing, living a life of endless revelry.
Gradually, whenever Huo Niansheng was mentioned, people only said that the Huo family had produced another prodigal son.
The first having been his father.
Recalling the past, Huo Zhenfei couldn’t help but sigh. He set his glass down and squinted at his cousin.
Ten years had passed since then, with countless events and various upheavals in between. For example, looking back at that clumsy frame-up and accusation, many aspects naturally couldn’t hold water. Or take Huo Yingfei, who during his university years was collectively exposed by several junior female students for sexual harassment. His pristine reputation was ruined, and tabloids still occasionally dragged it out to mock him. He no longer bothered pretending to be a gentleman these days.
Huo Zhenfei sighed: “I know that because of Huo Yingfei, you absolutely loathe those sanctimonious moral paragons…”
Huo Niansheng, however, said, “Not necessarily.”
Huo Zhenfei raised an eyebrow. “Who was it last time who laughed at others, saying the more high-and-mighty they look on the surface, the more they’re secretly filled with filth?”
Huo Niansheng smiled indifferently. “Huo Yingfei is Huo Yingfei, and other people are other people. I don’t practice guilt by association or paint everyone with the same brush. Maybe my tastes have changed now. What if I happen to like someone who is aloof, elegant, and indifferent to fame and fortune?”
Huo Zhenfei’s gaze turned probing. “It sounds like you’ve got a situation on your hands.”
Huo Niansheng didn’t deny it.
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Author’s Note:
Let’s sort out the main members of the Huo family’s four generations under one roof:
Generation 1: Huo Kaishan
Generation 2: Second Uncle Huo, Third Uncle Huo
Generation 3: Huo Yingfei, Huo Zhenfei, Huo Niansheng, Huo Jingsheng
Generation 4: Huo Zhenfei’s son
Note 1: If we’re being pedantic, Huo Zhenfei should actually call his father’s older brother “Second Uncle [Bo]”, but “Second Uncle Huo” [Er Shu] and “Third Uncle Huo” [San Shu] basically function as the names for these two minor characters. To reduce reading difficulty, I won’t jump back and forth between “Shu” and “Bo”—let’s just assume this is how their family prefers to address them.
Note 2: Huo Yingfei and Huo Zhenfei; Huo Niansheng and Huo Jingsheng. This naming convention broadly indicates their factions. Because Huo Yingfei and Huo Zhenfei are legitimate children, while Huo Niansheng and Huo Jingsheng were brought back to the family, let’s just interpret it as them not being included in the “Fei” generation name.
I KNEW there was a lore behind his “playboy” image