DLRAS Chapter 70

Chapter 70: Why do you keep pestering Teacher Chen?

Huo Zhenfei chided him: “So senile that he’s constantly thinking and worrying about you? I get the feeling it’s genuinely weighing on his mind. Of course, this is just my own guess—Grandpa is nearing the end, and he still has a hurdle he can’t get past in his heart. He doesn’t want to take it down to the grave with him.”

He didn’t state it explicitly, but the meaning was clear. They both knew what that hurdle was.

Huo Niansheng nonchalantly bent down and retrieved an ice bucket from the freezer under the bar counter. “Want some?”

Huo Zhenfei pushed his glass over.

With a clink, an ice sphere dropped into the glass, sank, and bobbed back up.

He observed Huo Niansheng’s expression and carefully broached the subject: “Since it’s just the two of us, I might as well speak frankly. I heard Grandpa said something to Lawyer Ji recently; he said he still hopes for family harmony and doesn’t want to see his descendants in turmoil when he’s in his coffin. Hearing this, I realized why, ever since you came back to the country, he’s been constantly pressuring Second Uncle to arrange blind dates for you. So this was his intention.”

Huo Niansheng brought his glass to his lips. “A great intention. Second Uncle finds me a wife, so I can smile and let bygones be bygones with him.”

Huo Zhenfei said, “You can’t put it like that. You’re being a bit too extreme again.”

Huo Niansheng smiled. “Then what is it? Before Grandpa dies, let me get married to bring him some auspicious joy to ward off bad luck?”

Huo Zhenfei was momentarily speechless. But having brought the topic up himself, he had to play the peacemaker. “Marriage is a major event; of course, it can’t be treated carelessly. Grandpa wanting you to settle down is more about not wanting you to live the kind of life you did before. Where do you spend your nights? Do you have a fixed place to eat your three meals a day? That’s the meaning of starting a family. Muddling along one day here and one day there is never a long-term solution.”

Huo Niansheng raised an eyebrow, playing with his phone. “So you’re also trying to persuade me to settle down.”

Huo Zhenfei probed, “If you were still changing partners every day, I wouldn’t be sticking my nose in.”

It was already as obvious as it could be, so Huo Zhenfei finally stopped beating around the bush. “Honestly, I knew last time that you had someone. Actually, Grandpa heard about it even earlier; after all, there’s no wall that completely blocks the wind. It doesn’t seem like you’re intentionally hiding them, so why not bring them home for us to meet?”

Huo Niansheng noncommittally reminded him, “You have a call.”

Huo Zhenfei looked down and saw a subordinate’s name. Calling at this hour usually meant an urgent work matter. He picked it up and walked to the side to answer.

Before swiping to connect the call, he turned back and added one last sentence: “Whether it’s a man or a woman, just bring them to meet everyone first. Look, rather than letting Grandpa hear hearsay from others, wouldn’t it be better if you took the initiative to introduce them to us?”

Behind his back, Huo Niansheng revealed a slightly mocking smile and tipped his head back, draining his glass.

He poured himself another glass. A long moment later, his cousin’s wife came downstairs. Seeing only Huo Niansheng drinking alone, she asked, “Where’s Huo Zhenfei?”

She was draped in a sapphire silk shawl over a beige mulberry silk nightgown, her hair casually swept to one side in a loose bun—ready for bed. Huo Niansheng pointed outside the glass doors. She nodded and went out to look for her husband, who hadn’t yet returned to their room.

Huo Niansheng stood up, paced the living room a few times, unhurriedly wound the antique grandfather clock twice, and walked up the stairs step by step.

The time Chen Wengang had met with Huo Jingsheng privately, he had added him as a contact.

He hadn’t used this contact information since, but Huo Jingsheng hadn’t gone out of his way to block him, either.

Huo Jingsheng was clearly someone with a strong desire to share; he posted everything on his feed, enthusiastically pontificating on all sorts of current events. When Chen Wengang occasionally saw them, he would leave a “like.” That was until this Thursday, when he unexpectedly received a message from Huo Jingsheng.

The next day brought them close to the weekend, and Huo Niansheng had agreed to pick Chen Wengang up for dinner that evening.

Having offloaded the mess at the Zheng Group, Chen Wengang had enjoyed a few days of relaxation, though there were always other things to fill his schedule. Huo Niansheng obtained a visitor’s pass for the special education school, entered through the side gate, went up to the second floor of the teaching building, and saw him busy through the glass of the classroom’s back door.

Five or six children were gathered around a table drawing. The teachers and teaching assistants here all wore tracksuits, plain and unadorned. Their postures, however, were wildly uninhibited, standing with legs spread wide, bracing against both sides of the table to prevent the kids from running off, which looked rather comical.

Watching for a while, Huo Niansheng’s eyes unconsciously filled with a warm smile.

Someone walked past behind him. He turned his head and found himself face-to-face with a middle-aged woman.

The smile on Huo Niansheng’s face seamlessly shifted meaning as he looked her up and down. “Ms. Jiang Wanxia?”

Jiang Wanxia, carrying a wicker basket in both hands, looked a bit flustered upon hearing her name. “Oh, you… you are Teacher Chen’s… He’ll be in class for another half hour in there.”

Huo Niansheng gave a sidelong glance, let out an “oh,” and muttered a word of thanks.

“Although Teacher Chen is young, he’s actually very kind and steady.” Jiang Wanxia didn’t leave, but instead started chatting with him. “In the beginning, when I was at the end of my rope with no job, I ended up finding him, and he helped us mother and daughter out tremendously. Oh right, I still need to thank him for taking my daughter home last time, too.”

“You have a daughter too?” Huo Niansheng asked. “Oh, my memory… I think I saw her the last time I was here.”

“Yes, you saw her. That’s Caicai, she’s in high school. She’s actually very smart, just refuses to focus on her studies. Of course, the school isn’t good either. The high schools in this district don’t have any good teachers, and I don’t really know how to tutor her…”

Huo Niansheng patiently listened to her chatter, going from how she had worried about her daughter for years to how she had asked Teacher Chen to look out for her. Only when she finished did he say, “If I’ve misunderstood, I apologize in advance.” He cast his eyes down at Jiang Wanxia; she had a puffy, pallid look and was nearly a head shorter than him. Huo Niansheng smiled. “I thought the one you were really interested in was me. So why are you always clinging onto Teacher Chen?”

Jiang Wanxia gasped, her eyes widening as she stood tongue-tied, looking as if she had suffered a considerable fright.

The melodious sound of the class dismissal music suddenly chimed, saving the moment.

She turned her head and walked away rapidly.

Huo Niansheng watched her retreating back with a frivolous look before turning his gaze back into the classroom.

Chen Wengang came out holding his lower back. “A cold has been going around lately, knocking out quite a few staff members. We’re short on teaching assistants.”

So he had been filling in as a temporary substitute. Huo Niansheng asked with a smile, “Other people catch a cold, what happened to your back?”

Only when Chen Wengang returned to the office with him did he lift his shirt to look at his back. “The corners of the tables are clearly padded, I don’t know how I managed to bump into it.”

Huo Niansheng also looked down at it. “Looks like a bruise. You really don’t know how to be careful. Do you have to work overtime tomorrow?”

Chen Wengang grabbed a button-down shirt and jeans, getting ready to change. “No. I don’t have many classes tomorrow.”

There were two other teachers in the office who weren’t surprised to see Huo Niansheng. The work environment here was relatively relaxed. It seemed that people who did a lot of social work generally possessed a Zen-like mindset that an ordinary life was a blessing, so they had adapted well to his presence, even though he didn’t exactly look like a respectable family man. They merely teased that Mr. Huo had come visiting again.

Someone even extended an invitation: “Do you guys want to come get Japanese food with us?”

Chen Wengang smiled and waved at them. “Next time. We have other plans today.”

The so-called “other plans” involved Huo Niansheng sitting with him at a street food stall half an hour later, his expensive clothes undergoing the trial of smoke and fire. But eating skewers had to be done in a shabby, low-slung place with the wind blowing through from all sides; a refined, three-star Michelin establishment simply lacked the right flavor.

Mutton and beef fat skewers sizzled on the grill, the dripping grease mingling with the aroma of cumin and chili powder, bursting fiercely into the air.

Chen Wengang poured two cups of beer. “I don’t know if you’re used to this, but when we were kids, any chance to be brought out by the adults for barbecue had us overjoyed. We’d always order a bowl of beef noodles at the end, but let me see… that shop has already moved away.”

Huo Niansheng clinked glasses with him, his eyes filled with a smile. “Where are we planning to go this weekend?”

Chen Wengang leaned over and fed him a bite of tiger-skin green pepper stuffed with meat. “Whatever you want.”

Huo Niansheng laughed. “Whatever you want is the hardest thing to cater to.”

Chen Wengang thought for a moment. “Speaking of which, do you remember you gifted me a boat once?”

Mentioning that time, both of them laughed. Huo Niansheng teased, “Seems I recall something like that. And then what?”

Chen Wengang told him, “And then I suddenly remembered it. How about we go check out my boat?”

He drew out the word “my” with a soft, gentle voice that tugged affectionately at the heartstrings. Of course, going to the yacht club wasn’t just about looking at the boat; it truly was a place for leisure and entertainment, and it seemed they had summer events going on recently. Huo Niansheng had no reason to dampen his enthusiasm and gladly agreed to accompany him.

The weekend date itinerary was thus settled.

It was just that the yacht club was a two-hour drive from the city center. Since they were going anyway, they decided to set off that very night, giving it a bit of a spontaneous flair. Huo Niansheng drove, and they arrived past ten o’clock. Naturally, they stayed in his long-term suite, Room 707.

Early the next morning, the staff took them to see what was now the Alex.

Since the yacht’s title had been transferred, this was actually Chen Wengang’s first time seeing it. Most of the time, he couldn’t even remember he had such an expensive plaything under his name. The boat rested quietly on the seawater, bobbing up and down as if breathing in loneliness.

Huo Niansheng stood on the dock, both hands stuffed in his pockets, exuding a dashing air of being able to easily let things go. “Know how to drive it?”

Chen Wengang looked at him against the sea breeze. “What do you think?”

Without waiting for an answer, he nimbly hopped onto the boat. It didn’t look like the stance of someone who didn’t know how to drive.

Huo Niansheng slowly followed him aboard, looking around the familiar cabin. “Just coming aboard to take a look doesn’t count as going out to sea, does it, Teacher Chen?”

With breath brushing against his ear, Chen Wengang smiled and turned to look at him. “You really kept remembering that?”

Huo Niansheng looked down at him. “Count them yourself. Which word I’ve said to you have I failed to fulfill?”

Chen Wengang looked back at the staff on the shore; the cabin blocked everyone’s view. He pulled Huo Niansheng’s neck down. “I’ll give you a free pass. As long as you take me with you, you can go as far out as you want. Want to take her out for a spin?”

Unfortunately, the engine had developed a problem and the yacht was still undergoing maintenance, so they were destined not to go out to sea today.

When the two returned to shore, the staff apologized, guessing the gentlemen might enjoy another activity. “There’s a race track over the mountain, and there happens to be a race today. Mr. Huo, Mr. Chen, are you interested? We have a shuttle taking members over at noon.”

Noticing Chen Wengang’s gaze, Huo Niansheng was indifferent. “If you want to go, let’s go.”

Chen Wengang wasn’t an F1 fan, but he didn’t mind watching a race. They arrived at the venue, had their tickets checked at the entrance, and reached the grandstands of the starting grid. When they arrived, many cars were warming up their tires, the roaring of engines rising and falling.

Seating in the grandstands was unassigned. The two walked over one after another. The crowd was sparse, people sitting in groups of threes and fives with their friends.

In a seat enveloped by the crowd, a man turned his head, froze for a moment, and actively walked over, calling out to Huo Niansheng.

The man extended his hand, introducing himself to Chen Wengang. “Huo Zhenfei. Are you Niansheng’s friend?”

Chen Wengang shook hands with Huo Zhenfei.

His waist suddenly tightened as an arm slowly wrapped around him, and Huo Niansheng pulled him into his embrace.

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