DLRAS Chapter 113

Chapter 113: I want to touch you.

Someone knocked on the door—it was Huo Zhenfei’s secretary, rushing in to urge him to attend a meeting. He nodded at her: “I know, I’ll be there in a moment.”

He then looked at Chen Wengang with a helpless expression: “By acting like this, aren’t you just being as indiscriminate as the people outside? Blaming everyone surnamed Huo for ‘colluding’ the moment something goes wrong? In reality, the only ones suspected of money laundering are those in the Second Uncle’s camp; he is the one who implicated us.”

Chen Wengang leaned both hands on the desk: “I don’t care about anything else. Tell me, where is Huo Niansheng?”

Huo Zhenfei said: “He is genuinely on a routine business trip; I didn’t lie to you about that. It’s just an unfortunate coincidence that he went abroad at this exact moment and cannot be reached, which naturally makes him look suspicious. The economic crime investigation unit may list him as a key person of interest to confirm whether he is a fugitive. We just need to buy ourselves some golden time, pull the right strings, handle the PR, and distance the Huo Group from this as much as possible.”

“Is that necessary? Huo Niansheng is not involved with them.”

“We know that to be the case, of course. But because he and Huo Yingfei are relatives, and they both appeared on Wang Qiming’s boat—and Huo Yingfei participated in gambling—since you were both there, it takes time to gather evidence to prove Huo Niansheng wasn’t involved. As long as he can stand up to the scrutiny, the police will eventually realize their investigation direction was wrong after some trouble, and they won’t be able to do anything to him.”

“It was you who hoped he would get on that boat.” Chen Wengang’s response was sharp. “He agreed, and now you’re exploiting him like this?”

“You have to understand the urgency of the situation,” Huo Zhenfei said helplessly. “If I had the ability to foresee the future, none of this would have happened! But you can’t do anything, and neither can I. Since the accident has occurred, we must prioritize the bigger picture.”

“But I don’t believe you have no other options.” Chen Wengang suddenly changed the subject. “Have you ever worn a wedding ring?”

“What?” Huo Zhenfei was confused.

“Why don’t you wear one? Is it inconvenient? One gets used to it after wearing it for a long time. Is it because showing yourself as a married man hurts your charm? Is it inconvenient for social outings and entertainment? Or is marriage just unimportant to you, and wearing one feels meaningless?”

“…”

Chen Wengang raised his left hand. He stared at his own hand; the ring shimmered with a gentle, matte glow between his fingers. “I once regretted it deeply. If I had the chance, I would have wanted to wear the ring for a lifetime. What you treat as nothing is something I’ve craved my whole life but could never attain.”

“So?”

“But once missed, it is a lifetime of regret.” He looked at Huo Zhenfei. “I only want to spend the rest of my life with Huo Niansheng. Is that so difficult?”

Huo Zhenfei sucked in a breath. He had vaguely heard that this “brother-in-law” had some mental health issues, had seen doctors for medication, and had once had an episode in public. These were things that could be looked up. Previously, Huo Zhenfei hadn’t taken it seriously—Huo Niansheng was the one taking care of him, after all.

But now, he was afraid of Chen Wengang becoming emotionally unstable in the office. He really had no time to deal with these trifles.

“I can understand your feelings,” Huo Zhenfei said comfortingly. “It’s not that I’m not worried about Niansheng. Trust me, in the end, there will be a proper resolution. Go home and wait for news first; I will notify you the moment I hear anything, okay?”

He was anxious to get to his meeting, but Chen Wengang was faster. He blocked the way and locked the office door with a sharp click.

What was the rush? He hadn’t even started what he needed to say.

“Don’t be in such a hurry to leave,” Chen Wengang blocked the door. “And don’t be in a hurry to play the innocent party. You attribute all the problems to your Second Uncle. His money laundering is a major crime, but what about you? Can you honestly say you’ve never used the foundation to evade taxes or cook the books?”

Huo Zhenfei rubbed his temples: “You’re being unreasonable. No company can claim to be 100% law-abiding, especially a behemoth like the Huo Group. Where the water is too clear, there are no fish. Even if there are some minor problems, you can’t necessarily use them as leverage.”

Chen Wengang picked up the file bag: “Fine. Why don’t you analyze it for me point by point, and we’ll see if they are ‘minor problems’.”

Huo Zhenfei had a premonition of disaster as he heard him continue: “You asked me to quit my previous job and join your family foundation. I agreed. Your father and you wanted to take the opportunity to keep an eye on me, but I also had the chance to see your work from the inside.”

Huo Zhenfei smiled: “Is that so? What kind of problems have you discovered?”

Chen Wengang looked at him calmly: “You are the Group’s General Manager, and your father is the Chairman. Perhaps in your father’s eyes, he has never truly looked at me; I’m just a university student trying to climb the social ladder. In fact, I have a bit more experience than you think. I have a rough understanding of the basic conditions of the city’s public welfare and charitable organizations—who is doing real work, who is just a shell. Furthermore, from how much budget a charity event requires, to how much money should be spent on procurement of donations, the donation process, the flow of funds, and where it’s easy to hide tricks… if you asked Huo Lingchong, he might be confused, but I am crystal clear.”

Huo Zhenfei’s expression darkened. He looked at him without speaking, seemingly weighing the truth of his words.

Chen Wengang wasn’t afraid. He tapped his own temple: “I have no other merits, but I am good at learning. It’s true I don’t have access to highly confidential documents, but where the books are suspicious is quite transparent to me. Where circulation processes have been inflated, where asset and liability items have been converted—it’s easy for experienced veterans to spot.”

Huo Zhenfei pulled a stack of papers from the file bag, flipped through them briefly, and shoved them back in. His Adam’s apple bobbed.

He forced a smile again: “You haven’t shown these to anyone else yet, have you?”

Chen Wengang said: “You can call security up here and lock me up. But the moment I’m missing for more than 12 hours, a mix of true and fake information will be released to the media. You are afraid of scandal and want to dump the dirty water on Huo Niansheng to save yourselves. I have no choice but to drag your whole family down with me. Third Uncle is the Chairman of the Foundation, and Sister-in-law is the Chairwoman. If something happens to the foundation, are they not responsible?”

Huo Zhenfei took him to the Third Uncle’s Chairman office.

Half an hour later, Chen Wengang left the father and son behind.

Pushing open the glass doors of the Huo Tower, the neon lights shone overhead. Chen Wengang stood by the roadside, surrounded by people heading home from work.

He was restless. The open road was right in front of him, but he didn’t know where to walk. They had already moved back to Jiangchao Street, but Chen Wengang didn’t want to go back there. He had taken a taxi when he arrived, but on the way back, he relied on his own two feet, walking slowly all the way to Yunding Tower.

He pushed the door open to an empty apartment that lacked any warmth.

The housekeeper had followed them to the Jiangchao Street house. She got along well with Chen Wengang, so Huo Niansheng had kept her on. The Chen family’s house there was too small to accommodate a live-in nanny, but since she lived in the old city district herself, it became a arrangement where she worked days and went home at night.

Chen Wengang tossed and turned on the sofa for hours. The hour hand pointed to 12, then to 1, yet he had no desire to sleep. It wasn’t until past 3:00 AM that his phone finally chimed. Seeing the sender, his fingers trembled, and he immediately initiated a video call.

Huo Niansheng’s face appeared on the screen—a bit of a lag, his hair slightly messy from the arduous travel, but his expression was alert.

He smiled and asked Chen Wengang: “Why haven’t you slept at this hour?”

A layer of mist rapidly rose in Chen Wengang’s eyes: “You…”

His throat choked up. He turned over, trying to sit up, but it felt as if his strength had been drained. His tightly wound heart suddenly plummeted, and his bones and muscles seemed to have forgotten how to function. He just lay with his face against the sofa, watching Huo Niansheng through the screen.

Huo Niansheng’s voice was very gentle: “Did I scare you? Don’t be afraid, I’m fine. Just bad luck; a large-scale power outage hit the whole city right after I landed. These kinds of accidents aren’t rare here. The base station couldn’t operate, so there was no signal.”

Chen Wengang set his mind at ease: “You’ve had more than just bad luck. Have you heard about things back home? You were almost labeled a fugitive.”

Huo Niansheng already knew: “I won’t let myself be implicated. The project here is on hold; I will be back very soon.”

Chen Wengang smiled at him slightly: “Your Third Uncle and your cousin really aren’t decent people. We’re equal partners, so ‘each flying their own way when disaster strikes’ is understandable, but trying to shift the blame is not okay. Fortunately, they are willing to change their minds now. I really wish I could have filmed their expressions to show you.”

Huo Niansheng watched him, smiling: “I heard. Huo Zhenfei—you see him looking nonchalant on the surface, but who knows how much his heart is racing. I’ll have to keep a low profile from now on too. I don’t know how you’d deal with me if I ever did something to hurt you.”

The two of them, separated by the screen, felt as if they were looking across an eternity. Chen Wengang looked reluctantly at the person on his phone. Yet, this wasn’t the real Huo Niansheng—it was only a virtual image. The person he could touch and feel was far away at the edge of the horizon; he couldn’t stop worrying for a single moment. They had only said goodbye at the airport yesterday, but he had never missed Huo Niansheng as much as he did now.

Huo Niansheng was the same: “I want to touch you.”

Chen Wengang rested on his arm: “Where do you want to touch?”

Huo Niansheng smiled, his low, hoarse voice traveling through the signal to his ears: “Everywhere. Your hair, eyes, face, ears… and then your neck, shoulders, waist…”

Chen Wengang listened to him count off each part. He lowered his eyes, imagining Huo Niansheng was right beside him, his hands wandering over his body, sometimes caressing gently, sometimes teasing deliberately. He closed his eyes, able to imagine the feeling of the other’s breath against his skin.

Finally, he couldn’t help but laugh: “You’d better hurry back. You can touch me however you want then.”

They had reported that they were safe, but neither wanted to hang up. It was still dark where Huo Niansheng was; Chen Wengang knew it must have taken some effort for him to find a place with electricity and signal. He should have told Huo Niansheng to rest, but the words wouldn’t come out. In the end, Chen Wengang didn’t know how the video call ended, nor did he know when he finally fell asleep.

Huo Niansheng had promised to set out for home immediately.

That night was likely an all-nighter for Huo Zhenfei and all the group executives; they didn’t even have time to catch a wink of sleep. But there was no need to worry about any unnecessary moves from Huo Zhenfei’s side. The next morning, Chen Wengang lay in bed watching the news. Fortunately, there was no particularly unfavorable news about the Huo Group, and the stock market was relatively stable.

He took a shower, tidied himself up, braced his spirits, found some clothes, and headed out.

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