DLRAS Chapter 121

Chapter 121: Some of Huo Niansheng’s perspectives.

When the door to the private room was pushed open, Yu Shanding had just uncorked a bottle of red wine.

He looked up as Huo Niansheng strode in and sat down with a commanding presence on the opposite sofa: “Changing the decor?”

The boss offered a good-natured smile: “The old style hasn’t been popular these past few years, so I figured I might as well tear it down and remodel.”

“You can bear to part with it, former boss? How much revenue will you lose while closed?”

“Ah, it’s just about seeing what the big bosses like and following suit. Just messing around.”

Several floors of the Medusa Nightclub were under construction, empty and devoid of guests, but Huo Niansheng didn’t mind much. A famous playboy like him hadn’t shown up in nightclubs and bars for a long time. If it weren’t for discussing business, even Yu Shanding couldn’t have dragged him out.

Yu Shanding poured the wine into two goblets and pushed one in front of Huo Niansheng. Lacking the delicate patience to sip it slowly, Huo Niansheng picked it up and downed it in one gulp.

Yu Shanding studied his noble benefactor under the light. Back when his capital chain broke and he was on the verge of bankruptcy, he had swallowed his pride to curry favor with rich second-generation heirs younger than himself, hoping for a stroke of blind luck. That was when he latched onto Huo Niansheng. Time proved he had chosen the right person; Huo Niansheng wasn’t just a flashy but empty shell—he had both capability and shrewdness. With his capital injection, Yu Shanding’s company returned from the brink of death. Now, calling him “President Huo” came with thick skin but genuine sincerity.

They had known each other for countless years. Compared to back then, Huo Niansheng hadn’t changed much on the surface—blessed with excellent genes and a pampered life, his every move still carried the effortless air of a young master. Yet in recent years, Yu Shanding could clearly sense a heavy weariness accumulating between his brows. It was ironic; others grew weary over food, clothing, or business failures. Huo Niansheng clearly had nothing to worry about.

To put it bluntly, even if the man spent his days eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling, his fortune would allow him to squander it lying down until he was eighty. Not that Huo Niansheng actually engaged in such vices; he kept himself surprisingly clean, touching neither men nor women. All of his stumbling blocks were tied to one specific person whose name couldn’t be casually mentioned. That person was simply his Waterloo.

Yu Shanding poured him a little more wine and asked, “How’s the one at home?”

Huo Niansheng leaned back, his fingers resting against the rim of the glass: “His mood has been a bit better lately. At least the medication has stopped.”

“Still cooped up at home?” Yu Shanding asked. “People get sick if they stay shut in all the time. You should bring him out for a stroll occasionally.”

“I coax him every day, but he isn’t willing,” Huo Niansheng said. He even consulted Yu Shanding, “How do you usually take your kid out?”

Yu Shanding thought to himself that the man was really grasping at straws in desperation. Just then, his daughter called. The father’s face instantly softened, his voice turning incredibly doting. Yu Shanding used to be a player himself, but when a young girlfriend got pregnant—both of them just looking for fun without responsibility at the time—something in his heart shifted, and he asked if she wanted to get married. And just like that, he settled down and they had the child.

He wondered if reaching middle age naturally brought about the desire to settle down. Yu Shanding didn’t know if Huo Niansheng had ever experienced such a fleeting impulse. To outsiders, it just looked like Huo Niansheng was hanging himself on a single tree, forever failing to bear fruit, the two of them vainly torturing each other.

Huo Niansheng watched him hang up the phone: “Your daughter?”

Yu Shanding scratched the back of his head: “Wow, her energy is terrifying. A little girl wanting to play cavalry battles every day.”

“Isn’t it a good thing she’s lively? You’re complaining?”

“That depends on how we’re playing cavalry. She’s riding me, her old man.”

Huo Niansheng took the phone, swiping to look at a couple of photos. The chubby little girl was the spitting image of her father, smiling so widely her eyes crinkled shut. He handed it back: “Very cute. Since you’re a dad now, take more responsibility.”

Yu Shanding boldly advised: “What about you? Haven’t you considered settling down and starting a family?”

Huo Niansheng dismissed it entirely: “If you want me to start a family, what is he going to do all alone?”

Round and round, the conversation always circled back. Yu Shanding sighed inwardly, wondering if the man was under a spell. “Let me say something unpleasant—you know I mean no harm, I just genuinely feel that dragging it out like this isn’t a solution. You’ve taken care of him for so long, you’ve done everything humanly possible. Three years, five years, even a stone should have been warmed up by now. But with things like this, when will it ever end?”

“Has time passed that quickly?” Huo Niansheng wasn’t angry. He gestured horizontally in the air. “Do you know, the first time I saw him, he was only this tall. Not even ten, just nine years old, still wearing his elementary school uniform.”

He didn’t say the name, but Yu Shanding suddenly realized this was likely the first time Huo Niansheng had ever opened up about the past. He would probably never speak of it to another outsider again.

“I saw him at the Zheng family’s house. My aunt invited me over, but just like everyone else, I went to watch the drama. Well, I saw it. I was originally indifferent to kids—thought they were loud, whiny, and annoying. But suddenly, I met one who was actually obedient and well-behaved, and it seemed quite interesting. I still remember him following behind the adults, never leaving their side. But when they told him to wait by the wall, he obediently stayed put. It felt a bit like when Harley was a puppy, very cute.”

“That is early. How many years ago was that?” Yu Shanding marveled secretly. “And then?”

“And then nothing much. He was another family’s child; I couldn’t exactly live at the Zheng house to watch him. But two years later, I ran into him on the street. Guess what he was doing? Waiting for the bus all by himself under the scorching sun. Did the Zheng family not give him a car? That was when I realized that when this kid suffered a grievance, he wouldn’t say a word, just bottle it up inside. His personality was like dough; others could mold him round or flat however they pleased. I didn’t even know if living in that kind of large family was his fortune or misfortune.

“Of course, it was quite arrogant of me to think that way. As it turned out, I messed up before he did. During that incident with Huo Yingfei, if I had just stubbornly denied it to my grandfather, I wouldn’t have had to go abroad. At the time, I just felt it was pointless and couldn’t be bothered to defend myself, so I walked away. Staying meant scheming against a large family and rolling eyes at each other; going abroad to live freely on my own seemed better.

“But everything has pros and cons. When I left, I severed my ties here. When I returned midway, I saw him again at the Zheng house. He was a teenager by then, sensible, and the cold look he gave me showed he completely treated me as the villain. Not surprising. He and Zheng Yucheng were together every day; they were childhood sweethearts. If he didn’t listen to Zheng Yucheng, who would he listen to?”

“Wait, putting it that way, I’m slowly connecting the dots,” Yu Shanding said. “I remember the two of them had a history together.”

“They did. I heard they were together right after I got back. That was also when we met, during the cooperation talks in Zhangcheng. I just couldn’t figure out where a child who was so obedient got the courage to be so rebellious. What did that young master Zheng Yucheng know about human suffering? He didn’t even have power or money in his hands. What kind of responsibility could he shoulder? What good ending could come from getting entangled with him?”

“Oh, right, that time,” Yu Shanding recalled. “I really couldn’t tell you harbored such complicated thoughts.”

“I had a lot of thoughts. I even thought I could break them up,” Huo Niansheng scoffed. “He really took me for a bad guy, hiding wherever I went, avoiding me like the plague. Thinking back, for a young couple like that, the louder outsiders object, the more they feel their love is unbreakable. Once there was no one left to play the villain, they’d naturally start arguing and break up on their own.

“So I simply let it be. Didn’t he think I was a bad guy? It would be fine as long as I didn’t interfere. Some wrong paths you just have to trip over yourself to realize it’s a dead end. I thought a few bumps and bruises wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. At most, they’d break up and he’d suffer some heartbreak. Better he sees it clearly early on; he could cry it out and move past it.”

The trace of a smile at the corner of his mouth gradually faded.

Yu Shanding lowered his voice in regret: “Sigh…”

Huo Niansheng continued, “So you can’t imagine what it felt like when I finally saw his face covered in injuries.”

He paused, his knuckles gently tapping the glass: “I interacted with him for such a short time, yet even I knew what he used to be like. Hardworking, motivated, brilliant, and so gentle when he smiled at people… For a person like that to be ruined just like that, it makes your heart ache terribly. I never thought Zheng Yucheng would be so useless, but whatever is said now is too late. As for myself, it would be a lie to say I don’t regret it. I had the chance to stop all of this from the beginning, but my negligence let it happen. I owe him this.”

Yu Shanding tried to comfort him: “No one can foresee the future. You were already getting your lawyers to bail him out back then.”

For once, Huo Niansheng dropped his mocking expression and didn’t argue: “Forget it, there’s no need to mention this anymore. And then came these past few years—treating his injuries, curing his illnesses, fixing one broken piece after another. I was left with only one thought: just make him get better. As long as he has his health, everything else is negotiable. At first, I thought he needed me, that he couldn’t leave me. But as time went on, I realized that it’s actually me who needs him, me who can’t leave. And the longer time passes, the more frustrated I become. Why didn’t I step in to protect him when I should have? This has become my inner demon, and I don’t know if there’s any way to ever untie this knot in this lifetime.”

Yu Shanding looked at him in shock: “Ah, then you mean…”

Huo Niansheng sneered at his obtuseness: “You still can’t tell that I love him? The magazines out there use the phrase ‘true love’ to mock how I treat him. But mockery aside, hasn’t it ever crossed your mind that they might be telling the truth?”

Yu Shanding was speechless.

For a moment, he felt a profound sense of life’s passing. Perhaps he really was old, and Huo Niansheng was getting old too—after all, they were both pushing forty. He had taken care of the other person for seven years without receiving a response; enduring countless twists and turns, yet ultimately trapped, spinning in the same place.

How many seven years can one have in a lifetime? When would he finally get his wish?

The true sign of aging isn’t necessarily wrinkles or gray hair. It’s when you start chattering endlessly about memories of the past, already revealing the ruthlessness of time.

Huo Niansheng placed the goblet back on the table: “Open a guest room for me. I’ll stay here for the night. Your place is relatively close to the Mid-Levels Villa; I’ll have my driver take me over tomorrow.”

Yu Shanding naturally agreed: “No problem.”

He thought for a moment and asked: “Right, aren’t you guys going out to sea next month?”

Huo Niansheng said: “Yes, but we won’t be gone for many days. We should be back very soon. If he needs anything in the meantime, I’ll have the nanny call you. I’ll have to trouble Boss Yu to help keep an eye on things.”

Support me on Ko-fi