DLRAS Chapter 101

Chapter 101: Chen Wengang smiled and gave him a good morning kiss.

The Huo family’s foundation was located in the Huo Corporation building, situated in a bustling, prime location with heavy traffic.

Fang Qin, well-maintained and looking gentle with her hair styled in a high bun, shook hands with Chen Wengang after getting out of the car. Because she was pregnant, she was wearing wedge heels, and as they exited the elevator, she was nearly tripped by an intern rushing by clumsily.

Chen Wengang was startled as well, but fortunately, he was quick-witted and grabbed her just in time to steady her.

After regaining her composure, Fang Qin gave him a smile. “Thank you.”

They walked into the building. She led Chen Wengang to look at the top floor first. “This building is Huo Corporation’s own property. From the 20th to 30th floors, it’s all for the group headquarters’ own use; the 19th floor is the location of the foundation’s office. Everything below that is used for leasing.”

Chen Wengang knew Huo Corporation had deep pockets. “In this location, the rent shouldn’t be cheap.”

Fang Qin laughed. “You can say that again. That office over there is the Chairman’s office, but Father isn’t in today, so let’s head down.”

Chen Wengang glanced at the General Manager’s office—that was Huo Zhenfei’s territory—the door was shut tight.

They viewed a few other major departments and toured all the way down to the 19th floor.

Upon exiting the elevator, they saw the gold-embossed sign for the “Huo Foundation.” There weren’t many staff members; it was quiet and orderly.

Fang Qin introduced things as they walked: “Except for me and the Vice Chairman, who are full-time, the other board members are part-time, so they don’t appear often. The Vice Chairman also serves as the Secretary-General… Ah, here he comes. This is the Vice Chairman, Huo Lingchong.”

Opposite them stood a young man with an elite demeanor. Fang Qin stopped him and introduced them: “Lingchong, this is Chen Wengang.”

Huo Lingchong was the grandson of one of Huo Kaishan’s cousins, but among the various uncles, he was closest to the Second Uncle. He eyed Chen Wengang—this was his first time seeing the subject of Huo Niansheng’s rumors, though he had no idea that Chen Wengang had known him long ago in a past life.

At this moment, the suit-clad young master looked arrogant, extending his hand as if performing an act of charity. “Hello.”

Chen Wengang suddenly wore a warm, breezy smile and shook his hand in a friendly manner.

Huo Lingchong quickly withdrew his hand, feeling that speaking one more word to him was beneath his status. “Sister-in-law, I have things to attend to.”

Fang Qin paused slightly, offering a smile as if to smooth things over. “Alright, go ahead.”

She led Chen Wengang to her office, a large suite. The outer room could be partitioned off for his use.

“You won’t have too much to keep you busy on a daily basis. If there’s anything you don’t understand about routine work, you can consult with Lingchong.”

Fang Qin organized the work he would need to handle and handed it over to Chen Wengang.

She had two assistants, a man and a woman named Xiao Gao and Xiao Li. Both were young and fresh-faced. Usually, they would organize the documents and bring them to her for signature. In summary, Chen Wengang only needed to review them beforehand; he could decide on minor matters himself and pull out important items to consult with her.

By the time they were finished, it was nearly noon.

Fang Qin smiled and led the way to lunch. “Let’s go see what the food is like.”

Huo Corporation had its own employee cafeteria. The standards at group headquarters were high; various dishes were lined up buffet-style—a far cry from the special education school. However, while the school had teachers and staff sitting together, here the hierarchy was quite distinct.

Group executives had private dining rooms, while mid-level managers and above were divided into a separate area, partitioned off from the regular employees.

Between the glass dining tables and the plastic tables and chairs, Chen Wengang paused, waiting to see which area Fang Qin would lead him to.

Just then, Huo Zhenfei walked out of a private dining room. “Come on in.”

Inside the room, a circle of heavy-hitting executives was seated. They were all influential figures in board and management positions. Aside from Huo Zhenfei, the average age was middle-aged or older. Looking at them, the pressure was quite intense. For a split second, Chen Wengang even wondered if this was a “Hongmen Banquet” (a trap) set by Huo Zhenfei.

It was hard to say whether it was or not. These old guys wouldn’t stare at Chen Wengang with obvious disdain or weirdness, but they had nothing in common with him either. They treated him like a transparent entity, laughing and chatting among themselves, save for Huo Zhenfei and his wife, who occasionally exchanged a few words with him.

Chen Wengang ate his meal steadily and handled the paperwork when he returned to the 19th floor.

When he got home that evening, Huo Niansheng laughed so hard he collapsed onto the bed. “Those old fogies, they really know how to put on a show.”

He accused Huo Zhenfei in a tone used for coaxing a child: “How can he be like this? Forget it, if we don’t want to go, we won’t go.”

Chen Wengang, having showered, was lying on the bed flipping through a magazine. He looked up at him, the smile reaching from the corners of his eyes to his brows.

He tossed the financial magazine aside, rolled over, and lay on Huo Niansheng’s chest.

Huo Niansheng habitually placed his hand on the back of his head, pressing him closer. Chen Wengang closed his eyes to listen to his strong heartbeat.

His heart was profoundly peaceful; no difficult situation could occupy a single corner of his mind.

But then again, Chen Wengang knew that Huo Zhenfei indeed wanted to pressure him into signing a concerted action agreement. It wasn’t overt pressure, but in an unfamiliar and stiff environment, it’s easy for a person to treat the only familiar face as someone worthy of trust.

Huo Zhenfei was a good judge of character and knew he responded to soft tactics rather than hard ones. Chen Wengang couldn’t help but laugh at the man’s schemes.

If he were really in his twenties, he might not have developed such a “thick skin”—but now, he felt it didn’t matter.

“I have to go; the paperwork is already done. Besides, it’s not like he holds any dirt on me. On the contrary, he’s the one who has to speculate about my intentions every single day. Since it’s such an interesting game, what is there to fear?”

Huo Niansheng pinched his earlobe. “When did he tell you to go?”

“Starting next Monday.”

There was wind that night, and something in the courtyard was knocked over with a loud clatter. He climbed out of bed and threw on a robe to check.

When he returned, Chen Wengang thought for a moment and discussed it with Huo Niansheng: “Should we move to your apartment? It’s closer to your work.”

Originally, they stayed here to make it easier for Chen Wengang to get to the school. Now, on paper, Huo Niansheng held the title of chairman for a subsidiary, and since the subsidiary’s business was different from the group headquarters, they weren’t in the same place—but they weren’t far apart, both in the CBD area.

To his surprise, Huo Niansheng had become addicted to living here and lazily refused to move. “I have to take care of the flowers.”

Chen Wengang couldn’t help but chuckle. “You can ask Lu Chenlong to come over and manage them.”

Huo Niansheng found other reasons to disagree: “What about your class reunion?”

Chen Wengang’s eyes widened: “Since when did I agree to go to that?”

Huo Niansheng was stubborn. “Why not go? Take me there to show off.”

Chen Wengang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

That evening, they went for their usual stroll along the river. Chen Wengang ran into his old elementary school classmate, Cheng Bo, again. Cheng Bo was a newlywed, his wife on his arm. Perhaps because his own life was going so smoothly, he insisted Chen Wengang attend their rare class reunion. Then, his eyes darted around, and he mentioned introducing him to a “beautiful girl”—one of the bridesmaids from his wedding.

Most of the old neighbors in the street were older and held conservative views. Chen Wengang and Huo Niansheng went everywhere together, but aside from holding hands, they rarely engaged in public displays of affection. Some people knew the score and didn’t ask, while others stubbornly felt he had gone down the wrong path.

Cheng Bo wasn’t old, but his “straight man” thinking was deep-rooted.

He had heard rumors behind their backs and arrived at a very natural conclusion: That’s just because a better choice hasn’t appeared yet.

“Men are men,” he thought—introduce a few pretty girls, and once they meet, who would remember anything else?

Because of this, he offended Huo Niansheng. Huo Niansheng even held a grudge, pestering Chen Wengang. “Do you really not want to go, or is it because you find me embarrassing, so you intentionally don’t bring me, only to have him introduce you to girls behind my back?”

Chen Wengang had no temper at all. He said “fine, fine, fine,” then snap—turned off the light and closed his eyes.

After a while, he let out a soft laugh, pinched Huo Niansheng, and his breathing finally deepened into sleep.

He slept early, but Huo Niansheng was never one for early nights, lying by the headboard, idly playing on his phone.

Actually, the old house had its benefits. This neighborhood didn’t have permanent light pollution; the flickering neon signs didn’t belong here, and the faint streetlights couldn’t reach into the residential area. When the moonlight climbed through the window, it became extraordinarily present.

Silver-white light slowly covered the side of Chen Wengang’s face as he slept.

Huo Niansheng lowered his eyes. There was something he had actually never told Chen Wengang.

The frequency of his nightmares had increased. In his dreams, he was troubled by the past and by an increasing number of inexplicable details.

Huo Niansheng had properties in more than one place. As an investment, the Yunding Building had never been his favorite asset, let alone a place for long-term residence. Yet, after returning to China, for some reason, he had asked his driver to take him straight there from the airport to settle down.

Standing in that empty room, his heart had felt empty, as if something were missing. For him, this place was tethered to an inexplicable, special complex. After watching the night view for a week, he had simply attributed this complex to the fact that the scenery was decent.

Back then, he couldn’t figure out what the apartment was missing, but now, Huo Niansheng preferred Jiangchao Street.

He placed his phone on the nightstand and kissed Chen Wengang’s forehead.

In the morning, it was Chen Wengang’s turn to pat him. “Wake up.”

Chen Wengang lived a regular life, while Huo Niansheng didn’t sleep until midnight, so naturally, he couldn’t wake up that early.

It was fine for a day or two, but after living together for a long time, this irreconcilable gap began to show. Opening his bleary eyes, Huo Niansheng was already worrying inside—if it went on like this, by the time they hit the “seven-year itch,” would they be fighting over this?

In the morning light, Chen Wengang gave him a smiling good-morning kiss, and the smell of cooking rice drifted in from outside.

Huo Niansheng decided to forget it—they’d cross that bridge when they came to it.

The new week began—the day Chen Wengang took office.

Saying he was “taking office” was an exaggeration. The 19th floor of the Huo Corporation building remained quiet, as if it had never been a place of frantic activity, and no one was expecting his arrival because there was absolutely no shortage of manpower.

Passing the crystal organization chart, Chen Wengang stood by the wall and watched for a while.

In family charities like this, the founders and donors were the entire family, and important positions were mostly held by family members.

But if management wasn’t strict, the foundation was, in a sense, a great place to park people. Aside from the part-time board members who only showed up when necessary, those who stayed here daily were just idle juniors of the family and the low-level employees who took on all the hard work.

Fang Qin had told him to arrive at nine in the morning. Aside from the individual administrative staff and her honest-looking assistant Xiao Li, by ten o’clock, the other assistant, Xiao Gao, had only just arrived while lazily yawning, and the other young masters and misses were nowhere to be found.

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