Chapter 112: In the beginning, there was you, who were unaware, and I was a naïve youth.
By evening, Sister-in-law Fang Qin was ready to leave, but Huo Yuxiang refused. His eyes were glued to the bucket of shellfish as if held by glue; having heard that the others were going to have a beach picnic, leaving now was as good as killing him.
Fang Qin had no choice but to leave her son behind: “Don’t play too wildly. Have your uncle send you back early.”
Jiang Cai also squatted by the bucket, beaming with excitement as she looked at the foshou (gooseneck barnacles), mussels, incense snails, and green mussels. They were all found in the crevices of the large rocks—a resounding victory. As the sun set, Chen Wengang told her to get the pot from the trunk so they could build a fire on the beach.
Water was poured into the pot, seasoned with a little green onion, followed by cooking wine, salt, and sugar. As the pot boiled, the aroma of the fresh, clear broth was irresistible.
Huo Yuxiang was covered in mud from head to toe. Caught by Chen Wengang, he was wiped down with a handkerchief dampened with mineral water.
Jiang Cai sat on a portable stool, sniffing the air around the pot, when she heard Huo Niansheng ask, “Has anyone been looking for you lately?”
She was startled and subconsciously straightened up: “I guess so? Does it count if Huo Jingsheng bad-mouthed you to me?”
Jiang Cai turned her head. Huo Niansheng was also sitting on a small stool—too miniature for him, with his long legs splayed awkwardly to the sides. He rested his elbows on his knees, chin in his hand, looking at her with a half-smile: “What do you think?”
She didn’t know what to say. In any case, both of these were “cheap brothers”—neither looked like a good person. But Huo Jingsheng looked relatively more pathetic. Before, when they met occasionally, he had hinted to Jiang Cai that Huo Niansheng wouldn’t give her a single cent in the future.
Jiang Cai told him the truth: “He said that’s how you treat him.”
Huo Niansheng smiled slightly: “Don’t worry, I won’t treat you like that.”
When the sky was pitch black, the driver took Jiang Cai and Huo Yuxiang home. Another car was parked on the side of the road, and Huo Niansheng tossed the dirty pot and bowls back into the trunk.
Chen Wengang stood behind him, looking up. The winter Milky Way wasn’t as bright as in summer, leaving only a faint tail. Stars hung overhead; in the chilly climate, they looked frozen brittle, shimmering with a cold, clear light.
Huo Niansheng grabbed his hand: “Cold?”
Chen Wengang lowered his head and rubbed against his knuckles: “It’s okay. How about you?”
His fingertips were icy, while Huo Niansheng’s palms were several degrees warmer: “You’re comparing yourself to me? You’re afraid of the cold, yet you wear so little.”
To make moving easier in the afternoon, he had left his coat in the car. Chen Wengang pulled his hand away to grab the overcoat from the front seat. Huo Niansheng slid his arms into the sleeves and then reached out to wrap Chen Wengang inside. Chen Wengang could feel his body heat, his breath, and the night wind blocked out.
The position was perfect—at an intimate, cozy distance. He only had to tilt his head to reach Huo Niansheng’s lips.
Huo Niansheng lowered his head unconsciously. Chen Wengang pressed his hands against Huo Niansheng’s chest. They kissed under the watch of the stars and the sea, lips and teeth intertwined, yet their bodies remained respectful of boundaries, like budding teenagers venturing into the beginning of love with longing and hesitation.
After a long time, Chen Wengang spoke, but what he said was: “I want to go see a psychologist.”
Huo Niansheng maintained his posture, wrapped around him: “You can.”
Chen Wengang thought for a moment: “I just don’t know if it will be of any use.”
Huo Niansheng waited patiently for him to open his heart.
Chen Wengang leaned against his chest; in his heart, he felt as if he were burning the bridges behind him: “There are many things that I might never be able to confide in others. And so, I’ve thought about it… If there is one person in this world I can confide in, it can only be you.”
Huo Niansheng said happily: “Alright. Then tell me.”
Chen Wengang nestled in his arms: “I will tell you, but I haven’t figured out how to say it yet. Give me some time to prepare, okay?”
Huo Niansheng didn’t ask why: “Go see the expert first. If the expert can’t solve it, remember I’m still here.”
Chen Wengang lowered his eyes and nodded.
He was the driver on the way back, driving quietly, his hands firmly on the steering wheel.
He felt as though he had finally let go of some emotional knots, but he hadn’t relaxed because of it. Instead, another nerve tightened, and various voices whispered in his brain. The personality within Chen Wengang that only wanted to escape began to act up again. Yet, the truth was, he sensed instinctively that Huo Niansheng might have already noticed those awkward, abnormal facets of him.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have made those tentative gestures or asked those probing questions.
Occasionally, Chen Wengang wasn’t without the impulse to confess everything. Being a person who carried secrets alone was a heavy burden. He just couldn’t bring himself to make the decision; after all, once he said it, there would be no chance to take it back. Past trauma, rifts, suspicions, illness, death… how much did Huo Niansheng know, what would he think, and how would he view those things once he knew?
One can describe the physical pain of a wound, but how does one explain the exhaustion of the spirit?
Where did the wasted years of the past go?
In the silent cabin, Huo Niansheng turned on the car radio, his expression still relaxed. Chen Wengang turned on the turn signal, and an intellectual female voice on the music channel announced: “Coming up next for our listeners is the classic golden hits album…”
Her voice faded, and the prelude to the music began—
At first, the carefree you, and the youth in me who knew nothing of the world…
The romance in the red dust is only because of the silent, hurried entanglement of life.
Perhaps it is a mistake in the human world, or the karma passed down from a past life.
Even a lifetime of everything is not too high a price to exchange for a momentary exchange between Yin and Yang.
It is easy to come, but hard to go—a journey of decades in the human world.
It is easy to part, but hard to gather—the eternal sorrow of love and hate.
The heart that should have belonged to you still protects my chest…
All for the sake of the hands behind the changing faces of the world that manipulate the clouds and rain.
…
Chen Wengang set his deadline for Christmas.
As it happened, if one counted his previous life, that day was his death anniversary. In any case, there would be a continuous holiday from Christmas to New Year’s. Undoubtedly, he would spend that time with Huo Niansheng. Borrowing the festive atmosphere of the holiday, it seemed easier to say something.
Xiao Gao called him back to reality from the side: “Chen-ge? Chen-ge?”
“What is it?”
“This form needs the Acting Chairman’s signature. Take a look and see if there are any problems.”
Chen Wengang glanced through it and flicked his fountain pen across the paper: “Done.”
Outside, three or four colleagues walked past the door discussing: “We’ve decided we must go to the Maldives for vacation this year…”
Xiao Gao turned his head to ask Chen Wengang: “Where do you and President Huo plan to go? At least take a trip to Europe, or go to a small island?”
His eyes were full of envy. Chen Wengang frowned and tapped the table to reprimand him: “Finish your own work first. In the future, in the workplace, pry less into other people’s private business. Having a bit more sense of boundaries is not a bad thing.”
Xiao Gao looked dejected.
There were less than two months left until the end of the year, and the atmosphere on the streets already showed signs of liveliness. Chen Wengang packed his things to get off work and saw the red-and-green color scheme appearing in shop windows and on the clothing of pedestrians. He walked through the bustle of the street and headed straight to the Children’s Hospital.
The hospital was more crowded than the street—a different kind of hustle and bustle.
Cold weather is a high-incidence period for respiratory diseases. Recently, the flu had been raging. At the orphanage, many children were coughing and running fevers one after another; even the staff and volunteers were falling ill. Director Liu was so busy she couldn’t even attend to herself and had to take care of them personally. Because Chen Wengang had a car, he would go over every few days to help transport the children to and from the hospital.
Many orphans had underlying health conditions and poor physical constitutions, making it easy for their illnesses to turn into pneumonia. Therefore, he was particularly worried about Diandian and Tongtong; children with heart conditions could especially ill afford a cold. Fortunately, both were currently fine.
In the gap while helping to queue for medicine, Chen Wengang wore a mask and checked the news on his phone.
Several major events had occurred in society over the past two months.
Wang Qiming, who organized the cruise party—probably while he was still drowning in debauchery one day—had his two uncles taken away from their posts for investigation. A series of actions followed, and recent news headlines had focused on the Wang family. The situation in officialdom changed rapidly, but it was not without traces. Since the authorities had found their way to the Wang family, they naturally had long since established an investigation team and gathered substantial evidence.
The filth Wang Qiming had committed in international waters provided ready-made evidence of his involvement in accepting bribes through gambling.
When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. With the Wang family in trouble, those who had received their protection were undoubtedly melons on the same vine.
Approaching the end of the year, the Huo Group held a shareholders’ meeting. Chen Wengang attended, voting obediently and listening quietly. Many people whispered about the Second Uncle; the gray industries under his control were an unspoken secret. If he had had the foresight, or if the wind had changed sooner, he should have closed them down secretly. But honestly, whether there was still time now was not certain.
By mid-December, Chen Wengang returned from seeing his supervisor at school, feeling inexplicably anxious.
Huo Niansheng had gone on a business trip to Southeast Asia and hadn’t contacted him all afternoon.
Even if there were flights to catch or he was tired and resting, Huo Niansheng would not go several hours without returning his messages.
If it weren’t for the fact that he had passed the graduate interview and an offer could be issued at any time, requiring him to stay for the school’s review, Chen Wengang would have chosen to go with him. But they were, after all, two independent adults; they couldn’t be glued together 24/7.
Now, Chen Wengang was feeling annoyed. He would rather lose anything else than let Huo Niansheng be in danger.
Chen Wengang called him. After confirming that no one really answered, he stopped dialing blindly and contacted Lawyer Zhu, Yu Shanding, Amanda, and other subordinates of Huo Niansheng he knew.
Lawyer Zhu comforted him on the other end of the line: “Don’t worry, being out of contact for an afternoon doesn’t count as missing.”
Chen Wengang said: “Since he didn’t tell you beforehand, it must be an emergency.”
Lawyer Zhu could hear his voice but couldn’t see his expression; he couldn’t accurately judge the emotions in his words for a moment. In fact, Chen Wengang sounded quite calm. The truth was, Chen Wengang was in a contradictory state—the more anxious he felt inside, the calmer his mind became.
Panic was useless.
He hung up the phone and dialed Huo Zhenfei directly: “What exactly is going on?”
Huo Zhenfei seemed incredibly busy, with subordinates constantly coming to talk to him. He answered Chen Wengang sporadically. Chen Wengang was very patient, waiting the whole time until Huo Zhenfei finally sighed: “How about this, just come directly to my office.”
Chen Wengang hurried to the Huo Tower without stopping.
He entered the elevator, but before his finger could press the top-floor button, he changed direction and pressed 19 first.
Chen Wengang went to the General Manager’s office holding a file bag, which he casually set on the table. Huo Zhenfei didn’t notice what he was holding.
As for the trouble, it had indeed come knocking. Huo Zhenfei rubbed his face: “It’s exactly what we were most worried about. Those nightclubs invested in by the Second Uncle have a lot of unclean dealings. We were hoping to suppress it and deal with it slowly, but he was too greedy, and the Wang family was investigated too suddenly. Now, it’s impossible for us not to be implicated. You saw it—I’ve been busy communicating with PR all afternoon. If we have to be investigated, the Huo Group will accept it, but this news must absolutely not be blown up. It can only be allowed to land softly.”
“He used your family’s foundation to launder money,” Chen Wengang said. “Shouldn’t you be implicated?”
“…” Huo Zhenfei didn’t speak; he just looked at him.
“I’m not really an ignorant youngster,” Chen Wengang said. “Since he touched organized crime and pornography, the money had to have a channel to be laundered. Rather than being charged high commissions by underground money shops outside, it’s naturally more convenient and faster to use one’s own channels. The Huo Foundation’s projects are done as plainly as water, yet the accounts are numerous and complicated. You say there’s no problem—do you think I would believe you?”
