DLRAS Chapter 113

Chapter 113: I want to touch you.

Someone knocked on the door. It was Huo Zhenfei’s secretary, who came in hurriedly to urge him to attend the meeting. He nodded at her, “I know, I’ll be there right away.”

Then he looked at Chen Wengang, showing a helpless expression: “Are you just like those people outside, blaming the Huo family for everything without distinguishing right from wrong? In reality, the ones suspected of money laundering are the people on Second Uncle’s side; he’s the one who implicated us.”

Chen Wengang pressed both hands on his desk, “I don’t care about the rest. Just tell me, where is Huo Niansheng?”

Huo Zhenfei said, “He really is on a legitimate business trip, I’m not lying to you. It’s just unfortunate that he happened to go abroad at this critical moment, and now he’s out of contact. Of course, it looks suspicious, and the economic crime investigation team might initially consider him a key investigation target to confirm whether he’s fleeing out of guilt. We just need to seize this golden time, pull some strings, and do some PR to extract the Huo family to the greatest extent possible.”

“Is that necessary? Huo Niansheng isn’t in cahoots with them.”

“Of course, we know that. But since he’s related to Huo Yingfei, and they were together on Wang Qiming’s boat, with Huo Yingfei involved in gambling, and you both were present at the time, proving Huo Niansheng wasn’t involved requires gathering evidence gradually. As long as he stands up to scrutiny, the police will at most realize they were investigating the wrong direction after a while and won’t do anything to him.”

“It was originally your idea for him to get on the boat.” Chen Wengang reacted quickly, “He agreed, and now you’re using him like this?”

“You need to understand what it means when an emergency occurs.” Huo Zhenfei said helplessly, “If I had the ability to foresee things, none of this would have happened! But you can’t help it, and I can’t help it either. Since the unexpected happened, we can only prioritize the bigger picture.”

“But I don’t believe you have no way out.” Chen Wengang suddenly changed the topic, “Have you never worn a wedding ring?”

“What?” Huo Zhenfei was puzzled.

“Why don’t you wear it? Is it inconvenient? You can get used to it over time. Does presenting yourself as a married man diminish your charm? Is it inconvenient for socializing and entertainment? Or is marriage unimportant to you, making the ring meaningless?”

“…”

Chen Wengang raised his left hand, staring at it as the ring on his finger shimmered with a warm matte glow. “I used to regret it a lot. If I had the chance, I would have worn the ring for a lifetime. What you take for granted is something I’ve always longed for but never had.”

“So what?”

“But once you miss it, there’s no turning back.” He looked at Huo Zhenfei. “Is it so difficult for me to just be with Huo Niansheng forever?”

Huo Zhenfei took a deep breath. He vaguely heard about some psychological issues with this “sister-in-law,” who had been to the hospital for medication and had even had public episodes before. These things could be checked, but Huo Zhenfei hadn’t taken them seriously before; after all, Huo Niansheng had taken care of her himself. But now, he was afraid Chen Wengang might be emotionally unstable in the company, and he didn’t have time to deal with these trivial matters.

“I understand how you feel,” Huo Zhenfei said comfortingly. “I’m worried about Niansheng too. Trust me, there will be a satisfactory outcome in the end. Can you go home and wait for the news? I’ll notify you as soon as possible, okay?”

He was eager to go to the meeting, but Chen Wengang was quicker, blocking his way and locking the door to his office with a click.

“Why the rush? I haven’t even started talking yet.”

“Don’t rush to leave,” Chen Wengang blocked the door. “And don’t rush to play innocent. You blame all the problems on your second uncle, sure, money laundering is a serious crime, but what about you guys? Do you dare to say you’ve never used the foundation to evade taxes or manipulate accounts?”

Huo Zhenfei rubbed his temples. “You’re being unreasonable. No company dares to claim they’re completely lawful, let alone a giant like the Huo family. Even if there are some minor issues, you might not be able to use them as leverage.”

Chen Wengang picked up a file bag. “Alright then, why don’t you analyze each issue for me, and let’s see if they’re minor problems.”

Huo Zhenfei had a foreboding feeling, and he heard Chen Wengang continue, “You told me to resign from my previous job and join your family’s foundation, and I agreed. If you and your father want to keep an eye on me, I also have the opportunity to see your work from the inside.”

Huo Zhenfei smiled. “Is that so? What problems have you discovered?”

Chen Wengang looked at him calmly. “You’re the general manager of the group, and your father is the chairman. Maybe in his eyes, I’ve never been taken seriously; I’m just a college student trying to climb the social ladder. But in fact, I have more experience than you imagine. I have a general understanding of all the city’s public welfare organizations and charity groups. I know which ones are doing real work and which ones are just for show. I also know how much budget a charity event needs, down to the procurement costs of donated goods, donation processes, money flow, and where there might be loopholes… Ask Huo Lingchong, he might be clueless, but I’m well aware.”

Huo Zhenfei’s expression darkened slightly as he looked at him without saying anything, seemingly weighing the truthfulness of his words.

Chen Wengang showed no fear. He tapped his temple. “I don’t have many virtues, but I’m good at learning. I may not have access to highly classified information, but any suspicious activities on the books are quite transparent to me. Where there seems to be inflated transaction processes or asset-liability transformations, experienced individuals can easily spot them.”

Huo Zhenfei pulled out a stack of papers from the file bag, glanced through them, then stuffed them back in, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

He regained his smile. “Have you shown these to anyone else?”

Chen Wengang replied, “You can call security to lock me up if you want. But as long as I’m missing for more than 12 hours, all sorts of true and false information will be leaked to the media. You’re afraid of scandals and want to shift the blame onto Huo Niansheng to save yourself, then I’ll have to drag your whole family down with me. Third Uncle is the chairman of the foundation, Auntie is the chairwoman. If the foundation is in trouble, aren’t they responsible too?”

Huo Zhenfei led him to Third Uncle Huo’s chairman office.

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

Pushing open the glass door of the Huo Building, neon lights shimmered overhead as Chen Wengang stood on the sidewalk, surrounded by people heading home from work.

He felt uneasy. The wide road lay ahead, but he didn’t know which way to go. They had moved back to Jiangchao Street, but Chen Wengang didn’t want to go back. He had come by taxi, but now he walked slowly back to the Yunding Tower.

Pushing open the door, the empty house felt lifeless.

Auntie followed them to Jiangchao Street. She got along well with Chen Wengang, so Huo Niansheng had kept her employed. Since the Chen family’s house there was small and couldn’t accommodate another nanny, she lived in her own home in the old city area, working during the day and returning home at night.

Chen Wengang tossed and turned on the sofa for several hours. The clock hands moved from twelve to one, but he couldn’t find any sleep. It wasn’t until after three in the morning that his phone finally rang. Seeing the sender’s name, his fingers trembled, and he immediately initiated a video call.

On the other side of the camera appeared Huo Niansheng himself, his face slightly delayed, his hair a bit disheveled from a long day, but he looked energetic.

He smiled and asked Chen Wengang, “Why are you still up at this hour?”

Chen Wengang’s eyes quickly misted over. “You…”

Huo Niansheng was no different: “I want to touch you.”

Chen Wengang rested on one arm. “Where do you want to touch?”

Huo Niansheng chuckled, his low, husky voice transmitting through the signal to Chen Wengang’s ear: “Everywhere. Your hair, eyes, face, ears… Then down to your neck, shoulders, waist…”

Listening to him enumerate each body part, Chen Wengang hung his head, as if Huo Niansheng were right beside him, his hands roaming over his body, sometimes gently caressing, sometimes teasing. He closed his eyes, imagining the sensation of his breath against his skin.

Finally, he couldn’t help but laugh. “You better hurry back and touch however you want.”

The necessary safety check was exchanged, but neither of them wanted to hang up. Huo Niansheng’s area was still experiencing a power outage, and 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 stuck in his throat. Eventually, Chen Wengang didn’t know how the video call ended or when he fell asleep.

Huo Niansheng agreed to return immediately.

This night was likely an all-nighter for Huo Zhenfei and his son, as well as all the executives of the group, with no time even for a brief nap. But there was no need to worry about any extra actions from Huo Zhenfei’s side.

The next morning, Chen Wengang lay in bed for a while watching the news, and thankfully, there was no particularly detrimental news for the Huo family, and the stock market remained stable.

He took a shower, tidied himself up, gathered his spirits, and picked out some clothes before heading out.