DLRAS Chapter 18

Chapter 18: It turned out that this was an account that was impossible to settle.

Getting rich can solve more than half of life’s troubles—though that is not an absolute truth, it is by no means entirely without reason.

And this was one thing Huo Niansheng had enabled Chen Wengang to understand.

In his previous life, if not for the entire fortune Huo Niansheng had left him, he would never have been able to afford so many elite teams, would never have had the confidence to turn his fate around or the capital to stand against others, would never have had the Niansheng Foundation, and would never have accomplished everything he did later in life.

Just as Huo Niansheng had arranged, Chen Wengang had never lacked for material things in the second half of his life.

Only, he could never buy back even a single second of the time they had spent together.

Chen Wengang stood alone by the roadside for a while before flagging down another taxi.

After getting in, he still could not quite set his mind at ease. He sent several names to Zheng Baoqiu and Zheng Maoxun—those were all the friends who had come to the restaurant that night with He Jiajun. He said there had been a bit of a conflict between the two sides and asked them to help keep an eye on whether any of those people said anything in their social circles or group chats.

Especially whether anyone had taken videos or photos that showed Chen Xiangling’s face.

Zheng Baoqiu replied first, saying no.

Not long after, Zheng Maoxun called him too and said no, but feeling as if he had finally won back a point, he could not help putting on airs as he lectured Chen Wengang. “You can’t even eat a meal without letting people bully you. Why are you always stirring up trouble?”

Chen Wengang relaxed slightly for the moment and went along with him. “Alright, I’ll reflect on it.”

Zheng Maoxun said, “At least you weren’t stupid enough to stay. You knew to run fast. There were more of them at the restaurant—if you’d stayed, you’d definitely have been the one losing out.”

Chen Wengang smiled. “Yes. Now let’s just hope Young Master He didn’t get hurt too badly. If it comes to it, then we can call the police and establish responsibility.”

Zheng Maoxun clicked his tongue twice. “Easy for you to say. Wouldn’t there be compensation to pay? Wouldn’t you still be using our family’s money to pay it?”

The moment those words landed, the atmosphere froze.

Our family’s.

Zheng Maoxun realized at once that he had gone too far. He had only meant to take a jab at him and truly had not thought much about it. It was not the most cutting thing he had ever said, nor the cruelest joke, but for once he vaguely felt that maybe this really was something he should not have said.

He felt a bit regretful inside, but since Chen Wengang said nothing on the other end of the phone, he could not bring himself to apologize first.

So he could only keep up a stern tone and say, “I’ll get someone to keep watching for you and see whether he ended up in the hospital. I’m hanging up.”

Chen Wengang’s voice remained gentle and calm. “Alright. Thank you.”

If Zheng Maoxun could have seen his expression, he might have felt more reassured. It was Zheng Maoxun who had worried too much.

Across both his lifetimes, Chen Wengang had heard countless rumors and careless remarks. He would not take a single unthinking slip of the tongue from Zheng Maoxun seriously.

Besides, it was true.

Just as his uncle had said, the moment Chen Wengang called Zheng Bingyi “godfather,” the world laid out before him became a different one.

When he was younger, Chen Wengang had cared about such things.

He had consciously separated his money into two bank accounts: one held the money Zheng Bingyi gave him, while the other held his own salary, his father’s death benefit, and so on… He had once tried to use that separation to clearly distinguish between “his” and “the Zheng family’s,” so that he could stand independently and with dignity by Zheng Yucheng’s side.

In the end, he only discovered that this was an account that could never truly be settled.

Everyone, knowingly or not, calculated gains and losses. That was simply the normal state of the world. Between people, there could never be no debts at all. He was destined to owe others certain things, just as others owed him in different ways.

But if one absolutely had to say it—if Huo Niansheng was willing to give, then how steady and secure his heart felt. In this life, he would surely accept every bit of it without reservation.

The taxi driver suddenly asked, “Young man, what are you thinking about? You got in and haven’t said a word.”

Chen Wengang was jolted back to himself by the question and smiled. “Nothing much. Just thinking about some small matters.”

The middle-aged driver said, “You’re still a university student, right? Cheer up. At your age, what worries can there be besides failing exams or not getting the girl? Once you’re at my stage and have a family to support, then every day the moment you open your eyes you have to think about making money. There’ll be plenty of time to worry then!”

Chen Wengang smiled and listened to him talk about his wife and children. He had met a talkative driver, the kind who could not hold his words in, and so the man chatted all the way.

He made Chen Wengang think of his own father, who had also been a driver.

When his father drove for Zheng Bingyi, had he also been thinking only of giving his wife and child a better life?

When they reached the Zheng residence in the old-money district, the driver let Chen Wengang out and then turned his head, looking around for somewhere to turn the taxi around.

He caught sight of Chen Wengang pressing the doorbell. The villa gate opened. The guard greeted him through the video intercom, Chen Wengang nodded in return, and then walked in with obvious familiarity—

so he really was a rich family’s son. The driver had already felt as much from the atmosphere in the car. His bearing was different.

The driver paused for a moment and peered into the seemingly endless courtyard, clicking his tongue in envy and admiration a couple of times before finally turning around and driving away.

Yu Shanding jogged all the way down the corridor, shoved open the private room door, and immediately located Huo Niansheng among the crowd of brightly dressed “spirits.”

One glance told him that the person holding the microphone was the bank president Ma’s son, crooning a love song in duet with a hostess in his arms, just at the climax of the song.

Elsewhere, people were drinking in contests, playing all sorts of sexually suggestive games. The room was full of noise, assaulting the ears from every direction.

Huo Niansheng lounged lazily against the sofa, five fingers wrapped around a glass of liquor, long legs stretched out against the coffee table, reaching absurdly far. His manner was loose and languid, as if drunk, his eyes gleaming with a drifting, hazy light.

And yet, seated among the crowd like this, he still carried a kind of solitary aloofness, as if he were drinking alone.

One of the “spirits,” emboldened, slithered through the crowd like a snake and tried to nestle into his arms.

Young masters and princesses these days, Yu Shanding thought, one by one, it was getting harder and harder to tell male from female. After two extra glances he finally identified it clearly—alright, a boy, but wearing fishnet stockings and high heels.

At that moment, Young Master Ma finished his song.

Huo Niansheng lifted his eyelids, as if only just noticing Yu Shanding, and smiled. “Boss Yu is here? Come, sit.”

Yu Shanding knew his temper. He dropped himself squarely between Huo Niansheng and that “spirit,” physically separating them.

But Young Master Ma was displeased. “What’s this, Young Master Huo not in high spirits? Or is it that the people I brought today aren’t to your taste?”

Yu Shanding knew these rich young men. Even though not one of them had ever earned half a coin with his own hands, they all somehow felt entitled to look down on someone like him.

But it did not matter. His face was thick. He grabbed a glass from the marble coffee table first. “Sorry for spoiling everyone’s mood. I’ll punish myself with a drink.”

He drained it in one go.

Young Master Ma’s attention was not really on him anyway, so he ignored him. Rolling his eyes, he changed tactics and urged the boy who had been shoved aside, “Let’s test whether you’ve really got what it takes. Go on—no matter what method you use today, coax Young Master Huo into drinking one glass.”

He smacked the “spirit” on the backside. “Get him to drink a glass and I’ll give you a ten-thousand-yuan tip. How much you earn depends on your own skill.”

The private room exploded into laughter.

Someone whistled. “Young Master Ma is generous—he’s giving you a chance to get rich. Aren’t you going?”

Yu Shanding hissed under his breath and thought, Amitabha, what a sin. This has nothing to do with me now.

Tempted by the heavy reward, the “spirit” became even more enthusiastic, twisting his hips as he rubbed across Yu Shanding’s legs and climbed toward Huo Niansheng.

The person was like a snake, and those thin arms were like snakes too. With one grab, even Yu Shanding—a straight man—felt his expression change.

Men understood men best, and in the end all those principles could be reduced to one: no man was truly without lust. Once desire was stirred, it was thunder meeting wildfire.

Young Master Ma narrowed his eyes, raised his glass, and murmured in a tone approaching drunken philosophy, his alcohol-scorched nerves seeming to slip from excitement into some pseudo-profound state:

“Young Master Huo, look, these little things come out here just to make a living. Just think of it as doing a good deed.”

A pale, boneless hand slid toward his chest. Huo Niansheng curled his lips and accepted the drink.

Then the wandering hand was suddenly seized.

The boy’s heart leapt in delight, but the next instant his arm was twisted sharply backward like a limb on the torture rack, pain drilling straight into the bone.

His knees gave way and he hit the floor with a thud, unable to understand how he had somehow rolled off Yu Shanding and landed in a sprawled heap.

Laughter rained down from above, and several others in the same line of work nearby burst into giggles.

A chill ran over the crown of his head, and his heart turned cold too. Alcohol streamed down from his hairline and forehead across his face.

Huo Niansheng had dumped the drink directly over his head. “I pushed you away several times already. Why were you still climbing over? No sense of rules.”

He casually dropped the empty glass into Young Master Ma’s own glass, and cold liquor overflowed, spilling all over Ma’s hand.

Young Master Ma had taken it all as a joke and was laughing loudly.

Then suddenly his scalp tightened painfully as he was yanked by the hair, forcing his neck back against his will.

Huo Niansheng reached out and patted his face. “And what are you laughing at? You think you’re fit to tell me to do a good deed?”

The hidden snickers around the room cut off as though someone had grabbed them by the throat. Only the music still played pointlessly in the background.

The sound system drowned out the words between the two men, but could not hide their expressions.

For a full five or six seconds, not a single breathing person in the room dared speak. Everyone knew enough to protect himself and read the situation.

After a while, Young Master Ma started struggling with muffled sounds. With one side of his mouth trying to smile apologetically while the rest of him fought to pull free, his face twisted into something absurd and grotesque.

Huo Niansheng had pinched and distorted his face until he looked like a cartoon train character. He turned it side to side, studying it, then laughed. “Ma Jiming, I just realized—on your face, is that fat, or is it swelling?”

He let go, pulled out a handkerchief, and wiped the oil from his fingers. There was a trace of disdain in his peach-blossom eyes. “Not that I should say this, but going to bed early, getting up early, and running a little does more good than any medicine.” He glanced at the liquor on the table. “I’m leaving. And you—lose some weight.”

Everyone finally snapped back to themselves and rushed to smooth things over, but Huo Niansheng had already lazily stood up and grabbed his coat.

Huo Niansheng had only recently returned from Zhangcheng. To the people in this room, they had heard his name for years without seeing him in person. But he held shares in the Huo Group, could speak, could participate in decision-making, and that naturally made many of them restless. Pulling him in and testing him out—that was up to each person’s own ability.

Young Master Ma had arranged this gathering to invite him. He had even told all the “spirits” beforehand that whoever managed to win over Huo Niansheng would get a huge red envelope of one hundred thousand yuan afterward. He really had come prepared.

The only thing he had not anticipated was this reaction—he had gotten nothing but a thorough humiliation instead.

Everyone said Huo Niansheng knew how to have fun, but no one had ever said he could turn hostile without warning. Who knew what line they had crossed for him?

Yu Shanding had seen too much of the world for his expression to change much. Only when Huo Niansheng mentioned medicine did he glance at the empty glasses on the table, touch his own throat, and then subtly assess his lower body. Judging by that, whatever had been slipped into the drinks had not gone into his own glass.

He put on a smile again and stood up after Huo Niansheng. “Everyone, sorry about this. I still have some urgent business matters to report to President Huo. I’ll borrow him for now. Next time I’ll host, and when that happens I hope everyone will honor me by coming.”

After saying that, he paid no attention to the expressions filling the room and hurried after Huo Niansheng at a jog.

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