DLRAS Chapter 68

Chapter 68: Think about it and help me get him.

But he had roughly figured out what was going on.

Zheng Bingyi shook his head. “Given the relationship between me and your Uncle He, a marriage between our two families would naturally have been icing on the cake. But I very much dislike the methods she’s employing. Resorting to threats and inducements just to achieve her goals—Yucheng can’t handle a girl like that.”

He gave Chen Wengang a look. “But since things have already come to this, we can’t let it leak out, or it might turn into a scandal. Especially since the He family has been providing us with immense support lately, we can’t let them down. This is a matter between the two of them; their future will depend on their own destiny.”

Chen Wengang offered a polite smile. “That is true, it depends on fate.”

He just didn’t know whether this fate would be a blessed union or a doomed affinity.

Stepping out of the chairman’s office, he went to the HR department to pick up a resignation application form.

He filled out the form meticulously. It took the better part of the day to get signatures step by step, starting from his direct supervisor up through the relevant department heads. Finally, he had to return to the chairman’s office to find Zheng Bingyi. Chen Wengang watched him pull a fountain pen from his breast pocket, uncap it, and with a flourish of his hand, sign his name.

Zheng Bingyi handed the form back to him. “No matter what you go on to do in the future, I wish you a smooth journey.”

Chen Wengang assented and thanked him.

He returned to his cubicle to pack up his desk, slowly clearing the surface and distributing the unused office supplies he had drawn from logistics to others.

Finally, Chen Wengang stood there and watered the pothos plant, racking his brain to see if there was any work he hadn’t handed over yet.

Colleagues he was close with gathered around, discussing when to schedule a farewell dinner for him.

The door to Zheng Maoxun’s office seemed to crack open a sliver, revealing half a face, hesitating whether to come out or not, before slamming shut again resentfully.

After a moment, Chen Wengang pushed the door open and took the initiative to check on him. “What’s wrong? Are you too embarrassed to come say goodbye?”

Zheng Maoxun furrowed his brows. “I just suddenly thought there was no need. Can’t I just see you when you go home tonight?”

Chen Wengang smiled and placed a small rubber duck on top of his monitor. “Cute, isn’t it? This is for you.”

“What is this?” Zheng Maoxun’s eyes widened. “A bath toy? How old are you to still be buying this stuff?”

“Don’t underestimate it.” Chen Wengang squeezed it, and it let out a squeak. He laughed, “Grace gave this to me. Grace inherited it from her predecessor, who inherited it from their predecessor… so this duck is practically a veteran of our department. I’m leaving it in your care, and it’s your responsibility to pass it on in the future.”

“I don’t want it, I don’t want it,” Zheng Maoxun said. “How about you give me that jumping frog of yours as a souvenir instead?”

“No way.” Chen Wengang’s eyes curved into crescents as he smiled. “I’m taking that one with me. Don’t even think about it.”

Joking aside, he waved at Zheng Maoxun, signaling him to lean in, and lowered his voice: “The way I see it, if there’s really something going on between Zheng Yucheng and He Wanxin, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to interact with her in the future. But her personality is extreme, so you need to keep your guard up.”

“Even if she really is Zheng Yucheng’s girlfriend, it has nothing to do with me. Why would I have lots of opportunities to interact with her?”

“If she’s going to enter this family in the future, it’s not up to you to say you won’t. Didn’t you and Baoqiu clash with her last time? Don’t dismiss it. Do you know what it means to offend a gentleman but never a scoundrel? It’s because scoundrels will stab you in the back, and the attacks you can’t predict are the most dangerous.”

“You’re making me all nervous. Hearing you describe her, it sounds like she’s some kind of dangerous element.”

“Just remember my words. Even if I’m lying to you, it doesn’t cost you anything to be a bit more careful.”

Zheng Maoxun found it strange. “Setting aside whether it’s true or false, this is the first time I’ve ever heard you badmouth someone behind their back like this.”

Chen Wengang smiled faintly. “It’s never a mistake to be careful, is it? Just take it as ‘a man’s words are kind when his departure is near’.”

Zheng Maoxun said, “Pfft, what do you mean ‘departure is near’? I’ve never heard anyone say that about themselves.”

The streets below the Zheng Group building were as bustling with traffic as ever. Across the street, a mobile ice cream truck was broadcasting a sales pitch from a megaphone.

Chen Wengang bought an ice cream cone, suddenly feeling a peculiar sense of relief, yet momentarily unsure of where to go.

He looked left and right, wondering if Baldy was still around. Usually, while he was at work, Baldy would wander around downstairs on his own.

But Baldy wasn’t the kind of person who was good at chatting, and Chen Wengang didn’t know how to confide this faint sense of melancholy to him anyway. Everyone had their own things to be busy with, and going out of his way to bother someone seemed unnecessary.

He ended up just finishing his ice cream.

Recently, reporters had been lying in ambush nearby every day, eyeing the place like tigers watching their prey. No one was staking out the building anymore, but the covers of several financial magazines at the newsstand still featured headlines reporting on the Zheng Group’s shipwreck accident. From the time of the incident until now, voices of social criticism and questioning had been endless. Clickbait headlines claimed black-hearted bosses disregarded human life, while in-depth media logically and expansively discussed the loopholes in the Zheng Group’s management.

So resigning at this time was actually a bit self-indulgent of him.

The Zheng Group was enduring a period of stormy weather, and even Chen Wengang, an “insider,” throwing in the towel couldn’t help but make colleagues overthink things and shake morale. For Zheng Bingyi to let him go without a word of persuasion at a time like this was a sign he had done his part out of affection.

By the time he finished the ice cream, Chen Wengang had slowly formed some clear ideas in his mind.

Huo Niansheng parked his sports car by the street, stepped out, his right arm cradling a massive bouquet of champagne roses arranged like a tulle skirt.

He walked toward Chen Wengang, acting ostentatiously, making it hard to tell if the car or the man drew more attention. “Want to find a place to eat?”

Chen Wengang stepped forward to meet him, took the flowers, and looked at him with a helpless smile. “Is it impossible for you to take a single step if you try to keep a low profile?”

Unashamed, Huo Niansheng just smiled without a word, instead draping an arm around him with a hint of smugness and leading him to the car.

They went to a restaurant opened by Russians. The staff at the front desk were all deep-set-eyed, high-nosed Russians, rolling their tongues as they welcomed them.

Last time Chen Wengang had randomly eaten Russian food with Li Hongqiong, the taste of the borscht had stuck with him. He had mentioned it to Huo Niansheng once, and Huo Niansheng had brought him here. When it came to eating, drinking, and having fun, this playboy was always an absolute expert.

Huo Niansheng rested his chin on his hand, smiling as he listened to Chen Wengang share what he had been up to lately.

Of course, there was no need to say any more about the Zheng Group and his resignation. Chen Wengang had plenty of other topics for idle chatter. Since he knew many volunteers, he came across all sorts of stories. For instance, he talked about people doing disease prevention work, handing out condoms to teenagers:

“They spent an hour trying to explain it to this guy, educating him that condoms are needed for male-to-male sex too, and he just kept repeating the same sentence over and over—’But I can’t get pregnant.’ He was maybe sixteen or seventeen, looked like he was still in high school. After finally managing to get through to him, and him promising to be careful in the future, maybe half a year later that same guy called the volunteers for help again, asking what to do because it was itchy down there. They asked him again, and he was still having unprotected sex. He said his husband didn’t like them… Sometimes it’s so infuriating and ridiculous, but you can’t even laugh.”

Chen Wengang tugged at his napkin, remembering to look at him. “Do you mind talking about this while we eat?”

Huo Niansheng chuckled. “Keep talking. We’re all adults, what’s unacceptable about it?”

Chen Wengang propped his chin up and looked at him. “Maybe these things of mine are very boring to you.”

Huo Niansheng smiled. “Your things will never be boring to me, no matter when.”

After dinner, they strolled for a bit. Huo Niansheng pulled out a box of condoms and asked by his ear, “It needs to be protected, right? See, I listen very carefully to everything you say and take it to heart.”

Chen Wengang smiled.

Huo Niansheng caressed him tenderly, and they embraced and kissed in the high-rise hotel room.

After Huo went to the bathroom, Chen Wengang sat up amidst the sound of running water, wanting to rummage through his pockets for a cigarette, but he came up empty-handed.

He sniffed Huo Niansheng’s clothes; they still carried that familiar woody scent, but come to think of it, he hadn’t smelled tobacco on him for a long time.

Left with no other choice, Chen Wengang walked to the balcony empty-handed to look at the night view.

He understood a few things in his heart. Perhaps Huo Niansheng currently really liked having a clean, innocent lover. That was probably the image he held in Huo Niansheng’s mind—gentle and kind, aloof from worldly affairs, which made him feel relaxed and triggered his protective instincts.

That was why Huo Niansheng always indulged and shielded him.

If it were possible, Chen Wengang would have been more than happy to live a simple life, studying and doing research solidly at school, doing the work he was familiar with in the field he knew best. But if circumstances didn’t allow him to be nonchalant, then there was nothing to be done.

The Zheng Group’s accident and He Wanxin’s approach seemed to be reminders of this, naturally making him vigilant.

Chen Wengang breathed on the glass and slowly traced a pattern on it bit by bit.

The situation and relationships within the Huo family gradually became clear in his mind.

Huo Kaishan would pass away, and Third Uncle Huo would rise to power, but internal strife was undoubtedly still bound to break out. Since his rebirth, he had delayed intervening in Huo Niansheng’s life because the signs of crisis hadn’t appeared yet. Even if he had a shadow in his heart, a person couldn’t be condemned for things that hadn’t happened yet.

But speaking of which, if Huo Niansheng had his own set of ideas, did he really have to be so well-behaved himself?

When Huo Jingsheng received Chen Wengang’s phone call, he was surprised, asking with a sarcastic tone, “Why would you want to see me?”

Chen Wengang’s voice carried a hint of warm laughter. “Second Young Master Huo, long time no see. Can we find a place to chat?”

“What makes you think I’d chat with you?”

“Don’t be so impolite. The last time you wanted to meet me, wasn’t I very cooperative?”

Putting on airs, Huo Jingsheng eventually agreed, figuring he’d just see what kind of scheme he was cooking up anyway.

Chen Wengang took his time. The day before their meeting, he went to the charity home to visit Tongtong and Diandian.

Seeing him, Diandian suddenly started crying pitifully. Chen Wengang crouched down and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Tongtong scurried over, hugging the bear he had given them last time. He turned it over and saw that the clothes had unraveled—after bringing it back, the staff had to wash and dry it, and other children passed it around to play with. Kids were rough, and breaking things happened in a matter of minutes.

Chen Wengang pulled up a small stool and threaded a needle, while Diandian lay beside him, watching him sew the dress.

Director Liu brought a stool over. “She wouldn’t let anyone else sew it, thought they wouldn’t do a good job. She was waiting specifically for you to come.”

Chen Wengang said, “It’s not that others don’t sew well, it’s about the ritual. Whoever bought it has to be the one to sew it, right?”

Tongtong nodded. He understood children’s logic: “You are its mommy!” So it was his job to take care of it too.

Chen Wengang said, “I see. Too bad I’m a man, so I’ll just be its daddy instead, okay?”

Tears still on her face, Diandian giggled, laughing and chattering with her little friend.

The next day, he changed his outfit, dressing himself up entirely fresh, and appeared unhurriedly at the teahouse he had agreed upon with Huo Jingsheng.

Huo Jingsheng arrived late, putting on airs. Chen Wengang stood up, calm and composed, and invited him to take a seat.

He shot Chen Wengang a sideways glance. “I don’t have much time, spit it out.”

Unhurried and unflustered, Chen Wengang picked up the teapot and poured him a cup of tea. “Honest people don’t speak in riddles, so I’ll be direct. I’ve thought over what you said last time repeatedly, but I have a question. Do you really want to see your older brother marry into a powerful family?”

Huo Jingsheng sat up a bit straighter. “What are you trying to say?”

Chen Wengang said, “You said yourself it was because the elders were concerned about his marriage. But if he gains a powerful background, what good does that do you? Obviously none. But what if he continues to be a slacker? Deep down, isn’t that what you’d prefer to see?”

Huo Jingsheng looked at him out of the corner of his eye.

Chen Wengang gave a solicitous smile. “Exactly, that’s what I mean. I don’t want to see him marry someone else in the future, and I’m guessing you don’t either. Think it over. How about you help me lock him down?”

Thinking about it, Huo Jingsheng lowered his leg and sneered. “Haven’t you already locked him down? What else is there to say?”

Chen Wengang laid his cards on the table. “That’s not enough. Don’t you know how fickle he is? He’s a three-minute wonder. Relying purely on feelings is too illusory; one minute he’s warm, the next he’s cold. I want something to lean on, so I can keep him firmly in my grasp.”

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