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Chapter 79: If there was only pain, why ask?
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Huo Niansheng glanced at Chen Wengang, who kept his head down, his slender fingers struggling with the chocolate packaging.
The cover read, “Pink Sweetheart.” He tore it open to reveal white square pieces, and as he bit into one, he found milk chocolate with a strawberry filling. Chen Wengang then offered one to Huo Niansheng.
Holding the steering wheel, Huo Niansheng kept his gaze ahead, savoring the rich and smooth sweetness melting in his mouth.
“Where are you staying tonight?” he suddenly asked.
“I should go home,” Chen Wengang hesitated, “Uncle Lin probably thinks I’m running away from home.”
“Alright.”
The steering wheel turned in a particular direction. Then Huo Niansheng watched as Chen Wengang pressed the doorbell at the Zheng family’s residence.
Then Chen Wengang took a couple of steps, checked his watch, and asked if he wanted to come in and have dinner together.
Huo Niansheng inexplicably thought of the question Huo Zhenfei had asked about having a fixed place for three meals a day.
“You go ahead,” he said, “Just remember to take a shower later.”
“Take your time,” Chen Wengang grinned at him.
By the time he returned to the vicinity of Yunding Tower, it was already dark. The entire CBD business district was brightly lit, with the transparent stars behind it representing the companies still working overtime.
However, the apartment was dark, and when Huo Niansheng turned on the lights, it felt eerily quiet.
For someone like him, feeling lonely seemed almost unimaginable.
He walked into the dining room, tossed the chocolates Chen Wengang had left on the table, and received a message from some friends inviting him out for drinks.
Huo Niansheng himself had just remembered that he hadn’t been to such lively places in a while.
Many people speculated that he had “settled down” now, but today was a special occasion, as it was the bachelor party of a son of a wealthy family.
The driver, Lao Li, took the boss to the Rose 1917 nightclub, which he had not seen for a long time.
The nightclub was a legitimate establishment, but it turned a blind eye to some borderline activities. The host had rented out the venue, and strippers covered in silver sequins danced around the steel poles, while the transparent glass stage was covered in colorful glitter.
Huo Niansheng leisurely sat at the bar, undisturbed by anyone, and he didn’t bother others either, casually looking in the direction of the crowd’s cheers.
The groom-to-be, amidst the cheering of his friends, was passionately kissing a lady in a red dress. Her face wasn’t visible from the back, but one could see her wearing large earrings, her dress straps revealing a generous expanse of bare back, and glimpses of her slender legs in high heels through the gaps in the crowd.
They kissed passionately, as if indulging in one final revelry before tomorrow arrived.
After half an hour, the groom-to-be scurried over to him, signaling those around to lower their voices, and started a video call on the other end—
“Absolutely no inappropriate activities are going on here. Look, it’s just me and a few of my buddies, people you know. Women? What women? At most, there are a few companions they brought along. Stop making things up; it’s impossible; you’re just being paranoid.”
The bride-to-be on the other end of the video call checked the headcounts one by one. The group of men, with eager expressions, collectively assured her, calling out “sister-in-law” to reassure her.
Huo Niansheng glanced sideways, sitting in the background of the scene, withdrawing his mocking gaze and placing his glass on the bar.
The bartender served him another glass of whiskey and amaretto-based “Godfather.”
Finally, the friend who invited Huo Niansheng remembered to approach him. “Seriously? You come out here alone to drink like a lone ghost, and I heard you’re going to be a family man. Is that true?” The friend nodded towards the dancers on stage. “Not even tipping them a dime, how lonely can you get?”
Huo Niansheng pushed the stack of folded bills towards the bartender. “Have fun.”
“Hey!”
The driver, Lao Li, received a message and arrived at the gate five minutes later.
Huo Niansheng got into the car and closed the door.
Lao Li was about to turn around when he suddenly heard an instruction: “Go to Prayer Street.”
Without a word, the Rolls-Royce headed towards the old city area.
Huo Niansheng had just visited Prayer Street during the day, the street where Mr. Chen lived. Without giving an exact location, Huo Niansheng let Lao Li drive slowly along the street. Huo Niansheng instructed him to slow down, and the car window was wide open, allowing the hot and restless wind to blow in continuously.
Suddenly, Huo Niansheng said, “Stop the car.”
Lao Li glanced outside. The river was pitch black, with thick reeds concealing the rugged cement buildings in the distance.
Huo Niansheng opened the car door, as if having a clear goal in mind, and slid down a dirt slope towards the abandoned bridge arch.
During the day, Huo Niansheng felt there should be a bridge in this area, but he never saw it.
Then, Chen Wengang’s voice echoed again: “In the other direction, we’ve already passed it.”
Huo Niansheng approached closer, feeling like a hidden beast lurking in the darkness. The summer grass was deep green, and crickets hopped away from his leather shoes. The sensation of déjà vu from yesterday crawled up his spine, threatening to tear open memories waiting to attack him. But it wasn’t exactly the same; Huo Niansheng had a sense of something; he could even recall the crunching sound of stepping on dry leaves.
Dim streetlights cast a faint glow at one end of the bridge arch, while the other end was shrouded in darkness. Now, he stood under the bridge arch, defiantly peering inside.
Except for himself, there was no one around.
Trash was piled against the walls, with graffiti sprayed haphazardly in paint. Over time, the graffiti covered the walls, with “I love you” discernible nearby, followed by various symbols, names, and obscenities.
Lao Li, puzzled, followed and slid down from the slope. His boss stood alone in the thicket, gazing in an unknown direction, as tall and steadfast as a mountain peak.
Huo Niansheng glanced at him sideways and softly asked, “Got a cigarette?”
Lao Li hesitated for a moment, then hurriedly reached into his pocket. He offered the cigarette pack, from which Huo Niansheng took one and placed it between his lips.
“Mr. Huo, is there something wrong here?” Lao Li asked, taking out a lighter.
“I’ve had too much to drink,” Huo Niansheng said, bowing his head as he lit the cigarette from the flame in Lao Li’s hand. “You can go back now; I’ll stay here for a while.”
Lao Li hesitated for a moment before reluctantly climbing up the slope, looking back several times.
As sparks flickered and died, Huo Niansheng leaned against the wall, taking a deep drag, feeling the tobacco’s flavor soothe his nerves.
He lowered his head, fiddling with his phone, found Chen Wengang’s number, glanced at the time, realizing it was bedtime, and abandoned the idea of bothering him.
Putting away his phone, he continued to imagine the peaceful sleeping face.
Huo Niansheng closed his eyes, his back against the rough wall, ignoring how dirty it might be, the alcohol making him a little dizzy.
In the void, that face slowly melted halfway, as if dissolved, grotesque and terrifying, while the other half still maintained its original form.
Chen Wengang leaned against the wall, cigarette in hand, his gaze indifferent, looking at him through his intact left eye.
The summer night was stifling, and the wind was blowing, causing sticky sweat to form all over.
Huo Niansheng stayed down there for a long time before coming up. He was silent, waving his hand to signal Lao Li to drive back to Yunding Tower.
In the morning, Chen Wengang saw the message from Huo Niansheng, saying there were two tickets and he would pick him up for a concert in the evening.
Even his colleagues were accustomed to this, joking that Mr. Huo had a variety of dating styles and a poetic heart.
In the evening, Huo Niansheng appeared with a bouquet of blooming white roses in a sports car.
Chen Wengang paused for a moment before going to greet him, smiling faintly as he asked, “What’s going on with you?”
Just when he started making progress, this person liked to put on such a grand show. Exaggeration once or twice was fine, but now he seemed to be back to his old ways for some reason.
There weren’t as many people at the school at that time. Chen Wengang looked around, noticing a few young teachers already giggling behind him.
Huo Niansheng paid no mind to the looks of others, tossing the roses to him. “I’ve delivered them; now it’s your responsibility to handle them.”
Chen Wengang smiled and scolded him with a glance, then began to distribute the flowers to passing colleagues and children leaving school.
One child couldn’t stop fidgeting, immediately tearing the petals off as soon as he got the flowers, scattering them into the air.
Huo Niansheng leaned against the car door, just smiling as he watched them abuse the bouquet of roses.
After finishing the distribution, he leisurely approached Chen Wengang. “Mr. Chen, you’ve gifted roses and left a lingering fragrance. What about me?”
Chen Wengang actually still had two roses left. He borrowed a pair of small scissors from a female teacher, trimmed the long stems, and then inserted one into the buttonhole of Huo Niansheng’s suit.
As Huo Niansheng touched the hand Chen Wengang used, Chen Wengang brought his hand to his lips and playfully kissed it. “You’re charming even in simplicity.”
The female teacher took back her scissors, unable to hold back her laughter.
Huo Niansheng embraced him, cherishingly kissing his temple.
It had rained a little during the day, and today the breeze was slightly cooler. The fragrance of the flowers was carried far away, filling his heart with tenderness.
Chen Wengang kept the other rose in his hand, not wearing it.
At a red light, Huo Niansheng glanced at him.
Chen Wengang lowered his eyes, playing with the full petals in his hand. His profile was gentle, like a smooth curve drawn with fluent lines, his thick eyelashes flickering.
Both of them were dressed in formal attire for the concert, but as it was hot, Chen Wengang took off his jacket outside the theater and draped it over his arm.
Huo Niansheng also adjusted his clothes, removing the rose from his coat. They walked side by side on the spacious street after leaving the theater.
Chen Wengang suddenly asked, “Do you have something on your mind?”
Huo Niansheng smiled and asked, “How did you figure that out?”
Chen Wengang smirked, “It’s good if you don’t. Is Jiang Cai adapting well at your place?”
In reality, Huo Niansheng hadn’t been back to his old residence for about ten days or so, and he hadn’t even seen her face-to-face. “Huo Zhenfei’s secretary is taking care of her affairs.”
Huo Zhenfei’s secretary and lawyer had been quite busy for a while. Jiang Wanxia went abroad for treatment, and Jiang Cai moved directly to the Huo residence. From living in a small room full of school supplies to a mansion on a wealthy family’s estate, anyone would say she had risen from obscurity to prominence. Besides the numerous formalities she had to go through, for her, it was more about the upheaval in her daily life. Chen Wengang had reached out to her, but Jiang Cai had never contacted him.
Huo Zhenfei contacted Chen Wengang once, asking if he would attend the family banquet for the Mid-Autumn Festival. After hearing this, Huo Niansheng almost chuckled, “He probably thinks the atmosphere isn’t lively enough yet.”
Chen Wengang said, “I told him that the Zheng family is also celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival.”
There was a fountain pool in the square, and suddenly the small electric carousel started spinning and singing with lights. Excited children sat on each horse while parents waved to them from outside the railing.
Huo Niansheng smiled but didn’t say anything as they left the square behind. Suddenly, Chen Wengang said, “You seem different today.”
Huo Niansheng glanced at him, his gaze deep, without any intention of answering. After walking a few hundred meters, he suddenly pulled Chen Wengang a few steps to the back of a closed newsstand, leaning against the iron sheet with one arm, surrounded by dry trees.
Chen Wengang smiled gently at him, “What’s wrong?”
Huo Niansheng said, “Answer me a question.”
He slowly exhaled, tucking a strand of hair behind Chen Wengang’s ear. As his hand moved, the other rose on his coat suddenly fell to the ground. Huo Niansheng glanced down at it, unperturbed.
Raising his head again, he gazed at Chen Wengang, whose face was calm and gentle, bearing the innocence of someone untouched by harm.
If there was only pain, why ask? If he didn’t know, why hope he would remember?
Huo Niansheng suddenly took a half-step back, a playful smile quirking at the corner of his mouth. “Do you like me?”
Chen Wengang frowned, laughing, “What kind of question is that?”
Leaning down towards him, Huo Niansheng’s tone was playful yet serious, “I’ve thought about it. If you want to be with me, there’s a condition—I need you to move out of the Zheng family’s house and never see Zheng Yucheng again. Only then will I believe you’re sincere. Can you agree to that?”
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