He apologized with his words, but his expression showed no remorse at all.
Unimaginable words pierced through stiff eardrums and brutally invaded his mind. Mo Hanzhou felt as if he had returned to this world:
“You’re saying you saw him getting beaten up, but you didn’t tell me because you were afraid I’d go save him?”
“Yeah.” Lu Qiao nodded pitifully, shifting the blame:
“And besides, he didn’t die, right? Why make such a big deal out of it?” Next time, I’ll make sure he gets beaten up even more.
“You!!”
“Ahem.”
Mo Hanzhou coughed lightly, his expression growing complicated. He spoke gently, his tone strange:
“You saw him getting beaten up?”
“Mhm.” Lu Qiao nodded, adding:
“It was really awful.”
“Is that so?” Mo Hanzhou took a deep breath.
“Oh, and I have photos. Would you like to see them, sir?”
Mo Hanzhou was shocked: “You have photos?”
“Yeah.” Lu Qiao looked indifferent:
“I was planning to report it to the police after the wedding, but I was so happy about getting married that I forgot.”
“…”
As Lu Qiao pulled up the photos saved on his phone, he thought to himself, Good thing I anticipated that Mo Yunchong might pull something like this. Tsk, men are so dirty.
The man in the photos indeed looked miserable, so much so that Mo Hanzhou couldn’t help but comment. The two of them exchanged remarks about the severity of the beating, one after another, filling the air with a lively atmosphere.
Mo Yunchong was so furious he nearly coughed up blood. That day, for some reason, he had blacked out and fainted. When he woke up, several people were surrounding him, and without a word, they started beating him up, preventing him from attending the wedding.
Now that he thought about it, it was probably this troublemaker’s doing. The feeling of humiliation was so intense that Mo Yunchong angrily shouted:
“You, how dare you ”
The assistant arrived just in time with two security guards. Pointing at Mo Yunchong, he said, “This is the person harassing Mr. Mo. Please escort him out immediately!”
The two tall, burly security guards grabbed Mo Yunchong by the arms and dragged him out. Mo Yunchong tried to shout something, but one of them impatiently covered his mouth and quickly dragged him away.
Although the security guards acted swiftly, the two men’s good mood had already been ruined. Mo Hanzhou didn’t stay much longer before heading back.
They had arrived in two separate cars one for Mo and Lu, and another for the assistant and a caregiver. Once in the car, Lu Qiao raised the partition.
The air in the enclosed space instantly grew tense.
Mo Hanzhou stared straight ahead, his fingers lightly tapping on the metal handle, each tap echoing in Lu Qiao’s heart.
“…” Now is the time for the best strategy: acting obedient.
Lu Qiao timidly asked, “Are you angry?”
The tapping stopped. Mo Hanzhou looked at him: “Didn’t you think you did the right thing? Why would I be angry?”
Lu Qiao fell silent for a moment before obediently saying, “Well, there were still a few mistakes.”
“Oh? What were they?”
Lu Qiao listed them one by one: “I didn’t tell you in time that I had seen Mo Yunchong. I didn’t tell you when Mo Yunchong harassed me repeatedly. I didn’t confess to you. I didn’t treat you as someone I could rely on.”
He sure knows how to reflect.
“Then why did you do it?”
Lu Qiao hesitated slightly. Mo Hanzhou was not someone to be easily fooled. At this point, excessive feigned ignorance would only provoke his displeasure. A simple equation flashed through Lu Qiao’s mind, and he sighed inwardly. His cat-like, dewy eyes trembled beneath long, narrow lashes as he lowered his head, his chin brushing against Mo Hanzhou’s palm.
“Because I didn’t want you to feel sad.”
“Sir, Mo Yunchong is simply no match for you.”
Mo Hanzhou’s heart felt as if it had been pricked by a needle.
He had thought that his leg injury was already a settled fact, something he had learned to accept calmly over the past five years. But it turned out that true pain was not so easily healed or forgotten, as if it had never existed at all.
Someone like Mo Yunchong, with his poor character and lack of accomplishments the only thing that gave him the confidence to stand before Lu Qiao and vie for his nominal sister-in-law was Mo Hanzhou’s crippled legs. Because Mo Hanzhou was seen as useless, Mo Yunchong naturally assumed that Lu Qiao would be dissatisfied and resentful, giving him an opportunity to exploit.
Perhaps Mo Hanzhou had realized this the moment Mo Yunchong uttered those words, which was why he had been so affected, so deeply troubled. What was lost was lost, and no amount of pretending could bring it back.
Mo Hanzhou had always considered himself strong, but it turned out his weakness was glaringly obvious, so much so that even his young wife had noticed and felt compelled to clumsily try to conceal it for him.
But Mo Hanzhou was no ordinary man. The bloody self-revelation lasted only a brief two seconds before his expression returned to normal, and he even found the leisure to tease his young wife.
“So, you still think you’ve been wronged.”
“I haven’t been wronged,” the boy muttered, lowering his head.
“I haven’t been wronged. I just genuinely wanted to protect you.”
With that tone, it was clear he felt wronged. Mo Hanzhou looked at the boy with amusement, but a long-absent warmth flowed through his chest. So this was what it felt like to have someone desperately trying to shield his wounds even if that hand was weak and naive, it was, after all, a hand that had willingly chosen to protect him.
Mo Hanzhou gently wrapped his arms around the boy’s waist and whispered soothingly:
“Alright, alright, I’m not even angry.”
“Don’t feel wronged anymore.”
“I’m not wronged.”
“Then I won’t be angry either.”
“I’m not angry. I just want to hit him.”
“Fine, I’ll hit him for you.”
“…”
With Lu Qiao’s crisis smoothly resolved, it was now someone else’s turn to suffer.
Early the next morning, as soon as Mo Hanzhou arrived at the company, he summoned Fang Zhongbai into his office.
“On my behalf, invite the chairman of Richeng Chemical and his wife to dinner. Also, arrange a meeting for me with Minister Li from the Ministry of Commerce.”
Mo Hanzhou acted swiftly and decisively. By the third day, Yue Yilin received news from his subordinates:
“What? Richeng Chemical suddenly changed their mind and decided to sign with Puhua?”
“Yes, Director Zhao from Richeng said that, considering our company’s limited experience in the chemical industry, they’ve decided to go with the established Puhua for stability. And shortly after Richeng’s call, officials from the Ministry of Commerce came to investigate, saying we’ve been producing items outside the scope of our business license…”
Yue Yilin hung up the phone with a cold expression and immediately called in his assistant to investigate what was going on.
There was still no reply from the daily chemical company, but news from another direction arrived first:
“According to an employee from the daily chemical company, they saw the chairman of the company and his wife dining with Mo Hanzhou the day before yesterday. They ate until after nine o’clock, and Mo Hanzhou only left after escorting Chairman Lin and his wife back.”
“Mo Hanzhou.”
While the Mo and Yue families indeed had many industries in direct competition, not all of them overlapped. For instance, the Mo family had not participated in this daily chemical deal, and the final supplier chosen by the daily chemical company had no connection to the Mo family either. For Mo Hanzhou to do something that harmed others without benefiting himself, there must have been something else that provoked him.
Yue Yilin’s brow twitched: “What about Mo Yunchong?”
“Uh, let me check.”
The assistant quickly contacted Mo Yunchong. As an illegitimate child, Mo Yunchong had no backing from his mother’s side, and his path to advancement within the Mo family had been completely blocked by Mo Hanzhou. His current financial support came entirely from Yue Yilin, and even the hotel he stayed in was paid for by Yue Yilin.
The assistant soon learned about Mo Yunchong’s situation. Hanging up the phone, he turned to Yue Yilin:
“Three nights ago, Mo Yunchong went to cause trouble for Mo Hanzhou and his wife. Mo Hanzhou had him beaten up and thrown in front of a hospital. He’s been staying in the hospital these past few days and only just returned to the hotel.”
“Mo Yunchong caused trouble for Mo Hanzhou? How did he do it?”
The assistant paused before reporting truthfully: “He privately tried to seduce Mo Hanzhou’s new wife in an attempt to humiliate Mo Hanzhou, but he didn’t succeed.”
“Seduce Mo Hanzhou’s new wife?” Despite being filled with anger, Yue Yilin couldn’t help but laugh at Mo Yunchong’s bizarre antics.
“That new wife of Mo Hanzhou’s…”
A vague image flashed through his mind a gentle, quiet boy standing beside Mo Hanzhou at the wedding. He remembered him as quite good-looking, but that was all.
“What a shame it didn’t work out…” It would have been great to see Mo Hanzhou wearing a cuckold’s horns.
The assistant paused before adding, “Mr. Yue, you previously vowed at the board meeting that you would definitely secure the daily chemical deal. Now that several board members have learned about this, they’re starting to make a fuss again.”
A flash of irritation crossed Yue Yilin’s brow as he waved his hand impatiently:
“Don’t mind them. They’re just a bunch of old men who don’t know anything!”
“Uh, yes. So, what should we do next?”
“Next? Since Mo Hanzhou has given us such a generous gift, I should naturally pay him a visit to thank him.”
Around three in the afternoon, Mo Hanzhou had just finished an international meeting when Fang Zhongbai pushed the door open:
“Mr. Mo, Mr. Yue is here.”
Mo Hanzhou set down his pen and said, “Since he’s here, invite him up.”
“Yes.”
Not long after, Yue Yilin swaggered into the office and casually took a seat on the sofa. A faint smile played on his lips as he looked at Mo Hanzhou with an air of elegance:
“It’s been a while, Mr. Mo. How have you been lately?”
Mo Hanzhou wheeled his chair forward, appearing equally refined and composed:
“Thank you for your concern, Mr. Yue. As such a busy man, what brings you here today?”
Yue Yilin laughed heartily: “No matter how busy I am, I can’t compare to you, Mr. Mo. You even have time to dine and drink tea with others, so my visit is nothing in comparison.”
Mo Hanzhou smiled: “Are you referring to Chairman Lin? He’s a longtime friend of my father and showed great kindness during my wedding. Now that I have some free time, it’s only natural to express my gratitude.”
“President Mo, as soon as you express gratitude, you cancel the contract I’ve been working on for so long. Truly worthy of being President Mo.”
“Did something like that happen?”
Faced with Yue Yilin’s questioning, Mo Hanzhou only feigned confusion, his expression flawless and even exuding a warm, pleasant demeanor:
“It must be that Chairman Lin had other considerations. I can’t really inquire about his company’s affairs.”
“Haha, President Mo is right. Well, let’s not talk about this anymore.” Yue Yilin didn’t press further and changed the subject:
“Speaking of which, President Mo, it’s been a month since you got married. How are things going with your spouse?”
He wore a reminiscent expression: “I remember Mrs. Mo is a gentle and considerate young man. I imagine your married life must be very happy, given how radiant you look.”
“Thank you for your concern, Yue. My spouse and I are doing well.”
Mo Hanzhou brushed past the topic briefly, offering no further details. Yue Yilin noticed his reluctance to discuss the matter and smiled more deeply, standing up to say:
“In that case, I won’t disturb you any longer, President Mo. Rest well. We’ll meet again another day.”
Ignoring Yue Yilin’s deliberately mysterious attitude, Mo Hanzhou turned to Fang Zhongbai and said:
“Then I’ll see you off, Yue. Assistant Fang, please escort President Yue.”
Fang Zhongbai quickly stepped forward: “President Yue, this way.”
“To have Assistant Fang personally escort me I truly feel honored.”
Fang Zhongbai politely accompanied Yue Yilin to the ground floor of the building. After stepping out of the elevator, Yue Yilin stopped and said, “Assistant Fang, you may stop here. The weather is lovely today, and I’d like to take a short walk. No need to accompany me further.”
Fang Zhongbai replied courteously, “Then I’ll head back upstairs. Please feel free to take your time, President Yue.”
After dismissing Fang Zhongbai, Yue Yilin slowly made his way toward the building’s entrance. Though his expression appeared relaxed, he felt unusually irritable inside. The accumulation of various company matters, coupled with the lost contract, made him anticipate a pile of troubles awaiting him back at the office.
It was November, the golden autumn season. Outside the building, meticulously maintained greenery and red maple leaves adorned the surroundings, and the lawn remained lush and green. The afternoon sun was warm, and though the air carried a slight chill, it held a hint of sweetness that felt just right. Yue Yilin was about to walk toward the parking lot when, as soon as he stepped out of the building, his eyes suddenly lit up.
A dozen steps ahead, a boy with an exceptionally charming and adorable appearance was walking toward the building. The golden sunlight fell on his face, illuminating his features as pure and flawless as fine jade.
A deeper glint flashed in Yue Yilin’s pupils as he strode forward. Lu Qiao sensed someone blocking his path and looked up slightly, his cat-like eyes revealing a hint of confusion.
“Mrs. Mo, it’s been a while.”
The unfamiliar man before him spoke with reserved elegance. Lu Qiao carefully replied, “And you are?”
“Yue Yilin.”
Lu Qiao thought to himself: Damn, I remember now this is the guy who brought Mo Yun Chong to the wedding.
In his mind, Lu Qiao had already beaten this man up hundreds of times, but his face remained innocent and clueless: “Hello, President Yue. Are you here to see Hanzhou?”
“Yes. President Mo helped me with something, so I came specifically to thank him.”
Helped you sabotage things, right? With your little schemes, who do you think you’re fooling?
“Is that so?” The boy’s eyes curved into crescents, radiating a joyful and naive light from his deep brown pupils:
“Hanzhou is always very kind. If he helped you, it must be because you deserved it. You don’t need to be too grateful.”
Yue Yilin looked Lu Qiao up and down, as if trying to discern something. But the light was transparent, illuminating Lu Qiao’s jade-white face, which also appeared clear and translucent. His glass-like pupils were spotless, showing no trace of pretense, and even carried a cat-like laziness.
Yue Yilin spoke slowly, commenting, “Mrs. Mo is indeed as clever as ice and snow, virtuous and dignified no wonder Mr. Mo is so fond of you, marrying you home after knowing you for such a short time.”
With my performance being called virtuous and dignified, his eyesight must be terrible no wonder he’s been suppressed to the point where he can only take it out on his wife, hehe.
Yue Yilin continued, “We should sit down for a meal sometime to get to know each other better.”
Lu Qiao said calmly, “You can arrange a time with Han Zhou. I’ll definitely be there when the time comes.”
“Mrs. Mo really can’t go three sentences without mentioning Mr. Mo.”
“Mr. Yue”
The building’s automatic doors opened again, and on the steps, Mo Hanzhou pushed his wheelchair out.
“Han Zhou”
Lu Qiao ran forward in delight. Mo Hanzhou took his hand, his expression warm as he smiled at him. “I was waiting for you upstairs just now, but you never came up. I thought something had happened, but it turns out you ran into Mr. Yue.”
He turned to Yue Yilin and said, “Please excuse us, Mr. Yue. A Qiao is still young and a bit impulsive. I hope he didn’t say anything wrong to offend you.”
Yue Yilin watched the affectionate couple in front of him, narrowing his eyes. “Of course not. If anything, it’s Mr. Mo who can’t bear to be apart from his wife for even a moment, personally coming down to fetch her just because she was a little late. It’s truly enviable.”
Hearing this, the young man blushed slightly, lowering his head to look at his husband, his eyes filled with affection. Mo Hanzhou also looked up and smiled at him.
Seeing the deeply affectionate couple before him, Yue Yilin felt bored and lazily said, “Since Mr. Mo has come down to fetch you, I won’t keep you two any longer. We’ll meet again next time.”
Both of them nodded politely.
After Yue Yilin left, the two returned to the building. Mo Hanzhou asked, “Are you alright? Did Yue Yilin say anything to you?”
“No,” Lu Qiao shook his head. “Just some small talk, and he mentioned having a meal together sometime.”
Mo Hanzhou said, “Ignore him.”
Lu Qiao nodded emphatically.
Mo Hanzhou had also dismissed Yue Yilin earlier. Checking his phone, he noticed that Lu Qiao had messaged him a few minutes ago saying he had arrived. The timing was just right, and Mo Hanzhou, feeling a bit worried, had come down to check only to find that the two had indeed run into each other.
Lu Qiao entered the office, taking off his coat. “Is there something you need, sir? You specifically called me here.”
Yes, this time, Mo Hanzhou had summoned Lu Qiao to the company.
Mo Hanzhou was not someone who indulged in romantic sentiments. He kept his public and private lives separate. He wouldn’t stop Lu Qiao from coming to the company, but he also wouldn’t call him over without reason.
Mo Hanzhou beckoned to him, and Lu Qiao obediently walked over.
“I called you here because there’s something I need to discuss with you. Just wait a moment.” He picked up the landline and dialed the internal line.
“Assistant Fang.”
Soon, Fang Zhongbai entered the office with a man who exuded an elite aura.
Mo Hanzhou said, “This is Lawyer Zhang. He will explain and handle the matters from here on out.”
Lawyer Zhang, very experienced, stepped forward to shake hands with Lu Qiao. After sitting down on the sofa, he took out a kraft paper file from his briefcase. Skillfully opening it, he retrieved a pristine white document from inside.
“Mr. Lu, hello. I am Zhang Liangquan, entrusted by Mr. Mo to handle the transfer of ‘Golden Rainbow Manor’ on his behalf.”