“Wanwan sees me as an elder. If I tell her now that she’s carrying my child, it will only push her further away.”
“Afraid she’ll start avoiding me again like before, running off whenever she sees me.”
Three tall, upright figures walked outward. The rain had stopped, and the autumn sunlight filtered through the dappled tree shadows onto the ground, making the uneven little puddles shimmer with scattered flecks of gold.
Huo Linyuan’s voice was low, carrying a hint of laziness,
“Besides, isn’t it quite good as it is now?”
“She broke up with that scoundrel, naturally accepted care from the other party’s elder, and is gradually entering her life.”
From Gu Jinling’s direction came a faint, almost imperceptible click of the tongue,
“I’m starting to suspect now that the little girl’s breakup with Huo Jinchen might have had your hand in it too.”
Huo Linyuan sneered: “What could I do? Could I force him to flirt around, force him to cheat? Hold a gun to his head and make him sleep with someone else?”
Such words didn’t sound pleasant, and even his voice was unusually sharp.
Gu Jinling shrugged, “True. It’s really hard to imagine that with a beautiful and gentle girl like Wanwan, Huo Jinchen still had the mind to fool around outside.”
“When he realizes it later, he’s probably going to regret it.”
“But this is also quite good—”
Gu Jinling drawled out his words, analyzing with particular enthusiasm for Huo Linyuan,
“The little girl just found out she’s pregnant, and if you tell her the child is yours, then immediately rush to pursue her.”
“Afraid the little girl would be scared out of her wits, suspecting you’re only after the child.”
That afternoon after class, the nanny arranged by Huo Linyuan added Jiang Youwan on WeChat.
The other party appeared to be in her 40s, with a kind face, and immediately sent her a series of professional certificates.
After chatting for a bit, she learned that not only was there a nanny, but Mr. Huo had even arranged a driver-auntie specifically to take her to and from school.
Thinking about the tiny space of her rented apartment, Jiang Youwan even began to worry about where to have the auntie stay.
But the next second, the auntie sent her a photo, with the background being the elevator entrance on their floor:
“Miss, the other two apartments on this floor, as well as the three floors above and below, have all been purchased by Mr. Huo. I’m taking people to clean them now.”
“We will follow Mr. Huo’s requirements and connect all three floors during your class hours, then proceed with high-end renovation. The renovation materials are very safe, and we’ll avoid your rest times so it won’t affect your daily routine.”
Jiang Youwan: “!”
A moment later, she carefully worded a message to Huo Linyuan.
Soon, a reply came from the other side,
【It’s necessary, Wanwan. There’s no need to be polite with me about these small matters.】
【The private doctor and nutritionist haven’t returned to the country yet, but they will come to take care of your daily life next week.】
Jiang Youwan: “!!”
She refused again, strongly expressing that she didn’t need so many people.
But perhaps Huo Linyuan was angry, as he didn’t reply to her message for quite a while.
Mr. Huo was so kind, and her refusal might indeed seem ungrateful.
The young girl’s fair face was reflected in the car window, her slender fingers moving hesitantly on the screen, as if debating whether to send an explanatory message.
The next second, a new message popped up on her phone screen.
【I was just busy.】
【But I really can’t rest easy about you, Wanwan.】
【If these people make you uncomfortable, and you don’t want any of them, that’s fine too.】
The girl blinked, not yet having time to type.
A new message popped up again:
【Then move to the hillside villa and live with me. I’ll take care of you personally.】
Jiang Youwan: “!!!”
Living together… taking care of her personally…
Wasn’t this practically an invitation to cohabitate?!
The lit-screen phone fell onto the leather seat. Jiang Youwan covered her face tightly with both hands, the heat in her palms feeling especially scorching.
From the front came the driver auntie’s voice, worried that something might have happened to her.
A moment later, the girl’s soft, sweet voice sounded, even the tail end seeming soaked with moisture,
“It’s nothing, Auntie…”
Her face flushed red, delicate and tender,
“I’m not uncomfortable, thank you.”
After sending that message, Huo Linyuan coldly lifted his eyelids again.
He wore a thin black shirt, sleeves rolled up to reveal slender wrist bones, sitting in an antique armchair steeped in history, his back against the solemn ancestral hall.
The lighting inside was somewhat dim, the scent of incense and candles drifting through the air, giving an endless sense of oppression.
Huo Jinchen had been kneeling here for a day.
His knees had gone through pain and numbness, now almost completely without sensation.
Having been punished here once before after a minor incident, Huo Jinchen still felt lingering fear about this place, especially Huo Linyuan’s cold, coffin-like face—one glance made his heart tremble.
Those unpleasant memories flooded back. Huo Jinchen placed both hands on his knees, remembering what his father had told him, obediently bowing his head in apology,
“Uncle, I know I was wrong. I won’t dare do it again.”
The man sitting in the main seat looked down at him, his handsome face hidden in the half-light, half-shadow of the flickering flames, making his features appear bewitchingly beautiful.
Even his voice was exceptionally cold, exceptionally unfeeling,
“Wrong about what?”
Fortunately, his father had analyzed it for him. Confident he had guessed correctly, Huo Jinchen hurriedly replied:
“I shouldn’t have lied in front of you, Uncle. I shouldn’t have deceived you.”
“I shouldn’t have claimed I was helping at the company when I was actually out drinking and having fun at night. I’ve failed your concern for me, Uncle. I was vain, I was wrong!”
The Huo family ancestral hall was large. Wind had picked up outside, rustling through the courtyard.
But inside the hall, it was silent. The man in the main seat didn’t speak, his well-defined fingers resting on the armrest of the chair, tapping lightly, irregularly.
Huo Jinchen felt uncertain. Trying to gauge Huo Linyuan’s thoughts, he mustered the courage to continue:
“I shouldn’t have indulged in revelry, been obsessed with women, and lacked ambition.”
“I’ve cut ties with all of them, no more philandering. I want to be like you, Uncle—a person of integrity!”
The moment his words fell, the man looking down at him from above sneered coldly, his low voice sinister,
“Philandering? You certainly know how to flatter yourself.”
Realizing he had misjudged the flattery, Huo Jinchen immediately shut his mouth, not even daring to defend himself.
The air in the ancestral hall wasn’t well-circulated, the scent of incense and candles growing heavier.
Huo Jinchen’s heart was pounding. He was so nervous he almost forgot to breathe, awaiting the judgment of his cold, merciless Uncle.
I don’t know how much time had passed when Huo Jinchen secretly glanced upward.
His uncle, who always wore a cold expression, was now fiddling with his phone, seemingly sending a message to someone. Strangely, there was even a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth.
Huo Jinchen let out a long, quiet sigh of relief.
It seemed his uncle was in a good mood—he probably wouldn’t have to kneel tonight.
The man’s pale fingers tapped across the screen. The message seemed quite long, as Huo Linyuan’s slender fingers danced over the screen for quite some time.
Huo Jinchen stole another glance at him, feeling that his uncle was acting a bit strange.
Unlike his usual icy demeanor, Huo Linyuan’s eyes now seemed much softer, and even from this distance, Huo Jinchen could sense a certain gentleness.
Huo Jinchen remained kneeling obediently, a subtle feeling stirring within him.
He couldn’t quite put it into words, but he couldn’t shake the vague sense that… his eternally single, stern-as-the-king-of-hell uncle might just be falling in love.