Huo Shu was in his final year of high school, and his schedule was packed every day. He had to study, of course, but even his free time was devoted to firearms training. He got less than six hours of sleep a night, staying up late and getting up early.
Just as he’d said, he didn’t need a butler. He got perfect scores in every subject, and his training results were top-notch. He was practically capable of anything—a born genius.
Compared with the other heirs, he was an easy charge to look after.
All Jiang had to do each day was stay somewhere nearby, like a wooden, expressionless statue. The days simply passed like that.
She even felt that the role of 【tool person】 had been tailor-made for her. The workload was light, the job was easy, and room and board were included. Even having to put up with the other butlers’ taunts and petty harassment now and then was within her limits.
……
The boy had a lean jawline. His short black hair fell smoothly over his brows as he sat by the classroom window, turning the pages of a book with long, knuckled fingers. His skin was as flawless and pale as porcelain, and a mole on the back of his hand stood out all the more clearly, like a bold stroke of ink in an oil painting.
He was exceptionally handsome. His features had inherited the lush beauty of his biological mother, giving him the face of a beauty, but without a trace of femininity. If anything, he was all the more captivating.
From her seat on the marble edge of the flower bed outside the window, Jiang watched the scene with pleasure, thinking to herself.
In the novel, Huo Shu, once he became the family’s head, rarely appeared on screen. People knew only that he was decisive and ruthless, brutal and merciless. One passage in particular captured his image perfectly.
【Most of the man’s face was hidden in shadow. A fitful blaze of starlight gleamed in his dark eyes. A gunshot rang out, and the thick stench of blood spread through the room, washing over his cold, terrifying features. In an instant, long-suppressed excitement and madness surfaced.】
After surviving so many brushes with death, any normal person would be steeped in darkness—not just in their blood, but right down to their bones.
It was no wonder he’d become twisted.
“What are you afraid of? He’s only an illegitimate son. You like him—he ought to be grateful beyond words.” A voice, neither loud nor soft, came from nearby.
The students at this school were all from wealthy families. Each family had its own separate educational building, and the Huo family was no exception.
This building belonged to the Huo family.
A moment later, a girl’s voice followed, trembling and flustered.
“Don’t—don’t say that.”
Then two figures came into Jiang’s view.
One was Huo Qimo, an heir from a collateral branch of the Huo family.
The girl standing beside her had a strand of hair blown across the corner of her eye. The first thing that caught Jiang You’s attention was her exquisite, beautiful face: dark eyes, pale lips. Her long uniform skirt outlined her slender, graceful figure.
Jiang thought for a moment, then quickly recalled the list of young ladies from each family that the original host had memorized.
She was the only daughter of Qin City’s top-tier Chu family: Chu Muci.
When a family wanted to expand its influence and business, the most common—and practical—method was a marriage alliance[1]A marriage arranged to strengthen ties or shared interests between families. In wealthy-clan fiction, such arrangements may serve business or status considerations rather than personal affection. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3733394_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3733394_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });.
The Chu family was one of Qin City’s three great families, and the Huo family had set its sights on them as a potential marriage partner.
Word was that Chu Muci was on the marriage-alliance list for Huo Ye, the Huo family’s direct-line Second Young Master.
Chu Muci was the sort of person who scrupulously followed her family’s rules and carried herself with impeccable manners. She seemed far more accomplished than Huo Qimo beside her.
The two girls walked past Jiang You and into the classroom, stopping beside Huo Shu’s desk by the window.
“Hey, my best friend has something to say to you.” Huo Qimo had never thought much of Huo Shu. The idea that family blood determined one’s worth was deeply ingrained in her, and someone like Huo Shu—a bastard whose existence had to be kept secret—had no right to be part of the Huo family.
That was what she thought, but seeing his face up close, she couldn’t help admiring it.
No wonder Chu Muci likes him, looking like that.
Huo Shu paused briefly. Not a flicker of expression crossed his face. His eyes, dark as a pool, turned calmly toward the girls.
Under the boy’s gaze, Chu Muci’s cheeks still flushed.
She thought back to the first time they’d met. Her father had gone ahead and submitted her name to the Huo family without asking her, making her one of the candidates for a marriage alliance with Huo Ye, the Huo family’s Second Young Master. When she’d heard the news, she’d been furious and heartbroken.
She was still in high school, not even eighteen, and her father was already in such a hurry. Besides, what she wanted was someone who loved her back—not a match between two people who couldn’t stand each other.
That day after school, she’d hidden in the school’s storeroom, unwilling to go home, until—
The boy had appeared before her, lofty and untouchable as a god, yet as cold and pure as a snow lotus on a mountain peak.
He hadn’t said a word. As he left, he’d placed a handkerchief on a shelf.
That was the only time they’d ever interacted.
“Tomorrow’s my birthday. Would you… would you come?” Chu Muci gathered her courage, clenching her fingers as she asked.
Huo Shu said nothing. Huo Qimo impatiently urged him, “Just say yes! Chu Muci came all this way to invite you herself. With your status, what are you hesitating for?”
Her words were full of contempt and superiority.
Huo Shu lowered his eyes.
A moment passed.
“Fine.”
Huo Qimo shot him a fierce glare, then led Chu Muci away.
The other Huo heirs nearby all looked at him jealously.
Huo Shu paid no heed to their gazes and continued reading the book on his desk.
Only Jiang outside the window saw the flash of self-loathing and coldness in his eyes.
At a time like this, the male lead was often powerless to act as he wished. He could only keep enduring and suppressing everything, then quietly snap his enemies’ necks.
The novel never said how Huo Shu became the Huo family’s head, so Jiang didn’t know.
Her gaze followed Chu Muci’s retreating figure as she considered the possibilities.
If Huo Shu could use Chu Muci’s status to climb higher, it wouldn’t take long for him to get what he wanted.
The Chu family was both an opportunity and a shortcut.
“Young Master, what will you choose?” With her back against a tree trunk, she watched the boy sitting by the window, looking entirely at ease.
The Chu family heiress’s birthday banquet was held at Jianghuai Hotel.
Jianghuai Hotel was owned by the Huo family and was the most expensive hotel in the city center. The grand hall was filled with laughter and conversation, extravagance and power. It felt less like a birthday banquet than a social gathering for the wealthy families.
The Chu family wanted an alliance with the Huo family, so they had delivered the invitation in person, placing it in Huo Yuan’s hands.
Naturally, Huo Yuan would attend.
Huo Shu had arrived in the banquet hall half an hour earlier and stood in an inconspicuous corner. Compared with everyone else, he wore an ordinary suit that wasn’t particularly expensive.
Jiang You stood five meters away from him. From there, she could see Chu Muci, the eye-catching Chu family heiress, standing beside her parents.
Her gaze kept moving through the crowd, searching for Huo Shu.
But the person she was looking for never once let his eyes linger on her.
“Young Master, the head of the family has arrived,” Jiang You reminded him at just the right moment.
After all these days, Huo Shu had stopped telling her to leave.
Perhaps he’d finally realized she wasn’t going anywhere.
Even so, the boy remained as cold toward her as ever, treating her like air and never acknowledging her.
This time, though, something shifted in his eyes. He lifted his chin slightly and looked toward the entrance along with everyone else.
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