Turning around to see that it was Shao Feng who had pulled her, Huo Lei flared up in anger: “Are you out of your mind? She hit me! She was the one who hit me!!”
Just after this outburst, at the entrance of the banquet hall, Huo Shengye strode in briskly, his voice as cold as ice following:
“It was you who got hit, any objections?”
The crowd in the banquet hall shifted their gazes in surprise, only to see Huo Shengye walk up to Wen Yuan.
He bent down, took Wen Yuan’s hand, and examined it carefully, his eyes filled with heartache: “Does it hurt? My dear Yuan’er, I’m sorry, I’m late.”
Wen Yuan, who had just been calmly slapping someone, now had reddened eyes. She sniffled, and tears fell with a plop.
The onlookers around them wore varied expressions, but most had widened their eyes in unison at that moment, filled with confusion and shock.
Qiu Lening frowned deeply, seeing Wen Yuan’s tears and feeling heartbroken—her Yuan Yuan was just like this: fierce when there was no one to back her up or comfort her, but unable to hold back when someone did.
She would cry from the grievance, and now, that was exactly the situation.
Seeing Wen Yuan’s tears, Huo Shengye’s entire face darkened, the gentle image from a moment ago shattering in an instant.
The tall man spoke again, his tone as grim as a hellish demon: “Take Miss Huo Lei back to the old mansion. Wait for me there; she will face the family punishment.”
Huo Lei’s face turned deathly pale, completely caught off guard. She looked at Wen Yuan, then at Huo Shengye, and upon hearing this, she fell to her knees with a thud.
“Uncle! Is there some mistake? Clearly, she was the one who hit me!”
From nervousness, Huo Lei instinctively raised her voice, sharp and sorrowful, as if she had suffered an immense injustice.
Huo Lei was filled with hatred—she was the one who had been slapped, so why on earth was she now facing family punishment?
Amid this scene, the surrounding crowd buzzed with discussion. Some watched the drama unfold, while others blamed Huo Lei for deserving it, given how venomously she had spoken earlier. As a chaebol heiress, she had cursed someone’s parents to death or disability, yet had the nerve to accuse others of lacking upbringing.
Others whispered accusations against Wen Yuan, saying she had slapped someone so fiercely earlier but started crying as soon as Huo Shengye arrived—could she be a little white lotus?
However, as soon as Huo Shengye uttered his next sentence, everyone fell silent—
“You just cursed my father-in-law and mother-in-law to death or disability. Is that enough for me to punish you with the family rules?”
Father-in-law, mother-in-law.
This news was like a bomb, instantly stunning everyone in the banquet hall.
People looked at each other, and for a moment, many turned to those around them, asking, “What did Mr. Huo just say? Did you hear it?”
“I heard it! He just said ‘father-in-law and mother-in-law’!”
“Then, then doesn’t that mean…”
The sentence was left unfinished, but everyone understood what it implied.
That meant—Huo Shengye and the young lady from the Wen family were husband and wife!
In the open space in front of the first row of seats in the banquet hall, Shao Feng, who was standing beside Huo Lei, turned deathly pale upon hearing this. In less than half a second, he too fell to his knees with a thud, facing Huo Shengye and Wen Yuan.
Huo Lei was still reeling from the shocking news, but Shao Feng began to weep and confess his misdeeds:
“Uncle! That day, it was all a misunderstanding! All a misunderstanding! I never meant to bully Yuan… Auntie!”
Huo Shengye didn’t even turn his head, only saying calmly, “Noisy.” He then called out, “Lu Ming.”
Behind him, Lu Ming waved toward the entrance, and a group of men in black swiftly entered.
In less than a minute, the banquet hall fell silent. Shao Feng and Huo Lei were dragged out with their mouths covered, “escorted” away.
The crowd stared in shock at the scene that had just unfolded, exchanging glances with those around them, their thoughts varied.
In the middle section of seats, Qiu Lening was absolutely thrilled. She sent a message to Wen Yuan, and just as it went through, six minutes had passed.
The evening banquet officially began. The host, poised and elegant, started presiding over the event, and the organizer’s representative stepped up to deliver a speech. Everything proceeded smoothly and normally, as if the earlier commotion had never happened.
However, after that disturbance, everyone present had a clear understanding—it seemed they would need to curry favor with the Wen family in the city from now on!
Just look at Huo Shengye’s attitude toward Wen Yuan earlier. Wasn’tt that the epitome of treating her like a treasure, afraid she might fall if held in his hands or melt if kept in his mouth?
It was practically like doting on that young lady as if she were his heart and soul!
Moreover, in front of so many upper-class individuals, he was willing to enforce family discipline for her sake, not just paying lip service.
How much he cherished her was evident without needing to dwell on the details.
After the organizer’s speech concluded, thunderous applause erupted from below. Following that, several executives took turns speaking. Finally, after several rounds of speeches, it was time for free interaction. The crowd began to mingle, socializing under the guise of eating, drinking, and entertainment, expanding their connections within the circle.
Usually, during such times, Huo Shengye would be approached by some prominent business owners offering toasts.
But perhaps due to the incident before the event began, for quite some time, no one dared to step forward and engage in conversation with Huo Shengye.
Huo Shengye, for his part, was content with the peace and quiet. In truth, while a commercial banquet of this scale was considered significant among the elite in Country K, in the eyes of Huo Shengye, the head of a chaebol, it wasn’t particularly grand.
Thus, he wasn’t particularly concerned about the banquet itself. The reason he had agreed to bring Wen Yuan to attend this time was more to use the opportunity to bring her psychologically closer to him, to allow her more interaction with him, and thereby foster deeper feelings toward him.
After all, in daily life, he was too busy and genuinely couldn’t find many reasons, or even the time, to meet with Wen Yuan.
Wen Yuan had just gone through a breakup and experienced her ex’s infidelity. At this moment, she was likely emotionally resistant to romance, so…
He had to be extremely careful in everything, ensuring Wen Yuan didn’t develop any aversion toward him.
He just hadn’t expected that a perfectly fine evening banquet would be disrupted by Huo Lei.
And to make matters worse, it had caused his little rose to shed tears.
Huo Shengye’s expression darkened. Lu Ming went to handle the matter with Huo Lei. Once the crowd began to mingle freely, Qiu Ye, who had been waiting outside the door, swiftly entered, carrying a bag of items.
Inside were ice cubes, ointment, and medical cotton swabs.
“Mr. Huo, Madam,” Qiu Ye keenly spotted Huo Shengye and Wen Yuan, promptly stepping forward and handing the items over.
Huo Shengye’s expression softened slightly. When Wen Yuan saw what the items were, she felt they were unnecessary, but noticing Huo Shengye’s expression, she ultimately kept her thoughts to herself.
Huo Shengye led Wen Yuan back to the earlier lounge.
Suddenly surrounded by silence, Wen Yuan felt somewhat dazed.
Back when she was studying abroad in Country U, Huo Lei had inexplicably bullied her. At first, Wen Yuan thought Huo Lei might have some misunderstanding about her and tried to communicate with her.
Only later did she realize that Huo Lei was simply jealous of her—an ordinary young lady from a wealthy family—who somehow excelled in every aspect compared to Huo Lei, a chaebol heiress. Huo Lei simply couldn’t stand her.
Wen Yuan had gone abroad to study, and since she couldn’t afford to provoke Huo Lei, she began avoiding her.
Unexpectedly, for a period of time, Huo Lei actually spread malicious rumors about her, saying she had hooked up with so-and-so and that her private life was a mess!
At first, she didn’t know, but when she found out later, she was absolutely furious.
It was also after that incident that Wen Yuan felt Huo Lei was simply insane. They weren’t even close, yet for no reason at all, she resorted to such despicable tactics. And to think she was also a girl, a young lady from a chaebol family at that.
But a chaebol was still a chaebol. Though Wen Yuan was furious, considering her family back in K Country and the Wen family, she could only swallow her anger and repeatedly surpass Huo Lei academically.
But privately, she had no way to retaliate.
Yet she never expected that today, tonight, she had actually slapped Huo Lei twice!
Moreover, Huo Shengye had appeared just in time and, in front of so many people, punished Huo Lei on her behalf.
Something seemed to have truly changed, Wen Yuan thought.
As she thought about it, emotions welled up, and she couldn’t help but cry. Her eyes grew wet and red, tears falling like broken strings of pearls.
Wen Yuan started crying again while applying the ointment. Huo Shengye raised an eyebrow and hurriedly pulled her from the sofa into his arms.
“Does it hurt a lot? Be good, come, let me help Yuan’er apply it.”
He took the ointment from her hand, soothing her gently, “Don’t cry, sweetheart. You’re breaking my heart.”
Wen Yuan couldn’t stop her tears but instinctively snuggled closer into Huo Shengye’s embrace. For the first time, she felt this kind of security with a man other than her family.
“Mr. Huo… thank you for helping me.”
Huo Shengye continued applying the ointment for Wen Yuan, and after calming down a bit, she said this.
Seeing Wen Yuan with reddened eyes, Huo Shengye’s heart ached. He didn’t reply because he didn’t want to say “you’re welcome” to Wen Yuan.
That would make them seem like strangers.
After applying the ointment with a cotton swab, Huo Shengye gently patted Wen Yuan’s back. After a moment, he spoke, “Then…”
He deliberately paused.
Wen Yuan looked up from his embrace, like a little mermaid, with reddened eyes and the tip of her nose. “Then what…”
Her voice was soft and gentle, carrying an innate, pampered sweetness as she looked at Huo Shengye with confusion.
In the end, Huo Shengye changed his mind. He was afraid that saying it might scare Wen Yuan.
“Then, well… Yuan’er, give me a kiss—as thanks.”
Huo Shengye leaned down toward Wen Yuan and pointed to his lips. “Just a light one will do, no need to kiss like before.”
Wen Yuan’s face flushed. She hadn’t planned to kiss him like he had taught her before anyway…
Her mouth hurt.
“Just one, okay?” she said.
Huo Shengye smiled. “Mm.”
Wen Yuan leaned forward and pecked his lips, pulling away immediately.
Meeting those dark eyes, she said softly, “Okay, done…”
Huo Shengye’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly, instinctively wanting to kiss her back. As he parted his lips slightly, Wen Yuan’s ears turned red. She raised her arm and used her forearm to block Huo Shengye’s lips. “You said just one, Mr. Huo.”
She pouted slightly, her brows furrowing a little, looking pitiful and aggrieved.
Completely helpless, Huo Shengye regretted saying that.
“Mm, right,” he said, though his mind wandered to thoughts that couldn’t be spoken aloud.
It seemed he needed to bring his little rose home sooner rather than later, Huo Shengye finally thought.