He answered too quickly. Wen Yuan was still thinking about how to apologize to him.
Two seconds passed, and she still hadn’t come up with a tactful way to phrase it. In the end, she simply said, “…Um, sir, could you come back to sleep?”
Come back to sleep.
It sounded as if they had been sleeping in the same room, on the same bed, all along.
After speaking, Wen Yuan felt her wording was ambiguous. She touched her earlobe—it was burning hot.
But for a moment, there was no sound from Huo Shengye’s end.
Wen Yuan couldn’t help but panic a little. Softening her voice, she added, “Sir, I was wrong. Please don’t stoop to my lev—”
Before she could finish the word “level,” the bedroom door was gently knocked.
Huo Shengye’s voice sounded even gentler than it had on the phone just now. “Yuan’er, may I come in?”
Wen Yuan’s eyes widened with a flicker of brightness. She threw off the covers, got out of bed, quickly slipped on her slippers, and hurried over.
If she wanted to please him, she had to be sincere.
Wen Yuan opened the door. Huo Shengye stood outside, holding his phone. The screen was still lit, showing the voice call she had made.
The warm white light from the hallway spilled over Huo Shengye. He stood with his back to the light, looking at Wen Yuan. His silhouette was bright, his cool, pale skin glowing under the light, as clear and cold as ice.
But seeing the faint smile at the corner of Huo Shengye’s lips, Wen Yuan wasn’t afraid at all.
“I’m sorry, Huo—no, sir… I, I was rude to you just now. I apologize,” Wen Yuan said. “I know I was wrong. Please don’t stoop to my level, okay?”
After saying this, Wen Yuan took a step back to the side, making way for Huo Shengye. “Sir, come inside, okay?”
But Huo Shengye didn’t step in. Instead, he stood by the door, raised his hand, and reached toward Wen Yuan. Her pupils contracted slightly, and she instinctively trembled, like a startled little rabbit.
Huo Shengye’s hand continued upward, gently stroking Wen Yuan’s long hair.
“Sweetheart, don’t use ‘sir.’ Just use ‘you’.”
Wen Yuan was slightly surprised. So that was what he wanted to say. She had thought he was going to say something else.
Wen Yuan nodded obediently. “Mm, I understand. I’ll be more careful from now on.”
Huo Shengye didn’t seem angry with her. Wen Yuan grew a bit bolder and gently took his other hand, shaking it playfully as if to coax him. “Sir, come into the room. Let’s sleep, okay?”
Huo Shengye was wearing a bathrobe. He had probably gone to another room to shower earlier, and he still carried that cool, clean scent.
Wen Yuan was genuinely tired by now and wanted to sleep.
Huo Shengye withdrew the hand that had been stroking Wen Yuan’s hair. He gazed at the young woman before him, his eyes drifting downward to the small hand shaking his own. That little hand was fair and delicate, cooler than his.
Huo Shengye clasped Wen Yuan’s hand in return, gently rubbing it, and hummed in agreement.
In the darkness, Wen Yuan’s ears flushed bright red. Embarrassed, she lowered her lashes and hurriedly turned her head away. “Then, then come in.”
Half an hour later.
On the double bed.
Wen Yuan tossed and turned, then tossed again, only to be pulled into Huo Shengye’s arms.
“Sweetheart, stop moving around.”
Heaven knew how much this big bad wolf wanted to devour this little white rabbit, but unfortunately, the little rabbit had no awareness of it at all.
In truth, Wen Yuan just wasn’t used to it. She had slept alone for so many years, and suddenly sharing a bed with a man felt…
So strange.
Even though that man was Huo Shengye, she couldn’t help but think about the matter of her underwear size again.
Also, didn’t Huo Shengye say he would use family discipline to punish Huo Lei once he got home?
Did he punish her?
Could it just be empty talk?
Wen Yuan felt uneasy, not because she wanted Huo Shengye to really vent her anger by punishing Huo Lei with family discipline.
Rather, she felt that since Huo Shengye had said those words, he should act on them. From childhood to adulthood, she had always disliked people who only talked but didn’t act.
Making a promise but not fulfilling it—isn’t that lying?
Making a statement without a specific promise recipient, but essentially it’s a promise to oneself.
If a person lies to themselves, can that person be reliable?
Certainly not.
Wen Yuan couldn’t sleep, thinking more and more that Huo Shengye was truly a bad person, and she began to feel conflicted again.
She didn’t want to stay in Huo Shengye’s embrace, but soon remembered that she needed to please Huo Shengye now, so she dared not move recklessly.
Annoying.
Just then, Huo Shengye’s phone suddenly rang.
The arm holding Wen Yuan loosened slightly, and he swiped to answer, “Hello?”
Wen Yuan preferred quiet and had excellent hearing, so she heard clearly—it was Lu Ming calling.
“Huo Shengye, just finished five whip strikes, people from the second branch came to intervene.”
Faintly, Wen Yuan also heard a woman crying, whimpering in pain.
It was Huo Lei!
Huo Shengye spoke coldly: “Twenty whip strikes, none can be omitted. Whoever intervenes, punish them too.”
Wen Yuan was slightly startled—twenty whip strikes, was it what she imagined?
Wen Yuan trembled slightly, and after Lu Ming responded “Yes” on the phone, she moved in Huo Shengye’s embrace.
“Sir, twenty whip strikes—is it that kind of thick whip?”
Huo Shengye hummed affirmatively.
Wen Yuan was inwardly surprised, turning halfway in Huo Shengye’s embrace to face him.
“Then… wouldn’t that… cause trouble?”
Huo Lei had said such things, indirectly cursing her parents, and Wen Yuan was very angry.
But… twenty whip strikes—wouldn’t that break the skin and flesh? After all, she’s a girl, damaging her skin isn’t good.
Moreover, using violence to counter violence isn’t advisable; it only buries seeds of hatred deeper.
Wen Yuan thought this way; she felt it wasn’t being overly compassionate but a reasonable deduction—since Huo Lei was already temperamental and loved beauty, being whipped like this, she would surely harbor deep resentment.
Wen Yuan had been taught from childhood to treat others kindly. While it’s necessary to guard against others, avoiding or minimizing grudges and resentments whenever possible was what her mother Song Huiyue had told her.
Wen Yuan found this very reasonable, as the world is unpredictable. Today might feel satisfying, but who knows about tomorrow?
Minimize resentment when possible; retribution is still necessary, but it’s about helping others and oneself—eliminate unnecessary revenge.
Consider it accumulating blessings for oneself.
“Sir… twenty whip strikes, make it ten instead? Huo Lei loves beauty, wants to wear pretty dresses. Whipping the back, leaving scars later, how ugly…”
Huo Shengye was truly about to laugh at Wen Yuan.
How could his little rose be so kind? Huo Lei had spoken so harshly, yet she still pleaded for her?
The more Wen Yuan said this, the more Huo Shengye felt Huo Lei deserved punishment, but clearly, he underestimated Wen Yuan’s persistence.
Wen Yuan started tugging at his clothes, somehow thinking of this tactic—very enticing.
Smack!
Wen Yuan’s cheeks flushed crimson, stammering, “You, you hit me, there… outrageous.”
Huo Shengye actually spanked her butt!!
Wen Yuan was utterly mortified. She remained silent, but Huo Shengye finally dialed the call.
Quite coincidentally, it was just after the tenth whip had been delivered. Huo Shengye instructed Lu Ming to turn on the speakerphone.
Lu Ming complied.
In the front courtyard of the ancestral hall at the old mansion, Huo Lei, kneeling with her hands pressed against the ground, collapsed face-first onto the floor upon hearing that the whipping punishment had ended early due to Wen Yuan’s plea, unable to bear the pain any longer.
Huo Lei’s trusted aides and servants waiting nearby hurried over to help her up.
A middle-aged woman of noble appearance glanced toward Huo Lei, wiped away her tears, and approached Lu Ming, asking him to convey her gratitude to Wen Yuan.
Lu Ming did not respond, expressionlessly and efficiently leading the black-clad men away.
Meanwhile, in the master bedroom.
Huo Shengye ended the call, placed the phone aside, and pulled Wen Yuan back into his embrace.
“Now willing to sleep? Hmm?”
Wen Yuan was still flushed with embarrassment. Huo Shengye gently stroked her hair and tucked in the corner of her blanket.
Looking at her again, his gaze darkened slightly, his tone carrying a hint of danger: “If you keep moving around, Yuan’er, I can’t guarantee I won’t do something.”
This likely wasn’t a threat, because from Wen Yuan’s current position, she could clearly feel the stirrings there.
Wen Yuan flushed crimson, inwardly cursing him as a pervert. Huo Shengye tightened his grip around her waist, pulling her even closer into his embrace.
“Be good, sleep now. Goodnight.”