Chapter 44: Favoritism
The commotion the two of them caused was no small matter. With all the crashing and banging, one of the plates that had originally been on the table shattered. It had been knocked to the floor by accident during the physical scuffle between them. Fortunately, when the two of them tumbled to the ground, neither of them was cut by the broken shards.
By the time the younger relative was pulled to his feet by his friends, blood was still streaming nonstop from his nose. One side of his face was swollen, and the pain made him suck in breath continuously, the flesh on his face trembling.
His head felt dizzy and muddled. Clearly, he had been beaten silly.
From childhood until now, he had never been hit like this before. Lowering the hand that had been covering his nose, he stared at the bright red blood in his palm, his whole hand and fingers trembling in disbelief.
That man was nothing but a male wife who had married into the family by crooked means, and yet… and yet he dared treat him this way!
His eyes widened to circles as he pointed at An Yi and shouted, “You actually dared hit me?!”
An Yi glared at him fiercely. “You’re damn right I hit you!”
If the other man kept talking, then he’d keep hitting him—hit him until he couldn’t speak at all.
The younger relative burned with rage. “You think I’m afraid of you?!”
Just now, there had only been two friends beside him. He had assumed those friends would help him beat up this male daughter-in-law, but who knew that those two friends were delicate weaklings who couldn’t even take care of themselves.
The other man had only swung once and flung them aside, leaving him alone to receive a savage beating.
But now he wasn’t afraid.
Right now, all around them were members of the Huo family. His surname was Huo. This male daughter-in-law’s was not.
Besides, there were plenty of people who looked down on this male daughter-in-law.
Recovering some of his swagger, the younger relative blustered arrogantly, “I held back just now because I was giving you face. I didn’t want to beat you into some kind of permanent damage. But now I’m really angry?!”
As he said that, he looked ready to charge forward.
Sure enough, people stepped in to stop him.
“Forget it, forget it.”
“Don’t start hitting each other again. What’s the point? There’s no need to stoop to his level.”
“Stop, stop.”
“Hey, Huo Beixing’s male wife, what did you do to make him this angry?!”
The younger relative regained a bit of face. “No way. If I don’t teach him a lesson today, tomorrow he’ll just be even more outrageous. None of you stop me.”
He continued shouting from within the crowd.
Inside his heart: Hold me back. Hold me back.
Then when he looked up, he met An Yi’s gaze, a look clearly reserved for idiots.
His scalp tingled. Pointing at him, he said, “What kind of look is that?!”
An Yi turned his eyes away. “Nothing.”
The younger relative exploded. “Bullshit. That is very obviously the look you’d use for a moron!!”
An Yi raised a hand to cover his mouth and said in embarrassment, “Was it that obvious?”
The younger relative: ……
Holding the napkin someone had shoved into his hand, he wiped at his nosebleed messily, glaring viciously at An Yi. “Don’t think I’m scared of you. If people weren’t holding me back…”
An Yi finished the sentence for him. “Then you’d be dead.”
The younger relative: ……
Listen to him! Just listen to the kind of thing he’s saying! This is a personal attack! A personal attack!!!
A mere male wife dared be this arrogant!
An Yi knew perfectly well that the people around them would not help him. The moment his momentum weakened, others would start picking faults with him—just like a moment ago, when people who had no idea what happened first had immediately jumped out to say that he must have provoked the other side.
It was noon, and the elders were all taking their midday rest. Most of the people gathered around were young, almost all of them from the same generation as the two of them, and most of them were there simply to watch the spectacle. No one was really stepping up to judge right from wrong. They all just wanted to see how this farce would unfold.
Of course, Huo Xiao did not remain there. After making sure An Yi wasn’t hurt, he turned and left the dining hall, intending to find an elder to come handle the matter.
Every day at lunch, the two of them spent a good while deciding what to eat, so Huo Beixing had taken a bit of extra time getting the food. By the time he returned carrying the tray, he saw that a dense crowd had gathered around the place where they had originally been sitting.
He had no idea what had happened, and instinctively began looking for An Yi.
Not seeing him outside the circle, he threw the tray in his hands aside and started forcing his way through the crowd.
“Wife!”
He shouted once. Since he was tall, An Yi heard the voice and looked over, immediately spotting Huo Beixing towering over everyone in the crowd.
Because of the fight just now, An Yi looked a little disheveled. His clothes were in disarray, his collar had been tugged open somewhat, and his hair was as messy as a bird’s nest. Since he had been angry moments ago, his eyes were a little red, and his lips were pressed tightly together, as though he had suffered some grievance.
Huo Beixing froze where he stood, the expression on his face going blank for a few seconds. Then his sharp brows drew tighter and tighter.
“Ah!”
The moment he saw what An Yi looked like, Huo Beixing let out a furious shout, his fists clenching, the muscles in his arms bulging.
That cry startled everyone around who had been watching the excitement.
The contrast was shocking. This was the very same Second Young Master Huo who had once been elegant, suave, and carefree, living more boldly and freely than anyone else. Now that he had turned foolish, he was expressing his displeasure in the clumsy, direct way of a child, and that stark difference hit the eye hard.
The man really had gone stupid.
Paying no attention whatsoever to other people’s gazes, Huo Beixing charged forward furiously, shoving through the crowd until he reached An Yi’s side. His straight back bent slightly as he asked anxiously, his hands almost flailing with helplessness.
“Wife, what happened to you?!”
His hands hovered at either side of An Yi’s arms, his face full of anguish. He had only gone to get food, and by the time he came back, his wife had become all messy and dirty.
Someone had bullied his wife while he wasn’t there.
“Wife, tell me.”
Looking at Huo Beixing’s face, so clearly determined to stand up for him, An Yi’s eyes trembled slightly. Pressing his lips together, he suddenly felt a little wronged.
Since childhood, he had never been a delicate or affected person. And yet just now, although it had clearly been a conflict between two people, everyone around had instinctively assumed it was his fault.
That made a sense of injustice rise inside him.
An Yi looked up at him in a pitiful way and said softly, “I got into a fight.”
The sight of him was unbearably pitiful. His wife had never looked at him like this before.
Inside Huo Beixing’s head, there was a loud boom.
“You got hit?”
His tall body moved awkwardly. Then his peripheral vision swept across the blood on the floor. He stared stupidly at it for two seconds before turning his head sharply toward the younger relative who was being restrained by others.
Huo Beixing’s expression was so frightening that the younger relative instinctively swallowed. He wanted to explain himself.
“All of this is—”
But before he could even form a complete sentence, Huo Beixing strode over and lifted him right off the ground in one motion. Someone nearby tried to step in, but the moment they touched Huo Beixing’s arm, they were flung aside.
That person: Aiya~
Huo Beixing glared at him with fury, the veins at his temples bulging, looking as though he wanted to devour him whole.
“You dared hit my wife?! Who said you could hit him?!”
“You dared hit him?!”
The way he spoke made it sound as though the man had committed some capital offense and, if dragged into court now, would be sentenced straight to life in prison.
His collar tightened abruptly, choking off his breathing. Suspended in Huo Beixing’s hand, the younger relative shook his head frantically, helpless as a strip of kelp blowing in the wind. Sweat began to bead on his forehead.
“No, it was obviously him beating me one-sidedly?!”
All the people who had been watching had seen it. He had only tugged at that male wife’s clothes, while the other man had pummeled him with fists and feet.
Huo Beixing didn’t believe a single word of his explanation. His wife was so thin and fragile-looking—obviously it was this guy who had bullied him. There was even blood on the ground.
Gritting his teeth, Huo Beixing said, “Liar! You hit my wife so hard he bled!”
The younger relative: ……
What are you even saying?
Open your eyes and look.
That blood was clearly all his!!!
It was the nosebleed he had been beaten into having. Not a drop of it belonged to your wife!
This was truly beyond all human decency!
He kept smacking at Huo Beixing’s arm, his legs kicking wildly in the air, trying to wrench himself free, but Huo Beixing refused to let go.
Even though people around him were trying to talk him down and say nice things, none of it had any effect.
“Why are you allowed to hit my wife?” Huo Beixing lifted him with one hand, his eyes dark in a frightening way. “No one is allowed to hit him. In the Huo family, no one is allowed to hit him!”
“Whoever hits him is the same as hitting me!”
Standing behind him, An Yi looked at his back, his fingers curling slightly.
He had never expected Huo Beixing to say something like that.
Huo Beixing was nearly mad with rage. Carrying the man, he looked as though he was about to throw him straight out through the floor-to-ceiling window nearby. Outside the window was a stone step about half a meter high. If he was thrown out and happened to hit his head on the step or some hard object, then he’d basically be headed back to the factory for reconstruction.
The younger relative’s eyes widened in terror, the sense of doom inside him growing stronger and stronger. “Help! Murder! Someone’s going to kill me!!!”
Just as the old master and Huo Zhanlin entered the dining hall, they heard that miserable scream.
Seeing what was happening, Huo Zhanlin frowned and quickly strode over to stop Huo Beixing. “Beixing, put him down.”
Huo Beixing turned and glared at him viciously, knocking his hand away in one motion. He was doing this because the man had bullied his wife. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Just now, when his wife was being bullied, no one had stepped out. But now that he was bullying someone else, suddenly people appeared to speak of fairness.
Roaring at Huo Zhanlin, Huo Beixing shouted, “You want to help him bully my wife? Then you can get thrown out too!”
Huo Zhanlin froze for a few seconds.
From childhood until now, this was the first time he had ever seen such fury on Huo Beixing’s face.
In the end, it was the old master who came over to persuade him, and only then did Huo Beixing, unwillingly, let the man go. But even after letting go, he still wasn’t satisfied. With one long leg, he swept out and tripped him.
The younger relative crashed to the floor, his whole body trembling with fright. Just now, Huo Beixing had truly intended to throw him out.
Looking at Huo Beixing’s rogue-like behavior, the old master was momentarily speechless.
Without even glancing at the person sprawled on the floor, Huo Beixing went straight back to An Yi’s side, carefully checking whether he had been hurt anywhere.
Huo Zhanlin had someone help the younger relative up, then glanced over at An Yi standing beside Huo Beixing.
“What exactly happened?”
An Yi replied, “We got into a fight.”
The younger relative refused to accept that. Now that the old master had come, his personal safety was finally protected. “Bullshit. It was obviously him beating me one-sidedly!”
Hearing that, Huo Zhanlin frowned and rebuked him. “Mind your wording.”
The younger relative shrank his neck a little. Although Huo Zhanlin normally looked like a graceful gentleman—handsome, refined, and mild on the surface—in reality he and Huo Beixing were utterly different. He valued upbringing and manners most of all. If one spoke carelessly in front of him, they would definitely get a scolding.
Taking a deep breath, the younger relative stepped back a little. “Fine, I spoke badly. But he really did hit me.”
Huo Beixing shielded An Yi behind him. “You hit my wife too!”
“I did not!”
“You did!” Huo Beixing painfully took An Yi’s hand and displayed the only injury on his body. “Even my wife’s knuckles are red!”
The younger relative trembled with rage. This was too much. Simply too much. Finally, he broke down and shouted, “That’s because he beat me with them!”
Huo Zhanlin: ……
The old master: ……
Everyone else: ……
There was nothing unusual about two young people getting into a conflict. Who hadn’t done something reckless in youth? This matter wasn’t especially big, but it wasn’t especially small either. The old master’s mindset was still fairly calm. After all, it wasn’t Huo Beixing and Huo Zhanlin who had started fighting each other.
But looking at both sides standing there full of indignation, the old master felt annoyed too. Why couldn’t they all just get along peacefully?
They came to South Island every winter precisely to improve the feelings within the family.
“So what exactly happened? You, speak.”
The old master pointed at An Yi standing behind Huo Beixing.
An Yi didn’t try hard to defend himself. He simply said directly, “We fought. I hit him.”
The old master asked, “Why did you hit him?”
Looking at Huo Beixing standing in front of him, An Yi gritted his teeth and did not tell the truth. At the same time, he also did not want that younger relative to say it either.
Huo Beixing hated being called stupid. Back then, when some brat in the park mocked him by calling him stupid, he had gone home and been heartbroken for ages.
If he found out that even his own relatives called him stupid behind his back, how sad would that make him……
Lifting his chin, An Yi said, “I hit him because I didn’t like the sight of him. And…”
The old master asked, “And what?”
An Yi’s eyes darkened a little. “Next time I dislike him, I’ll still hit him. The time after that, and the time after that too—I’ll still hit him just the same.”
At his age, the old master could naturally tell that there was more beneath the surface. Everything had its cause, and this “didn’t like the sight of him” also had a reason. Since the boy was deliberately hiding it, he did not expose him. Presumably it was something neither side could really say aloud. So the old master turned to the younger relative instead.
“Do you have anything you want to say?”
Of course the younger relative wasn’t going to say out loud that he had called Huo Beixing stupid. The old master loved this grandson most of all, and if he admitted the reason, then forget anything else—he would probably be punished by family discipline first.
Feeling guilty, the younger relative shook his head. “No.”
The old master said, “Then both of you apologize to each other, and we’ll let the matter go.”
Once the old master had spoken, the younger relative didn’t dare disobey. He stepped up to An Yi and said, “Sorry.”
Everyone had assumed that An Yi too would obediently apologize.
Who would have expected that the very next second, he would say, “No need. You deserved it.”
The younger relative: ……
Everyone: ……
One could only say he was extremely arrogant.
Finding the younger relative an eyesore, Huo Beixing stepped forward and stood between him and An Yi. “You’ve already apologized. You can leave now.”
The younger relative stared blankly for a few seconds. “But he still hasn’t apologized to me.”
Huo Beixing snapped at him fiercely, “He already forgave you. What more do you want?!”
The younger relative: ……
He looked around at the silent crowd.
Was there really no one who would speak for him?
The old master was clearly biased. If it hadn’t been someone from Huo Beixing’s side who’d gotten into the dispute today, then he probably would have dealt with the matter sternly, corrected the family atmosphere, and taught them a lesson so that this sort of thing wouldn’t happen openly again and damage the family harmony.
But An Yi, no matter what, belonged to Huo Beixing’s side. The old master doted on his grandson, and with that grandson now also suffering from mental problems, he was even more inclined to favor him.
He couldn’t bear to hit him, couldn’t bear to scold him, and because of that, even An Yi benefited from that affection.
The old master had no intention of pursuing it further. “Enough. Everyone disperse. Zhanlin, help me back.”
After the two of them left, the crowd that had been surrounding them slowly dispersed as well. The younger relative and his friends hurried away in fear that Huo Beixing would grab him again and teach him another lesson.
Huo Beixing took An Yi back to the room. Looking at the stretched-out collar of An Yi’s shirt, his heart ached. He stepped forward and pulled him a little into his arms. “Wife, you were scared just now, weren’t you?”
Tilting his head up to look at him, An Yi smiled. “I’m okay.”
“Really?”
An Yi nodded. “Really.”
Looking at the worry on the man’s face, An Yi wrapped both arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.
“Huo Beixing, thank you for standing up for me.”
He was very happy.
This was the first time his wife had ever hugged him on his own initiative. With An Yi’s fair smiling face pressed against his cheek, Huo Beixing blushed all the way from his face to the roots of his ears. For a while his big hands didn’t know where to go, hovering awkwardly in the air before finally, very slowly, settling at An Yi’s waist.
“It was really nothing…” Huo Beixing finished, then let out a few foolish laughs.
“I’ll always stand on my wife’s side.”
