Chapter 57: Sourness
Looking at the indignant Huo Nanxun in front of him, Huo Beixing did not answer.
After finishing his outburst, Huo Nanxun thought for a few seconds. Had he gone a bit too far? After all, this younger son had once been the one he doted on most. Now that he had only just recovered from serious illness, hearing all that probably wasn’t good for him.
Watching Huo Beixing remain silent and stare out the window, Huo Nanxun sighed. He really had spoken too harshly. After all, if there was a problem, couldn’t it be discussed properly? He had simply gotten hotheaded for a moment and let his mouth run loose.
“Dad.”
Huo Nanxun calmed down, planning to speak to him properly. “Beixing, just now…”
Huo Beixing lifted a hand and pointed out the window. “Look at that cloud. Doesn’t it look like your face?”
Huo Nanxun: ……
Looking at that bizarrely shaped cloud—
You unfilial brat!!
He hadn’t listened to a single word just now!!!
Huo Beixing asked about the part he hadn’t finished, “What about just now?”
Huo Nanxun snapped, “I wasn’t wrong to scold you!”
But Huo Beixing wore a thoroughly unconcerned expression, as if the scolding had been aimed at someone else and had nothing to do with him at all.
Huo Nanxun sucked in a sharp breath and staggered. Huo Zhanlin reached out to steady him. “Dad.”
Huo Nanxun pointed at Huo Beixing. “This is the good younger brother you raised.”
Huo Zhanlin: ……
Hey! Old man, how are you throwing the blame now?
Weren’t you the one who raised him this big?!
Huo Beixing stood up, his handsome face unreadable, peach-blossom eyes lifting slightly. “Dad, I understand everything you mean. You’re right. I’m the one who isn’t worthy of An Yi.”
Huo Nanxun refused to own it. “You said that yourself. I didn’t say it.”
Internally: Good that you know.
Standing at the side, Huo Zhanlin looked at Huo Nanxun, wondering how exactly to explain to his father that when your attitude is pasted all over your forehead, it’s not really that different from saying it outright.
Seeing a glimmer of hope, Huo Nanxun asked, “So you’re going to divorce Yiyi?”
“No.”
The light of hope instantly turned into a lightbulb.
Then what was the point of saying all that? A confession before committing a crime?
Huo Nanxun could neither understand nor support it. “Why? Do you think An Yi married you willingly back then?”
Stop pretending you’re some lovesick devoted man.
Even if the sky collapsed, you still couldn’t pull that off.
“When I married him,” Huo Beixing said, “wasn’t I still a fool?”
Huo Nanxun snorted. “Good that you know.”
“A fool has a fool’s blessings. Marrying him is what I deserved.”
Huo Nanxun: ……
Speechless, Huo Nanxun pointed at him.
He really had no shame.
If he weren’t his biological son, he’d have beaten him to death already.
After father and son argued back and forth for a while, it came down to two words in the end—
Not divorcing.
Huo Nanxun’s head ached. “If you’re not divorcing, then at least keep yourself in check. Stop going around flirting everywhere and ending up in all that entertainment news.”
For the first time, Huo Nanxun lost all desire for either a daughter or a granddaughter.
And he didn’t plan to want one anymore in the future, either.
At this moment, there was a strange feeling inside him, as if someone had punched him in the chest, but he couldn’t cry out or call it pain—just that suffocating frustration.
The way he now viewed the marriage between the two of them was like watching the family cabbage get rooted by a pig: he could only stand there and watch, powerless to do anything.
An Yi had obviously married his own son, yet it somehow still felt as if he’d been thoroughly ruined alive.
Looking out the window, Huo Beixing said, “Dad, why won’t you support me in defending my marriage? The old saying goes, better to tear down ten temples than break up one marriage.”
Huo Nanxun wanted to spit at him. “You don’t act like a person, but I still do.”
“……”
The injury on Huo Beixing’s head wasn’t anything serious, and he was discharged that same afternoon. Instead of going straight home, he went to the company.
The fact that he’d been mentally impaired had been kept secret from the outside. On the company’s side, they just thought he had taken a leave of absence and gone off to indulge in some debauched life.
There were quite a few companies under his name, but in order to avoid overlapping too much with the family business scale, most of his focus was placed on the entertainment company, while his other industries were secondary. If he had chosen to go into finance, stocks, land, and that sort of thing, then the voices urging him to seize power and take charge of the family would only have grown louder.
That sort of exhausting office life held no appeal for Huo Beixing.
When word got out that the boss who had skipped work for two whole years was finally coming back, both the secretary and assistants nearly burst into tears.
Deadbeat, so you do know how to come back.
Do you have any idea what kind of days we’ve been living through?!
Though Huo Beixing was a notorious philanderer outside and looked unreliable, once he actually started working, he felt like a completely different person—enough to make people feel thoroughly reassured.
When Huo Beixing returned to the company, he mainly reviewed recent cooperation projects. Around three in the afternoon, he rose from the boss’s chair, preparing to go home.
The assistant trailed after him, flattering and coaxing him nonstop, hoping he’d come again tomorrow.
He was obviously the boss, yet somehow it felt like they were trying to win back a returning customer.
But they really had gone a long time without having the boss backing them up. Huo Beixing’s position in the circle was stable, his face carried weight, and no matter who he negotiated with, they had to show him a bit of respect.
When they came out of the elevator into the underground parking garage, the assistant followed behind him.
Huo Beixing told him to go get the car; he didn’t have his driver’s license on hand.
Just then, a steady black nanny van drove into the underground lot. The entire body gleamed black—one of the company cars assigned to artists, luxurious and extravagant.
Cheng Furu stepped out of the car. The movie he had recently done with a famous director had just been released these past few days, and his popularity had surged wildly, pushing him into the second-tier bracket. Fame nourished a person well—his current state was absolutely perfect, every smile and every glance as polished as a retouched photo.
He had just steadied his footing when he spotted Huo Beixing in the distance. His eyes widened. Counting the days, he hadn’t seen this boss of his in quite a long time.
In the past, the two of them had even done a bit of acting-for-show together. Though it had all been fake, just performed in front of others, his standing in the industry had risen sharply because of it, and many people had gone out of their way to curry favor with him. Naturally, Cheng Furu had a favorable impression of such a handsome, wealthy boss.
“President Huo.”
Hearing him, Huo Beixing merely lifted his eyes and gave him a glance. A well-dressed young man was walking over.
As for exactly who he was, Huo Beixing had no real impression. Probably just some little celebrity signed under the company.
Cheng Furu stepped right up and reached to wrap himself around Huo Beixing’s arm, voice full of excitement. “President Huo, long time no see. Have you been well lately?”
Almost entirely on instinct, Huo Beixing shifted his body and dodged aside. The wife-doting nature from his foolish period surged out abruptly. He let his gaze remain on the man’s face for a few seconds, but couldn’t remember at all who this was.
Cheng Furu didn’t dwell on the little awkwardness. Seeing the other man look at him, he smiled warmly and got straight to the point. “Although it’s been a long time since we met, I’ve always kept an eye on President Huo’s news. I see President Huo hasn’t had anyone by his side recently. So how about…”
He looked at Huo Beixing meaningfully.
“Ah, so that’s it…” Huo Beixing’s expression stayed calm, clearly understanding what the other man wanted. He put on a troubled look. “If it were before, I might have considered it. But now I can’t.”
“Why?”
Had the man changed his taste?
Huo Beixing answered lightly, “I’m married now. I can’t go doing bastard things behind my wife’s back. What if he starts talking about divorce?”
“President Huo…”
In Cheng Furu’s eyes, Huo Beixing had never been any kind of loyal man.
A sea king turning over a new leaf—no one would believe such a thing if they heard it.
Huo Beixing pulled out his wallet from his pocket. Inside, An Yi’s Little White Teeth photo came into view. He held it up in front of Cheng Furu. “So? Pretty, right? Like chocolate.”
Looking at the photo—blurry features, nothing but a mouth full of white teeth—
Cheng Furu: ……
You might as well have just said you’d changed your taste.
He had every reason to suspect the man simply wanted to show off that he was married.
But he truly hadn’t expected someone like that would be the one to tie Huo Beixing down.
After the assistant drove the car over, Huo Beixing ignored Cheng Furu completely and got in.
While resting with his eyes closed, he spoke. “Transfer that person from just now to the branch company.”
The assistant hesitated. “Cheng Furu’s popularity is huge right now…”
Huo Beixing didn’t argue. He only tossed out one line. “Am I the boss, or are you?”
The assistant said nothing more. After all, Huo Beixing had his own reasons.
When they arrived, Huo Beixing sent the assistant away and went straight into the house. He had barely walked in a few steps when he ran straight into An Yi, who had come to greet him.
An Yi was dressed in home clothes, and the moment he saw him, a smile naturally appeared on his face. His whole little face looked obedient beyond compare. “You’re back.”
Just earlier he had received a call from Huo Zhanlin saying that Huo Beixing had been discharged and would be sent back soon.
For some reason, seeing An Yi waiting for him at home gave Huo Beixing a strange sense of satisfaction.
But the moment he thought about how most of that enthusiasm had originally been meant for the fool, a great deal of irritation rose inside him.
It looked like he really did need to spend more time with him.
After dinner, Huo Beixing remembered that he seemed to have a swimming lesson tomorrow and planned to take An Yi along with him.
He turned his head and looked at An Yi, who was sitting on the sofa. “Wife.”
Without lifting his head, An Yi answered, “Mm?”
“Do you have time tomorrow?”
There wasn’t much on the schedule tomorrow.
“Yes. Why?”
“Then can you come with me to my swimming lesson?”
An Yi froze for a few seconds. The other man had only just been discharged, and now he already wanted to go to swimming class? “Your injury…”
Huo Beixing shook his head, putting on a tough expression. “It’s fine. I can wear a swim cap.”
Since he himself couldn’t swim, going there would probably amount to nothing more than drinking pool water, but An Yi still didn’t refuse. “Alright. I’m actually kind of curious too.”
“What are you curious about?”
“The difference between what seawater tastes like and what pool water tastes like.”
Huo Beixing: ……
The next morning, Huo Beixing took him to the swimming center. The area where he had his lesson was a top-tier black-card VIP section. There weren’t many people around, but the money in their pockets definitely wasn’t small.
An Yi followed him into the changing room. He hadn’t brought swimwear, mainly because he had come only to accompany Huo Beixing and maybe splash around with his feet for a bit.
The changing room was extremely spacious.
The moment he stepped inside, An Yi was drawn to one solidly built figure after another.
Because of all the work he did finding models for clothing design, he generally paid particular attention to other people’s physiques.
And at this moment, there were quite a few people in the changing room with very good bodies.
When Huo Beixing came out of the cubicle changed and ready, he saw a bathrobe-draped man standing in front of An Yi.
“Want to count them? I just trained them recently—eight-pack abs.”
And with that, An Yi actually began counting seriously.
Not one too many, not one too few. Exactly eight.
Young man, pretty good at math.
The man looked at the person sitting in the lounge chair and found him exactly his type. He had just opened his mouth to flirt a little more when he felt a dangerous gaze.
Turning his head, he met Huo Beixing’s dark expression, the pressure coming off him terrifying.
So the man had company after all.
The stranger could only retreat awkwardly.
With a dark face, Huo Beixing walked over, his entire expression screaming displeasure. “What were you just doing?”
“He’s got a good figure. I was looking.”
“Then why didn’t you just go ahead and touch it too?”
An Yi’s eyes lit up. “Can I?”
“….”
