Surrounded by Wolves
Wen Ciying met her gaze. “It’s your home now, too. Do you want to go inside and look around? My parents aren’t home right now, though.”
“No need.” Jiang Wu took a moment to recover. She remembered this area from studying history and knew exactly what kind of people had been granted the right to live here generations ago. “So, your parents currently work in…”
“Classified work.”
Jiang Wu stared at her for a while, as though trying to digest this information. Once she had processed it, she asked no more questions.
At least now she understood why no one had ever been able to uncover her father’s occupation, and why the information about her mother’s work was all over the map.
There wasn’t a single truthful word online because the truth was not allowed to be there.
Jiang Wu remained silent for a long time. Only after they had walked some distance did she nod. “Then I suppose it really doesn’t seem like a good idea to send me back here.”
Wen Ciying couldn’t read her mood. “There are a lot of rules and requirements here. You might not adapt well. It would be normal if you didn’t like it.”
Jiang Wu adjusted the sunglasses resting on the bridge of her nose. “I’m hungry. I want the Feizi’s Laugh at Bai Family Courtyard. Are you coming?”
Wen Ciying looked puzzled. “You’ve been here before?”
Jiang Wu smiled and tugged her along. “I went to Peking University.”
The classical courtyard was filled with pavilions, winding corridors, flowers, and trees, every detail steeped in old-world charm.
Jiang Wu sat at the dining table, listening to the wind and birdsong in the garden. She thought to herself that it truly would not have been appropriate to send her back here. She was a magnet that attracted storms of blood and scandal.
Wherever she went, cameras followed. Whatever she did, someone could easily capture it on film.
In a way, Huo Tingshan had been right to bring Wen Ciying to Hong Kong Island as quickly as possible and to keep Jiang Wu there as well.
Otherwise, those unscrupulous media might have affected other people. Wen Ciying’s parents, for example. Keeping Jiang Wu away was a form of protection for them. No wonder Huo Tingshan had refused to say a word about them.
At a time like this, Jiang Wu also understood that the farther she stayed from them, the better. It would keep the accusations clinging to her from splashing onto anyone else.
Jiang Wu knew how serious this kind of public scrutiny could be for people engaged in classified work.
Come to think of it, she had never wanted fame. Nor had she ever believed she needed it. Everyone said she loved attention. But she had never sought it.
When she was born, her family had been overjoyed and held several banquets to celebrate. The media reported on them extensively and spread the news everywhere.
Later, some members of the Group discovered how useful that attention could be. Third Uncle, in particular, controlled the Group’s public relations. Whenever he thought something would benefit the company’s image, he paid for glowing articles.
There had been the auction when she was nine, for example, and later her attendance at receptions hosted by European royalty.
The image of “Huo Wenni” had been used countless times to shield the Group from negative publicity. After all, using an exceptional child who excelled in every setting as a reflection of the Group was the most forgiving and harmless strategy.
And the most advantageous.
Jiang Yaping never liked letting her appear in public. But during family gatherings, those people always said, “You two can’t keep Wenni hidden away forever. With Wenni’s status, the people she meets are bound to be extraordinary. She’ll be photographed sooner or later.”
Her uncles and aunts always praised her for being such an accomplished niece, as though they wanted the entire world to know how exceptional their little niece was. They made people believe they were loving elders who were genuinely proud of her. They also claimed that if Jiang Wu ever wanted to enter the Group, building public credibility early would be enormously beneficial to her. But Jiang Wu never wanted to join the Group.
After she turned thirteen, Huo Tingshan and Jiang Yaping stopped allowing her to appear in public.
Jiang Wu had changed her name once.
It happened before she entered the Institute of Cultural Heritage and Museology at Peking University and began training as the successor for classified restoration work.
She changed her name and household registration. Became an ordinary student whose identity no one knew.
Then, in the third year of her training, just before she was due to graduate and enter the classified project…
A single photograph taken by a paparazzo destroyed everything.
Jiang Wu still remembered that day. She had sat at the long table in the National Museum work group’s review meeting, facing the teachers who had trained her for three years. They expressed their regrets to her.
And outside that meeting room, the entire world was buzzing about how beautiful the Huo family’s Little Princess had become.
Public opinion shoved Jiang Wu back into her original life. She admitted that some of her spending afterward had been retaliatory.
Even so, her largest expenses over the years had always been at auctions. She could disregard the numbers entirely, bidding only to obtain the cultural artifacts she wanted.
It was, perhaps, the compensation this identity gave her. And yet the most ridiculous part was that she had never been the Huo family’s biological daughter at all.
After lunch, Jiang Wu slept at the hotel for the entire day. She woke up at six the next morning, which was rare for her. At eight, right when offices opened, she arranged to meet someone.
At a café outside the Institute of Cultural Heritage and Museology.
The elderly gentleman with silver hair sat down and smiled. “A while ago, the Hong Kong Museum invited me to examine a seal box they believed was from the Ming or Qing dynasty. They told me the donor, Ms. Jiang, insisted it dated from the Tang or Song dynasty. I knew it was you right away; that eyesight of yours is lethal.”
Jiang Wu replied, “I couldn’t have recognized it on my own. It was all because my teacher taught me well.”
Elder Yuan waved a hand. “Are things going smoothly over there?”
“Very smoothly.”
Elder Yuan seemed to know what she was worried about. “Don’t be afraid. It’s a regular restoration position. They won’t bar you from it because of this.”
Jiang Wu asked, “You saw the news?”
Seeing Jiang Wu’s light tone, Elder Yuan tried not to show his concern and make the atmosphere stiff. “I wish I hadn’t, hahahaha.”
But this was not truly a lighthearted matter. After laughing dryly for a moment, he could no longer force a smile. “It’s just… the whole thing is truly bizarre.”
Jiang Wu did not beat around the bush. “I came today because I want to ask you something. The response I received back then said that my identity was too high-profile and that I was therefore unsuitable for the classified work group. What about now?”
Elder Yuan remained silent for a long time. People came and went around them, stretching the moment endlessly.
Only after the glass of plain water in his hand was empty did he finally speak. “Child, let it go. That matter is already in the past.”
Jiang Wu did not follow his lead. “What if I had never been Huo Wenni from the beginning? What if I hadn’t been born on Hong Kong Island, but in Beijing, into an ordinary family, one the media would never disturb? Would the outcome have been different?”
She wanted an answer.
But Elder Yuan did not give her one. Nor did he want her to believe that everything in her past had been some absurd mistake.
“It is difficult to speak of what-ifs in this world. Because you were Huo Wenni, every person you met and every event you experienced shaped who you are now. They shaped every road you chose. And perhaps because you are who you are, there were some roads you chose but were never able to walk.”
Elder Yuan urged her to look at it more openly.
Jiang Wu remained alone in the café for a while afterward. She understood his good intentions. She also understood that the absence of an answer was an answer in itself.
~~
The family gathering proceeded as usual. It was held the day after the board’s resolution took effect.
Everyone got what they wanted.
Except Jiang Wu, who had been removed from the Huo family.
Early that morning, someone arrived with the cake for the gathering and placed it on the outdoor dessert table. Long tables were arranged throughout the garden and covered in silk cloth, with fresh floral arrangements and fruit weighing down the fabric.
The roses on the flower wall were blooming in full, their fallen petals scattered across the ground and arranged by the servants into a velvet carpet of flowers.
The uncles’ and aunts’ gifts arrived with them, piling up across half the living room. They were welcome gifts for Wen Ciying. This counted as Wen Ciying’s first formal meeting with the family. After today, she would officially and rightfully become one of them.
Huo Tingshan swallowed his pride and forced himself to laugh and chat with the brothers he had only recently fallen out with.
Fourth Uncle was in particularly good spirits. He warmly brought up Wen Ciying with Huo Tingshan. “I heard she just graduated from the University of Hong Kong with excellent results. That’s wonderful.”
As he spoke, he glanced around. “Ciying still hasn’t come down yet? Hurry and let us meet her.”
Huo Tingshan was momentarily at a loss for words and could only tell someone to urge her along. “Give her a little time. The child is shy around strangers.”
Fourth Aunt added, “Why hasn’t Eldest Sister-in-Law come out either?”
Huo Tingshan could only send someone to hurry her along as well.
Nearby, the younger daughter from Fifth Aunt’s family listened secretly to the adults’ conversation and realized that not a single person had mentioned Jiang Wu. She quietly moved closer to Huo Tingshan. “Eldest Uncle, is Sister Wenni not coming today?”
Huo Tingshan could not very well send anyone to that door. “She isn’t feeling well.”
“Oh. All right, then.”
When he had a moment, Huo Tingshan sent Huo Qingzhi a message.
[Go check on Wenni.]
Of his three sons, Huo Tingshan trusted Huo Qingzhi the most. His second son would most likely take Wenni out to cause trouble. And his third son would definitely stir up more conflict. The eldest was the most dependable.
The elevator stopped at the top floor.
Huo Qingzhi saw Jiang Wu sitting in the rooftop garden of the main residence at Cloud Peak Bay. The curved sofa faced the garden, with the vast, surging sea stretching across the horizon beyond it.
Huo Qingzhi walked toward her.
Jiang Wu heard him, but she did not turn around.
On the table before her sat a bottle of champagne and some refreshments. Through the railing, she watched the lively gathering on the lawn below. It was just as lively with or without her.
Jiang Wu gently swirled the champagne in her wine glass and took a small sip. The sea breeze brushed past her ears and swept the stray hairs from her forehead, allowing her to see more clearly.
Aside from her aunts and the younger cousins who often spent time with her, no one else truly cared whether she belonged to this family.
The sky gradually darkened. Only after the courtyard lights came on did Wen Ciying finally appear.
She was still dressed simply and casually. The only difference was perhaps the silk scarf tying back her hair, which was the one Jiang Wu had chosen for her.
Everyone in the courtyard immediately gathered around her. She became the moon surrounded by stars, the center of every gaze. Someone even affectionately took Wen Ciying by the hand and began chatting with her.
Only then did Jiang Wu realize that no matter who stood in that position, these people could wear the exact same expressions. Say the exact same words.
Jiang Wu heard footsteps behind her.
Huo Qingzhi sat down and followed her gaze toward the harmonious scene in the garden. He asked something that seemed entirely unrelated. “Did you have fun in Beijing?”
Only then did Jiang Wu slowly say, “I saw Professor Yuan.”
Huo Qingzhi already knew. “Whenever I ran into him while visiting Peking University for work, he always asked how you were doing.”
Jiang Wu lowered her gaze and toyed with the champagne wine glass in her hand, telling Huo Qingzhi about her conversation with Professor Yuan.
Professor Yuan had asked her to let it go.
“Because of the people down there, I already forced myself to let go once. I used to think even my uncles and aunts treated me well, so giving it up was fine. A person can’t have everything. But it turns out I was the only one who thought that way. They want everything.” Jiang Wu set down her glass. “They even want to take the paperweight Grandpa left me.”
This time, she could not let it go.
Huo Qingzhi remembered the period when Old Master Huo had been gravely ill.
While every branch of the family calculated how much inheritance they might receive and tried every possible way to claim more, Jiang Wu had been the only one who sincerely grieved for a long time.
She was eight years old that year.
The moment she opened her eyes, she would go to Grandpa’s bedside and tell him stories. When it was time to sleep, she insisted on placing a small bed beside him so she could stay with him.
Before Old Master Huo passed away, he transferred a large portion of his wealth to the eldest branch of the family.
Among all his grandchildren, Jiang Wu received the most. Since he could not openly give her any more shares, he left her jewelry, antiques, and other individual valuables instead.
Jiang Wu had no concept of wealth. She was simply heartbroken.
At noon on the day Old Master Huo was buried, Jiang Wu could not understand the adults laughing and talking around the table. She had asked him, “Brother, aren’t they sad anymore?”
Huo Qingzhi understood clearly. Many of them had never cared about anything except dividing the inheritance.
When he stepped outside that day, he happened to hear someone scolding their own child. “Look how calculating Huo Wenni is. Why can’t you learn from her?”
Now, everything Old Master Huo had left Jiang Wu had been seized.
They did not lack those few possessions. Jiang Wu knew that. “It was only something to remember him by. They won’t even let me keep that.”
There was no reason.
Huo Qingzhi understood that, and so did Jiang Wu.
When people wanted to abuse their power for personal gain, suppress you, and bully you, they needed no reason at all.
It was not only Jiang Wu they were targeting. They were targeting the eldest branch, which had held power for far too long.
They were desperate to prove that fortune could turn, and no one could stay on top forever.
Huo Qingzhi leaned forward slightly and drew the handkerchief from his breast pocket. Before it could touch Jiang Wu’s cheek, she turned away.
Still looking downstairs, Jiang Wu said, “I’m fine. I’m not crying. I’m just angry.” After saying that, her eyes grew even redder.
“I’m not crying because of them. I’m…” Jiang Wu was about to say more when someone suddenly caught her arm and pulled her over.
Huo Qingzhi pressed the handkerchief over her eyes. “You don’t need a reason to cry.”
Jiang Wu’s eyelashes trembled against his palm.
Warm dampness slowly spread through layer after layer of the handkerchief. Jiang Wu closed her eyes. “I know I can’t have everything. That’s why, when I left Beijing back then, there was nothing I couldn’t accept.”
“I can leave this place too.” Her voice thickened with tears. “But I still want the paperweight Grandpa left me. I can accept not having everything, but they want to take everything away.”
Darkness covered Jiang Wu’s vision.
In that darkness, Huo Qingzhi’s deep, warm voice sounded beside her. “You can ask for everything.”
The sea breeze carried the noise of the gathering in the garden into their ears. Yet beyond all that commotion, the space around them seemed unusually still.
Only Huo Qingzhi’s voice remained as he spoke again. “Ah Wu can have anything she wants. You don’t need to sacrifice anything. You only need to take.”
For a moment, Jiang Wu felt dazed. She turned her face away. “What are they still willing to let me have? They’ve even frozen my cards.”
At the mention of that, she grew aggrieved all over again. “I’ve received so many messages and phone calls lately, telling me this has expired and that it has been canceled. I already know they’re going to expire, but they still went out of their way to send me reminders. They’re all enjoying the spectacle.”
Jiang Wu remembered that her previous birthday plans were probably ruined too. She fell silent for a moment.
“Eldest Brother, will this affect my plans to go to Paris for the shows next month, take a holiday in Dubai, get the custom Hermès Kellydoll and butterfly diamond cake I ordered?”
Jiang Wu trailed off again. Then she muttered softly, “I hate them so much.”
“Why weren’t their cards frozen? Why weren’t they the ones losing their jobs and getting dragged online? Why did they end up getting even more?”
In this world, those who were not greedy were always the ones forced to sacrifice for those who were. So, why couldn’t she become greedy too?
“You want revenge on them?” Huo Qingzhi’s shoulders were broad, his frame solid as he sat on the leather sofa. His large hand, veins faintly visible, gently patted her back. “I have an idea.”
Jiang Wu lifted her tear-filled eyes to look at him.
Only to meet Huo Qingzhi’s dark, unfathomable gaze. “Marry me.”