Surrounded by Wolves
Jiang Wu froze.
It was as though the words had entered through her right ear and gone straight out through her left. It passed through her mind once, but nothing dared remain behind.
She thought that either she had gone crazy and was hearing things, or Huo Qingzhi had finally been driven mad with anger too.
Jiang Wu stared blankly into Huo Qingzhi’s eyes, yet she had the faint sense that he was not joking. She sat up straight, too stunned even to keep crying.
Without betraying anything, she shifted a little farther away, took the opportunity to push Huo Qingzhi back, and changed the subject. “Why are you talking nonsense like Second Brother now?”
Huo Qingzhi’s gaze darkened. He turned, set down the handkerchief, and took out a fresh one. “He’s said something like this to you too?”
“No.” Jiang Wu’s heart was racing uneasily because she was beginning to realize that Huo Qingzhi seemed serious.
Eldest Brother did not like to joke. Jiang Wu knew that.
Whatever he said, he meant it.
And whatever he said he would do, he did.
At that thought, Jiang Wu’s gaze flickered away in alarm and disbelief, then crept back to him. “Wait, you…”
“I don’t want to be manipulated by others.” Huo Qingzhi used the clean handkerchief to wipe away the remaining tears on her face. “I know you don’t either. That’s why you’re still here today is because you can’t accept this.”
“Before Grandpa passed away, the family assessed everyone’s contributions when dividing the inheritance. You earned those shares through your own contributions.”
“As for the paternity test, there could have been a better way to handle it.”
“You’re both adults, after all. Your own wishes should matter above everything else. If neither of you wanted to switch back, then you didn’t have to. You could simply have visited each other more often.”
“But why was it leaked from within the family and splashed all over the news?”
“Why were Third Uncle and Fourth Uncle so eager to take it to the board, remove Father, and profit from the situation in every possible way?”
Bright lights shimmered before Jiang Wu. In the garden below, the family’s cheerful laughter rose in wave after wave.
Behind her stretched the boundless night, silent, cold, and thick with darkness.
“Ah Wu, they used you and then abandoned you. So, the more they want to see you fall, the better you must live.”
“The more they try to take from you, the more you should seize it back. Even if that means using me, it doesn’t matter.”
The evening wind cut through the clouds and mist.
After Jiang Wu left, Huo Qingzhi remained there, holding the champagne glass as he looked down at the lively garden banquet below.
A trace of warmth from Jiang Wu’s fingertips lingered on the rim of the glass. Inside was the champagne she had left half-drunk.
Huo Qingzhi’s knuckles brushed over that lingering warmth as the wine rolled across his lips and tongue, while every sharp glint refracted through the clear, sweet champagne sank deep into his eyes.
Along with everyone downstairs.
Third Uncle Huo Tingkun’s expression had been sour all evening. From time to time, he checked the messages his secretary had sent him.
[The Group ranked and assigned values based on total revenue over the past five years. New shares were then distributed using revenue as the primary factor and existing shares as the secondary factor.]
[Following the distribution, there will be significant changes within the board.]
[Huo Tingjun’s shares now exceed 18.9%, making him the second-largest shareholder after Huo Qingzhi. Several board positions have also changed. One member was removed, and two were added. A board member re-election meeting is scheduled for next week.]
[One of the new members is Huo Yingli. His overseas-market revenue has performed exceptionally well over the past two years.]
Only after everyone else had left did Huo Tingkun curse aloud. “I truly underestimated that young brat, Huo Qingzhi.”
“I brought Fourth Brother in to help me push out Eldest Brother, and now he’s stepping all over me! He even pulled one of Fourth Brother’s people onto the board and kicked your younger brother out.”
“It’s only another half a percent. We can figure out a way to get it back later,” Third Aunt said meaningfully. “That Wen Ciying from the countryside is the more troublesome one.”
As she spoke, she nudged her son. “Go talk to your new younger sister later. Feel her out.”
Huo Chengxi, pampered and entitled, had no interest in talking to some country bumpkin who had never seen the world. “Come on, didn’t all your shares increase? You have even more money now. Why are you still unhappy?”
That only made Huo Tingkun more frustrated. “What do you know?”
He had originally planned to bring Huo Qingzhi down next, which would have made him the one in charge. He hadn’t expected Huo Qingzhi to create yet another rival for him.
Second Aunt called to them from a distance. “Why are you still standing over there? It’s time to eat.”
Huo Tingkun instantly put on a smiling face. “We’re coming.”
Third Aunt urged Huo Chengxi again, but when he still refused to move, she had no choice but to give up.
Wen Ciying sat beside Jiang Yaping and was unquestionably the center of attention at the dinner table. One person asked her a question, then another.
Third Uncle Huo Tingkun smilingly introduced himself and those beside him. “I’m your Third Uncle. This is your Third Aunt, and this is your cousin.”
Wen Ciying gave him a casual glance without answering and simply picked up her drink.
Huo Tingkun made a polite gesture. “No need for formalities. You don’t need to toast…”
Before he could finish the word wine, Wen Ciying took a sip of her juice on her own. She clearly had no intention of toasting him.
The table fell deathly silent.
No one had expected a country girl attending their family gathering for the first time to openly show them such disrespect.
Huo Lingyi was the first to laugh.
Jiang Yaping smacked him once, and he immediately stopped.
Huo Chengxi, seated beside Third Uncle, mocked her directly. “A girl from the countryside really doesn’t seem to know how to behave.”
Wen Ciying answered even more bluntly. “Why pretend? The well-behaved one was bullied away by all of you.”
“You’re left with someone badly behaved now, and I won’t indulge you.”
The atmosphere around the table froze.
Huo Tingshan tried to smooth things over. “The child is straightforward by nature. Don’t take offense.”
Huo Lingyi picked up the cue, following with an indirect jab. “Straightforward is good. These days, hypocritical, self-righteous villains are everywhere.”
“What’s wrong with speaking honestly?”
The expressions of Third Uncle’s family grew even uglier. Several aunts hurriedly changed the subject, laughing and talking until they managed to gloss over the tension.
Third Aunt suddenly brought up another topic. “I heard Ciying and Lingyi both studied computer science at the University of Hong Kong. Did you know each other before?”
Huo Lingyi’s smile vanished. He lightly ground his teeth as he looked toward Third Aunt.
The topic had taken an interesting turn. Wen Ciying casually replied, “As my senior, I’d certainly heard of him.”
The atmosphere gradually eased. “That’s right. I heard plenty of younger girls chased after Lingyi at university. Of course you’d have heard of him.”
Jiang Yaping became curious. “Then have you met before?”
Huo Lingyi answered first. “No.”
Wen Ciying gave Huo Lingyi another meaningful look. Since he had helped her insult the others earlier, she decided not to expose him.
During the second year of her master’s program, she had gone to the United States as a visiting student and met Huo Lingyi, who had already graduated.
Her classmates said he was in America following up on a two-year project.
What a coincidence.
She had heard that Jiang Wu had also spent two years studying in the United States.
So, he had gone there without telling his family.
There was another reason Wen Ciying remembered meeting Huo Lingyi.
She had found one of his smart wristbands. It had been modified, containing remote location tracking and monitoring functions.
Wen Ciying had originally intended to warn him out of kindness.
But he had only said, “We both work in this field. A wristband can monitor heart rate, blood oxygen, sleep, and exercise. Isn’t it perfectly normal to add a location function too?”
Later, Wen Ciying saw a girl traveling with Huo Lingyi wearing that same wristband.
She hadn’t interfered any further. Who knew? Perhaps some couples simply enjoyed that sort of twisted relationship, being watched, monitored, and obsessively desired.
But now she knew that girl was Jiang Wu.
After dinner, Wen Ciying returned to her room and, unfortunately, ended up sharing the elevator with Huo Lingyi.
Huo Lingyi suddenly said, “At home, remember not to say things you shouldn’t.”
Wen Ciying gave him an amused look, tossing his own words back at him. “We both work in this field. Isn’t it perfectly normal for a smart wristband to have an extra location function?”
Huo Lingyi narrowed his eyes, but suddenly smiled, revealing two sharp canine teeth. “It only lets me know where she is at any time. I’m worried about her. What would you understand?”
There was something faintly wicked about him.
“It doesn’t matter. You can tell Ah Wu.” His tone carried both warning and mockery. “Let’s see whether Ah Wu believes you or me.”
With a ding, the elevator reached the fourth floor.
Huo Lingyi stepped out.
Wen Ciying watched him leave with amusement, then pressed the button for the third floor again.
The floor where Jiang Wu’s room was located.
Wen Ciying walked straight to Jiang Wu’s door and knocked.
Footsteps sounded inside. When the door opened, Wen Ciying narrowed her eyes in surprise.
The person who opened it was not Jiang Wu.
It was Huo Yingli.
Huo Yingli had removed one disposable glove but was still wearing the other, making it look as though he had been eating.
He greeted her enthusiastically, as though he were the owner of the room. “Ciying, you’re here! We’re having a late-night snack. Want to join us?”
Wen Ciyin’s expression flickered with amusement before she gave a silent laugh. “No, thanks.”
“Then did you need something from Ah Wu? I can pass it along.”
“It’s nothing.” Wen Ciying studied Huo Yingli for a while but ultimately said nothing. “I’ll head back.”
The door closed.
Wen Ciying retraced her steps and couldn’t help clicking her tongue.
Jiang Wu’s three brothers…
Meanwhile, Jiang Wu had just turned on the wall-sized movie screen and returned after choosing a film at random.
Only when Huo Yingli came back did she have the chance to ask, “Who was it?”
“Ciying.”
“She came to see me?” Jiang Wu looked at him. “Why didn’t you invite her inside?”
Huo Yingli sat back down. “She said it was nothing and left.”
Jiang Wu found that strange. Wen Ciying didn’t seem like the sort of person who would wander over for no reason.
“What was it like outside before you came up?”
“Pretty good.”
“Did anyone bully her?”
“Who could possibly bully her?” Huo Yingli recalled the scene at the dinner table. “She didn’t give Third Uncle or Fourth Uncle a shred of respect or even bother showing them a pleasant expression. Their faces practically turned green.”
“You should worry about yourself first. Are you really planning to leave?”
“Yeah.” Jiang Wu curled back into the sofa chair and picked up a chicken wing from the box. “I’ve already found a house, and it’s being set up.”
Huo Yingli said nothing and simply arranged the food on the table. For a moment, the room was silent except for the noisy opening of the movie.
The story began with the heroine’s mother remarrying. The heroine moved into her stepfather’s home with her mother, where she met her new stepbrother…
Jiang Wu’s movements visibly slowed as she ate her chicken wing.
Huo Yingli put his glove back on and, at that exact moment, said, “Actually, you could stay at my place.”
Jiang Wu remembered that his house was by the sea. “Too far.”
Huo Yingli asked again, “If it weren’t far… would you?”
“No.” Jiang Wu rejected him simply. “I’ve already decided on a place. If you’re worried about me, you can visit often.”
The room fell silent again.
On the screen, the reckless, carefree stepbrother and his new sister clashed the moment they met, yet an undeniable tension simmered between them. In the stillness of the room, the scene became especially strange.
Jiang Wu vaguely realized that this probably wasn’t a movie about family affection.
And if it was a romance…
Then these siblings…
Jiang Wu pressed her lips together and couldn’t help asking Huo Yingli, “Have you seen this before?”
Huo Yingli answered in a lazy, casual tone. “No.”
Jiang Wu murmured an “oh,” and took a distracted sip of her juice.
Perhaps she was feeling guilty after her conversation with Huo Qingzhi, so much so that she forgot she was logged into Huo Yingli’s video account.
Then, the very next second, a scene appeared on screen of the stepbrother pinning his stepsister against a car.
Jiang Wu choked on her juice. It spilled over and splashed across her slip dress.
Huo Yingli grabbed a tissue, but his hand stopped halfway toward her.
Within his line of sight, the sweet-and-sour juice slid from her full, glossy lips, tracing her jawline and neck before winding downward and soaking through her neckline.
Drops stained the skirt of her slip dress as though she had been splashed all over, even her legs…
Jiang Wu hurriedly snatched the tissue from Huo Yingli’s hand and wiped at herself for quite a while, only to make the stains on her dress even more obvious.
She stood up at once. “I’m going to change.”
With that, she went into the bedroom. The juice she hadn’t managed to wipe away trickled down the backs of her legs.
The bedroom was not far, just a wall away.
Huo Yingli removed his gloves and leaned back against the sofa. He could even hear the faint rustling of clothes from the room next door.
As usual, the top two buttons of his shirt were undone, giving him a loose, roguish elegance.
He watched the movie screen before him as the shifting light and shadows played unpredictably across his face and deep within his eyes.
The plot had reached the part where the younger sister was drugged at a party, and her stepbrother was taking her away.
Jiang Wu returned after changing her clothes.
The atmosphere in the room gradually became a little strange.
At that moment, Jiang Wu’s mind was filled with what Huo Qingzhi had said to her not long ago.
Marry me.
Pretending to ask casually, she said, “Can people like them get married?”
Huo Yingli answered immediately. “They aren’t registered in the same household. Why couldn’t they?”
“Then… wouldn’t it upset their parents?”
“After they get married, they’ll still call them Mom and Dad. What difference does it make?”
Huo Yingli added, his meaning difficult to read, “If they aren’t biological siblings, then they can do anything.”
“Don’t you agree, Ah Wu?”