Surrounded by Wolves
Huo Qingzhi looked at her like this for a while.
For a very long time, he said nothing. When he finally spoke, his words were very gentlemanly, very polite, and also very gloomy. “Good morning.”
“Good… good morning, Eldest Brother.” Jiang Wu held onto the wall and retreated a few steps.
With a bang, she shut the door!
Five minutes later, when she opened the door again, Jiang Wu had changed into a modest, demure floral sundress. Pretending to be calm, she said, “Eldest Brother, you’re here.”
Even so, certain images still lingered in Huo Qingzhi’s mind and refused to leave. He said casually, “Yingli had something urgent to handle and had to go back. He asked me to come keep you company.”
Jiang Wu gave a soft “oh.” “So sudden.”
“Where were you planning to go today?” Huo Qingzhi simply picked up the blanket that had fallen on the floor and placed it in the laundry basket nearby.
Jiang Wu felt terribly guilty and answered vaguely, “Just going to the beach.”
Huo Qingzhi had just put the blanket down when, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the swim shorts provided by the hotel on a service rack.
Black shorts with dark gray-blue patterns.
Huo Qingzhi picked them up with an unreadable expression. “With eight hunks?”
Jiang Wu’s smile froze. After stammering and mumbling for a while, she began to argue, “No. Not really. I’m mostly hanging out with Sister Xiaoyue.”
Liang Xiaoyue. Her again.
Ever since they were little, she had been leading Jiang Wu astray since they were kids, always stirring up trouble. Calling her younger sister this and younger sister that all day long, someone who did not know better might think Jiang Wu was her younger sister.
Huo Qingzhi’s brows furrowed. His expression did not relax just because he had heard Liang Xiaoyue’s name.
Jiang Wu licked her dry lips and broke the strange silence. “Have you eaten? Why don’t we go have lunch first?”
Huo Qingzhi agreed. But the moment he turned, he saw the back of her sundress, a gaping expanse of skin held together by two thin straps.
Jiang Wu walked ahead cheerfully. She was very confident that this was her most modest outfit. Eldest Brother could not possibly say anything else.
Huo Qingzhi was indeed quiet for a very long time. Then, “This dress…”
Jiang Wu felt as though he had asked exactly what she wanted to hear. “How is it? Is it pretty?”
Huo Qingzhi forcefully swallowed back the words they cut corners on the fabric and followed her lead. “Very pretty.”
Jiang Wu beamed from being praised.
Then she heard him bring it up again. “The one just now was also very pretty.” Huo Qingzhi continued, “When going out with friends, one should dress nicely. But if you’re going to play with men, and you still have to dress more beautifully for them, else they’re earning that money far too easily.”
Jiang Wu nodded. “That’s true.”
“No, wait.” Jiang Wu quickly corrected herself. “I’m not going to play with… those.”
Huo Qingzhi’s voice, calm as an ancient well, continued. “What are you afraid of? Go if you want to. “It’s rare for you to come out. If you insist on going to see those low-class types, would I really hit you?”
Jiang Wu blinked. “Really?”
“Really.” Huo Qingzhi did not even look at her. This was the exact same tone he had used as a visiting professor with his students at the university program previously: “Go if you want. If you insist on leaving, it’s not like I’m going to hit you.”
No one ever dared to leave.
Huo Qingzhi believed his sarcasm had been obvious enough. The intimidation had also been properly delivered.
And yet, that evening, the beachfront bar was alive with flashing lights and music. Jiang Wu was sitting in the front row downstairs, enjoying the performance. The air was thick with pulsing drums and shimmering purple-red lights.
Across from her, Liang Xiaoyue’s expression was strange. “You’re saying your Eldest Brother is here, and he still agreed to let you come?”
“Yes.” Jiang Wu was very happy. “He said I could come if I wanted. It’s rare to be out, after all.”
Sudden screams drowned out Jiang Wu’s words.
From the second-floor viewing terrace, hidden from the lights, Huo Qingzhi gripped the wine glass in his hand tightly, a vein throbbing in his temple nonstop.
On the stage, a group of muscular Western men, draped in all kinds of chains, boldly showed off their physiques—kneeling, restraints, props—nothing was left out.
Some were even worse, with lace tied around their waists and over their eyes… utterly scandalous.
Screams and revelry rose one after another.
Liang Xiaoyue was curious. “Were those his exact words?”
Jiang Wu thought over Huo Qingzhi’s original words. “That’s what he said.”
Liang Xiaoyue still could not imagine it and remained doubtful.
In her memory, Huo Qingzhi, who watched over his younger sister as though she were his daughter, had warned her more than once.
The earliest time could be traced back to when Jiang Wu was six and losing her baby teeth, and when Liang Xiaoyue secretly slipped Jiang Wu chocolates. Then, when Jiang Wu was twelve, Liang Xiaoyue took her skipping class. At eighteen, she took Jiang Wu to bars, and so on. Huo Qingzhi had a very strong opinion of her.
But Liang Xiaoyue did not care. It was not as if she had led anyone astray. Besides, she was not some crooked, heretical person either.
Liang Xiaoyue leaned against the table, playing with the wineglass in her hand.
Jiang Wu’s eyes were sparkling, filled with the excitement and thrill of seeing something very novel, yet carrying a strange sort of shy unfamiliarity too.
Liang Xiaoyue took a light sip of sweet wine and gestured for the male models onstage to come down and interact.
Jiang Wu grew even shyer. However bold her words had been at first, that was how cowardly she became now. With so many muscular men crowding forward, letting her tease them however she liked, she still could not bring herself to reach out, her cheeks completely flushed.
Liang Xiaoyue naturally accepted the men’s attentiveness and reminded them, “She’s still a little sister. Let her take her time. Don’t scare her.”
The people Liang Xiaoyue had invited were all very professional. They sat around them on both sides, passing them fruit and drinks, and they also knew very well how to treat different guests in different ways.
Beside Jiang Wu sat a younger-looking boy wearing animal ears and little bells. They began with simple talk about things to do on the island, and she quickly relaxed.
After chatting idly and drinking two glasses of wine, the next round of performance began.
Once the men dispersed, Jiang Wu noticed that the bottle of wine beside Liang Xiaoyue had been emptied. She moved over and sat beside her. “Are you in a bad mood?”
Liang Xiaoyue smiled. “Just the usual company stuff.”
Liang Xiaoyue was the only daughter of the Liang family and had reached the age to inherit the family business. But above her in the family were several uncles and cousins. In large households like hers, when it came to fighting over the family fortune, it was all too common for them to secretly ostracize her as a young woman in the company. As for the methods, some of them were rather despicable.
“They’re still making trouble?” Jiang Wu roughly knew a little and nudged Liang Xiaoyue’s elbow. “My eldest brother is good at this. He came up through the same kind of thing. I’ll take you to ask him tomorrow?”
Liang Xiaoyue raised her brows. “Ha. No. Huo Qingzhi probably wants to sell me to Africa to dig for oil right now.”
“My eldest brother is a very good person.”
“That’s because he’s your brother.” Liang Xiaoyue pulled her closer amid the deafening music, still very curious. “Little Ah Wu, tell me honestly. How did your eldest brother agree to let you come watch a hunk show?”
Jiang Wu repeated Huo Qingzhi’s words.
Liang Xiaoyue narrowed her eyes, seriously suspecting that Huo Qingzhi had not spoken in Jiang Wu’s bright, lively, and understanding tone at all.
Based on her understanding, Huo Qingzhi was difficult to read and deeply calculating. Sometimes, he would speak only halfway and leave things unclear, making people listen with uneasy hearts.
But Jiang Wu was not like that. She was a very straightforward person.
Liang Xiaoyue had always believed that Jiang Wu’s soul was very clean. Someone like her, entangled in mundane troubles, loved spending time with Jiang Wu doing things that escaped the world and stepped outside the rules.
Liang Xiaoyue also could not understand these past two days. How had the Huo family caused such a huge matter? But judging from her understanding of the Huo family more than twenty years ago…
At that time, the Huo family could indeed be described as a complete mess. In a certain sense, for the Huo family of twenty years ago, such a mistake was not all that strange.
After all, Huo Tingshan and Jiang Yaping’s seven or eight years of love-hate saga had been Hong Kong Island’s hottest piece of wealthy family gossip back then. Marriage, divorce, and remarriage.
And the little princess Jiang Wu was the most beautiful ending to that bloody wealthy-family story. After she was born, that couple became deeply loving, and the group flourished like the sun at its zenith.
No one had expected that more than twenty years later, everything would be overturned because of her birth.
Liang Xiaoyue saw that Jiang Wu was drinking without restraint today and could sense that Jiang Wu was in a bad mood. But she did not mention those things that would make people even unhappier.
Jiang Wu only wanted to test whether drowning sorrows in wine actually worked.
When their conversation reached the key point, Liang Xiaoyue still had to remind her, “Yes, your eldest brother has also dealt with people fighting over family assets. But those people have been waiting for your dad and your eldest brother to make a mistake. If, because of this negative impact, they pressure your dad and eldest brother within the group… If there’s any difficulty, remember to come find me.”
How could Jiang Wu go find her? Liang Xiaoyue herself was already entangled in trouble. Jiang Wu would not add unnecessary problems for her.
“They can’t be that heartless, right?” After Jiang Wu said this, she murmured to herself, “But who knows.”
Only after drinking for a while did Jiang Wu realize that the wine Liang Xiaoyue had brought had a delayed kick. By the time she reacted, the muscular hunks before her eyes had doubled under overlapping shadows.
Fortunately, small matter. She could still control herself.
Pretending she wasn’t drunk, she propped up her chin as she watched the beast-eared, bell-wearing boy walk toward her and handed her his tie.
No one could tell that this beautiful Eastern beauty was drunk. Only the redness at the corners of her eyes had deepened, and the mist in her eyes was hazy. Like a flower not yet fully bloomed.
Jiang Wu was no longer as shy as before. Her courage gradually grew. At first, she merely played with his tie, intentionally and unintentionally winding it around her fingertip. Her movements were slow, soft, and tormenting. Then, with a sudden tug, she pulled him close, only to have him shoved aside by a large hand.
In an instant, Jiang Wu was enveloped by a tall shadow. The scene before her eyes blurred for a moment, and the light and shadows around her also began to blur and spin. A familiar voice was saying something, but Jiang Wu could not hear clearly.
By the time she came back to herself, the noisy music was already gone from around her. It seemed she had also moved far away from the bar hall. But beside her hand, there was still a tie.
Jiang Wu casually wound that tie around her fingers again and yanked the person closer. Suddenly, she was engulfed by the scent of fir and cold, clear woods. The shadow before her eyes deepened once more.
Jiang Wu raised her eyes, her misty autumn-water pupils looking into a pair of deep brows and eyes. But the person before her was not as obedient as the one just now.
After only a moment of eye contact, he wanted to avoid her and also wanted to pull his tie out of her hand.
Jiang Wu’s young lady temper rose. Her fingers tightened, and with one forceful pull…
Huo Qingzhi was forced forward, his body leaning into her space until they were inches apart.
So close that the rose-cocoa scent on her body was especially clinging. The tie at his neck was hooked by her fingers, pulling with a force like a cat’s scratch.
Huo Qingzhi braced one large hand against the leather sofa behind Jiang Wu, watching as she studied him.
A pale pink flush bloomed at the corners of her eyes, like a rose dewy enough to drip.
After looking him over for a while, she was very puzzled. “Why do you look a little like my elder brother?” She slowly muttered softly, “Sister Xiaoyue is so bold, daring to find a model who looks like my eldest brother.”
This was the first time Huo Qingzhi had ever been mistaken for a model. From up close, he lowered his eyes, his gaze tracing her slightly parted lips, tinged with red, a hint of the same color bleeding into his own eyes.
Until she looked him over and spoke again. “When they dance, they barely wear shirts. Why are you wearing so much?” Jiang Wu began issuing orders. “Take it off.”
Huo Qingzhi took a deep breath, his voice low and slow. “All right.”
His long fingers rested at his collar, undoing the button of his jacket and revealing his broad shoulders and back. He really did take the jacket off. Then draped it over her exposed back.
At last, she was covered.
Jiang Wu moved her gaze away from the shoulders and arms looming above her so completely that she could not see the ceiling. Being served into the jacket, she felt wrapped up all over.
Her fingers slid idly from his collar down to his waist and abdomen, her fingertip circling once as she offered her assessment. “It is a little cold. You’re quite good at serving people. How long have you been doing this?”
Jiang Wu did not wait for him to answer. Her fingertip suddenly hooked onto the black leather strap Huo Qingzhi used to keep his shirt in place. “Why do you like wearing this thing too? Same as my eldest brother.”
But she knew that Huo Qingzhi wore it because he had to maintain proper attire on every occasion. Yet fastened over the muscles of his chest and abdomen like this, it truly looked… provocative.
Huo Qingzhi was drawn taut by her misbehaving fingers at his waist and abdomen. He caught her hand to stop her. “Are you still cold?”
Jiang Wu’s wrist itched from the rough pads of his fingers. She sniffed. “A little.”
“Then let’s go back and sleep.”
Jiang Wu froze for a moment, then frowned unhappily and pushed him away. “What, I only talked to you a little, and you already want to sleep? Who wants to sleep with you? Weirdo! Pervert!
Huo Qingzhi let her scold him. After all, what she said was not wrong.
“I’m not playing with you anymore. I’m going to find my eldest brother.”
Her brothers were still the best. They would never have those crooked, improper, and unspeakable thoughts about her.
Jiang Wu got up and walked out on her own.
Huo Qingzhi was pushed back two steps and looked at her slender figure as she left.
The island night breeze brushed over the waves, passed through the coconut grove, and then drifted past her.
Jiang Wu walked quietly alone for a while.
Jiang Wu walked alone for a while. After some time, she stopped, her thoughts fuzzy, the tip of her nose reddening.
She realized she did not know where to go. And drinking could not drown sorrow at all. Alcohol only kept reminding her exactly why she was in pain.
Jiang Wu let out a long sigh, her head dizzy.
Huo Qingzhi caught her, bent down, lifted her into his arms, and carried her back to the overwater villa.
Jiang Wu closed her eyes and curled up in the man’s arms. After a long while, she murmured, “Huo Qingzhi…”
“Can you always be my eldest brother?”
Huo Qingzhi’s steps stilled slightly. He looked at the person in his arms, unable to tell whether she was sober or drunk.
His extremely soft voice scattered into the sea breeze.
“No.”