Surrounded by Wolves
Impossible.
The spoiled and pampered Zheng Huayi could not bring herself, one second after insulting Jiang Wu, to lower herself and smile obsequiously while begging her.
Jiang Wu would definitely make her lose face thoroughly before agreeing to help.
But this was also Zheng Huayi’s first time calling around everywhere, asking people for help over a coffee bill.
At first, she called her dad, but he did not answer. Her mother had no time and said it was only a few cups of coffee; was it really worth making her run over?
Calling friends also inevitably earned her a few mocking words.
“No way. Whose coffee is that expensive? If you can’t afford it, then don’t drink it.”
“I’m getting my nails done. I don’t have time.”
By now, some people had reacted and realized that getting into an unpleasant conflict with the Huo family would bring no benefit to anyone. Whether it was Jiang Wu, whom they thought had already fallen into decline, or Wen Ciying, who had come up from a small household.
The few girls hurriedly tried to smooth things over. “Just now, Huayi only lost control of her emotions and said some unpleasant things. We’re all friends, just out to have fun. We’ll apologize to you, and this matter can pass.”
Zheng Huayi was unwilling. “Why is everything my fault now? Weren’t you all talking too?”
One of her friends truly did not want to offend the Huo family. Her dad would definitely beat her to death. “We were wrong. Ah Wu is reasonable. An apology should be enough. Why do you insist on making this such a big deal?”
Zheng Huayi looked as though she had heard a joke. “Now she’s reasonable? You were saying way worse things behind her back! Don’t be such a hypocrite!”
“You… you shut up!”
No matter what, Zheng Huayi would rather die than lower herself and beg. But being watched by them as she called around looking for someone was not exactly dignified either.
Jiang Wu ignored their bickering. She sat back, enjoying the show while flipping through the catalog the Berko manager had handed back to her to choose her birthday cake.
The Berko manager glanced over the frantic young girls and secretly shook his head. These girls were too short-sighted, climbing up and stepping on others. No matter what Jiang Wu’s birth background was, the connections, knowledge, and resources she had accumulated over more than twenty years were not something a single paternity test report could completely end.
Eventually, someone could no longer hold back and came over to apologize to Jiang Wu and Wen Ciying. Even after apologizing, she did not dare refuse to pay and still called her family to handle the matter properly.
About half an hour later, Zheng Huayi’s father’s assistant hurried over in a rush. The moment he entered, he immediately apologized to Jiang Wu. “We are truly sorry. This matter is our fault. Please don’t take it to heart.”
Jiang Wu did not answer.
Ignoring Zheng Huayi’s reaction, the assistant quickly continued, “We will compensate for today’s losses in the store, as well as the damaged furniture, at full price.”
Zheng Huayi’s eyes widened. “What are you doing? They were the ones who smashed…”
The assistant stopped Zheng Huayi, hurriedly paid the compensation, and left. Zheng Huayi was dragged out by several bodyguards, stomping her feet in anger. “Why were you being so humble? How embarrassing!”
So, what if it was the Huo family? Her dad told her jokes about the Huo family every day. Back then, a group of people had risen through real estate on Hong Kong Island, and Old Master Huo and Huo Tingshan had been among them.
But everyone knew what real estate was like now. Even if Huo Qingzhi had taken over and invested in other industries, so what? How many years had it been?
Moreover, after the matter with Jiang Wu, their stock market had fallen for seven consecutive days, and many investors and partners were discussing withdrawing funds. Who knew what would happen in the future?
Meanwhile, her family had risen like the sun at its zenith in just three to five years. When one caught the winds of the era, even a pig could fly.
The assistant could not speak too harshly to her, but he had been annoyed by her shouting. “Chairman Zheng was anonymously reported today. The board is still in a meeting.”
Zheng Huayi said indifferently, “Reported? For what?”
“Bribery and embezzlement.” The assistant’s voice was exhausted. “New evidence is being submitted every day. President Zheng is already overwhelmed. He told you to keep a low profile. Some of that evidence involves your expenses… including this necklace.”
Zheng Huayi’s body stiffened.
~~
Inside the café, which had finally quieted down with great difficulty. Without warning, Jiang Wu reached across the bar counter and tried to touch the black stud earring on Wen Ciying’s earlobe.
Wen Ciying instinctively dodged, and Jiang Wu’s hand caught empty air.
Failing to touch it, Jiang Wu pursed her lips, bit the straw of her coffee cup, and made no further move.
Jiang Wu could not say why she had suddenly wanted to touch Wen Ciying’s earring. She just felt that the stud was very strange.
At first glance, it looked dull and lusterless, but occasionally it would flash with a very unusual color. It was not the fire of a gemstone, but like a very technological blue light.
Only after Wen Ciying had studied her for a long time did she speak. “You’re that curious about me?”
“Who’s curious?”
Suddenly, with a smack.
Jiang Wu saw Wen Ciying slap the little robot onto the table, the one she had used some time ago to spy on her.
Jiang Wu’s motion of biting the straw paused.
Wen Ciying continued asking, “Not curious?”
Jiang Wu’s eyes darted around. She reached over, took the little robot down, stuffed it into her bag, and tossed it to Cherry. “Not curious.”
Wen Ciying smiled without speaking.
Jiang Wu faintly felt that Wen Ciying’s eyes carried the same interest as that day. She vaguely covered it up. “You know this thing?”
“Imbue’s AI intelligent robot.” Wen Ciying reminded her, “Little Sister, I work in digital technology. Remote monitoring is just basic stuff.”
In other words, she had been able to tell at a glance that Jiang Wu had been using the camera to spy on her that day.
Jiang Wu spun her bar stool around, feeling guilty. “Oh.”
She made a full turn to change the topic, picked up the cake catalogue, and asked Wen Ciying, “Which of these two do you think is better?”
A very clumsy excuse.
Wen Ciying nevertheless gave her a choice. “Caviar.”
Jiang Wu nodded. After handing the catalogue to the Berko manager, she picked up her bag and stood. “Then I’m leaving.”
Wen Ciying suddenly asked, “Are you going home tonight?”
Jiang Wu did not want to go back for the time being. “No. I haven’t had enough fun yet. Unless Dad begs me to come back”
Jiang Wu was still angry. She had been out for several days now, and Huo Tingshan had not even asked. The only time he had called was to use her to find Second Brother. Jiang Yaping, on the other hand, had asked several times, but Jiang Wu was just like this. Unless both of those “culprits” came and lowered their heads, she would not go back.
Wen Ciying did not quite understand their family’s situation. She only found it very strange. “But your dad asks about you at home every day and keeps urging your mom to message you.”
Jiang Wu held grudges. “What does that count for? Does he think that if he dangles a hook, I have to obediently go back?”
As though she were shamelessly clinging to the family and refusing to leave.
Wen Ciying found the whole thing amusing. If it were her dad, he would have long since bombarded her with messages like My good daughter this and my good daughter that, good daughter, don’t scare Daddy. In three seconds, he would be able to coax a little sister with Jiang Wu’s temper back home.
When it came down to it, Huo Tingshan was the type of father she disliked very much. Authoritarian and domineering. He had gone to bring her back, but he also did not want to let Jiang Wu go.
Taking advantage of the special nature of her father’s job and the fact that he still did not know about this matter, he had made decisions on his own. This made Wen Ciying have a very strong opinion of him.
Huo Tingshan had promised to give her mother compensation money in exchange for keeping Jiang Wu. Her mother was afraid of causing trouble for her father, so she had not refuted Huo Tingshan.
Of course, she could not possibly accept the money either. She had only had no choice but to report the situation to her father’s workplace.
And Huo Tingshan wanted to use tens of millions a year in compensation to keep Jiang Wu, yet he still refused to lower his head and apologize, refused to coax Jiang Wu home, and stubbornly said that once she got tired of playing outside, she would come back.
As if he felt everything was under his control. He only needed to give orders, never needed to bow his head.
He was ridiculous. But Wen Ciying could understand it too. Generally speaking, once people had been leaders for too long, there would be something a little wrong with their brains.
Just as Wen Ciying was lost in thought, Jiang Wu suddenly leaned closer and asked her, “Why are you asking this? Do you want me to go back?”
Wen Ciying paused slightly and said nothing.
Jiang Wu slowly brushed aside the hair by her ear. “Isn’t it better if I’m not home? Then we don’t have to awkwardly get along.”
That picturesque face drew close before Wen Ciying. Wen Ciying was not quite used to such a close distance, so she turned her eyes away and rotated the coffee cup in her hand. “Why would you think…”
Before she could finish, Jiang Wu suddenly seized the opportunity and pinched her earlobe.
Wen Ciying abruptly fell silent. The next instant, she felt Jiang Wu brush against her stud earring, then smile slyly. “Touched it.”
Jiang Wu was like a cat that would do exactly what she was told not to. Once her mischief succeeded, she clapped her hands and left gracefully. “I’m going.”
Only belatedly did Wen Ciying react, and she laughed softly. She casually removed her earring.
On her phone were several replies from the Huo Group secretary.
[Zheng Huayi’s investigation information has been received and forwarded to headquarters.]
Wen Ciying did not care about a fifty-yuan fake. Not when it could make the Zheng family pay at least five hundred million. It was their price the Zheng family had to pay for spreading those secrets and disrupting the life she had built.
Her driver was waiting outside. After Wen Ciying left the café, she got into the car. Sitting inside, she opened her tablet, the earring placed beside it. The dim light of the camera inside had gone out, its connection severed manually.
Wen Ciying tapped the screen a few times and pulled up several video files. They were all scenes of these rich young ladies flaunting their family wealth in front of her. Each one was leverage. After backing them up to the cloud, she cleared the space.
The video files flashed by quickly, and she paused on one frame.
On the screen was an infinitely enlarged yet undistorted Eastern beauty’s face. Her brows and eyes were delicate and charming as she brushed aside Wen Ciying’s hair and said something rather endearing.
Only after Jiang Wu’s fingertip swept across the dull surface of the earring did it reflect those clear, moon-bright watery eyes and jade-carved, creamy skin even more clearly.
Wen Ciying thought: She… really does look like Mom very much.
People were born to feel fondness toward faces they had long been close to. Even if it was only a resemblance.
~~
Late at night, a modified motorcycle cut through the empty, silent streets, finally stopping outside a bar. The man’s long legs rested on the ground, his leather pants catching the cold gleam of the city lights, taut against his powerful thighs, long and muscular.
He took off his helmet and set it aside. The stray hair across his forehead was slightly damp with a thin layer of sweat, outlining his sharply defined cheeks, making him look even more striking.
The moment Huo Lingyi got off the bike, he went directly into the lounge club that was still operating deep into the night. Even at such a late hour, the lounge did not lack regulars. The resident singer performed one song after another.
At the VIP booth, a young man waved at him. Once Huo Lingyi walked over, he placed his own car keys on the table. “Give me yours.”
The young man handed him the keys he had prepared long ago and teased, “Your car sat at the airport for a month without maintenance. It’s already pretty good that it could run this long. But are you in such a hurry to go back tonight? It’s already three in the morning.”
Dai Ze remembered that Huo Lingyi had learned the news before going on the cross-country race, and he had driven harder than ever before. After it ended, he had even skipped the awards ceremony.
Huo Lingyi was somewhat irritated by the noise around them. He pocketed the keys and prepared to leave. “I’ll go back and take a look first.”
“Look at who?” The man leaned against the bar counter. “Your precious little sister probably hasn’t been home these past couple of days.”
Huo Lingyi had just been about to leave, but his steps stopped. He turned back to look at him. “What do you mean?”
“Just rumors. I secretly asked around. Someone seems to have seen her at a hot spring resort…” The man spun the key ring and was just about to say more when he suddenly felt a chilly aura climb up from the soles of his feet.
At some point, Huo Lingyi had returned and was bracing himself against the bar. “Anything else?”
The man’s motion of spinning the key stopped. “No… Nothing else.”
“Oh.” Huo Lingyi suddenly gave a chilling smile. “So why were you asking around about my sister?”
The man instantly went numb from head to toe, scrambling for an explanation. “No, actually, I…”
Before he could think of an explanation, a burst of raucous laughter came from the booth not far behind them, sounding grating to the ear.
“Why didn’t you call that little actress you just met over to play?”
“I tried. She just entered the industry and still doesn’t know what’s good for her. Once I trip her up a little, she’ll know to come begging me when she runs into difficulty.”
“Speaking of which, Jiang Wu’s photo caused such a huge stir back then. I thought she was going to enter the entertainment industry.”
“What a shame. If she had entered the entertainment industry, now that she’s in such trouble, the ones we brothers got to sleep with wouldn’t be these little actresses, hahaha…”
The group laughed again, their laughter lewd and arrogant. “Not a pity. Who says there’s no chance now?”
Suddenly, the shoulder of the person speaking was tapped.
The man turned around impatiently. “Who is it?”
Huo Lingyi wore a mask, his face hidden beneath the dim lights. “Got a light?”
The man looked him over, casually tossed him a lighter, and continued bragging with his companions.
Huo Lingyi caught it and spun it once. He easily opened the gas valve and lit a cigarette. The bronze metal casing flashed in a beautiful arc between his fingers.
After chatting for a while, the man suddenly saw Huo Lingyi walking away with the lighter. “Hey, kid, come back!”
Huo Lingyi walked out with his back to them, still playing with that lighter in his hand. “Relax.”
The blue glow of the flame reflected in his eyes, flickering lightly in a certain instant.
“Here.” As Huo Lingyi’s words fell, the lighter was tossed back.
The man cursed as he caught it, holding it in his hand and flicking the flame for fun. On the third or fourth flick.
BOOM!
All of a sudden, a bang exploded between the booths. The bottles on the table burst one after another, and cries of alarm filled the room. The servers nearby hurried forward in panic.
Dai Ze watched the people at that table floundering about and sympathetically took two sips of wine.
Only Huo Lingyi turned a deaf ear to it. The corner of his lips curved slightly as he carried his leather jacket and walked out.
The orange glow of the flames reflected across the leather jacket, while behind him, everything had been turned upside down.
~~
The next day, a rare text appeared on Jiang Wu’s phone.
Dad: [Your third brother is back. Aren’t you coming home to see him?]
Jiang Wu was soaking in a hot spring. She only glanced at it once before putting it aside.
At Cloud Peak Bay’s main residence, Huo Tingshan sat at the desk, flipping through the group’s financial statements. Every now and then, he glanced at his phone.
He had sent the message in the morning. Why was there still no reply by the afternoon?
Jiang Yaping caught sight of his fidgeting and toyed with her manicure, which had already begun losing rhinestones. “What are you looking at?”
“Work.”
Jiang Yaping was not fooled. “I told you long ago, just call our baby Wenni. But you insist on putting on airs as a father.”
Wenni was Jiang Wu’s name before she changed it.
Huo Wenni.
However, fewer and fewer people knew this name now. Later, it had become a special name her parents used for her.
Huo Tingshan frowned. “I said it’s work. There’s a board meeting at four.”
Jiang Yaping stood and casually patted Huo Tingshan’s unmoving face. “Then go live with your work.”
Huo Tingshan clicked his tongue softly. “Look at you, getting anxious again.”
“Wenni learned this from you. Running away from home at every turn.” Jiang Yaping ignored him and shut the door with a bang.
After watching her leave, Huo Tingshan could not help picking up his phone again. A notification appeared at the top. Huo Tingshan quickly opened it. It turned out to be from his secretary.
[Chairman, your car for the 4 p.m. meeting has arrived at Cloud Top Bay.]
Huo Tingshan: …
He did not reply. With a stern face, he left just like that.
Not long after Huo Tingshan left, everyone at home received notice that Jiang Wu was coming home and hurriedly began preparing dinner. Only Huo Tingshan was busy with work, so no one told him for the time being.
When Jiang Wu entered the living room, she saw Huo Lingyi coming to greet her. She happily threw herself at him. “Third Brother! You’re finally back. I missed you so much. I watched the livestream of your race. It was so cool!”
At this moment, Huo Qingzhi was standing at the entrance of the living room, and Huo Yingli leaned against the second-floor railing. Both of them stared unblinkingly as Jiang Wu rushed forward, hugged Huo Lingyi, and said she missed him.
Huo Lingyi sensed their gazes. He lazily lifted his eyelids and swept a glance over them. Then, taking advantage of the moment, he held Jiang Wu by the waist. “Did you see me receive the award? This year’s trophy was very beautiful.”
Jiang Wu blinked. “I did! I was going to ask you to bring it back for me to play with.”
Huo Lingyi suddenly chuckled, leaning close to Jiang Wu’s ear. “Too bad. I didn’t receive the award at all. Who were you watching?”
A shiver went down her spine as his hand pressed against her waist. Huo Lingyi took in all her little expressions.
Jiang Wu had always been adorable since she was young, but one could never know which of her words were true and which were meant to coax people.
So, watching the race was a lie. What about missing him?
Jiang Wu had nowhere to hide under his stare and could only confess in embarrassment, “Actually, I fell asleep halfway through that day.”
At some point, Huo Yingli had come over. “What’s going on?”
Without a change in expression, he subtly gripped Huo Lingyi’s wrist, trying to move his hand from Jiang Wu’s waist. When he moved Huo Lingyi’s hand away, he felt resistance.
Two forces pressed against each other, but when they landed on Jiang Wu, it became somewhat awkward. In the end, it was Huo Lingyi who let go and was pulled half a step away.
Huo Yingli still wore that smiling expression. “Why is Ah Wu so warm to him?”
“No, I’m not. I was just greeting him.” Jiang Wu eased the awkwardness from earlier, picked up a cookie, and said unclearly, “In foreign countries, even kisses are only greetings.”
“Oh. Greetings.” Huo Yingli nodded, then suddenly looked at her, his voice very low. “Then why haven’t I seen you greet me like that?”
Jiang Wu paused mid-bite; something strange brushed through her heart.
Huo Yingli’s peach-blossom eyes stayed fixed on her just like that, openly and naturally spreading his arms.
Immediately after, Huo Qingzhi pressed his arms down. Huo Qingzhi’s words were concise, only one word. “Scram.”
“Ms. Jiang is cooking today. She said if you have nothing to do, go help in the kitchen.”
Huo Yingli and Huo Lingyi could not argue. Only then did they leave the living room unwillingly. The room soon quieted down.
Huo Qingzhi stood beside her and pulled out a tissue.
Jiang Wu gloated as she watched them get chased away, her whole body relaxing. Then she took another sea-salt cheese cookie. “This is so good. “Eldest Brother, try…”
Before she could finish, the tissue in Huo Qingzhi’s hand was already wiping against her lips, cleaning away the pastry crumbs stuck to her soft, rosy lips.
Through the tissue, the man’s rough fingertips seemed to intentionally yet unintentionally press over that softness between her lips as he asked her a sentence, laced with an almost suffocating intensity.
“To you, is kissing also nothing more than a greeting?”
Author’s Note:
This is a sweet little story, no angst—they’ll get married soon [calico cat head]. Friendly reminder: in my personal opinion, none of the three brothers are quite right in the head [dog head holding rose].