Surrounded by Wolves
Huo Qingzhi’s dark, imposing presence matched the black, fathomless surface of Victoria Harbour — deep, unfathomable, impossible to escape.
That faint, cool scent of his rode the sea breeze straight into her lungs. His presence alone was overwhelming enough that, in that moment, it felt as though he filled the entire world.
Every inch of her, inside and out, had been marked with the scent of cold cedar trees deep in the forest.
The instant it touched her, it began to burn wildly, turning scorching hot, like molten lava seared against her heart. Every hair on her body, every cell, trembled as they were forced to adapt to that heat.
Moisture gathered at the corners of Jiang Wu’s eyes.
The cool sea breeze brushed past her, making the warmth radiating from him seem even more intense; the feeling of being engulfed was almost too strong.
Her lashes trembling, Jiang Wu turned her head away the instant she found an opening, answering his question. “Brother’s not good. He’s very bad.”
Her loose strands of hair were a step slower than she was. But they, too, quickly slipped from between Huo Qingzhi’s fingers.
Jiang Wu walked on along the waterfront, though her steps were not hurried. The sea breeze scattered her long hair, making it look like countless strands of silk—light, soft, and distant.
Huo Qingzhi lowered his eyes and dropped his hand. The depths in his eyes had yet to fade. Yet a faint itch lingered along his jaw, refusing to fade.
Looking down, he found that a single soft strand of hair was still caught on one of the buttons over his chest.
~~
The weekend financial news headline, “Zhengda Collapses,” quickly spread.
Along with a few photos of the Zheng father and son being taken away for questioning. Some people had also circulated blurry footage from the disturbance at the bar that night.
However, the PR team moved quickly, killing the story and blocking out any footage of uninvolved parties, steering public attention squarely onto Zhengda Group’s own misconduct.
Inside the skyscraper housing the group’s Central headquarters, Huo Yingli sat in the PR department’s conference room, taking over the handling of any public-relations fallout that might implicate their group.
Huo Tingkun walked past the conference room and glanced inside before quickly looking away.
His secretary hurried after him, a stack of documents in hand. “Zhengda’s collapse has exposed some of our financial dealings with them, as well as some of our previous business cooperation.”
“The Zheng father and son have already…”
Before the secretary could finish, Huo Tingkun shot him a look, and he fell silent at once.
Huo Tingkun’s expression was ugly. “My what? What could I possibly have to answer for?”
“It’s nothing but a few business dealings with their family. If something went wrong, it was because their family’s business collapsed, not mine.”
“What I need to do now is pull our capital out of Zhengda as fast as possible. Once that’s done, what could there possibly be left for me to answer for?”
Not far off, the chairman’s secretary, Lu Heng, came over looking for him, informing him, “The board meeting starts in ten minutes. Please head over as soon as you can.”
“I know.” Huo Tingkun waved Lu Heng off and drew a heavy breath.
Perhaps the commotion outside had carried into the neighboring conference room. Quite a few people looked over through the glass doors.
Huo Yingli also raised his head casually, meeting Huo Tingkun’s gaze.
Huo Tingkun did not take this young man seriously at all.
Huo Yingli had merely taken advantage of the trouble he was dealing with to exploit a loophole and seize his position of power. Sooner or later, he would have to hand it back.
Huo Tingkun stopped looking that way and walked straight out of the area.
The secretary still had no choice but to remind him, “But according to the financial news, among the companies implicated with Zhengda, the subsidiary you control has been flagged as a high-risk company.”
“Flagged or not, a bit of money can get it taken off again.” Huo Tingkun grew irritated the moment he heard this and cut him off. “Is that my own personal subsidiary? That’s a subsidiary of the entire group!”
“Within the group, we rise together and fall together. Do you think I’m the only one at risk here?”
“Once it gets out, it’ll still be the Group’s reputation and the Group’s risk management that come under question.”
“At today’s board meeting, unless the entire Group wants to shut down, Huo Qingzhi will have to find a way to settle this for me.”
“Otherwise, it means he has mismanaged the company as Acting Chairman, incapable of running the company, and he can wait to be removed.”
The elevator stopped at the 66th floor, where the board meetings were held.
Inside and outside the corridors, department heads and assistants of every level were coming and going, carrying materials needed for the meeting. The boardroom had long since been readied.
Huo Tingkun walked in without a shred of self-consciousness, spotted Fourth Brother already seated inside, and greeted him with false warmth. “You’re here early today.”
“The news these past two days was a little too unexpected,” Huo Tingjun said, looking at him. “Third Brother, what were you thinking, getting tangled up with Zhengda?”
“They’re our company’s competitor, after all…”
Huo Tingkun cut him off impatiently. ” Who are you trying to fool?”
Huo Tingjun had been following him around back then, calculating when he might be able to rise to power at Group headquarters. He had known all along that Huo Tingkun had gotten hold of Wen Ciying’s paternity test and, taking advantage of such a major oversight, joined forces with Zhengda to bring down Huo Tingshan.
But after Huo Qingzhi had given him such substantial benefits, all that earlier enthusiasm for Huo Tingkun had been cast aside in an instant.
A fence-sitter, blowing whichever way the wind turned.
Another board member came in just then, and Huo Tingkun swallowed the curse he had been about to spit out. “Zhengda may be a competitor, but that’s in Qingzhi’s energy sector. I’m in real estate. How was I supposed to know?”
“Besides, it was just a small business partnership. How was I supposed to know they were going to get into trouble?”
Huo Yingli walked in. “So now you know, Third Uncle?”
As he spoke, he tossed the documents in his hand onto the table. “If it weren’t for the PR department’s quick response, who knows how much damage this could’ve caused the Group.”
Huo Tingkun narrowed his eyes. “And you, where did you…”
The meeting time arrived, and the board secretary-general signaled everyone to quiet down. All board members filed in.
Huo Qingzhi still carried himself with that refined, impeccably dressed air as he walked in from outside and took his place at the chairman’s seat. A pair of thin gold-rimmed glasses sat on the bridge of his nose, giving him a scholarly, refined air.
The purpose of today’s meeting was clear: after Zhengda’s collapse, several high-risk funding chains had been found to involve subsidiaries under Huo Tingkun’s control. Financial news had already published reports specifically targeting those subsidiaries, and some people had even taken the opportunity to drag the entire Group into the mess. A response to the current risks and appropriate measures needed to be put in place as quickly as possible.
After Lu Heng finished reading out the meeting agenda and the specific issues at hand, he fell silent and left the floor to the directors.
Huo Tingkun spoke first. “We’ve been doing business with outside partners for years. Any company will have plenty of business partners, and some of them run into serious trouble every year, which is not uncommon.”
“If there’s a problem, then we solve it.”
“Easy for you to say,” Huo Yingli cut in. “Twenty years ago, Changheng was the Group’s flagship brand, a household name.”
“Third Uncle, you’ve been running it for more than a decade, and now you’ve turned it into a high-risk company that’s even dragging headquarters into the mess. How exactly do you plan to solve that?”
Huo Tingkun didn’t take it seriously. “It’s nothing more than a few problems with the circulation of funds. Just make up the shortfall, won’t that do?”
Huo Yingli asked, “Who’s filling it?”
The boardroom fell quiet for a moment.
Huo Tingkun let out a dry laugh. “This is the Group’s loss too, isn’t it? Or are you expecting me to cover the entire shortfall myself?”
“Fine. Don’t cover it. Go ahead and let the capital chain collapse, let the subsidiary go under, let the Group’s reputation take the hit. No one comes out of that looking good.”
Huo Tingjun could no longer listen. “So, you got yourself into trouble, and now you want all of us to clean up your mess?”
“What do you mean, my mess?” Huo Tingkun’s voice rose. “We’ve all been in this company for this long. Don’t any of you have a sense of collective responsibility?”
“When there’s a problem, shouldn’t everyone be thinking about how to solve it together?”
“This isn’t my problem. It’s everyone’s problem. I refuse to believe anyone in the Group benefits if this blows up.”
Huo Tingkun turned toward Huo Qingzhi, who had remained silent all this time. “As Acting Chairman, Qingzhi should understand this logic better than anyone.”
Huo Qingzhi nodded. “Indeed, I do.”
Huo Tingkun looked at him, inwardly sneering, thinking no matter how much these young upstarts disliked him, they still had to clean up after him in the end. “Qingzhi knows what he’s doing. I’m sure he has a reasonable solution in mind.”
“I wouldn’t call it reasonable.” Huo Qingzhi said, handing a stack of documents to Lu Heng. “Let’s just say it’ll help the group avoid further losses as quickly as possible.”
Lu Heng began reading the proposed resolution.
“Mr. Huo Tingkun, Chief Executive Officer of Changheng and Chief Operating Officer of the Group, has, due to improper handling of corporate affairs and poor business operations, caused Changheng to suffer losses for consecutive years, with revenue falling to one-third of what it was five years ago.”
“Furthermore, through private dealings, Mr. Huo Tingkun also engaged in illegal business activities with Zhengda Group, causing serious negative consequences for Group headquarters.”
“The board therefore proposes risk isolation measures for the high-risk Changheng subsidiary and Mr. Huo Tingkun.”
The moment the words “risk isolation” were spoken, Huo Tingkun’s brow shot up at once, and he understood, almost instantly, exactly what Huo Qingzhi meant. He shot to his feet and fixed him with a hard stare.
Huo Qingzhi met his gaze calmly.
Lu Heng continued reading.
“Namely, Changheng will become fully separated as an independent legal entity under the management of Mr. Huo Tingkun, entirely severed from group headquarters.”
“All of Changheng’s debts and capital obligations will be borne entirely by Mr. Huo Tingkun.”
“The Group’s finances and business operations will be completely separated from Changheng. Mr. Huo Tingkun will also be suspended from his position at Group headquarters and stripped of his authority, in order to prevent reputational risks associated with companies under his name from spreading to headquarters.”
“A formal independent public statement will be issued as soon as possible.”
Put more simply, they were throwing Huo Tingkun out of headquarters. The exact same thing Huo Tingkun had demanded of Jiang Wu several months earlier.
After Lu Heng finished reading, no one in the boardroom spoke for a long time.
Huo Tingkun clenched his teeth and let out a low, grinding laugh. “So, you’re trying to kick me out?”
“Risk isolation,” Huo Qingzhi corrected his phrasing. “My father was willing to step down as Chairman after making a mistake for the sake of the Group’s reputation, and he personally covered the Group’s losses.”
“I’m sure Third Uncle, whose ability and character are certainly no worse than his, will be even more reasonable about this.”
“After all, back then you were always thinking about what was best for the Group and gave us plenty of useful suggestions,” Huo Yingli picked up the thread. “Oh, right. You were also the one who suggested that Jiang Wu cut ties with our family and isolate the risks.”
“Good thing you brought it up back then. Otherwise, who knows how much more we might have lost.”
Huo Yingli even took the opportunity to praise him. “When it comes to cutting off risk, no one is better at it than you.”
Huo Yingli was very good at adding fuel to the fire.
“You—!” Huo Tingkun was just about to explode when Huo Qingzhi interrupted him.
Huo Qingzhi kept up his easygoing manner. “If you think my proposal is inappropriate, you can vote against it when the board takes a vote.”
“We can have the various departments figure out a way to help Third Uncle cover the shortfall.”
Without giving anyone time to think further, Huo Qingzhi said, “We’ll vote now.”
The moment people’s own interests were involved, who would willingly cover someone else’s losses for free?
The directors exchanged glances. One by one, hands began going up in favor.
Fourth Uncle also raised his hand, looking extremely reluctant to do so. “Third Brother, don’t be too discouraged. If you manage Changheng well, you can always come back to headquarters.”
“And if Changheng doesn’t make it, once all this blows over, there’ll still be a place for you in the company.”
Huo Tingkun wanted to kick him. Ever since Huo Qingzhi had given Fourth Uncle a larger shareholding, the man had become impossible to rein in.
In the end, the proposal passed with seventy percent approval.
After they left the boardroom, Huo Tingjun even warmly comforted his third brother. “We’re all family. You’ll still get your share of the family trust, and at least they left you a company to run.”
Huo Tingkun endured it for as long as he could. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“Don’t celebrate too soon. If you don’t deal with the two brats from Eldest Brother’s family soon, you’ll be next.”
As Huo Tingkun finished speaking, Lu Heng came over behind him and called him away to complete the handover procedures for his removal.
Huo Tingjun, of course, knew the two brats would eventually have to be dealt with. No one likes being kept down by the younger generation. But for now, he was still enjoying himself and paid no mind to Huo Tingkun’s words.
~~
Jiang Wu learned that Changheng had been classified as high-risk and isolated from Group headquarters while she was in the restoration lab. She did not pay much attention to this kind of news.
The main reason she knew about it at all was that the two older guys in the restoration room would not stop talking about it. From “Zhengda Collapse” to “Changheng’s Risk Isolation,” they worried about everything. They even offered advice on how Zhengda could have avoided collapsing and how Changheng should manage its risk.
Bu Yu affectionately nicknamed them the Know-It-All Brothers.
Every so often, the Know-It-All Brothers would wander over, look at Jiang Wu and Bu Yu’s progress, and start lecturing them. “Young people, don’t be so impatient.”
“In this line of work, slow and careful gets the best results. If you work this fast, you’re bound to miss something.”
Bu Yu laughed along and brushed them off.
But Jiang Wu didn’t like people putting on airs and lecturing her. “You two aren’t impatient. You’re just a little noisy.”
“With the level of expertise you both claim to have, if you spent less time discussing astronomy, geography, finance, and politics, you’d probably work faster than us.”
The Know-It-All Brothers walked away with sour expressions.
Bu Yu felt instantly better.
Sure enough, when it came to talking back, it still took a rich young lady who was not afraid of offending people.
The restoration of the second painting was expected to take another half month. The auction house had been notified, and this time Jiang Wu put only Bu Yu’s name on the restoration credit.
Bu Yu refused repeatedly. “I’m not taking credit for someone else’s work.”
“What credit? It’s just a name. It’s not like they’re paying me any less.”
“If my name is on it, there’ll definitely be more trouble. I don’t want people bidding on something again just because they see my name.”
Jiang Wu pleaded with her. “Come on, just help me out.”
It was the first time Bu Yu had ever seen someone beg to give away credit and call it asking for a favor. “No, no, no.”
Bu Yu turned away from Jiang Wu in refusal. Then she noticed it had gone quiet behind her. When she turned back, Jiang Wu was sitting there looking aggrieved.
“Really? You can’t help me, bb?”
Bu Yu: “…”
Bu Yu genuinely could not handle Jiang Wu acting cute. She finally could only agree to change the auction credit. Everywhere else, Jiang Wu’s name would remain as the primary conservator. Even so, Bu Yu knew she was still benefiting enormously.
After all, an auction was usually the largest public channel through which information about a cultural relic became known. For many conservators, having their name attached to it was an opportunity to build a reputation.
Jiang Wu clearly didn’t care about that. Bu Yu realized that Jiang Wu had probably handled many collections far more prestigious than this one.
But that was Jiang Wu’s business. Just because she did not lack this opportunity did not mean Bu Yu could simply take it as though she were entitled to it.
When Jiang Wu heard her agree, she brightened immediately and reflexively said, “I knew you were the best.”
The moment she said it, Jiang Wu paused slightly — a scene from not so long ago suddenly surfacing in her mind.
Bu Yu, not noticing anything off, was still embarrassed. “No, no, don’t praise me like that.”
Bu Yu was still thin-skinned about that sort of thing.
Anyone who really knew Jiang Wu would have known to ask her instead, “Where do I rank on your list of people who are the best?”
And at this moment, Jiang Wu’s mind was filled with what Huo Qingzhi had asked her that night: You always say Big Brother is the best. So, is Big Brother still good now?
That weekend, Jiang Wu later invited Wen Ciyin to visit Huo Lingyi during the day.
Huo Lingyi apologized to her, saying that he had been delirious with a fever that night and seemed to have mistaken someone for someone else, taking Second Brother for Zheng Senze.
Jiang Wu said it was fine. People who were sick did foolish things sometimes.
But Jiang Wu did feel that she should keep a certain necessary distance from her other brothers. Although it was difficult to suddenly control the boundaries of relationships that had been close since childhood.
Jiang Wu was trying.
Eldest Brother had already gone astray. The other brothers were still fine for now. She couldn’t let them go astray too.
The first place Jiang Wu’s determination showed itself was on her social media account. She went on a spree, clicking “Not Interested” on all the sibling pseudo-incest content recommended by the algorithm recommended to her. Desperately rejecting this unhealthy budding feeling, trying to prevent it from taking root in her mind again.
But the algorithm was even more relentless than she was. It pushed countless cooking teachers at her, along with hordes of readers eagerly waiting for more content.
Jiang Wu clicked “Not Interested” until her fingers were practically cramping. She completely failed to notice that the “Not Interested” and “Recommend” buttons were right next to each other…
“Recommend” would indiscriminately send content to your friends while showing who had recommended it. And among the friends on Jiang Wu’s social media alt account happened to be her three brothers.
At different times, all three of them saw that Jiang Wu had suddenly begun continuously recommending “some articles” and “some artworks.”
Huo Lingyi was recuperating at home.
Jiang Wu’s recommended content was reported to him immediately by the AI in his room.
“Congratulations, Master. She seems to have developed an interest in this kind of relationship.”
“And her preferences seem to be quite broad.”
Meanwhile, Huo Qingzhi and Huo Yingli were still at the company.
Huo Qingzhi was discussing with Huo Yingli how they should adjust the company’s share distribution after removing their third uncle from the board.
While Lu Heng recorded their proposed strategy and ran simulations based on the company’s situation, Huo Yingli opened social media out of boredom and saw Jiang Wu’s recommendations.
Huo Yingli stared at what was on his phone screen for a long time without saying a word. He did not even respond when Lu Heng reported on the proposal and asked him for a decision.
Huo Qingzhi called his name twice before Huo Yingli finally came back to himself, looked up, answered Lu Heng’s question, and continued listening to the report. But every word went in one ear and out the other.
Huo Yingli twirled the fountain pen on the table between his fingers, thinking about something else entirely.
After they finished discussing the proposal, Huo Yingli left.
Night fell across Hong Kong Island. Outside the skyscrapers, the streets were packed with traffic, layers of glittering lights sweeping past.
At the end of the workday, Huo Qingzhi saw a message from the housekeeper. The housekeeper at Kowloon Tong told him that Jiang Wu had just gotten home and wanted red-wine-braised beef brisket.
But they weren’t very good at making that dish yet. Huo Qingzhi was, so they had specifically come to ask him for advice.
Huo Qingzhi replied: [I’ll make it when I get home. Prepare the ingredients.]
With that, he put down the documents in his hands, grabbed his coat, and went home.
When Jiang Wu heard from the housekeeper that Huo Qingzhi was coming home to cook, she leaned against the kitchen doorway and said, “Then I’m kind of craving taro ribs too.”
“Tell him.”
The housekeeper agreed and went to prepare the necessary ingredients.
Big Brother was actually pretty good at cooking.
Jiang Wu was getting a little hungry just thinking about it.
After making her request, she wandered into the living room, hugged her iPad, and started scrolling through posts. At a glance, her homepage looked much cleaner. Jiang Wu opened a post introducing an artifact and settled down to read it.
Bingbing heard the commotion and came downstairs, crouching beside her to look at the screen.
After Jiang Wu finished reading her post, she pulled up a Tom and Jerry clip for the cat to watch. The little cat’s head bobbed back and forth with the images on the screen.
The living room remained quiet for a long time. Until the sound of a man coming home from work came from the entrance.
The housekeeper went to greet him and told Jiang Wu, “Sir is home.”
Jiang Wu’s eyes shifted slightly. Through the reflection on the screen in her hands, she watched Huo Qingzhi’s shadow and his movements as he entered.
He took off his coat and, without going anywhere else, walked straight toward her. His reflection grew larger and larger on the glass screen until a broad shadow enveloped her from behind.
Jiang Wu tensed slightly, her fingers curling in.
But Huo Qingzhi only asked, “Red-wine-braised beef brisket, taro ribs. Anything else you want to eat?”
With her back to him, Jiang Wu pretended she was absorbed in watching cartoons with Bingbing and said, “No.”
Huo Qingzhi understood. He rolled up his sleeves and fastened the loose shirt cuffs with leather straps around his forearms.
“Tell me yourself next time.”
“Otherwise, I’ll assume I didn’t see it.”
Hearing this, Jiang Wu turned to look.
She only saw Huo Qingzhi’s back as he headed into the kitchen, the loose cuffs of his shirt pulled tight by the leather straps around his solid forearms.
Jiang Wu turned back around.
Having gotten what she wanted, she stopped worrying about anything else, relaxed, and sat cross-legged on the sofa as she waited.
Huo Qingzhi entered the kitchen, took out his phone, and opened the collection he had saved on social media to look for recipes.
However, the moment Huo Qingzhi opened the app, the first thing he saw was a short piece Jiang Wu had [Recommended] — [Babies are born to belong to their brothers*]
The next one was [Ah Wu Recommended] — [How to Make Little Sister Puff Pastries]