Surrounded by Wolves
Through the glass storefront, Huo Qingzhi could see that the man’s body was large enough to block most of her from view. The pretty little dress she was wearing disappeared behind him from the waist up.
As for what was being blocked and what they were doing, it was impossible to tell.
But Huo Qingzhi remembered that every time she endured his kisses, it looked much the same. Her entire body would be pressed beneath him, leaving only her legs and the hem of her dress visible.
Huo Qingzhi told himself he couldn’t think that way. It might not even be her. He called Jiang Wu without a second thought, but she didn’t answer.
On weekends, Jiang Wu always kept her phone on silent.
She vaguely echoed Gu Jingsong’s words. “Is that so?”
Gu Jingsong’s brows shifted slightly. He didn’t ask whether there really was such a person. His instincts told him he didn’t want to know who was in love with her. He didn’t even bring up the time he’d accidentally run into her “boyfriend” bringing her flowers.
Gu Jingsong simply pretended he knew nothing.
Why, though — when he’d been the first one, after all.
Huo Qingzhi sat in the car for a while, scrolling Jiang Wu’s social feed for any sign of what she might be up to, but instead of seeing what Jiang Wu was doing, he saw a post Gu Jingsong had published on his private social media account.
It was a photo of someone’s back, surrounded by flowers in full bloom. The caption was only two words: [Spring Returns]
The figure’s face wasn’t visible, but Huo Qingzhi knew at once who it was. He didn’t call again. He drove home instead.
The first thing Huo Qingzhi did after getting home was open her wardrobe. The dress he’d seen today wasn’t there. He closed the wardrobe door.
That dress was distinctive enough that he remembered it clearly. He had personally put it away for her and placed it in the wardrobe. And now she was wearing it to meet another man.
He stood by the wardrobe for a long time. This kind of behavior was actually very unlike Huo Qingzhi, using all sorts of indirect methods to pry into whether she had something going on with another man—while not daring to ask her directly.
And just then, Jiang Wu called him.
Her voice was much quieter this time, with a bit of noise in the background. “Did you call me just now?”
“Yes.” Huo Qingzhi’s voice was deep. “Are you out having fun?”
Jiang Wu hesitated. “Yeah. My phone was on silent, so I didn’t hear it.”
“Then have fun.” There was an indescribable undertone to Huo Qingzhi’s words. “I won’t bother you anymore.”
“You…” Jiang Wu could hear that something was off in his tone. “Are you busy?”
“Not really.”
“Oh.” Jiang Wu pressed her lips together. She knew he probably had even more to deal with at home. “Then get some rest early after you’re done today.”
After hanging up, Jiang Wu returned to the restaurant and was just about to pay when she saw that Gu Jingsong was already standing at the cashier. She hurried over to stop him.
Gu Jingsong smiled at her. “It’s already paid.”
Jiang Wu felt bad. “Didn’t we agree that I’d treat you?”
Gu Jingsong thought for a moment, then made another request. “Then tonight, keep me company and show me around your school.”
“Show me around the way you like to. I want to hear about what happened after you came here.”
In other words, he wanted to hear about her life after they had parted all those years ago.
Back at home, Huo Qingzhi stood silently at the kitchen island, staring into the shadows of the room. His eyes were tinged with darkness.
He poured himself a glass of bitter liquor, letting the alcohol numb the restless nerves stirring inside his chest.
Huo Qingzhi’s understanding of Gu Jingsong was the same as Huo Yingli’s. They both knew that for Jiang Wu, whose heart was still a blank page when it came to romance, the only man she had ever shown any feelings toward was Gu Jingsong.
There had even been an interview about Jiang Wu’s ideal type. The person she had described was also Gu Jingsong.
Gu Jingsong was different from his other two younger brothers. He was the only one who could step outside the role of her brother and be accepted by the public as a legitimate match for her.
Which was why Huo Qingzhi treated Gu Jingsong differently from the other two.
With Gu Jingsong, all he could do was prevent him from seeing Jiang Wu. He couldn’t confront Gu Jingsong face-to-face and play tricks or schemes against him.
Only with him did Huo Qingzhi worry about whether Jiang Wu truly liked him. If she chose a healthier relationship and divorced him, what would he do?
Years of upbringing and restraint told Huo Qingzhi that he couldn’t force her to stay trapped in an unhealthy relationship. There was nothing wrong with love.
If she didn’t love him and loved someone else instead, there was nothing wrong with that either. That was what reason told him.
But Huo Qingzhi’s heart was completely at odds with his reason. He wanted to keep her trapped. He wanted to lock her up. No one was allowed to look at her. She wasn’t allowed to go anywhere. He told himself he couldn’t keep spiraling like this.
Jiang Wu came home every weekend.
He was waiting, waiting for her to have had enough fun with another man and come home.
Jiang Wu had absolutely no idea that after a simple dinner with a friend, Huo Qingzhi’s mind had already spiraled toward the idea of her coming home to ask for a divorce.
Huo Qingzhi hadn’t told her he’d returned from Hong Kong, and Jiang Wu ended up walking around campus with Gu Jingsong a little longer than expected.
In fact, by ten o’clock, Jiang Wu had already been thinking about calling it a night, but Gu Jingsong was still enjoying himself, and she couldn’t find a natural opening to end the conversation.
By the time they finished talking about their lives over the years, living in different cities and different countries, it was already past eleven.
There were still a few scattered couples on campus, but the surroundings had grown much quieter.
Jiang Wu finally said, “It’s getting late. Let’s talk again next time. I’ll head back to the dorm.”
After a simple goodbye, Jiang Wu started walking toward the dormitory.
Then Gu Jingsong’s voice came from behind her. “Wenni.”
Jiang Wu stopped and turned to look at him.
“I want to ask you something, too.” Gu Jingsong walked toward her.
Under a bright moon and a thin scatter of stars, the campus night felt almost like eight years ago — like wondering whether things would have gone differently if he’d chosen the capital back then. Could this have been their past and their future?
“If we’d come to the same city back then, would we be together now?”
Jiang Wu smiled, her expression as lively and carefree as ever. She had never carried much weight around with her. “Would that mean you coming to my city, or me going to yours?”
The question left Gu Jingsong momentarily speechless.
“I definitely wouldn’t have gone with you.” Jiang Wu knew herself well. “What about you?”
She answered for him. “You wouldn’t have either.”
“But there’s nothing wrong with that.” Jiang Wu understood that kind of choice very well. “We never needed to give up our own lives for anyone.”
“And I’ve never thought that you dropping your plans and coming here with me would have been some incredibly romantic thing to do.”
“I’ve never thought about your question, so I can’t answer it.”
“And honestly, I don’t think you really want to go back to the past and choose all over again.”
Gu Jingsong’s smile held a trace of helplessness and bitterness. “You know what I mean.”
Asking Jiang Wu whether she’d ever wanted to be with him in the past was really asking about the present or the future. Whether he still had a chance.
But the past didn’t carry the same weight as the present. “Maybe, for me, there’s no point in looking back. Some things are already over.”
Jiang Wu reached out and patted him on the shoulder, her tone light. “Gu Jingsong, look ahead.”
Then Jiang Wu added a line that made her rejection even clearer. “Thank you for helping me pick out the tie for my boyfriend.”
“I’m going in.” With that, she walked into the dorm building.
Gu Jingsong remained where he was.
~~
Until deep into the night, Huo Qingzhi never got the woman he was waiting for. He remained sitting there, idly turning the ice cubes in his glass between his fingers, teasing them around until they melted. Thin beads of water slipped down his long fingers, leaving them damp.
Even in the darkness, the moisture glistened indistinctly. Some of it ran farther, rolling over his fingertips and knuckles into his palm, then continuing beneath his cuff and along his forearm.
Huo Qingzhi watched it, not knowing what memory it had brought to mind or what similar scene he was remembering.
He also didn’t know where Jiang Wu had gone after having dinner so intimately with Gu Jingsong. She was having so much fun that she had forgotten all about coming home.
Where was she staying?
With whom?
What were they doing?
Huo Qingzhi sat there until after one in the morning. Only after he was certain she wouldn’t be coming home did he finally get up to wash and go to bed. His biological clock was extraordinarily precise.
Huo Qingzhi had been raised as the heir to the group since childhood. Mistakes were never allowed. There had never been an option for him to simply indulge his emotions. He remained as disciplined as ever, going to bed on time and getting up on schedule.
What he refused to indulge while awake inevitably found its way into his dreams.
In his dreams, he was closest to the irrational, most fundamental version of himself. And he walked into that room, where he saw his wife kissing another man.
When she realized he’d discovered them, his wife looked frightened, and the man immediately stepped in front of her.
The man’s face was always blurred. At first, it looked like Huo Yingli. Then, from time to time, Huo Lingyi’s face appeared instead. Finally, his own younger brothers transformed into Gu Jingsong.
The scene was chaotic enough that Huo Qingzhi even felt as though there was more than one man being intimate with his wife in that room. Whoever they were, however many there were, the people around Huo Qingzhi would clean them up.
Then his poor little wife would have to obediently be brought back to their marital home. The door would close, and she would be locked inside. He would strip away her clothes, fasten handcuffs around her wrists, and ask her just how far she’d gone with those men outside.
It didn’t matter.
He would go deeper.
Fill her again with nothing but his presence.
Wash everything away until all that remained was him.
~~
Worn out from the day before, Jiang Wu slept soundly that night.
Figuring Huo Qingzhi would likely be back within the next day or two, she packed up a few things and went home.
The house seemed a little different from the last time she’d left. But she’d left on Monday last time, and she couldn’t quite remember whether some things had already been positioned differently.
Around evening, Jiang Wu messaged Huo Qingzhi to ask if he was about to return to Beijing.
No reply came for a while.
Jiang Wu figured that at this hour, if he hadn’t replied, he was either at a business engagement or in a meeting. She didn’t think much of it. After dinner, she played with Bingbing for a while using the pet robot, then went to take a shower.
When Jiang Wu came out of the shower, she heard her phone ringing. Thinking it was Huo Qingzhi calling, she answered without looking too closely. Instead, Huo Lingyi’s slightly stunned expression appeared on the screen.
For a moment, Jiang Wu hadn’t realized it was him. Then she remembered that she was wearing nothing but the thin, sheer nightdress she’d just changed into after her shower.
A nightgown alone wouldn’t have mattered much, but after a shower, the fabric was inevitably damp, and the steam from the bathroom had clung the thin material closely to her body. The outline of her figure showed faintly through the fabric.
Jiang Wu hurriedly said, “Wait a second.”
She turned the phone face down, threw on a robe, then flipped the phone back over. She was properly dressed now. But the atmosphere between them on the video call hadn’t eased in the slightest. If anything, it had become even stranger.
Huo Lingyi kept his eyes lowered as though he were busy with something, and then, without warning, he asked, “Have you eaten?”
“Yeah, I, I already ate.” Jiang Wu glanced at the time. “It’s already nine, Brother. You haven’t eaten yet?”
“I have.”
Silence stretched between them for a moment. Jiang Wu had no idea why the conversation had become so awkward.
“It really is pretty late,” she said, trying hard to find something to talk about. Then she asked an even stranger question. “So… aren’t you tired?”
The moment she said it, Jiang Wu regretted it. What was she even saying?
On the other end, Huo Lingyi cleared his throat and took a drink of water. “I’m not tired.”
“I just wanted to ask how things are going for you in Beijing.”
“I’m doing fine. What about you?”
“There have been a lot of things going on lately. Otherwise, I’d have gone to see you.”
Now that the conversation had finally settled into something more normal, Jiang Wu asked, “Busy with what? Racing?”
Huo Lingyi explained, “After Zhengda collapsed, the group acquired it. They’re considering putting me in charge of the internet and information-technology side of the business.”
That was serious business.
“That sounds pretty good.” Jiang Wu said, remembering how, back home, their parents had been trying to find him a suitable department at the group. “You’d probably be pretty well suited to that area.”
“But Fourth Uncle handled that side before, and he wants it, too.”
What Fourth Uncle had in mind was that, with his current standing, building up a foothold in this new sector inside the group would give him real leverage, enough of a foothold to eventually push Huo Qingzhi out entirely.
Huo Lingyi continued, “The board has discussed it several times. Most of the shareholders still have more confidence in Fourth Uncle’s experience in corporate management.”
“I don’t really have any experience.”
Jiang Wu listened. “So, are you going to let him take over?”
Jiang Wu understood exactly what Fourth Uncle wanted — more leverage in hand — and knew perfectly well that giving him more leverage would obviously be disadvantageous for them.
“Let him. If he’s that eager for it, let him take over.” Huo Lingyi sounded remarkably generous. “Fourth Uncle has the experience, so I’ll go into the company with him and learn from him.”
Jiang Wu could vaguely sense that they had already made their calculations. “Is that why Eldest Brother went back to handle this?”
“Mm.” The moment Huo Lingyi mentioned Huo Qingzhi, he gave a cold scoff. “He sure left in a hurry.”
Once Huo Qingzhi left, Huo Yingli and Huo Lingyi couldn’t leave too. Someone had to keep an eye on the group.
With Jiang Wu’s sudden business trip, all three of them had been scheming how to find an excuse to follow her out there as soon as possible.
Huo Lingyi, currently without group duties, was the freest to move. What none of them had expected was that even after he’d already reached the airport, one phone call had summoned him back, and suddenly he had a whole pile of things to deal with.
Jiang Wu vaguely tried to cover for him. “It seems the group has some things in Beijing that he needs to handle too, so that’s why he came over.”
Huo Lingyi couldn’t help pointing it out. “Only you’d believe that.”
“Anyway, Zhengda needs a real overhaul. As a company in the information technology sector, relying solely on development here isn’t enough.”
“We’re currently considering expanding part of the group’s operations in Beijing.”
Huo Lingyi raised a hand and tapped the screen twice.
The crisp sound brought Jiang Wu back to herself slightly. “What is it?”
“I mean, I might go over there later.” Huo Lingyi looked at her. “Do you know why I want to choose Beijing?”
“Why?”
Huo Lingyi suddenly said, “So you won’t have to be afraid anymore.”
Jiang Wu didn’t understand. “Afraid?”
“If our technological capabilities become strong enough, you won’t have to worry about someone secretly photographing you and putting the pictures online again, affecting your work.”
“That was also one of our reasons for acquiring Zhengda. Back then, they were able to manipulate public opinion about you partly because Third Uncle was controlling things, and partly because our technology capabilities in this area were too weak. There was no one backing us up.”
“But I think I can make it work.”
Jiang Wu looked at him, Huo Lingyi’s words repeating over and over in her head — so you won’t have to worry anymore.
“Because of me?”
Seeing her expression, Huo Lingyi didn’t answer the question, just lowered his voice with a smile. “Good night, little sister.”
Jiang Wu hurriedly stopped him. “Wait, Brother!”
Huo Lingyi gestured. “Say good night.”
Jiang Wu had no choice but to repeat it. “Good night.”
Huo Lingyi smiled and ended the video call. “Wait for me.”
The screen went dark, and silence settled around him.
Huo Lingyi’s thoughts remained fixed on the figure he’d just seen — her fresh from the shower, soft and drowsy in the dim bedroom light, her voice heavy with sleep.
Huo Lingyi only murmured the middle of a thought. “…What am I supposed to do?”
The robot in his room understood him. A pair of pixelated animated eyes lit up on its screen. “That’s only natural.”
Huo Lingyi glanced at it and got up, heading into the bathroom.
The water ran in the bathroom, forming a curtain of rain. Huo Lingyi thought about what he’d just seen—the dim bedroom in the video, Jiang Wu alone in that empty room.
Like someone left alone in an empty bed… Making him want to go in and warm the room for her or ask her whether she felt lonely. Whether she needed someone to keep her company.
And then let whatever naturally followed happen. It was fine. Eldest Brother wasn’t there, after all. He wouldn’t know what they did.
And even if he found out, what did it matter?
~~
Gu Jingsong didn’t know why, but while taking a late-night walk to clear his head, he somehow found himself outside Jiang Wu’s apartment. He stood there for a while, knowing that this wasn’t right.
Her boyfriend might still be at home. With that thought, Gu Jingsong slowly turned around and left.
He had barely gone a few steps when a dark-colored Cullinan drove over from nearby. Gu Jingsong’s steps paused — not for any particular reason, just that the driver looked vaguely familiar.
The car soon stopped downstairs.
Gu Jingsong took another look and immediately recognized Huo Qingzhi’s assistant, Lu Heng, getting out of the car. Lu Heng went around to open the rear door. A man’s long legs stepped out of the Cullinan, his red-soled shoes looking particularly sinister in the night.
Gu Jingsong frowned as a strange possibility surfaced in his mind. So, Jiang Wu wasn’t living with her boyfriend right now, but with her brother?
Living with her brother?
A disturbing possibility arose in Gu Jingsong’s mind, which he quickly suppressed. He couldn’t let himself think about Jiang Wu and Huo Qingzhi’s relationship in such a sordid way.
Jiang Wu had been raised by Huo Qingzhi since she was little, after all…
Huo Qingzhi got out of the car and very clearly noticed Gu Jingsong standing in the distance, but he quickly pulled his thoughts back and acted as though he hadn’t seen anything.
Following Huo Qingzhi’s gaze, Lu Heng noticed Gu Jingsong’s presence and asked quietly, “Should I…?”
Huo Qingzhi simply said, “If he wants to stay and listen, let him.”
Something about the remark was strange. Lu Heng’s eyelid twitched.
Meanwhile, inside the apartment, Jiang Wu had turned off the lights and curled up on the bed for a while. Mostly, she just felt that her brothers had been too good to her. So good that she didn’t quite know what to do. All she could think to do was be a little better to them in return.
After thinking it over, Jiang Wu found herself unable to sleep. She got up and poured herself a glass of water. She scrolled through her phone and saw that Huo Qingzhi still hadn’t replied.
But Lu Heng had sent her a message: [Sir had quite a bit to drink at tonight’s business engagement.]
Jiang Wu understood why Huo Qingzhi hadn’t replied and simply answered: [Okay. No problem. Please make sure he gets some rest.]
Just after Jiang Wu replied, Lu Heng looked at the message on his phone in confusion. [Sir is already upstairs. Didn’t he tell you he’d returned from Hong Kong?]
He looked up toward the floor where the lights were still off.
Jiang Wu never saw that message — she’d just put her phone down when she heard the door lock turn. Someone was opening the door in the middle of the night, and she was the only one home. She tensed for a moment, until she turned and saw the tall shadow of a man filling the doorway.
Recognizing who it was, she walked toward him in confusion. “You’re back?”
Hearing her voice, Huo Qingzhi’s movement as he loosened his tie paused briefly. He lifted his eyes toward the sound. He showed little reaction, simply staring straight at her as he pulled the tie loose from around his collar.
His long fingers reached his Adam’s apple, the movement carrying an indescribable, alcohol-laced sensuality.
Jiang Wu didn’t know what that look meant. She could only tell that he’d had quite a bit to drink. He was very different from his usual self. It was the kind of state where alcohol had subdued most of his rationality, and because of that, many things hidden beneath his usual exterior were spilling out.
Jiang Wu had never seen Huo Qingzhi drunk enough to lose his usual clarity, let alone lose himself like this.
The loosened tie hung casually from his hand, wrapped around the tendons of his palm as he slowly walked toward her.
Covered by his tall shadow in the darkness, Jiang Wu’s nerves tightened instinctively. “Are you… okay?”
Even so, she remained completely unguarded, already thinking of how to help him. “Let me go find you something for the hangover.”
Jiang Wu turned around, but before she could take a step, an arm caught her from behind, around the waist!
His arm crossed in front of her, his hand closing around the back of her neck, his voice hoarse like sandpaper. “What are you running for?”
Huo Qingzhi’s voice was deep and rough enough to make her heart tremble. His lips brushed along the curve of her ear, his voice dark and ghostlike. “Didn’t I tell you to stay home obediently? Don’t go anywhere. Don’t see anyone. Just wait for me.”
“Wait for me to come back. You can only take what I give you. Don’t hide from me.”
“Even after I give you something, you still can’t hide.”
“Still being disobedient.”
His broad frame pressed against her, forcing her waist to bend slightly.
“I wasn’t hiding.” Jiang Wu had no idea what he was talking about, but goosebumps rose all over her body at his words. “You’ve had too much to drink. Just wait…”
In the darkness, the man sensed her resistance, and without warning, he bit down on her earlobe.
Jiang Wu whimpered, her earlobe tingling and going numb from the sensation.
The faint calluses on his fingers rubbed against the delicate skin of her neck. His large palm pressed firmly against her lower abdomen. Through the thin silk nightdress, Jiang Wu felt a strange, burning heat against her waist and stomach.
Holding her there, he spoke in a deep, heavy voice. “Is what I gave you last night still there?”
Jiang Wu’s heart jolted, and her blood seemed to run backward.
“No.” Her words came out disjointedly, but she couldn’t explain what he meant. “It’s not there. You didn’t give me anything…”
Seeing that she wasn’t cooperating, Huo Qingzhi lightly kissed the side of her neck. “Why are you so nervous?”
“Didn’t you say you liked it last night? What’s wrong today?”
Thinking of Gu Jingsong downstairs, Huo Qingzhi asked, “Who did you see just now?”
Jiang Wu’s heart jolted, not knowing why she thought of Huo Lingyi suddenly, whom she’d just been on a video call with.
But before she could pull her already chaotic thoughts back together, he spoke again. “It’s fine. I’ll check first.”
“I’ll see if I can find out what the other men gave you while I was away.”