Surrounded by Wolves
Huo Qingzhi slowly walked up to her. His figure, cast in shadow by the lamp behind him, completely enveloped her.
Jiang Wu was now fully awake. She stammered out a soft “Ah…”
Then, speaking slowly, she explained, “No one, Second Brother.”
“I had a really bad fever the first night. He was afraid I might faint with no one around, so he…”
Huo Qingzhi casually helped her sit up, drawing her against him as he finished the sentence for her. “So, he stayed here with you the whole time.”
As Jiang Wu leaned against him, a sense of familiarity rose in her almost instantly.
Just like that morning, when Second Brother had held her in the same position while feeding her medicine.
Only now, in the evening, it was someone else.
Their builds and body temperatures were remarkably similar.
The strange sensation made Jiang Wu’s back stiffen at once. “I can actually take the medicine myself now.”
She had barely managed to pull away from that peculiar feeling when the man behind her pressed a hand against her waist and drew her right back!
Huo Qingzhi’s hand enclosed her jaw. His fingers moved slowly over the most sensitive part beneath her jaw, his deep, low voice sounding beside her ear. “What’s wrong?”
“Is this how he fed you too?”
Pressed tightly against his chest, Jiang Wu trembled again and again under the slow caress of his fingertips. “At the time, I…”
“Why are you so nervous?” Huo Qingzhi could feel her trembling. His deep voice remained low and even. “It’s not as if I’m blaming you.”
“He took care of you in my absence. I should be thanking him.”
Jiang Wu tried to gauge what Huo Qingzhi meant by those words. But sick people rarely felt like overthinking things. Besides, there really was nothing between her and Huo Yingli.
“Second Brother has indeed worked hard these past two days. He’s been watching over me all day.”
“But I’m much better now. I can already…”
Huo Qingzhi’s eyes grew dark and inscrutable as he cut her off. “Take your medicine.”
Jiang Wu gave a quiet “Oh.”
But Huo Qingzhi wasn’t holding any medicine.
She pried open his palm and lowered her head, fumbling in his hand.
Instead, Huo Qingzhi gently lifted her chin, his words carrying an ambiguous undertone. “Take it from here.”
With that, he held something between his lips.
Jiang Wu tilted her head up to look and saw a pill resting between Huo Qingzhi’s lips.
A hint of awkwardness and discomfort crossed her face. “You…”
“I’m sick right now. I could infect you.”
Jiang Wu reached for it, but he caught her by the wrist. He pressed both her hands into one of his palms and held them firmly in place.
His intention was unmistakable.
The dim light in the room cast a shadow over his eyes. His gaze was piercing as he raised his brows slightly at her.
An unmistakable invitation.
Jiang Wu stared at him for a moment.
In the end, she could only tilt her head up and take the pill from between his lips.
Jiang Wu’s fever had mostly subsided by now, and Huo Qingzhi’s breath felt even hotter than hers.
She paused slightly as she felt his breath against her. In the next instant, Huo Qingzhi lowered his head and brought the pill between his lips directly to hers.
Taking advantage of the slight parting of her lips, he slipped it inside.
Jiang Wu had no choice but to open her mouth and accept it.
As soon as she had taken the pill, she drew her head back. He immediately brought a glass of water to her.
The bitterness of the pill mingled with the soft, delicate sensation of their lips, creating a subtle, lingering sensuality that spread between their lips.
Huo Qingzhi fed her the water, and she drank in small sips.
Ripples in the glass swayed against her lips, sloshing against the sides before flowing back, spilling over the corners of her mouth.
Jiang Wu shifted, wanting to reach for a tissue, but his grip still held both her hands firmly in place.
She watched him as he set down the glass, making no move to wipe the water away for her. Instead, he leaned down and kissed the water from the corner of her lips.
Jiang Wu flinched slightly, but he didn’t stop.
Following the trail of water, he kissed his way down, little by little. From the corner of her lips to her jaw, then to her neck… and lower.
Jiang Wu tried to push him away. “There’s no more…”
“It didn’t spill down there.”
Yet her hands were still pinned.
Her whole body was forced into his embrace, until the strap of her nightdress slipped off her shoulder.
The man in front of her grew heavier and more ragged in his breathing.
He finally stopped; his breathing was utterly ragged as he looked at the pale, delicate skin before him and asked, “Did you miss me?”
Jiang Wu parted her lips. Just as he was about to kiss her again, she answered in a trembling voice, almost pleading. “Yes…”
“But right now, I…”
“I know.”
In the dim, ambiguous room, Huo Qingzhi unfastened the buttons of his shirt with one hand, then pulled the covers over. “I’ll stay with you tonight.”
“Let’s check your temperature first.”
He pressed Jiang Wu beneath the covers.
Before long, one piece of clothing after another had fallen onto the carpet beside the bed.
He had said he would keep her company, and in a way, he really did nothing more. It was just that the cool, crisp scent of fir had spread all over her body.
His large hands passed over every inch of her. The rough calluses left shivers everywhere they went, as he carefully checked her temperature everywhere.
She was wrapped up and held close. As if he could knead every trace of illness out of her body.
When Jiang Wu woke the next morning, she was covered in another thin sheen of sweat.
Curled up beneath the covers, she heard someone moving around near the head of the bed.
“What time is it?” she mumbled groggily. “Why haven’t you gone to the office yet?”
The reply that followed came from an unexpected, yet equally familiar voice. “I’m already back.”
Jiang Wu’s eyes flew open. She saw Huo Yingli standing beside her bed.
Her expression wavered, her mind drifting in and out of focus, as though yesterday’s scene were playing out all over again.
Her heart raced. She was sure she must have become delirious with fever again.
Otherwise, why would she open her eyes and find that the person beside her had changed once more?
Thinking about this, Jiang Wu evasively turned over.
Huo Yingli soon approached her bedside with a thermometer in his hand. “Did you take your temperature yesterday?”
She jolted at the question.
Her mind immediately flashed back to the chaotic scene the night before, when Huo Qingzhi had personally taken her temperature.
She burrowed deeper beneath the covers, trying to hide from the feeling of being exposed beneath someone’s palm.
Before she could properly hide herself, Huo Yingli’s fingers touched the edge of her blanket. Jiang Wu couldn’t help flinching.
After all, someone else had changed her clothes.
And there were traces of that other person everywhere, all over her chest and neckline.
Jiang Wu hurriedly clutched the blanket tighter. “I’ll… I’ll take it myself.”
Huo Yingli paused, watching her somewhat excessive reaction.
His gaze made Jiang Wu feel increasingly uneasy. She worried he might see through her. In a small voice, she came up with an excuse. “My clothes… aren’t properly on.”
But somehow, saying that only made the excuse sound even stranger.
A silent charge spread between them, as though her words alone were enough to reveal the disarray beneath the covers.
Huo Yingli straightened and remained silent for a long while. His gaze simply shifted elsewhere.
The prolonged silence was accompanied by something stirring quietly beneath the surface, like the first signs of a budding desire.
He said nothing more, except that his voice was simply a few degrees hoarser when he finally asked, “What would you like for breakfast?”
“Anything is fine.” Jiang Wu’s heart was racing.
After spending the night tangled up with Big Brother, she had woken to find Second Brother standing beside her bed, and that alone had made her nervous.
And now, having made up such an excuse, she was even more flustered.
Feeling guilty and unsettled, Jiang Wu suddenly remembered something Huo Qingzhi had told her earlier.
They were two perfectly ordinary men who had no blood relation to her.
But even if Second Brother believed her excuse, he wouldn’t do anything.
He wouldn’t be like what she had read in Eldest Brother’s diary: where knowing she wasn’t properly dressed had made him want to drag her out from under the covers and do something terribly improper to her.
And indeed, Huo Yingli seemed to deliberately step back of his own accord. He soon left the room to prepare her breakfast.
As soon as he was gone, Jiang Wu hurriedly emerged from beneath the covers, changed out of her slip nightdress, and took from the wardrobe a long-sleeved, long dress that covered every mark on her body.
After sweating through the night, her temperature was finally back to normal when she checked it that morning.
She also felt much lighter when she got out of bed.
But the clearer her head became, the more at a loss she felt about what had just happened. Especially the way she’d suddenly changed into such a conservative nightdress, coupled with the excuse she’d just made.
It almost seemed as though she were guarding herself against the possibility that Second Brother might do something to her.
She tried to reassure herself.
It’s fine.
Second Brother wouldn’t read too much into it… would he?
When Huo Yingli opened the door to come in again, he knocked first.
But this sudden change only made things more awkward for both of them.
Jiang Wu called out unusually stiffly, “Come in.”
Huo Yingli wheeled in a breakfast cart. By then, Jiang Wu was sitting fully dressed on the sofa, holding the warm water he’d poured for her earlier and quietly sipping it.
Unusually quiet, Huo Yingli took the dishes off the cart one by one and arranged them in front of her.
Jiang Wu put down her glass and accepted the bowl and chopsticks from him. “I’ll do it myself.”
Huo Yingli handed them over. “What’s your temperature?”
“36.5°C.”
He nodded and sat down on the sofa beside her.
As Jiang Wu bit into her bacon and fried egg, she could feel that Huo Yingli’s gaze never once left her. Unable to help herself, she asked, “Have you eaten?”
“I ate at the office.”
Jiang Wu’s voice still carried the weakness left over from her illness. “I’m fine now. You can’t keep staying here to take care of me.”
Huo Yingli lowered his eyes. Then, quite suddenly, he said softly, “If you need it, why can’t I keep taking care of you?”
Jiang Wu’s bite of fried egg paused for a moment.
Huo Yingli’s expression shifted slightly, and he went on casually, as though trying to cover up the slightly unusual remark. “Big Brother is back, and I don’t have anything else to do for the time being.”
Then he added, “Or would you rather have Big Brother take care of you?”
“I’m sick. It’s not as though that’s a good thing. You should all take care of yourselves first.”
Huo Yingli drew a deep breath. “I can’t take care of myself anymore.”
What he had actually wanted to say was: With you sick, I can’t take care of myself anymore.
But he said nothing more, simply telling her to eat well.
Jiang Wu assumed he meant that after spending several days looking after her, he could no longer afford to worry about catching the illness himself.
Yet even interpreted that way, his words still carried an indescribably ambiguous undertone.
That sticky, intimate atmosphere continued to gather between them.
It wasn’t until Huo Yingli had cleared away the breakfast leftovers and left that the tension finally eased a little.
After Huo Qingzhi returned from Beijing, the two brothers began taking turns going to the company, leaving each of them with relatively more time on their hands.
They also made a point of avoiding running into each other in Jiang Wu’s room.
Huo Lingyi still had business to attend to in Beijing, so he returned two days later than Huo Qingzhi.
During those two days, both Huo Qingzhi and Huo Yingli caught colds in succession.
Huo Tingshan listened to the coughing that seemed to fill the entire house and found it rather puzzling. “This flu is pretty nasty, isn’t it?”
He then remarked to Jiang Yaping, “Looks like the two of us are in pretty good shape, at least.”
Huo Qingzhi’s condition was somewhat better.
Huo Yingli, on the other hand, was relatively worse off.
Now that Jiang Wu had finally recovered, she wanted to go back and forth between the two brothers to check on them.
But Huo Qingzhi wouldn’t let her. Instead, he went to look after his younger brother himself. “You’ve only just recovered. Go back and rest.”
“We can look after each other.”
Huo Yingli’s voice came from inside the room. “You sure know how to look after me.”
Huo Qingzhi simply closed the door.
Jiang Wu looked back several times as she walked downstairs.
She was just about to ask the chef to prepare some soothing, cough-relieving soup when the housekeeper called out from the entrance. “Third Young Master is back!”
Jiang Wu stopped in surprise and watched as the housekeeper helped Huo Lingyi bring his suitcase inside. “You’re back.”
Huo Lingyi casually set down his backpack. A faint, almost imperceptible smile played at the corners of his lips as he opened his arms toward Jiang Wu.
Jiang Wu said awkwardly, “I’ve only just recovered. I could still be contagious.”
“You’ve already passed it on to those two. What’s one more?” Huo Lingyi didn’t lower his arms, still holding them open, and walked right up to her.
“How do you know both of them are sick?”
“It’s not hard to find out.” The smile at the corners of Huo Lingyi’s lips deepened. Before Jiang Wu could respond, he bent down and pulled her into his arms, then he whispered beside her ear, “I want it too.”
For some reason, those words sent a shiver across Jiang Wu’s scalp. “Want what?”
He didn’t let go of her. “Whatever those two have, I want it too.”
Jiang Wu was held a little tighter. “Brother…”
She struggled against him, finally managing to push him away. “You have to stay healthy. You promised me you wouldn’t get sick.”
Jiang Wu walked away from him, but she could still feel the pressure of his embrace around her body.
No matter how she tried, the sensation wouldn’t fade.
Very strange.
Her brothers were getting stranger and stranger.
It was as though ever since her relationship with Huo Qingzhi had grown closer, her relationship with the other two brothers had changed as well.
Jiang Wu pretended to be busy and went to the kitchen to check on the soup they were preparing.
The same thought kept repeating in her mind: This can’t go on.
For the rest of the time, apart from the necessary greetings and visits to check on them, Jiang Wu tried to minimize her contact with the brothers as much as possible.
But with her brothers sick, and considering how thoroughly they had taken care of her before, she couldn’t simply ignore them now.
At this point, Jiang Wu missed Wen Ciying terribly.
With her gone, there wasn’t even anyone around who could help block them.
But Wen Ciying’s work situation in Beijing was clearly better than anything here, nor did she know when Wen Ciying would be back.
Jiang Wu had spent the entire holiday either being sick herself or visiting the sick.
By the time she returned to work, Zhengda Group had just been renamed “Hengyu” and was preparing to relist under the Huo Group.
After all, Zhengda had originally been a company specializing in media and information technology. It already ran a large stable of new-media outlets.
As it happened, the museum was organizing an event to promote cultural relics and needed to collaborate with this kind of new media platform, so dealing with Hengyu was unavoidable.
After considering their options, the Hong Kong Museum decided that no one was more suitable than Jiang Wu to attend Hengyu’s listing press conference as its representative.
The director explained to her, “It’s your family’s company, isn’t it? You’re the perfect person to represent the Hong Kong Museum.”
Jiang Wu wasn’t sure whether it was appropriate. “But shouldn’t I avoid any potential conflict of interest?”
“This is legitimate publicity. There’s no need to worry.”
“We’ve reviewed the materials and project inspection reports you brought back from Beijing. One of the experts also suggested that your own public influence isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It simply hasn’t been put to the right use before.”
“Now we’re using it to promote cultural relics; that’s a perfectly sound strategy.”
Jiang Wu considered it for a moment before agreeing.
After all, she didn’t want people searching her name online only to find a collection of trivial gossip and tabloid stories.
It was impossible to change public perception overnight and redirect people’s attention toward the work she genuinely cared about, but it had to start somewhere.
The process was bound to be painful.
Even before going, Jiang Wu could already imagine what the day would be like.
The media would undoubtedly keep their eyes on her, but since it was her own family’s event, the media surely wouldn’t go too far.
On the day of the press conference, Jiang Wu wore a very proper white blazer.
The white complemented her delicate features, making her look fresh, bright, and gentle.
Outside the Hengyu Tower, representatives and media reporters were streaming in, lining up to enter the building.
Taking advantage of the convenience, Jiang Wu went straight up in the VIP elevator and entered the venue.
She arrived a little early, but the media seats in the back were already half full.
The moment Jiang Wu stepped out of the elevator, she immediately caught the attention of the reporters attending the event.
They began whispering among themselves.
Jiang Wu pretended not to hear them. She collected the special staff badge issued to the Hong Kong Museum’s representative and headed toward the press conference hall.
Halfway there, one of the media reporters stepped forward to stop her.
“Hello, Ms. Jiang. I’m a reporter from Cultural Weekly. Would you mind answering a few questions?”
Jiang Wu gestured toward her staff badge. “I’m here for work today.”
The reporter nodded. “Understood. As a cultural publication, our focus is precisely on your current work in the cultural field.”
“We recently learned that you completed a joint cultural relic restoration project between Beijing and Hong Kong. May I ask why you chose to collaborate with Beijing on the restoration?”
“Joint restoration projects are a normal part of cultural relic conservation. When an artifact involves cross-regional ownership or is of particular historical significance, the relevant institutions choose their collaborators according to the specific circumstances of the artifact.”
“Cooperation and exchange between Beijing and Hong Kong in the field of cultural heritage conservation are essential in themselves.”
The reporter continued, “Was the artifact you were responsible for this time of particularly high significance?”
“You could say that.”
“And where will it be exhibited after restoration?”
Jiang Wu considered the question for a moment. “It may not necessarily go on display. But some cultural relics may be coming home.”
The reporter was rather surprised by her answer and was about to ask another question when several other reporters quickly crowded around them.
Apparently, seeing Jiang Wu being interviewed had given them the opportunity they were waiting for.
Someone seized the chance to follow up on her remark. “What kind of cultural relics might be coming home? Would you be able to share any details with us?”
Jiang Wu smiled and shook her head. “I’m afraid I can’t.”
“Then may I ask what inspired you to pursue this line of work?”
Jiang Wu: “I’ve always loved it.”
“We heard that after you went to Beijing recently, Chairman Huo also established a project there shortly afterward.”
“May I ask whether Chairman Huo accompanied you to Beijing specifically for your sake?”
Jiang Wu was momentarily at a loss for words.
The question had clearly gone beyond the scope of her work and was beginning to veer into celebrity gossip.
She gave a brief answer. “We each had our own work to attend to, that’s all.”
“When you were studying in Beijing, Chairman Huo was always by your side as your eldest brother.”
“Now that you’ve gone to Beijing on a short business trip, he’s still taking such good care of you. May I ask…”
Jiang Wu unconsciously tightened her grip on the press conference documents in her hand.
Before the reporter could finish, the entertainment and gossip reporters around them grew visibly excited, firing questions at her one after another.
“Even though your biological identity has now been clarified and you technically have no familial ties to the Huo family, we still see you maintaining normal contact with them.”
“Did the previous public controversy and the paternity test have no effect on your relationships?”
“After the paternity test controversy broke out last year, we photographed Mr. Huo Yingli accompanying you on a trip to Paris, and Mr. Huo Lingyi throwing you a birthday yacht party. Now Chairman Huo takes care of you every step of the way.”
“So, what is your relationship with them now?”
Jiang Wu’s fingers tightened further.
In that brief moment, her mind inexplicably drifted to the unusual atmosphere between her and her second brother over the past two days.
Then came Third Brother’s words: He wanted that too.
After that, images of the day she married Huo Qingzhi flashed through her mind, followed by the increasingly improper scenes that had unfolded since.
These were the secrets buried deep in her mind, things that could never be brought into the light.
And now, right in front of her, were cameras and flashing lights, all waiting to broadcast her every word to the public.
Jiang Wu quickly pulled herself together and answered with composure.
“Yes. The paternity test and the public controversy haven’t affected my relationship with my family.”
“Our relationship is the same as it has always been.”
“They’re only my brothers.”
That single sentence shut down the reporters’ questions.
The surroundings fell quiet for a moment. Before anyone could ask anything else, a commotion broke out on the other side.
Someone reminded the others, “Chairman Huo is coming out.”
Jiang Wu followed their gaze and saw Huo Qingzhi standing at the elevator exit not far away.
As luck would have it, he had heard her entire interview.
Including that final sentence: They’re only my brothers.
Huo Qingzhi’s gaze on her flickered between light and dark.
Only when the reporters dispersed from Jiang Wu and began moving toward him did he finally look away.
Huo Qingzhi walked straight past them toward the press conference hall without so much as a greeting.
He was cold and distant, his presence remote and untouchable.
Of course, he knew their relationship was a secret, something that could never see the light of day.
Jiang Wu’s answer had been flawless. There was no way she could possibly say anything else in public.
And yet, he couldn’t stop the darker feelings from rising within him.
The long suppression of this period, mixed with the repeated provocations from Huo Lingyi and Huo Yingli, made him nearly reach a breaking point when he heard Jiang Wu lump the three of them together.
They’re only my brothers.
The words sounded so familiar. Not long ago, he himself had used them to mock Huo Lingyi.
She only sees you as a brother.
Now, hearing Jiang Wu use them to describe all of them was like a sharp boomerang he couldn’t dodge. It struck him right in the heart.
Jiang Wu didn’t think much of Huo Qingzhi’s reaction.
She was too busy going over her answers in her head, wondering whether she’d left any loopholes or said anything that might have made the reporters suspicious.
Distracted and preoccupied, she eventually made her way to the seat reserved for the Hong Kong Museum’s representative.
The large screen at the front of the press conference hall faced Huo Qingzhi’s position. She could see him arranging the documents in his hands.
Dozens of cameras were trained on the man seated at the center of everyone’s attention.
The spotlights fell on him.
On the large screen appeared his sharply defined, handsome features and cool, composed eyes. There was an air of refined elegance and aristocratic poise about him.
A reporter nearby whispered in admiration about how exceptionally photogenic Huo Qingzhi was.
At that moment, Jiang Wu noticed something off about his mood as he arranged his documents.
He took a moment to steady himself, then, still keeping his eyes lowered, picked up his phone and sent a message in front of all the cameras.
No one thought anything of it.
But Jiang Wu’s phone suddenly vibrated.
There were only two words on the screen, sent by him. [Come here.]