Chapter 89 Perhaps We'll Meet Again at the Bridge of Helplessness
Two weeks later, news quietly spread in the upper circles of Hong Kong that Mr. Huo Huaxian, the elder of the Huo family, had passed away from cancer.
The funeral was low-key and solemn, held only within the family and a small number of close friends.
Huo Huaxian's coffin was buried in the Huo family ancestral cemetery, and his memorial tablet was moved to the ancestral hall. He was 73 years old.
To outsiders, this was just an ordinary life and death for a wealthy businessman.
On the day of the funeral, a light drizzle fell.
Lin Xili, dressed in black, stood quietly in the crowd.
She gazed at Huo Huaxian's portrait, a face that bore a resemblance to Huo Nanchen but was now frozen in time, and a complex mix of respect and sorrow welled up within her.
With the help of the old folks, Grandma Huo walked shakily to her side.
The old man's eyes were red and swollen. He held Lin Xili's hand and said in a hoarse voice, "Xili, where is Nan Chen? Why didn't he come with you? His uncle dotes on him the most."
Lin Xili squeezed her grandmother's hands tightly. "Grandma, Nan Chen received a very important inter-provincial medical exchange mission at the last minute. It's a closed-off mission, and we can't contact him."
"When he comes back, I will definitely make him come to see Uncle."
Grandma Huo sighed, filled with disappointment and heartache, "This was his uncle who loved him the most, and he didn't even get to see him one last time. Sigh, he'll definitely feel guilty then..."
As she spoke, tears rolled down her cheeks again.
Seeing this, Lu Qingshu quickly stepped forward to support Grandma Huo's other arm, gently comforting her and diverting the old woman's attention with other topics, thus covering up the matter.
The funeral ended, and the crowd gradually dispersed.
Lin Xili walked alone in the gradually stopping rain. The hem of her black skirt was wet and clung to her legs, feeling cold.
She looked up at the still gloomy sky, her fingers unconsciously tracing the empty space on her neck, where a warm, blue snowflake once lay.
Now, of the two blue snowflakes, one is locked in a box, sealing away the sweet memories of the past.
The other one, along with its owner, went to a distant place where its fate was unknown, and fell into a silent and long wait.
She knew that being a small-town doctor was just a cover job he chose after leaving the Huo family; if he hadn't left the Huo family, being a chemical engineer would have been his cover job as well.
His true battlefield is the silent and dangerous front of biological virus defense, where he wages a covert war with his life that is unimaginable to ordinary people.
She herself had once blamed him for concealing things because of her ridiculous insistence that "husbands and wives should trust each other without reservation."
Now she understands.
Some love is destined to remain unspoken, and some protection must be buried in the deepest darkness.
She will wait.
Like the blue plumbago, it grows tenaciously in its own soil, bravely faces the wind and rain, and waits patiently for the sunshine that may come.
But life must go on.
She will face her work in the forensic department, her doctoral studies, and her future path alone, and she will walk them firmly on her own.
Until one day, perhaps a miracle will happen, perhaps waiting will become the norm, perhaps the place of reunion will be by the Bridge of Helplessness.
After Huo Huaxian's funeral, the mahogany door to Huo Donghua's study remained tightly closed.
Huo Nanyu stood in front of his father Huo Donghua's large rosewood desk, his face devoid of its usual gentle elegance, only filled with suppressed questioning.
“Father,” he said in a low voice, “have you always known about Uncle’s affair with Nan Chen?”
Huo Donghua sat in a high-backed chair, slowly twirling a pair of walnuts in his hands. He looked up at his eldest son and did not deny it.
“I know about your uncle’s affairs, and I have some vague guesses about Nan Chen’s.”
"He showed exceptional talent in physics, chemistry, and biology from a young age, and his great-uncle liked to keep him around, so it was somewhat predictable."
"However, the organization has never formally informed us."
Huo Nanyu's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly. "Then can he now regain his Huo family identity? And be reinstated into the family register?"
"Restore? Incorporate into the family genealogy?"
Huo Donghua paused in his walnut-holding hand. "Do you think the Huo family's rules are child's play? If he refuses the marriage alliance, he must give up his status, rights, and inheritance rights as a member of the Huo family. This is an ancestral precept."
"If I make an exception for him, how will the Huo clan maintain its position? And how will I face the other branches of the family?"
"He is talented, loyal to his country, and this is his duty as a citizen!"
“A country has its laws, and a family has its rules. If he does not abide by the family rules, he cannot be included in the family genealogy, ancestral graves, or ancestral hall. These are two different things.”
Huo Nanyu's face darkened. "Father, he is my only brother, your own son. What if something happens to him? Where will he go? Will he be homeless?"
"That was his own choice!"
Huo Nanyu paused for a moment, then decided there was no need to continue the conversation and prepared to turn and leave. "I'll go down first."
"Stop!" Huo Donghua suddenly called out to him in a stern voice, "No one else in the Huo family is allowed to know about your uncle and Nan Chen's affair, except for me, you, and Qing Shu."
“I understand,” Huo Nanyu replied, his back to his father.
"Also," Huo Donghua took a document from the drawer and placed it on the table, "inject 50 billion yuan into this science and technology defense company, and complete it within a week."
Huo Nanyu turned around, puzzled. "Five hundred billion? Father, you just had me invest five hundred billion in a biotechnology company half a year ago, and we haven't seen any returns yet. This doesn't fit your investment style."
He had always known that his father had some investments, but he was never allowed to interfere. However, if he continued to invest like this, even a printing press couldn't keep up.
Huo Donghua stood up: "Don't ask too many questions. Aren't you the current head of the Huo family? A top global trader? If you don't have money, go and make it."
Huo Nanyu took the documents and glanced at them. "Science and technology, biology," he exclaimed, his heart pounding. "Father, could it be...?"
"Watch your words!" Huo Donghua interrupted him, then handed him another list. "Use covert methods to send each of these seven families one million in cash and a house. This is the allowance given to them by the higher-ups."
"Their identities cannot be revealed even if they are sacrificed, in order to protect those around them."
"Find another way to make things easier for these families, but remember not to expose it."
Huo Donghua lowered his voice, "I'm getting old. I'm handing these things over to you because the organization trusts you, that's why I'm letting you take over."
Huo Nanyu remained silent for a long time before finally digesting this astonishing information.
He bowed deeply to his father, saying, "You did the right thing in the face of such a great cause. I understand and will take over and do even better."
He looked up, then suddenly changed the subject, "But you are a bad father."
Huo Donghua paused slightly, then reprimanded, "Huo Nanyu, how dare you speak to your elders like that?"
Huo Nanyu was already indignant on behalf of his younger brother. Now, seeing how his father could make such thoughtful arrangements for the other victims and their families, yet never show any concern for his other son, Huo Nanyu was even more moved.
"You knew perfectly well that your mother had used Nan Chen when he was only seven years old. Did you ever think about hiding the truth from him?"
Huo Nanyu's throat tightened. "He was burdened with guilt towards his mother since childhood, bound by family rules, and grew up alone with a mission. How cruel it was to him, even though he was a living, breathing human being."
A flicker of emotion crossed Huo Donghua's eyes: "Nan Yu, I've said before that he loves his mother very much. Do you think he can accept it if I tell him?"
"When has he ever felt a single trace of fatherly warmth from you?" Huo Nanyu's voice trembled. "And now you're going to continue to neglect him because of family rules?"
"Even if he leaves the Huo family, you will still have an unbreakable blood father-son relationship. Why sever it so completely?"
"Father, the love I give as an older brother can never replace the love given by our parents, do you understand?"
Huo Donghua suddenly tightened his grip on the walnut, causing it to make a soft rubbing sound.
He turned his back, looked at the rows of books on the bookshelf, and remained silent for a long time before saying, "You can leave now."
Looking at his father's stiff and lonely back, Huo Nanyu finally couldn't bear to continue arguing with him. He gripped the documents and list in his hand, turned around, and stepped out of the study.
The soft sound of the door closing seemed particularly heavy in the silent mansion.
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