Chapter 38
Chu Ci froze for a few seconds, then immediately stepped forward to check.
Meng Huizhou's face was pale, and fine beads of sweat were visibly seeping from her forehead. She was about to call for help when she saw bodyguards running up behind her and immediately checking Meng Huizhou's bracelet.
Chu Ci then noticed that she was wearing a device that monitored her body.
They skillfully fed Meng Huizhou a few pills, then picked him up, and Chu Ci hurriedly followed, all the way to the private hospital, where they waited at the entrance.
Before long, Huo Chaojiang and his entourage arrived in a hurry.
When he saw the Chu Ci, he nodded from afar, but did not stop to greet it. Instead, he went inside to find out what was going on.
Chu Ci sat on a chair outside and waited for a long time.
So long that I became numb.
A pair of black patent leather shoes appeared on the ground in front of her. Chu Ci looked up, stood up abruptly, and almost fell over. Fortunately, Huo Chaojiang caught her.
She looked at him, her lips pursed, but no sound came out of her throat.
“Junyan’s mother is fine,” Huo Chaojiang whispered to the person behind him, and continued, “Don’t worry, she has some underlying conditions and occasionally faints from reflex. Don’t feel guilty.”
The assistant brought over a cashmere scarf, which Huo Chaojiang gestured to Chu Ci.
"It's so cold, you need to keep warm."
Chu Ci wanted to refuse, but couldn't utter a syllable, so she could only mechanically reach for the cashmere scarf.
I then realized that my limbs were stiff and my movements were very clumsy.
The brain sends instructions to the fingers, but seems to get stuck. Seeing this, the assistant picks up the scarf, ties it for her, and then quietly steps back.
She lowered her head, intending to express her gratitude, but in the end only gave a half bow.
The less they pursued the matter, the more guilty she felt, yet she dared not ask any more questions, and even her apology stuck in her throat, unsure of what to say.
It was completely dark outside.
Huo Chaojiang instructed his men to send her back to Linshan Villa.
Chu Ci was sitting in the living room when her phone suddenly rang. Her heart pounded. She saw the caller ID and immediately answered, "Hello, Zixi," her voice trembling uncontrollably.
"I heard my great-aunt is in the hospital? Are you alright?"
I couldn't hold back my emotions any longer and burst into tears, "I don't know, I, why was I so reckless..."
She really didn't dare to think about what she would do if she angered Huo Junyan's mother to the point of causing her illness.
During those few hours waiting at the hospital, she seemed to be thinking about many things, yet her mind was also blank.
Why is she so aggressive?
They will attack if they feel even the slightest offense.
When I was a child, this was how I was with my parents. When facing the Zhou family, apart from enduring Yao Shengjie a few times at the beginning because of Zhou Shaoqing's death, I never suffered a loss after that.
Why is she still like this when facing Huo Junyan's mother?
She had mentally prepared herself before meeting her, intending to tolerate any harsh words she might utter. How could this happen...? She hadn't even said anything harsh, and yet...
Chu Ci cried so much she couldn't hear the phone call, she cried so much she couldn't control herself.
"Hey!" Huo Zixi shouted.
Chu Ci stopped crying slightly, "I... I'm scared..."
There was light outside the villa. Chu Ci was crying so hard that she was in a daze. In a blink of an eye, the door was pushed open forcefully, and Huo Junyan, dressed in all black, seemed to be draped in the cold air of the night, and came towards her.
Snap!
The phone fell to the ground.
She forgot to cry, stood up stiffly, and stared blankly at him.
Huo Junyan strode over and, without saying a word, pulled her into his arms.
His chest was cold and hard yet reliable, and he carried the desolation of the late autumn wind. Breathing in his air felt like frost forming in the lungs, yet one couldn't bear to part with even a little bit of nourishment.
Chu Ci quietly closed her eyes and silently shed tears.
I felt both afraid and ashamed.
After a long while, his calm voice came down from above.
"You went to see me, Huo Chengxun?"
"ah?"
Unexpectedly, he would ask about this first. Chu Ci looked up in a daze, her face showing a few faint white marks. He gently stroked them, the touch slightly rough, and then picked her up horizontally.
“Yes, my eldest cousin asked to meet me. He wanted to split up the family business, and his target was the core industry. I rebuffed him.”
Huo Junyan silently carried her upstairs, placed her on the bed, rang the bell to have the housekeeper turn up the temperature, covered her with a blanket, and then sat down on the edge of the bed.
Are you still cold?
She placed the back of her hand under her waist, and even through the fabric, she could feel how frozen her hand was.
After giving birth to Xingxing, she developed a problem with cold hands and feet. Even though it hasn't snowed yet and the room is kept at a constant temperature, she still hasn't recovered after being home for a long time.
She shook her head. "Why are you back?"
There are so many things going on in Southeast Asia that it's impossible to finish dealing with them all in advance.
Did he only return after hearing that Meng Huizhou had fainted and been hospitalized?
Chu Ci was somewhat afraid to look him in the eye.
Meng Huizhou had underlying health conditions, but the fainting occurred after she made some provocative remarks. Chu Ci would not shirk responsibility because she was well aware of her attitude at the time.
She thought that Meng Huizhou probably had never heard such unreasonable words in his life.
The mere mention of stars caused her to instinctively bristle with sharp thorns, treating Meng Huizhou with the same attitude she had towards Yao Shengjie.
Huo Junyan bent down and kissed her forehead, his warm palm on her cold forehead, but it seemed he couldn't warm it up no matter what he did.
He got up, took off his coat, lifted the blanket, put his arm around her neck, and hugged her tightly.
After a while, he touched her wrist, which was gradually warming up. "Are you still cold?"
Chu Ci gave a muffled "hmm," and her body was held even tighter.
As he spoke, the vibrations in his chest were transmitted through his body, causing her to tremble and involuntarily snuggle closer to him.
"I want to come back soon; I'm worried about you."
Huo Junyan had no choice but to go to Southeast Asia to personally mediate with some local political figures. The matter was not resolved before he left, which not only made all his previous efforts go to waste, but also made his future path even more difficult.
If she were Huo Chengxun, she would definitely fly to Southeast Asia as soon as she received the news and make connections with those people.
Anyway, they're all using the Huo family's name.
Moreover, both of them were personally selected by Huo Lao as his successors, one after the other, so Huo Chengxun still had that much influence.
But he still came back.
No one dislikes being ranked before all important things, Chu Ci closed her eyes.
"It's only been two days since we last met."
"Two days later, you went to see Lani."
Upon hearing the name "Lan Ni," Chu Ci's mind went blank for a moment before he realized that the person referring to her was the woman beside Huo Chengxun.
The same woman who appeared on the ferry five years ago.
A chill ran down her spine; she had looked at the passenger list and there was a name called Lani.
I had no recollection of it when I saw it, as my attention over the past five years has been primarily focused on passengers who were somewhat connected to the Zhou family.
She slowly raised her head, unable to see his eyes, only his sharp Adam's apple and clearly defined jawline.
Why did he specifically mention Lani?
Was he in such a hurry to come back because she saw Lani?
Because it's dangerous?
Does that mean that her "death" five years ago led Huo Junyan to investigate all the passengers?
He had suspected Lani from the very beginning.
No.
He suspected the Huo family.
Huo Chengxun?
How is that possible?
There is no conflict of interest between them.
“She was on the ferry five years ago, you know.”
Huo Junyan lowered his eyes, his dark pupils fixed on her, "You remembered what happened on the ship?"
“No, it’s just that the moment I saw her, I remembered seeing this face on the ship,” she said softly. “I think she did it on purpose so I would see her.”
The arm around her waist tightened slightly.
"However, I mistook her for your eldest cousin's wife and deliberately used Zixi to provoke her. I don't think they would believe that I would mistake someone else for someone else. It's just that Lanni's reaction was very strange."
Huo Junyan had shown her the family members' introductions, and the Huo family members probably knew that her behavior of mistaking someone else and using Zixi to provoke them was clumsy.
Lani's reaction, however, was quite intriguing.
Does she have more right to be angry than Huo Chengxun's first wife?
Judging from their ages and the way they look at each other, it's probably true love. But I've heard that Huo Chengxun has one illegitimate child after another, and his exes with names and details could form a cheering squad.
Do people like this ever experience true love?
"Before Zixi was born, Huo Chengxun had just lost his right to be the heir. For several years, the Huo family did not provide him with any financial support. He had to find his own way to pay for his tuition, living expenses, and rent. Later, we learned that Lanni had been taking care of him for those years."
That's so long ago.
Huo Zixi is a few months older than Huo Junyan. "They were together twenty-nine years ago?"
"Even earlier."
That was when they were very young, at the most passionate age. Lani, who came from an ordinary background, met a young master who had been kicked out of a wealthy family, and thought it was the purest love.
Unexpectedly, at the height of their passion, the young master, abandoned by the wealthy family, had a child with another woman.
This is not just a simple illegitimate child, but a devastating weapon that destroyed the purest love in Lani's heart. No wonder she suddenly changed her expression.
Could this be considered a lucky accident?
"I remember Huo Chengxun got married when he was in his thirties."
Old Master Huo still cared about his eldest grandson, Huo Chengxun, and brought him back a few years later. However, he did not let him get involved in company affairs again, only giving him some insignificant projects, regardless of whether they made a profit or a loss.
As a result, families of equal social standing can forget about marriage, and most wealthy families adopt a wait-and-see attitude towards marriage alliances.
Huo Chengxun himself didn't care and was having a great time outside, completely abandoning himself.
It dragged on until his thirties when a newly rich man somehow managed to get close to Old Master Huo and married his daughter to Huo Chengxun. Old Master Huo also raised his hand, and the nouveau riche leaped across social classes.
After more than ten years of ups and downs, Lanni still didn't marry Huo Chengxun.
Even though Huo Chengxun had lost his right to be the heir, Lan Ni, who was born into an ordinary family, still couldn't catch the eye of the Huo family.
Chu Ci lowered her head. Although she had long since made up her mind to leave, she was still saddened.
I'm very sad.
A sharp, persistent pain spread from her heart. She really liked Huo Junyan, so much so that she no longer seemed like herself.
She choked, unable to hold it in, and quickly rubbed her nose against his chest.
Huo Junyan lifted her chin, propped himself up, and leaned down to stare at her.
She simply wrapped her arms around his neck. "What's wrong?"
"Don't overthink it. They're different from us. Lani and my eldest cousin are impossible. Even if my eldest cousin is kicked out of the Huo family, they still can't get married."
"Why?"
Huo Junyan sat up, turned on the bedside lamp, and remained silent for a while. "Lanni used to be my grandfather's personal assistant."
Chu Ci: ...
Dim light, a cold fragrance, it's late autumn, raining and thundering!
This is truly unexpected.
She sat up too, her mind a bit of a mess, as if she had misunderstood many things and needed to sort them out.
Personal assistant.
The assistant who could make Huo Junyan hesitate for so long must be someone very down-to-earth.
Twenty-nine years ago, uh, even earlier, thirty years ago, Lanni, as Old Master Huo's personal assistant, was dating Huo Chengxun, the heir chosen by the Huo family. Yes, dating, ha.
The grandson is eyeing his grandfather's woman, ha~
"Is this the real reason he lost his right to be the heir?"
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