episode 49
He Xun quickly found out who the woman Lin Huanyan was talking about was.
Before he could ask any more questions, several familiar curses suddenly came from outside.
It was a woman's voice.
He Xun had a keen intuition. Without much hesitation, he immediately comforted Lin Huanyan, quickly pushed open the door, and went out.
He strode to the railing, gripped the carved handrail, and glanced coldly downstairs.
In the center of the hall stood a beautiful woman.
Just as he had guessed, the other party was indeed the woman Lin Huanyan had mentioned, who was suspected to be a former star—He Lianmeng.
It really was her.
It was both reasonable and unexpected.
There's no need to doubt it now; she was indeed a big star before.
He Lianmeng stood in the center of the hall and cursed Huo Liang without restraint. Then she suddenly looked up and met He Xun's gaze precisely.
The two stood one above the other, while He Xun remained unmoved, half of his body leaning lazily against the railing, raising an eyebrow at her as if silently asking, "Who are you?"
He Lianmeng was also stunned for a moment, but she obviously didn't recognize him.
He wore the mask correctly that day.
After a two-second eye contact, He Lianmeng composed herself, crossed her arms, and looked up, saying, "Oh, a new guest?"
Then, without any politeness, he ordered, "That's perfect, handsome. Do me a favor and tell that scumbag surnamed Huo to come out and see me."
He Xun's eyes were playful. He rested his chin on his hand, and the silver ring on his finger reflected a glint of light. He pretended not to know her: "Sorry, I can help you, but you have to tell me who you are first, sister."
He Lianmeng smiled and said, "I am Huo Liang's great-aunt."
"......"
She's still the same old sister.
The moment that confidently declared "Grandma!" landed, there was a loud bang—
Huo Liang walked out of the next room, shirtless and exuding a menacing aura.
He held a disheveled little boy in his arms. The boy looked unwilling, his pretty face scrunched up, almost crying, and his small body was full of resistance.
Huo Liang himself was also showing impatience, obviously annoyed by the unsuccessful sex, and now He Lianmeng was added to the mix. He didn't even glance downstairs, and said to He Xun with a sullen face, "Soren, ignore this crazy woman."
He Lianmeng, however, had already come upstairs uninvited.
He Xun's probing gaze swept back and forth between the two of them.
It's hard to imagine that these two people are husband and wife; they even participated in a parent-child reality show together not long ago.
On television, they appeared harmonious and loving, treating each other with utmost respect.
Now, looking at them up close, they seem more like a pair of ferocious creatures who want to kill each other but can only temporarily endure it for some benefit.
He sneered inwardly, raising his chin: "Is this your sister-in-law?"
"Handsome guy has a good eye." He Lianmeng has always been patient with good-looking people.
Huo Liang impatiently interrupted their conversation, glaring at He Lianmeng with a stern face: "What are you doing here?"
"Don't you know why I'm here?" He Lianmeng sneered, her dark eyebrows standing on end. "Of course, I'm here to see my daughter." Then she glanced meaningfully at the little boy in her husband's arms, her tone contemptuous: "What else could I be here for? To see how you're going to pull strings?"
Her tone held no pity for the little boy, only disdain and disgust for the two of them.
Huo Liang curled his lips, not to be outdone: "What's the point of having a daughter? Now the whole country knows that you, He Lianmeng, are a cheating, abusive slut. Of course, your daughter should stay with me, her father, who has always had a good reputation, right?"
His seemingly casual words struck He Lianmeng's heart with every single one.
This is simply proving time and again how blind and foolish He Lianmeng was to confront reporters, offend the media, rebel against the company, retire from the entertainment industry, and have a child for such a person. As a result, at the height of her fame, she stepped into the decaying grave called a dream marriage, sacrificing her entire bright future and promising prospects.
Now we have to endure his unbridled threats.
It's all because of this face.
They wished they could peel his skin off with a knife and throw it in front of the public, bloodied and raw, so that people could see if the blood flowing through his veins was truly black.
He Lianmeng's expression twisted for a moment. She stared intently at Huo Liang, her jaw twitching: "So you're turning your back on me now? What did you say when you begged me to come and talk to these kids? Don't think I don't know what you and that bastard Chen Guangling are up to. Tao Tao is your own daughter!"
"Just because she's my daughter, she has to contribute something to her father." Huo Liang said dismissively, his words shocking and unrestrained. "And you want to threaten me? Then try it. If you dare to post even a single word about St. Mary online, I'll give Tao Tao to Chen Guangling directly."
"Of course, if you stop making trouble, we can continue to work together as before. I'll also think about Tao Tao some more, and we'll talk about it when she's a bit older."
“This is a win-win situation.” Huo Liang released the little boy, slowly leaned close to his wife’s ear, smiled, and whispered, “Don’t you agree, honey?”
As expected of a husband, he truly knows how to touch on his wife's sore spots.
He Lianmeng glared angrily.
He Xun watched coldly from the sidelines.
He realized that He Lianmeng was also one of the accomplices.
She only started making a fuss now because her own daughter is in danger. She doesn't care about the lives of others, and while she's indifferent, she's even willing to add fuel to the fire.
So, in some ways, fate is fair; the boomerang always ends up back at you.
Like justice, it may be late, but it will never be absent.
What a brilliant dark comedy! If the timing weren't so bad, I'd love to give it a round of applause.
He Xun had no interest in hearing the couple bickering like dogs, so he quickly made an excuse to return to his room.
Anyway, I've already heard what I needed to hear. Staying outside for too long will only arouse suspicion.
Lin Huanyan had her eyes closed, but when she heard the door open, she instinctively trembled. She only relaxed when she saw that it was He Xun.
She asked, "Brother, what's going on outside?"
"It's alright." He Xun bent down to pat her head and then covered her with the blanket. "Go to sleep, Huanyan."
Lin Huanyan shook her head, clutching the blanket, her big, bright eyes fixed intently on He Xun. Her voice was pitiful: "Brother, when can you get me out of here? I don't want to stay here and be treated like a prostitute. I miss my mom and dad. I'm really scared."
He Xun didn't dare to guarantee that he could rescue her immediately. After a moment's consideration, he replied seriously, "In the next few days, it won't be too late."
As he spoke, he forcefully grabbed Lin Huanyan's shoulders, pressed her onto the bed, and turned off the light: "Be good, don't be afraid, I'm right here. Go to sleep first, lack of sleep will affect your growth."
Perhaps it was because He Xun's presence made her feel truly safe, but Lin Huanyan, who had been suffering from neurasthenia for some time, actually fell asleep, and soon soft breathing could be heard from under the covers.
"...He's still just a child."
He Xun smiled forlornly, tucked the blanket around the little girl, and then carefully lay down on the outer side of the bed, draping his arm over her side as if he were cuddling her while she slept.
He remained vigilant until late at night before finally pushing open the door and nimbly slipping into the monitoring room.
He deliberately memorized the position of Huo Liang's hand when Huo Liang entered the password.
It wasn't that he had an amazing memory, but rather that years of experience had taught him that he had to consciously memorize things by rote in such situations.
Fortunately, rote memorization was effective. After entering the password on the third try, he finally got it right. The door clicked open, and he glanced around. Sure enough, no one was in the monitoring room.
He quickly closed the door, went back to his room, picked up the walkie-talkie disguised as a pen, and relayed the message that he was temporarily safe for the night to Su Yaojia and Song Liuguang, telling them to rest and not stay up too late.
After doing all this, he put the walkie-talkie back on the table and lay back down on the bed.
I spent a sleepless night.
*
The next day.
As soon as it was light, He Xun got out of bed and looked out the window. He could vaguely see the shadow of the sun in the distance.
But the entire St. Mary's Manor remained dark and gloomy, as if the sun would never shine upon it.
About an hour later, someone knocked on the door.
He opened the door, and there was the same man in the tuxedo who had brought him to the room last night.
The other party was there to deliver food to Lin Huanyan and to invite He Xun downstairs for breakfast.
Everything seemed normal, except that the man in the tuxedo glanced at He Xun's hand as he left.
He Xun looked back sharply, but the man in the tuxedo had already closed the door with a smile.
"......"
He Xun found it strange and was wondering why the other person was staring at his hands when Lin Huanyan woke up.
The little girl felt really insecure, and when she woke up and saw him about to leave, tears welled up in her eyes like a fountain.
He Xun felt sad. He sat back down on the edge of the bed and watched her eat the simple breakfast. After repeatedly promising that he would definitely rescue her, he finally turned cold and pushed the door open to leave.
He subtly adjusted the position of the pinhole camera and went to the restaurant.
A long white marble table was filled with Western-style breakfast dishes.
Chen Guangling and He Lianmeng were also there, and the man in the tuxedo was whispering something to Huo Liang.
Chen Guangling looked refreshed and was slowly slicing and eating a sausage, even taking the time to light a cigarette.
Only He Lianmeng kept a sullen face. When she saw He Xun arrive, she lifted her eyelids and looked him up and down, her eyes revealing a hint of interest.
The man in the tuxedo quickly left the restaurant. Huo Liang stood up with a smile and took He Xun's hand: "How was last night?"
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, he actually hooked He Xun's palm with his fingertip.
He Xun pretended not to notice, quickly withdrew his hand, and gave an ambiguous smile: "Not bad."
"That's good, please sit down."
He Xun casually pulled up a chair and sat down, saying seemingly unintentionally, "Why is it so quiet? Where is everyone else? I wasn't the only guest last night."
Huo Liang smiled and said meaningfully, "They never stay overnight here. They always leave after they've finished playing. You're the first one to stay overnight. We even prepared a driver for you last night. It seems you're really interested in this manor."
There's a hidden meaning in his words.
"Oh? Is that so?" He Xun's heart sank a little, but he didn't show it on his face. He casually ate a few bites of fried egg and toast, then stood up. "Alright, it's getting light, I should go back."
After saying that, he walked straight downstairs, but the next second, he was stopped by two arms.
Tsk.
This was exactly what he expected.
Want to leave? It's not that easy.
He Xun sneered inwardly, then looked up to see two men in tuxedos with gloomy faces.
A cold, murderous glint flashed in He Xun's eyes, then quickly vanished. He put his hands in his pockets, glanced at Huo Liang, and raised an eyebrow, asking, "Brother Liang, what's this?"
Huo Liang slowly drank a few spoonfuls of porridge, wiped his mouth, and said leisurely, "No rush."
He Xun's right eyelid twitched suddenly, and sure enough, He Lianmeng filled in the next sentence for Huo Liang.
"Handsome, have I not told you yet?"
He Lianmeng smiled charmingly, yet it inexplicably sent a chill down one's spine. "You look a lot like a property management staff member I once met."
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