Chapter 45 [1, 2 updates]

Huo Yuyan paused after reading the message.

After a while, he suddenly wiped the water droplets on his face, then raised his chin to look at the mirror. His stubble was quite clean, and he looked well-groomed and smelled a bit fragrant.

...Just barely okay.

Only then did he push the door and walk out.

Shen Yuntang was a spoiled girl and couldn't stand anything that was not new. He worked hard to tidy up the room and asked the housekeeper assigned by the property to prepare some new clothes and toiletries, only then did he appease this young lady.

At this moment, she was lazily lying in bed, reading something on her tablet. When she heard the knock on the door, she looked up and let him in.

Huo Yuyan patted his collar and hem outside the door, straightened his throat, and then walked in.

He had already found his most conservative set of home clothes, which was tightly covered from the ankles to the neck. I don't think Shen Yuntang would be able to find any blind spots.

After he pushed the door open and walked in, he didn't see Miss Shen paying attention to him for a long time. He couldn't help but smile and said numbly, "What is so precious that Miss Shen has to speak it out in person?"

Shen Yuntang didn't even look at him, and said without blinking: "Come here."

Huo Yuyan struggled for a moment between going over and remaining in stalemate for another ten seconds, but finally he endured the humiliation and walked to the bedside.

Shen Yuntang gestured with his hand, asking him to squat down, which was more natural than greeting a pet.

Huo Yuyan's breath was choked in his chest and he bit his teeth hard.

What kind of attitude is this? He is rebelling. He wants to fight for a place for himself, at least a seat, he can't just give in.

Just as Huo Yuyan was about to sit down and touch the mattress, Shen Yuntang's eyes suddenly raised up.

"..." He was silent for a moment, then slowly turned around and squatted down beside the bed.

"What are you going to say?" He even raised his head and asked.

Shen Yuntang slid the document on the screen with one hand and casually stroked his head with the other hand. His freshly washed hair was not combed back and looked much better.

Huo Yuyan tensed up for a moment, almost like a frightened bird. But he quickly realized that Shen Yuntang was just petting a dog, so he didn't need to be nervous at all.

I really don't know whether I should breathe a sigh of relief. Haha.

Shen Yuntang finally stopped flipping through the documents, looked at the screen, and asked him: "Do you know that I have a mother?"

Huo Yuyan hesitated for a moment, "Everyone has a mother..."

The hand above his head patted him on the head and said impatiently: "Let's talk business."

She turned the tablet around and showed it to him, "This is my mother."

Huo Yuyan was just about to cry out in pain to this violent woman, but then he looked at the photo on the screen and froze in silence.

He stared at it motionlessly for a long while before he fluttered his eyelashes and said in a daze: "This is..."

He was silent for a while before he could think of a polite word, "Mother?"

Shen Yuntang looked at him expressionlessly.

Huo Yuyan opened his mouth and said, "...I just want to say that they really look alike! As expected, they are biological children. My mother and I often have some estrangement because of the differences..."

"Is the difference in appearance?"

Huo Yuyan was stabbed in the vitals by her.

Seeing his stunned expression, Shen Yuntang shrugged and continued, "I suspect Shen Anguo has done something more illegal than stealing the company."

Huo Yuyan recovered from being choked and asked in confusion: "What do you mean?"

"My mother died of illness." Shen Yuntang slowly turned his head and looked at the screen. "It so happened that the editor-in-chief Wang who interviewed me a few days ago interviewed her more than 20 years ago. According to her, she disappeared suddenly. Not long ago, I saw her appear in front of the camera in high spirits, but in the blink of an eye, no one could contact her."

"It was during that time that her beauty products company disappeared, and soon after that, Anguo daily chemicals entered the market."

Hearing her words, the corners of Huo Yuyan's mouth slowly drooped, and his expression gradually became more solemn.

This is definitely not right.

He had seen many couples tearing each other apart for money, fame and gain, and some people secretly did something illegal. He had also seen many people being sent to jail by their partners.

Given Shen Anguo's shameless personality that allows him to do anything, it is entirely possible that he really did something.

What’s more…

He said seriously, "How much younger is Shen Yunlian than you?"

Shen Yuntang paused, searched the Internet, and suddenly laughed, "Half a month."

Huo Yuyan's face was very serious. She had never seen Huo Yuyan so serious before.

From this point of view, Shen Anguo was definitely cheating. It is even unclear which one came first and which came later. Shen Yunlian's mother might have been the one who had sex first, and then Shen Anguo pretended to be a bachelor to deceive Shen Yuntang's mother.

They have all the relevant evidence in their hands. Everything Shen Anguo has is stolen from Zhuo Mei. After Zhuo Mei passed away, he immediately remarried and brought Shen Yunlian and her mother back home to raise them. Almost anyone with eyes can see the extent of his wolfish ambitions.

So whether Zhuo Mei really died of illness is a very shocking question.

He spoke after a while: "How should we investigate?"

This question has been lingering in Shen Yuntang's mind for a long time. Although he learned from Xie Yunting today that Zhuo Mei probably still exists in some corner of the world, and may even have awakened some role consciousness, as long as there is a bit of evil thoughts from Shen Anguo in the result of "death", Shen Anguo must accept revenge for having this thought.

"I don't just want him to spend a few years in jail." Shen Yuntang paused, smiling but with cold eyes, "I want him to pay for it with his whole life."

Huo Yuyan fell into silence.

He didn't know what had stimulated him. He was silent for a long time. Suddenly, he lowered his eyes and held her hand tightly.

He didn't even raise his head, just held Shen Yuntang's hand tightly, as if he was a little nervous, the skin was stretched at the joints, and the fingertips trembled and shrank.

Shen Yuntang paused slightly.

After a while, she lowered her eyes and looked at her hand which was being held tighter and tighter by this straight guy, and began to wonder if he was trying to express some kind of comfort or something.

This fool has unexpectedly grown bolder, but his behavior remains as bizarre as before.

"What do you want to do?" Shen Yuntang asked suddenly.

Huo Yuyan's whole body jumped obviously, and his limited courage was exhausted, but he still had the nerve to do it, so after a moment of self-persuasion, he forced himself to remain calm and said, "I'll give you courage."

Shen Yuntang closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"If you can't learn it, you don't have to learn it." She smiled.

She put down the tablet and was about to tell him to get lost, but Huo Yuyan quickly said, "Hey, hey, wait a minute, no, no, no, I mean we can go meet my grandfather. He must have dealt with the new companies that emerged in Hai City 20 years ago. What if he still remembers them or has any clues?"

Shen Yuntang paused and asked curiously, "You still have a grandfather?"

"...Yes, you never imagined that not only do I have both parents, but my grandfather is still alive." Huo Yuyan was speechless, "You must not have seen how many members there are in the family group. It was my grandfather who introduced you and me to each other!"

Shen Yuntang nodded: "Got it."

Her face was full of the expression "I have nothing to say to you, just kneel down and bow down."

So Huo Yuyan was silent for a long time.

He remained silent until Shen Yuntang looked over again. Then he opened his mouth and whispered, "There is only one bedroom in this house."

Shen Yuntang obviously understood what he meant. He raised his eyebrows and looked at him leisurely.

Huo Yuyan suddenly became tough: "I didn't think anyone else would stay the night!"

"I am not included in your life plan?"

“…”

It comes again, with the same tone.

This unexpected sentence made Huo Yuyan feel confused. He bought this house to avoid being bothered by it. How could he plan a room for his wife who was in a marriage agreement? He never thought that he would face such an embarrassing situation today.

If I had known this would happen, I would have never done it! He bought a house to avoid her, but who would have thought that now she would lie on his bed like a boss and was about to kick him out.

"I..." He tried to defend himself, but Shen Yuntang obviously didn't intend to listen. She reached out to turn off the light and said expressionlessly, "I'm asleep."

Huo Yuyan just listened to her falling down in the dark with the quilt covering her head, leaving him aside.

…

Endure humiliation and bear heavy burdens, Huo Yuyan.

He gritted his teeth and persuaded himself. If it's not your bed, then it's not your bed. Can't you sleep on the sofa outside? They are both used for lying down. What's the difference?

He was about to turn around and walk away proudly, but before he could move his feet, he suddenly remembered something.

Shen Yuntang didn't say "get out" directly.

She didn't tell him directly to sleep outside - but that didn't mean he was disobeying her order by sleeping in the bedroom.

Huo Yuyan was shocked by his sudden inspiration.

He was too smart. Even if Shen Yuntang wanted to cause trouble for him, he could stand on the moral high ground and even turn the tables and play the victim to let Shen Yuntang know how much he had gone too far.

Huo Yuyan stayed still in the darkness, thinking that Shen Yuntang should be asleep, and then he relaxed his breathing and slowly moved to the other side of the bed.

The bed is two meters wide, so no matter how much space Shen Yuntang takes up, he can't touch him.

He lives in a corner, this is his kingdom.

…

This is totally bullshit. This is the way my brain functions after reading too many novels.

Huo Yuyan spitted for a moment and then accepted it well. He carefully touched the edge of the bed and slowly sat down. Fortunately, the mattress here was not as soft as the one at home, so there was not much noise when he sat down. The quilt was big enough for him to roll around three times, so he carefully lifted a corner to cover himself without disturbing Shen Yuntang.

It took Huo Yuyan a long while to finally lie down successfully, and he slept on his side on the edge of the bed. After a while, he propped up his head and sighed sadly.

He turned his head and looked behind him. In the dim moonlight, he could still see Shen Yuntang sleeping curled up with his back to him, with his shoulders not covered.

He said "Huh" in surprise.

Shen Yuntang actually slept in this position. He thought Shen Yuntang was as powerful when he was asleep as when he was awake.

Huo Yuyan was silent for a moment at a distance of more than one meter between them. After a long time, he made up his mind and reached out to pull her quilt up.

If she exposes her shoulders when sleeping, she will get rheumatism sooner or later, just like she exposes her ankles in the middle of winter. I have to find a time to stop her.

He didn't want to see another rheumatic patient walking unsteadily in his family.

Change your coffee to scented tea, add some wolfberry or something. It's winter now.

It's very cold.

Maybe the air conditioner wasn’t set high enough, but Huo Yuyan suddenly shivered and immediately wrapped himself in the quilt.

After a while he stopped and suddenly felt a slight heat on his back.

…

He and Shen Yuntang are actually quite close.

It's cold outside, but the heat inside the same quilt is so obvious that you can infer the distance.

Huo Yuyan was also quite puzzled. In novels, didn't all the girls have cold hands and feet and need their boyfriends to hold them? Why was Shen Yuntang so warm, while he was quite cold instead?

It must be because she eats well and sleeps a lot, so no one dares to make her angry.

And he is just a poor guy who suffers every day.

Huo Yuyan buried himself in the quilt.

When he woke up early the next morning, he suddenly opened his eyes and held his breath. In his dream, he accidentally bumped into Shen Yuntang and was kicked to the ground by her. When he woke up, he was still not clear-headed, but he quickly regained his five senses and tried to search whether any elbow accidentally touched her.

After the check, nothing was found. Huo Yuyan heaved a sigh of relief. It seemed that it was just a scary dream.

He had just closed his eyes for two seconds when he realized something was wrong.

Huo Yuyan suddenly opened his eyes and turned back slowly.

Shen Yuntang had already woken up and was looking at him expressionlessly as he rolled up the quilt into a ball.

Shen Yuntang smiled.

"It's pretty warm, isn't it?"

"..." Huo Yuyan's lips twitched and he said seriously, "It's not particularly warm either—"

Half a minute later, Huo Yuyan was locked outside the door in a miserable state, with his two-meter-wide quilt hanging on his body.

He sniffed and raised his hand to rub his nose after a while.

It’s nothing. The road to success will always have some bumps.

He dragged the quilt across the living room and, expressionlessly, pushed himself horizontally onto the sofa.

“My grandpa lives in a nursing home up in the mountains.”

The car was too quiet. Huo Yuyan took advantage of the red light to glance at the passenger seat several times, and finally couldn't help but speak.

The co-pilot ignored him. He was used to it and felt that he had found a topic to talk about. He said to himself, "Although he is now healthy enough to eat a whole cow, he just likes living in a sanatorium. It is convenient when he gets sick from time to time."

"He's usually full of energy and can even annoy those old men who beat him in chess."

"He doesn't like talking to the younger generation. Of course, it's not necessarily the case. He may not like talking to me. But he likes to urge people to get married. He urges those who are not married to get married, and he also urges those who are married."

He glanced at Shen Yuntang again, then turned his gaze away, saying in a heavy tone, "I'm afraid he will urge you to remarry."

Shen Yuntang was combing her hair in front of a small mirror and laughed sarcastically.

"Your family's hobbies are quite similar." She said lightly.

Huo Yuyan knew that his mom and dad had also mentioned this matter, and he couldn't help but sneer, and his hands gripped the steering wheel a little harder.

So what? He managed to keep his position with his own ability.

The car stopped at the sanatorium. It was called a sanatorium, but it was actually a mountain villa, covering the entire mountainside and top of the mountain. Single-family houses were scattered along the mountain road, and each house was equipped with a caregiver and a chef.

The two of them walked all the way to a building inside, and Huo Yuyan went forward and pressed the call button.

No one was looking inside for a long time. He was wondering when suddenly a chattering voice came from behind him:

"I just slipped my hand and missed the fish! If you hadn't touched my elbow, how could I have dropped the big fish?"

"Old Zheng, you are such a dishonest person. You said you lost to me by two paintings, so it's just two paintings. How can you treat me so perfunctorily? Are you worthy of the lonely days and nights I spent with you?"

"Hey, do you understand what's going on? My grandson stole your son's project, so why don't you cut him off? What does my grandson have to do with me?"

"Ah? You still want that painting back? Then he is not my grandson now. Let's get to know each other again."

Shen Yuntang turned his head and glanced at Huo Yuyan.

Huo Yuyan: "..."

I have never been so speechless in my life.

Grandpa Huo walked to the gate of the yard before saying goodbye to the old man with his hands behind his back and a stern face. He was reluctant to leave and said, "Come and find me to go fishing next time!"

He then turned around and was startled.

Grandpa Huo looked them up and down for a long while before he asked tentatively, "Are you here to see me?"

He looked at what Huo Yuyan was holding and asked, "No gifts?"

Huo Yuyan took a breath and smiled: "...It's not that I came here to see the old man who broke off relations with me."

Grandpa Huo was not at all embarrassed about being caught. He walked past him and used his fingerprint to open the door, "Haha."

When the door opened, he seemed to notice Shen Yuntang next to him and was stunned.

"...grandson's wife?" Grandpa Huo held the door handle, not quite sure. After a while, he seemed to show joy, "You two haven't divorced yet, come in quickly."

He pushed open the door, swiftly making way for Shen Yuntang, and called the nurse to ask him to come back quickly and prepare some fruit snacks.

Shen Yuntang shrugged and walked in front of Huo Yuyan with a smile.

Huo Yuyan took a deep breath and exhaled heavily.

I don't get angry when others are angry, but who would be proud if they mad me to death?

He followed with big strides.

"Granddaughter-in-law, how can you be so filial? You are the only one who thought of coming to see me." Grandpa Huo happily stuffed her with food and drinks. He felt satisfied from the bottom of his heart when he saw her picking up fruits with a fork.

If he hadn't known her before, he wouldn't have had the luck to meet such a beautiful girl.

Shen Yuntang smiled. In front of her elders, she always acted like a sweet junior, which attracted the attention of those simple old people who didn't understand the wickedness of human nature.

"I have something I want to ask Grandpa."

Grandpa Huo didn't hear her shouting, and quickly waved his hand, "Everything is easy to handle, just tell me, and I'll do it!"

To be honest, this was the first time in Huo Yuyan's life that he saw the old man so kind and positive.

He sat down on the sofa indignantly and forked a piece of fruit to eat. As soon as he started to fork, the old man hit his hand and glared at him in dissatisfaction: "The grandson's wife hasn't eaten that plate yet."

Huo Yuyan endured it.

Shen Yuntang took out the photo from his bag and handed it to him, saying, "This is a photo from an interview more than 20 years ago. According to the editor-in-chief, she was very popular in Hai City at that time. I wanted to ask Grandpa if he had any impression of her."

She just watched as Grandpa Huo's expression froze and then changed.

"Zhuo Mei?"

He was puzzled and asked, "Didn't your mother tell you that we knew each other?"

Shen Yuntang was stunned.

The mango in Huo Yuyan's hand also stopped halfway.

Grandpa Huo held up the photo and said, "I thought she just didn't want me to tell Huo Yuyan why she wanted to introduce you to him, fearing that he would refuse the arranged marriage. I didn't expect you didn't know either."

The more Shen Yuntang listened, the more stunned he became. "My mother wants me to go on a blind date with Huo Yuyan?"

Grandpa Huo nodded. "Of course I did. I just wanted to repay her a favor at first. I didn't expect my granddaughter-in-law to grow up to be so beautiful. Tsk tsk, my grandson is marrying above his station."

Huo Yuyan was also stunned. After a while, he suddenly asked, "When was the last time you contacted her?"

Grandpa Huo was puzzled. "I don't know. How could I remember? Oh, yes, yes, yes, I remember now. She suddenly came to me that day and gave me an envelope. She told me that if her daughter and my grandson were successfully married, she should find a chance to give this to her daughter. She was leaving first. Look, I forgot about it. It's been so many years..."

He patted his head and said, "I don't know where it is hidden. Is it in the Huo's study or warehouse? Or was it brought to the mountain? I have to look for it."

As Grandpa Huo said this, he excitedly mobilized people to look for the envelope, while Shen Yuntang sat on the sofa with nothing in mind.

Zhuo Mei had arranged her future marriage so early? She even left an envelope for Grandpa Huo, as if she had known that she was going to "die of illness" and therefore had prepared a way out for her daughter.

"She will appear when the plot requires it."

Xie Yunting's words rang in Shen Yuntang's ears again.

Her brows suddenly relaxed slightly.

For some reason, this was the first time since Shen Yuntang entered the book that he felt he might have a companion.

At least, he is the only companion with a known fate, facing the plot of the book together.