Chapter 80: Dinner
Yuan Zhiren is the eldest son and grandson of the family. He is differentiated into an A-level alpha. He has excelled in all aspects since childhood. After graduation, he took over the family affairs. All the business operations have been growing steadily and his future is promising.
For someone like him, it would be natural and unquestionable for him to inherit the position of head of any other famous family.
But when it comes to the Yuan family, there is one biggest uncertainty.
At the end of the first year since he officially participated in the decision-making of family affairs, he went to the old house to pay New Year's greetings to the old man. After a series of words of encouragement, the old man told him that if he wanted to inherit the position of head of the family, he must do one thing first.
That is to gain the trust of my eldest aunt's son Huo Shizhen.
The token representing the identity of the head of the family and the secret item related to Huo Shizhen's life were placed in the same box. If he could not gain Huo Shizhen's trust, he would never hand over the box to him.
Yuan Zhiren knew that one of his aunts had married into the Huo family, but he had never seen her come back for many years. The few times she replied to her letters, they were all written by others. When necessary, the elders would also routinely send invitations to the Huo family, but they never expected any response, and they never talked about matters related to this aunt in normal times.
He thought that there had been some irreconcilable conflict in the past, which caused his aunt to resent his family, and his family to be dissatisfied with his aunt, which led to both sides ignoring each other.
I never thought there was such a close connection in secret.
Unfortunately, this matter is related to family inheritance, so even if Yuan Zhiren wants to know what happened, he cannot find out in a high-profile manner.
Moreover, compared to exploring those old events, his focus is still on how to gain Huo Shizhen's trust.
At first, Yuan Zhiren was also very troubled, and even suspected that his grandfather did not think highly of him and was deliberately targeting him, so he deliberately proposed such a tricky inheritance condition.
After all, Huo Shizhen's reputation is not bad, but very difficult to deal with.
But after several trips to the imperial capital and some tentative contacts, he thought he had figured out Huo Shizhen's temper.
Simply put, it is difficult to get close to Huo Shizhen, but it is easy to gain his trust.
Just be honest with him, don't presume to guess his likes and dislikes, and don't act on his behalf for this purpose.
Today, after several attempts at interaction, the relationship between him and Huo Shizhen can barely be described as that of ordinary friends.
But Hara Zhiren didn't intend to let others know this.
After all, according to my grandfather's original words, whoever can gain Huo Shizhen's trust can get the family head's token and inherit the position of family head.
This does not apply to one's identity or status, as long as one is of the Yuan family bloodline.
Although Yuan Zhiren felt that this rule was very ridiculous——
Not to mention why the family affairs of the Yuan family depend on the attitude of the Huo family. If a fool wins the trust of Huo Shizhen, can a fool also be allowed to be the head of the Yuan family?
But since grandpa is the one who holds the power in the Yuan family, no matter how dissatisfied he is, he can only endure and do as he is told in order to get the position of head of the family, and he must never reveal it to anyone else. His brothers and sisters, as well as other branches, are not fools. If they knew there was such a shortcut to becoming the head of the family, they would definitely come and get it.
So, when other people kept their distance from Huo Shizhen, Yuan Zhiren privately sent an invitation and specially held a banquet on the top floor of Yuanzong to welcome Huo Shizhen.
But I didn't expect that Huo Shizhen would bring someone with him to the appointment.
It’s still Mr. Kobayashi who has been very popular on the Internet recently.
In private, Xiao Lin's temperament was not as aggressive as he was during the live broadcast. He was even quite docile. He followed Huo Shizhen quietly and did not participate too much in their conversation from beginning to end. He just paid close attention to Huo Shizhen's appetite.
This made Yuan Zhiren easily think that Kobayashi was deliberately trying to please Huo Shizhen, but to say that it was a one-sided excessive offer did not seem quite accurate.
First of all, apart from being more concerned about Huo Shizhen's appetite than his own diet, Xiaolin's every move was not humble at all;
Secondly, Huo Shizhen's concern for Xiaolin has repeatedly exceeded Yuan Zhiren's expectations.
In the few times they met in the past, Huo Shizhen always kept to himself and left as soon as the conversation was over. He would not waste even a minute longer and would not eat food prepared by others.
During today's meeting, he actually sat patiently for a long time and chatted about some unimportant things - it was obvious that this was to give Kobayashi plenty of time to enjoy the food.
Moreover, he was actually very considerate and came to eat food outside, which made Yuan Zhiren curious about their relationship.
He even had a new idea. He felt that there was no hope of taking the relationship further from Huo Shizhen's side, but starting from Xiaolin's side might be able to bring the relationship closer.
Thinking of this, Hara Zhiren turned the topic to Kobayashi and said jokingly:
"Xiao Lin really cares about you. Is he planning to remember your favorite food and cook it for you when he gets home?"
Huo Shizhen's answer was as straightforward as ever:
"That's not necessary."
Yuan Zhiren smiled and said:
"If you really have this idea, there's no need to refuse it. What do you think, Kobayashi?"
What's there to say about this?
Although Lin Guantang can cook, his purpose in the past was to fill his stomach and he did not think his cooking skills were that good.
Huo Shizhen didn't need it, and there was no need for him to rush to make a fool of himself.
However, in this situation, it seems a bit inappropriate to say such words, even for the sake of the host's face -
Lin Guantang thought about it and responded politely:
"So, I heard that Yuan Zong is part of the Yuan family. Could you recommend a recipe to me, Mr. Yuan?"
Yuan Zhiren smiled and shook his head:
"Unfortunately, the recipe is the foundation of Yuanzong. Generally speaking, it cannot be easily passed on to outsiders."
Lin Guantang: ...
Since you don't plan to teach it, why bring it up? It can't be to show off.
But there is no need to show off in front of him.
It's like showing off the strength of an elephant to an ant. If the level gap is too big, it will be meaningless.
After hearing this answer, Lin Guantang immediately lost interest.
Fortunately, he didn't really want it in the first place, so he didn't feel disappointed, and didn't want to continue asking "what is the unusual situation?" He just answered perfunctorily:
"That's a shame."
Then there was nothing to say.
Yuan Zhiren had something to say.
He had brought the topic up here on purpose, so how could he just let it go?
"However, there is no need to be too disappointed. After all—"
Yuan Zhiren calmly ignored Lin Guantang's expression, which showed no sign of disappointment at all. He glanced at Huo Shizhen, who remained indifferent, and said with a smile:
"Shizhen is more accustomed to taking nutritional supplements to maintain his health, so he doesn't care much about food, so it doesn't matter if you can't cook."
In order to strengthen the relationship, Yuan Zhiren did not mind revealing some of Huo Shizhen's habits that were unknown to outsiders to Xiaolin, and by the way, he saw how much Huo Shizhen cared about Xiaolin.
If he really cared, he probably wouldn't be disgusted by what I did, and he might have told Kobayashi about it a long time ago.
On the other hand, if I didn't like Kobayashi that much, I might also feel disgusted with myself for revealing the secret without my permission, and my trust in myself would be completely wiped out.
This is a somewhat risky bet.
But he must have won the bet.
Huo Shizhen did not express anything extraneous, and his expression did not change at all, as if the discussion was about news that had nothing to do with him.
On the other hand, Kobayashi's face showed obvious shock, and it seemed that he didn't understand this yet.
But he didn't seem to realize that he had revealed this matter on purpose to do him a favor.
After hearing this, Xiao Lin looked up at Huo Shizhen's face and waited for his answer.
It seemed that he had no idea of thanking the person who revealed the secret.
Yuan Zhiren sat aside, looking at the two people exchanging eye contact. It had been a long time since he felt such a sense of insignificance.
The last time I was still unfamiliar with Huo Shizhen, even if I stood in front of him with a smile on my face, he would completely ignore me.
It’s much better now. If we meet by chance on the street, I will at least make eye contact.
Come to think of it, these two people are really a perfect match when it comes to ignoring other people.
Hara Zhiren sighed, made a brief summary of the situation, and began to think about how to get closer to Kobayashi.
On the other hand, Lin Guantang was really shocked by what Young Master Yuan said.
Living on nutrients...?
Lin Guantang looked at Huo Shizhen in surprise, and saw that he just looked a little more annoyed, but he did not deny it.
This made Lin Guantang even more puzzled. How could children from rich families rely on nutritional supplements to survive when they had ready-made meals in District 35?
Excluding various scenarios such as trying new things and emergency situations, if Lin Guantang were asked to think about what kind of situation in real life would make a normal person rely on nutritional supplements to survive on a daily basis -
That may have to be traced back to the end of the world a hundred years ago.
In the end times when the weather is hot and cold, supplies are scarce, and food is difficult to supply, people can only survive on concentrated and easy-to-store nutritional supplements.
But with the advent of a new era, all aspects of life have recovered and reconstructed, and natural diets have gradually become abundant again, no longer relying on nutritional supplements.
If this is the end of the world—
Lin Guantang's eyes fell on Huo Shizhen's long silver hair, and his mind couldn't help but recall various things about him.
Accustomed to nutritional supplements and ice water, with long, completely white hair, an unusually cold body temperature, a hidden physical condition and life story, no interest in omegas, and even a disregard for the ABO classification of secondary sexual characteristics...
All the clues come together to lead to a conclusion.
Could it be that Huo Shizhen's true identity is actually——
Immortality seed!
Moreover, they are the kind of immortal species that are said to have gained immortality due to some accident. They don't want to live forever but can't die. Therefore, they are full of world-weariness, don't care about death, and even yearn for it.
Theoretically speaking, this speculation should be nonsense, but the more Lin Guantang thought about it, the more he felt that this might be the truth -
Assuming this premise and working backwards, we find that we can connect everything more smoothly.
It can even be linked to the concept of immortality in the Garden of Eden. Although Huo Shizhen did not include the word immortality in their philosophy, the words that Apashou shouted when he was dying did mention the word eternal life.
It is possible that they discovered Huo Shizhen's secret of immortality, which made those people believe in immortality so firmly and flock to it, wanting to replicate the hope of immortality.
Lin Guantang remembered that even longer ago, Huo Shizhen had asked him whether people over a hundred years old should die. The thought became even more terrifying.
Wait, if you put it like that—
Wouldn't that mean I'm going to have a grandparent-grandchild relationship with someone who's over a hundred years old, or even older?!
Lin Guantang's eyes suddenly became extremely solemn.
He no longer had time to continue being shocked by the possibility that Huo Shizhen was a living immortal, and he started to worry about his own emotional problems.
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