Volume One, Chapter 32: Lin, Please Don’t Make Fun of Me

On the way back, Ye Sheng chatted with Huo Xiaobei as usual, showing no sign of anything amiss, but Huo Lintong could sense her low spirits.

After they got home, Huo Lintong made chicken noodle soup for her. The noodles smelled delicious, yet after just a few bites, Ye Sheng couldn’t eat any more. The noodles sat in her mouth, barely chewed, her throat feeling as if a lump of lead was stuck there, heavy and unyielding.

Huo Lintong noticed something was wrong. “Ye Sheng…” he began, but before he could finish, Ye Sheng covered her mouth, stood up with a pained expression, and Huo Lintong hurried to direct her. “The bathroom is over here.”

Ye Sheng rushed over, closed the door, and immediately began to vomit.

Huo Xiaobei put down his chopsticks as well, walking to the bathroom door. His face was full of worry as he looked at Huo Lintong. “What’s wrong with Shengsheng?”

Huo Lintong patted his head, his deep eyes filled with remorse as he watched Ye Sheng’s hunched, blurred silhouette through the frosted glass door. He comforted his son, “It’s nothing. A stress reaction.”

This was the kind of heartbreak that churned the stomach, emotions pressed down so hard that they finally rebounded.

“A stress reaction?” Huo Xiaobei’s eyes widened. He didn’t understand the term, but he could feel Ye Sheng’s distress. “Is it because of what Huo Cong said?”

Huo Lintong lowered his head. “What did Huo Cong say?”

Just as Huo Xiaobei was about to speak, he closed his mouth again and beckoned his father over. Huo Lintong crouched down, turning his ear toward his son. Huo Xiaobei leaned in and whispered, repeating what Huo Cong had said at the restaurant.

The more Huo Lintong heard, the deeper the furrow between his brows became. No wonder.

Ye Sheng hadn’t meant to throw up or make herself look so wretched, but the reaction of her body was simply overwhelming.

When she crouched down, her mind went blank for a moment.

Ye Sheng braced herself against the sink and washed her face. Looking at her own pale face and reddened eyes in the mirror, she couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh.

Look at you, she thought. Was it really worth it?

When she opened the bathroom door, Ye Sheng was about to apologize, but met the anxious gazes of Huo Lintong and Huo Xiaobei.

Father and son hadn’t left, standing guard just outside.

“Shengsheng, are you okay? Do you feel better?” Huo Xiaobei came over and took her hand. His small, warm palm quickly thawed her cold, stiff fingers, sending a jolt of warmth to her heart.

“Much better,” Ye Sheng said with a smile, giving Huo Xiaobei’s hand a gentle squeeze. She looked over at Huo Lintong, intending to make a self-deprecating remark, but it turned into, “Brother Lin, don’t make fun of me.”

Huo Lintong looked helpless, lifting his hand to tap her forehead lightly.

“What are you talking about?” he said.

Ye Zhun used to do this to her all the time, but he’d always hit much harder, leaving her head smarting. Huo Lintong’s knuckles were strong, yet his touch was so gentle it barely grazed her skin, soft as a dragonfly skimming the water.

The lovely chicken noodle soup had gone to waste.

Without another word, Huo Lintong sliced some fruit for them, took a work call, and then opened his laptop.

“Shengsheng, can I come to your place tonight?” Huo Xiaobei asked in a small voice. “Daddy has work to do, and I don’t want to bother him. I promise I’ll be good and won’t cause any trouble. I just want to be with you.”

“Of course,” Ye Sheng answered readily, then called out to Huo Lintong, “Brother Lin, I’m borrowing Xiaobei for a while. I need to recharge.”

Huo Lintong looked up, catching her meaning, and smiled.

He folded his arms on the table, his gaze teasing as he looked at her. “He can recharge you, and I can’t?”

Uh…

Ye Sheng thought, how could you compare yourself to a kid? You’re not a portable charger.

“It’s because I’m cute!” Huo Xiaobei interjected, coming to Ye Sheng’s rescue. He grabbed her hand and waved at Huo Lintong with an air of bravado. “We’re off, bye!”

Huo Lintong watched as the two of them snuck off, the curve of his lips lifting. Then, turning back to the dense data on his computer, he instantly switched into work mode, his expression growing serious.

—

A perfectly good meal had ended on a sour note.

The three in Huo Mingting’s party were all lost in their own thoughts, hardly speaking on the journey home. Qin Minshu tried several times to start a conversation, but seeing Huo Mingting gripping his phone with a furrowed brow, waiting anxiously for some message, she held her tongue.

It must be something important, she thought, and didn’t ask further.

After dropping Qin Minshu off at her home and declining her invitation to come inside, Huo Mingting had just gotten into his car when Chu Yue called. He answered immediately.

Chu Yue’s usually nonchalant voice was uncharacteristically grave. “I’ve tracked the license plate. The owner is a man named Wan Sandao, who does business overseas. His finances are unclear.”

He paused. “Mingting, I’m afraid your wife really has been deceived this time.”

A sudden spasm crossed Huo Mingting’s brow.

Huo Cong’s ears perked up instantly.