Chapter 69: The Silver Chain

Chapter 69: The Silver Chain

There was no escaping it. Shen Junlan wanted to chain Huo Yanchi up, right at the doorway, while he stayed inside the room.

Hmm. Shen Junlan thought it over carefully—Huo Yanchi might go crazy, and in the end, he’d probably be the one to suffer.

“Huo Yanchi, it just occurred to me—don’t you have a ton of work to do?”

“No, compared to holding you, nothing else matters.”

Well, it seemed his Huo Yanchi was a love-struck fool.

“Alright, just one last hug, okay? You have to work, you know? You need to make lots and lots of money. I cost a lot to maintain.”

It was true—his Xiao Yezi had now evolved to the point where Shen Junlan didn’t even eat flower fertilizer anymore; he just waited to be fed by Huo Yanchi.

Keeping a wife wasn’t expensive, but keeping a wife who didn’t like spending money—that was expensive.

Huo Yanchi forced himself to pull Shen Junlan up. He pretentiously placed two document boxes on the desk, claiming it was to block Shen Junlan’s line of sight, but in reality, it was to hide his own sneaking glances.

The company’s stock had already jumped significantly twice recently, and the situation was looking great. Projects that were originally competing with the Huo Group had been put on hold due to Huo Qu’s illness, and now they were practically all theirs for the taking.

This also meant that the workload would keep increasing.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Come in.”

When Zhao Qi entered, he was practically bouncing with excitement, beaming from ear to ear and strutting with pride.

“President Huo, I have something important to report.”

“We found evidence of Huo Yaoyang bribing the doctors.”

Wow, no surprise coming from President Huo! He's like a mind reader—how did he even know?

“It’s not that I can read minds; it’s just that you’re being too obvious. I figured nothing else could make you this happy lately.”

Of course, Huo Yanchi didn’t really care anymore.

Initially, he had wanted to gather this evidence just to prove that the beloved golden child they all doted on was nothing but a web of lies.

In the love he never received, he wanted to pop that bubble and reveal Huo Yaoyang’s true nature.

But after meeting Shen Junlan, those thoughts faded. He had already received the most precious love in the world; the crocodile tears of the Huo family were no longer worth his attention.

“President Huo, would you like to take a look first?”

They had gone through immense effort, switching between several detective agencies and even investigating the doctors’ family situations down to the last detail. The truth was truly shocking.

Shen Junlan took the documents first. As he paged through the evidence, his frown deepened.

It had started as a rare genetic disease, requiring blood transfusions from close relatives to save his life. But when did it start to change? Shen Junlan figured it was probably when Huo Yaoyang suddenly realized that the more blood he demanded, the weaker Huo Yanchi became.

He was no longer the little brother from Huo Yanchi’s memories—or perhaps that little brother had always been an act put on by Huo Yaoyang.

From the very beginning, Huo Yaoyang had been consumed by jealousy. He never saw Huo Yanchi’s blood donations as life-saving; to him, it was taken for granted, something that should just happen. The whole family doted on him, loved him—including his distant older brother.

By the age of fifteen, Huo Yaoyang already knew how to coerce and bribe, forcing a deputy director to cooperate with him. His methods were so ruthless that even Shen Junlan felt sick reading about them.

Shen Junlan gripped the documents tightly, thinking to himself: If Huo Yaoyang could calmly skin and dismember innocent little animals, what else was he capable of?

“Brother, do you want to take a look?”

Shen Junlan’s grip on the documents was so tight that even after Huo Yanchi tried twice, he couldn’t pull them away.

Meeting those clear, calm eyes, Huo Yanchi’s expression softened.

“No, if my Xiao Yezi doesn’t want me to see, then I won’t.”

“Zhao Qi, start legal proceedings. Also, send a copy of this information to the Huo family, especially the two who are still lucid.”

Huo Qu was still unconscious, and Huo Yaoyang had just been resuscitated—reportedly not in a good mental state.

In the hospital room.

Huo Yaoyang looked utterly defeated, repeatedly examining his face in the mirror. He was only in his twenties, yet the corners of his eyes were already covered in fine wrinkles, and even the edges of his mouth showed faint lines.

“Xiao Yang, give the mirror to Mom, okay?”

He had been staring for far too long, so long that Zhou Jiayun was afraid he might do something extreme.

“Get out! Get out!”

“What?” Zhou Jiayun staggered back in shock, clutching her chest. The shattered mirror lay at her feet, glass shards piercing her legs, but she didn’t even notice.

Get out? Her gentle son would never say something like that.

“Xiao Yang, the doctors said it’s because your internal organs were damaged, so you’re temporarily experiencing signs of aging. As long as we cooperate with the treatment…”

“I said, get out!”

Huo Yaoyang was practically a madman at this point, wildly smashing things in the room. The IV needle in his hand had been torn out from the violence, bleeding profusely. He was no different from a lunatic.

Huo Qu—it was Huo Qu who wanted him dead.

Why? Why did he have to end up like this? Why couldn’t it have been Huo Qu?

“Xiao Yang, Mom knows it’s hard to accept right now, but I’ve already found the best doctors.”

“Stop talking. Get out, all of you, get out.”

Huo Yaoyang needed to calm down. The lines on his palms were slowly turning black—it didn’t look like a good sign.

Zhou Jiayun forced herself to endure the pain in her legs, limping to a chair by the door. Her phone kept ringing. Rubbing her tense forehead, she checked the messages and felt as if she’d been struck by lightning.

This anonymous file documented the entire process of Huo Yaoyang bribing and threatening doctors, as well as his past abuse of animals—skinning and dismembering Huo Yanchi’s kitten. The photographic evidence was enough to give anyone a heart attack.

Zhou Jiayun pressed her hand to her chest. She couldn’t believe this was her son.

Impossible, absolutely impossible. It had to be fabricated.

Someone was deliberately framing her Yaoyang. She knew her son best—gentle, compassionate, the best of the best. He was soft-hearted; he could never do such things.

Zhou Jiayun’s vision went dark. Leaning against the wall, she could barely stand. Her first thought was to destroy the evidence—if it was gone, no one would ever know.

[Zhou Jiayun: Who are you?]

[Zhou Jiayun: Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you. How much money? Just name your price, and I’ll transfer it immediately.]

[Zhou Jiayun: Of course, you must destroy all the originals completely, and make sure nothing leaks out in the future.]

After sending the message, there was no response—it was like a stone dropped into the sea.

[Zhou Jiayun: This must be made up, deliberately sent to deceive us. I don’t believe it, not one bit.]

Zhao Qi handed the phone to Huo Yanchi, showing him the chat history clearly.

For Huo Yanchi, it was still too harsh.

It was bad enough that Zhou Jiayun refused to believe it, but what she thought of was shielding Huo Yaoyang and trying to pay them off. Wasn’t that too unfair to Huo Yanchi?

"Alright, let it be. Just wait for the police to show up."

Zhou Jiayun, anxious and unsettled, received no reply. She pushed the door open and showed him the messages.

"Xiao Yang, what do you have to say?"

Zhou Jiayun stared intently at Huo Yaoyang, catching every subtle change in his expression. Clenching her fists, her heart felt like it was being sliced to pieces. After a long wait, she still didn’t hear him deny it.

"Xiao Yang, it’s not true. This can’t be true."

Zhou Jiayun was losing her mind, her eyes bloodshot and emotions running high. She grabbed Huo Yaoyang's collar, needing to hear him deny it with her own ears.

"Yes."

"I was jealous of Huo Yanchi. I wanted him dead. Taking four tubes of blood was me going easy on him. He just got lucky to have survived so many times. Why does he get to be healthy and safe while I have to suffer from illness? He’s the one who should die."

Huo Yaoyang laughed coldly. He smashed the phone to pieces. So what? He had been pretending for so many years; he was capable of it.

"Xiao Yang, when did you become like this?"

Zhou Jiayun murmured to herself. The son she remembered was never like this.

"I’ve always been like this. It’s just that you never saw me clearly. By the way, I ate the peanuts myself, and I jumped into the lake myself. What could I do if you didn’t believe Huo Yanchi?"

Love—such a fleeting thing. He sneered at it, yet so many people bought his act.

No one truly loved him. What others loved was merely the shell, the very Huo Yaoyang he despised the most.

He was a complete monster. What he needed was his family’s love, even knowing exactly what he was.

"Mom, didn’t you say you love me the most? Now that I’m in this situation, what will you do?"

From the near-madness in Huo Yaoyang’s eyes, Zhou Jiayun understood what he meant immediately.

He needed someone to take the fall for him.

"Mom, I have no choice, really no choice. I want to live like a normal person too. I’m not an animal, not a beast. I’m a person, a living person."

"I hate this illness, I hate this world, but I truly love you all, love our family."

Huo Yaoyang's hysterics vanished in an instant. Zhou Jiayun suddenly felt afraid. Just how dangerous was this person? Was he still her son?

The gentle and lovely Xiao Yang, the one who secretly made handmade gifts for them in his hospital bed—when had that person died?

"Mom, I thought I would die at seventeen."

It was all because of Huo Yanchi. Why was he so successful? Huo Yaoyang couldn’t bear to die; he had to kill Huo Yanchi before he could die in peace.

"This thing must have been sent by Huo Yanchi. He already knows, and now the police must know too."

Huo Yaoyang was gambling. Time ticked by. If Zhou Jiayun didn’t make a move, it would be Huo Yaoyang who ended up in jail.

"Xiao Yang, Mom loves you the most. For you, I’m willing to do anything."

As soon as she finished speaking, Huo Yaoyang made a call. He contacted the doctor, luring him there with the excuse of discomfort during surgery, using his usual tactics of threats and bribes.

Only this time, the one committing the crime was Zhou Jiayun.

The police arrived quickly. They originally came to take Huo Yaoyang in for investigation, but Zhou Jiayun stepped forward first: "I know why you’re here. My son knows nothing. It was me—I did it in his name."

The police didn’t get into details; everyone involved was taken in for questioning.

After interrogating all three, no matter how they questioned him, Huo Yaoyang insisted he knew nothing, occasionally coughing up blood.

Zhou Jiayun claimed it was her idea, and the doctor backed her up. However, this didn't match the informant's evidence, so the investigation continued.

Since they couldn’t confirm whether Huo Yaoyang was at fault, and given his severe illness, he was allowed to return to the hospital under 24-hour surveillance.

By the time Huo Yanchi received the news, it was almost time to leave work.

He gripped his phone, a rare show of emotion in his eyes.

How touching - mother and son protecting each other.

"President Huo, what should we do now?"

"Investigate, keep digging. If there’s a trace left behind, there must be a problem."

Huo Corporation’s stock was unstable. With Huo Qu’s condition unknown, Zhou Jiayun facing criminal charges, Huo Yaoyang seriously ill, and Huo Hongqing being unreliable, employees were panicking, and many resigned collectively.

Huo Hongqing was overwhelmed. He had always been an absentee manager and had no idea how to run the company. He could only watch helplessly.

He was the most shocked by Huo Yaoyang’s situation. He knew better than anyone that Zhou Jiayun couldn’t have done such a thing—it had to be Huo Yaoyang.

But at this point, there was no going back.

They had to cover for him, no matter what.

Unlike the turmoil at Huo Corporation, Huo Yanchi finished his work and left on time. He was eager to go home and be with Xiao Yezi.

"Brother, you seemed to know she would take the blame."

"Yes, Huo Yaoyang is her life."

Shen Junlan felt for Huo Yanchi. He squeezed Huo Yanchi's hand gently and whispered, "Huo Yanchi, you are my life."

He was willing to protect him with his life.

"Baby, since you love me so much, just agree to it."

Tsk.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to agree—he was just too shy.

What kind of thing is that to say from Huo Yanchi? Who actually gets tied to a bed? He was just thinking about it, but Huo Yanchi was already ready to act on it.

Seeing Shen Junlan silent, Huo Yanchi took it as silent agreement.

The moment the silver chain was brought out, Shen Junlan's heart grew hot.

This... this is totally premeditated!

"Baby, go take a shower first."

[Huo Yanchi: Brother, do you know where I can find a "dual cultivation" technique?]

[Liu Qishan: What?]

[Liu Qishan: Did Xiao Lan tell you about this?]

[Huo Yanchi: No, I thought of it myself. Xiao Yezi doesn’t know about this.]

[Liu Qishan: Are you with Xiao Lan for this reason?]

Liu Qishan was confused. Huo Yanchi didn’t seem like the type to use dual cultivation to absorb Xiao Lan’s spiritual energy. Had they misjudged him? Was he really that kind of person?

[Huo Yanchi: Brother, you’ve misunderstood. I was thinking about how to benefit Xiao Yezi. When he and I… do that thing, his spiritual energy increases.]

Oh... Liu Qishan really didn’t want to know what "that thing" meant.

[Liu Qishan: Are you sure? You’re willing to deplete yourself for Xiao Lan?]

[Huo Yanchi: Yes, I love him.]

Those three simple words left Liu Qishan speechless.

Huo Yanchi loved Xiao Lan more than he'd thought.

[Liu Qishan: This is about your understanding. It’s not something I can just give you and you’ll understand. Here, take it.]

[Huo Yanchi: Thank you, brother.]

Huo Yanchi studied it repeatedly, quickly memorizing it. As soon as Xiao Yezi finished his shower, he rushed through his own shower and came out.

"Baby…"

Shen Junlan was half-reclining on the bed, already properly wearing the silver chain, his clothes partially revealing his body, extremely seductive.

"Huo Yanchi, do I look good?"

Gulped.

Huo Yanchi bit his lip and whispered, "You look beautiful."

Shen Junlan crooked a finger, and Huo Yanchi, as if entranced, moved to him, lowering his head to kiss him.

In between kisses, Huo Yanchi heard Shen Junlan’s response: "Brother, I actually can’t bear to refuse you at all."

If Huo Yanchi liked it, then he liked it too.

The bells on the chain jingled with their movement. Huo Yanchi’s fingers tightened, and Shen Junlan leaned in closer.

Muttering to himself, Huo Yanchi reverently kissed Shen Junlan’s Adam’s apple.

So this is what dual cultivation feels like, huh?