Chapter 78: Not Just at Night

Chapter 78: Not Just at Night

When Liu Qishan received the call, he was so shocked he dropped his ice cream, suspecting there was something wrong with his ears.

As Lin Hang cursed while cleaning his expensive carpet, Liu Qishan stood there frozen, holding his phone without reacting for several minutes.

No, no, no—it must be Huo Yanchi who had lost his mind.

Even though he was over three thousand years old, it shouldn’t have caused auditory hallucinations. After all, he was, more or less, a local deity—how could he protect Mount Buzhou if he went deaf?

"Brother, are you listening?" Huo Yanchi asked nervously, pinching Shen Junlan’s earlobe while keeping his eyes fixed on the seed.

"Sort of..." Liu Qishan massaged his temples and sat casually on the sofa. "Put Xiao Lan on the phone."

Shen Junlan pointed at himself, slowly taking the phone. Glancing at Huo Yanchi, he suddenly lost his confidence and no longer had the same confident attitude.

"Brother."

Shen Junlan held his breath, waiting for Liu Qishan to pass judgment. He gripped Huo Yanchi’s wrist tightly, instinctively edging closer to him.

At a time like this, aside from sticking close to Huo Yanchi, he couldn’t think of any other solution.

"Mm, Xiao Lan, what have you two been up to?"

Shen Junlan rarely detected a hint of frustration in Liu Qishan’s tone. Rubbing his aching ear, he muttered, "I’m innocent here, bro. Believe me, Huo Yanchi and I have been lovey-dovey, but it’s not like we could’ve ended up with a seed, right?"

Liu Qishan laughed. What was there to say? The world had gone mad, and so had he.

"Brother, do you know what’s going on?"

Liu Qishan took a deep breath. If only he knew.

Shen Junlan didn’t seem like the type to sprout seeds. Wait, when did he even bloom?

He casually asked, and an awkward silence fell on the other end. Liu Qishan had a sudden realization—it was probably something too intimate to put into words.

Please, spare him the details! As a thousand-year-old bachelor, he really didn’t want to know the specifics of their affectionate moments!

"Brother, don’t ask too much. Just tell us what to do." Shen Junlan forgot about being embarrassed. His Huo Yanchi had clearly gone crazy, stubbornly convinced that the seed was something he had given birth to. If he was already this restless now, what would happen later?

"Just take care of it for now. What else can you do? You’re the ones who produced it—you can’t expect me to take responsibility."

"Oh." Shen Junlan poked Huo Yanchi in the side, signaling with his eyes for him to take the phone.

Huo Yanchi raised both hands and shook his head, hanging up the phone before Shen Junlan could react. Thankfully, it was just a call—if it had been a video chat, Liu Qishan would’ve rolled his eyes so hard they might’ve fallen out.

"Baby, if we’re going to nurture it, should we use water or soil?"

Shen Junlan batted his big, innocent eyes and said innocently, "Brother, you’re asking me?"

Alright, hydroponics it is, for now.

Huo Yanchi found a huge container and placed the tiny seed inside. Leaning over the edge, he watched the seed bob up and down and said, "Baby, don’t you think we should give it a name?"

"What do you think of Shen Xiaobao?"

Shen Junlan frowned. He seemed to recall someone named Song Xiaobao who was quite popular—he’d seen him several times in short videos.

"Brother, could you come up with a cornier name?"

Huo Yanchi raised an eyebrow, his tone teasing. "Well then, Xiao Yezi, why don’t you come up with a less corny one?"

"In my opinion, let’s call it Shen Xiaohua."

Huh. Huo Yanchi chuckled. Xiaobao and Xiaohua—equally corny, if you asked him.

"Fine, let’s call it Shen Xiaohua. Xiao Yezi is my Xiaobao, my sweetest baby."

Shen Junlan humphed, dipping his hand into the water to poke at the seed. It was so adorable. If only it could really grow into a clivia.

Ding dong.

[Brother: Xiao Lan, can’t you and Huo Yanchi just sleep quietly at night? What kind of questions are you asking me every day? I’m just a poor old man. And that blockhead Lin Hang keeps pestering me with questions—I don’t even know how to make up stories anymore.]

[Xiao Lan: Well, it’s not just at night.]

[Brother: Huh?]

Liu Qishan was completely fed up. Why did he even get involved in this mess? They weren’t even trying to hide their affection anymore. What, did they have to let him know about their daytime activities too?

[Xiao Lan: Brother, sorry, we’ll be more careful in the future.]

[Brother: It's fine, I'll just take some heart medicine. *smiles*]

Shen Junlan looked up and met Huo Yanchi's gaze; it was all Huo Yanchi's fault.

"Gege, I think you need to reflect on this—this is all your fault."

Alright then, the blame had come full circle and landed squarely on him. The key point was, Huo Yanchi couldn't even say it wasn't his fault—it really was his problem.

"Sweetie, I'd better get back to work first."

"Shen Xiaohua, Daddy's going to work now."

Shen Junlan facepalmed; Huo Yanchi's every move was simply hard to watch. He patted Huo Yanchi on the shoulder and half-pushed him into the study.

Once he had some peace and quiet, Shen Junlan lay on the bed and started searching online: Can a Clivia seed be considered a child?

The answers below were all over the place, making Shen Junlan's head spin. No matter what, though, Shen Xiaohua was going to have to live with him and Huo Yanchi.

***

Outside the hospital room.

Huo Yaoyang, dressed in simple clothing, stopped the doctor who was making his daily rounds to check on Huo Qu's condition. Tears welled up in his eyes before he even spoke.

"Doctor, could you let me go in and say a few words to my grandfather? Just a few sentences—I'll come right out. I know Grandfather's situation is special, that it's a completely sterile isolation room. I'm willing to do whatever is needed."

"You may not know this, but my father passed away—just the other day. My father was Grandfather's only son. Neither could bear to part with the other. Maybe if I tell Grandfather about this, he might show some reaction."

Huo Yaoyang's credibility had already taken a hit in the eyes of these doctors. He had been in this building for far too long—so long that even the somewhat experienced doctors knew about his condition.

Since the attending physician had already gone in, who would dare get involved with Huo Yaoyang?

"The hospital has its regulations. The patient is being well taken care of—you don't need to worry about that. I'm sorry for your loss, but these are the rules."

With a thud.

Huo Yaoyang knelt firmly on the ground, sobbing as he recounted all the hardships Huo Qu had endured over the years, and the deep bond between Huo Hongqing and his grandfather.

The doctor struggled to pull Huo Yaoyang back to his feet.

Fortunately, it was a special ward—only Huo Qu was staying on that entire floor. If it had been anywhere else, this would have made the news.

A family member of the patient publicly kneeling, pleading desperately, and the doctor remaining unmoved.

Wiping the sweat from his face, the doctor felt his heart grow cold.

"Alright then, I'll report this to my superiors. Please wait a moment."

The reply came quickly. At 3 p.m., Huo Yaoyang changed into sterile protective clothing and successfully met with Huo Qu.

He seemed to have aged so much, so very much—lying unconscious on the hospital bed, so thin he was little more than skin and bones. Each day, he relied on nutrient solutions to stay alive, his life sustained by vast sums of money.

Huo Yaoyang's eyes darted around the room. Not spotting any surveillance cameras or the like, he slowly walked over to the head of Huo Qu's bed and gently kneeled down.

"Grandfather, Huo Hongqing is dead. It's a pity—you didn't get to see him one last time. I don't know if he struggled or suffered when he died. I only know he was killed by his own son."

The person on the bed showed no reaction. Huo Yaoyang's originally calm mood began to shift bit by bit. His gaze fixed intently on the tubes inserted into Huo Qu—if he just pulled them out, the Huo family would be completely his.

"Ah, Grandfather, you've had such bad luck. Ending up with a son like that—he brought you nothing but shame, and in the end, he tarnished the Huo family's reputation. People are talking everywhere. If you were awake, you wouldn't be able to show your face."

The old man had hidden things too well, too deeply. The key to the Huo family's little treasury was held by him alone. Huo Yaoyang had practically turned the Huo family upside down searching, but he still hadn't found the key.

The vault door was custom-made; even a direct hit from a cannonball would be useless unless it was opened with a key.

"You're something else. Distrusting Huo Hongqing is one thing, but hiding it from *me*? At this point, who can you trust? Surely not Huo Yanchi, whom you drove away long ago."

"Sometimes I think how pitiful you all are—all blood relatives, yet you target him at every turn. Heh, the thing I'm most proud of is that even when you clearly knew I was deliberately framing Huo Yanchi, trying to get him killed, I framed him so many times, and not once did you stop me."

Later, Huo Yaoyang came to understand that his petty tricks were nothing but flashy moves in the eyes of the old fox Huo Qu. Huo Qu not only condoned his schemes against Huo Yanchi but even encouraged them.

No one in the Huo family would ever like a jinx destined to bring ruin to the family, even if he was a blood-related son or grandson.

"Grandpa, you really have no idea about my condition, do you?"

This was the one thing Huo Yaoyang couldn’t understand. From Zhou Jiayun’s demeanor, she seemed completely unaware—she spoiled him so much that she would find a hundred excuses to explain away any inconsistencies in Huo Yaoyang’s words.

Could Huo Qu really not know? Staring at Huo Qu’s weathered yet still proud face, Huo Yaoyang couldn’t help but sneer.

Bending down, Huo Yaoyang brushed away the tears at the corner of his eyes and coldly gripped Huo Qu’s hand, squeezing hard.

"You old man, why did you have to pick now to not wake up? I’ve hired so many top-rated locksmiths, yet none can open the lock you designed. What, do you really intend to take all that gold and treasure with you to the grave?"

He had firmly secured the position of chairman of the Huo corporation, but the wealth—enough to last him several lifetimes—was locked away.

So close yet so far—how could he rest easy?

Under the guise of tending to Huo Qu, Huo Yaoyang searched his body thoroughly but still found no trace of the key.

He had thought of every possible place, every nook and cranny, but the key remained missing.

If not for his current status, Huo Yaoyang would have torn the old man limb from limb.

With doctors still watching outside the door, Huo Yaoyang composed himself and calmly walked out of the room.

"Doctor, I’ve spoken with my grandfather. Thank you for taking care of him. I’d like to ask—for someone in his condition, if we consider treatment abroad, is there any chance of improvement?"

"No."

Hearing the firm response, Huo Yaoyang knew he had to find a way to open the vault door as soon as possible.

The butler—the one who had served the Huo family for decades—might know where the key is.

In a place no one could see, Huo Qu’s hand clenched tightly, and a few clear tears fell from the corner of his eye.

***

"Sweetheart, why did you lock the door?"

Huo Yanchi knocked on the door in confusion. He had only been caught up in work for two and a half hours, and now he wasn’t allowed into the bedroom?

*Click.*

The door opened a crack, and from the gap emerged Huo Yanchi’s quilt.

"Brother, I’ve decided we should practice abstinence for a few days. I read online that when you find one seed, there might be hundreds more waiting for you."

Wait, wasn’t that originally about cockroaches?

"Xiao Yezi, stop reading nonsense online. Let me in. Abstinence has little to do with whether we sleep in the same bed."

Who said that? He—he couldn’t help himself.

Shen Junlan didn’t want this either. Leaning against the door, he sighed. "Brother, I’m just a little scared. Better safe than sorry."

Flowers are flowers, seeds are seeds, and what he and Huo Yanchi created together was just that—a creation. His mind was a jumbled mess anyway.

The noise at the door suddenly ceased. Shen Junlan pressed his ear against it for a long while, then cracked it open a sliver. Both he and the bedding had vanished.

Was Huo Yanchi tired of him? Maybe he was even eager to be apart.

A wave of emotions washed over Shen Junlan. He pouted in frustration, fighting back the sting in his eyes. Since he was the one who had suggested this, he had no choice but to eat the bitter pill.

*Knock, knock, knock.*

A rhythmic tapping caught Shen Junlan’s attention. He looked blankly toward the window, where Huo Yanchi was clinging to the window ledge in a bizarre position, the wind whipping his clothes—both dangerous and captivating.

Shen Junlan’s heart skipped a beat. How could he have forgotten? Huo Yanchi was an absolute madman.

“Huo Yanchi, are you trying to get yourself killed?”

The slap Shen Junlan aimed at him was caught, and Huo Yanchi pressed a kiss to his hand. Holding him tightly, Huo Yanchi whispered, “Baby, don’t ever say things like that again. Next time, I might not make it over.”

The window of the adjacent room was open, and along with it, Huo Yanchi had shattered Shen Junlan’s lingering doubts.

He didn’t dare imagine what he would do if Huo Yanchi had actually fallen.

“Huo Yanchi, you... what am I supposed to say to you?”

“Xiao Yezi, just love me. That’s all I need.”

Shen Junlan sniffled, and the anxiety that had surged when he suddenly realized he might truly be carrying a seed vanished completely the moment he was back in Huo Yanchi’s arms.

Having a child wasn’t so bad after all. It was a product of his and Huo Yanchi’s love—nothing to be ashamed of.

To hell with abstinence. Nothing and no one could stop him from loving Huo Yanchi.

Shen Junlan rose on his toes and kissed Huo Yanchi’s lips, nipping and biting until a faint taste of blood filled his mouth. His fingers hooked into the hem of Huo Yanchi’s shirt as he murmured, “Brother, love me.”