Chapter 151 Homosexual

Chapter 151: Homosexuality

"Well, I'll be damned, so that's the story. No wonder his business is booming—he's sleeping with President Huo."

"I used to wonder why they both lived on Wukang Road, one car entering through the front gate, the other through the back. I thought they were just close friends living nearby. Turns out it's the same house, just with two entrances."

"Are they really... like that? That's disgusting."

"Don't say that. Jiang Luo and we get along fine. Who cares if he's gay? It's not like it affects you or me."

"So all the business and money Jiang Luo has now are from his sugar daddy, huh?"

...

At the bowling alley, a group of young scions gathered, not bowling, but chatting endlessly.

Not far away, Zhao Mingshi silently sipped his cola, a faint smile playing on his lips, hearing every word clearly. *Think you're so hot, Jiang Luo? Still acting high and mighty now?*

The young masters then started talking about Wang Chaohai.

Someone said, "Offending two people at once—he's definitely screwed."

"Does he even have a brain? What kind of occasion was that? All the big shots were there, and he pulls something like that."

"When my dad came home, he said if I ever did something so brainless, he'd disown me on the spot."

...

Suddenly, someone interjected, "Haven't you heard?"

"Heard what?"

That person: "Wang Chaohai was rushed off to Japan by his parents, afraid of retaliation."

"Sent to Japan? What a coward."

"Exactly. Why didn't he think about this when he did it?"

"Hey, guys,"

someone else added, "What was Wang Chaohai even thinking, exposing something like that, and at such an occasion, in front of so many people?"

"Is he really not afraid of offending Jiang Luo, let alone President Huo?"

"What else could he be thinking? Getting back at Jiang Luo, of course."

"At Qiu Xin's birthday last time, he was gambling with Jiang Luo and boasting about ten million or whatever, but Jiang Luo completely humiliated him."

"He's had beef with Jiang Luo and Zheng Bin for a while now, hasn't he?"

"Damn, he dared to do this over such a trivial matter? This guy truly has no brains."

...

The young masters continued their chatter, and Zhao Mingshi listened, barely able to suppress the smile on his face. *Using a fool to cause trouble for Jiang Luo was a piece of cake.*

*Arrogant? Weren't you so arrogant?*

*Now that the whole world knows you're gay, knows how you got your business and money, are you still arrogant?*

He also thought: *Weren't you refusing to return to the Zhao family? Now let your biological parents see what kind of person you really are.*

*The Zhao family’s door—even if you want to step through it in the future, don't even think about it.*

Zhao Mingshi looked pleased with himself, his eyes filled with smug satisfaction and restrained malice.

As for him?

Who would know it was he who egged on a fool like Wang Chaohai?

No one would ever know.

Zhao Mingshi curled his lips, looking utterly confident of his victory.

*Gay, Jiang Luo.*

*You're actually gay.*

*In that case, let's tear wide open the skylight above your head and expose your hidden truth to the daylight.*

*Does it sting?*

*Good, it should.*

Zhao Mingshi sat drinking his cola, feeling quite content.

A young master he knew came over, sat down, and sighed, "What a mess."

Looking up and seeing the injuries on Zhao Mingshi's forehead and mouth, he sighed again, "And you, a perfectly fine person, how did you end up with all these injuries?"

Zhao Mingshi looked indifferent and smiled, "I already explained—I was young and foolish, a lover’s spat."

"Anyway, what's a few slaps from a woman?"

Then, testing the waters, Zhao Mingshi asked, "Were you guys talking about President Jiang we met at the golf course? What happened to him? You've been discussing him nonstop."

The young master cupped his hand and whispered, "He's gay."

...

Zhao Guangyuan arranged to meet Huo Zongzhuo at a coffee shop.

As a leader, instead of meeting in his office, he specifically chose a casual spot to talk, showing he was keeping it humble and not pulling rank.

At that moment, Zhao Guangyuan looked grim, with clear anxiety, obviously troubled by the incident at the recent banquet—he had heard every word from the speakers clearly.

Shocked? Naturally.

Surprised? Not really.

Because years ago, during a dream he had while being resuscitated from a heart attack, there was a part where Jiang Luo's being gay was exposed.

All these years, Zhao Guangyuan hadn't forgotten that dream or what happened in it, nor had he forgotten the phone call in the dream informing him that Jiang Luo had died alone in Beijing.

Just thinking about it made Zhao Guangyuan deeply sad—that dream felt less like a dream and more like a real experience.

Now, recalling that dream, Zhao Guangyuan felt his chest tighten again.

He picked up his cup, took a sip of coffee; the taste was bitter, but it was nothing compared to the anguish and dread in his heart.

Huo Zongzhuo arrived and sat down across the table, pulling Zhao Guangyuan's thoughts back to reality. The unease and emotional blockage in his heart receded like a tide, dissipating completely.

"I asked you here..."

Zhao Guangyuan paused. He had originally intended to get straight to the point, but thinking of Jiang Luo, he changed his tone: "I mean no offense."

"I just wanted to ask you, is Jiang Luo happy being with you?"

As for whether he was gay or not, Zhao Guangyuan wasn’t particularly open-minded—he simply no longer had the energy to care or dwell on it.

"Yes."

Huo Zongzhuo didn’t engage in excessive pleasantries either. When Zhao Guangyuan asked, he replied directly: "Over the past few years, Jiang Luo has been very happy with me, and so have I."

Huo Zongzhuo looked at Zhao Guangyuan, not with defiance, but at least with a frank and open gaze.

To him, the term "homosexual" was not a sin.

His relationship with Jiang Luo was not an affair; there was nothing he couldn’t face Zhao Guangyuan about.

Instead, it was Zhao Guangyuan who avoided Huo Zongzhuo’s gaze, lowering his eyes and remaining silent for a moment before nodding: "That’s good."

Then, he looked up and met Huo Zongzhuo’s eyes calmly: "How long have you two been together?"

Huo Zongzhuo: "Since 1991."

*So long already.*

Zhao Guangyuan: "Does he love you?"

Huo Zongzhuo: "Of course. I love him too."

Zhao Guangyuan nodded, not saying anything else, only adding: "Your relationship has been exposed. In the future..."

Huo Zongzhuo then interrupted him calmly and composedly: "Don’t worry. With me, Jiang Luo has absolute priority."

"I cherish him more than anything or anyone else."

Zhao Guangyuan listened, fell silent again, and nodded: "That’s good."

He added: "I’ve always had confidence in your side."

"I have nothing else. If you have matters to attend to, you may go ahead."

A hint of barely noticeable sadness showed in Zhao Guangyuan’s expression. "If possible, please tell Jiang Luo that the door at home is always open for him."

"If he wants to come home, no matter when or what he’s been through, he can return anytime."

This was also meant for Huo Zongzhuo to hear.

"Alright."

Huo Zongzhuo nodded: "I’ll relay that."

Before getting up to leave, Huo Zongzhuo added: "Soon, it will be my mother’s birthday. I’ll be hosting a banquet in Suzhou. Invitations will be sent to your home. If Director Zhao has time, you and your wife are welcome to attend."

In recent days, the social and business circles in Haicheng had been buzzing with talk about the public exposure of Huo Zongzhuo and Jiang Luo’s relationship. Naturally, most conversations revolved around Huo Zongzhuo and Jiang Luo, with mentions of the Wang family as well.

It turned out that Wang Chaohai had arranged for the matter to be exposed. Wang Chaohai had been detained by Jiang Luo that evening. Huo Zongzhuo had someone bring Wang Chaohai’s parents to take their darling son home.

Then, Wang Chaohai was urgently sent to nearby Japan. The Wang family feared their son’s foolish actions would lead to retaliation from Jiang Luo and Huo Zongzhuo.

But trouble still followed:

Shortly after arriving in Japan, Wang Chaohai was captured by a Japanese organized crime syndicate.

The Wang family frantically raised funds to ransom him in Japan while also pleading with Huo Zongzhuo. It was rumored that Mrs. Wang had rushed to Zhikun International in tears, kneeling in Huo Zongzhuo’s office.

Eventually, Chairman Qiu stepped in to mediate. Huo Zongzhuo showed respect and "made peace" with Wang Chaohai’s father. The Wang family paid a huge ransom and finally managed to retrieve Wang Chaohai, who had nearly lost his life in Japan. Not daring to stay in Haicheng, they sent him directly from Japan to the UK, and the matter was finally brought to a close.

Meanwhile, Jiang Luo investigated who had instigated Wang Chaohai. The trail led to a phone booth on a street in Minhang District, but then went dead—by chance or misfortune, there were no surveillance cameras nearby, so it was impossible to identify who had called Wang Chaohai from that booth.

*Being this careful? Or using a pay phone?*

Jiang Luo suspected that the person behind it wasn’t from the business circle, nor someone from his or Wang Chaohai’s close associates.

Jiang Luo thought of one person: Zhao Mingshi.

*Was it him?*

Jiang Luo and Huo Zongzhuo returned to Suzhou.

Suzhou remained much the same, especially Pingjiang Road, which hadn’t changed at all over the years, except for the river being cleaned several times, making the water clearer.

In recent years, Jiang Luo had been overseeing the old lady’s care and provisions—the house had been renovated, furniture replaced with elder-appropriate designs, and even the floor tiles were anti-slip.

Jiang Luo had also arranged for doctors and nutritionists to provide daily health checks for the old lady, update her meal plans regularly, and even hired someone to chat with her every day to enrich her life.

No matter how busy they were, Jiang Luo and Huo Zongzhuo often returned to visit the old lady, sharing meals and conversations to keep her happy.

Over the past two years, the old lady looked healthier, and she was much stronger than before.

This return to the old residence was part of their routine—coming back to visit his mother.

His mother, now in good health, had specially prepared squirrel-shaped mandarin fish for Jiang Luo and Huo Zongzhuo.

In the afternoon, after chatting with the old lady, Jiang Luo sat on the veranda petting the white cat, while Huo Zongzhuo said to his mother: "Mom, could you do me a favor?"

"Hmm?"

After all these years, this was definitely the first time Huo Zongzhuo had asked for help like this.

"What’s wrong?"

His mother was somewhat worried, fearing that Huo Zongzhuo and Jiang Luo might be facing some difficult situation.

Huo Zongzhuo: "Mom, your birthday is coming up. I’d like to throw a birthday celebration for you."

At the door, Jiang Luo, holding the white cat, turned to look at Huo Zongzhuo and his mother inside.

His mother reached out, took Huo Zongzhuo’s hand, and patted it gently, saying softly: "Do whatever you think is best."

"As long as I can help you, help you and Xiao Luo, I’m willing to do anything."

By the time Jiang Luo and Huo Zongzhuo returned to Haicheng from Suzhou, formal red banquet invitations had been promptly sent out—either from Zhikun Group and Shengfei Corporation or under Jiang Luo and Huo Zongzhuo’s personal names—distributed throughout Haicheng and across the country.

When Zhao Guangyuan received the invitation brought by his secretary, Huang Bingbing also received an invitation delivered by Secretary Lu at the hospital.

Zhao Mingshi was on the phone with Zhao Shuo, asking puzzledly: "Brother, Dad knows? He didn't say anything?"

Zhao Shuo: "He didn't say anything."

"Dad said as long as Jiang Luo is happy."

"Since Dad said that, Mom couldn't really say much either."

"Then you..."

Zhao Shuo sighed: "Your sister-in-law is right—liking men or women is a personal matter and a personal choice. There's nothing to criticize."

"He likes Huo Zongzhuo—at least he's a decent person and not messing around outside."

Zhao Mingshi: "..."

After hanging up, Zhao Mingshi suddenly found it ridiculous: Back when he was secretly dating in school, setting aside An Qiao's suicide, didn't Zhao Guangyuan think he was not focusing on proper matters and even slapped him?

Now Jiang Luo is gay, and he just says "as long as he's happy" and that's it?

Zhao Guangyuan is biased! Biased toward his own biological son!

Outwardly, Zhao Mingshi showed nothing, but inside, he was fuming with rage.