Volume 1, Chapter 32: Their People Have Made a Move
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Old Master Huo kept staring at a certain spot, deep in thought.
After a long while, as though he had finally made up his mind, he instructed, “Hongjun, have someone keep a close watch on that child these next few days. Find out whether he harbors any ill intentions toward the Huo family.”
If he had no ulterior motives, then all would be well.
But if he did...
Huo Hongjun nodded. “Don’t worry, Dad.”
Zhang Shuqin guessed what Old Master Huo was thinking and cautiously reminded him, “Dad, that child didn’t grow up by our side. How could he be as close to us as Yanchuan...?”
Old Master Huo’s expression darkened. Naturally, he knew that Huo Yanchuan had been raised under his roof and was therefore closer to them.
But that was beside the point!
The boy was utterly useless!
After all these years, he had made no progress whatsoever.
Although the comments online were only partly true, there was one thing they had gotten right: Huo Yanchuan was incapable of leading the Huo family to greater heights.
The Huo Group was not the achievement of one man alone. It represented the efforts of the entire Huo family over several centuries. He could not stand by and watch it decline in Huo Yanchuan’s hands.
If the Huo family fell into ruin under Huo Yanchuan’s leadership, he would have no face to meet his ancestors in the afterlife.
“Dad, what Shuqin said makes sense. No matter what, we watched Yanchuan grow up. We know him inside and out.”
“You can never know what lies in another person’s heart. Who knows what kind of intentions someone raised outside the family might harbor?”
Old Master Huo let out a heavy sigh. “I understand what you’re saying. But what can we do when Yanchuan himself is so useless?”
At that, Huo Qingjun and Zhang Shuqin fell silent.
The old master had made his position perfectly clear. Nothing they said could change it now.
It seemed they could only find another way.
That very night, Huo Qingjun and Zhang Shuqin sent people to Country Y.
Although Old Master Huo had shown some willingness to relent, there was one condition: that child must harbor no ill will toward the Huo family whatsoever.
Just like the name of the company he had founded—Chasing Huo—he had to follow the Huo family with absolute devotion.
After all, the old master would never bring back a wolf cub with treacherous intentions.
Old Master Huo might have been willing to compromise, but they were not!
When they had sent that child away all those years ago, the hatred in his eyes had left them trembling with fear whenever they thought of it.
If they let him come back, how could there be any hope of survival for the couple and Yanchuan?
Therefore, no matter what, that child could not be allowed to return to South City.
Country Y
Night had fallen, and the moonlight flickered in and out beneath the cover of dark clouds.
A Maybach traveled at a steady speed along a deserted road.
“President Gu, Countess Katie has invited you to her castle at ten tomorrow morning. At two-thirty in the afternoon, you’ll be inspecting the Vox subsidiary plant, and at four, you have a video conference...” Secretary Chen recited the next day’s schedule item by item.
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At that moment, Gu Yu’s phone rang.
It was an unfamiliar number.
Secretary Chen immediately fell silent.
Gu Yu swiped to answer. The moment he raised the phone to his ear, an urgent male voice came through.
“Xiaoyu, your eldest brother and sister-in-law have sent people to Country Y. You must be careful!”
“Bang!”
A tremendous impact exploded through the night. The car shuddered violently, its airbags bursting out as it was shoved forward dozens of yards.
Even then, the vehicle behind them continued ramming the Maybach without the slightest intention of letting up.
Fortunately, all three of them had been wearing seat belts, or they would have been thrown from their seats.
“Hold on, President Gu!” the driver warned through clenched teeth. He slammed on the brakes and wrenched the steering wheel to the right.
The car swung its tail out, shaking off the vehicle behind it before coming to a steady stop.
The driver let out a breath of relief.
But he did not dare relax. Turning the wheel, he drove back the way they had come.
“Xiaoyu, what happened?” the anxious voice came from the other end of the line.
Gu Yu touched the forehead that had taken the impact, his eyes cold as frost.
“They’ve made their move.”
They wanted him dead!
The person on the phone was startled. “What? What happened?”
Gu Yu briefly recounted what had just occurred. Silence fell over the line.
After a long while, the other person spoke, his voice tinged with uncertainty. “Could there have been some kind of misunderstanding? After all, you’re their biological son too.”
Even a tiger would not eat its own cub.
No matter how much they disliked Gu Yu, surely they would not go so far as to wipe him out completely.
The corners of Gu Yu’s lips lifted slightly, forming a cold, mocking smile.
A misunderstanding? Their biological son?
Hah!
“Second Uncle, I’m not a child anymore.”
He could tell whether they truly meant to kill him or were merely putting on an act.
Huo Hongjun was rendered speechless.
After a moment, he sighed and consoled him. “Xiaoyu, endure it a little longer. I’ll find a way to persuade the old master to bring you back.”
After all, compared with the spoiled and incompetent Huo Yanchuan, Gu Yu was far more likely to lead the Huo family to glory.
On that point, his opinion was essentially the same as the old master’s.
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The Huo family had built its present fortune through centuries of inheritance. He could not stand by and watch it be ruined in Huo Yanchuan’s hands.
Gu Yu lightly tapped the cushion beside him with his fingertips. His voice revealed neither joy nor anger. “Thank you, Second Uncle.”
Huo Hongjun offered Gu Yu a few more words of comfort before ending the call.
—
Back home, rumors about Huo Yanchuan and the Huo family continued to spread.
At first, people had merely questioned why the Qi family’s younger grandson, who had also been in a vegetative state, had failed to wake for so many years, while Huo Yanchuan had regained consciousness after only a little over ten days.
For a vegetative patient to awaken so quickly was practically a medical miracle.
Some people boldly speculated that the current Huo Yanchuan was not the real one at all, but an impostor brought in by the Huo family to take his place.
After all, the Huo family had caused an uproar throughout the city when their only grandson fell into a coma, nearly affecting the company’s listing. Then, almost immediately afterward, the vegetative patient whom doctors had declared might never awaken suddenly opened his eyes.
He had even appeared before the public, breaking the deadlock.
The whole thing was simply too coincidental!
Some netizens who often read novels went even further, boldly guessing that Huo Yanchuan might not be the Huo family’s only child. Perhaps, for some reason they did not want outsiders to know, the family had chosen to announce only Huo Yanchuan’s existence.
After all, the thoughts of a wealthy and powerful family were impossible for ordinary people to fathom.
Nightfall Bar
Private Room
“Young Master Huo, forget all that unpleasantness. Tonight, your brothers are drinking with you until we drop!” A young man raised his glass and shouted before taking the initiative to clink it against Huo Yanchuan’s.
His name was Wu Yong, a minor rich heir whose family owned a company. Several years earlier, his family had used their connections to climb aboard the great ship that was the Huo family. From then on, he had followed Huo Yanchuan around like his shadow.
Huo Yanchuan clinked glasses with Wu Yong, tipped back his head, and drained his drink in one swallow.
The harsh, fiery liquor slid down his throat, easing the restlessness in his heart a little.
Seeing this, Wu Yong exchanged a glance with the others.
One after another, they came forward to toast Huo Yanchuan.
“Young Master Huo, don’t be afraid. We’re all loyal supporters of yours. Come on, bottoms up!”
“Young Master Huo can really hold his liquor! Fill his glass!”
“Young Master Huo, I heard you’re pursuing Miss Tang again lately. Your brother may not be good at much else, but I do have some experience when it comes to wooing women. How about I give you a few pointers?”
At that, Huo Yanchuan raised his eyes. “You have a way?”
This was exactly what had been troubling him.
Lately, he had sent flowers and greetings every day, sincerely trying to win Tang Ruan back. Yet Tang Ruan was like an immovable iceberg. Not only had she shown no response, she had trampled on his sincerity time and again.
The flowers he had sent to the Tang Group had not even made it into the building. Every last one had gone straight into the trash can by the entrance.
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