No Longer the Only One

Shen Can looked at Huo Xi, who was sitting on the other side of the sofa chatting with Shen Yu. The project is already up and running, isn't it? Why does he keep coming over? I've been seeing him all the time lately.

Huo Xi caught Shen Can's inner voice and his lips curled slightly. What else could it be? Naturally, he was coming over on purpose.

He wanted to run into Shen Can more often, hoping that perhaps Shen Can would eventually spill the beans about how he was such a "big victim." After all, he was truly curious.

Watching Huo Xi work so hard for the Huo Household project, Shen Can couldn't help but sigh. Seriously, why are you pushing yourself so hard? It's not like the Huo Household ends up in your hands in the end anyway.

After this thought from Shen Can, the living room went almost completely still. It affected everything: the way Lu Shao was feeding Shen Ze fruit, the sound of Shen Father and Shen Mother talking, and the playful banter between Shen Chi and Shen Yao.

Their family was unexpectedly all together today because they were boarding a plane to a neighboring province that evening to attend the birthday banquet of an old friend of Shen Father.

Huo Xi had come over for a normal work discussion; they hadn't expected to hear such earth-shattering news from Shen Can's mind.

In their social circles, who didn't know Huo Xi? His reputation as a genius during his school years was legendary, and after he started working, everyone hailed him as a born leader—a man destined to manage the Huo Corporation.

No one had ever imagined any other possibility, nor was there anyone capable of competing with him. It wasn't as if the Huo Household lacked young male descendants of Huo Xi's age, but they were all incredibly obedient.

They admitted themselves that they had long accepted their fate, content to be wealthy idlers. If they kept their heads down and showed a bit of competence, Huo Xi might eventually give them a Huo Household company to manage.

If they caused trouble, the best-case scenario was that their time as young masters would end immediately; they could forget about touching any position in any Huo Household company. The truly terrifying outcome was being kicked out of the Huo Household entirely and losing their status as young masters altogether.

Although it was somewhat embarrassing to still be called a "young master" at their age—when their peers were already CEOs and executives busy with their careers—they were left in an awkward position. But they had money to spend, and outside the elite circles, everyone gave them face.

So, when they suddenly heard that the Huo Household wouldn't end up in Huo Xi's hands, they were genuinely shocked. They racked their brains, trying to think of anyone in the Huo Household who could snatch it away from him.

It wasn't that the Huo Corporation would collapse, but rather that he would no longer be the head of the Huo Household. Yet, Huo Xi couldn't fathom who had the ability to take things from him. He couldn't help but want to laugh; was the plot going to make him die or become disabled later?

Otherwise, he truly didn't believe anyone could snatch the Huo Household from him. After all, no one understood the capabilities of the Huo Household members better than he did.

Among the younger generation, there were only a few with any real competence, and they were either presidents of small companies or managers of minor departments within the Huo Corporation.

These few could manage a department or a small company, but the idea of them running the entire Huo Household was laughable. Furthermore, the elders would never trust them to be capable of holding the position of head of the household.

Born as the only grandchild of the previous head of the Huo Household, possessing intelligence that surpassed ordinary people—such a person is born a favorite of heaven. The others in the Huo Household truly have no ability to compete with him.

But what if one day he is no longer the only grandchild of the previous head of the Huo Household? After all, not everyone accepts being ruled by the Huo Household under Huo Xi.

They once had to listen to Huo Xi out of necessity, but if another opportunity arose, some would be willing to try. Who asked Huo Xi to control them, forbidding them from doing this and that?

There are several elders in the Huo Household whose hands aren't exactly clean. They used to make plenty of money in the gray areas. Being restricted by Huo Xi and prevented from touching gray-market businesses left them with quite a few grievances.

When an alternative to Huo Xi appeared at that moment, they would naturally defect. They didn't necessarily think they would succeed, but they had been suppressed for too long and simply wanted to rebel. Who knew they would actually succeed?

Huo Xi was absolutely certain his father had no illegitimate children. Although his father and mother had a family-arranged marriage without any real affection and had lived apart since his birth, his father truly had no illegitimate children.

His father was a down-and-out painter who loved mountains, water, and freedom, but he did not love his mother. After Huo Xi was born, he rarely saw his father, who was always traveling to different places to sketch and would stay in each place for a long time.

But he had checked—his father had never had entanglements with any woman. Besides, if it were an illegitimate child of his father, they would have no competitive edge. The Huo Household generally looked down on his father.

Not only did his father lack any sensitivity for business as a Huo Household son, but he also insisted on being a painter. He even looked down on the other members of the Huo Household, thinking they were all reeking of copper, as if he were a lotus flower rising from the mud unstained. How could that not infuriate the Huo family?

Moreover, his father hadn't achieved anything of note as a painter, so the elders of the Huo Household looked down on him even more. If not for his own formidable strength, those people would have looked at him through colored glasses as well.

If it wasn't his father's illegitimate child, then there was only one possibility—a possibility that filled him with extreme rage: his grandfather might have betrayed his grandmother and had a child with someone else outside.

If one were to ask who the most important person in the Huo Household was to him, it was undoubtedly his grandmother. Even the name "Huo Xi" was chosen by her. He had grown up under her guidance.

His grandfather had actually betrayed his marriage to his grandmother and had a child with another woman outside—someone who was supposedly a Huo Household grandchild just like him. That illegitimate child of his grandfather already had children of their own.

It wasn't just that there was a child outside; one could even say there was an entire family out there. How ridiculous. Then what did that make his grandmother? Did his grandmother know before she passed away?

Actually, it's just a story of someone betraying their marriage for a first love. After the Huo Patriarch married the wife chosen by the family, he accidentally ran into his first love in another city.

The two shameless people got together. One was clearly already married, and the other knew full well the other was married. If getting together like that isn't shameless, then what is?

After spending three months—which were sweet to them—together, the Huo Patriarch, having finished his project, had to return home.

At that time, he hadn't yet ascended to the position of Huo Household head. Others of his generation in the family were very competitive, and he still needed the help of the Huo Xi grandmother's family, so he naturally had to go back.

The Huo Patriarch, who had explained things to his first love, saw the house already cleared out the next day. He remained silent for a long time, knowing his lover had understood his situation and left first. Filled with guilt, he began to pack his luggage.

After packing, he touched the spot where they used to lie together, wanting to remember those three months firmly. Ha! Here comes the dramatic part: he found a pregnancy test result under the woman's pillow.

One can imagine how much of a shock this slip of paper gave him at the time. From then on, the Huo Patriarch could never forget that slip of paper.

He always wondered if she had aborted it or kept it. If she kept it, what would the child be like? When they reached school age, he wondered if the child was studying well; when they reached the age of marriage and having children, he wondered if they had married or had children.

Then, after the passage of so many years, the guilt, longing, and affection in the Huo Patriarch's heart had piled up to the extreme. One can imagine that if that child appeared, he would have to treat them with crazy amounts of favor.

How shameless. I just want to say, you only knew how to stare at that slip of paper, but wasn't your wife at home also pregnant? Your wife at home was about to give birth, yet we never saw you think of her. Shen Can thought, feeling extremely speechless.