A Part of the Protagonists' Play

Huo Xi had already grown used to Shen Can's scattered thoughts, so even when Shen Can praised him so highly, his expression remained calm.

"You've already looked over the staff for your studio?" Otherwise, why would Shen Can say that the preparations were nearly complete?

"Yeah, I've already chosen the team. I also met with and talked to all of them last weekend." After speaking, Shen Can silently thanked the plot.

[This is all thanks to the plot, which made me notice them. The leader of that team was originally supposed to jump off a building.]

[Because the whole world is just one part of the protagonists' play. That team leader, Yang Jing, was actually just a character meant to deliver a sweet little plotline to the protagonist couple.]

[Originally, Yang Jing was supposed to run into Shen Keke by chance and form a good impression of him. Then, after being falsely accused of using underhanded methods to compete and getting blacklisted by the entire gaming industry, he would entrust the work of his life and his team's efforts to the protagonist.]

[He hoped Shen Keke could help them release that game, so that at least their hard work could see the light of day. Then the protagonist would use the money earned from the game to buy the male lead a gift—something about how precious a gift bought with money he had earned for the first time was.]

[It never said what happened to the rest of the team afterward, but with their leader driven to jump off a building, they probably never wanted to touch games again, something that would only make them sad.]

[But it's fine now. Can-Can has solved it all. The false accusations against them have been cleared up, so they weren't blacklisted and can release that game themselves.]

After hearing Shen Can's thoughts, Su Nanxing gave a mocking laugh at the protagonist couple. The whole world really was just one part of their play.

One person's life had become an opportunity for the protagonist to earn money independently for the first time, buy his lover a gift, and usher in a sweet moment.

The plot could clearly have arranged for the protagonist to save that person. If he saved him and worked with him, couldn't he still make money? But then the game would not have belonged entirely to the protagonist; that person would have owned half of it. Perhaps that was why his death had been arranged.

After dinner, everyone left the Huo Household. Once everyone had gone, Huo Zhang drove out alone.

Assistant He asked Huo Xi whether he wanted someone to follow him, but Huo Xi shook his head and said there was no need. He did not think his father would leave this time. He could tell that Huo Zhang had truly been angered today.

Huo Zhang drove to an image design salon. He walked in and said to the hairstylist, "Cut my hair short. Give me a more energetic hairstyle as you see fit, and shave off my beard too."

More than an hour later, Huo Zhang looked at himself in the mirror and gave a bitter smile. He was finally no longer running away. Keeping his distance from the Huo Household all those years had actually been a form of self-imposed exile born from avoidance.

He had been avoiding the fact that his father did not value him and that he could not gain his father's approval. No one knew why he liked painting. It was not just because painting calmed him, or because he loved freedom.

It was also because his father liked paintings. He had once thought that, on the path of business, he would certainly never surpass his father. Nor could he win a different kind of regard from him.

So, after seeing his father praise certain painters again and again, saying that the Huo Household was only one artist away from being like those illustrious families renowned for generations, he went to study painting.

Looking back now, perhaps even those words had been deliberately spoken for him to hear. After all, wasn't his father hoping for that child to appear?

Was the Huo Household not powerful enough already? Whether there was an artist in the family or not, would anyone dare offend them? How ridiculous. Yet he had wanted his father's approval so badly that he believed it.

Later, he still received no approval and could only assume that his artistic talent truly was lacking. But he was too embarrassed to give up painting. Otherwise, he could not get a handle on the family business, and the path he had chosen himself would be abandoned halfway through. How humiliating would that be?

He knew he could not paint well while constantly doubting himself, but how could he not doubt himself? When Huo Xi was born, his feelings had been complicated. He wondered whether his father would treat this child differently.

If he truly did, it would prove that his father simply looked down on him and refused to see him as a son. But unexpectedly, his father did not treat Huo Xi any differently either. He was nothing like those elders who adored their grandchildren.

Huo Zhang had felt sorry for his son then. But who had told him to be born into the Huo Household? Yet he had never expected Huo Xi to be so intelligent. Although he had not made the Patriarch Huo take notice, he had shocked everyone in the Huo Household.

His son was still more outstanding than he was. Everyone said that a person like him had somehow managed to father a son like Huo Xi. Even he himself felt that Huo Xi did not seem like a son he could have produced.

Huo Xi was far too outstanding, and Huo Zhang simply could not get close to him. It was one thing to be unable to surpass his own father, but he could not even surpass his own son.

He had no idea how to get along with Huo Xi. There was nothing he could teach him, nor could he become someone Huo Xi would be proud of. During that time, his self-doubt reached its peak.

He could not even be like his wife, who could at least offer Huo Xi some warmth and affection as family. In the end, he chose self-imposed exile, letting himself wander around every day, yet he still failed to produce any decent paintings.

This time was different. This time, it was to seek justice for his mother. He had to do his part. And though he knew exactly what it felt like to grow up without a father's love, he had given that same experience to his own son. Perhaps he should make a change, no matter whether it was too late.

When Han Yanhu saw that the returning Huo Zhang had cut his hair and shaved his beard, she was utterly stunned. She had wanted to say many times that true artists did not really need to put so much effort into their appearance; what mattered was their temperament.

But she and Huo Zhang had, after all, only entered a business marriage. Although they had a son, that had not made them much closer, so it was not appropriate for her to say it. In the end, she said nothing.

He must have been shaken by what happened this time. Anyone would be shaken after learning that their father had cheated and even had another child. And his father truly had no regard whatsoever for Huo Zhang as a son.

The Huo Zhang seen by outsiders differed from the Huo Zhang she saw. To outsiders, he was simply a son who worried his father, cared only about his own happiness, and insisted on studying art. She could sense that Huo Zhenyun actually did not care about Huo Zhang as a son.

She simply had not expected this to be the reason. She had previously thought Huo Zhenyun was just a rather cold-hearted person who cared only about himself. Other than sharing his blood, his son was no different from any ordinary person. She had never expected it to be because Huo Zhang had not been born to the woman he loved.

When she first learned that Huo Zhang was not valued, she had felt sorry for him. But later, when she saw that Huo Zhang himself did not care much about Huo Xi either, she stopped feeling sorry for him.

Although she had once felt pressure when interacting with Huo Xi because he was different from ordinary people, she had not backed down. She worked hard to adapt to getting along with Huo Xi. Once she realized she had no ability to teach him anything, she made sure he could feel how much she cared about him.