[After Huo Huan was captured, Shen Zhuo and Shen Yao continued fighting the protagonists. Everyone knew how it ended—they definitely would not win. Both of them died, and the plot finally came to a complete end.]
[The plot would never let anyone defeat the protagonists. If Huo Xi was the strongest enemy the protagonist couple had encountered themselves, then Huo Huan was the strongest enemy encountered by the child the protagonist couple adopted.]
[Huo Xi had been subjected to all sorts of arranged accidents, forced to relinquish his position and die. Even if Huo Huan had not been captured by Shen Yao, he would have been subjected to all sorts of arranged accidents just like Huo Xi.]
[One possessed unparalleled intelligence and status, while the other had a tragic, terrifying childhood and past. They really were the chosen foil pair.]
"Got him!" "Nice! Take off his shoes. I want to wear them."
"Stop!" Four voices called out at once. They belonged to Lu Shao, Su Nanxing, Shen Can, and Shen Yao.
Lu Shao could not stand seeing them bully someone like that. Su Nanxing felt that they had to intervene because that child had seen them.
Before he had been brought to live with his grandfather, he had entertained some very extreme thoughts himself. So, he could somewhat understand Huo Huan's thinking.
Can Can had also said that he was a lunatic. Perhaps Huo Huan would hold a grudge against them for standing by and watching him die, so it was better to help. Besides, telling those children to stop was a simple matter for them.
Shen Yao acted because, although he captured Huo Huan in the plot, Huo Huan was still only a child now and had not done anything yet. He could not just watch him get bullied right in front of him.
Shen Can spoke up because he wanted to. The plot was the plot, but now that there was a chance to change things, why not change them?
Only then did those children realize there were adults nearby. They had been completely focused on ganging up on Huo Huan.
Shen Can looked at Huo Xi. While they could stop this from happening, Huo Xi was the one who needed to seek justice for him.
He was the head of the Huo Household, and these were all children of the Huo Household. It was most appropriate for him to handle it, though Shen Can did not know what Huo Xi thought.
"Why were you bullying him? Haven't your families told you not to cause trouble?" Huo Xi asked as he walked up to the group of children.
The children did not dare make a sound. They knew who Huo Xi was; their families had shown them his photograph and told them to be respectful if they saw him.
"Speak!" As Huo Xi's tone grew slightly harsher, the children all spilled everything at once.
"He liked his shoes, so we helped him take them." "Huo Huan's dad doesn't like him, and Huo Huan's dad isn't important either."
"His dad is important, and his dad likes him a lot, so we listened to him." "Yeah, that's right. We're not lying."
Huo Xi glanced at the chubby child. "Tomorrow, your father will come pack your things." He then looked at the others. "Your families will come along to pack yours as well."
"The family sent you here to learn etiquette, not to form cliques and bully others. Since you refuse to listen to the elders of the family, there is no need for you to remain in the Huo Household."
"Xiao Xi, that punishment is too severe. It's just a minor conflict between children. There's no need for such a harsh punishment." The person who had arrived was Shi Ruyan.
Shen Keke added, "Yeah. They went through so much hardship before finally coming back, and now you're sending them away again. Isn't that a little inappropriate?"
Lu Shao looked at those children. "One is chubby, and while the others aren't, they're clearly well-fed too. They went through so much hardship? What hardship?"
Of course Shi Ruyan and the others could see the difference between those children and the bullied child, but they had to put forward views different from Huo Xi's.
Moreover, after the previous banquet, they had learned that they had offended far too many people. In particular, Zhou Jingxuan's remarks about contribution had made the Huo Household members unwilling to associate with them. After all, if they were talking about contributions, then the few of them had contributed nothing at all.
So they urgently needed an opening to ease their relationship with the Huo Household. As long as a few people began associating with them, more would surely follow. The parents of these children were a very good opportunity.
As though he pitied Huo Huan, Shen Keke said, "This child is indeed thin, and it's pitiful that he has suffered such a grievance this time. But conflicts can be resolved. They may still be able to get along well afterward. Isn't throwing them out too cruel? Why don't we ask the victim what he thinks?"
"Little friend, it was wrong of them to bully you. They definitely won't dare bully you again after this. They'll be very pitiful if they're thrown out, and you surely wouldn't want that, right? How about you forgive them this time? I'll have them apologize to you later, okay?"
Huo Huan lifted his eyes and looked at Shen Keke. "Why should I? Why should I resolve the conflict with them? Do you know how many conflicts we actually have? They're being thrown out because they made mistakes and deserve it. What does it have to do with me whether they're pitiful afterward?"
[Ha! Hahaha, Shen Keke asked the wrong person. Other than refusing to fight back when his mother beat him, Huo Huan would never endure anything else.]
[Just like in the later plot, when he was bullied at school for not having a father, he would fight even if he could not win. Even if the teacher called in his parent and his mother would beat him again afterward, he would still fight back.]
[He figured his mother had sent him to school only to save face and avoid people asking why she had not sent such an old child to school, or why she kept him at home every day. So she would absolutely never let him drop out.]
[Since he would not be made to drop out, he was not afraid. His mother could beat him when he got home, but he could not refrain from fighting back at school. Otherwise, everyone would bully him afterward.]
Shen Keke had not expected the child to refuse, much less speak so clearly and plainly.
Behind them, Huo Zhenyun glanced at one of his subordinates. The man quickly understood what he meant and soon brought Huo Huan's father over.
If not for the fact that some matters were being voted on today, Huo Huan's father probably would not have been able to come. He was too peripheral.
The first thing Huo Huan's father said upon arriving was, "The child is young and doesn't understand things. Don't take offense, don't take offense. We won't make an issue of it, we won't make an issue of it. It's just a small matter, a small matter."
Looking at the man reeking of alcohol and thinking of what he had done, Shen Can was speechless. "As his father, shouldn't you first find out what happened?"
"What can happen between children? Isn't it all just small matters?" Even if it was a serious matter, it did not matter. He had acknowledged this child only to collect the share of money that belonged to him.
If he had truly cared about this child, he would have gone looking for him long ago. Would he have waited until now? Besides, how could he offend those families and Huo Zhenyun's group for this child?
Huo Huan showed no reaction to his father's words. He himself had only been willing to return to the Huo Household because he wanted to find a way to deal with him.
"Ms. Shi, Mr. Shen, what I stated was a decision, not a proposal. I do not need any of your opinions. Even if it were a proposal, it would not be your place to express your views to me."
After Huo Xi spoke, regardless of how ugly their expressions became, he directly told Secretary Wu, who had just arrived, "Notify them one by one right now, and make sure everything is handled tomorrow."
No one had expected to witness such a spectacle just by following along. They had heard something seemed to have happened here, and when they saw Huo Zhenyun's group coming over, they had come with them.
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