Huo Chuyun leaned back against the sofa like a towering mountain, radiating suffocating pressure. He seemed like a god looking down upon all living beings, his words booming like thunder.
"He won't be joining the Huo family. His name will only go in my household register. He came with me to this foul place today, and I'm worried even setting foot here will dirty his feet."
The four members of the Huo family could barely breathe under his oppressive presence, as though they were meeting Huo Chuyun for the first time.
Ever since that incident in middle school, Huo Chuyun had lived with the Song family. Apart from coming to pay his respects to Old Master Huo, he had never appeared here again.
Huo Chuyun was no longer the weak, easily bullied child he had once been. He now controlled Huo Group. If he wished, a single stamp of his foot could shake the entire Capital.
Only Lu Xingchen gazed at him with sparkling eyes and open admiration. He leaned over and whispered in Huo Chuyun's ear, "Honey, you look so hot defending me. I love it. When we get home, can you put on a tight black sleeveless top and an arm cuff for me?"
Huo Chuyun gave him a helpless sidelong glance. His left hand tightened almost imperceptibly around Lu Xingchen's waist as he said in a low voice, "You're acting up again."
Seeing the two still whispering so comfortably, Song Zhihua's gaze turned vicious. A moment later, her eyes filled with tears. Sniffling now and then, she spoke softly.
"Chuyun, are you still unwilling to forgive Mom? You've hardly come home since starting high school. I know I wronged you, but your younger brother didn't lose the competition on purpose. As his older brother, you should show him some concern."
"Old Master Huo did leave you a lot of shares, but without your father and me, where would you be? Is it so hard to give your brother two percent now? This is just one little favor Mom is asking of you. Once you do it, I'll give you the photo album immediately."
Song Zhihua knew that as long as she cried, Huo Chuyun would be unable to bear it. He would definitely give in. This trick never failed. Besides, she still had the photo album, which was as good as holding him by his vital points.
Lu Xingchen looked at Song Zhihua as though she were a fucking idiot, then turned a worried gaze toward Huo Chuyun. Seeing that his expression had not changed at all, and had even grown more disgusted, confirmed his suspicions.
Completely reassured, he turned his head, stood with his hands on his hips, and started tearing into Song Zhihua.
"Ms. Song, don't think having something wrong with your brain gives you the right to do whatever you want. Don't think I don't know how Huo Junchi stole Huo Chuyun's money, and when Huo Chuyun hit him, you slashed Huo Chuyun with a knife."
Lu Xingchen suddenly pulled a cleaver from his backpack and swung it toward Song Zhihua's face, then stopped it short.
"Sure, he can forgive you. But first, you have to suffer the same pain Huo Chuyun did. I'll cut your face with a knife too. As for how big the cut will be or where it lands, I can't guarantee anything."
"Aaaaaah!"
The cold gleam of the cleaver that had suddenly appeared frightened Song Zhihua into collapsing against the sofa. Its edge was only ten centimeters away from her. On closer inspection, minced garlic still clung to the blade, and there was even a faint smell of chopped scallions.
Song Zhihua swallowed with difficulty, her eyes fixed on the blade as beads of cold sweat dripped down her cheeks. She wished she could sink into the sofa. All she could do was speak in a trembling voice.
"All right, all right, I won't ask him to forgive me anymore. Don't do anything rash! Don't!"
Lu Xingchen paid no attention to what she said. Holding up the cleaver, he continued berating her.
"You took an illegitimate child as your own son like a fucking idiot, then insisted on forcing Huo Chuyun to recognize him as his younger brother. If Huo Chuyun had known he'd be born to you two animals from different species, he would've had to think twice about coming down to earth."
"You think we can't tell you're threatening him just because you cry while slipping in threats? Always going on about that photo album. You really think I don't know where it is? Quit your fucking act!"
The next second, Lu Xingchen demanded with complete confidence, "Talk! Where's the album?"
Huo Zhiyuan shot to his feet and pointed at Huo Chuyun as he shouted.
"Huo Chuyun! Aren't you going to stop him? You're just going to watch this ill-bred thing threaten your mother with a knife?"
"Haven't you threatened me enough all my life?" Huo Chuyun looked at him with a sneer.
"If I remember correctly, Grandpa only left you five percent of the shares. Didn't you get the other five percent by threatening me?"
Powerless, Huo Zhiyuan snapped, "You... does the Huo family mean anything to you at all?"
"No!" Huo Chuyun answered without hesitation.
"I moved my household registration out of the Huo family long ago. At most, we share the surname Huo. As for any other relationship, there wasn't one before, and there won't be one in the future."
Meanwhile, watching the cleaver move closer and closer, Song Zhihua screamed, "I'll talk! I'll talk! The album is in the safe in my room..."
"The code!" Lu Xingchen barked.
"The code..." Song Zhihua's mind went blank. Beside her, Zhou Fenghe lunged over. "The code is eight eights!"
Looking at the sharp cleaver mere inches away, Song Zhihua asked shakily, "I've told you where the album is hidden. Can you move the knife away now?"
Lu Xingchen's foxlike eyes tilted up slightly, a trace of cunning flashing through them. "Don't be nervous. It's not like I'm a good person anyway."
Song Zhihua's luxurious, elegant qipao was creased, and her clothes were soaked with cold sweat. She was on the verge of breaking down.
I'm nervous precisely because you're not a good person!
Lu Xingchen signaled for Huo Chuyun to go upstairs and retrieve the album. He moved the knife away and plopped down in the sofa's main seat, facing all four of them alone.
Seeing Lu Xingchen put the cleaver back into his bag, Song Zhihua patted her chest, still shaken, and asked, "Do you have to make Huo Chuyun destroy this family?"
Lu Xingchen raised his fine brows slightly. "Weren't you the ones who destroyed this family? Is that head of yours only there to make you look taller?"
"Isn't it just that you're so desperately in love with Huo Zhiyuan that you can't live without him? At first, you wanted him to drive Zhou Fenghe and her son out, but found that got you nowhere."
"Huo Zhiyuan promised he wouldn't love you any less as long as you treated Zhou Fenghe and her son well, so you wanted the still-young Huo Chuyun to compromise along with you and accept the mistress and her son."
"Unfortunately, Huo Chuyun wasn't an idiot. All you could do was bully him because he was young and use your position as his mother to oppress him."
Lu Xingchen turned toward Huo Zhiyuan, who was acting as though none of this concerned him, and lashed out.
"Song Zhihua is no good, but you, Huo Zhiyuan, are an even more shameless bastard. You really think you're an emperor? Having one woman while wanting another, and even egging your wife on to brainwash your son."
"Some people are just like that. The four of you, for example. You're maggots yourselves, so you think the whole world is a cesspit."
Huo Zhiyuan trembled for a long while, wanting to swear, but the manners he had been taught held him back. In the end, all he managed to squeeze out was, "Ill-bred thing. Huo Chuyun must be blind to have fallen for you."
Huo Junchi could not stand how arrogantly Lu Xingchen was berating them, but knowing he had a cleaver, he did not dare act rashly. He sneered.
"Whatever we're like, we're still members of the Huo family. With the Huo family's assets in our hands, we'll enjoy wealth and luxury for the rest of our lives. What about you? Who knows when Huo Chuyun will dump you? Don't end up with nowhere to cry."
"My stepmom had the ability to secure a place for herself in the Huo family. What are you so bitter about?"
Lu Xingchen lifted his chin and said disdainfully.
"Being born into the Huo family, with people like you and Song Zhihua as his parents, was eight lifetimes' worth of rotten luck for Huo Chuyun."
"Whether I'll be dumped is uncertain, but you're one hundred percent an illegitimate child everyone despises. Imagine feeling superior about being a bastard. Your skin is thicker than a city wall. You three, keep Huo Junchi on a leash. Don't let him out to bite people."
Before you continue