The car was deathly silent, as if suffocating.
Even the air seemed to freeze. Nan Qing didn't react immediately; he stared blankly at the handsome man so close to him, then looked ahead, wondering if he had misheard.
"What?"
The partition was retracted, and the assistant shakily handed over the phone, hurriedly explaining...
" President Huo usually uses this number for business; the phone is with me. But I just discovered I received a message like this..."
The unlocked screen glowed softly as it was handed over.
Nan Qing took it, lowered her eyes, and looked as if she had swallowed a fly.
" Bai Ruanruan?"
He looked up at Huo Yuzhou with his beautiful eyes.
Huo Yuzhou, however, showed no curiosity whatsoever, appearing as an outstanding member of a men's virtue class, with perfect moral character.
He didn't even glance at his phone screen. In the flickering light from the window, his sharply defined face looked at Nan Qing, his voice gentle.
"I don't know, Baby."
What did he say?
Nan Qing looked down at the screen again, feeling a little nauseous.
Knowing that Bai Ruanruan, that innocent-looking White Lotus, was stringing Huo Yuzhou along, was one thing; witnessing firsthand the suggestive photos he sent were quite another.
Bai Ruanruan is really shameless.
He felt that he could forgive Huo Yuzhou for targeting him in the past and setting traps for him multiple times, but Huo Yuzhou didn't owe him anything.
Nan Qing took a deep breath and handed the phone back to her assistant.
"Please send me a screenshot of this screen, and then block his contact information."
Huo Yuzhou looked at the person sitting in his lap, his eyelids half-closed.
" Baby, are you angry?"
Nan Qing was furious. "He's absolutely outrageously weird!"
Huo Yuzhou's narrow gaze fell upon him, his tone low and somber.
"But blocking him only solves the problem, honey."
Nan Qing turned her head to look over, her rounded eyes slightly upturned, reflecting the shimmering light in her eyes, as if they were filled with gentle moisture.
Huo Yuzhou wanted to kiss him again.
But he remained motionless, simply staring calmly at the other person, a fleeting, dark glint in his eyes.
" Baby, aren't you curious why he would send me a message like that?"
The carriage was quiet, save for Huo Yuzhou's calm voice, his tone carrying a rational composure.
Four years ago, Bai Ruanruan first appeared before me, bringing confidential information from my rival company, which she subtly revealed to me—
Nan Qing's breath hitched, and the fingertips that were resting on Huo Yuzhou's knee tightened suddenly.
A dark glint flashed in Huo Yuzhou's eyes, and a barely perceptible smile curved his lips, but his voice grew increasingly calm and unhurried.
"From then on, he was like an NPC that would appear at any time on a game map, showing up in front of me every now and then with some information that he considered very important."
"He seemed to understand me very well, and his attitude towards me was very gentle."
"To use a more poetic metaphor, he probably wanted to be my savior, descending from the heavens with boundless compassion, attempting to save my body and redeem my soul."
Although the temperature inside the carriage was comfortable, for some reason, Nan Qing felt a chill creep up her spine.
Huo Yuzhou is too perceptive and too intelligent.
It even gave him the feeling that his entire being was being seen through.
The car came to a smooth stop at the traffic light. One by one, figures riding shared bicycles passed in front of the car. Nan Qing finally heard her own voice, trembling slightly.
" Huo Yuzhou, what do you think of Bai Ruanruan?"
The man's dark gaze fell on his face, but after a moment, he chuckled softly.
"A fool."
[Just kill him.]
The boy sitting on his lap stared in disbelief and shock.
The handsome man was lost in his own emotions, his voice calm and unhurried:
"He seems to see me as some kind of big boss who will give him a huge reward if he defeats me."
[He deserves to be torn to pieces.]
"He even coveted my body and tried to seduce me."
[Intolerable, utterly disgusting.]
"I'm not a petty person, and besides, the Bai Family helped me before, so I can let it go and choose to forgive them this time."
[Then they would kidnap him, maim him, skin him, remove his tendons, scrape his flesh, and cut his bones.]
"But this can't go on forever, honey—"
Huo Yuzhou suppressed a long-suppressed excitement, his low, cold voice carrying a hint of helplessness.
"As long as I'm single, he'll continue to harass me."
"I need some kind of legal status, as your husband, or your boyfriend."
A large, well-defined hand gripped Nan Qing's waist, its fingertips lingering on his skin. Huo Yuzhou softly.
"Let's go public, honey."
The countdown at the traffic light ended, and the car started moving again.
The light and shadow of the streetlights quickly receded along with the bushes on both sides, but Nan Qing seemed frozen in place, her shocked gaze fixed on Huo Yuzhou's face, as stiff as a jade sculpture.
Huo Yuzhou remained calm, reflecting on his earlier words, and concluded that there should be no flaws.
He whispered " Baby " again, and Nan Qing finally snapped out of her daze.
She seemed still reeling from the shock, her whole body dazed, her lips pressed together in nervousness, revealing a luscious red after being pressed together.
He looked at Huo Yuzhou, hesitating to speak.
" Huo Yuzhou, I..."
Huo Yuzhou's dark eyes were fixed on his lips, his voice low and husky.
"What?"
Nan Qing found it absurd, and even wanted to pull her brain out of her skull and blow it under a hairdryer.
Huo Yuzhou was aloof and unapproachable, unmoved by outsiders. Therefore, he had never been able to associate this voice with Huo Yuzhou before.
But ever since that night, Huo Yuzhou has become a completely different person.
He would use that aloof and refined face to casually utter those unbearable words, his tone and manner exactly the same as those in his mind.
Or like just now--
Two similar voices appeared, their tones and meanings completely opposite, a mixture of magnanimous helplessness and vengeful darkness, a blend of compassionate openness and sinister, violent killing intent...
Amidst the interplay of reality and fiction, a Huo Yuzhou is portrayed that is closer to the original character.
Nan Qing was in a daze for a moment, her eyelashes trembling, before her gaze finally settled on Huo Yuzhou's face.
It seems that his illness has not worsened.
He could truly hear Huo Yuzhou's inner thoughts now.
Nan Qing forgot what she wanted to say.
Huo Yuzhou's jade-like fingers intertwined with his, his lingering voice carrying a tenderness.
"I'm really fed up with this, Baby."
"Can we go public? Xingchen is hosting a wine tasting event tomorrow, can we attend together?"
"You wouldn't want me to keep receiving these harassing messages, would you, Baby?"
Seemingly still not getting the response he wanted, Huo Yuzhou leaned forward, adding fuel to the fire.
"If he dares to harass me with text messages now, who knows, he might drug me and sleep with me later."
"I'm such a pure and virtuous man, yet I remain celibate for my wife."
"What if my reputation gets tarnished, Baby?"