Huo Jingyuan was purely a background character in the novel.
Because he kicked the bucket when the villain was just over three years old, the original text did not contain so much as half a sentence of direct description about him. He had even fewer scenes than the male lead Gu Beisheng’s second uncle.
As far as Tang Can was concerned, this soon-to-die father of his little villain mainly served one function for the child: providing the template for his looks.
A three-dimensional bone structure with a high nose and deep-set eyes, paired with dark gray-blue irises, blended into full, smooth Eastern features. The result was clean and striking without losing the beauty unique to sharp lines—in simpler, cruder terms, he was aggressively handsome.
Beyond that, the few indirect mentions of him all emphasized one thing: the man was naturally insane.
Huo Jingyuan was both a genius and a madman. He had inherited mental illness from his biological mother, and when he had an episode at seven, he stabbed the old butler who cared for him straight into the ICU. That also laid excellent genetic groundwork for Dengdeng’s future path as a villain.
But because Huo Jingyuan possessed extraordinary talent and intelligence, Old Master Huo regarded him differently from the others and sheltered him with particular favor.
As a result, over the many years that followed, no more ugly rumors ever emerged about the eldest young master of the Huo family. He became the Huo family’s most mysterious figure.
The gossip post Tang Can had read could already be considered the most comprehensive summary of him available to the public. To this day, ordinary people only knew that the identity of Huo Jingyuan’s biological mother was a mystery, and that he had committed something antisocial as a child which the Huo family had used money to cover up. Not a trace of the reports connected to that incident could now be found.
In reality, Huo Jingyuan’s biological mother had been a famous Eastern European prostitute with a psychiatric disorder. When he was six, she had suffered an episode and nearly beaten him to death together with his stepfather.
The methods had been so brutal as to be almost sensational, and after the case was widely reported, photographs of the little boy covered head to toe in injuries spread everywhere. Related news had nearly swept across the whole of Eastern Europe.
The little boy also had an exquisitely beautiful face that was unmistakably mixed Eastern heritage. While the public condemned his mother and stepfather, they inevitably became curious about the identity of his biological father.
After all, Eastern European prostitutes had always been favored playthings of so-called upper-class celebrities and tycoons, and the boy’s mother had once been a rather “famous” one among them. Presumably, the Eastern man who had made her willing to give birth must have possessed a formidable background.
Because of this, while facing child-abuse charges, his mother and stepfather had gotten the idea of demanding hush money from the Huo family while attempting to flee.
Only then had Old Master Huo personally stepped in to resolve the trouble and bring Huo Jingyuan, his mixed-race eldest grandson, back to the Huo family.
But Old Master Huo had plenty of sons and hardly lacked one bastard grandson. Bringing him back had only been a way to eliminate a hidden danger and protect the Huo family’s reputation.
Huo Jingyuan’s father, Huo Jinzhong, had even less affection for him. Huo Jingyuan’s sudden appearance had ruined the marriage alliance Huo Jinzhong valued most, so the boy had endured no shortage of his own father’s sarcasm, ridicule, and verbal humiliation.
After all, Old Master Huo had many sons. Even though Huo Jinzhong occupied the position of eldest son, he still badly needed the support of a prestigious, deeply rooted family.
Even Old Master Huo himself had only managed to ride the wave of the era and rise to prominence thanks in large part to help from his wife’s family.
But marriage alliances like that cared about appearances above almost everything else. Unlike Old Master Huo, who was famously faithful and devoted to his wife, Huo Jinzhong was naturally promiscuous. Given the Huo family’s present status, fooling around was not too serious a problem. Bringing home a prostitute’s illegitimate son before marriage, however, looked far too ugly.
Originally, the two families had two possible pairs suitable for marriage. But since it was an exchange of interests, there was no reason to tie a pair of sisters to two brothers at once. And because the younger brother could not marry before the elder one, the older Huo Jinzhong had been selected.
Thus, when Huo Jinzhong’s marriage alliance fell through, the youngest brother ended up benefiting instead. He successfully married the Hong family’s youngest daughter, whose maternal family stood on equal footing with theirs, causing the already favored youngest brother’s status to rise even further.
Huo Jinzhong’s resentment deepened by the day. Huo Jingyuan was no longer subjected to outright abuse, but his situation was still easy enough to imagine.
Fortunately, Huo Jingyuan possessed a brain even more outstanding than his face. Later, Old Master Huo skipped right over the boy’s biological father and personally kept Huo Jingyuan by his side, teaching him hand in hand. He practically became the designated heir.
But his fate had long since been decided. Huo Jingyuan knew perfectly well that he was supposed to have died in the explosion involving several different factions just a few days ago.
And the family would not publicly announce his death until six months later, once the timing was right. By then, apart from making the world sigh that heaven had eyes and evil had finally received its punishment, his death would leave no further trace.
For all these years, he had been like a marionette casually manipulated by fate. Aside from the occasional brief moments of genuine lucidity when his illness flared, most of the time he merely followed the predetermined path and played the role of “Huo Jingyuan”…
His gaze lowered slightly. His long, cold eyes settled on the sleeping little boy in the newcomer’s arms.
Even though he had not died in that accident, this child would still be his only bloodline. Yet this was the first time in three years that he had actually seen him.
Other than knowing the child existed, Huo Jingyuan knew nothing at all about him. He even knew far more about Tang Can, whom he despised and rejected above all others, than he did about his own child.
He had always believed he would be exactly like his biological parents, incapable of developing so much as a shred of parental affection. Even after breaking free of fate’s restraints, he had only watched two short livestream clips Secretary Chi had cut for him on the way here, simply so he would not mistake someone else for the child.
Yet when the little fellow’s sweet sleeping face appeared right before him, Huo Jingyuan stopped walking without realizing it.
Looking at that immature face that resembled his own so strongly, he suddenly thought that perhaps he ought to do a little more for this child…
The thought had barely surfaced when Tang Can came charging toward him with a face full of delighted surprise. “Why are you—!?”
Because he was carrying a sleeping child, every movement Tang Can designed for himself had to express wild joy without waking the boy. The whole performance emphasized restraint at exactly the right moment.
His lines followed the same principle. He first tossed out an excited, delighted “Why are you—” then pretended to suddenly realize his voice was too loud. Immediately reining in his emotions and lowering his volume, he switched to a bashful, breathy whisper. “You… why are you here?”
Hmm? Old man? Tang Can blinked his sparkling, moist peach-blossom eyes and deployed his signature gaze—the one so affectionate he could make even looking at a dog seem romantic. The flavor was painfully authentic.
This scene had not appeared in the original plot. Tang Can had always assumed that apart from visiting the man’s grave in the future, he and his bargain-bin husband would never have any other interaction.
Now he could not tell whether this had simply never happened in the original story or whether it had been omitted for the sake of “appropriate narrative focus,” but Tang Can had always been flexible and quick on his feet.
Back when he earned three thousand yuan a month, that old geezer of a kindergarten director had still managed to squeeze him into becoming a gold-medal preschool teacher. Now that his monthly salary was one hundred thousand, he naturally had to display professional standards worthy of the pay.
So Tang Can had not only thoroughly studied their prenuptial agreement, he had also researched the current marriage laws of this world in depth.
Simply put, so long as he did not touch any of the agreement’s red lines and behaved lovingly enough whenever cameras were around, even Huo Jingyuan would have a difficult time successfully suing for divorce.
And Huo Jingyuan was destined to croak this year. No matter what, Tang Can had to stand his final shift properly… The more Tang Can thought about it, the more his peach-blossom eyes brimmed with tender affection.
Unsurprisingly, he saw disgust and disdain in Huo Jingyuan’s eyes. Tang Can did not mind. After all, he too was merely looking through Huo Jingyuan’s handsome face while declaring love to another man—the one printed on banknotes.
Still, Tang Can did not understand. If the man found him this annoying, why had he suddenly come onto the parenting show? First possibilities to eliminate: coming to see him, or coming to see the child.
Just as Tang Can was thinking this, Huo Jingyuan made a false start as though trying to take the child from his arms but having no idea where to put his hands. Then his long arm swept out and rested over Tang Can’s shoulder…
Over the air above Tang Can’s shoulder.
“Let’s go back.” The man’s thin lips parted, and his low, cool voice sounded with unquestionable authority.
Tang Can looked at the pale hand hovering over his shoulder and slowly typed a question mark in his mind: …?
He did not understand, but he respected the investor enough. Thus, Tang Can cooperatively allowed himself to be “held” all the way back to the hot-spring villa.
The livestream exploded completely!
A large number of new viewers had already flooded in today. Every one of them had been drawn over after the mistress scandal reversed, and they were already extremely curious about Tang Can’s mysterious husband.
In the top comments under several related trending topics that afternoon, plenty of people had complained that Tang Can was stingy. He had already shown the marriage certificate, so why cover half the wedding photo? Did he think netizens were outsiders or something…?
People complained, but Tang Can’s husband’s family had always handled privacy extremely strictly. Everyone could tell they intended to keep the lid sealed all the way to the end.
They all wanted to know exactly what kind of man Tang Can had married, and whether the rumors about the “golden toad” were true… but they also knew perfectly well how unlikely it was that such information would ever leak.
No one had expected this mysterious big shot to parachute straight into the parenting show that very night. The excitement was off the charts!
【Holy crap holy crap holy crap!!! Tang Can’s husband is here?!!! Aaaaaah!!! The show is really feeding us this well?!!!】
【Damn, Tang Can’s husband is so tall. He has to be around 1.9 meters, right?! Cameraman, what are you waiting for?! Charge up there and shove the camera in his face!!】
【That height and silhouette already scream handsome! Aaaaaah, show me his face already! We’ve had enough silhouette shots! Shift!】
【Even though we can only see his back, I still have to say it: this height difference and body-size difference are insanely compatible!!!】
【The golden-toad rumor was obviously ridiculous. Those body lines are pure elite-man material! His hair is thick too, so we can rule out a balding middle-aged uncle!】
【Fuck aaaaaah I hate this! Can the production team turn the moon brighter or something!!!】
The news spread like wildfire, sending the already explosive livestream’s popularity climbing even faster.
Fifteen minutes later, when the married couple “embraced” their way back into the room, the livestream that should have gradually calmed down was still covered in a dense wall of colorful comments. It was so thick that without manually reducing the comment opacity, the picture itself was practically impossible to see.
【This marriage is already making me so happy! Hurry up and kiss for me! Isn’t Tang Can’s mouth supposed to be powerful?!】
【Hahahaha hurry up and do it! Do it hard! What could possibly be too much for a distinguished VIP like me to watch?】
【Oops, looks like our Dengdeng really is a little third wheel now~ [covers mouth and laughs]】
【Got it! The kid being there is inconvenient, right? I volunteer to pay my own way there, watch live, and babysit for you two while I’m at it!】
【The one above is trying to eat for free and take leftovers too, huh?】
【No, seriously, aren’t you all being way too dramatic? He still hasn’t shown his face and you’re already losing your minds. Not to criticize, but… these two legally married husbands have been inside the room for three! whole! seconds! Why aren’t they doing it yet? What’s weighing on their minds?!!】
【What what what??? They closed the door??? The follow-cam isn’t going inside???? [I’m reporting this all the way to the central authorities.jpg]】
【Aaaaaah Tang Can, you upright-looking bastard, how dare you hoard the good stuff for yourself!】
【Lmao, as if no one else has a husband. If this guy refuses to show his face, he’s probably average-looking. I’m not interested. Whatever. It’s my friend who wants to see. Hahaha, Tang Can, you’re pretty pretentious too…】
The walk back was neither especially long nor especially short. Tang Can was used to carrying children, and Dengdeng was practically weightless, so his arms did not ache at all. Huo Jingyuan’s arm, however, had hovered in midair the entire way.
From beginning to end, he had kept it at a distance where it looked about to touch Tang Can’s shoulder, yet never actually made contact.
Thus, Tang Can’s arms were fine from carrying Dengdeng, while Huo Jingyuan’s right arm had gone numb from being held up. When he finally lowered it, the movement was extremely unnatural, nearly making Tang Can laugh aloud.
Tang Can very much wanted to ask, Brother Old Man, why put yourself through this? His question soon received an answer.
The man gestured with his eyes for Tang Can to put the child on the master bedroom’s large bed first. Unlike when the livestream camera had been present, Huo Jingyuan’s expression was now even colder and sterner. His handsome face seemed covered in frost.
Tang Can almost laughed in delight. Well, damn. So those icy looks the man had thrown at him earlier had contained a special livestream-only performance component? Applause for Brother Old Man’s caution.
As long as the money arrived, everything the boss did was correct.
Imagining the magnificent sight of ten bundles of hundred-yuan notes stacked together, Tang Can carefully laid the sleeping child—now out cold like a little suckling pig—onto the bed.
Thanks to Dengdeng’s coma-level sleeping habits, Tang Can still could not quite figure out the child’s sleep patterns. But based on the boy’s sensitive, cautious personality, he guessed Dengdeng was probably a light sleeper. So the instant he put him down, Tang Can immediately rested a hand on him and patted gently while humming, “Baby~ baby~ my precious baby…”
Sure enough, the little fellow’s eyelids fluttered, then he quickly sank back into deep sleep.
Once the first step was stabilized, Tang Can kept up the gentle lullaby while attempting to pry the jumping frog and little spinning top from the child’s hands.
Dengdeng had not seemed especially interested in the two little toys when he first received them, yet even in deep sleep he refused to let go. Tang Can had no choice but to remove the child’s robe first, revealing the smooth silk pajamas underneath.
The round, chubby little belly wrapped in silk looked extraordinarily kissable. Tang Can nearly failed to stop himself from planting his mouth on it.
Only at that moment did he develop a tiny bit of resentment toward his distinguished investor. Forget it. He would endure for now. Old Man Huo clearly had not come with friendly intentions, so Tang Can had better avoid looking like some kind of pervert.
Tang Can swapped the jumping frog and spinning top in Dengdeng’s hands for the ugly-squash biological-father plush, preventing the child from being poked in his sleep. Only then did he pull the blanket over him and tiptoe out of the master bedroom.
He carefully closed the door, turned around, and nearly walked straight into Huo Jingyuan.
Tang Can almost jumped out of his skin. Why did this man walk without making any sound?! Don’t tell me this really was his dead husband’s spirit returning on the seventh day after death or something?
Tang Can lowered his head to confirm. Mm, feet. And judging by eye, those were at least size forty-six or forty-seven…
Whoa. Being tall really was different. Those huge feet looked like they could slap someone across the face if he swung them hard enough… Tang Can suddenly wanted Brother Old Man to perform some floor move on Tang Yichen and smack that bastard into obedience with one giant foot-slash.
Too bad Tang Can did not get a say in what Brother Old Man did. He could only pin his hopes on Dengdeng after the child grew up.
Tang Can had only panicked for an instant before rapidly returning to his usual chatterbox state. Even if Old Man Huo’s long face made it inconvenient to ramble aloud, nothing could stop Tang Can from muttering nonstop in his head.
From Huo Jingyuan’s perspective, however, the person in front of him was strangely quiet.
This man had always been affected, artificial, and embarrassingly theatrical in front of him. Although Tang Can’s behavior while walking back earlier had also been odd, at least he had shown some sense of propriety… Huo Jingyuan frowned slightly as he recalled the entire process of Tang Can putting the child to bed. It seemed obviously inconsistent with—
At that exact moment, Tang Can suddenly snapped his head up and smiled with bashful, ingratiating sweetness. “Yuan~~~ You must’ve gotten impatient waiting for me~~~”
Huo Jingyuan: “…Heh.” Never mind. Nothing inconsistent at all.
Tang Can himself felt his skin crawl after saying it. What normal person called someone by only one character from their given name?
The original owner had done it to emphasize how uniquely intimate their marital relationship was. The effect had indeed been remarkable: Huo Jingyuan had told him to get as far away as possible.
On this point, Tang Can actually hoped he could repeat history and continue happily living as a grass widow with the child, so he kept using the pet name the original owner had left behind.
Sure enough, the moment Huo Jingyuan heard it, he immediately widened the distance between them, as though Tang Can carried some virus transmissible through the air.
Huo Jingyuan walked several steps to the floor-to-ceiling windows, leaving Tang Can only a cold, ruthless back. He reminded him indifferently, “You haven’t forgotten the terms of the agreement, have you?”
Tang Can verbally answered with fawning obedience. Then he tilted his head and silently acted out a pantomime at Huo Jingyuan’s tall back: Do~ not~ fantasize~ about~ things~ that~ do~ not~ belong~ to~ you~
Such a profoundly stupid line was impossible to forget.
Huo Jingyuan knew nothing of the performance behind him and continued in a cold voice, “When you arrive in Yun City tomorrow, Secretary Chi will pick you up and take you to Hongyuan. From now on, you and the child will live there.”
Tang Can’s Loopy face vanished, replaced by a full-on confused-black-guy expression: ???
Wait, Brother Old Man. This suddenly?
Tang Can had no time to think. Huo Jingyuan was already turning around to leave. He could only put his shy little-wife smile back on and beam with delight. “Hongyuan… I… Yuan~~~”
Huo Jingyuan frowned at the sound and immediately quickened his pace. Only when he was nearly at the door did he give one last reminder. “I flew back from abroad and came to see you and the child immediately. I’m leaving now because the company suddenly has urgent business. I assume you know how to explain that publicly.”
The instant Tang Can heard the man was about to leave, his smile became several degrees more sincere, and his voice turned even sweeter. “Don’t worry~ I understand~~~”
After all, the moment a manager announced an early end to the workday was absolutely when every employee loved their job most.
*
When Huo Jingyuan strode quickly back to the car, Secretary Chi was sitting in the front passenger seat with his face twisted strangely.
On the left was Tang Can’s livestream playing in real time. On the right was an earlier recording running at accelerated speed.
Seeing Huo Jingyuan’s poor expression, Secretary Chi immediately knew Tang Can had disgusted him again. Seizing the opening, he complained, “President Huo, do I… really have to go work beside Tang Can?”
This was not even exile to the frontier anymore. He was being launched directly into outer space!
Huo Jingyuan pressed at his brow. “Yes. Someone needs to stay close to the child. I don’t trust anyone else.”
After saying that, his long eyes lifted slightly. His deep gray-blue gaze swept coldly over the delighted secretary. “I remember you have a girlfriend you’ve been with for years?”
Secretary Chi chuckled. “We’re already married. My son is a year and a half younger than Young Master Dengdeng.” The boss remembered wrong, but this was the first time his boss had ever shown concern about his family affairs!
Huo Jingyuan visibly looked a little more satisfied. His expression eased. “When you have time in the near future, choose a suitable apartment in a good school district for your child.”
Secretary Chi’s eyes instantly lit up. He thumped his chest and guaranteed, “Rest assured, I will definitely take good care of the young master!”
Huo Jingyuan gave a slight nod and believed about half of it.
In truth, he did not trust his secretary much more than he trusted Tang Can. Transferring the man over was mainly a way to free up the position beside him.
Based on his life experience, only mutual supervision and checks from several sides could be considered truly stable. For that reason, he had also arranged for several nannies with good outside reputations to move into Hongyuan as well.
He was not a good father. He could barely even be called a father. But while he was still alive, he would at least make sure the child did not repeat his own path.
The car continued accelerating. Huo Jingyuan leaned back into the seat under the push of momentum and closed his eyes again, but his brows drew tighter and tighter.
Secretary Chi immediately went silent at the sight. He knew Huo Jingyuan’s headache had flared again.
He truly did not understand. If there was a highly effective medication with minimal side effects, why did the boss insist on enduring this pain? And weren’t these attacks happening far too often?
Come to think of it, Huo Jingyuan had changed enormously after waking from the explosion. This was far from the only thing Secretary Chi failed to understand.
But remembering the trust his boss had shown him not long ago, Secretary Chi could not help grinning again. Whatever the boss did, he must have his reasons!
Filled with renewed fighting spirit, Secretary Chi turned back around and put on his earphones again. He intended to stay up all night if necessary and finish every recording of Tang Can’s recent livestreams!
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you could win a hundred battles. Tang Can might only be an insignificant nobody, but Secretary Chi had disliked him for a very long time.
Whether for Young Master Dengdeng or for the boss who trusted him, he, Chi, would sooner or later—sooner or later!—drive that piece of trash Tang Can out of the Huo family!
Secretary Chi clenched both fists and shouted silently inside his heart.
Then his gaze dropped and met an entire wall of densely packed livestream comments.
Secretary Chi: ???
The boss had already left. Why were these netizens still having seizures?
Secretary Chi turned off the comments and instantly got a clear view of the close-up shot of Tang Can’s upper body.
Except the center of the frame was not Tang Can’s one presentable feature—his face. It was his pale, bare neck and collarbones…
Where two dark-red hickeys were clearly visible!!!
Secretary Chi’s eyes widened behind his glasses until they looked like copper bells. “President Huo!!! Tang Can, he! He! He!!!”
The violent dull pain at Huo Jingyuan’s temples left him slightly dazed, but Secretary Chi’s shriek still made him open his eyes. Brows tightly furrowed, face frosty, he asked, “Mm?”
Secretary Chi angrily pointed at the close-up on the tablet. “That damned bastard must have deliberately rammed himself onto your mouth, right?!!!”
Huo Jingyuan: “…” Maybe he should just fire him.
*
At the same time, Tang Can, his face flushed red from rubbing it himself, casually walked into the bathroom after showing off his “hickeys.”
The instant the door shut, he plastered himself against the full-length mirror and inspected them carefully, muttering, “I barely pinched it. Why is the bruise this dark…? If this were really a hickey, whoever sucked it would have to be a suction cup that cultivated into human form…”
A moment later, Tang Can sucked in a sharp breath. “Don’t tell me I’m one of those legendary people who turn red from the slightest touch and bruise ridiculously easily?”
