Chapter 9: Keeping Mum Saves Lives
Anyone with a brain could tell that Jiang Su’s apology was completely insincere.
After speaking, Jiang Su withdrew his hand and casually handed the empty glass to a manager who rushed over.
The manager had originally come to chase Jiang Su away, but Jiang Su possessed an innate air of wealthy privilege that subconsciously compelled the manager to accept the glass.
Jiang Su reached out and pulled a handkerchief from Huo Qingyan’s suit pocket: “Here, wipe this.”
To everyone’s surprise, Huo Qingyan didn’t refuse.
The manager was also stunned by Huo Qingyan’s reaction.
No one who had ever interacted with Huo Qingyan would describe him as having a good temper.
Yet, he showed no anger at having wine spilled on him, and even tolerated this young man taking a handkerchief from his pocket to clean the stain.
Though unaware of the inside story, the manager’s experience told him that Huo Qingyan’s tolerance wasn’t without reason.
With so many people still watching, it wasn’t a good situation. The manager smiled and said, “It was just a small misunderstanding. We have plenty of good wine prepared, I hope everyone enjoys themselves.”
The people attending the party were all either rich or powerful, each as sharp as a tack. They understood the manager’s implication and, despite their curiosity, dispersed.
Once the crowd thinned, only Jiang Su, Huo Qingyan, and a Lin Siyue with a darkened expression remained.
Lin Siyue approached: “Did Jiang Su drink too much? How could he be so careless? Let me wipe it for Qingyan.”
He reached for the handkerchief in Jiang Su’s hand.
Jiang Su deftly avoided him, without even glancing at Lin Siyue.
Lin Siyue’s hand froze mid-air, and he looked at Huo Qingyan.
Only then did he realize that Huo Qingyan wasn’t looking at him either.
Huo Qingyan’s gaze was fixed on Jiang Su’s face, his unreadable expression seemingly containing only Jiang Su.
Lin Siyue felt a surge of anger, but still maintained a calm smile: “Qingyan…”
Almost simultaneously, Huo Qingyan reached out and grasped Jiang Su’s wrist: “That’s enough.”
Because they spoke at the same time, he didn’t hear Lin Siyue call him.
Jiang Su stared at the prominent wine stain on his white shirt, thoughtfully saying, “It’s stained. It can’t be cleaned. Just throw it away and buy a new one.”
The words seemed to carry a hidden meaning.
Huo Qingyan’s brows furrowed tightly. He strongly disliked Jiang Su’s current demeanor—pensive and enigmatic.
He held Jiang Su’s wrist without letting go, using his other hand to take out his phone and call Zhou Fu: “Bring the car around, we’re going home now.”
He hung up immediately after giving the instructions and started to leave with Jiang Su.
Lin Siyue was completely ignored.
He had begged Huo Qingyan to bring him to tonight’s party.
His goal was to let the upper echelon of Qingyang City know that he and Huo Qingyan had a special relationship.
With the Lin family in trouble, he could only be revived with Huo Qingyan’s help, needing him to introduce business partners.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Su appeared out of nowhere, ruining his plans.
He had underestimated Jiang Su.
A gloating voice came from behind.
“Jealous?”
Lin Siyue turned around with a grim face, seeing Jiang Lichuan’s mocking expression.
Before returning to Qingyang, he had investigated Jiang Su and knew Jiang Lichuan.
Jiang Lichuan seemed like just a dissolute young master, but his connections were exceptionally good, able to speak up anywhere.
Now that the Lin family was hanging by a thread, and Huo Qingyan hadn’t divorced Jiang Su yet, he dared not confront Jiang Lichuan directly.
“I don’t understand Mr. Jiang’s meaning.”
Listen to this sarcastic tone.
Jiang Lichuan scoffed: “Oh, you know me?”
Then, he approached and spoke to Lin Siyue in a voice only they could hear.
“Your tricks are all outdated stuff my grandfather played. Only that dog Huo Qingyan falls for them. How you deal with Huo Qingyan is none of my business, but don’t mess with my brother. We Jiang family members are principled and virtuous, we respect our elders and love our juniors, and we especially cherish this youngest brother.”
Jiang Su was the youngest in his generation of the Jiang family.
Lin Siyue had lived abroad for a long time and hadn’t interacted much with the Jiang family, but he had heard that one should steer clear of anyone surnamed Jiang.
Jiang Lichuan was extremely arrogant, and even though Lin Siyue was angry, he could only swallow his anger.
Although he didn’t want to admit it, the Jiang family had the capital to be arrogant; it was a fact.
Lin Siyue took several deep breaths to calm himself before his voice sounded normal: “Mr. Jiang misunderstood me, I towards Jiang Su…”
“It’s better if it’s a misunderstanding.” Jiang Lichuan wasn’t interested in listening to his nonsense and turned to leave.
Lin Siyue clenched his fists, a sinister gleam flashing in his eyes.
He would get back every ounce of humiliation he suffered today!
…
Zhou Fu answered Huo Qingyan’s call and waited at the hotel entrance.
Only when Huo Qingyan approached did he see Jiang Su beside him: “Mr. Huo, Mr. Jiang…”
He remembered that Mr. Huo had come with Mr. Lin earlier. How could Mr. Jiang be here?
Huo Qingyan cast a glance at him, and Zhou Fu immediately fell silent, silently opening the back door of the car.
Jiang Su had drunk quite a bit, and the alcohol was hitting him now, causing him a headache and dizziness, making him somewhat uncomfortable, and he didn’t cause any more trouble.
After Huo Qingyan pushed Jiang Su into the car, Zhou Fu noticed the wine stain on Huo Qingyan’s clothes: “Mr. Huo, your clothes…”
It was probably someone trying to curry favor who had deliberately spilled wine on Huo Qingyan. Zhou Fu regretted not following along.
Jiang Su was slightly tipsy, feeling very high. Hearing Zhou Fu ask about Huo Qingyan’s clothes, he leaned over.
Pointing at Huo Qingyan’s clothes, he proudly declared, “I did it!”
As if he had done something incredibly impressive.
Zhou Fu: “…”
To be honest, he didn’t believe it.
Because he had seen how submissive and obedient Jiang Su was in front of Huo Qingyan.
Huo Qingyan’s face stiffened slightly. He pushed Jiang Su back into the car, gave Zhou Fu a cold look, and bent down to get in himself.
Zhou Fu, having followed Huo Qingyan for many years, immediately understood the meaning behind that look: “Keep mum, or else you’ll die.”
Zhou Fu pretended he hadn’t heard anything, calmly sat in the car, and started the engine.
“Wait!”
Before the car could drive off, someone ran forward and stopped it.
Zhou Fu looked closely: “Sixth Young Master Jiang?”
Jiang Lichuan walked straight to the back car window and knocked on it.
The window slowly lowered, revealing Huo Qingyan’s expressionless cold face.
Huo Qingyan’s “everyone owes me money” look was quite intimidating.
Jiang Lichuan cleared his throat, his raised voice somewhat blustering: “Don’t bully my brother! It was just a glass of red wine. He was drunk. You’re the great Huo Corporation CEO, you should have the stomach for it.”