Chapter 43: An Iron Tree Blooming is Nothing More Than This
The Garland Gardens residence was ablaze with lights.
Zheng Xiuang was reporting on the Group’s various affairs from the past week. There was simply too much to cover; even past nine o’clock at night, they hadn’t finished processing everything.
“E-sports is an emerging industry. If the investment department continues to operate with such antiquated perspectives, the entire department might as well be disbanded on the spot…”
The mobile phone resting on the table began to vibrate, the buzzing sound seeming exceptionally abrupt in the quiet room.
Huo Chen glanced at the unknown number on the screen and hung up without hesitation. He was about to continue speaking when the phone, having just fallen silent, began to vibrate again.
Zheng Xiuang, possessing excellent situational awareness, spoke up: “Boss, it’s getting late. Why don’t you take a break? You haven’t had any water or food since you got out of the car. Shall I order a meal for you?”
Huo Chen looked at the calling number, was silent for a moment, and then nodded. “Order it. You eat too, and we’ll continue after.”
Zheng Xiuang nodded in agreement, then took his phone to the balcony to order the food.
Just as Huo Chen was about to answer the call, the vibration stopped abruptly. He leaned back against the sofa, his gaze upon the screen somewhat imperious. The overhead light fell upon him, making him look like a heartless, emotionless god.
The phone soon vibrated again.
This time, Huo Chen finally pressed the answer button. No one spoke on the other end; in the silent space, there was only the sound of slightly heavy breathing.
“Lin Huaizhi, speak.”
Lin Huaizhi had been in a terrible mood, but hearing Huo Chen call his name, his heart instantly floated upwards.
“How did you know it was me?”
Hearing the heavy nasal tone, Huo Chen frowned immediately. “Your cold hasn’t cleared up?”
Lying in bed, Lin Huaizhi sniffled. “Cleared up? Far from it. Not only has it not cleared up, it’s gotten worse. I feel so terrible I could die, and there’s no one here to even pour me a glass of water.”
Huo Chen: “Where is your assistant?”
Lin Huaizhi rolled over, sounding as if he had buried his face in the pillow, muffling his voice against the phone. “I didn’t call him. It’s so late, why would I bother him? Besides, even though he’s my assistant, I’m not exactly thrilled about letting him into my house.”
Huo Chen’s voice betrayed no emotion, neither anger nor joy. “Your territorial instincts are quite strong.”
Lin Huaizhi chuckled twice. “Something like that. But you’re different. If you were to come, I wouldn’t just let you in; I’d personally come to the door to welcome you.”
“You could also walk to the door, open it, and ask him to take you to the hospital.”
No one dislikes being the exception.
Especially when this kind of sentiment was something Huo Chen had never received. He thought his expression remained impassive, but in reality, the ice in his eyes was melting.
“I don’t want to go to the hospital.”
Lin Huaizhi wrapped the quilt tighter around himself.
“That place is filled with wailing. The boundary between life and death is too distinct. If I go there, I won’t be able to sleep for half a month after I come back.”
Huo Chen didn’t have much of an opinion on this poetic expression; he only sensed Lin Huaizhi’s visceral, heartfelt resistance to hospitals.
“Do you have medicine at home?”
“I think so. I don’t know if it’s expired. I haven’t had a cold in a long time. It’s fine, I’ll just wrap up in the quilt and sleep for a night. I should be fine by tomorrow.”
Seeing this half-dead attitude, Huo Chen felt annoyed for no apparent reason. He remained silent for a long time before speaking in a cold voice: “Lin Huaizhi, don’t use this kind of behavior to fish for my sympathy.”
Lin Huaizhi let out a light laugh.
“I knew I couldn’t hide anything from you.”
“But what else can I do? I just wanted you to know that I feel terrible right now. In the off chance that you actually felt sorry for me, wouldn’t I have hit the jackpot?”
Huo Chen was stubborn.
“You don’t even care about your own body, so why is it necessary for me to care?”
“Then I guess neither of us cares,” Lin Huaizhi sniffled again. “I didn’t mean anything else by it. I just wanted to hear your voice.”
“I am not a doctor, nor am I cold medicine. Thinking of me serves no purpose.”
This behavior was exceptionally stiff and straightforward. Lin Huaizhi had thought his relationship with Huo Chen had progressed recently, but looking back, it seemed they hadn’t moved much from the starting line.
Why?
In the novel, Fang Mo showed just a tiny bit of concern, and Huo Chen was dead set on him. But here he was, pampering and confessing his love, yet Huo Chen remained cold and indifferent.
He couldn’t even get a good attitude when he was sick.
The night Lin Huaizhi had a fever in the earthen house, he had been so delirious he didn’t remember hugging Huo Chen and crying, nor did he remember Huo Chen holding him, using his body heat to warm him.
He thought Huo Chen was also afraid of the cold and had only held him for warmth.
Lin Huaizhi was rarely vulnerable.
In his broken life, a life like sludge, if he showed even a mesmerizing speck of fragility, what awaited him was eternal damnation.
But he truly liked Huo Chen.
And the emotion of ‘liking’ someone always brings joy, but coexisting with that joy is pain.
Especially for someone who is sick, psychological defenses are unconsciously lowered. A few sentences from Huo Chen made Lin Huaizhi feel more aggrieved the more he thought about it.
He suppressed his emotions and smiled.
“Please, I’m a patient. Can’t you be a little gentler to a patient?”
“It’s fine, though. I’ve heard your voice, so that counts as some comfort. You go back to work, I won’t disturb you anymore.”
When Zheng Xiuang came in after ordering the meal, he felt the temperature in the room plummet.
And the culprit causing this sudden drop in temperature was, unsurprisingly, his boss.
Wait!
He just ordered a meal! Everything was fine a few minutes ago! Why the sudden cold face? That expression, those eyes—he looked like the King of Hell descending to earth!
Which blind fool provoked this ancestor again?!
Is it easy for him to just do his job?!
Internal screaming aside, Zheng Xiuang hadn’t been a special assistant for years for nothing. He knew Huo Chen’s personality: rewards and punishments were clearly distinguished, and he never punished the innocent. It was just that Huo Chen’s face and aura were truly too terrifying.
Even after following Huo Chen for so long, he was occasionally still intimidated.
“Boss…”
“Call Lao Zhou Ji and order some porridge. Make it something light, suitable for someone with a cold. I’m going over to pick it up now.”
Zheng Xiuang: “Huh?”
Huo Chen paused in the middle of standing up, his eyes turning to Zheng Xiuang. “Didn’t understand?”
“Understood! I’ll order it right now!”
Lao Zhou Ji was a porridge shop in Dragon City. Their porridge was famous, and business was booming. Zheng Xiuang made the call and completed Huo Chen’s request with maximum speed.
Huo Chen prepared to grab his car keys, but after a moment, he frowned, pulling his collar up to sniff. Sure enough, he smelled a thick scent of cigarette smoke. He put down the car keys and turned toward the bathroom.
Before Zheng Xiuang could ask, the man’s voice drifted over: “That’s all for today. Don’t cancel the food order; take it home and eat it yourself.”
Zheng Xiuang scratched his head.
He wondered when his boss started acting on such whims. However, it didn’t seem that strange. When he was ordering the food, he had looked through the glass door of the balcony and seen the boss’s expression.
How should he put it…
An iron tree blooming is nothing more than this?
Thinking of Huo Chen’s recent schedule and the car Huo Chen got into at the airport, Zheng Xiuang had an idea.
It seemed he needed to catch up on that romance variety show when he got back.
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