NASAY CH 38
by Suxxi“What… what do you mean?”
Zhao Jiulan’s lips moved slightly, but it took her a long time to react. A trace of disbelief appeared on her face.
From her appearance, she looked quite young—perhaps even younger than the pampered Wu Suyan.
Huo Xingzhou watched her expression carefully and repeated himself without hiding anything, deliberately provoking her.
“I said I like your son. I want to pursue him, make him mine, wake up with him every day, and cherish him.”
Zhao Jiulan dug her nails into her palms, her teeth grinding audibly. Her eyes turned red with fury, and she looked like she was ready to tear his mouth apart so he would never speak again.
How could he say such shameless things in broad daylight?!
“Shut up! Shut up!”
But Huo Xingzhou seemed unaffected. He leaned one hand against the doorframe, lowered his eyes, and chuckled softly as he continued,
“If same-sex marriage is legalized in Jiangcheng one day, I’ll propose to him in front of everyone. If it’s not, no problem—we’ll just go abroad and get married there.”
“You!”
Zhao Jiulan finally lost control, gritting her teeth and rushing at Huo Xingzhou.
“Shameless! Disgusting! Get out of my house!”
“Shameless? Yeah, I am. What’s the point of saving face?”
Huo Xingzhou sidestepped her, raised his hand, and pointed toward the next room.
“Ms. Zhao, keep your voice down. If the neighbors hear that a man likes your son, wants to kiss and hold him, can you live with that?”
Zhao Jiulan immediately stopped. It seemed like she had never encountered someone so brazen before. Her face turned pale with anger, and she was left with nowhere to vent her frustration.
“Get out.”
Seventeen years ago, when Luo Zhiyuan confronted her and everything became public knowledge, she had already endured one round of humiliation. Instead of blaming him, the neighbors pointed fingers at her.
She couldn’t stand it. She fled from Beishi to Jiangcheng, only to discover she was pregnant.
No one must ever know that her son is also gay! She had spent so many years teaching him to stay away from others, to focus on studying ethics and morality.
No. Absolutely not!
“Even if I die, I won’t let you two be together!”
Zhao Jiulan’s eyes turned red. She rushed toward Luo Xing’s room, but Huo Xingzhou grabbed her and pulled her back, stepping into the house and closing the door behind him.
The room was bright and filled with lush greenery. There were cat towers, cozy cat beds, and imported cat food—everything was perfectly arranged. Even Ye Qiaoqiao’s room wasn’t this well-decorated.
“What do you want?! I’ll call the police!”
Zhao Jiulan glared at him warily, retreating a few steps until she accidentally stepped on a cat’s tail and let out a startled scream. She reached out instinctively, but didn’t manage to grab the cat’s tail.
Huo Xingzhou snorted coldly.
“You take such good care of a cat—so much that stepping on its tail makes you panic—yet your son sleeps in a place barely better than a garbage dump.”
He hooked a chair with his foot, sat down with a lazy posture, and exuded a deliberate air of arrogance.
“I told you from the start—I came here to have a talk with you.”
Zhao Jiulan, in her rigid approach to raising Luo Xing, had grown so controlling that she couldn’t tolerate the slightest deviation. Faced with Huo Xingzhou’s rebellious and mocking demeanor, she felt her chest tighten with anger.
“Do you have any manners at all? Breaking into someone’s home—what do you want to do?”
Instead of getting angry, Huo Xingzhou chuckled and squinted at her.
“Well, I’m here to meet someone with proper manners. I’m planning to date your son, Ms. Zhao. Maybe he’ll change me for the better.”
His smirk was infuriating down to the bone.
The suppressed humiliation and fresh surge of hatred rose within Zhao Jiulan. She sneered coldly, lifting her arm.
Huo Xingzhou didn’t dodge and let her slap him. The sound of the slap left Zhao Jiulan momentarily stunned.
Why… didn’t he dodge?
Huo Xingzhou licked the corner of his mouth and leisurely took out his phone. He snapped a selfie and then put the phone away.
“Zhao Jiulan, teacher at Jiangcheng No.1 High School, verbally abuses and hits students. Post.”
Zhao Jiulan froze for a second, then sneered confidently.
“Don’t think I don’t know the law. I only hit you once. At most, I’ll apologize to you at your house. The law can’t do anything to me.”
“No, no.”
Huo Xingzhou lowered his eyes with a light smile.
“How could I just call the police after being hit? Of course, I’d have to post some news too. I’ll invite some reporters to interview me. My parents will support me, and with this face of mine, it’ll definitely look good on camera.”
“Oh, right.”
He glanced at her and added,
“These reporters are pretty sharp. They might dig up something they shouldn’t—like how Teacher Zhao Jiulan has been abusing her own son for years, beating him until he lost his hearing. And that scar on the back of his head… you did that too, didn’t you?”
“These things, well, they might go beyond my control. Even if I want to speak on your behalf, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to.”
“Coincidentally, I have a relative in the city’s criminal investigation department. I could ask him to investigate thoroughly and prove your innocence.”
“Slapping me once isn’t illegal.”
“But child abuse is.”
“You set me up!”
Zhao Jiulan clenched her hands so tightly that her nails almost pierced her flesh. She stared at him with gritted teeth.
“That’s right.”
Huo Xingzhou admitted without hesitation. He twirled his phone on his knee with his fingertips and smiled.
“Since I’m here today, I’m taking Luo Xing with me. It’s best if you agree. If you refuse, then we’ll see each other at the police station. Either way, once you’re locked up, I’ll still take him with me. Your choice.”
“Impossible! Luo Xing is my son. I won’t allow him to leave. He’s not going anywhere!”
Zhao Jiulan clenched her fists, her eyes nearly popping out in fury.
“I’m going to talk to your parents and ask how they raised such a shameless little brat like you!”
“Funny, I was thinking the same thing.”
Huo Xingzhou stood up, walked closer, and looked down at her with a murderous expression. Zhao Jiulan instinctively took a step back.
There was an indescribable tension in the air. An unfamiliar sense of fear crept up on her—fear of this young man who had barely shed his boyish demeanor. She couldn’t understand why she was afraid.
“How did a cold-hearted person like you raise such a gentle and soft child like Luo Xing?”
Huo Xingzhou was standing so close that Zhao Jiulan had to raise her head to see his expression. His face was as cold as ice.
Huo Xingzhou quietly stared at her, his voice so low it was almost inaudible.
“Let me ask you.”
“With which hand did you damage My little Darling’s ear?”
Zhao Jiulan had never seen someone’s expression turn so dark and vicious. Her legs almost gave out just from his gaze. She opened her mouth but hadn’t spoken when he continued,
“Did your hand hurt when you hit him?”
His eyes…
Her pupils shrank, and she instinctively avoided his gaze, turning her head away.
“How I discipline my son is none of your business. You have no right to interfere.”
“What happened before has nothing to do with me. But from now on…”
Huo Xingzhou paused, his tone deliberate and cold,
“…from now on, he’s mine. Even if he dies, he’ll die in my arms.”
“You’ll have no right to discipline him.”
She didn’t know which word triggered it, but in that instant, Zhao Jiulan was pulled back to seventeen years ago. All the resentment, pain, and humiliation surged up again, as if his presence here was yet another form of mockery.
“Get out! Get out right now!”
Zhao Jiulan pointed at the door.
“I don’t want to see you again. There’s no way I’ll ever let Luo Xing be with you. Not even in death!”
“I’m not negotiating with you. Luo Xing is mine.”
Huo Xingzhou lowered his eyes and stared down at Zhao Jiulan, giving her an ice-cold smile that sent chills down her spine.
“From today on, if you dare touch Luo Xing again, no matter who you are, I’ll take your life.”
When Luo Xing woke up, Huo Xingzhou was already gone. His clothes and shoes were nowhere to be found, as if he had never been there.
Luo Xing sat in a daze for a few seconds, thinking that maybe Huo Xingzhou’s presence last night had just been a dream.
He grabbed his phone to check the time—it was 8 a.m. How had he slept so deeply? He had never overslept before, yet today, he had slept until eight.
Sitting up, Luo Xing paused. There was a scarf on the bed—it was his.
Then he glanced at the table. Half of a cake was still there. His heart tightened with panic. Could it be…?
“Huo Xingzhou.”
His heartbeat quickened. Could his mother have returned and seen Huo Xingzhou? Panic surged as he jumped out of bed, trembling as he hastily put on his clothes, anxiety filling his chest.
He opened the door and saw a line of footprints leading from the front door to the main house. Another set of footprints led from the gate inside. His heart sank—Zhao Jiulan had returned this morning.
The more he thought about it, the more nervous he became. Last night, because it was snowing, Huo Xingzhou had even bought him a cake. Luo Xing had softened and couldn’t resist letting him stay for the night, thinking he would wake up early and send him away.
But unexpectedly, he overslept.
Luo Xing hated himself for it. If Huo Xingzhou got hurt because of him… he didn’t dare think further and ran toward the main house.
Normally, he avoided going to the main house, but this time, he didn’t care.
Just as his hand touched the door, it opened from inside. Huo Xingzhou stood there smiling.
“Oh, you’re awake?”
Luo Xing swallowed hard, staring at him for a few seconds. Then he noticed the familiar wound on his face and immediately teared up. Grabbing his hand, he urged,
“You need to leave now!”
Huo Xingzhou held his hand, his tone light.
“Why so urgent?”
Luo Xing shook his head hard, his eyes turning redder, tears blurring his vision.
“From now on… don’t ever…”
“Ms. Zhao, Luo Xing and I will be leaving now.”
Huo Xingzhou allowed himself to be pulled along, turning his head and smiling at the room.
“We’ll visit you again sometime.”
Luo Xing froze.
“What… what did you say?”
Huo Xingzhou warmed Luo Xing’s hand with his breath and rubbed it gently, smiling.
“You’re overthinking. Ms. Zhao told me that you didn’t have many friends when you were little. She asked me to take good care of you and not let you bury yourself in studying all the time.”
Luo Xing stared at him in shock, unable to process how this version of Zhao Jiulan could be the same person from his memory.
Huo Xingzhou raised his hand, his voice soft.
“Let’s go.”
Luo Xing walked a few steps, then turned back.
Zhao Jiulan sat on a chair, staring blankly into space. She neither responded to nor refuted Huo Xingzhou’s words.
What Luo Xing couldn’t see was that her fingertips had already pierced her palm. Fresh blood seeped from her hand, and her lips trembled as she muttered,
“I won’t let you be together. Never.”