To My Dear Mr. Huo

Because of the way Su Qingsang was behaving, Liu Tongjia suspected that something unusual was happening.

“Su Qingsang, y—” Before she could finish the word “you”, she noticed a half-dressed Zhang Yichen open the door and put his arms around Su Qingsang.

Su Qingsang froze. She was being held in the arms of her husband’s uncle, right in front of her mother-in-law.

Nothing could be more embarrassing than that. She struggled in vain, trying to free herself from Zhang Yichen’s grip.

But Zhang Yichen was stronger than her, so she didn’t have a chance to get away.

Liu Tongjia was almost blue in the face as she watched this happening.

“Wha-what are you two doing? You—”

“Aunt, it’s not what you think it is!”

Su Qingsang felt so embarrassed that she even wanted to die. She had no idea why things became turned out like that.

Earlier, Huo Jinyao had said that he was tired and had fallen asleep holding on to Su Qingsang.

Weirdly, Su Qingsang hadn’t felt tired at all. On the contrary, she felt rather energetic. Therefore, after Huo Jinyao fell asleep, she picked up her medical books and continued reading. But a while later, her phone started ringing. It was a call from Shi Mengwan. She didn’t want to wake Huo Jinyao up, so without thinking too much, she left the room and walked to the end of the hallway to take the call.

There was a study room at the end of the hallway. No one was in there at that moment. It was the perfect place for her to talk to Shi Mengwan on the phone.

She had a feeling that Shi Mengwan hadn’t been in a good mood lately.

She was right. Shi Mengwan was really upset.

She was in France attending the design competition.

She had passed the preliminary round and entered the quarterfinals. She had a great chance of getting into the finals.

She might not win any prize in the end but being able to participate in the competition was already quite an encouragement to her.

As a young designer, she was thrilled to know that she could go so far.

However, not everything was as perfect. While her career was going well, her relationship with Zhan Haoze was turning out to be a failure.

She had known that Zhan Haoze had a fiancée—whose name was Chen Feifei—but somehow, she had accidentally ended up in bed with Zhan Haoze.

She had put up a fight to resist him. She did not want to be the other woman. But in the end, she lost to her longing and her desire to make Zhan Haoze remember her. By accident, she slept him.

She hadn’t decided what to do about her relationship with him yet. So, she took her trip to France as an opportunity to calm down and think it through. Unexpectedly, when she was in France, she read the local news from Lin City and learned that Zhan Haoze and Chen Feifei had gotten engaged.

At that very moment, she wanted to give up on the design competition and fly back home immediately.

She wanted to question Zhan Haoze in person and ask him why he did that to her.

She wanted to ask him who she was to him if Chen Feifei was always the one that he thought of marrying in the end.

If he was only playing around with her, why did he refuse to let her go?

But she couldn’t ask him those questions because she had no way of contacting him.

He rejected her calls at first and eventually turned off his phone. At this point, Shi Mengwan was holding on to her phone with her head hanging low. She couldn’t describe her own emotions, but for sure, they were not good.

She struggled to understand the terrible feelings she had inside. She couldn’t possibly tell her family about what happened.

She tossed and turned the whole night and finally decided to talk to Su Qingsang.

Su Qingsang detected Shi Mengwan’s unusual tone as soon as she answered the call.

However, Shi Mengwan heard Su Qingsang’s voice, she found it hard to bring herself to tell her what happened.

She couldn’t bear to tell Su Qingsang that she had become the other woman in someone else’s relationship—and that she had done that willingly—even though Su Qingsang was her best friend.

‘Do I really have the right to demand answers from Zhan Haoze?’ she asked herself.

In the end, instead of talking to Su Qingsang about that problem, she told her some of the happy things that happened to her in France.

Su Qingsang had detected from her tone that something wasn’t right. She asked Shi Mengwan if there was anything wrong repeatedly. But her best friend simply told her that it was because of the exhausting competition and did not say a word about Zhan Haoze.

Su Qingsang couldn’t get anything out of her, so she gave up in the end.

After ending her call, she headed back to Huo Jinyao’s room. Then, on her way, she received a call from Su Yuxin.

She hadn’t made it back to Lin City to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival with her family. Su Yuxin called her and told her that both he and Li Qianxue missed her very much.

She was on the way back to her room when the call came in. She stopped walking to answer the call.

At that time, she had forgotten that Zhang Yichen, who was drugged, was lying in the room behind the door she stood in front of.

Earlier, Huo Jinyao had left the room hastily in anger and did not remember to lock the door.

Su Qingsang wasn’t talking that loudly on the phone. But Zhang Yichen was a serviceman who had a very sharp hearing. He heard her voice.

To be honest, anyone he heard would have sounded like Su Qingsang to him at that moment because he was drugged.

Huo Jinyao had struck him on the back of his neck and put him in an unconscious state earlier, but it didn’t take him a long time to wake up again.

The well-trained soldier woke up quickly from unconsciousness, but he was still not yet sober.

Under the effects of the drug and alcohol as well as the blow Huo Jinyao had given him, he was still submerged deeply in his delusion.

He woke up and heard Su Qingsang’s voice. He got out of bed and moved to the door to hear her more clearly.

He opened the door to find her talking on the phone.

He put his arms around her waist as soon as she ended the call.

Su Qingsang gave a start when the man suddenly held her from behind. She was standing right beside his door, so at first, she thought it was a prank by Huo Jinyao.

“Jinyao, what are you do—”

But before she could finish speaking, “Huo Jinyao” held her waist and dragged her back into his room from the hallway.

Once inside the adjacent room, Su Qingsang realized that the man behind her was not Huo Jinyao after all.

Who was he? She started struggling, but Zhang Yichen had pressed her heavily against the wall.

He was murmuring something that Su Qingsang couldn’t hear clearly.

Actually, he was calling her name. She didn’t hear that clearly, she only heard him uttering a guttural sound from his throat.

She didn’t need to identify the man by his voice, because she recognized the room they were in. It was Zhang Yichen’s room.

He was still drunk. That was the first thought that popped in Su Qingsang’s head. After realizing that, she forced herself to calm down.

“Uncle, you’re drunk. Let me go,” she said.

Zhang Yichen held her tight. His delusion was becoming more and more realistic.

As he released her to let her turn around, Su Qingsang saw his eyes and gasped. His eyes scared her because they were as red as blood.

“Uncle?”

She could smell the alcohol on his breath. That unpleasant scent made her turn her face away from him.

She didn’t think much about Zhang Yichen’s behavior. She just thought that he was acting just like a drunkard.

Zhang Yichen fixed his eyes on her face. His mind went blank. He felt a little confused.

His sanity fought with his desire. The aroma coming from the woman’s body in his arms was so real that he almost believed she was not a delusion.

He wouldn’t want to offend her even if she was only a delusion in his mind either.

He was fighting with himself. At last, all he could do was hold the woman he thought was a delusion tightly.

It didn’t help.

The scent of her continued to boost his desire, making it harder and harder for him to control himself.

‘Qingsang,’ he said her name in his head, not out loud. He was murmuring to himself.

Su Qingsang couldn’t hear him clearly, and she didn’t want to.

“Uncle, let me go.”

Zhang Yichen lowered his head to inhale her scent more deeply.

Su Qingsang gave a start. Without thinking, she raised a foot and kicked him on the shins.

Usually, she wouldn’t have made any impact.

But today, Zhang Yichen was drugged and half-conscious. He was not as alert as usual, so in the end, Su Qingsang managed to break free from his arms.

The tight hug that Zhang Yichen had given her had messed up her hair and made her clothes wrinkled.

She hadn’t been expecting to run into Liu Tongjia just as she was escaping from Zhang Yichen’s room.

Her current situation was so embarrassing that she wanted to kill herself right there and then.

Before she could explain herself clearly to Liu Tongjia, Zhang Yichen had come out of the room once again and hugged her from behind.

Watching this, Liu Tongjia’s face turned as black as thunder. She jabbed a finger at the two of them, glaring at Su Qingsang as if trying to burn her all the way through with her eyes.

“What are you doing?!”

Anger almost twisted Liu Tongjia’s face beyond recognition. If she could kill people with her eyes, Su Qingsang would have died already.

“Aunt, it’s not like what you think! Uncle is drunk.”

“Drunk?” Liu Tongjia laughed with anger, “Do you expect me to believe that? Do you think that we’re all stupid? You two are obviously up to something shameless and revolting behind our backs, and now you’re trying to cover up for yourself!”

Her words sounded awful, but Su Qingsang had no way of arguing with her at that moment.

She struggled as hard as she could, trying to break free from Zhang Yichen’s grip. But the man’s grip was stronger than before and so her struggle was entirely in vain.

An infuriated Liu Tongia continued pointing at Su Qingsang with a trembling finger.

“This is so ridiculous! I can’t believe this! Don’t you have any sense of shame at all? Su Qingsang, don’t you forget who you are!”

Su Qingsang, of course, remembered exactly who she was. She was feeling utterly embarrassed. What happened at that moment was definitely not what she wanted.

“Aunt, please help me! It’s really not what you think! Uncle is drunk…”

Once her voice faded, Huo Jinyao came out of the room.

He had been fast asleep. But the sudden noises from the outside woke him up. He had heard Liu Tongjia’s voice, which was raised and deliberately shrill, and so he came out of the room to see what was going on.

He saw the exact same scene that Liu Tongjia was seeing.

“Jinyao?”

Seeing him come out, Su Qingsang instantly felt relieved.

“Come and get him off me. He’s still drunk.”

Huo Jinyao glanced at her, then his eyes turned to Zhang Yichen, who was holding her tight.

Drunk?

Was he drunk, or was he using the drunkenness as an excuse to take advantage of her?

Recalling how Zhang Yichen had held him and called him Qingsang, Huo Jinyao immediately became angry.

He took a few steps forward, dragging Su Qingsang out of Zhang Yichen’s arms. And without thinking, he punched Zhang Yichen on the face.

That punch failed to wake Zhang Yichen up. He stood there, looking at Huo Jinyao with a dazed expression and after a moment, attempted to hug him.

Huo Jinyao was so furious that he raised his arm and gave the man another punch.

Even after being punched two times in a row, Zhang Yichen still did not wake up. Instead, he moved closer to Huo Jinyao.

Su Qingsang was still shocked after being released from Zhang Yichen’s grip.

She made eye-contact with Liu Tongjia by accident. She wanted to explain but she was aware that her explanation at this point would be pointless. Liu Tongjia now firmly believed that Su Qingsang was cheating on Huo Jinyao. Undoubtedly, she would choose to believe what she had seen instead of anything Su Qingsang tried to say.

So, she decided not to explain herself. She only needed Huo Jinyao’s implicit trust.

She turned to look at Zhang Yichen, thinking about why Zhang Yichen had suddenly acted like that. He had been drinking a lot of alcohol, so at first, she thought it was the alcohol that was causing him to behave like this.

But as she saw Zhang Yichen stubbornly trying to hug Huo Jinyao even after the latter had punched him twice in a row, she started to think that something was probably not right.

As a doctor, she could tell that something was wrong with Zhang Yichen.

Zhang Yichen’s face was too red. Su Qingsang looked at him and took a few steps forward abruptly.

“Jinyao, wait! Stop hitting him!”

Was she speaking for him? Huo Jinyao gave her a sullen face, almost wanting to give Zhang Yichen a few more punches.

“Jinyao, something is wrong with your uncle,” Su Qingsang said.

She stepped up and dragged Huo Jinyao’s arm away, saying, “Can you put him down? I want to give him a checkup.”

Huo Jinyao looked at Su Qingsang. She looked very serious.

He turned back to Zhang Yichen. This time, he also noticed that something was wrong with him.

He lunged forward and struck Zhang Yichen with one move on the back, so he fell unconscious. The two punches had made him very dizzy and the last strike easily put him in a coma.

Huo Jinyao lifted him and dragged him back into the room, putting him back on the bed. Su Qingsang followed him in. Once Zhang Yichen was settled on the bed, she lifted his eyelids to check his eyeballs.

His pupils were expanding weirdly. He was clearly out of his mind.

Alcohol might be the cause, but another possibility had popped into Su Qingsang’s mind.

She once had a patient, a pregnant woman who had no idea she was pregnant. Someone offered her a drink, and she took it. Later on, the drink was proved to contain hallucinogens.

Hallucinogens and other similar drugs sometimes caused effects similar to drunken reactions. Some inexperienced doctors might not be able to tell the differences.

“I think maybe he took something that he shouldn’t have.” Su Qingsang couldn’t prove it yet, but she believed that her guess was right.

She raised her head to looked at Huo Jinyao and said, “Jinyao, we need a doctor who’s majored in this field. I want him to get a blood test.”

Huo Jinyao looked at Su Qingsang, reflecting on Zhang Yichen’s usual manner.

His uncle had always been calm and controlled, very strict with himself. His behavior today was indeed very unusual.

He nodded and called a doctor. It was indeed inappropriate to send Zhang Yichen to the hospital now with all the guests were still in the house.

Liu Tongjia had also come into the room. She looked at Huo Jinyao and Su Qingsang, sneering. “Su Qingsang, stop trying to confuse us. You are obviously having an affair with him. You’re just coming up with all this nonsense to cover for yourself. I’m telling you, that isn’t going to work.”

Su Qingsang glanced at Liu Tongjia but did not take her words to heart. Then, she turned to Huo Jinyao expectantly. She needed his trust and his only.

She did not need the whole world to validate her.

Huo Jinyao took a step forward and held her hand, looking at Zhang Yichen who was lying unconscious on the bed. At this point, he started to share Su Qingsang’s worry about his uncle.

Su Qingsang held his hand tightly. She looked calm but deep down she was worried that Huo Jinyao might misunderstand her too.

“I believe you.”

Huo Jinyao said these simple words that exuded steady confidence. Su Qingsang smiled, holding his hand with both of hers.

This was an extremely unpleasant sight to the eyes of Liu Tongjia. She could barely remain in the same room.

“Oh, how wonderful! I am so impressed. I didn’t know that my son is such a devoted lover!”

Her eyes shifted from Huo Jinyao to Su Qingsang and then landed back on Huo Jinyao.

“Huo Jinyao,” she said, “you are a grown man. You are married. Can you please stop being so naïve? This woman does not love you at all. She’s just using you. She hooked up with Zhang Yichen today. In the future, she’ll hook up with other men behind your back. Can’t you see it? It can’t be more obvious than this. Open your eyes! Do you need to see her in the bed with another man to believe it?”

Her words were honestly awful. Su Qingsang twisted her lips as she intended to protest against this accusation. But before she could say anything, Huo Jinyao squeezed her hands.

He turned and stared down at Liu Tongjia with blazing eyes of determination.

“Mom, you don’t have to say that. I believe Qingsang. I believe in her moral capabilities. I also believe in my uncle. They would never do something like that to me,” he said.

“Oh, great! So, I’m the bad person now,” said Liu Tongjia.

“That’s not what I’m trying to say. I’m just saying that maybe we can save this conversation until Uncle has done a blood test and the results come out.”

“A blood test? Is that really necessary? He just had some alcohol. When the alcohol is in, the truth is out. He might have acted like that because he was drunk, but that’s clearly what he really wants. The two of them were cuddling right in front of you! Have you ever thought that maybe, when you were not around, they might have done something even more revolting?”

“Mom.”

“Aunt.”

Neither could Huo Jinyao nor Su Qingsang could bear to continue listening to that. The two of them looked at Liu Tongjia together, both unhappy.

Huo Jinyao was angry but Su Qingsang was anxious.

Su Qingsang couldn’t bear to hear Liu Tongjia making all those terrible accusations, even though she didn’t care about what the latter thought of her character.

“Huo Jinyao, if you are a real man, you should divorce her. I’m telling you that a woman can be incapable and ugly, but she should never be disloyal to her husband. Is she loyal to you?” Liu Tongjia continued.

“Mom! Stop it. Qingsang isn’t that kind of person,” said Huo Jinyao.

“Aunt, I’m aware that you don’t like me. But please don’t say something like that,” said Su Qingsang.

“Su Qingsang, what gives you the right to tell me what I cannot say? You don’t even have the guts to admit what you’ve done, do you? Since you’ve done it already, when people talk about it, you just need to suck it up!” Liu Tongjia said.

“Aunt, I have never done that. I assure you.”

“Mom, I know that she’s innocent. She’s not that kind of woman,” said Huo Jinyao.

The look in the eyes of Su Qingsang and Huo Jinyao just made Liu Tongjia’s anger flare up even more. She stared at them, nodding slowly with her teeth gritted.

“Good, you two are on the same side. The warning I’ve been trying to give turns out to be unnecessary. Huo Jinyao, I’ll be waiting for you to regret your decision.”

After saying that, she glared at Su Qingsang and turned, leaving the room without looking at Huo Jinyao again. Her face was filled with displeasure.

After she left, Su Qingsang couldn’t help but drop her shoulders. She looked at Huo Jinyao, struggling to put her scattered thoughts into words.

“Jinyao?”

“It’s okay. It’s not because of you.” Huo Jinyao held her, sighed softly. He said, “My mom is angry at me. Don’t worry about it.”

“I understand that, but I still want to tell you that nothing is going on between Uncle and me.”

“I know. I believe you.”

It was the second time that Huo Jinyao had told her that he believed her. Su Qingsang couldn’t help but reach out both arms to hold him.

“Thank you, Jinyao,” she said, looking at him affectionally and satisfyingly.

It felt nice to be trusted by someone so firmly.

Huo Jinyao held her. He did trust Su Qingsang. As for Zhang Yichen, he still didn’t know if what the man had said to him was drunken talk or serious.

***

Liu Tongjia returned to her room, feeling very sick. Her head was throbbing, and she was trembling in anger. Huo Mingguang wasn’t in the room. He was in his study with Huo Yangyuan’s sons.

Huo Yangyuan’s sons, Huo Mingfan and Huo Mingqi, were working in two different districts. The Tianyu Group had invested in both of those districts. Usually, Huo Mingguang didn’t have many chances to get together with those two cousins of his because everyone was busy at work. This time, since the family meeting had brought the three of them together, Huo Mingguang didn’t want to miss the opportunity of having a good chat with his cousins.

So there was no one to comfort Liu Tongjia. She sat in the room alone, unable to ease her anger.

She hadn’t shown those ugly photos to Huo Jinyao yet. Huo Jinyao trusted his wife so blindly that even after witnessing Su Qingsang and Zhang Yichen holding each other, he still tried to find excuses for Zhang Yichen.

It was ridiculous.

While the angry Liu Tongjia was still thinking about how to make Huo Jinyao open his eyes to see Su Qingsang’s lies for himself, the doctor arrived and gave Zhang Yichen a blood test.

Soon, Huo Jinyao received the results of the test.

As Su Qingsang had expected, Zhang Yichen was drugged.

Reading the test result, Su Qingsang nodded. Then, she raised her head and looked at Huo Jinyao in the eyes seriously.

“Jinyao, this is exactly what I thought. Uncle has been drugged. It’s probably a hallucinogen or something like that,” she said.

The test result explained Zhang Yichen’s odd behavior.

Huo Jinyao looked at Su Qingsang. She had quite simply put the blame for all of Zhang Yichen’s actions on the drug and alcohol. However, Huo Jinyao knew that she was not entirely right about that.

Su Qingsang was innocent, but Zhang Yichen was definitely not.

The drug and alcohol had merely revealed his true feelings. Those feelings already existed inside him for a long time.

Zhang Yichen was in love with Su Qingsang. Huo Jinyao was now sure about that.

“How did he get drugged? Who could have drugged him? We all had lunch together…” Su Qingsang couldn’t figure it out. She turned to Huo Jinyao to see what he thought.

Huo Jinyao stopped thinking about Zhang Yichen’s hidden feelings. He was not going to tell Su Qingsang about Zhang Yichen’s feelings for her.

As for the questions that she had asked, he already knew the answer.