Huo Tingshan felt as though he had slept for a very long time. His consciousness had sunk into a boundless black sea, falling endlessly, only to be dragged upward midway by an invisible force.
Just as he broke the surface of the water, he faintly heard a few voices.
There were male and female voices, blurry and indistinct.
He struggled to hear what they were saying clearly, but ultimately failed. The surrounding voices gradually faded away, and his consciousness sank once more.
When he woke up again, it seemed as if a long time had passed.
Lying on a soft bed, Huo Tingshan opened his eyes and stared at the pure white ceiling adorned with beautiful patterns, unsure of what year or day it was.
His head throbbed with a splitting pain, as if a tremendous force had viciously struck his temples. He propped himself up from the bed, wanting to rub his temples, but froze the moment he raised his hand.
Even having weathered countless storms in his life, Huo Tingshan couldn't help but reveal a look of astonishment at this moment.
Everything in his line of sight was incredibly bizarre. Setting aside the strange, checkered long-sleeved shirt and trousers he was wearing, the room itself was peculiar enough.
The floor was inlaid with neatly textured wooden planks, each the same size, arranged in an interlocking zigzag pattern.
On either side of the large bed stood a creamy-white low cabinet, each bearing an exquisite lamp shaped like a vase. Directly in front of him was a wide, grayish-black mirror so smooth it could reflect a person's image.
Near the corner beside the mirror stood a tall cabinet fitted with glass. Through the clear glass, a multitude of variously shaped models could be seen inside.
On the other side of the tall cabinet was a window covered by a thin sheer curtain. The entire window was actually paneled with glass, offering an exceptionally wide field of view. Looking out from within, his gaze fell from a high vantage point. Huo Tingshan saw lush green trees, a small artificial hill built of stones, and a large expanse of flat lawn.
A snow-white dog was running wildly across the grass.
Click.
Huo Tingshan suddenly heard a faint sound, like a door opening, followed by footsteps approaching from a distance.
A moment later, a figure that was unfamiliar yet held a trace of familiarity walked in through the crescent-shaped archway to the side. The newcomer was around thirty years old, with neat short hair, wearing strange black-and-white clothes, and sporting two small pieces of glass resting on the bridge of his nose.
"Young Master Ze is awake. Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?" the butler, Zhao Nai, asked with concern.
The first moment Huo Tingshan saw Zhao Nai, the thought that had been faintly surfacing earlier suddenly burst open in his mind with a pop.
This was not a place he was familiar with; rather, it looked very much like the future generations his wife had spoken of.
Had he arrived in the future?
Huo Tingshan, in a rare moment of daze, murmured, "My Great Yin has fallen, and my wife is gone too..."
Zhao Nai was standing not far away and heard him. He immediately and briskly pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number: "Dr. Zhou, Young Master Ze is awake, but there's a slight situation. Please come over here."
In less than half an hour, Huo Tingshan was surrounded by several doctors. Some checked his heart rate, some changed the dressing on his forehead wound, and others asked him questions.
Huo Tingshan didn't say a single word from beginning to end. He sat on the bed, observing this group of people bustling around him.
During this process, some subtle details slowly emerged in his mind. Like looking at flowers through a fog, the memories were very hazy. Many things flashed by, lacking a beginning or an end, fragmented and scattered.
But no matter what, that strong sense of unease finally diminished quite a bit. He remembered that he still bore the surname Huo here, but his former courtesy name had now become his given name.
He was now Huo Junze, twenty-one years old this year, and still studying.
As for anything more, it hadn't been triggered in his memory just yet.
Huo Tingshan listened to them converse with solemn expressions for a while longer.
Perhaps seeing that he remained silent, Dr. Zhou said, "Butler Zhao, give the mister and madam a call and report Young Master Ze's condition truthfully. To be on the safe side, I suggest Young Master Ze go to the hospital for a detailed brain scan. The human brain is extremely complex, requiring billions of neurons communicating with each other to function together. Ordinary examinations make it difficult to rule out where the problem lies."
Zhao Nai nodded. "Alright, I'll do it right..."
"There is no need for that," Huo Tingshan finally spoke.
In an instant, everyone looked at him. As the butler, Zhao Nai was both excited and worried.
Huo Tingshan knew that mister and madam referred to his parents. He worked hard to dig out useful information from his messy memory fragments, slowly organizing his words: "Don't tell my parents. I had just woken up earlier and hadn't recovered from my dream, but I am much better now."
Zhao Nai hesitated. The way Young Master Ze spoke just now was a bit strange, like someone out of a historical TV drama. He felt it was still necessary to have a detailed checkup. "But..."
"There are no buts!" Huo Tingshan said in a cold voice.
Zhao Nai wanted to say more, but upon meeting those narrow, dark eyes, he felt as if he were instantly locked in place. It was as though an invisible force had gripped his throat, rendering him utterly unable to utter a single word of objection.
It wasn't just him; Dr. Zhou and the others also subconsciously kept quiet out of fear. They thought to themselves that he was indeed Elder Huo's beloved grandson, possessing the very same imposing aura the elder had back in the day when he carried a rifle across the Chishui River.
Zhao Nai asked, "Young Master Ze, would you like to eat?"
Huo Tingshan was in no mood to eat and directly shooed them away. "No need. All of you, get out. I want to rest."
Dr. Zhou left first. Just as Zhao Nai was about to follow, he was called to a halt by Huo Tingshan.
"Young Master Ze?" Zhao Nai thought the other party had changed his mind and wanted to eat.
Huo Tingshan, however, said, "Bring me the latest edition of the legal statutes. I want the most comprehensive one."
Zhao Nai: "?"
Wait, why was this eldest young master suddenly wanting to read the law out of nowhere? Could it be that he wanted to switch majors and study law for his postgraduate degree?
That shouldn't be the case. He had never heard that Young Master Ze wanted to be a lawyer before! Besides, Young Master Ze was studying national defense technology. If nothing unexpected happened, he would most likely be guided by his second uncle in the future and enter politics.
Could it be that Young Master Ze's car accident this time wasn't an accident at all, but someone secretly tampering with the race car to cause a crash? Did Young Master Ze know the truth and want to teach the mastermind a lesson, but was afraid of breaking the law and ruining his future, so he wanted to check the criminal law first?
After a storm of conspiracy theories in his head, Zhao Nai still couldn't figure out the reason.
However, as a butler, this little matter was very simple. Zhao Nai said, "Young Master Ze, how about you read the electronic version first, and I'll bring the paper version over this afternoon."
For a moment, Huo Tingshan didn't understand what an electronic version was.
Zhao Nai walked over to the desktop computer, turned it on, logged onto a website, and downloaded a PDF of the criminal law.
Huo Tingshan watched him operate it without saying a word from beginning to end. But when the computer screen lit up, his pupils contracted slightly, and then he raised his hand to rub his temples as if he had a headache.
Zhao Nai placed the criminal law PDF on the desktop and bookmarked a few webpages commonly used by law students. "Young Master Ze, it's all set."
Huo Tingshan: "Alright."
...
After Zhao Nai left, Huo Tingshan was the only one left in the bedroom.
He wasn't in a hurry to sit in front of the computer. Instead, he first took a stroll around the room, then walked into the bathroom, cloakroom, and adjacent small parlor connected to the bedroom. After inspecting them one by one, he returned to the bedside and saw the cell phone resting on the nightstand.
Fragmented memories and the words Pei Ying had once spoken flashed through his mind. Huo Tingshan picked up the cell phone and sat down on the computer chair.
He sat there for an entire afternoon.
He marvelled at it, yet at the same time felt it was only natural.
As evening approached, Huo Tingshan pondered for a moment before finally opening a video website to search for videos of university students.
In the Great Yin Dynasty, men and women of this age would have already started a family and established their careers. However, in this modern era, twenty-somethings were still studying, so it was normal for them to act somewhat immaturely.
Youths should behave like youths, otherwise, someone would probably tell him to go get his brain checked again.
When Zhao Nai came over again in the evening, he saw the young man not far away had changed into a black and white casual outfit. Seeing him enter, the young man merely glanced at him and then went straight back to playing with his phone. Compared to before, when he had opened his mouth and declared "My Great Yin has fallen," he seemed incredibly normal.
It could be said that apart from the gauze still taped to his forehead, this eldest young master was finally acting normal.
"Young Master Ze, it is time to eat." Zhao Nai's heart finally settled back into his chest.
Huo Tingshan followed him downstairs, but saw no one else on the ground floor. Seeing him look around, Zhao Nai quickly explained, "President Huo and President Yin flew abroad for a business trip these past two days. They will probably be back the day after tomorrow."
Originally, this emergency business trip was supposed to last another week. However, after Young Master Ze woke up at noon, he informed the master and madam of the news, and both of them moved their return dates forward.
Huo Tingshan did not say anything and sat down to eat.
He ate this meal all by himself, which Huo Tingshan was not quite used to. Ever since the Great Yin was put on the right track, he almost always had her by his side when he dined.
Now, his madam was gone...
Huo Tingshan ate without tasting his food.
After he finished eating, Zhao Nai, who had disappeared just a moment ago, popped up again from nowhere. Huo Tingshan had already remembered that this person was the butler. "Zhao Nai, help me do something."
Zhao Nai looked helpless. "Young Master Ze, other than matters regarding car racing, anything else is fine."
The reason Young Master Ze ended up in the hospital this time was because he went racing with that group of rich young masters, which resulted in an accident where he crashed into the guardrail. President Huo had given a strict order absolutely forbidding Young Master Ze from touching race cars again, terrified that this precious only son would continue to act recklessly until he got himself killed.
"It is not about racing. I need you to find someone for me," Huo Tingshan said. "Her name is Pei Ying. Pei as in the surname, and Ying as in the bird flying through the tall grass."
Hearing that it was not about racing, Zhao Nai had just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the name "Pei Ying." He froze for a moment, thinking to himself that there really were quite a few people using the names of historical figures.
"Young Master Ze, where did you meet this Miss Pei? Do you know which school she is currently attending?" Zhao Nai naturally assumed that the person Young Master Ze was looking for must be someone of the same age.
But Huo Tingshan's next words caused Zhao Nai, who had been a butler for many years and felt he had developed excellent psychological resilience, to stand stunned for a long time.
Huo Tingshan said, "I do not know her age. She might still be a student, or she might already be working and teaching at a university. She is from City A. She has a brother who is ten years older than her, and she might also have a Xing... ahem, a doctor husband."
Zhao Nai was speechless. Was it really this abstract?
Zhao Nai pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose. "Young Master Ze, may I ask why you are looking for this Miss Pei?"
She might have a doctor husband—did Young Master Ze want to see a doctor?
Huo Tingshan said lightly, "Do not worry about it, just help me find her."
At that moment, the phone in Huo Tingshan's pocket vibrated. He couldn't say he understood one hundred percent of this little gadget's functions, but after fiddling with it all afternoon, he had figured out about seventy or eighty percent of it.
For instance, the dialogue box that just popped up was called WeChat, used for communication.
[Cosmic Handsome Boy]: Brother Ze, how are you doing? You haven't replied to my messages for so long, don't tell me you're in a coma. I'm dying of anxiety here, hurry up and reply to your bro, will you?
Huo Tingshan swiped up and found the other party's name from their previous chats: Chen Quan.
After seeing this name, he inexplicably recalled memories related to this person.
Chen Quan, the third son of the Chen family, was the same age as him. The two of them had been eating, drinking, and having fun together for five or six years.
[H]: .
Seeing him reply, the other party immediately got excited. This time, Chen Quan did not send a message but directly made a voice call.
Huo Tingshan looked at the screen with the popping red and green buttons for a moment, then tapped the red one.
The phone instantly stopped ringing.
The person on the other end was persistent. Seeing that the first call did not go through, he made a second call.
This time, Huo Tingshan pressed the green button.
As soon as the call connected, the other end unleashed a torrent of words: "Brother Ze, how are your injuries? Are they serious? Damn it, I never expected that bastard Ji Zhaoxing to be such a shady prick. He deliberately found someone to cut off your car. If you hadn't been startled, Brother Ze, you wouldn't have ended up lying in the hospital for so long. Your head was bleeding so much that day, I... I really thought you weren't going to make it."
Huo Tingshan held the phone a bit further away to save his ears from the deafening noise.
The other side was not finished yet: "But this matter blew up. The guy Ji Zhaoxing hired to cut you off was as timid as a mouse. After being scared just a little bit, he confessed to everything in two seconds flat. Hahaha, I heard Ji Zhaoxing got whipped by his dad several times. I'm guessing that when your parents come back from abroad, his parents will bring him to your house to apologize."
Minor scuffles between the younger generation could be ignored, but when it escalated to bloodshed and hospitalization, the elders would not just sit idly by.
Chen Quan babbled on for quite a while before belatedly realizing that the other end had been completely silent.
"Brother Ze, are you there?"
Huo Tingshan casually hummed in response.
Chen Quan let out a breath. "Brother Ze, are you free tomorrow? I'll come see you. School starts in half a month, so we should party while we still can. Otherwise, once school starts, we'll have to behave and attend classes."
Chen Quan was wanting to come visit him in his convalescence.
Huo Tingshan refused. "I am not free. We will talk about it in a few days."
Ignoring the squawking from the other end, Huo Tingshan directly tapped the red button, and his ears instantly found peace.
He went upstairs and returned to his room.
Zhao Nai had already delivered a large stack of books to his room. They were all related to law, including but not limited to constitutional law, criminal law, and administrative law, all categorized and neatly secured with small bookends.
For the next two days, Huo Tingshan basically spent his time reading and surfing the internet, getting in touch with this world that felt both strange and familiar.
Two days later, the master and madam of the house returned from their business trip abroad.
When he saw the middle-aged man in a sharp suit and the woman beside him wearing an off-white professional pencil skirt, a trace of surprise flashed through Huo Tingshan's eyes.
His father had passed away from the relapse of an old injury when he was twenty-five, and his mother had passed away even earlier. All in all, both his parents had been gone for decades—so long ago that sometimes, when he recalled them, it was as if their memories were shrouded behind a veil.
But at this moment, the invisible veil was brushed aside. The faces of the deceased, which bore a seventy percent resemblance to his memories, were right in front of his eyes.
"Father, Mother."
Huo Guogang grunted in acknowledgment and looked his only son up and down. Seeing the gauze still taped to his forehead, he could not help but lecture him a bit. "You were lucky this time, kid, but I can't say the same for next time. Spend less time messing around at the racetrack from now on, do you hear me?"
Huo Tingshan raised a long eyebrow.
This feeling of continuing to be someone's son and standing there being lectured was quite unfamiliar.
"What's with that look on your face, kid? Are you dissatisfied?" Huo Guogang's anger instantly flared up.
Huo Tingshan replied, "...Not quite."
"Don't go running around for the next week. Stay home and obediently recover from your injuries." Worried that his son had not taken his words to heart, Huo Guogang added, "I am going to suspend that card of yours for a while."
To the surprise of Huo Guogang and his wife, their rebellious and untamed only son actually stayed obediently at home. He rarely even came downstairs, spending his time alone in his room doing heaven knows what.
The couple even muttered about this for a while, wondering if the brat had become more steady after his injury. It felt off. Could he be secretly plotting something bad?
Huo Tingshan, who was being so suspiciously speculated about, was not plotting anything bad at all. He was reading books and surfing the internet. He first went through the laws, primarily the criminal law, and then used the internet to understand the world.
Every time he woke up, he remembered a little more, loading slowly like a progress bar.
By the twelfth day, Huo Tingshan experienced an illusion of his memories being inverted. The memories belonging to this modern era became increasingly clear, sweeping over and covering the ancient layers like a tidal wave. The chaotic feeling of his inverted memories gave him frequent, splitting headaches. Just as he began to feel slightly better, the start of the school term drew near.
Chen Quan called again.
"Brother Ze, I heard your third uncle opened a pub two months ago. It even has an entry threshold, and the environment is pretty nice. Come out and have some fun! Otherwise, school starts in a couple of days, and those carefree days will be gone."
Huo Tingshan asked, "What is the name?"
Chen Quan, who had prepared a whole speech to persuade him, froze. Over the past many days, he had invited this young master out every few days, sending countless messages and making numerous calls, but he had never succeeded once.
Today, it actually worked?!
Huo Tingshan did not waste words with him and hung up directly after asking. He looked at the split-screen monitor in front of him, which was filled with the red and green candlestick charts of stocks.
Using someone else's card was too restrictive; it was better to continue speculating and making money himself.
It was already eight o'clock in the evening when Huo Tingshan arrived at Fuxiang.
The sun had long set at this hour, but the big city was too bustling. With its feasting and revelry, the dazzling neon lights actually illuminated the sky overhead.
The city center was prime real estate, where even a tiny shop could cost six figures in monthly rent. The new pub Chen Quan mentioned, owned by his third uncle, was not just on some floor of a building but occupied a large, exclusive space of its own.
Though they called it a pub, it was actually more like a private club.
After tossing the keys of his Aston Martin to the valet, Huo Tingshan entered Fuxiang.
Fuxiang was divided into several areas like a large disc. There was a livehouse with an explosive atmosphere, a lounge bar dominated by light music and a relaxed vibe, and a quiet lounge perfectly suited for dating.
The soundproofing of each area was exceptionally well done. Small transition zones were left between them so they did not disturb each other, yet guests could freely shuttle back and forth.
Chen Quan's table was booked in a corner of the lounge bar hall. When Huo Tingshan arrived, Chen Quan was already there. Besides Chen Quan, there were six other young men in their early twenties at the table, four of whom had brought female companions.
Seeing Huo Tingshan approach, the boys sitting on the crescent-shaped sofa unanimously shifted to the sides, giving up the most central seat.
"Brother Ze, over here!"
"Young Master Ze, you are alright from that crash earlier, right?"
"Why the hell are you saying such unlucky things? Brother Ze is standing right here perfectly fine, anyone can see there is no problem."
"Not gonna lie, seeing Brother Ze today makes me inexplicably nervous. We haven't seen each other for just a short while, but Brother Ze's aura is making me quite scared."
Huo Tingshan's gaze swept over their faces, basically matching each person to a name in his memory.
In ancient times, people were divided into different classes, and actually, the same was true now.
Those standing at the top of the pyramid, holding massive wealth, were only a tiny fraction of the population. To consolidate their wealth and their invisible class status, they connected with each other to form a circle, generally only playing with those inside it. Outsiders found it incredibly difficult to enter.
The four who brought girls were in the same circle as him and Chen Quan. The other two were latecomers who had some distant family ties with two of those four, so they were brought along for the ride.
Huo Tingshan did not sit over with them. Instead, he chose a single sofa further away. He was tall and broadly built, and he stretched his sturdy long legs forward, sitting with an imposing, commanding posture.
"Let me ask you guys something," Huo Tingshan spoke.
Those who were either flirting with their female companions or preparing to find a topic of conversation all paused and looked at him.
Huo Tingshan asked, "In your school, is there someone named Pei..."
"Yingying, over here!"
Initially, Huo Tingshan did not pay any mind to this voice drifting over. The two syllables "ying ying" could be "Yingying," but they could also be "Ying Ying" with a different character.
That was, until he heard an exceptionally familiar voice.
"Sorry Yezi, I'm late."
Huo Tingshan turned his head abruptly.
The light and shadow of the pub intertwined, falling softly on her fair and beautiful face. As she walked, it was as if a picturesque landscape painting had suddenly come to life, rippling with clarity, gentle and affectionate.
Ye Ziyi smiled and said, "I am fine, but Senior Ji has been waiting for quite a while."
