Su Ning, who had been listening with rapt attention: …
Not me again?
If you’re going to play favorites, then fine—but why drag me into it? Setting the facts aside, I found your real son, spent money and effort helping him deal with Huo Xiang, and after doing all that, I didn’t even get a word of praise.
Now I’m being slandered too!
Su Ning felt deeply wronged.
Su Ning was furious.
Su Ning decided to keep watching the show. She might as well have the system record it too, so she could study the footage carefully later…
Meanwhile.
Madam Huo did not think there was anything wrong with what she had said. Seeing Lin Sen’s cold expression, she felt both hurt and disappointed. She reached out to pull him closer, but he easily avoided her.
Her voice grew even more sorrowful.
“You’ve always had such a strange temperament. I’m your biological mother, and I’ve said so much to you, yet you won’t answer me at all. Could it be that I said something wrong…?”
“You said everything I didn’t want to hear. From my perspective, it was all wrong. What was there to say?”
Lin Sen raised his eyes.
He studied Madam Huo coldly. Though she had lost both her husband and her son, her years of pampered living had left her looking remarkably youthful. Dressed in plain clothes with light makeup, she even seemed somewhat innocent and carefree.
There were plenty of wealthy families in Beiping.
When he was young, he had made a living begging on the streets with his companions. The women he most liked running into were this kind of wealthy lady—rich, with plenty of free time, sheltered from the hardships of the world, and softhearted.
Rich, idle, and kind.
And because he was good-looking.
He would usually take the lead, lifting his face and saying a few pitiful words he knew they wanted to hear. He could always get a few coins that way.
He had plenty of experience.
But now, he did not want to say a single word.
He wasn’t sad.
After all, he wasn’t really “Huo Lin.”
But Lin Sen remembered Ergou from his memories: young and pale, thin from not having enough to eat. Whenever his companions talked about their families, he would casually claim that he had forgotten his own long ago. Perhaps he had simply been abandoned.
Yet whenever he fell ill and burned with fever, he would call out for his mother again and again.
If Ergou were in his place…
He would be heartbroken. Completely heartbroken…
Hearing his words, Madam Huo’s sorrow turned into anger.
Her voice rose.
“You’re saying I was wrong? You were the one who insisted on listening to Su Ning’s instigation. You had a perfectly good life, yet you deliberately chose to oppose Xiang’er. Do you know how everyone outside is laughing at the Huo family? You may not have had much schooling, but you should at least understand that when one member of a family prospers, they all prosper, and when one suffers, they all suffer.”
“Your grandfather, me, you, and Xiang’er… He may not share your blood, but he’s still your brother. We’re family!”
“Su Ning is an outsider. She has ulterior motives.”
“When snipe and clam fight, it’s the fisherman who profits.”
“Now the Huo family has become a laughingstock, and she’s deliberately dragging things out. Xiang’er will be affected, and the two hundred thousand on your side will be swallowed up completely. We’ll both suffer, while she gets exactly what she wants.”
“I’m trying to save you—and the entire Huo family. If you turn back now, there’s still a way out.”
“Otherwise, it’ll be too late for regrets.”
Madam Huo spoke with exasperation, as though he were hopelessly beyond saving.
“Oh? And what way out would that be?”
Unfortunately, none of her heartfelt words moved Lin Sen in the slightest. He did not even blink as he asked indifferently.
“It’s simple.”
Madam Huo’s tone lightened. “I’ve already spoken with Xiang’er. You just need to admit your mistake, then withdraw all the money you have left and invest it with him. As for whatever you’ve already spent—land, construction facilities, chick stock, machinery, labor, and so on—take away whatever you can. For anything you can’t take, tamper with it a little. We can afford to suffer some losses. The important thing is to make Su Ning swallow the bitter pill.”
“Don’t worry. Once she’s no longer a threat, Xiang’er’s side will have the whole market to itself and make even more money. You’ll be able to benefit from his success too.”
Lin Sen simply looked at her.
“Why are you looking at me like that…? Say something.” Madam Huo shifted uncomfortably.
“I’m looking to see whether you and Huo Xiang resemble each other at all. Perhaps he’s the biological one after all. Otherwise, I really can’t understand you.”
“What?”
Madam Huo froze for a moment before reacting. She looked at him with disappointment.
“Just how much nonsense has Su Ning fed you to make you this stubborn? What mother wouldn’t cherish the child she gave birth to? Don’t you realize how hurtful that is? In my eyes, you and Xiang’er are exactly the same. You’re both my children…”
“Forget it.”
Lin Sen calmly cut her off.
“Stop deceiving yourself. We’re not the same. Not even close.”
“With Huo Xiang, you want him to have the best things in the world. You want him to take control of the Huo family and command everyone with a single word.”
“As for me…”
At this, Lin Sen smiled.
“Perhaps you’re not even that cruel to me. You just don’t want me getting in Huo Xiang’s way. Ideally, I’d hand the Huo family over to him with both hands, then kneel at his feet like a dog, wagging my tail for him. I’d be grateful beyond words for the scraps he tossed me and consider myself perfectly content.”
“Isn’t that right?”
Those words were like a sharp blade, slicing through Madam Huo’s skin and flesh, tearing apart all her disguises and self-deception. In an instant, the color drained from her face.
Sometimes, people weren’t afraid of hearing lies.
What they feared was hearing the truth—truth so accurate that it left them utterly exposed and ashamed.
“You unfilial—”
Madam Huo was too furious and humiliated to finish. She raised her hand to slap him.
But someone caught her wrist.
Her hand hung awkwardly in midair.
It wasn’t Lin Sen. He hadn’t had time to react.
It was Su One.
“How are you here?”
When Madam Huo saw Su Ning emerge from the inner room, she stopped struggling altogether and cried out in shock.
“If I weren’t here, how would I have been able to enjoy this little performance?”
What a coincidence.
Su Ning the Hands-Off Manager had chosen to work today—the documents and files were all with Lin Sen, and moving them back and forth would have been troublesome, so she had simply come over herself.
She thought for a moment, then turned her head and gave an order.
“Biological son and fake son, a wealthy family fighting over its inheritance, and a biased mother favoring her adopted child… There’s so much conflict here. It would definitely make a good film. What do you think? Have someone write a script.”
“Yes.”
“No!”
Madam Huo panicked. She had no doubt that Su Ning would do exactly that—and that she had the ability to pull it off. The Feast had only recently finished its theatrical run, after all.
“Why not?”
Su Ning spoke carelessly.
“Weren’t you convinced that your conscience was clear and that you treated your biological and adopted sons equally? What are you afraid of?”
“Because… because…”
Madam Huo was at a loss for words. Her face flushed red, and after gritting her teeth, she said, “This is a matter for the Huo family. You have no right to interfere.”
“What a joke.”
As she said it, Su Ning really did laugh. She gracefully sat down in the chair Lin Sen pulled out for her, rested her chin in her hand, and spoke in a teasing tone.
“Madam Huo, have you developed a poor memory? You seem to forget what you’ve said the moment the words leave your mouth. Shall I help you remember what you just called me? An outsider. Someone with ulterior motives. Someone plotting against the Huo family. What else was there? You told Lin Sen to withdraw as soon as possible, while conveniently taking me for a fool in the process.”
The more Su Ning spoke, the paler Madam Huo became.
Su Ning narrowed her eyes slightly and clicked her tongue impatiently.
“Good people really do get no reward. As if the Huo family were worth all the painstaking scheming.”
“An act of kindness is one thing, but Lin’er is already a young master of the Huo family. Yet you order him around like a servant. How can a mother stand by and watch her son degrade himself like that?”
Madam Huo turned her head away, avoiding the point.
“Compared to being a young master of the Huo family, I’d rather be the young lady’s subordinate.”
Lin Sen’s voice came at precisely the right moment.
Neither hurried nor slow.
“Working for Miss, you’d earn a base salary of around eighty thousand a year, plus various allowances—well over three hundred thousand in total. Your clothes, accessories, and shoes would be updated every month, and your car and house would all be provided. You’d barely need to spend a penny on food or clothing, let alone the dividends and stock payouts…”
“Other than that two hundred thousand from Grandpa, what else has the Huo family given me?”
“More importantly, what have you given me?”
