It seemed so. It appeared so. It might truly have been the case.
His face turned ashen as he gritted his teeth.
“Forget it… Let’s go see what’s going on first.”
He had initially wanted to ask what had happened to Guan Jixing and why he hadn’t come, but after thinking it over, he realized there was no point in asking. It would be better to go straight to the farm and investigate for himself.
He sped all the way to the nearest—and largest—breeding farm.
There had been sufficient investment in the early stages.
Then orders had come pouring in like snowflakes. Huo Xiang had forged ahead, establishing new farms one after another. In the end, the only thing limiting their expansion was the shortage of chicks. He had been busy coordinating interests with various parties, attending banquets and salons to display his grace and skill, and naturally hadn’t had time to keep an eye on the farms.
He had originally clung to a sliver of hope that perhaps his subordinates had exaggerated the situation.
But when he arrived, Huo Xiang’s heart sank heavily.
The moment he entered, a powerful stench assaulted him. It wasn’t merely the smell of chicken manure, but a mixture of feces, rotting flesh, and the peculiar reek of poultry—all of it fermented together for who knew how long. The foul odor shot straight into his skull.
Covering his nose, he gritted his teeth and walked inside.
It happened to be feeding time.
Yet only a few chickens were eating. As far as the eye could see, the flock was listless and lethargic; they didn’t even move when people approached. Their feathers were generally fluffed up, their combs a purplish red, and every so often one of them would throw back its head and let out a strange, gurgling sound.
Anyone with eyes could tell.
Something was seriously wrong.
At that moment, Guan Jixing finally appeared, dragging his feet as he approached and offering a furtive greeting. Huo Xiang had no patience for such empty formalities anymore. Suppressing his anger, he demanded,
“What exactly is going on?”
“The chickens are sick, obviously.”
“I’m asking why they got sick. And why didn’t you come and notify me?”
His tone was patient and gentle.
How extraordinarily forgiving!
The other subordinates couldn’t help exchanging glances, secretly congratulating themselves on not getting involved. They might have failed to gain any credit and instead ended up covered in trouble.
Guan Jixing, however, wasn’t pleased at all. Someone’s words echoed in his mind…
With both wariness and resistance, he replied,
“Chickens are livestock. Livestock get sick. What’s so strange about that? Besides, what use would it have been to notify you? You don’t know how to treat chickens either.”
Huo Xiang nearly laughed out of anger.
What did he mean, he didn’t know how to treat chickens?
He was the owner. No matter what, an incident this serious should have been reported to him.
Afraid he might lose control and start cursing, Huo Xiang simply left Guan Jixing behind and questioned the others. Only then did he learn the full details.
As it turned out, the illness had already been spreading for several days. It had appeared at more than one farm, too. They had called in people to examine the chickens and tried all sorts of remedies, from folk cures to expensive Western medicine, but nothing had worked. The number of sick chickens had continued to rise, and since yesterday, they had begun dying on a massive scale.
“What? How did it become this serious?”
Huo Xiang was frantic with worry and shouted furiously,
“Why was everything fine before? And what have you people been doing? You can’t even raise chickens properly! Is it that you never took this seriously in the first place?”
“It really is this serious!”
His subordinates couldn’t help protesting their innocence. These chickens were prone to illness to begin with, and everyone was unfamiliar with their needs. They had intended to learn through trial and error.
Just because raising a small batch had gone smoothly didn’t mean raising them on a large scale would work.
They had simply expanded too quickly.
How could they be blamed? If not for all their hard work, the chickens would have died out long ago!
And Guan Jixing?
Apart from causing trouble and throwing his weight around, he had served no other purpose.
Hearing this, a wave of regret rose in Huo Xiang’s heart. He shouldn’t have handed Guan Jixing so much authority just for the sake of gaining Fortune Points. But now that things had come to this, there was nothing left to do but keep going down this path without turning back—
Otherwise, they’d end up drawing water with a bamboo basket—empty-handed on both fronts.
The most urgent matter was delivering the order.
A flicker passed through his eyes. He turned to Guan Jixing and asked, “What about those chickens that died? Where are they?”
Once they were plucked and processed, who would know they had died of disease?
Truly, great minds thought alike.
He and Guan Jixing had reached the same conclusion!
“Of course we threw them away.” Guan Jixing looked guilty for a second before immediately putting on a righteous expression. “Why would we keep them? If they infected the other healthy chickens, that would be even worse. They can’t be eaten or used for anything, and just looking at them is bad luck. Don’t worry—I had someone throw them into the sea. There’s no way anyone will find out that our farm has a problem.”
He thought he had been very clever.
They had been thrown into the sea.
That meant there was no evidence.
In reality, anyone could tell there was something fishy going on.
Huo Xiang was furious enough to smoke.
But he couldn’t show it. After all, that idiot was blessed with good fortune, and ordinary methods wouldn’t work against him. He could only pin his hopes on those miraculous fortune points.
So he used his luck to calm himself down, even forcing the corners of his lips into a smile.
Then he turned around and praised Guan Jixing instead:
“Well done. Chickens that die of disease should be thrown away. I knew you were capable. And as for the problem at the farm, don’t blame yourself too much. Half of it is because your subordinates are incompetent, and I’m also to blame for being careless and failing to foresee the problems that might arise. You’ve already done very well. Later, we’ll have a proper talk—perhaps we can emulate the ancients and discuss things by candlelight through the night. We might even come up with a way to make up for the losses…”
Everyone present was dumbfounded.
What?
Guan Jixing, who had shirked his responsibilities while lining his own pockets, was blameless, while the people who had worked diligently were somehow at fault?
Huo Xiang naturally noticed their disbelieving looks.
But he didn’t care.
Wasn’t this exactly what made his trust in Guan Jixing seem so precious?
He should be able to squeeze quite a lot of fortune points out of this. And then there was Mu Wan—she loved Guan Jixing to death. Once she learned what had happened, she should be able to contribute quite a bit too.
Once they had been completely drained…
He would settle accounts with this idiot afterward!
The very next second—
Smack!
Mu Wan charged out of nowhere and delivered a vicious slap straight across Huo Xiang’s face. The crack rang out loud and clear.
In an instant, the world fell silent.
Huo Xiang remained frozen with his head turned to the side from the impact. Completely stunned, he shouted in outrage, “What are you doing here…? No, wait—have you lost your mind? Why did you hit me?”
“Wherever Jixing is, that’s where I am.”
With tears in her eyes, Mu Wan bravely shielded her beloved. She was secretly grateful that she had missed Jixing so terribly today that she had come over without telling anyone. She glared at Huo Xiang with hatred.
“I’m not crazy. I hit you because you’re a shameless male seducer! You’re absolutely disgusting. We’ve tolerated you and backed down time and time again, yet you still refuse to stop. What do you mean, ‘discussing things by candlelight through the night’? Aren’t you just trying to take advantage of Jixing? I can’t stand it anymore. I can’t keep enduring this. You’ve crossed my bottom line!”
Hiss—
Everyone drew in a sharp breath.
They couldn’t believe what they had just heard. But after thinking it over carefully, they realized there was actually some truth to it.
After all, Huo Xiang’s attitude toward Guan Jixing really was far too strange…
Huo Xiang’s eyes widened.
He hurriedly explained, “No, wait—is there some kind of misunderstanding? I don’t have feelings like that for Guan Jixing. I just admire his abilities. I appreciate talent, that’s all. And besides, although I haven’t had much contact with you, I’ve treated you well too…”
He absolutely couldn’t let a reputation like that stick.
This was disgusting.
He stammered through an explanation, listing all the money he had spent on Mu Wan and the gifts he had given her, desperately trying to prove that he had no such intentions toward Guan Jixing.
And then—
“Shut up!”
Guan Jixing exploded. He slammed a fist into him, shouting as he struck:
“Who told you to treat us so well? Sure, we deserve every good thing in the world, but you can’t be this good to us! There’s something wrong with you! You’re a pervert! Su Ning was actually right—you’re lusting after both of us! You sick freak, you’re disgusting! I’m going to beat you to death, so you’ll never dare have such disgusting thoughts again!”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Huo Xiang shouted in horror. The blows hurt too much, and all the old and new grudges came rushing back at once.
So he fought back.
“I’m not talking nonsense! You’re lusting after us!”
“I am not!”
“Still denying it…”
The two of them—or rather, three. Mu Wan bravely and skillfully joined in, and soon all three were grappling with one another.
The people standing nearby: …
Should we break them up?
Uh, maybe not… What if they make up again?
