Volume 1, Chapter 46: A Fake, Yet So Full of Itself

For the past eight years, on every single night when he felt like he could no longer hold on, he had been dreaming this exact dream.

The dream of returning to Nancheng with his head held high, trampling Huo Yanchuan beneath his feet.

Now, his wish had finally come true.

The corners of his eyes and brows naturally curled into a smile.

That smile, when caught in Huo Yanchuan's sight, was blindingly grating.

"You bastard, don't think you're out of the woods just because you're back in the Huo family. There's still a very long road ahead of us!"

Since he had managed to chase him away once, he could chase him away a second time!

A bastard belonged where bastards were supposed to stay.

"Grandpa asked me to come and check on you..." Huo Yu had not forgotten his primary mission.

"Get lost! Who wants you to check on me?!"

Huo Yu's gaze drifted effortlessly across Huo Yanchuan's bedside table, where a framed photograph sat.

The man and woman in the picture stood very close together; the girl was smiling as brightly as a flower, while the man wore a sullen face.

It was Huo Yanchuan and Tang Ruan.

His gaze darkened slightly.

Noticing his look, Huo Yanchuan followed it, his expression suddenly relaxing.

He picked up the photograph and flaunted it, saying, "This was taken on the day Ruan Ruan and I got engaged."

"What a pity you weren't there to witness it with your own eyes."

With those words, he successfully wiped the smile off Huo Yu's face.

This time, the one curling his lips into a smile was Huo Yanchuan.

Smiles never truly vanish; they merely transfer from one person to another.

"Speaking of which, I really should thank you. If not for you, how could I have spent all these years together with Ruan Ruan?" As if recalling some pleasant memory, Huo Yanchuan's voice sounded light and breezy.

"Oh right, you were exiled to Country Y, so you probably missed everything that happened back home."

"But don't worry, I'll tell you about it piece by piece."

He pulled open the top drawer of the bedside table and took out a fountain pen with an exceptional tactile feel. "This was a gift Ruan Ruan gave me for my twentieth birthday, custom-ordered a year in advance from Company Z, with my name engraved right on it."

Company Z was the undisputed number one in the world of fountain pens.

Fountain pens originated from their enterprise before they transitioned into exclusive custom work.

Even the Queen of the Country Y royal family used pens crafted by Company Z for official state business.

Owning a Company Z fountain pen was practically a symbol of upper-class status.

With that, he turned the engraved section toward Huo Yu.

Huo Yu narrowed his eyes, but the distance was too great and the lettering too small to see.

He expressionlessly averted his gaze.

Huo Yanchuan put the pen back and pulled out a slightly faded red string with a golden coin threaded onto it.

"This is the matchmaking cord Ruan Ruan and her friends brought back specifically from Matchmaker Mountain. They had it blessed by the Matchmaker Deity himself, and it's said to be extraordinarily efficacious."

Huo Yu remained expressionless.

Had it been blessed by the Matchmaker Deity? Extraordinarily efficacious?

"Then why did the engagement get called off?"

Huo Yanchuan's previously smug expression froze.

Yet he quickly recovered his composure. Putting the red cord away, he produced a square gift box and opened it to reveal a brilliant, sparkling sapphire blue diamond cufflink. "These are the diamond cufflinks Ruan Ruan gave me for my twenty-first birthday."

"She flew to Jiangcheng to bid on the diamonds herself, and then polished them by hand, spending three whole months to craft these cufflinks for me."

He lightly brushed his fingers over the diamonds on the cufflinks, his gaze filled with nostalgia. "Even though the cufflinks are a bit crude, the sentiment behind them is far more precious."

"And you're still being picky about them?"

Huo Yu's voice was ice-cold.

Huo Yanchuan snorted, snapped the lid of the gift box shut, put it back on the bedside table, and made a move to take out yet another item.

These objects were his ultimate weapons to strike a blow at Huo Yu.

Fortunately, fearing the hassle back then, he had kept them all gathered together rather than throwing them away.

"Picky? One has to be qualified to be picky."

He was qualified to choose—was Huo Yu?

Huo Yu gave a half-smile, a deep chill lurking in his eyes. "A counterfeit dares to strut around like this."

Back then, as far as the Huo family was concerned, he was merely a fake substitute meant to replace Huo Yanchuan.

Yet as far as Tang Ruan was concerned, Huo Yanchuan was nothing more than a despicable impostor who had usurped his place.

Relying on stolen identity, he had won Tang Ruan's wholehearted devotion.

Possessing what he had dreamed of, yet failing to cherish it...

Huo Yanchuan's face turned livid as he glared at Huo Yu. "Say that again!"

He was no counterfeit!

Huo Yu was the fake one!

Huo Yu repeated every single word without missing a beat, "A counterfeit..."

"Ahhhhh, get the hell out of here!"

Huo Yu arched an eyebrow. He had never intended to stay long anyway.

But before leaving... there was one thing he had to do.

Huo Yu took measured steps over to Huo Yanchuan's bedside.

He looked down at Huo Yanchuan from a position of absolute superiority.

Knowing full well that he was currently at a disadvantage, Huo Yanchuan stuttered slightly as he spoke, "W-what do you want to do?"

Surely Huo Yu wasn't planning to take advantage of his illness to finish him off?

Where on earth were the servants? Where had they all died off?!

It was one thing to let Huo Yu swagger into his room, but they hadn't even followed him in.

If anything happened to him, not a single one of them would escape punishment!

Huo Yu slipped his hand into his suit trouser pocket—

And pulled out a neatly folded, portable tote bag.

Huo Yanchuan stared in utter astonishment. What was the meaning of this?

The next second, he understood what Huo Yu intended to do.

The items inside the bedside table were rapidly swept into the tote bag by Huo Yu.

"Stop right there!" Huo Yanchuan struggled, attempting to block him.

Huo Yu hooked his slender fingers over the edge of the bedside table and pulled, sliding the furniture outward by a short distance.

The distance was neither too near nor too far—close enough for Huo Yanchuan to clearly see every single item being packed away by Huo Yu, yet far enough that no matter how hard he strained his arm, he could never reach them.

He could only watch helplessly as Huo Yu stuffed every single gift into the tote bag, including the second drawer which hadn't even been pulled open yet.

"Huo Yu! Give those back to me! Give them back!" Huo Yanchuan roared hoarsely, "Those belong to me!"

Those were gifts Tang Ruan had given him year after year, bearing the most precious memories of their time together!

Having confirmed multiple times that nothing had been left behind, Huo Yu straightened up, cast a casual, indifferent glance at Huo Yanchuan, and corrected him, "They aren't yours. They are mine."

These were gifts received after Huo Yanchuan had usurped his identity and become engaged to Tang Ruan.

When all was said and done, they were gifts meant for him.

His belongings—though somewhat overdue—had to be retrieved!

With a quite pleasant mood, Huo Yu left, carrying the tote bag.

Beneath the streetlights, his expression could only be described as thoroughly relaxed.

Li Feng stared with undisguised puzzlement at the tote bag in his hand, which clearly looked stuffed to the brim. "What is this?"

He had walked in empty-handed and come out carrying a whole sack of goods?

He hardly believed Huo Yanchuan was the type to present Huo Yu with parting gifts.

Staring at the bag in Huo Yu's hands, he frowned with a mild headache.

My good brother, has this tote bag saved your life or something?

You carried it in Country Y, and now you're carrying it back in Nancheng!

A suit paired with the kind of plaid grocery tote usually carried by grandmothers heading to the market—no matter how one looked at it, the combination was disastrous.

Yet Huo Yu was carrying it with an air of absolute delight.

"The gifts Ruan Ruan gave me over the years."

Li Feng froze for several long seconds before the meaning finally registered.

Oh, wow! So he basically went over to Huo Yanchuan's place and played the bandit!

---

Not long after Huo Yu's departure, the maid returned in a rush, accompanied by Zhang Shuqin.

Zhang Shuqin was wearing high heels and ran all the way back, instantly ruining the hairstyle the stylist had spent hours painstakingly creating.

As soon as she stepped inside, Zhang Shuqin was met with utter devastation.

Shattered tablets and phones lay scattered across the floor, the bedside table drawers gaped open, and the interiors were completely empty.

Most strikingly, Huo Yanchuan lay sprawled face-down on the bed, fresh blood seeping through the bandaged wound on his back.