Chapter 105 - 104: Brothers’ Secret Chat

Chapter 105: Chapter 104: Brothers’ Secret Chat

As a celebrity, Huo Xinghai lived in an exceptionally private and secure location. The security guard at the complex gate was very professional and insisted on contacting the resident before letting Gu Qingyin and Huo Xingchen inside.

Even showing a video from the reality show she filmed with Huo Xingchen to prove she was his mother didn’t work.

The guard argued reasonably, "Those reality shows are all scripted. Who knows what your relationship is really like? What if he doesn’t want to see you?"

Gu Qingyin found herself unable to argue and could only watch as the guard called Huo Xinghai, forcing her to give up on her plan for a surprise visit.

As they drove in, Huo Xingchen noticed Gu Qingyin was in a bad mood and tried to lighten the atmosphere. "Second Brother’s complex has some seriously tight security," he said with a chuckle. "No paparazzi could ever sneak in here. It’s super safe."

Gu Qingyin: "Heh."

Huo Xingchen shut up.

The mother, the son, and the monkey entered the elevator in silence, arrived at the top-floor penthouse in silence, and walked through the open door in silence.

"Mom, you can sit in the living room for a bit. I’ll go check on Second Brother."

Huo Xingchen had been here before, so after getting his mom settled, he made a beeline for Huo Xinghai’s bedroom. His brother was in the bathroom, washing up.

"Second Brother! Mom’s angry!" Huo Xingchen whispered. "At you!"

Huo Xinghai gave a wry smile. "I know. It’ll be fine once I explain."

"You know?" Huo Xingchen was surprised. "When did you find out? Did the security guard tell you?"

Huo Xinghai frowned. "What security guard?"

"The guard at your complex," Huo Xingchen said, vividly recounting what had just happened. He made sure to emphasize, "The guard thought you and Mom weren’t on good terms, so he insisted on calling you to confirm before he’d let us in."

Huo Xinghai was surprised; that was an unexpected complication. ’I was so obvious on the reality show,’ he thought. ’How could anyone still doubt our relationship?’

"I’ll have Mom register her face with security later. Then she can get in directly next time she comes."

Huo Xingchen nodded eagerly. "Then what about me?"

Huo Xinghai shot him a sidelong glance. "That won’t be necessary. We only see each other a few times a year anyway."

Huo Xingchen pouted and said nothing more.

While the two brothers were chatting, Gu Qingyin wasn’t idle either.

She first surveyed the apartment but didn’t detect any areas with particularly heavy Yin Qi. However, she worried a room might be sealed off by some kind of ward, so she sent Huo Yunjing to have a look around.

’It’s not that I want to snoop on my son’s private life,’ she thought. ’I’m just really worried!’

Gu Qingyin sat on the sofa, feeling both guilty and anxious as she waited for Huo Yunjing’s return. Thankfully, he was fast. When he came back, his expression was calm as he shook his head at her, not saying a word about the conversation he had just overheard between the brothers.

Gu Qingyin finally let out a sigh of relief, but a headache immediately followed. ’Is Huo Xinghai an idiot?’ she thought. ’Getting involved with a little ghost, and on behalf of someone else, no less! They’ll reap all the rewards, and he’ll be left with all the karmic debt!’

Having finished washing up, Huo Xinghai started changing his clothes.

Huo Xingchen followed him into the walk-in closet, offering his opinion on the clothes and doing a bit of "shopping" for himself on the side.

As a homebody who lived and breathed esports, his wardrobe was all about comfort. Nearly every fashionable item he owned came from his dear second brother. He never left a visit empty-handed.

"Oh yeah," Huo Xingchen said as he browsed. "You said you already knew. Knew what? What else did you do to piss Mom off?"

Huo Xinghai shot him a look, deflecting the question. "Why did you come over with Mom?"

Huo Xingchen’s face was one big, smug grin. "Mom said for the next few days, I’m helping her cleanse your Karma."

Huo Xinghai was surprised. "You?"

"What about me? I’m the one who’s going to inherit Mom’s mantle, you know! Just a couple of days ago, I went with her to take care of a monster. It was your nemesis’s mom, that Feng Xia." Huo Xingchen puffed out his chest proudly. "And I handled it all by myself!"

This time, Huo Xinghai was truly shocked. He’d seen the news reports that Feng Xia had died on the rooftop of an old residential complex. The official police statement was that she had suffered a mental breakdown, committed murder, and then taken her own life to escape justice.

Fu Zimo had even used the incident to make another public appearance, but the reception was mixed. Half the public pitied him, while the other half felt that as the son of a murderer, he should be blacklisted from the industry.

In any case, his life was difficult now. Even if he didn’t leave the entertainment industry, he would never reach his former level of success. The stain Feng Xia had left on him was one he would never be able to wash away.

"When did you start learning Xuan Techniques?"

Huo Xingchen scratched his chin sheepishly. "Uh, a while ago. Mom said I have a knack for it and it’d be a shame to waste it. Hey, Second Brother, if you ever need help with this sort of thing and don’t want Mom to find out, you can come to me first."

Huo Xinghai nodded, feeling a strange pang of envy. ’How come I didn’t inherit Mom’s talent?’ he wondered. ’Then again, I didn’t get Dad’s business sense either. I have no idea where the music gene came from. Maybe from my grandparents?’

"I’m heading out first, Second Brother. You hurry up," Huo Xingchen said. He swept the necklaces, rings, and watches he had scrounged up into his backpack and walked out.

Huo Xinghai picked up his pace. He changed into an understated black sweatsuit, put on a sports watch, and grabbed a bucket hat on his way out.

The moment he opened his bedroom door, the aroma of fried eggs hit him. He froze, overcome with the urge to dive back into bed. He’d tried his mom’s cooking once in his life, and once was more than enough.

’It smelled pretty good this time, but that was probably just because he was starving and his brain was romanticizing the scent...’

Huo Xinghai shook his head, took a deep breath, and mustered his courage to walk out.

Instead, he found Gu Qingyin sitting on the sofa talking with Huo Xingchen.

Huo Xinghai blinked. ’Did someone else come over?’

"Xinghai, come sit down." Gu Qingyin turned and beckoned to him. "Tell me who you gave that Ghost Doll to."

Huo Xinghai glanced uncertainly toward the kitchen, then obediently sat down beside his mother. He cleared his throat, a little embarrassed. "It was a senior I met when I first got into the business. Her name is Li Lu."

"Li Lu?" Huo Xingchen’s eyes widened. "I know her! Your idol from middle school!"

"That’s right." Huo Xinghai nodded and began to explain. "Li Lu is a singer-songwriter. She’s incredibly talented. After she debuted, she dominated the music charts; every single one of her songs was a massive hit. But at the height of her popularity, she chose to retire from the business to get married."

"Her husband’s family was what you’d call ’new money.’ He wasn’t particularly capable, but he was a total womanizer. It wasn’t long after the wedding that the media published photos of him cheating. Li Lu released a statement supporting him, and her husband publicly apologized, swearing he would never betray her again."

"But a year later, he was photographed with a young model going in and out of a hotel. Shortly after the news broke, Li Lu posted their divorce certificate online and announced she was making a comeback."

Huo Xinghai took a deep breath. "Her first gig after her comeback was as a mentor on a songwriting competition show. That’s where we met."