The little guy also glanced over, "Dad, did you say you might be a child your father picked up from outside? I feel like he doesn’t love you at all."

...

Huo Jinnan’s brow furrowed slightly, and he turned his head to look at the little guy.

The little guy pouted, "Or maybe after you were born to Gu Jizhou, there was a mix-up, and that’s why he is actually your biological father."

Huo Jinnan lit a cigarette, "Go upstairs and sleep now."

"Oh!"

The little guy stood up, quickly picked up his cell phone, and glanced at Huo Jinnan as if he had accidentally hit on someone’s sore spot.

Huo Jinnan didn’t look at the little guy again.

"Then I’m off to bed. You should sleep early too, you can’t stay up late at your age," the little guy muttered as though speaking to himself, holding his cell phone and happily heading towards the stairs.

Hearing "at your age," Huo Jinnan flicked ash from his cigarette, his eyes darkening slightly as he picked up his phone and dialed Che Huan’s number.

"Hello, the number you have dialed is currently busy..."

Huo Jinnan tossed his phone aside and saw Nanny Rong taking his suit to wash. He spoke in a low voice, "No need to wash it."

Nanny Rong stopped in her tracks, looked at sir, and her eyes fell on the woman’s hair tangled around the sleeve button of the suit, "What about the hair on the sleeve..."

"Don’t bother with it, just hang it in the closet."

Huo Jinnan looked away and his gaze landed on the TV screen.

As Nanny Rong climbed the stairs, she looked down at the woman’s hair on the sleeve of sir’s suit. Sir had always been fastidious about cleanliness; this time he actually—

Suddenly, she stumbled, nearly falling.

Nanny Rong didn’t dare to look back; she steadied herself quickly, no longer allowing herself to be distracted, and carried the suit carefully up to the second floor.

Huo Jinnan glanced at Nanny Rong and looked away, then looked down at the cigarette between his fingers. Thinking about the call he received today, there should be news from Winter City soon, right?

————Yunqi Academy————

On the morning of June 25th, just seven o’clock, Huo Jinyun’s cellphone rang.

She wasn’t fully awake yet and pushed Gu Yunping, "Take a look for me, who’s calling this early."

Gu Yunping got out of bed, walked over to the bedside table, picked up the cellphone and glanced at it, "It’s Jizhou’s call."

"Give me the phone."

Now much more alert, Huo Jinyun sat up and brushed her hair back.

Gu Yunping handed the phone to Huo Jinyun.

Huo Jinyun took it, "Hello, Jizhou."

No sooner had she spoken, she heard Gu Jizhou’s voice, urgent and frantic, "Mom, I’m begging you, please help me, can you make Che Huan stay? I’ll do whatever you ask from now on!"

"Mom, I’m asking you, please, can you help me keep Che Huan? I’ll do anything you say from now on!"

What had happened?

Wasn’t the divorce case still not in court?

Huo Jinyun frowned, "Why does it have to be her?"

"Mom, I know I can’t beat him, I’ve never been able to beat him. I never intended to divorce, never thought about it, I just..."

"Mom, I can’t live without Che Huan..."

His voice was patchy, his breathing erratic, loud then faint, completely illogical.

Listening, Huo Jinyun’s face changed, "Where are you now?"

"I’m on my way back to Hong Kong," Gu Jizhou said, both hands on the steering wheel, the speedometer already pushing three hundred.

Back to Hongcheng?

Huo Jinyun felt a chill down her spine, with not a trace of sleepiness left, "Does your great-grandfather know you’re coming back?"