Huo Mingjun came down from the press conference. Fang Hui, her eyes red, handed him some water, trying her best to suppress the slight tremble in her voice, and said, “Boss, you had a phone call just now.”

Huo Mingjun glanced around; the staff members who had followed him from B City all looked grim. He himself didn't feel much. The press conference had passed the buck to natural and man-made disasters, dragged in a few scapegoats, and tried its best to shirk responsibility, but the root of all the tragedy was still that decision from five years ago, one rife with schemes and intrigue.

He was in control of Hengrui Group, and he had enjoyed the money, reputation, and status it brought, so he should have the fortitude to bow his head for it.

As for those unsavory parasites, not a single one of them should think about getting out unscathed.

He took the phone from Fang Hui's hand, checked the call log, and found that both Huo Zhikuan and Huo Zhirong had called once. Yet, the person who should have been up on stage apologizing had made no move at all.

Huo Mingjun sneered inwardly and left the venue through the staff exit, escorted by bodyguards. Just as he got into the car, his phone vibrated again. It was Huo Zhirong.

Huo Mingjun found it a bit strange. At a time like this, no one would disturb him so easily unless there was an extremely important company matter that required his personal decision. What could have happened on Huo Zhirong's end that was worth calling him repeatedly?

“Xiao Rong, what is it?”

Huo Zhirong stood outside the film set, looking from afar at the figures filming under the scorching sun. He adjusted his glasses, feeling a bit guilty. “Big Brother, there's something… I think I should confess to you.”

Huo Mingjun wasn't particularly concerned. “Speak.”

Huo Zhirong immediately recounted, without omitting a single word, the matter of the actor quitting the cast and Xie Guan stepping in to save the day.

“…He drives three hours every day to come over here to film, then rushes back overnight. He's running back and forth like this, unable to even get a full night's sleep… And with the TV series currently airing, he also has to cooperate with the corresponding promotions and announcements.” He couldn't help but sigh. “Forget about others, even I can't bear to watch it.”

Huo Mingjun's face had already turned grim.

“He's messing around, and you all are messing around with him?” Aside from the first day when he met the person in charge of “Yihe Yipin,” he had never been this angry. Fang Hui, sitting in the passenger seat, shrank back into her seat, listening with a pounding heart as Huo Mingjun said sharply, “Are all the actors in China dead, leaving only him? Or is that useless director of yours written by a program, unable to even adjust his schedule to a more accommodating time slot?!”

Scolded by him, Huo Zhirong didn't dare to breathe. “Big Brother, you know Xie Guan's temper better than I do. He's too stubborn. He's unwilling to slow down the production crew's progress, and he won't listen to anyone. I reckon only you can persuade him now. If this goes on, his body won't be able to take it.”

These words nearly gave Huo Mingjun a heart attack. He had originally thought Xie Guan was still filming in the deep mountains and old forests and might not have noticed the news outside. He was used to facing everything alone, but he had never thought that someone, in a place he couldn't see, would be silently sharing the weight for him.

Even though this weight, compared to the Five-Fingered Mountain-like pressure currently on his shoulders, was like an insignificant little stone, it was just like a long river breaking its ice, or the night ending at dawn… All new beginnings in the world arise from such a tiny crack—the tip of a duckweed, a fleeting glimpse of a startled swan.

“I understand. I'll be back in a few days,” Huo Mingjun estimated the schedule in his mind and added with concern, “You keep an eye on him for me. Don't let him work himself to death again.”

Three days later, Huo Mingjun returned to B City from Pingcheng, his plane landing at the capital's airport.

His group went through the VIP channel. As they passed through the corridor, they heard a clamor outside, as if many people were shouting someone's name.

The capital's airport was the place with the highest probability of encountering a celebrity. Fang Hui curiously craned her neck to look. “Looks like they're here to pick up a star.”

Huo Mingjun's brows furrowed slightly. He turned his head to a bodyguard beside him and said, “Go take a look.”

He wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but he thought he heard someone shouting “Xie Guan.”

A moment later, the bodyguard hurried back and whispered in Huo Mingjun's ear, “It's Xie Guan. The ones picking him up are his fans, about sixty of them.”

Fang Hui's eyes widened. What happened? How did Xie Guan suddenly get so popular?

They had been swamped with troubles in Pingcheng and had missed the blockbuster run of Jingwu Youth, so naturally, they had no idea to what heights Xie Guan's popularity had soared. Huo Mingjun nodded with a blank expression, didn't linger, and continued walking outside.

Fang Hui hurriedly followed with quick, small steps.

She had also been in the car that day and heard Huo Mingjun's phone call, and had already applauded in her heart for their pure friendship that could move heaven and earth. However, Huo Mingjun showed not the slightest hint of excitement about Xie Guan being at the same airport as him. Fang Hui furtively glanced at her big boss's cold and resolute profile and mentally slapped a label on him: aloof but passionate.

The car to pick them up was already waiting outside. Zhong Heguang opened the car door for Huo Mingjun, and Fang Hui followed. Two bodyguard cars, one in front and one behind, protected the Rolls-Royce in the middle as it entered the airport access road.

Zhong Heguang hadn't gone to Pingcheng, staying behind in B City to handle daily affairs. For the past half-month, he had fended off no small number of people for Huo Mingjun. Everyone knew that with such a major incident, Huo Mingjun would definitely make a big move after returning. Those who had previously been close to Huo Zhongchen, as well as those who had participated in the Pingcheng construction project, all sought out Zhong Heguang to probe for information. Huo Zhongchen, on the other hand, had hidden himself away with Old Master Huo. When the incident first occurred, he didn't want Huo Mingjun to interfere and repeatedly demanded that he return to B City. Later, after the press conference was held and everything was set in stone, he then demanded that Huo Mingjun stay behind to clean up the aftermath, while he himself seized the opportunity to patch things together and whitewash the mess left behind from those years.

Huo Zhongchen's actions naturally didn't escape the eyes and ears Huo Mingjun had left in B City. After Zhong Heguang reported to Huo Mingjun, the reply was that he would return as soon as the situation allowed. But unexpectedly, after only two days, the big boss had charged back aggressively.

As his confidant, Zhong Heguang knew better than any outsider that Huo Mingjun's intention to clean up the group's internal affairs was not a recent one. Logically, there was no need to be in such a hurry. However, with Huo Mingjun's sudden early return, Zhong Heguang thought the situation had changed. His nerves immediately went on high alert, and he began to silently run through the recent series of events in his mind.

Fang Hui didn't understand what was going on. She only felt the atmosphere in the car suddenly become serious and tense. She didn't dare to ask, so she puzzledly tilted her head to glance out the window. A few minutes later, she suddenly cried out in alarm, “Boss!”

Huo Mingjun, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them. “What is it?”

“Isn't that Xie Guan's car?” Fang Hui kept her eyes on the movement outside, her heart leaping into her throat. “He might be getting chased.”

They were already on the airport expressway. Less than a hundred meters away from them, a black nanny van was driving in the right lane, with a white minivan following closely behind it. The minivan was constantly trying to get closer to the nanny van. Its windows were rolled all the way down, and someone was stretching out an arm, holding a phone with its flash blinking continuously.

The distance between the two vehicles was extremely close. For safety, the nanny van kept trying to accelerate and evade, but the car behind chased it so relentlessly that it was forced to swerve in S-patterns, nearly scraping the guardrail several times.

The Rolls-Royce's window lowered an inch. Amidst the roar of the engine and the sound of the wind, the soul-stirring shouts of several girls echoed.

“Xie Guan! Xie Guan!”

Huo Mingjun looked like he was about to kill someone.

“Have the car behind us intercept that minivan,” every word he spoke seemed to burst from ice. “Call the police directly.”

Zhong Heguang immediately gave the order to the bodyguard car following them. Huo Mingjun directly called Huang Cheng: “It's me. Where is Xie Guan?… Pull over to the side of the road.”

A moment later, the Rolls-Royce and the nanny van, one after the other, pulled into the emergency lane and slowly came to a stop. (Note)

The door of the Rolls-Royce opened. Huo Mingjun walked up to the nanny van in a few strides and, carrying a murderous aura, yanked open the door. His figure blocked out most of the sky, gilded with a faint golden halo by the morning sun, which was not yet intense, and it fell perfectly into Xie Guan's shocked pupils.

“…Why are you here?”

Huo Mingjun's chilling, almost man-eating aura miraculously subsided the moment he saw Xie Guan, converging into an unreadable curve between his brows. He propped his hand on the car door, extended a hand toward Xie Guan, and said in a soft, husky voice, “Get out of the car. I'll take you away.”

In the distance, Zhong Heguang silently reached out, covered Fang Hui's eyes, and twisted her head to the other side.

“Why won't you let me watch the gossip!” Fang Hui struggled in his hands.

“Good children shouldn't learn this,” Zhong Heguang sighed worriedly. “Whatever you do, don't take this kind of idol drama trope seriously. Not everyone who stops a car is a domineering CEO.”

The unmarried young woman Fang Hui fell silent.

Xie Guan had been suffering from a cold and a low-grade fever for the past two days. Yesterday, he had filmed for a full day on the set of The Rising Tides of the Azure Sea, then rushed to another set in the evening for a night shoot. He didn't sleep all night, then directly boarded a plane in the morning to B City to make an announcement. He had slept fitfully on the plane for a while and woke up with his whole body aching, yet he still had to force himself to face the fans who came to pick him up. Fortunately, he was wearing sunglasses and a mask, so his sickly appearance wasn't visible. Xie Guan forced himself to walk the distance to the exit, surrounded by fans. The moment he got in the car, he felt as if he had been completely drained.

He felt so unwell that he couldn't even speak a complete sentence. Huang Cheng told the driver to drive as smoothly as possible, but it wasn't long before they were being chased. Xie Guan was thrown against the car door several times, and his vision went black in waves. He bit his tongue hard, tasting a mouthful of blood, which finally cleared his head a little.

After all that turmoil, the moment Huo Mingjun appeared at the door, Xie Guan felt like he was seeing his savior.

In the sweltering heat of July, the palm of his hand was as cold as a popsicle just taken out of the freezer. Xie Guan gave his hand to Huo Mingjun, wanting to use his strength to stand up, but after just one try, he fell heavily back into his seat. Dizziness washed over him, making it difficult for him to even see the person in front of him clearly. He could only say weakly, “Sorry, could you help me…”

Before he could finish speaking, Huo Mingjun leaned in, tested the temperature of his forehead, and then directly bent down and carried him out.

The nanny van was only a few steps away from the Rolls-Royce. Xie Guan didn't even have time to struggle before he was placed on the spacious back seat of the car.

Huo Mingjun casually pulled a blanket from the back seat and wrapped Xie Guan up tightly. He leaned over to straighten the crumpled part of his collar and asked in a gentle, consultative tone, “You have a fever. Can we go to the hospital?”

Half of Xie Guan's face was covered by his mask. He shook his head weakly.

“Alright, we won't go.” Huo Mingjun didn't say another word. He raised his hand and gently covered Xie Guan's eyes, his tone as soft as a lover's whisper. “Don't think about anything. Just get some sleep first. I'll take care of everything.”

He was simply a sleeping pill sent from heaven. In the palm of his hand, Xie Guan felt an unprecedented weakness and exhaustion, as if he had returned to a warm, safe home from a storm-tossed jungle. Sleepiness and warmth, like a gentle tide, gradually submerged his faltering consciousness.