Chapter 55

Huo Jilin looked at him silently. The former Chen Jue had been very concerned about his identity as an orphan.

He had been adopted by Dean Chen from the hospital. Dean Chen treated him like his own son, passing on all his medical skills to him. When he clearly stated that Chen Jue would be the next successor of Zhonghai Hospital, it provoked resentment among the other shareholders. They didn't say anything openly, but launched a cyber attack behind his back. Someone dug up the fact that he was adopted, and it caused a huge uproar.

Chen Jue, who never avoided problems, avoided this one.

He took a full month of leave before returning.

Although he showed nothing on the surface after coming back, he spoke even less.

He rarely even had expressions anymore.

He spent longer and longer hours at Zhonghai Hospital, almost living there, performing one surgery after another, as if he had sold his life to the hospital.

He was repaying Dean Chen and Director Zhou's kindness in raising him in another way.

From that point on, he wanted to settle the debt. He did care about his identity as an orphan.

But the current Chen Jue no longer cared.

He said, "So that's how it is."

Huo Jilin looked at him and said slowly, "You're not the same Chen Jue as before."

If Chen Jue hadn't understood what Huo Jilin meant, he might have suspected that Huo Jilin wasn't himself either.

He'd grilled him this much just to land on that conclusion? How ridiculous.

This was cutting into his sunset time.

Chen Jue didn't want to deal with Huo Jilin anymore. This man had no business playing Sherlock Holmes—he'd end up in hot water sooner or later.

Chen Jue got up and walked inside, but Huo Jilin followed behind him, saying, "You weren't like this before."

Chen Jue set the medicinal herbs on the square table and sat down to cut them. His pregnant belly made sitting on a low stool a pain, so he asked perfunctorily while cutting, "What was I like back then?"

Huo Jilin sat across from him, trimming the angelica roots, and said something unpleasant: "The old Chen Jue was stubborn, wouldn't listen to reason, was always going against me, and got under my skin every single time."

Chen Jue hadn't wanted to respond, but he couldn't help but bite back: "Are you a dragon? You've got scales to flip?"

Huo Jilin gritted his teeth. Chen Jue really was just born to give him grief.

He was the largest shareholder of Zhonghai Hospital. Every senior executive at the hospital sucked up to him, everyone listened to him, even his own father, Dean Chen, jumped when he said jump—only Chen Jue wouldn't budge.

He was a medical genius, certainly not stupid. He knew perfectly well that his resistance was a drop in the bucket that couldn't stir up any waves, but he still stubbornly held to his opinions every time. So Huo Jilin had to make a lesson out of him each time.

Huo Jilin placed the angelica roots in front of him: "Think just because I'm not the big shareholder anymore, you can look down on me?"

Chen Jue glanced at him: "That's right. How the mighty have fallen, and look at you now."

Huo Jilin snorted: "Don't celebrate too soon. I'll get my old spot back sooner or later, and that day isn't far off. Earning military honors is the fastest way."

Military honors? But hadn't he refused to be the Guerrilla General and hung up his sword to go back to farming?

Chen Jue asked this out loud.

He'd always wondered, honestly—why would a guy like Huo Jilin come back? With all that military glory, he should have stayed in the army.

In his previous life, hadn't he climbed the ranks through military service and locked down his spot in the Huo family?

Why not just do the same thing this time around?

Chen Jue felt the setup of this world was fairly reasonable—except for his pregnant belly, nothing else was too out of whack. Like him being an orphan, or Huo Jilin coming back from the war.

He'd been a soldier before.

"Why didn't you stay in the military? Why come back to this little mountain village?"

Huo Jilin glanced at him: "Came back to see you. I can't just abandon the wife who stuck with me through hard times once I've made it big."

Chen Jue just gave him a look.

Perhaps others might return home for a wife, kids, and a warm bed, but it would never be Huo Jilin.

Even Chen Jue, when he first landed in this world, had considered building great achievements—let alone this man.

He'd fought like hell to carve out a path on the battlefield and earned real military honors, but then he used those honors to get the whole village benefits through the village head.

Chen Jue refused to believe he was some noble-hearted saint. Everything he did had to have a reason.

He must have some reason for staying in this village, some reason he needed to stick around here for now.

Chen Jue looked at him and asked, "You're not laying low here, are you?"

Huo Jilin glared at him. Did Chen Jue really not believe he'd come back for him?

Even if he did have reasons for being here, coming back to see him was definitely the number one thing.

Chen Jue still didn't look convinced. Huo Jilin took a deep breath. After all these years of butting heads, not only did Huo Jilin understand Chen Jue, but Chen Jue also knew him inside out. He couldn't fool Chen Jue, so Huo Jilin gave in and told the truth: "Fine, I'll tell you the truth. The Crown Prince's faction that this body originally backed is still being suppressed. Once the Third Prince's faction is completely defeated, we'll make our move again."

So that was why he was holed up in this corner.

Chen Jue hadn't seen that coming. Now, thinking back on how the villagers treated the Huo family, he could piece it together.

The Huo family didn't fit in with this village, and the villagers hadn't wanted to associate with them either, because he was an exiled convict.

An exiled convict.

Chen Jue didn't pay much attention to court stuff. Even when he went to the government office to check the notices, it was only to see how the war was going. He didn't care at all who became emperor.

To put it plainly, he wasn't all that politically savvy.

Of course, if he had been, he wouldn't have kept digging his heels in against this man's calls in his past life.

They just didn't see eye to eye, same as in his past life. His focus was only on medicine, only on the small circle of Zhonghai Hospital, while Huo Jilin had greater ambitions—using Zhonghai Hospital as a springboard to accomplish bigger things, cooking up bigger plans.

And now, this man wanted to get involved in the fight for the crown.

Chen Jue sat up straight. He needed to stay far away from this man.

His family had been exiled as criminals, and now he wanted to keep backing the Crown Prince's faction.

Hadn't they learned their lesson back when the whole family got exiled and only one branch was left?

The Crown Prince's faction, which had already been suppressed years ago, was obviously a losing bet.

Chen Jue looked at Huo Jilin's stubborn face. This guy had been dead set on doing something crazy in his past life, and here he was, clearly thinking the same thing again.

He had been making his own decisions for so long that no one ever contradicted him, and over time, he became more and more headstrong.

A man like that is dangerous—ordinary folks ought to steer clear.

Chen Jue quietly leaned back, not making a sound.

Huo Jilin glanced at him, then planted his hands on the table and leaned in toward him. His tone was calm, like he was making a suggestion, but the threat underneath was plain as day. He said, "It's too late to try to cut ties with me now. You've got my blood in your belly. If they execute the nine clans, you'd be my closest family."

Chen Jue narrowed his eyes. Didn't this guy already accept the kid wasn't his? Why's he claiming it again now?

Still, biologically speaking, he really was the kid's father. If the nine clans got punished, he'd be caught up in it too.

Chen Jue leaned back and said firmly, "We're getting divorced, right now. After the divorce, the kid takes my last name."

Huo Jilin froze. He knew Chen Jue couldn't stand him, but he was still stunned by how fast he acted on it.

Was Chen Jue really avoiding him like the plague?

Huo Jilin closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he said, "That's not a divorce. It's a separation. Husband."

Chen Jue couldn't help but close his eyes too. Hearing "husband" come out of Huo Jilin's mouth was too creepy—it gave him the chills.

He rubbed his arms and said, "Fine, a separation then. When?"

Huo Jilin suddenly stood up and strode out, his strides so long he nearly clipped the doorframe.

Chen Jue was baffled and muttered, "What a nutjob."

Huo Jilin marched out, mounted his horse, and rode straight up to the top of North Mountain. Standing at the peak, he stared down at the village below, face blank.

No one knew how pissed off he was inside.

He'd set out to help Chen Jue beat his depression, but instead, Chen Jue was driving him into one.

Nice one, Chen Jue!

Huo Jilin took a few deep breaths.

Only useless men lose their temper.

That used to be his motto, and now it fit him to a T.

A man who couldn't hold on to his wife was the biggest failure of all.

He was always on the edge of blowing up now, especially when going toe-to-toe with Chen Jue. Chen Jue's mouth was lethal—he always jabbed right at Huo Jilin's rawest nerves, and Huo Jilin was starting to think he did it on purpose.

If he hadn't walked away just now, he'd have put his hands on Chen Jue.

Let him see what a husband's supposed to do.

He didn't care about the bump. He wanted to consummate the marriage.

He was just that much of an animal!

Huo Jilin let out a bitter laugh at his own thoughts. Chen Jue was going to be the death of him sooner or later.

Huo Jilin grabbed his axe and started chopping wood—and it was a live young pine.

Since he couldn't get one over on Chen Jue, he took his anger out on that little pine.

After splitting the tree and cutting it into even-sized logs, he finally headed back down the mountain, face grim.

Chen Jue was in the yard sorting herbs when he saw Huo Jilin come back with two bundles of firewood. He glanced over, wondering why Huo Jilin had chopped down a live tree.

There were plenty of dead branches this time of year. He didn't cut those—only the live one. Chen Jue had no clue what he was thinking.

But Chen Jue wasn't about to say anything anyway. After all, he wasn't the one lighting the stove.

Huo Jilin put the firewood in the shed and came out to see Chen Jue bending over to lift the whole bucket of freshly cut kudzu root. He shouted right away, "Don't move!"

Chen Jue had zero sense of being a mother. Didn't he know he wasn't supposed to lift anything heavy?

Or was he really that set on dying? Did he want to take the kid down with him?!

Huo Jilin swallowed the anger rising in his chest and spread the kudzu root out on the bamboo tray.

Seeing Huo Jilin had handled it, Chen Jue went back inside. That night, the two barely exchanged a few words—talking was pointless and just pissed them both off.

Even in his sleep, Huo Jilin's brow was furrowed, like he was scheming something.

When Chen Jue woke up the next morning, he found that Little Flower had arrived. It was playfully butting heads with Old Horse Ancestor, all raring to go.

Rear up, it charged, but Old Horse Ancestor just gave a lazy toss of his head, and Little Flower whiffed.

Little Flower wouldn't quit, kept adjusting its angle, and charged again.

Chen Jue watched for a while, wondering why people called donkeys stubborn. That label should go to goats—reckless and never admitting defeat.

"Little Flower, come eat some greens!"

Huo Jilin returned from the vegetable garden carrying a basket of radishes.

"Why is it here?" Chen Jue asked Huo Jilin.

Huo Jilin shrugged and said casually, "It said it missed you. Zhang Yan sent it up to stay with you for a few days."

Chen Jue's lips twitched slightly. Little Flower was just a little animal—how could it miss him? It probably missed his clothes.

Sure enough, after eating a few bites of radish leaves, Little Flower became picky and stopped, turning to nibble at Chen Jue's linen clothes.

Zhang Yan had spoiled it rotten over the past couple of weeks.

Chen Jue gave it a light smack on the mouth: "How many times have I told you? Clothes aren't for eating."

Little Flower tilted its head in response to the slap, but a moment later, it went back to biting his clothes. Chen Jue had to pinch its mouth with his hand and look around, planning to muzzle it. Zhou Qingshan had made a muzzle for the goat before.

But he hadn't brought it this time.

Huo Jilin stood nearby with his arms crossed, watching the scene: "Let it play with you for a while."

Chen Jue snorted: "It's just here to cause trouble. Tell Zhang Yan to come pick it up soon—his kid needs feeding several times a day."

Huo Jilin said, "It'll head back on its own by noon."

Chen Jue nodded and didn't say more.

After breakfast, Huo Jilin told him, "Qingzhu and the others will be delivering herbs soon. You stay home and receive them—don't go up the mountain. I'll head up with Zhou Qingshan."

Zhou Qingshan knew his way around herbs and hunting, and Huo Jilin still wanted to take him to check out that sound he'd heard on the mountain last time.

Chen Jue also nodded, while Little Flower was gnawing on his belt, and he was struggling with it—what a handful.

Huo Jilin watched the man and the goat goofing off, let out a slow breath, hoping this little goat could cheer Chen Jue up. Before Huo Jilin had arrived, this little goat had been Chen Jue's favorite, and with the goat keeping him company, he felt he could leave without worry.

Huo Jilin led Zhou Qingshan to the spot where the horse had spooked last time.

Now that they had a horse, the two headed deeper into the mountains. Zhou Qingshan scanned the thick brush for a bit before finally reaching a conclusion.

"A herd of wild boars has been through here."

His face fell.

Huo Jilin had never even seen a wild boar, let alone dealt with one—he'd only encountered domestic pigs at the market since arriving here. During their field training, the surroundings had nothing but ants and snakes. Such large carnivores didn't exist in modern deep forests.

So when Huo Jilin saw his grim face, he asked, "Tough to kill? Can we at least hold them off?"

Zhou Qingshan nodded: "A herd of wild boars is tough to fight and highly destructive. If they come down the mountain, the sweet potato fields are screwed. They've come down before—actually, last time you were the one who killed that boar."

But now he couldn't kill one if his life depended on it.

Huo Jilin coughed, rubbing his shoulder, playing it off.

With his archery skills, he might as well poison the boars. He was well aware of his own abilities.

Zhou Qingshan saw him massaging his shoulder and quickly asked, "Shoulder still hurting? Dalin, are you injured and can't hunt anymore?"

He hadn't seen Huo Lin hunt at all these past days, and now it dawned on him that something must be wrong.

Huo Jilin glanced at him—Zhou Qingshan had finally caught on. That was exactly what he meant; he wouldn't be hunting anymore either.

Seeing that he understood, Huo Jilin nodded: "My arm's got no strength left. It might be useless from now on."