Huo Ding glanced at him, not understanding why he was so afraid of people knowing he was injured.
"I'm not kidding! Remember to take your medicine. If you get infected, you'll have to go to the hospital, and then I won't be able to keep it a secret for you."
Huo Ding said, then swaggered out the door.
Nan Xiao, seeing him come out, asked, "Did Xiang Dong injure his muscles or bones?"
"No. I thought the first thing you'd ask would be how your old lady is recovering." Huo Ding sat down arrogantly. "You haven't visited her in a while. Day by day, her eyes are getting bluer with longing."
A flicker of struggle crossed Nan Xiao's eyes. "I'll visit her when I'm done with this busy period."
His mother had done so many shocking things; he didn't know how to face her.
Before, he had always sided with his mother, feeling that although his father married her, he only gave her the title of Madam Nan.
His mother loved his father, but never had his heart. Her life had been too hard, and because of that, he had come to hate his father.
But now, thinking about it, what his mother had told him back then might not have been the whole truth. He might have hated the wrong person.
Huo Ding, unaware of his thoughts, smiled and asked, "Has your little shadow returned yet?"
"Hmm?" Nan Xiao was startled.
Huo Ding reminded him, "Lan Yu Xi!"
"I've been busy these past few days and haven't contacted her. I don't know if she's back."
Nan Xiao turned his head away with a hint of bitterness. In fact, it wasn't that he hadn't contacted her; it was that she wanted nothing more to do with him.
Huo Ding shook his head regretfully. "We all bet back then that you'd eventually be taken down by your little shadow. But you keep switching them out, one after another, with Lan Yu Xi having no part in it. I say, your taste has gotten worse and worse. Yun Si Yan might be a bit of a white lotus, but at least she's pure. As for Xia Qian Qian, who knows how many hands she's been through. Don't you find her disgusting to be with?"
Nan Xiao let out a scoff. "She's the 'Jade Maiden Sect Leader.' Be careful she doesn't sue you for saying that!"
Huo Ding snorted coldly. "Go ask her if she has the guts! Sue me? I'd be doing well if I didn't expose her past! What a load of crap, 'Jade Maiden'! She's a sex-crazed nymphomaniac! You know Director Hu, my cousin's husband? My cousin said Xia Qian Qian bewitched her husband, and they're getting a divorce."
The smile on Nan Xiao's face grew even wider. He knew that no one from the Xia family was honest.
"You're still laughing! Break up with her quickly!"
"I have nothing to do with her, so how can I break up with her?"
"Ah? Then what's on the internet... Damn! You were framed by that woman! No, wait. If you have nothing to do with her, why would you indulge her like this and let her spout nonsense?"
"She will pay for her nonsense, but not now."
A hint of a smile finally appeared on Huo Ding's face.
Nan Xiao picked up a bottle of mineral water and threw it at him. "Did Uncle Huo say anything about the progress of the academy?"
Huo Ding unscrewed the cap and took a sip. "I heard from my dad that registration has closed, and they're just waiting for school to start in September."
"Are all the students enrolled?"
"More than full, it's exploded! Many students who couldn't get in are already signing up for the next term."
Nan Xiao smiled with relief. He knew she could do it.
Huo Ding looked at him deeply. He felt like he was understanding him less and less after leaving the army.
He clearly had that little shadow in his heart, so why couldn't they get together?
Huo Ding chatted with him about other trivial matters for a while before leaving.
Not long after he left, Nan Xiang Dong came out with gauze. To make it realistic, he had wrapped several layers of gauze around Nan Xiao's arm.
Nan Xiao was amused and helpless, letting him fuss. After he was done, he left two brothers to take care of him and then took Xiang Xi into the car.
"Boss, where are you going? I'll drive you."
"To beg for forgiveness," Nan Xiao said and closed his eyes.
"If anyone needs to beg for forgiveness, it's me. I'll take you home to rest first."
"If you go, the sin will be even greater. This can only be handled by me. If he asks you, tell him I gave the strict order to have you bring people."
"Boss..."
"Stop talking! The four of you have been with me since you were young. You are my brothers who have shared life and death with me. I had you take people to Country T because I didn't want to lose Xiang Dong. Similarly, I wouldn't ruin you for Xiang Dong."
Nan Xiang Xi's eyes welled up slightly with red. "But I'd rather ruin myself than ruin you."
Nan Xiao turned his head and looked out the window lazily. "I'm already like this. What's the difference between being ruined once and being ruined ten times?"
"But I didn't help much when I went over there. I'm ashamed to have you take the punishment for me."
"Someone was helping you. Otherwise, even if you and Xiang Dong didn't die in that explosion, you would have had a tough fight on your hands."
Nan Xiang Xi drove Nan Xiao to a heavily guarded villa and was sent away by Nan Xiao.
Nan Xiao walked up to the sentry and took out a golden key from his pocket. The sentry took it, examined it carefully, and then searched him before letting him in.
He was inside for three hours. When he came out, he was driven out by an orderly.
Even when he arrived at the company, the gloom on Nan Xiao's brow remained.
He had passed this hurdle, but the burden on his shoulders had grown heavier. However, no matter how heavy the burden, as long as he could protect his brothers, he was willing.
Nan Xiao strode into the building with his long legs. It was during work hours, and the employees, seeing their boss return, spontaneously lined up to welcome him.
Their boss was simply a legend.
He had miraculously survived several times. With such a powerful boss, it was impossible for Nan Corporation not to be strong!
Nan Xiao nodded slightly at everyone and took the private elevator.
Five days later, a private jet landed on the helipad in the backyard of the villa on the mountainside.
Aivis stepped off the plane, holding two little dumplings, one in each arm.
Mu Mu blinked her big eyes and curiously observed everything around her. "Wow~ Our new home isn't any smaller than Windsor Manor."
"The mountains are beautiful and the water is clear; it's truly a good place!" Aivis turned to look at Lan Yu Xi, who was standing at the cabin door. "Master, I've fallen in love with this place. I want to live here for the rest of my life!"
Lan Yu Xi glared at him good-naturedly. If it weren't for the people he brought who could free up her hands and mind, she wouldn't have even let him in.
"Master, you don't love me anymore~"
"Ugh—" Chao Chao was disgusted by Aivis's mournful gaze.
Aivis asked with concern, "Junior brother, what's wrong? Did you eat something bad?"
Chao Chao slid out of his arms with a look of disgust and then ran to the spiral staircase, reaching out his little hand to Lan Yu Xi.
Lan Yu Xi's lips curved upwards as she held his small hand. "Nowadays, it's better to raise sons. Sons are more obedient than disciples!"