“Who is that person?” the safety supervisor asked in surprise.
The summer sun blazed fiercely, and the air on the island hung thick and humid.
Huo Boyan looked up and spotted an unfamiliar young man sprawled asleep on a beach chair by the pool.
The young man’s black hair was slightly wavy, the tips damp with sweat and gleaming like black pearls. Sunlight illuminated his bare back, his skin so fine and pale it almost glowed.
A book served as his pillow beneath his face, making his shoulder blades protrude like butterfly wings, dipping into an enticing curve at his waist that begged to be gripped. It rose and fell gently with his breaths, as if coming alive.
Only half his face was visible, and he wasn’t one of the invited guests.
Huo Boyan withdrew his gaze and said calmly, “You don’t know?”
The sun beat down mercilessly, but the safety supervisor broke out in a cold sweat.
He truly hadn’t seen this person before.
He was in charge of security for Huo Junlin’s birthday, yet such a major oversight had occurred—a stranger had made it onto the island.
Huo Junlin’s birthday fell during summer vacation. Every year, besides hosting relatives and friends on Hong Kong Island, he gathered a group of peers for a vacation on this private island in the Pacific.
Huo Boyan always arranged private planes to escort them, but these were precarious times, rife with dangers. With limited medical facilities on the resort island, every guest and staff member underwent multiple checks. Yet somehow, a stranger had slipped through.
Cold sweat dripped from the safety supervisor as he quickly responded, “I’m sorry, I don’t know how a stranger got here. I’ll investigate immediately.”
Huo Boyan glanced at the strikingly handsome young man by the pool, suspecting another plot against him. But his composure was impeccable; though alert, his expression remained serene. He simply said to the safety supervisor, “Good.”
“No need to investigate,” came a young, cheerful voice next. Huo Junlin walked over and said, “He’s a distant nephew from the Lin family, the younger cousin of Zi Lang and Zi Qing. I invited him along for fun.”
The Lin and Huo families were connected by marriage and business ties. Huo Junlin had grown up with the Lin siblings, so their presence at his birthday was a given. Inviting their cousin seemed reasonable enough, but Huo Junlin’s attitude was vague, as if deliberately hiding something.
“Your guest?” Huo Boyan turned to his brother and asked calmly, “Why didn’t you have Jiaming arrange his reception?”
Huo Boyan’s posture was relaxed. The top three buttons of his white shirt hung open, and he wore gold-rimmed glasses—a classic vacation look. His tone was mild, as if it were just casual curiosity.
But Huo Junlin, raised under his brother’s strict guidance and witness to his rare tempers, knew better than outsiders that Huo Boyan wasn’t as mild-mannered as his reputation suggested. He simply buried his true emotions deeper with age. Even Huo Junlin, his own brother, often couldn’t read him anymore.
Even a casual question from Huo Boyan carried an intangible pressure that stifled any protest.
Especially since Huo Junlin’s actions weren’t aboveboard. He had sneaked Zhu Ran onto the island, bypassing both his brother and Jiaming. He knew his brother’s standards wouldn’t allow a stranger.
Huo Junlin could only mumble, “I forgot to mention it. I definitely will next time.”
Huo Boyan opened his mouth to speak again when the person on the beach chair stirred. Woken by their conversation, the young man turned his head slightly and let out a soft groan, on the verge of waking.
Huo Boyan turned and entered the living room, then instructed Chen Jiaming to look into Zhu Ran’s background.
That year, Zhu Ran was a junior in college. On the first day of summer break, he’d had a massive fight with his parents. In a rage, his father locked him in his room. Zhu Ran jumped from the second-floor window, only to be caught by his mother and aunt. His mother fainted on the spot. Zhu Ran kept vigil at the hospital for a full day and night. When she woke, she asked if he knew he was wrong. He stayed silent, nearly fainting her again.
The standoff dragged on until Zhu Ran’s aunt, Wang Zhuoying, offered to have him spend the summer at her place to let things cool off.
Wang Zhuoying had studied in Hong Kong in her youth. Young and beautiful, with a keen eye for art, she married a Hong Kong Island art dealer.
It should have been a perfect match, but her father was a renowned academic from the mainland with three daughters and dreams of them marrying his star students to carry on the family legacy. Her husband lacked both talent and wealth, so Wang Zaisheng disapproved of his youngest daughter’s far-off marriage, giving her the cold shoulder for years.
Only years later, upon learning of Wang Zhuoying’s successful career, her ties to Hong Kong’s wealthy Huo Corporation, and her two children attending top global universities, did Wang Zaisheng relent. He finally allowed her to return home for Zhu Ran’s grandmother’s 70th birthday.
After the birthday celebration, Zhu Ran went with his aunt to Port City. His parents agreed for a simpler reason: they’d heard Wang Zhuoying’s eldest son, Lin Jiaming, was engaged to an outstanding woman and hoped the environment would reform Zhu Ran.
Ridiculous.
But Zhu Ran didn’t care about anything then. He just wanted to escape that suffocating family.
Port City’s atmosphere wasn’t as welcoming as he’d hoped, though. Language and cultural barriers, plus polite but distant relatives, made it hard for him to fit in.
Until the Lin siblings invited him to the island getaway. On that remote island, soothed by sea and wind, Zhu Ran finally felt a taste of freedom.
The private island teemed with lush vegetation, lagoons, and white sands. Besides outings like boating and tennis, people rarely crossed paths.
Zhu Ran disliked crowds. When not active, he found a secluded pool to lie by and read. The heat was oppressive, and alone, he soon stripped off his shirt, letting the breeze caress his bare back and limbs like gentle fingers.
Unknowingly, Zhu Ran fell asleep, lost in a chaotic, forgettable dream.
