OFTLHFRO C101

Chapter 101 To Quietly Astonish Everyone

The world was wrapped in white this winter. Every day there was food to eat, drink to enjoy, and thick padded clothing to wear. Huo Xiang and Huo Xinyue leaned against the window, gazing out at the falling snow.

The snow that they once disliked now seemed beautiful.

Huo Yuhui reached out to brush his younger siblings’ cold little cheeks. “Don’t stare too long—you’ll catch a chill.”

Huo Xiang giggled and pressed his icy fingers against Huo Yuhui’s neck. Huo Yuhui didn’t dodge, only looking back at him with helpless eyes.

Tilting her head, Huo Xinyue copied her second brother and poked him too.

When Huo Yuhui showed no reaction, Huo Xiang frowned. “Big Brother, aren’t you afraid of the cold?”

After all, when he touched Liu Shangyu’s neck, that boy had squealed like crazy.

Huo Yuhui only smiled. “It’s alright.”

Just then, a water tendril stretched in from afar, shaping itself into a trumpet. From it came Luo Mingchen’s voice: “Time to eat.”

Huo Xinyue squealed with delight, clutching the water tendril. “Daddy is amazing!”

Before the two brothers could even react, the tendril had already wrapped around Huo Xinyue and lifted her away. She burst into giggles.

Uh…

The brothers scrambled after her, only to see Luo Mingchen holding Huo Xinyue in his arms, planting a kiss on her cheek. She was still cooing for him to make her fly again.

“Be good. After you eat, I’ll let you fly.”

She blinked her big eyes and nodded obediently. “Okay~”

For a child nearly three years old, Huo Xinyue’s greatest strength was obedience.

Though she often wanted things, once told firmly that something was off-limits, she would never touch it again. Her memory was remarkably sharp.

After dinner, Luo Mingchen took the three children out for a “flight.”

To keep them from freezing, he wrapped them in water spheres that blocked the wind, handed them warming jars to hold, and swung them around as though they were riding a moving swing.

When he noticed even the usually composed Huo Yuhui enjoying himself with abandon, Luo Mingchen raised his brows at Huo Yan. “Want to play too?”

Huo Yan looked back at him. “I do.”

Luo Mingchen: “…”

How childish.

Still… there was no one else around to see.

He anchored a thick water tendril in the middle of the lake, extending long branches that each held a water sphere. Once seated inside, the spheres spun gently—like some exotic version of a carousel. The tendrils could even stretch outward toward other spots.

The five of them drifted slowly in circles on the tendrils, too absorbed to hear the knocking at the door.

The knocking went unanswered for so long that Xiao Lin climbed the wall to peek inside. And when he saw, good heavens—he nearly fell right off.

There sat Luo Mingchen and Huo Yan in a water sphere, turning their heads toward him, while he perched frozen on the wall in shock.

The couple: “…”

Should they silence him?

Truth be told, ordinary folk couldn’t climb walls this high, but Xiao Lin had trained, which made this… very awkward.

Huo Yan asked calmly, “What brings you here?”

Seeing that Huo Yan had no intention of coming down, Xiao Lin felt a pang of despair. “While Hua Niang and I were out buying meat, we ran into people from the Huo family. Judging from the direction they took, they must be heading for Xishui Village. So I came to warn you. Knocked half the day, but no one answered…”

They’d passed by the shop, where only Wen Liuyun and Chen Xiuyue were staying in the rented rooms. Thinking no one would be out in this freezing weather, they came here. When no one answered, Xiao Lin had scaled the wall—and stumbled upon this fantastical scene.

That water pillar… if someone told him it was divine power, he’d believe it.

At his words, Luo Mingchen looked over at Huo Yan.

This was serious.

The five of them climbed down from the tendrils. Huo Xiang scampered to open the door.

Xiao Lin leapt down from the wall and entered through the gate with Hua Niang.

Noticing his odd expression, Hua Niang asked, “What’s wrong?”

Xiao Lin forced a smile, his voice unconsciously softening. “Nothing—the wind’s just strong up there.”

Though he had seen the water tendrils, Huo Xiang said nothing. After all, his brother had told him before—listen more, speak less. Especially regarding Daddy’s abilities. If asked, they knew nothing.

Inside, Huo Yuhui poured tea for Xiao Lin and Hua Niang.

“Brother Huo,” Xiao Lin said, “what do you plan to do? They brought a lot of men, looks like they mean to use force. Better you hide somewhere else for now.”

He wasn’t exaggerating. If they didn’t find anyone in Xishui Village, a bit of asking around in Taohua Town would point them here. The town wasn’t that big.

Huo Yan replied, “Let them come.”

Xiao Lin thought he meant to fight them head-on, and sighed. “Even if you can win, you still have your business and the children’s schooling. Those people fight dirty. It’d be better to avoid them.”

“How long can we hide?”

Luo Mingchen understood Xiao Lin’s goodwill, but this plan wasn’t reliable.

If the Huo family had sent men to drag Huo Yan away, that meant their side was already in dire straits.

Exactly the situation Huo Yan had anticipated—just sooner than expected.

Xiao Lin groaned, “As long as you can!”

“No need to hide.”

Huo Yan’s words made Xiao Lin anxious. “So you really mean to risk your life for that unreliable father of yours and those so-called brothers, heading to the frontier to die?”

Huo Yan looked at him. “How do you know it’s to die, and not to make my mark?”

Xiao Lin was struck silent.

After a while, he asked, “So you’ve decided?”

“Yes.”

If they wouldn’t leave him in peace, if they insisted on making him a scapegoat, he would not sit and wait for death.

Xiao Lin let out a heavy sigh. “Then… shall I come with you?”

“No need.”

Huo Yan knew Xiao Lin had long waited for peaceful days. There was no reason for him to risk danger alongside him.

Glancing at Hua Niang, Xiao Lin pressed his lips tight and said no more.

He had delivered the message. What came next was up to Luo Mingchen and Huo Yan. With that, he and Hua Niang departed.

After they left, Huo Xiang asked with wide eyes, “Little Daddy, are people coming to catch Daddy?”

“Not catch—invite.”

If they didn’t resist, those men wouldn’t resort to violence.

“Then can’t we just not go?”

Huo Xiang figured Daddy’s father surely wasn’t missing him. If so, why go along with them?

It was hard for Luo Mingchen to explain. If Huo Yuhui had asked, he could give an answer. But Huo Xiang wasn’t even nine years old. Many things he wouldn’t yet understand.

After thinking it over, Luo Mingchen used words the child could grasp, smiling. “Right now we’re too weak. We’ll have to step on those villains and quietly grow strong—then astonish everyone.”

Huo Xiang froze. Was that even possible?

If those people hadn’t come, of course they could’ve lived a quiet, plain life—just as Huo Yan’s birth mother had wished.

But as things stood, instead of wasting time arguing with them, better to ride their wind and soar upward.

Only with true strength could they inspire fear.

Huo Yan gazed at the always-smiling Luo Mingchen. Even the faint unease that lingered in his heart was now gone without a trace.

From Luo Mingchen’s words, it sounded as though it would be the easiest thing in the world.