Chapter 212: Chapter 90: The Top Star of the 1960s Arts Troupe (29)
Right in that spot was a puddle, the masterpiece of some person or stray animal with a bad case of diarrhea from earlier that morning. It had splattered over a considerable area. Since the "crime" had been committed after the sanitation workers had gone home, it was still brazenly emitting a nauseating stench.
People heading to work or taking their kids to school would cover their noses and mutter a few curses every time they passed by, but not a single one stopped to go home, grab a shovel, and get rid of it, or even just to sprinkle a layer of dirt over it.
Now, the two of them lost their footing and stumbled right into it...
Ren Taoning fell sideways into the mess, while Tong Yuxiang toppled straight back. Both of them were covered in it!
Once the stuff was smeared around, the smell became even more overpowering!
Tong Yuxiang had always been vain and meticulous about her appearance. Forgetting she was supposed to be feigning unconsciousness, she let out a shriek and struggled to her feet. Everywhere she pressed her hands, she felt something soft and slimy...
It was so disgusting she nearly passed out for real. The two or three seconds it took her to stand up felt like a century.
Ren Taoning, also unable to stomach it, got to her feet while dry-heaving repeatedly.
Xia Zhaoyun gasped. "Aunt Tong, didnât you just faint?" she asked, her voice filled with indignation. "You seem quite agile to me. You donât look like thereâs anything wrong with you at all."
"Youâre not that old, youâve never done any hard labor, and you take good care of yourself. How could you possibly faint just from hearing a few unpleasant truths?"
"In all my life, Iâve never seen anyone actually faint from sheer anger. Itâs usually an act, just like yours, to try and manipulate the younger generation."
All of Tong Yuxiangâs composure shattered. She shot Xia Zhaoyun a venomous glare, then whipped her head around to shout at Huo Tianhao, "Huo Tianhao, without Old Huo, there would be no you! What is this nonsense about a severance document! I think Old Huo has been far too lenient with you, not even refusing when you demanded he write one."
"This severance document is just some childish nonsense. What good is it? Half the blood in your veins is from the Huo Family! As long as that blood is still in you, youâre responsible for Old Huoâs care in his old age."
"Otherwise, youâre just an unfilial son! What kind of hero are you? A hero who shirks his filial duties? Can someone like that really be a role model for others?"
In her fury, she blurted out everything she was truly thinking.
That was how she saw it. The severance document was merely a temporary measure; a father-son relationship could never truly be broken.
For Huo Tianhao to escape the Huo Family and make it on his ownâthat was impossible!
"And another thing! This vixen of a wife you haveâflirtatious, scheming, and full of wicked intentionsâthe Huo Family will not acknowledge her!"
Huo Tianhao looked at her coldly and said in a flat voice, "Back then, I was a special forces soldier, a King of Soldiers valued by the organization with excellent prospects for advancement. It was Director Huo, newly promoted and desperate to make a name for himself, who overreached and negotiated a major deal for the factory."
"The deal was incredibly tempting in every respect. If it went through, the factory would receive support from the organization, allowing it to bring in advanced production lines and upgrade across the board."
"Everyone wanted a piece of it, but few dared to take it on. Thatâs because a group of vicious bandits was blocking the route, holding the whole operation by the throat. Otherwise, the other party would never have offered such attractive terms."
"In order to close that deal, Director Huo took it upon himself to have me discharged from the military and coerced me using our father-son relationship."
"Itâs all written clearly in the severance document. Do I need to read it aloud for you, Aunt Tong?"
"Of course, if Director Huo is shameless enough to deny that heâs the one who wrote this severance document, shameless enough to swallow his own words, then thereâs nothing I, his son, can do about it."
He ruthlessly exposed Huo Xunchangâs machinations, and the crowd was eating up the drama.
"Furthermore, what right does someone like youâsweet on the outside, bitter on the inside, a homewrecker who schemed her way to the topâhave to criticize my wife? Donât think your age automatically makes you a respected elder. Do people who show no respect for others deserve any in return?"
"Some of the elderly in this world are just bad people whoâve gotten old."
Tong Yuxiangâs face went pale. She had lost all face and dignity.
She didnât even understand how things had escalated to this uncontrollable point.
"I... Iâm done talking to you! Iâll let Old Huo deal with an unfilial son like you!"
With that, she didnât dare to linger. Forcing herself to ignore the foul stench under her nose, she hurried home, taking a less crowded route.
Ren Taoning didnât say another word, following close behind, burning with shame and indignation.
Huo Tianhao put the severance document away and calmly added an explanation for the crowd. "Comrades, they say you shouldnât air your dirty laundry in public, but I cannot tolerate the fact that my own mother suffered such great humiliation and died with resentment in her heart."
"Years ago, in order to marry a pregnant Tong Yuxiang, Huo Xunchang forced my mother to divorce him. Then, to save his own face and that of his mistress, he deliberately fabricated lies that my mother had been unfaithful because she couldnât bear the loneliness."