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Chapter 9.1
Genius Artist - Replacement of the White Moonlight for the Rich CEO
The next day, Huo Lian sent a driver to pick Lu Shijin up and bring him to his office.
Huo Lian’s secretary brough Lu Shijin upstairs, leaving him in front of the door to Huo Lian’s office. He stopped and smilingly indicated for Lu Shijin to enter by himself before leaving.
Lu Shijin pushed open the door. Huo Lian was standing in front of the French window. He was wearing a gray straight fit suit. From behind, his perfect, inverted triangular-shaped torso was very noticeable.
Lu Shijin resisted his urge to wolf-whistle and quietly knocked, greeting in a soft voice, “Mr. Huo, I’m here. May I enter?”
“Come in.” Huo Lian didn’t turn around.
Lu Shijin walked in, closing the door on his way. Huo Lian called him over, but seemed to be ignoring him, making him unable to make sense of his intentions and afraid to advance.
“Mr. Huo,” Lu Shijin stammered, “When can I see Huo Qi?”
“See Huo Qi?” Huo Lian slowly turned around. His back was facing the light, so his expression couldn’t be seen, but the coldness in his voice was more than enough, “Why should I take you to see him?”
Lu Shijin widened his eyes in astonishment, “But you promised me . . .”
“I did promise you,” Huo Qi approached Lu Shijin step by step, his cold and handsome face becoming clearer. He hooked his lips up and smiled, “But that was because you said you were Huo Qi’s boyfriend.”
“But I am . . .”
“Enough, I don’t want to listen to your lies.” Huo Lian coldly interrupted him, “You can’t be Huo Qi’s boyfriend. I’ve already investigated. He’s never had someone by his side, so where did you come from?”
Lu Shijin was at a loss for words, “I . . .”
Both Huo Qi and Lu Shijin took measures to hide their meetings. Huo Qi had never taken Lu Shijin outside and had always strictly forbidden Lu Shijin from speaking of their relationship to others.
Other than a miniscule number of people, no one knew of Lu Shijin’s existence.
So when he was faced with Huo Lian’s doubts, Lu Shijin truly couldn’t dispel them.
Huo Lian seemed to have long expected Lu Shijin’s reaction and mocked, “You’ve ran out of words, huh?”
“I didn’t lie . . . I really am . . .” Lu Shijin’s aggrieved eyes were covered by a layer of fog, “Huo Qi really is my boyfriend, if you don’t believe me, you can take me to see him. I can prove it to you!”
Huo Lian’s tone became stern. “Do you think that the young master of the Huo family is someone anyone can see? And besides, I learned that Huo Qi has long had someone he likes. They’ve always been together lately. Since you want me to take you to him, do you want to sow discord in our uncle-nephew relationship? Say it, what is your purpose in approaching me?”
“What did you say?!” Lu Shijin was stunned, as though he had been struck by lightning, “Who is Huo Qi with?”
“Heh, you’re still pretending. You actually dared to pretend to be Huo Qi’s boyfriend, did you not investigate beforehand?” Under Lu Shijin’s disbelieving gaze, Huo Qi continued speaking, “Huo Qi has had a crush on someone since he was a teenager. That person is called Ruan Siheng, a well-known young artist. Now that Ruan Siheng has returned, the two meet pretty much every day. However, you come out and say that you’re Huo Qi’s boyfriend. Do you think that I, Huo Qi, can be deceived and manipulated at will?”
“How could this be?” It was like Lu Shijin had lost his soul. He stepped back and murmured to himself, “I am clearly the one who met with Huo Qi . . .”
“Do you admit that you’re a liar?” Huo Lian’s voice didn’t have a hint of emotion, “If you admit it now, I can pretend that nothing happened. Otherwise, you’ll have to bear the consequences.”
Lu Shijin was so anxious that he choked, loudly defending himself, “I’m not! Everything I’ve said is true!”
Huo Lian asked in a low voice, “Where’s the evidence!”
Lu Shijin gasped for breath, then lowered his eyes, as if he was thinking about how he could prove the relation between him and Huo Qi.
“Secretary . . . that’s right . . .” Lu Shijin seemed to have thought of something and suddenly raised his head, “Huo Qi’s secretary can prove it! He’s the one who picks me up when I meet with Huo Qi!”
Huo Lian sneered, “Aren’t you just building schemes upon schemes? If I really went to the secretary about you, wouldn’t the secretary tell Huo Qi? What do you think Huo Qi would think about his uncle then?”
Lu Shijin’s eyes became slightly red. The boyfriend he had been in love with for three years had very likely found someone new, but he can’t prove his relationship with him.
He was like a lost lamb, abandoned by the world. A deep sense of helplessness took hold of him, blocking his airway and making his face pale, as if he was going to faint the very next second.
“I have to say, your act of being heartbroken is pretty good,” Huo Lian remarked indifferently.    “You said that you’re from an art academy, but from what I can see, you seem more like someone from the performance department in a film academy.”
Lu Shijin bit his lips and took a deep breath to calm down. “You don’t need to mock me, Mr. Huo. I can’t do anything if you don’t believe me. However, I’m sorry I can’t believe your words about Huo Qi being with someone else.”
Huo Lian’s gaze was gloomy. “Interesting . . . You believe I’m lying to you?”
Lu Shijin straightened his back and stubbornly raised his chin. “ I believe in Huo Qi.”
Huo Lian smiled without anger and narrowed his cold eyes with interest. “ Very good, I like your attitude of not dropping tears until you see the coffin.”
Lu Shijin stared back, unwilling to concede, “Unless Huo Qi admits it himself, I won’t believe anyone! If you disagree, so be it. Mr. Huo, if you only called me here to embarrass me, then I don’t think there’s any point in staying here. Goodbye.”
After speaking, he turned to leave, but silently kept count in his mind. “Three, two . . .”
As expected, before he reached ‘one,’ Huo Lian stopped him, “Wait.”
Lu Shijin’s hand was already on the door handle, “Does Mr. Huo have anything else to say?”
Huo Lian casually touched his cufflinks and walked toward the door. “Don’t you want to see Huo Qi? I’ll give you an opportunity, but I hope that after you see him, your trust in him will still be this strong.”
He was finally able to get in Huo Lian’s car to find Huo Qi. Lu Shijin sat in the back, leaning as close as he could to the car door to keep as much distance as possible from Huo Lian, as if he was some sort of terrible monster.
Lu Shijin ignored him, so Huo Lian would naturally not take the initiative to talk to him. The two kept their silence for the entire way.