What to Do If I Become the Villain's Daughter

14.

The Huo family rule: no talking while eating or sleeping.

Huo Xiaozheng put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"I'm sorry, does your leg still hurt?" he asked.

Huo Ning shook her head, her cheeks still full: "It doesn't hurt anymore."

She swallowed the shrimp dumpling in her mouth and looked eagerly at Huo Xiaozheng: "Daddy, did you like that lady we just met?"

"I used to like her very much," Huo Xiaozheng's eyes held a hint of nostalgia.

Huo Ning tilted her head, pretending not to understand: "Used to? What about now?"

Huo Xiaozheng's thoughts seemed to drift back to his teenage years.

Back then, Huo Xiaozheng was not only busy with his studies but also had to take over company affairs. His life revolved around three points: home, school, and work. The joys his peers experienced seemed to be behind a glass wall - visible, but out of reach.

Qin Zhiyi was the one who shattered that glass.

Although he and Qin Zhiyi had known each other since childhood, their relationship was limited to mere acquaintance. In her teenage years, Qin Zhiyi approached him with a smile as sweet as gardenias, bringing him the joys of youth he had been missing.

On a rainy day, they shared an umbrella. The fresh scent of rain-kissed gardenias surrounded them, and her radiant smile gently touched his heart.

From that moment on, affection grew like a vine, entwining his heart.

He arrogantly believed he could keep this gardenia flower for himself.

However, when Qin Zhiyi returned from studying abroad, his confidence was shattered.

She was arm in arm with Jiang Suyuan, her smile as bright as it had been on that rainy day.

Huo Xiaozheng didn't want to give Huo Ning a perfunctory answer, but he also couldn't bring himself to say definitively that he no longer cared about Qin Zhiyi.

After all, if he truly didn't care about her, why would he have come to meet her today, knowing full well she had invited him for Jiang Suyuan's sake? It was a form of self-torture.

His silence gave Huo Ning the answer she sought.

Huo Ning took a sip of lemon tea, her eyes narrowing in satisfaction.

"But that lady is getting married, Daddy. Do you still have a chance?" Huo Ning asked.

One couldn't blame Huo Ning for probing her father's heart. In the original story, even after Qin Zhiyi got married, he still didn't give up on trying to sabotage their relationship.

Although on the surface he was attacking Jiang Corporation, everyone knew his true intentions were focused on Qin Zhiyi.

Huo Xiaozheng was taken aback.

Qin Zhiyi was getting married.

These simple words, coming from his daughter's mouth, somehow seemed absurd.

Huo Xiaozheng suddenly gained clarity: "I don't have a chance anymore, but I don't need that chance either."

His rare smile dazzled Huo Ning.

"Wow, so handsome!" she blurted out.

Oops, she accidentally said her thoughts out loud.

Huo Ning covered her mouth and peeked at Huo Xiaozheng.