RMM – Chapter 73 The Hong Family

“Then that means you’re a Senior Colonel now, Chief?”

Su Ruo was holding the military uniform that Xi Yuechen had just taken off, her fingers brushing over the four stars on his shoulder epaulets—he looked incredibly imposing.

“Mm.” Xi Yuechen answered while loosening his tie, glancing at Su Ruo who was staring intently at his shoulder insignia. He shook his head helplessly.

“Right, Chief, where’s your medal? That should be properly displayed—what an honor!”

“In the living room.”

“I’ll go take a look and arrange it.” As soon as she spoke, Su Ruo headed out, humming happily, clearly in a great mood.

Xi Yuechen chuckled softly, not stopping her. He neatly hung up his uniform in the closet. He had so many medals—it wasn’t like this was the only one. What was there to get so excited about?

Su Ruo fussed over the medal display for a good while before she was finally satisfied. Then a thought struck her—Xi Yuechen couldn’t possibly have just this one medal, right?

“Chief? Is this the only medal you have? Where are the others?” she called out toward the bedroom.

“In the study,” came Xi Yuechen’s quick reply, followed by his footsteps as he walked out.

“Can I take a look?” Su Ruo asked, pretending to seek permission while already heading for the study.

Xi Yuechen seemed unsurprised and simply pushed open the study door. He left it open as he entered, clearly inviting Su Ruo to follow.

She had been in here before but hadn’t noticed any medals. Su Ruo was puzzled.

Then she saw Xi Yuechen open a cabinet beside the bookshelf. She stepped over and took a glance—and was completely stunned.

Was that a bookshelf? No, it was clearly a medal display case. The cabinet was packed with medals of every kind, just casually placed in there.

Su Ruo gulped, then looked at Xi Yuechen with a forced smile. “That’s… a lot. Really impressive.”

She had been a model student and class star every year in elementary school, but even then, she hadn’t won this many awards.

“Winning all these… must’ve been really hard, right?” Su Ruo couldn’t help but think it must’ve been tough. Otherwise, how could someone so young already have such a high rank? Just like the recent military exercise—someone like Xi Yuechen, who took pride in his ability, would never have relied on connections.

“It’s fine. It’s all in the past,” Xi Yuechen replied casually. It was no different from regular training—what was so hard about it? And besides, it was all behind him now.

“Oh,” Su Ruo composed herself and then smiled playfully, “Then, since you have so many medals, you won’t mind if I take a few home, right?”

Of course she wanted to show them off.

Xi Yuechen knew exactly why Su Ruo wanted to take the medals home. Even though he thought it wasn’t necessary, he was still touched by how much she cared. His expression softened, and for once, he exuded a warm aura.

“Mm, do as you like.”

With that satisfactory response, Su Ruo contentedly turned to study the cabinet full of medals and certificates. She was totally absorbed.

Seeing how focused she was, Xi Yuechen didn’t disturb her and quietly walked out.

In the kitchen, he took out the groceries and fruits he had bought earlier from the supermarket. He sorted them and placed everything neatly in the fridge. He had bought a lot of fruit—Su Ruo loved fruit. Whether she had something to do or not, she always snacked on it. And compared to junk food, fruit was definitely better, so Xi Yuechen had never objected to her habit.

This time, he had even taken the initiative to buy a bunch. No way was he going to let his little woman go without and crave fruit.

After everything was in the fridge, he washed two apples and brought them to the living room. Seeing Su Ruo still hadn’t come out, he stood at the study door and called, “Come out, have an apple, then go to bed.”

The commendation ceremony had ended around 8 p.m., and after that, they had gone to the canteen for dinner. On the way back, they had stopped at the supermarket.

Su Ruo blinked in surprise—bedtime already? She glanced at her watch. Nearly 9:30?!

“Oh,” she reluctantly closed the cabinet. She hadn’t even finished examining all the medals… oh well, tomorrow then.

With Xi Yuechen’s reminder, Su Ruo suddenly felt sleepy. Ever since she was reborn, she had always gone to bed around ten. She had never stayed up late and was used to it.

While taking a bath, Su Ruo looked at the bruises and purple marks on her body and glared at Xi Yuechen with annoyance. Xi Yuechen, however, was calm and said something that nearly made her spit blood.

“Your eyes are wide open. Close them.”

Completely nonchalant. Expressionless.

“………” Su Ruo rolled her eyes and shut them. Did this guy even feel guilty? As she felt his fingers massaging shampoo into her scalp, she silently grumbled.

But to throw a tantrum? She didn’t dare. With that brute, who knew what kind of “punishment” he might dole out? If she had to go through another round tonight, she might as well just die from exhaustion.

Seeing Su Ruo finally behave, Xi Yuechen was pleased. He’d be more careful next time, but right now, it was bath and sleep time.

After the bath, he reminded Su Ruo to be careful with her hand. The scab was starting to fall off—she needed to avoid leaving a scar.

Su Ruo looked at her poor, scabbed hand and nearly cried. Her hands used to be so soft and delicate. Would it be ruined forever? No way! She had to get some ointment when she got back. A scar on her palm? That would be unacceptable.

Seeing her distressed expression, Xi Yuechen comforted her for once. “Don’t worry. The doctor left some ointment. Once the scab falls off, apply it. You won’t have a scar.”

The doctor was excellent and the medicine was top-grade. Even if she wanted a scar, it wouldn’t happen.

With that reassurance, Su Ruo did feel much better. Xi Yuechen was usually quite reliable when he made such promises.

Over the past few days, Hong Shirong hadn’t seen much of his father. Only his mother was around in the hospital room. His father would occasionally visit, but always rushed in and out, looking grim.

It was strange. Shirong asked his mother about it. “What’s wrong with Dad? He’s been acting off lately.”

Mrs. Hong forced a smile. “What could be wrong? Just focus on your recovery. Grown-up matters don’t concern children.”

But Hong Shirong wasn’t so easily brushed off. He could tell his parents were hiding something. Since it was his mother, he wasn’t afraid to press further and insisted on knowing what was going on.

Having no choice, Mrs. Hong gave a vague reply. “Your father’s company has had a few operational issues, but things will soon get back on track. Don’t worry about it.”

The company? Problems now?

Suddenly, Hong Shirong’s face turned pale and his body stiffened. Could it be… them?

Yes. It must be them! They said they’d get revenge… He still remembered the vicious undertone in the words of Su Heng and Xi Yuehui that day. That was the Su and Xi families! What now?

Hong Shirong guessed correctly and incorrectly. It was the Xi family—but only Xi Yuechen had acted. Even Xi Yuehui had been stopped by him. No one else had gotten involved. Well, except for Liang Bo’an, who had been lurking in the shadows, always ready to strike and worsen things.

Ever since Liang had that suspicion, he had been on edge. Without a doubt, if trouble was hitting the Hong family now, it had to be their doing. Those elite scions could do anything if they wanted to.

Damn it! Why had he been so stupid as to mess with Su Ruo?! Hong Shirong wanted to slap himself.

But it was too late for regrets. The Hong Group was in chaos. One company after another canceled cooperation. Government departments were showing up for inspections. Employees were jumping ship. Rumors were flying: “The Hong Group is finished! Run while you can!”

Hong Bo, Shirong’s father, stepped out of the elevator with a dark face and stormed into his office, slamming the door. His secretary flinched at the loud bang, not daring to react. She had seen her boss’s foul mood these past days—this was not the time to stand out.

Still, she was worried. He was getting more and more agitated. Could the rumors be true? Was the Hong Group really collapsing? But how? Such a big company, how could it fall just like that? When she had first joined, people were envious!

Just downstairs, Hong Bo had finished scolding two gossiping employees. “You think chatting all day will improve performance?! You want to keep your jobs or not?!”

He snatched up his mug and took a big swig—only to realize it was scalding hot. He burned his mouth.

His secretary, busy sorting files, suddenly heard the internal line ring. Her eyelid twitched. That was the chairman’s direct line…

Swallowing hard, she picked it up with the courage of someone facing death. “Hello, Chairman.”

Nothing good ever came from this call.

“Get in here—now!”

She stared at the now-dead line, heart pounding. That fury… Was he going to vent on her?

“Chairman, you wanted to see me?” She entered cautiously, inhaled deeply, and asked.

Crash! Before she could react, something smashed near her feet—shattered to pieces.

She resisted the urge to scream. It was his mug.

“You call this tea?! Trying to burn me alive? Huh?! You all think I can’t do anything to you, is that it? Get out!”

Hong Bo shouted, chest heaving. He didn’t even glance at the stunned secretary and collapsed into his chair, gasping.

She had just walked in and already got reamed out. Her anger built up in her chest, but she quickly hid it. Turning to leave, she made a face behind his back—middle finger up, mouthing “screw you” before walking out.

Damn it, the company’s going down and he’s taking it out on us? If you’ve got guts, go take on your enemies! And whose dumb idea was it to insist on always having scalding tea?!

Too bad it didn’t burn him to death. The secretary made a secret decision: if he dared to vent his anger on her again, she’d quit. The capital was big enough—surely she could find another job.

For the first time ever, Hong Bo had lost control in public. His years of cultivated composure were collapsing. Head pounding, he closed his eyes and massaged his temples.

Who was behind this?
Each hit had come relentlessly, giving him no time to recover. Not even a three-headed six-armed god could handle this.

Even now, Hong Bo had no clue who the enemy was. But one thing was certain—they were powerful. Both business and government were squeezing Hong Group, but not outright destroying it. He knew what this meant.

They were boiling the frog slowly.

And Hong Group was the frog.

Realization struck like a bolt of lightning. Cold sweat drenched him. If this really had to do with his son—then who had he provoked?

Hong Bo made up his mind: when he got home tonight, he would get to the bottom of this. He had to find out what had happened.If this continued…
The Hong Group wouldn’t survive.