章 4: A Big Misunderstanding

At the Duanxiu hospital, they were surprised to see their families in the same room, with beds just beside each other.

Mo Shizi creased his thick eyebrows together. "Mother, Father, what's going on? Why is Mr. and Mrs. Fang here?"

Fang Huilang followed closely behind him, also confused. "Yeah, mom and dad. Why are they here? Can't both of you afford your own rooms?"

"The both of you got here together. That's good, that's good." Mr. Fang who was laying on the bed with a dextrose attached to his arm waved to them to come forward.

Mrs. Mo was also in the same condition as him. "Come, A-Zi. That's no polite way to great your mother after not seeing each other for 4 years, give your mother a hug."

They went over to their parents and hugged them, feeling quite awkward since they are not used to showing that sign of affection to them for a long time.

The truth was.... They had separated ways with their parents due to their backgrounds.

The Mo and Fang clan are the two biggest mafia clans in China. Their names are spoken in terror in the criminal underworld.

The Mo specializes in mercenaries. They train assassins and get rich by killing high-profile people that high-profile people want dead.

Meanwhile, the Fang specializes on blackmailing and gaining intel. They have destroyed and ruined several business tycoons, celebrities and even politicians.

But with Leon Mo wanting to be a police officer and Wolfe Fang wanting to be a theater actor..... they cut ties with their family to pursue their own paths.

Mo Shizi took his mother's hand, noticing some bandages and stitches on her face. "Was the accident something to do with the clan's business again?"

"No." His father who sat at the opposite side said. "The van we rode on hit a tree. Your mother and Mr. Fang just had it worse, you see. I managed to only break a bone, and Mrs. Fang had a concussion."

"Then why did you tell us that the clan is in danger?" Fang Huailang said.

"We almost died, Wolfie." His mother said. "And since you two insisted not to get involved in the clan anymore, if we died, who's supposed to take care of the Fang and Mo criminal empire now?

"What were you guys doing to get into such an accident?" Fang Huilang looked at his parents worriedly. "You're old folks now, you should learn to be more cautious when going outside. How can your drivers let this happen?"

"We didn't have a driver that time. Your father drove." Mrs. Fang explained. "We just wanted to have a personal hiking trip to the mountains with just the four of us, no pesky bodyguards, maids, servants, or drivers."

"But now you know how dangerous it is for four people in their 60s to travel alone." Mo Shizi slightly reprimanded them. "Sigh.... That honestly gave me a fright. I didn't know what to expect when you told me you were in the hospital. I've seen so many things in the field enough to make me a little paranoid."

"Yeah. I missed you two so much, and you haven't even watched one of my shows yet so don't go looking for your own death like this." Fang Huilang frowned, his eyes wearing gray contact lenses tearing up a bit.

"Well, if it weren't for this accident, you two wouldn't come visit us here in China, would you?" Mrs. Mo, even when lying in bed and in great pain, still managed to say that with pure venom.

The two were effectively stung. They looked down to the floor, scratching their head.

Fang Huilang adjusted his cap, pursing his lips. "Of course we would..... But you know, I just got my first lead role and things were a little busy..."

Mo Shizi rubbed his chin. "I was planning to make a stop by in Beijing after finding intel about this con artist last year..... But I got a call from Bangkok so....."

"Aysh, these kids grew up to be good at making excuses!" Mr. Fang yelled, taking out his cane and almost hitting these two.

"We know what you've been up to, loafing around at bars and clubs to hit on every single girl out there, you womanizers!"

"You had your people to track and spy us?" Mo Shizi frowned, no longer embarrassed. "Mom, how many times have I told you that it counts as an invasion of privacy---"

"Don't give me that, son. And it was not me who tracked you two. I had the Fangs use their wide network for me."

His father added: "You know that we're doing this because we are your parents and we worry about your future."

"You two are now both passed the age of legal marriage, 27 and 28! Soon, you'll be in your 30s and all the people around you are married, while you two are still chasing after skirts!" Mrs. Mo chastised them.

His father waved his cane. "What about the future of our clan, huh? We let you pursue your own careers instead of business, but you are our only heirs!"

"But I don't want a life of crime, Ba." Leon Mo said. "I work on the opposite side as the clan now. The only thing that's keeping me from reporting you is the love and gratitude I had for having been raised by you."

"I can continue covering for the clan, but that's it. I can't continue the business."

But Mrs. Mo spat out. "I don't care if the business does not get continued, I want grandchildren!"

"That's what we wanted too! In fact, that was what we were talking about in the van before we hit the tree!" Mrs. Fang agreed with her friend.

"Huilang, you had 17 girlfriends now and none of them lasted for more than 3 months! When will you settle down and stop breaking these women's hearts?"

Fang Huilang grumbled and rolled his eyes. "I'm not breaking any hearts, mom. It was a mutual agreement for all of them. It didn't work out, so we move on to the next and hope for the best. That's just how it works in America, it's different from here."

Mr. Fang replied: "But do you think that lifestyle is any good? Your mother and I had been together since we were in high school, and we have been loyal to each other until we can finally get married at 22."

"We're not asking you to be like us, but isn't that more ideal to spend your adulthood in a steady relationship with someone instead of endless flings?"

Mr. Mo turned to his own son and asked. "Isn't there anyone that you want to love and cherish the most for the rest of your life? Surely, after all those 14 girlfriends, there's one that you can't keep your mind off, right?"

"Me and your mother are not like Mr. and Mrs. Fang, but we had been lovers since we were 23, broke up, and became friends."

"Yet when we reached 27, we realized that we were always yearning for each other, secretly feeling like there was something missing when we're in someone else's arms."

"Is there no one that made you feel that way?"

The two shook their heads at the same time. "No, sorry."

Seeing them standing side by side, the blurry eye of the four senior citizens narrowed suspiciously.

These two..... how very synchornized are they in their response.

And taking away the fact that their both men, they honestly look not-so-bad together.

It's like they can hear wedding bells chime and picture these two in their tuxedos at a beach, sharing vows with one another.

Yeah, they're just projecting most gay marriages they have seen online and in media.

They whispered to themselves, and the lion and the wolf were just weirded out by this, like they were watching a neighborhood gossip session. Then, they all nodded and came to a conclusion.

"Shizi, I have something to ask you. Be completely honest." Mrs. Mo said.

"Huilang, please don't react so much to what I'm going to say. It's not meant to offend you." Mr. Fang said.

The two gulped, suddenly nervous about all this.

Mo Shizi went first to ask. "What is it, Mother?"

"Yeah, just say it, dad." Fang Huilang fidgeted a bit.

"Our intel showed us some pictures of the two of you in the same place multiple times, and reported that you two were talking for hours and hours on most of these occasions." Mr. Fang informed them with a casual tone.

"You two were still great friends after all these years, aren't you?"

(What made you come to that conclusion, Father!? I absolutely hate this little shit!) Mo Shizi wanted to say, but kept a neutral face.

"We're not really that close anymore."

Fang Huilang backed him up and remained vague. "En, we may be close when were children but things happened and..... well, we only talk once in a while about girls."

They were not lying after all. They always talk about girls, and how the other one was stealing the girl from him!

But the two just take it that the anxious air around them is because of some big secret they have kept in their hearts.

Mrs. Fang went ahead at it. "Huilang... Could it be that the reason you were dating so much.... Is to make Xiao Mo jealous?"

Fang Huilang blinked. "Huh?"

"Shizi, did you get mad at Xiao Fang for forgetting your promise to each other that in turn, every time he had a new girlfriend, you would get one too like a form of revenge?" Mrs. Mo seconded, basing her conclusion from the many dog blood soap operas she watched over the years.

Mo Shizi: "Huh?"

"And so, would it be wrong for us to presume..." Mr. Mo said cautiously. "That you actually like each other and were covering up your relationship from us?"