After coming home, I got thirsty at night and went to the kitchen to get some water. Being lazy, I didn’t turn on the lights and walked in the dark, relying on memory. While leaving my room was fine, on my way back, I bumped into a “wall.”
Then Fu Junyan, this wall, spoke: “Why so careless?” He took the cup from my hand in the darkness and led me back to my room.
Once inside, he looked around and asked with a slight smile, “Where’s your room’s water kettle?”
I puffed out my cheeks, shook my head, and said with a hint of disappointment, “I don’t know where it went…”
After connecting the two apartments by breaking down the wall, Fu Junyan discovered my lazy habit of walking in the dark at night to get water. At the time, he said, “Oh, what can we do? Everything else is easy to fix, but laziness is hard to cure.” To prevent me from falling or tripping, Fu Junyan came up with the simplest solution. He bought a big pink water kettle for my room, saying I just needed to avoid going out in the dark at night…
But… a few days ago, I couldn’t find it anymore – my beloved big pink water kettle!
Fu Junyan patted me as I was lost in thought. He waved his long finger in front of my eyes, then used the back of his hand to test the water temperature before handing me the cup. Only then did I remember I was thirsty. Instead of taking the cup right away, I gazed at his loving eyes and took a few sips while he held it. Then I cradled the cup in my hands.
Next, I heard him say unexpectedly, “Baobei, let’s bring An’an back tomorrow.”
I was a bit surprised. After taking another sip of water, I looked up and nodded, saying, “Okay, I’ll go to Daddy’s place tomorrow to bring An’an back.”
He shook his head and looked into my eyes intently, saying, “Not you, us together.”
“Ah…” I paused with the cup in my hand, carefully pointing at him, then at myself.
He nodded, smiling at me with certainty.
“But, Fu Junyan, my daddy is famously stubborn and has a bad temper…” Why are you rushing into the line of fire as soon as you’re back?
Hearing this, he shook his head, disagreeing. He reached out his hand towards me and smiled.
I extended my hand, letting him hold it. Then I heard him say in a gentle, warm voice with a hint of playfulness, “If one day, everyone knows we’re together, but Uncle doesn’t, will he still let me steal away his precious daughter?”
I was embarrassed, not having the heart to tell Fu Junyan that his beloved little one had already completely exposed him…
I could only look up at him, wrinkle my nose, and ask, “Then what should we do?”
“Honesty is the best policy, resistance is futile.” He spoke seriously at first, then broke into a smile. Taking the now empty water cup from me, he raised an eyebrow and said, “My silly Baobei, you’ve already proposed to me. Well, I have no choice but to take responsibility…”
“What?!” I stomped my foot and pointed at his nose, saying, “You called me ‘wife’ first!”
“What did I call you?” He looked at me, puzzled.
“You called me ‘wife’!”
He raised his eyebrows, lowered his gaze slightly with a faint smile, and asked with interest, “Did you accept?”
“Of course I did!” Trying to deny it now, are you?
Under my fierce gaze, he nodded seriously, then said with a smile, “So… you’ve already decided you’re my wife. You’ve proposed to me so subtly, I have no choice but to take responsibility…” As he spoke, he started laughing. Fu Junyan’s laughter was very pleasant, like ancient wind chimes, pure and joyful.
I was also infected by his laughter but held it back, withdrew my hand, and snorted. I stuck out my tongue and made a face at him. Deep down, I knew I had fallen for his trick again…
Fu Junyan let me be, reaching out his long finger to touch my lips. But because I was making a face, his finger touched the tip of my tongue. He showed no disgust, and even sensually placed that finger on his own lips. Instantly, the room was filled with a sweet, alluring atmosphere.
Then he gently stroked my hair, turned to put the water cup on the table, and with his back to me, he slowly said, “Oh, if you don’t admit it, then never mind…” His tone was quite melancholic.
“I never said I didn’t admit it!” I became anxious, feeling like I had bullied him…
“So you admit it?”
… That’s not fair! I twisted my shoulders, feeling wronged…
As he said this, he suddenly came close to me. His long eyelashes were like butterfly wings. He reached out his long finger to caress my eyebrow and called out with deep affection, “Wife…”
I was completely mesmerized, just staring at him dazedly. But Fu Junyan, who had been looking at me so lovingly, gradually broke into a smile. Finally, unable to hold back, he rested his chin on my shoulder and burst into laughter, his chest vibrating slightly.
I’d been tricked! I quickly covered my mouth to stop myself from responding, silently gritting my teeth and giving him a reproachful look!
Dad, you know your daughter best! You were right, I’ve been bewitched by good looks… What’s gotten into Fu Junyan! What’s going on! Is he deliberately trying to seduce me today or what?
After a while, I complained while being held in his arms, “Just keep laughing! We’ll see if you can still laugh tomorrow! Daddy definitely won’t let you off easy tomorrow!” As soon as I said these harsh words, my heart skipped a beat.
I thought for a moment, then looked Fu Junyan up and down. He allowed me to look, with an expression that seemed to say ‘do as you please’. I blinked and asked with a slightly disapproving tone, “Fu Junyan, you’re good at everything – music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, right?”
As soon as I said this, I felt it was a waste of expression to ask such a question. So I waved my hand and said, “Anyway, you’re probably capable of everything… I’m upset, you know! I’m very angry that you’re teasing me!” I snorted for effect, and feeling it wasn’t enough, I swallowed and said, “I’m only telling you this out of kindness! Fu Junyan! Daddy might make you play chess with him! He recently got an ancient chess manual, and it’s incomplete! These past few days, he’s been moving pieces around on the chessboard, muttering to himself. But An’an and I don’t pay him any attention. I even used Go pieces to teach An’an how to play Five in a Row!”
The more I spoke, the more animated I became. But Fu Junyan reached out to hold my hand, squeezing my palm gently as he said, “Baobei, I don’t know how to play chess…”
“Ah!” No way… I looked up at him in shock, my voice trembling as I asked mournfully, “But! Young Master Junyan, aren’t you supposed to be good at everything?”
He smiled, wrinkled his nose like I did, and lowered his head slightly, pointing at himself, “Young Master Junyan is human too…” As he said this, he childishly poked his own cheek.
Then he smiled and pulled me into his arms, affectionately bending down to kiss my forehead. He hugged me and said, “It’s late, let’s go to sleep.”
But I still couldn’t process it and just asked softly, “This won’t do, what about the chess game?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” He patted my head, shrugged, and led me back to the bed. He watched me lie down, tucked in the corners of my blanket, turned off the lights, and kissed my forehead again, saying softly, “Silly child, good night.”
The next morning, I was drinking Junyan-brand milk again. I held the cup and sipped slowly, so happy I couldn’t stop smiling. Fu Junyan kept smiling at me too, occasionally reaching out with his thumb to wipe the milk foam from the corners of my mouth.
Later, I shrank my neck, pointing happily at the milk bubbles on the corner of my mouth. Remembering the milk commercial we shot last time, my eyes brightened. I tilted my head, took another big gulp of milk from the cup, and swayed my head as I smiled sweetly at him, saying, “I won’t wipe it off! This is the taste of love every morning!” I squinted my eyes, put down the cup, and jumped into Fu Junyan’s arms. With a mouth full of milk foam, I started kissing Fu Junyan’s face. He didn’t dodge, letting me do as I pleased, only keeping his arms around me protectively to prevent me from falling.
On the drive back to the villa, I became unsettled, giving Fu Junyan advice left and right. I said, “Fu Junyan, if Daddy really asks you to play chess with him, just tell him straight that you don’t know how, okay?”
He nodded when he heard this, and I felt a bit relieved.
Except for when I was very young and Daddy couldn’t take care of me alone, so he hired a nanny, we never had any servants at home. I used to think it was because there were too many antiques at home and they were afraid of theft, but later I learned it was because Daddy didn’t like other people touching the things Mommy left behind. So he wanted to guard them himself. It was his spiritual world, his entire world.
Fu Junyan’s car stopped in the public garage of the villa complex. Finally, at the front door, I felt a bit nervous and unconsciously bit my lower lip, sneaking glances at Fu Junyan, then at the door. Fu Junyan, however, remained calm and composed. He just reached out and tapped my lip, smiling as he told me not to bite it. When I looked at his completely unruffled appearance again, I really felt this was what they call ‘the emperor is not worried, but the eunuch is anxious’…
Later, I took a deep breath and stepped forward, taking out my key to open the European-style iron gate outside the villa. But Fu Junyan shook his head with a smile, pulled me back behind him, and stepped forward to ring the doorbell. When Daddy answered, I heard him speak in his usual steady and calm voice, “Hello, Uncle. I’m Fu Junyan. I hope you’ll forgive my sudden visit.” As he spoke, his eyes remained gentle and composed.
Once inside, Daddy silently looked at me, then at Fu Junyan. Meanwhile, Gu Xiao’an was on the stairs, holding onto the railing and poking his little head down to look. When the little one saw me, he shrank his small neck, his big eyes looking at me pitifully.
Ever since I scared the little guy, he’s been afraid every day that I would take away his milk bottle. But when he saw Fu Junyan, his eyes lit up. With a “Wa!” he ran into the room, his little legs pounding. We just heard the little one shouting non-stop: “Qi Qi! Qi Qi! Brother-in-law is here! Brother-in-law is here!” Soon, both the child and the dog bypassed me and Daddy and rushed straight to Fu Junyan. Xiao Qi was barking so happily! Gu Xiao’an’s eyes were so bright! I turned my head a bit jealously to look at Daddy, only to see Daddy’s expression darken as he watched Gu Xiao’an nuzzling happily in Fu Junyan’s arms. I became even more certain that Fu Junyan had definitely incurred Daddy’s resentment… Son, daughter, dog, all defecting, aren’t they?
Daddy didn’t say anything, just crooked his finger at Fu Junyan. Fu Junyan patted An’an’s head, smiled at An’an, then lowered his head to stroke Xiao Qi before straightening up to follow behind Daddy. I bent down to pick An’an up into my arms, putting my middle finger to my lips to signal him to be quiet. Seeing this, the little one’s big eyes rolled around, but he still looked at me and obediently nodded.
Just as I stood up with An’an in my arms, the two grown men had already disappeared. An’an, being the clever little thing he is, saw me looking around for them and tugged at my hand, nuzzling my neck. He reached out his chubby little hand and pointed to the right, whispering in my ear mischievously, “Daddy and brother-in-law are in the room with lots of books.”
Oh, so they went into the study! I nodded, gave the little one a kiss, and winked at him, asking, “Shall we go spy?”
The little one’s white cheeks turned a bit red, and he nodded like a little chick.
“Xiao Qi will be discovered…” I smiled, then pointed at Xiao Qi and pouted at Gu Xiao’an.
Hearing this, Gu Xiao’an looked at me innocently, then poked his little head out from my shoulder. Hanging his small head, he said to Xiao Qi, who was wagging his tail and panting, “Qi Qi, don’t move!” Sure enough, after hearing An’an’s words, Xiao Qi slowly squatted down on his hind legs and obediently sat on the ground without moving.
I knew this would happen… I’ve always felt that Xiao Qi and An’an have reached a state of human-dog unity, although the last time I said this, Fu Junyan tapped me on the head…
I carefully carried An’an and walked along the wall, trying to peek into the study through the not-fully-closed door to see Daddy and Fu Junyan.
At this moment, Daddy’s expression was arrogant and cold.
Fu Junyan sat upright on the sofa, his face neither hot nor cold, with a hint of a smile as he looked Daddy in the eye, neither timid nor fearful.
To be honest, the soundproofing in the house is too good. Even though the door wasn’t fully closed, I still couldn’t hear clearly what they were saying. But… hehe! I smiled like a thief, gave An’an a wink, and carefully carried Gu Xiao’an up to the room upstairs.
Because Daddy has always lived here, there are too many important documents and antiques in this villa. Therefore, cameras and recorders have been installed in every room of this villa, but usually, when people are at home, these machines are not turned on.
I fumbled around in Daddy’s room for a long time before finding the key to the monitoring room. Finally, after much difficulty, I opened the door to the monitoring room and adjusted the screen to show the study. After managing to adjust the sound, I heard Daddy ask, “Do you know how to play chess?” Hearing this, my heart sank. What they say about knowing your father better than anyone is true… Really!
Fu Junyan smiled and answered Daddy directly, neither humbly nor arrogantly, “Junyan doesn’t know how to play chess, but I’m willing to play a game with Uncle.”
… Didn’t we agree you’d say you don’t know how…
Hearing this, Daddy raised his eyebrows and waved his hand, saying, “Playing one game with me is enough.” I breathed a sigh of relief in my heart, Daddy is so kind! But in the next second, I heard him say, “I recently acquired a chess manual.” As he spoke, Daddy stood up and lifted the cloth cover on the table, revealing a chessboard set up nicely under it. I couldn’t help but bow my head and sigh, it’s over…
Gu Xiao’an must have also suffered a lot from Go recently. When the little guy saw the chessboard in the camera, he drooped his face and sighed along with me, his milk-bubble face full of melancholy.
I heard Daddy continue, “This is an incomplete game from the book. Look, these black pieces are surrounded by white pieces, it looks like a dead end. Can you help the black pieces escape?” I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. He already said he doesn’t know how to play, and you’re still asking him to solve a chess problem? How unreasonable can you be, old man…
Fu Junyan’s face remained calm, he just nodded and lowered his eyes to look at the chess board seriously. Daddy smiled mischievously, lazily leaned back in his chair, and started tapping the table surface intermittently with his fingertips. I couldn’t help but mutter, “Isn’t that noisy? It’s affecting others’ thinking.” I poked Gu Xiao’an in my arms, and when An’an saw my expression, he immediately nodded obediently, looking very well-behaved.
I saw Daddy’s hand pause for a moment as he tapped the table. He grinned and said, “If you can’t do it, that’s fine too.” As he spoke, he didn’t look at Fu Junyan who was deep in thought, but turned to stare at his antique vase on the shelf, looking at it with satisfaction from left to right.
… I was speechless. How unreasonable!
After a while, Fu Junyan was still sitting calmly. He wasn’t moved by Daddy’s words at all, his expression remained serene, his posture upright, just his usual lowered gaze in deep thought, his aura as smooth as flowing clouds. Shortly after, he suddenly smiled slightly, that smile was like warm sunlight passing by. In a blink, I saw him reach out with his long fingers to pick up a black piece. His hand was well-proportioned, long, and flawless. As he raised and lowered his hand, the black piece in his hand actually retreated one step. At first glance, this move seemed like the black piece was self-destructing. But upon closer inspection, it was a case of taking a step back to gain a wider perspective, placing itself in a precarious position to find life. With just this one move, the game suddenly became clear, the dead end was resolved.
Daddy’s face stiffened. After he saw the board clearly, he looked up at Fu Junyan in surprise, finally examining him carefully. After a moment of silence, he sat up straight and asked Fu Junyan, “Young man, do you really not know how to play chess, or are you fooling me?” Well, Daddy was shocked…
Fu Junyan shook his head humbly, looked up to meet Daddy’s eyes and said with a slight smile, “I should thank Uncle for reminding Junyan.”
Daddy seemed to be in a daze. He cleared his throat and just looked at Fu Junyan with narrowed eyes, puzzled.
“Uncle’s action of looking at that plum vase and then turning to look at Junyan reminded me of a story I once heard. It’s said that to make the best porcelain, there’s only one trick, which is to ‘break’. Keep going, keep breaking, until you’re satisfied, only then can you have a good work. Simply put, it’s called ‘no breaking, no making’. At that time, I thought, the principles of the world are all connected.” As he spoke, he smiled slightly, humbly but not submissively pointing at the chess board.
Daddy was speechless for a while after being blocked by him, but suddenly shouted, “Gu Baobei! Have you finished watching?” Hearing this, An’an and I shuddered at the same time, shrinking our necks and looking at each other.
At this time, Fu Junyan and Daddy had already looked up together. And facing the direction of the camera, Fu Junyan even waved his hand gently…
“Awoo…” “Sister has been caught…”
“Still howling! How did I give birth to such a stupid girl! Have you ever seen someone turn on the camera to spy without turning off the indicator light? Have you ever seen someone eavesdrop with the microphone on? Stupid!”
Then I saw Fu Junyan covering his forehead, laughing softly. …
In the car on the way home, it was just me and Fu Junyan. Daddy strongly disagreed with us taking An’an back for just one day and then immediately sending him back. So, the old man flatly refused us.
But Daddy still personally made dinner and asked us to stay and eat. I really wanted to know what they said during the part I didn’t hear, because Daddy actually didn’t drive Fu Junyan away, and even made a meal for him… Moreover, the old man was talking happily with Fu Junyan, half observing and half admiring him.
After An’an found Fu Junyan to complain and showed his determination to protect his milk bottle, Fu Junyan smiled and patted his little head, saying, “Be good, sister won’t punish you anymore.” Then, that little guy smiled with his big eyes squinting, and actually waddled over with Xiao Qi, dragging out five or six milk bottles from behind the TV cabinet. Seeing this, I was quite speechless… only left to cover my face and mourn…
Leave a Reply