Chapter 7. Ji Qingyu opened her mouth to try...

Ji Qingyu opened her mouth, trying to explain.

Fu Han had already slammed the study door shut. Soon after, his secretary came over three or four times, hurriedly delivering different documents to Fu Han.

Ji Qingyu completely lost his mood for songwriting that morning. Seeing Wang Sao busy in the kitchen, he went over to greet her and offer to lend a hand.

The Fu family's kitchen was very spacious, with lush greenery outside the window, the green like a messenger of the wind, swaying incessantly.

Ji Qingyu rolled up his sleeves and helped Wang Sao knead the dough. He was very skilled at this. When they were young, Lin Ying often made dumplings with him. Wang Sao repeatedly said no, but she gave in after Ji Qingyu insisted.

"I heard that Madam likes to eat kidney beans, so I made them especially for you," said Wang Sao as she rolled out the dough.

Ji Qingyu was somewhat taken aback. "I do like kidney beans."

However, he doesn't remember telling anyone.

Aunt Wang was a kind-hearted person, and she felt that Madam was approachable and good-tempered. Fearing that he might feel uneasy since he had just arrived at the Fu residence, she quietly told Ji Qingyu, "Mr. Fu said that he also told us a lot about your habits."

...Fu Han?

Ji Qingyu didn't believe it, thinking it was just Wang Sao joking with him. He laughed it off and didn't pursue it any further.

"Actually, there's a reason why the master and Mr. Fu are so angry today," Aunt Wang continued. "When Mr. Fu was a child, his mother was still alive, and the atmosphere at home was much better than it is now. The master and the young master were far from reaching the point of almost breaking up."

"But then, Mr. Fu's mother passed away." Aunt Wang started the story but didn't finish it. She seemed to realize something was wrong, so she finished mixing the dumpling filling and fell silent.

Ji Qingyu asked cautiously, "What do you mean by 'left'?"

"He left without saying goodbye, without even taking his phone or ID card, only cash. I don't know where he went," said Mrs. Wang. "He was a very good omega. He used to play cards with us servants often, and after drinking, he would dance in the living room. By the way, he used to be a national-level dancer. You may have heard of him, Madam. His name is Luo Sheng, and he has many fans."

Luo Sheng.

Ji Qingyu paused for a moment, never expecting that the former principal of the National Theatre of China would retire at the peak of her career and marry Fu Yunbo.

This matter was kept even more secret than other news about the Fu family; perhaps apart from a very small number of people in the know, no one else had any way of knowing the inside story.

Ji Qingyu rolled out the dumpling wrappers and wrapped them one by one.

Aunt Wang hurriedly pushed him, "Alright, Madam, you just married into this family. These chores weren't originally meant for you. You've already suffered a lot of inexplicable anger from the master today. You should go and rest."

Ji Qingyu smiled and said, "Let's finish wrapping them together."

Even after the dumplings were served, Fu Han's meeting was still not over. His secretary simply stayed outside the door, waiting for Fu Han to summon him at any time.

Ji Qingyu then invited him to come over for dinner.

The secretary looked gloomy, with two large dark circles under her eyes. Her face was a little red, and she scratched her head embarrassedly, repeatedly thanking Ji Qingyu.

"It's okay, it's okay, I didn't do anything, eat up." Ji Qingyu pushed the bowl towards the other person.

He wanted to send a bowl to Fu Han as well, but he was afraid of disturbing him, since that man was easily angered, so he decided not to provoke him.

While eating, the secretary chatted with Ji Qingyu for a few minutes: "Madam, are you comfortable using the piano and musical instruments? Mr. Fu spent a long time choosing them. I accompanied him in choosing them. I thought they were going to be given away as gifts, but he had them all sent to his home."

"Huh?" Ji Qingyu was a little confused. "It's just a coincidence. Maybe it's because I suddenly wanted to buy a musical instrument after watching Ji Ran's concert."

"You don't know, he even made me pack up all the things from his old office. He used to not go home for ten days or half a month at a time," the secretary whispered. "If only Mr. Fu treated you like that when he was working."

Ji Qingyu poked at the dumplings in her bowl with her head down, thinking, "If I really did that to you, would I stab you on the neck too?"

Many things are hard to say clearly. Ji Qingyu didn't take these half-true, half-false compliments seriously, nor did she have any interest in bringing up certain matters. So she simply kept quiet.

Fu Han was busy until very late that day before he came out to eat. He bumped into Ji Qingyu, who was on her way to bed. Fu Han looked unusually tired, with two buttons undone on her suit shirt and her eyes lowered as she looked at him.

"Well, you go ahead and do your work, I'm going to sleep in the guest room." Ji Qingyu smiled at him, wearing a well-fitting cotton nightgown. He dried his hair with a towel, and his body was steaming with moisture.

Fu Han seemed quite dissatisfied, "As a wife, don't you fulfill your duties?"

"What, what obligation?" Ji Qingyu's throat tightened. In her heart, she cursed Fu Han's autocracy, but on the surface, she looked like she was saying whatever he said was right, and obediently glanced at Fu Han's face.

Fu Han chuckled mockingly, took out a cigarette, hesitated, then put it down. He leaned closer, his voice low and husky, as if mixed with addictive opium, "What do you think? Of course, it's for warming your husband's bed."

What are you saying...?

Ji Qingyu blushed slightly. He was very thin-skinned, and his whole face would turn red when he got hot. Fu Han always made such dirty jokes effortlessly.

He hesitated for a long time before going to the master bedroom. He thought he would be very uneasy, but he fell asleep as soon as he got into bed. The bed had an expensive three-piece bedding set, and the soft mattress enveloped him, making him feel like he was in a cloud.

He didn't know how much time had passed when a hot body enveloped him. He groggily opened his eyes and saw Fu Han's bright eyes. Fu Han forcefully blocked Ji Qingyu's gaze with his hand, then bit Ji Qingyu's lips.

Ji Qingyu was stunned. He passively accepted the kiss. Fu Han's hot breath hit his face, making him dizzy. The kiss was like the rainy season in Jiangnan. Ji Qingyu had never been to Jiangnan, but he would always think of Fu Han when he thought of Jiangnan.

Such a cold person possesses an unusually incongruous pheromone, both bittersweet and gentle.

The back of his neck could only pitifully emit a faint scent of rain, which could neither soothe Fu Han nor let the other party feel his emotions. This scent of rain was quickly covered by the strong smell of green plums.

The whole house smelled of plums, and the smell lingered until the next morning.

Ji Qingyu was fast asleep, but her lips were chapped. When she woke up, it was raining outside the window, and Fu Han was nowhere to be found.

He lay on the bed in a daze for a while before slowly getting up. The rainy day brought a humid and stuffy feeling. The windows were painted a bright green, and a thin layer of sweat clung to his body. The air conditioner was running at a low speed, but it was still not very effective.

Ji Qingyu wandered around in this still unfamiliar space. He went to Fu Han's study, hoping to find sheet music on the wall full of books.

He looked around but found only some dry and boring reference books and English encyclopedias. The spines of the books on the top shelf seemed to look more like leisure books. He stood on the highest stool and reached out to grab them.

The sun was shining brightly outside, but a bird's chirping distracted him. He slipped and fell off the shelf with a book he had grabbed, wincing and rubbing his backside in pain.

It was a picture book, and it looked quite old. He sat on the ground and flipped through a few pages before realizing that it wasn't a printed product, but a collection of the child's own artwork. The level of completion was so high that it seemed to have been revised twice. Almost every painting had a few lines of small writing written in the upper right corner. Ji Qingyu slowly looked over it.

What is this, a diary?

He frowned as he flipped through the pages.

"My mom loves to drink. She would shake mint-flavored ice cubes in her drink and let me have a sip. I tried it, and it was very bitter."

The handwriting was very childish and crooked. Another handwriting added a note next to it: "Children are not allowed to drink alcohol, and they are only allowed to drink this once!"

There was a smiley face drawn on the back.

“Mom and Dad had a fight. Mom got up in the middle of the night and smoked a whole pack of cigarettes. He thought I didn’t know. I went over and hugged him, and he cried. But he is my mother. There is a telepathic connection between mothers and children.”

The annotation reads: "Mom and Dad will never argue in front of you again. We're sorry..."

"My dad tore up my drawing. He said it was a waste of time. My mom and dad had a big fight. I'm scared. I'm afraid my mom will stop smiling. Mom, I won't draw anymore. Please don't fight with Dad anymore."

From this page onwards, the subsequent drawings were not revised again, nor were there any annotations.

"..." Ji Qingyu flipped through many pages, losing track of time until the last page, when he felt a pang of sadness.

“My mother didn’t sleep all night. She thought I was asleep. That was the last time she kissed me. She said she was leaving and I shouldn’t look for her. I didn’t open my eyes because I knew that if I woke up, she wouldn’t be able to leave.”

"Mom, in my heart you are a free little white bird."

The last page featured a white bird, which no one had bothered to revise for Fu Han. The white bird looked like a chubby little chick, which was more like a child's simple drawing.

Ji Qingyu never knew that Fu Han's childhood was like this. He had Lin Ying's protection and the older brother from the fruit stand next door to play with him. He was very happy during his childhood, so even when he encountered bad things later, he had someone to support him.

Although he had some reservations about Fu Han's current way of doing things, he felt sorry for the child from before.

He touched his lower abdomen. He had once been a father, but he was just as cruel as Fu Han's mother, abandoning his children.

He sighed, and the phone that was placed to the side suddenly rang. The caller ID showed Ji Ran. Ji Qingyu hesitated for a few seconds before answering.

"Why didn't you answer my call this morning?" The voice on the other end, barely containing its anger, reached his ears.

Morning?

Ji Qingyu's phone is always on 24/7, just in case Lin Ying has an emergency and Ji Ran won't be able to contact him. But he didn't hear the phone call this morning. He looked down at his phone and saw that it wasn't password protected and had been put into sleep mode.

"Perhaps the signal is bad because of the rain," Ji Qingyu replied, also a little confused.

"Send me the songs you have on hand so I can listen to them. If you don't have any, even unfinished ones will do." It was the sound of some people talking on Ji Ran's end.

Ji Qingyu gripped her phone, her fingers curled around a corner of the album, and said, "I don't have any new songs. Could you find a few from those forty songs?"

“I’ve already released all your songs,” Ji Ran said. “Don’t keep making me repeat myself. I asked you to write a song for me, and you’re still making excuses.”

In fact, Ji Ran could easily find someone else to write a few ballads in the same style as Ji Qingyu, mix in some rock beats, and his fans might not necessarily disagree.

Ji Qingyu didn't understand why he was always so persistent towards her.

Ji Ran sent several pictures. He was standing in front of Lin Ying's ward. Inside the glass window, doctors surrounded the entire ward, and one doctor was holding a needle.

Ji Ran's voice remained calm, with a tone that could be described as gentle, "Don't think that marrying Fu Han will change anything. If you tell Fu Han things you shouldn't tell him, I can make Auntie say goodbye to you before she's moved."

Ji Qingyu's heart leaped into her throat.

"Don't touch her, I'll write." Ji Qingyu tried to calm Ji Ran down. "Tell them to put the needle down first, and I'll write right away."

Ji Ran knocked on the glass, and the doctors inside looked up upon receiving the signal. One of them came out and asked him what was wrong.

“We don’t need the injections for now,” Ji Ran said. “The family isn’t happy about it.”

Ji Qingyu's fingers turned white. He struggled to his feet, put the picture book back, and held onto the edge of the bookshelf. His legs were weak, and he could only barely support himself.

Before Ji Ran could say anything more, Fu Han's voice suddenly came from outside the door.

"Where is he?" Fu Han asked Wang Sao. Ji Ran seemed to hear him too and quickly hung up the phone.

Ji Qingyu tried to stand up, but her legs were weak, and she stumbled and fell to the ground. Her wrists and knees ached.

Fu Han burst through the door, his manner arrogant, but upon seeing Ji Qingyu's expression, his furrowed brows relaxed abruptly. His voice softened, though still tinged with reproach, as he asked, "What's wrong?"

A note from the author:

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