After Fu Ting finished his phone call with Tang Wanwan, he came down from upstairs. The two Liu brothers who had previously hurt Tang Wanwan were being dragged out of the hall by the bodyguards, shouting curses at the top of their lungs, saying the Fu family would get what was coming to them sooner or later.
Fu Ting paid them no mind. He glanced at Fu Jianchen, who was sitting quietly at the dining table, hesitated for a moment, then said to him, “Dad, I saw Fu Zhen a few nights ago.”
When Fu Jianchen heard Fu Zhen’s name, he froze for a second, as if he had already forgotten this person existed. He gave a faint hum, then turned the page of the newspaper in his hands and asked Fu Ting carelessly, “Oh? How is he doing now?”
Fu Ting sat down across from Fu Jianchen and said, “He didn’t look like he was doing very well.”
Judging from what he had been wearing, he was probably working as a server in some bar. Getting off work so late at night, it most likely was not any proper kind of place.
Fu Jianchen gave a laugh. “He doesn’t know how to do anything. Once he left the Fu family, what else could he possibly do? It’s already good enough that he’s still alive.”
Fu Ting said, “True.”
The two of them fell silent for a while. Auntie Li came out of the kitchen carrying dinner, placed the dishes one by one on the table, then withdrew.
Fu Ting had just picked up his chopsticks when he suddenly remembered something. He looked up at Fu Jianchen across from him and said, “Right. There seems to be something wrong with his leg.”
Fu Jianchen raised his eyes and asked, “Whose?” “Fu Zhen’s.”
Fu Jianchen did not particularly want to hear news about Fu Zhen, nor did he care about his leg.
He changed the subject directly and reminded Fu Ting, “Wanwan’s wedding is next month. Nothing must go wrong.”
Fu Ting nodded. “I know.” Fu Jianchen said, “Then eat.”
After dinner, the two of them sat on the sofa, each holding a business magazine, the room silent.
The words in front of Fu Ting’s eyes seemed to float off the page. After reading for a while, his eyes began to ache. He put the magazine down on the coffee table in front of him, rubbed his
temples, and leaned back against the sofa. Above his head was a stretch of snow-white ceiling and an exquisite crystal chandelier. There was a faint scent of narcissus in the air, lingering at the tip of his nose. In a daze, Fu Ting seemed to see a thin figure walking toward him, but in the blink of an eye, that figure vanished.
Fu Ting vaguely felt that this home should not be like this. But when he tried to remember what it used to be like, he realized he could no longer recall it.
Perhaps once Wanwan came back, everything would be fine.
He sighed softly and asked Fu Jianchen beside him, “Did Wanwan say when she’ll be back?” “Wanwan is filming out of town. She probably won’t be back until next week.”
“She’s about to get married. Why is she still running around everywhere?”
Fu Jianchen chuckled and said to Fu Ting, “She likes it. That boy from the Qin family is willing to spoil her too. As her older brother, you shouldn’t keep restricting her.”
Fu Ting nodded. Although, as her older brother, he always felt that no one in the world was worthy of his younger sister, he had to admit that Qin Zhao’s circumstances were already quite good. More than that, he could spoil Wanwan without any bottom line, just like they did.
A dense, prickling pain suddenly spread through Fu Ting’s heart, as if countless needles were piercing him. He thought he was only reluctant to let Tang Wanwan leave this home. He stood up from the sofa and said to Fu Jianchen, “Dad, I’m going to rest.”
Fu Jianchen gave a hum and also put down the magazine in his hands. As he listened to Fu Ting’s departing footsteps, it felt as if something were striking his eardrums again and again. His body trembled silently along with the sound. Unconsciously, he raised a hand and touched his chest. For some reason, he always felt as though something was missing there, and lately that feeling had become stronger and stronger.
What exactly was missing?
Fu Jianchen sighed. He probably needed to go to the hospital for a full-body checkup. He was getting old and could no longer work as recklessly as he had when he was young. He had to start taking better care of himself.
In a daze, Fu Jianchen felt as if a young man were affectionately resting his head against his shoulder, whispering to him, “Dad isn’t old at all. You’re still very young.”
The corners of Fu Jianchen’s mouth curved up despite himself, but that faint smile disappeared in an instant, as if it had never appeared at all.
Fu Jianchen slowly stood up from the sofa and looked around blankly. Then he walked to the enormous floor-to-ceiling window. Through the glass before him, he saw fine snow drifting down outside, falling onto the golden-leaved elms in the flower bed, turning them white overnight.
Fu Jianchen turned and went upstairs, returning to his bedroom. After turning off the light, he lay down on the bed. In the dark room, only the sound of his breathing remained, along with the ticking of the clock hands.
After an unknown amount of time, Fu Jianchen drifted into a heavy sleep. He dreamed.
Little Fu Zhen, only six or seven years old, was wearing blue overalls and holding a red rubber ball as he stood by the door. He stood on tiptoe, stretching his neck as he waited for his father to come home. When Fu Jianchen’s car appeared in his line of sight, he flung the ball in his arms away and rushed forward joyfully, like a little sparrow that had just been released from its cage, flapping its wings.
The moment Fu Jianchen got out of the car, he saw Fu Zhen running toward him on his two short little legs, calling, “Dad, Dad!” Fu Jianchen smiled and crouched down, picked the leaves from little Fu Zhen’s hair, and reminded him, “Run slower. Don’t fall.”
Little Fu Zhen giggled, opened both arms, and acted spoiled as he said, “Dad, carry me.”
Fu Jianchen lifted a finger and lightly scraped Fu Zhen’s nose, scolding him with a smile, “Little lazybones.” Then he stretched out both arms and lifted little Fu Zhen from the ground.
Time seemed to stop at that moment. The evening breeze brushed gently across Fu Jianchen’s face. He lowered his head and looked lovingly at the child in his arms. The tuft of hair sticking up on Fu Zhen’s head trembled slightly in the wind. He was tilting his head up and looking at him, and in those eyes seemed to hide countless specks of starlight.
Fu Jianchen felt as though his entire heart was about to melt. But in the next instant, he watched helplessly as the child in his arms gradually became transparent. In the blink of an eye, nothing was left. Fu Jianchen lowered his head in panic and looked at his empty arms, his heart hollow. He reached out and grabbed at the air several times, but he caught nothing.
The sun had gone to the other side of the earth. The land beneath his feet turned into a barren desert. Fu Jianchen stood rigidly in place, not knowing where he should go.
“Dad… Dad…”
Fu Jianchen followed the direction of the voice, but before his eyes was a thick white fog. He was wrapped inside it and could not see anything.
That voice grew lower and lower, weaker and weaker, echoing in his ears again and again. The voice cried, “Dad, save me… I hurt so much…”
Fu Jianchen felt as if his heart was about to shatter. He shouted into the white fog before him, “Don’t be afraid. Dad is coming right now!”
Like a headless fly, he rushed everywhere through the thick fog. He could not find his child. He could not find him.
After an unknown amount of time, that child’s voice disappeared completely. Fu Jianchen felt a huge crack split open in his chest, and an icy wind passed through it. The thick fog before his eyes scattered, and Fu Jianchen finally found his treasure.
But his treasure was lying in a sandpit. Beneath him was a pool of scarlet red. His face was pale, and he was looking at Fu Jianchen with hatred in his eyes.
Fu Jianchen staggered, then threw himself into the sandpit and pulled Fu Zhen into his arms, choking out, “Dad is here. Dad is here…”
Fu Zhen, in his arms, lifted his head and looked up at the sky. There was almost no light left in his eyes. He said softly, “It’s too late. I don’t want you anymore.”
Fu Jianchen woke from the dream with a start. He opened his eyes, and it took him a long while to come back to himself. He frowned, not understanding why he would have such a dream.
A long time later, he picked up the phone beside his bed and glanced at the date. Today was December ninth.
It seemed he had forgotten something. Fu Jianchen raised a hand and rubbed his forehead. It must have been because of what Fu Ting had said tonight that he had dreamed such a baffling dream.
…
The restaurant that had hired someone to hand out flyers did not really like Fu Zhen, but no one else had come looking for work during this period. Although Fu Zhen was a little cripple, they could only make do with him for now.
Fu Zhen put on the heavy mascot costume and went outside the school, handing flyers to every child. Some children took the flyers and read them seriously. Some casually threw them into the nearby trash can. Others folded them into paper airplanes, breathed on them, and sent them flying into the air.
The setting sun withdrew the last of its orange tail, and dusk descended. The children hopped and skipped onto the school buses. After the teachers had also left the school, Fu Zhen took off the
mascot costume and walked back to the restaurant. He returned the costume, ate dinner in the shop, then rode the bus back with a rattling rumble to his cramped and shabby rental room.
A popular television drama was playing in the living room. Tang Wanwan was the lead actress. Fu Zhen glanced at it casually, then silently returned to his own room.
Tang Wanwan had debuted through a talent show. During the competition, because she had good luck, a pretty face, and worked hard at learning, she gained a huge number of fans. Her fans even affectionately called her “Honey Koi.”
At that time, Fu Zhen had been busy filming his graduation project and had not paid much attention to Tang Wanwan. He had never imagined that this girl would also be his father’s illegitimate daughter.
When Fu Jianchen was young, he had been wild and unrestrained. His marriage to Fu Ting’s mother had been a business alliance, and after they married, both of them played around separately. Who would have thought that, while playing around, one careless mistake would lead to a child?
At first, Fu Jianchen had not wanted to keep Fu Zhen, but later, for some unknown reason, he still kept him and brought him to his side, carefully raising him as he grew up.
Eighteen years later, Fu Jianchen gained another daughter. Without hesitation, he spoiled this daughter into the most envied person in the entertainment industry, and for the sake of this daughter, he drove out the younger son he had raised for nearly twenty years.