Fu Chengyan’s midday premonition had come true—it was already six o’clock, and the little girl still wasn’t hungry.
The fruit tea had been finished, and the cup had been washed clean and placed back on the kitchen shelf.
The little belly, swollen from all the delicious food like fried chicken and pizza, hadn’t yet subsided. How did Fu Chengyan know? Because when the little girl came downstairs to greet him, she was rubbing her stomach with a troubled expression—it was impossible for him not to notice.
Seeing that Fu Chengyan had come empty-handed, Xu Zhizhi instinctively let out a big sigh of relief.
Fu Chengyan found it amusing.
“What’s wrong? Haven’t digested everything yet, have you?”
She had eaten nothing but “real ingredients”—meat and carbs, stuffing herself nonstop and refusing to listen to advice. It had only been a few hours; how could she possibly digest it all so easily, especially since Xu Zhizhi wasn’t one for moving around much?
He suspected that as soon as he left, she had curled up to work on her novel.
The novel-reading app had sent several notifications about the author’s updates, but Fu Chengyan had been too busy to check them at the time.
Seeing her discomfort, Fu Chengyan suggested, “Let’s take a walk downstairs. If you don’t move around, when will you ever digest all that? It wouldn’t be good if it led to indigestion.”
Xu Zhizhi pouted, looking particularly unhappy.
Fu Chengyan said, “It’s my fault. I should have asked the housekeeper to prepare less food.”
Xu Zhizhi shook her head. “It’s me. I was greedy.”
She hung her head low, surrounded by an air of gloom, neither agreeing to take a walk nor asking to go upstairs.
The two of them stood facing each other like that.
A long time passed—so long that Fu Chengyan thought she might have fallen asleep standing up—before Xu Zhizhi finally spoke. “I don’t want to walk.”
“Will you be able to digest everything by tonight?” Fu Chengyan asked with concern.
“Let’s go back to my place.”
Fu Chengyan thought about it. Her apartment was indeed quite spacious, especially the living room, which was particularly empty.
“Alright, let’s go upstairs then,” Fu Chengyan said, asking her, “Which do you prefer—hawthorn water or sour plum juice?”
Xu Zhizhi was stunned for a moment, then shook her head vigorously. She didn’t like either.
Food could be sour, but drinks couldn’t.
Since she didn’t like them, Fu Chengyan didn’t press the matter. Instead, he made sure she walked back and forth across the living room twenty times.
Why twenty times? Because at some point, the delicate little girl couldn’t walk anymore.
Halfway through, she plopped down in a “fall” and refused to get up.
To avoid continuing the walk, she even abandoned her beloved dog bed.
Fu Chengyan was startled, thinking that the walking might have triggered some underlying health issue.
Once he realized what had actually happened, he didn’t know what to say. He chuckled softly, “Xu Zhizhi, you’re being a sore loser.”
Xu Zhizhi shifted slightly, covering her ears with both hands.
Can’t hear you ( )
Fu Chengyan glanced at his watch and set a timer for her. “Alright, rest for ten minutes, then walk another twenty laps.”
Xu Zhizhi scrambled to sit up, looking up at him with wide, angry eyes.
Unfortunately, the big CEO was unyielding and expressionless. “Acting cute won’t work, and pretending to be adorable won’t either.”
Xu Zhizhi: ” ”
She was a little confused. What acting cute? What pretending to be adorable?
Wasn’t she just standing her ground and expressing her protest with all her might?
“Otherwise, I’ll have the doctor prescribe you some digestion aids.”
Xu Zhizhi’s originally rosy complexion instantly turned pale.
Fu Chengyan hurriedly crouched down. “What’s wrong? Is your stomach bothering you? Does it hurt?”
Xu Zhizhi’s face was pale, her eyes filled with a hint of fear. “No, no doctors. I don’t want to go. I won’t go.”
Fu Chengyan was slightly taken aback, patting her shoulder reassuringly. “We won’t go. I misspoke. We won’t go see a doctor.”
He said, “You’re so healthy, of course we won’t go see a doctor. Don’t be afraid.”
After a long while, Xu Zhizhi finally recovered from her lingering fear. She looked at Fu Chengyan and asked softly, “Can I stop walking now?”
“…” Fu Chengyan smiled. “What do you think?”
“I think… I think I can stop now. I need to wash my hands, wash my face, brush my teeth, and go to bed.”
“Walk ten more laps, and then I’ll let you go back to sleep,” Fu Chengyan said. “Otherwise, you won’t have an appetite for tomorrow’s crab roe soup dumplings and sugar-oil pancakes.”
He certainly knew how to use food as temptation.
“Today, the chef at home said he’d make cream fried cakes, imperial cheese, and kidney bean rolls tomorrow,” he sighed lightly. “It seems someone won’t get to enjoy them.”
Xu Zhizhi widened her eyes, raising her right hand high while resting her left hand flat beneath her right elbow.
She looked just like a primary school student raising their hand.
Only her expression was even more eager.
“So, do you want to walk a little longer?” Fu Chengyan asked, looking at her.
“Alright then,” Xu Zhizhi flailed her arms a couple of times before the man pulled her up by the wrist.
“I should buy you an oversized fish tank.”
“Huh?” Xu Zhizhi looked up at him in confusion. “Why?”
“That way, you can happily splash around inside.”
“…”
She felt it wasn’t a compliment, but for the sake of delicious food, she kept quiet, though it made her seem too easy to bully. After some hard thinking, she let out a tiny, barely audible huff.
It was so low that Fu Chengyan didn’t even catch it. The little girl had already stood up and started counting the laps on her own.
Exactly ten laps—not a single step more.
After watching her finish, Fu Chengyan brewed some fruit tea and then left.
Just as he stepped downstairs, a silver-gray Aston Martin swerved into a drift and came to a quiet stop right in front of him.
Fu Chengyan: “…”
He sighed and got into the passenger seat. “The tires are worn out. You’re replacing them.”
Wen Li cautiously glanced out the window. With his excellent eyesight, he could see the tires were fine. “Yes, Family Head.”
He’d just rotate among the dozen or so cars from now on.
The car moved at what Wen Li considered a very slow speed when Fu Chengyan suddenly said, “The captain of Shandong Airlines should step aside and let you take over.”
Wen Li quietly eased off the accelerator a bit. “He and I are like two kings who never meet.”
“…You’re insane,” Fu Chengyan muttered under his breath.
At Lushan Manor, Fu’s mother had dropped off the two little ones and left.
Butler Liu had the small kitchen prepare some desserts and warm milk, making sure the two little masters were comfortably taken care of.
Fu Xuanyue leaned against the dining table. “Grandpa Liu, when will Uncle come back?”
Butler Liu thought about the Family Head’s recent return times and gave a rough estimate. “Before nine o’clock.”
“Alright then, I’ll wait for Uncle in the living room.”
Butler Liu asked with concern, “Are you tired, Miss? You can rest first. I’ll let the Family Head know when he returns.”
Fu Xuanyue shook her head. “No, Grandma said we have to be polite when we come to Uncle’s place. We can’t be unruly.”
Fu Xuanlang finished his sister’s leftover milk and nodded in agreement.
Grandma had said that if Uncle threw them out, the old mansion wouldn’t send anyone to pick them up. So they had to behave.
Fu Chengyan returned home and had just stepped into the entrance hall when he saw two little kids each sitting on a small stool right in the middle of the foyer, their big round eyes fixed directly on him.
Fu Chengyan: “…”
“Did the kindergarten shut down? Starting winter break this early?”