“Grandfather.” Fu Chen addressed the newcomer with that title, standing up in surprise. “Why are you here?!”
Grandfather?!
Wen Yu was taken aback as well. As far as he knew, Fu Chen’s grandfather was the Alliance’s former marshal, Lin Ye.
A legendary figure who could usually only be seen in the news was actually standing right in front of him. Feeling an inexplicable sense of trepidation, Wen Yu followed Fu Chen’s lead and stood up.
Though Lin Ye’s hair was entirely silver-white, he still radiated an extraordinary presence even from a distance.
Decades of decisive leadership on the battlefield had honed an aura around Lin Ye that was fierce and impossible to ignore.
Approaching seventy, he still appeared hale and hearty. His deep-set eyes and high-bridged nose offered a glimpse of the remarkably handsome man he must have been in his youth.
Looking at it this way, Fu Chen seemed to resemble Lin Ye a bit more than he did Fu Chengze.
Fu Chen’s lifelong aspiration to join the military had likely been heavily influenced by Lin Ye. After all, his grandfather was such a world-renowned hero.
“Are you injured?” Lin Ye walked up to Fu Chen, followed by three masked individuals in military uniforms holding firearms.
“Reporting to the commander! I am fine.” Fu Chen offered a military salute. In front of Lin Ye, Fu Chen acted like a true soldier, coming to attention with his back consciously straightened.
Lin Ye looked at Fu Chen expressionlessly for a moment. Ultimately, his stern facade could not hold up before his grandson. He reached out to pat Fu Chen’s head, breaking into an affectionate smile. “It is good that you are fine.”
Fu Chen also curled his lips into a smile, a radiant smile unlike the one he showed in front of anyone else. It was clear that Fu Chen genuinely respected and adored his legendary hero of a grandfather.
Lin Ye’s gaze swept over to Wen Yu. A single glance was enough to make Wen Yu’s heart skip a beat. Feeling nervous, he instinctively straightened up and spoke with utmost caution. “Old Marshal.”
Lin Ye’s gaze carried immense weight as he asked. “You are Fu Chen’s destined match?”
“Yes.” Wen Yu lowered his head slightly, not quite daring to look Lin Ye directly in the eye.
Lin Ye appraised Wen Yu up and down in silence for a moment. “I heard you two are engaged?”
“Yes.”
“Mm, serve Fu Chen well.”
Lin Ye didn’t seem to have strong feelings about this marriage, nor did he care much about Wen Yu’s background. He didn’t even care to use a word like take care of, choosing instead to use serve. In his eyes, Wen Yu was perhaps merely a good remedy to cure his grandson’s illness, someone interchangeable. Anyone reaching this position had only a single task, which was to serve his grandson well.
“Understood.” Wen Yu replied softly.
By the time the group returned to the Fu residence, it was already late at night. The moment Lin Ye saw Fu Chengze, he delivered a resounding slap to Fu Chengze’s face without showing the slightest mercy.
The old marshal was still in his prime, and the crisp sound of the slap echoed through the spacious ground-floor hall of the Fu household. The servants remained silent as cicadas in winter, each keeping their eyes glued to the floor.
“Do not forget who gave you what you have today. If something like this happens again,” Lin Ye said in a low voice, his eyes narrowing slightly, “whatever I gave you, I can take back.”
“You should count yourself lucky that nothing happened to Fu Chen.”
A red, swollen handprint quickly surfaced on the left side of Fu Chengze’s face. He pressed his tongue lightly against the inside of his mouth. From Wen Yu’s angle, Fu Chengze’s gaze turned somewhat gloomy for a split second, but when he spoke, his tone returned to being respectful and submissive. “You are right to lecture me.”
Wen Yu finally understood why Fu Chen was usually so willful and reckless in front of his own father. As it turned out, he had his grandfather backing him up.
The old marshal’s pampering of his grandson Fu Chen was evident.
At this moment, Wen Yu began to feel lingering fear. If something had happened to Fu Chen today while he himself returned safely, the old marshal certainly would not have let him off easily.
Afterward, Lin Ye and Fu Chengze went to the study, presumably to discuss important matters. Fu Chen and Wen Yu also returned to their room.
This night had been far too exhausting. Fu Chen went to take a shower, while Wen Yu went to the shower room in the adjacent bedroom to soak in a bath.
Being kidnapped, enduring a life-or-death rush, and swimming in seawater for so long left Wen Yu thoroughly exhausted. Reflecting on today’s events, he could only sigh that being the child of a wealthy and prominent family was no easy feat.
Seeing Lin Ye had made Wen Yu’s heart leap into his throat even more. Back then, he had actually dared to scheme against Fu Chen. Seeing how much Lin Ye cared about Fu Chen, if the old marshal ever found out about what he had done, he would surely suffer the consequences.
With such a grandfather, Fu Chen could practically get whatever he wanted in City A.
Compared to Zhou Yu’an, who acted completely lawless and reckless just by being the young master of a small family like the Zhou household, Fu Chen actually seemed almost cute.
Wen Yu only wanted to cure Fu Chen’s illness quickly and leave this place of right and wrong as soon as possible.
Perhaps because being kidnapped together made them comrades who had faced life and death, Wen Yu felt that his relationship with Fu Chen had subtly improved a lot.
For instance, at school, they were no longer complete strangers. Upon accidentally noticing Wen Yu getting the same problem wrong three times, Fu Chen would remark from the side. “So stupid.”
And Wen Yu would humbly and cautiously ask. “Then could you explain it to me?”
Fu Chen would surprisingly actually give Wen Yu a few pointers. After all, the value of a full score in mathematics was genuine, and Wen Yu benefited greatly.
As another example, Fu Chen felt his body had improved quite a bit recently and started morning runs. However, the doctor said Fu Chen’s pheromones were very unstable during exercise, so it was best for Wen Yu to be nearby to release pheromones to soothe him.
Yet Fu Chen’s morning run schedule was truly ungodly.
Wen Yu often had to study until late at night, so waking up at five-thirty in the morning was genuinely painful for him. Fu Chen would force Wen Yu out of bed by pinching his nose, pressing his philtrum, or changing the alarm ringtone to rock music.
Wen Yu was sleepy every morning recently. One day, when the teacher arrived, Fu Chen poked his back to tell him to get up. Wen Yu directly slapped his hand away, his tone even sounding a bit impatient. “Oh, Fu Chen, stop messing with me!”
He earned the attention of the entire class.
As yet another example, when Wen Yu followed Fu Chen to his friends’ gatherings like before, Fu Chen would pull Wen Yu along to play together.
Wen Yu learned how to play billiards, golf, and ski, and his swimming skills improved considerably.
So when Lin Qiaoyue invited Wen Yu to an amusement park over the weekend, Wen Yu thought that his relationship with Fu Chen had been decent recently, gathered his courage to invite Fu Chen, and Fu Chen surprisingly agreed.
Lin Qiaoyue had also invited Shu Ran. When the four of them met up at the amusement park, Shu Ran said with a smile. “We are called the Sleeping Beauty Squad!”
Fu Chen said. “Sounds terrible.”
Shu Ran refused to accept it. “Then you think of a good one.”
“A138.” Fu Chen uttered a mysterious combination of a letter and numbers. After saying it, he even nodded, seemingly very satisfied.
Lin Qiaoyue asked curiously. “Why A138?” It sounded like a hotel room number.
Fu Chen pointed at himself. “I am an Alpha, so it’s A.”
Everyone nodded, finding it understandable.
Fu Chen pointed at Lin Qiaoyue. “You are a Beta, and B looks like 13.”
Lin Qiaoyue, Shu Ran, and Wen Yu looked at each other. Fine, that was acceptable too.
Finally, Fu Chen looked at Shu Ran and Wen Yu. “You two are Omegas, and two O’s make 8.”
Shu Ran and Wen Yu. “Both of you are hilarious.”
What a brilliant A138.
Lin Qiaoyue, Shu Ran, and Wen Yu were rendered speechless by Fu Chen’s explanation. It was indeed very logical and vivid, incorporating everyone in the team.
The first attraction the four of them rode was the Pirate Ship. Wen Yu originally intended to sit in the innermost seat, which was said to have the lowest sense of weightlessness.
He had already stopped beside the seat, but Fu Chen walked toward the outermost side. Looking at Wen Yu, Fu Chen said. “Can you have a little spine?”
That slight trace of adolescent competitiveness in Wen Yu was successfully sparked by Fu Chen’s words. He pursed his lips and squatted down. “I was just tying my shoelaces.”
“I was planning to sit on the outermost side to begin with.” Wen Yu muttered under his breath.
When he actually sat down, Wen Yu was actually a bit nervous. This was his first time at an amusement park. In the past, he had only heard about it from his classmates or seen it on television.
The Pirate Ship began to swing. Wen Yu felt it was alright, not very scary. He looked at Fu Chen triumphantly and said. “I think this is pretty average.”
Shu Ran and Lin Qiaoyue sat in front of them. Shu Ran pulled out his phone and started recording a video, shouting to the two behind them. “Fu Chen! Wen Yu! Look at the camera!”
Fu Chen looked at the camera calmly, then turned his face away.
Wen Yu was accommodating enough to smile at the camera. Looking at the lens, he asked Shu Ran. “Is this called a vlog?”
In the past, Wen Yu often heard his classmates discussing making a vlog over the weekend. He later searched it up on a search engine to roughly understand what a vlog was.
“Yes, exactly!” Shu Ran glanced at the camera lens. “Wen Yu, you are really photogenic!”
Wen Yu originally wanted to say thank you, but as the Pirate Ship swung higher and higher, the sense of weightlessness began to surge. Wen Yu took a glance at the ground and clenched his teeth tightly to keep himself from screaming out loud.
He didn’t want Fu Chen to mock him.
When the Pirate Ship reached its highest point, Wen Yu still couldn’t hold back a few stray screams.
As the Pirate Ship gradually slowed down, Wen Yu’s pale face also relaxed accordingly. Fu Chen said to Wen Yu. “I think this is pretty average.”
Fu Chen actually mimicked the way he talked!
Next, Shu Ran led the group to the Giant Pendulum. The previous group of visitors had just started. Watching the massive pendulum-shaped ride rotate three hundred and sixty degrees in the air, they could clearly hear the shrill screams coming from above while standing on the ground.
After the previous group finished, it was time for Wen Yu and the others. Sweat started breaking out on Wen Yu’s back. He suggested in a low voice. “How about we try something else?”
Before he could finish saying go ride the carousel, Fu Chen looked at him and said. “Have a little spine.”
“Sit together then.” Wen Yu completed the rest of his sentence, then took a look at the people who came down with weak legs and unsteady footing. “Haha, this doesn’t look like much either.”
Wen Yu made up his mind that as soon as he went up, he would close his eyes. As long as he didn’t look at the ground, there should be nothing to be afraid of.
Fu Chen sat right next to Wen Yu. When they were up in the air, seeing Wen Yu’s tightly shut eyes, Fu Chen nudged Wen Yu’s foot with his own and called him. “Wen Yu.”
Wen Yu instinctively opened his eyes and saw that he was over ten meters off the ground. The world spun, and adrenaline surged.
“AAAAAHHHHHHH!” Unable to hold back any longer, Wen Yu began to scream.
By the time they landed, Wen Yu’s legs had gone soft.
Fu Chen gloated from the side. “Who knew you had the potential to be a tenor singer.”
Lin Qiaoyue went to a nearby trash can and vomited. “I can’t take it anymore. Let’s do something gentle for the next one.”
Wen Yu nodded vigorously. “I think Qiaoyue makes a good point.”
Even after riding the Giant Pendulum, Shu Ran remained perfectly composed. She pulled out the camera from her backpack. “Then let’s go ride the carousel! I’ll take photos of you guys!”
Lin Qiaoyue and Wen Yu had already picked a horse each and climbed on.
“I am not riding.” Fu Chen said coolly with his arms crossed.
“Then you are in charge of taking photos for us from the side!” Shu Ran hung the camera around Fu Chen’s neck. “Today’s photo task is handed over to you, Photographer Fu.”
“Hey, wait.” Fu Chen stopped mid-sentence. But Shu Ran had already climbed on. Fu Chen wanted to say he didn’t know how to take photos, but since the camera was already in his hands, he accepted his fate and raised the lens.
Sitting on the wooden horse, Wen Yu remarked to himself that the carousel was truly a great invention. He placed both hands on the vertical pole beside the horse, looking somewhat silly.
Click!
Fu Chen snapped a photo casually, then took another one of Lin Qiaoyue, then Shu Ran, and another one of Wen Yu. Feeling that this shot wasn’t very good, Fu Chen adjusted the zoom and captured a close-up of Wen Yu’s head after enlarging the frame.
So, round.
Fu Chen looked at the image in the camera.
Wen Yu, Lin Qiaoyue, and Shu Ran were saying something over there, and all three of them burst into laughter after finishing. Fu Chen captured another shot.
The carousel didn’t spin many rounds, and Fu Chen captured several more shots from the side.
When Shu Ran came over to check the photos, she hadn’t held high expectations. After all, Fu Chen didn’t look like someone who knew how to take photos, but the pictures he took turned out remarkably good.
Although the composition wasn’t professional enough, it clearly possessed a unique aesthetic. He was adept at utilizing the extending lines of scenery, especially a candid shot of Wen Yu smiling, which Shu Ran thought was exceptionally well taken.
In the photo, Wen Yu’s eyes were curved, two dimples showing at the corners of his mouth. The background was blurred while the subject was sharp, and a bubble blown by a child nearby happened to enter the frame, giving the entire image a dreamlike, magical feel.
“Wen Yu, this photo of you was taken really well.” Shu Ran called Wen Yu over to take a look. Lin Qiaoyue also leaned over for a glance and praised. “Really! It was taken so well.”
Fu Chen stood to the side with one hand in his pocket. Wen Yu took a glance at the photo and looked at Fu Chen. “Thank you.”
Fu Chen said nothing to this, but told them. “I want to ride the roller coaster.”
Most of Wen Yu’s gratitude vanished instantly.