Rebirth from the Ashes

Fu Junqiu was about to pick Fu Qingxuan’s brains when a sudden question raised by him threw her in a tizzy. Her eyes were fixated on the approaching young man. “What do you mean Shen Xi?”

Crestfallen, Fu Qingxuan sighed. “Meanie must have been scared off by Qingli.”

Shen Xi would not pick up his call or meet with him, and it was all Qingli’s fault!

Fu Junqiu only had good impressions of Shen Xi after meeting her twice, but it was not at the same level of fondness as Fu Qingxuan. She did not pay much attention to Fu Qingxuan’s babblings.

The boy was often so, going off leaving the conversation hanging. That was how his brain worked.

Fu Qingye came out of the loo to the pair completely in different worlds talking to themselves without paying attention to each other. Fu Qingye sighed and lamented how Aunt and Xuan were most alike in character.

It was dinner time.

Fu Junqiu looked around before stating, “You don’t have to tell what happened between you two, but what are you going to tell your mom?”

Out of the duo, Qingli was bossy and stubborn. There was no prying open his mouth unless he was willing to talk.

Qingye may be mild in manner but could be more headstrong than Qingli. She could forget about extracting any information from him.

Fu Qingxuan blurted while chowing down his food. “They fought.”

Fu Qingye and Fu Qingli both darted a look at him.

Feeling a sudden mounting pressure grabbing him by the throat, Fu Qingxuan shuddered and lost grip of his chopsticks. He poutingly mumbled, “It’s the truth.”

“Who started it?” Fu Junqiu was intrigued by their fight. This was something new as Qingli cherished his younger brother and never raised a hand at them.

Qingye had the most respect for Qingli, taking the latter at his word. It must be a big deal for them to come to blows.

Presenting a united front together with Fu Qingye, Fu Qingxuan was about to strike up the nerve to speak up.

“No talking at the dinner table,” Fu Qingli barked. “Eat your food.”

Fu Junqiu wanted to refute, but it only took one look from Fu Qingli for her to stuff it. “Fine. Keep it to yourself then for all I care. No need to be mean about it.”

Although she was the elder in the family, Fu Junqiu was only two years older than Fu Qingli. She never had the presence of a senior figure, and it often kept her away from harm’s way too.

Moreover, Fu Qingli was more mature than his peers from a very young age. Since taking over the Fu household at the age of fourteen, he developed the aggressiveness and resolution of a person with a position. It was not that Fu Junqiu feared him, but her heart went out to him for all he had done for the family.

It was not just her. The rest of the family understood it was no easy feat to keep the family together, especially with various threats breathing down their necks. No one would dare to get on his nerves.

With bruises on their faces, Fu Qingli and Fu Qingye were not bold enough to meet Mama Fu. They would not be able to talk their way out of it.

Fu Qingxuan was carrying a bowl out of the bedroom when he noticed his brothers standing at the door. With Fu Qingxuan out, they nervously gathered around him.

“Mom has a good appetite today. She looks good too,” Fu Qingxuan reported. “We’re going to take a stroll later.”

Both Fu Qingli and Fu Qingye could finally rest. However, the fact that they could not see Mom did not sit well with them.

Fu Qingli looked daggers at Fu Qingye.

Fu Qingye coldly scoffed in return.

Afraid of another brawl, Fu Qingxuan came in between them and urged anxiously, “Stop fighting.”

Fu Qingli looked askance and blurted, “Get lost!”

Fu Qingye pushed Fu Qingxuan aside.

Freaking out, Fu Qingxuan opened his mouth to call for backup.

The present enemies gave each other the evil eye before uttering in unison, “Not the face next time!”

Then.

They took off, left and right.

Going their separate ways without looking back.

Fu Qingxuan, “…”

Not the face?

Did that mean they would still be getting physical and hit other places?

Fu Qingxuan snapped out of his thoughts and glanced to the left and right, unsure which side to go after. He stamped his foot. “Qingli, Qingye, don’t go!”

With no response, only Fu Qingxuan’s voice echoed in the living room.

The last time Shen Xi was in United M, she was providing medical care, examination, and experiments for Ning Sinian. With little time left after working tirelessly on the clock, Shen Xi had not even crossed out the first item on her list of “must-try” food and entertainment she prepared during the flight.

She initially thought this would be a quick trip, but it turned out she had time in her hands as she only worked two hours in the morning and two hours at night. The time in the between was perfect to ease off.

Li Yuan was also here for work. He went out to the city with her yesterday and today, he had to attend an important meeting, but he should be back in the afternoon.

Shen Xi and Jin Yu went to buy groceries at a nearby supermarket. They had enough hamburgers and fries for the past two days. Since the food at the Chinese restaurants was not up to their alley either, they planned to make their own hotpot tonight.

Shen Xi’s good looks aside, Jin Yu was also a sophisticated hottie. His poise often overshadowed his age.

Walking together, they were quite the head-turners. The unsuspecting crowd even mistook them as lovers.

It was a huge supermarket chain selling Chinese products.

“Xixi, I’m going over there to see if there’s any luncheon meat. Stay here and don’t go off too far,” Jin Yu told Shen Xi who was waiting for her seafood to be gutted.

“Okay,” Shen Xi responded and pointed at the variety of seafood before stopping at an enormous crab. “Do you fancy a king crab?”

“Sure.” Jin Yu nodded with a smile and urged, “Don’t wander off.”

Shen Xi bobbed her head. She was no child who would get lost in the supermarket. Still, it felt nice to be cared for.

Jin Yu then made his way towards the processed meat aisle.

This was United M’s biggest Chinese supermarket. Mama Fu preferred to shop here too.

Fu Qingxuan tagged along and was pushing the shopping cart for her.

Mama Fu examined the items in the cart before turning to him. “Xuan, go and grab me a bottle of dark soy sauce there.”

Fu Qingxuan let go of the cart. “Mom, stay here. I’ll be right back.”

Like the wind, he ran off.

Mama Fu dotingly smiled at his receding figure. With a white porcelain mug with a blue underglaze catching her eye, she got onto her tiptoes to reach the highest shelf.

She had just felt the mug when suddenly, by the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure. The mug came crashing down and smashed on her head.

Although her clear forehead was bleeding by the scrape, Mama Fu appeared unconcerned as she stumbled to get to the figure she saw.