Rebirth from the Ashes

Li Yuan carried a fruit platter out to find his fair lady gone with the wind. Finding it odd, he furrowed his brows and looked at Jin Yu. “What’s up with Xixi?”

Why the panic?

Jin Yu shook his head with a smile, “She said her mom’s home.”

Li Yuan grinned. No sooner had he put the fruit platter down than his fair lady returned with Fu Qingxuan following behind in a wheelchair.

Fu Qingxuan darted at Li Yuan with a blank look since his opinion of Li Yuan remained unchanged. He was kind enough not to come in between him and Meanie, but everything else was a different story.

Li Yuan started by greeting him. “Young Master Qingxuan.”

Fu Qingxuan was well educated to not dismiss other people’s courtesy. Hence, he returned a nod but refrained from speaking.

Shen Xi and Jin Yu went back to chess while Li Yuan and Fu Qingxuan watched by the sidelines. It was a strange sight to see everyone in a wheelchair except for Shen Xi.

Li Yuan occupied the seat on Shen Xi’s left while her right was a trellis of a rose bush. With summer in full swing, the roses were in full bloom.

Fu Qingxuan looked around and was finally fixated on the trellis. If only he could transform into the trellis next to her.

In the end, he chose to sit beside Jin Yu. It was not as though he was rude enough to tell Li Yuan to get lost since Li Yuan was here first anyway.

Jin Yu flashed his pearly whites at Fu Qingxuan and asked, “Do you know how to play chess?”

Fu Qingxuan showed his manners and gentlemanly side to strangers as he humbly replied, “A little.”

The reply came as no surprise to Jin Yu. He cheerfully uttered, “Have a go with me next time.”

Fu Qingxuan bobbed his head in accepting the offer.

Dad taught him to play chess as a child. There were moments still fresh in his mind about sitting on his father’s lap, listening to the rules of chess and the game of Go.

Nevertheless, he was too young and could not care less to learn chess then. By the time he picked up interest, Dad was no longer around.

On the other hand, Qingli and Qingye took over Dad and would have a few rounds of chess during their free time. The chessboard and pieces at home were made by Dad.

With his mind wandering further and further, Fu Qingxuan reined in on his thoughts. Dad had been on his mind lately, perhaps due to his birthday coming soon.

Coming back to earth, he faced a chest-gripping and fist-clenching scene.

The wisteria and vines on top shaded off most of the blaring sun, but cracks of sunshine still made it through, casting over the pair in the opposite direction.

The handsome man had one hand carrying the fruit platter and a fork on the other as he sent fruit piece by piece to the mouth of the beautiful girl engrossed in chess.

The girl was so focused on the game to notice anything, yet she was able to nip the fruit at the right time when the man fed it to her. They were so in tune with each other that their behavior came so naturally without a moment’s hesitation.

The pretty faces made such a warm and beautiful portrait that was easy on the eyes. However, it was an eyesore to Fu Qingxuan. Unable to stand it any longer, he took off to fool around with Toffeecito.

Toffeecito was having fun on the cat tree. With its furry paw, it was swatting the hanging mousey, fish, and bird installed by Jin Yu when he repaired the cat tree.

The cat tree was double the height of a common cat tree and slightly lower than the wall. It was specially made for Toffeecito during its clumsy kitten days to prevent it from falling.

There was a ladder on one side of the wall and a cat tree on the other for Toffeecito’s convenience to roam around. The cat tree was kept to this day since this was its favorite spot.

Although Fu Qingxuan was entertaining Toffeecito, he snuck a few peeks at the group from the corner of his eyes while rage was seething within. He had an issue with Meanie being snatched away by Li Yuan.

He should not act this way. Meanie was way nicer to Li Yuan than him. Fu Qingxuan was certain Meanie would pick Li Yuan over anyone on any day if given a choice.

Still, he was not okay with it. He was fully aware of that fact, but his emotions were just screaming to be let out.

The round of chess took a whole two hours. No one was in a rush as each move required extensive deliberation. It was an invigorating feeling to meet an equal match in chess.

Kun Lun, together with several men, walked through the door with bento boxes when lunchtime came around.

Fu Qingxuan called Shen Xi over and asked her in a muffled voice, “Didn’t you say Uncle Jin Yu’s a good cook?”

Meanie said Uncle Jin Yu’s food tasted similar to his.

He had once tried to please Mom by learning to cook. Fu Qingxuan intended to give her a big surprise during her birthday.

To his dismay, it was more of a shock than a surprise as Mom cried after taking a bite of his food. The event freaked Fu Qingxuan out. Mom mentioned that the food he made had the exact taste as Dad’s food.

Subsequently, he lost the guts to step foot into the kitchen, afraid to bring back sad memories to Mom.

Fu Qingxuan was intrigued to try Uncle Jin Yu’s home-cooked food to compare their flavors.

Otherwise, he would never come to Li Yuan’s house even if the latter got on his knees and begged him!

“I said Uncle Jin Yu can cook, but I never said he’ll cook today.” Shen Xi gave him a weird look. “Did you come over to try his cooking?”

She never knew Fu Qingxuan was a foodie.

Fu Qingxuan turned black in the face. “…”

So, was it his fault to take it the wrong way?

Could he leave right there and then? Li Yuan’s face made him sick to the stomach!

“Come in for lunch, you two.” Jin Yu was calling for them at the door.

Shen Xi responded favorably before comforting Fu Qingxuan. “The opportunity will arise with time. I can tell that Uncle Jin has taken to you. Wait until he recovers, and his leg gets all better. He might just prepare a feast for you.”

Uncle Jin Yu rarely made dinner, but it was a bonus when he did. Shen Xi only had the pleasure a handful of times.

“He’s not a handicap?” Fu Qingxuan’s eyes reflected mixed emotions.

Shen Xi glanced at his legs. “No, he hurt his leg and has a hard time walking, that’s why he’s using a wheelchair.”

Fu Qingxuan, “…”

In the living room, Jin Yu urged them to join the lunch again while the food was still warm. He looked out to the courtyard to find the duo standing together and conversing about something.

It could be because they were cousins, but they looked quite alike on closer inspection.