Chapter 119: Sleeping Alone in the Study

“What is it?” Shi Mu now dreaded hearing Fu Chengjing ask “why.” Every time, he desperately wanted to grab Fu Huaizhou by the collar and ask just one question.

Couldn’t he just get Fu Chengjing a set of encyclopedias or a “100,000 Whys” book series?

Fu Huaizhou had already answered that they’d bought them long ago, and Fu Chengjing had read them. But his questions kept coming, and he could always come up with new ones based on what he read.

Fu Chengjing looked up at him with big, watery eyes.

“Why do you and Little Uncle both have the surname Shi, but Mom, even though she’s your sister, doesn’t have the surname Shi?”

Shi Mu patiently answered this question.

He spoke gently, “Because when your mom was little, she didn’t live with us, so she didn’t know her surname was Shi. By the time Little Uncle and I found her, she was already a big star.”

“A celebrity’s name isn’t something you change easily. Suddenly changing from Ruan Li to Shi Li would feel unfamiliar to many people, and it would harm her career. Besides, family doesn’t always need to share the same last name.”

Fu Chengjing nodded, half understanding.

Shi Mu patted his fluffy hair. “Just like if one day Fu Lingying’s name became Shi Lingying or just Lingying, would she still be your sister?”

“Of course she would be.” Fu Chengjing nodded firmly.

“Mom didn’t live with you when she was little?” This was the first time Fu Chengjing learned this. He saw his mom bantering with Little Uncle every day, always raiding Big Uncle’s house, and never suspected they had been apart.

“Yes, but it’s okay now that we’re all together. So you should take good care of your sister and be extra nice to your mom, because she didn’t have many people to take care of her when she was young.”

“Mm! I will.” Fu Chengjing’s eyes shone brightly as he looked at Shi Mu.

“Alright, go back to bed. If Lingying wakes up and doesn’t see you, she’ll cry.” Shi Mu fixed the hem of Fu Chengjing’s shirt that had been tucked into his pajama pants.

What he hadn’t told Fu Chengjing was that even if Ruan Li never changed her surname, it wouldn’t matter. In the aristocratic circles of Beijing, the old Ruan family name no longer existed.

Her surname stood out as unique among the elite families of Beijing a name that carved its own place.

Early the next morning, Shi Mu was getting ready for work, but the main reason was that Fu Chengjing wouldn’t stop asking questions, especially since Fu Huaizhou wasn’t a talker.

Shi Xun was too unreliable, offering no meaningful answers even when asked.

So, every morning, Fu Chengjing would relentlessly badger Shi Mu.

After breakfast, Shi Mu brought the two kids, along with Lingying’s bottle, back to the villa. Fu Chengjing eagerly rushed into the master bedroom.

Naturally, Ruan Li wasn’t awake yet, but she was jolted out of sleep by the excited exclamations of Fu Chengjing and Fu Lingying as they entered the room.

“Mom! So many flowers!” Fu Chengjing exclaimed, staring at the roses filling the bedroom.

Ruan Li rubbed her eyes and looked at the still fresh roses, realizing that Fu Huaizhou had kept his promise from last night and had a fresh batch delivered.

So, early in the morning, the three of them gathered in the bedroom, with Fu Chengjing and Fu Lingying sitting beside Ruan Li, watching her put on makeup.

“How about this one?” Ruan Li asked, holding up a dress from the closet to show the two kids.

“Pretty!” They nodded in unison.

“And this one?” Ruan Li held up a white dress.

“Pretty!” They both nodded again.

Ruan Li, feeling overwhelmed by choice, tried on several more outfits, only to receive the same enthusiastic response each time. Exhausted, she slumped on the sofa.

“Which one looks the best?”

The two children were at a loss for words. Fu Chengjing genuinely considered each choice, but he thought they all looked nice and couldn’t pick a favorite.

Meanwhile, Lingying bit her finger, pondering for a while. Suddenly, an idea struck her.

“Yesterday’s red one was the prettiest!”

Fu Chengjing, finally freed from the pressure of choosing, eagerly agreed with his sister. They both looked at their mom, who now seemed more troubled than before, with curiosity.

“Mom, why don’t you just wear the one from last night?”

Ruan Li propped her chin on her hand. Why not? Because that dress was a casualty it had already been removed from the bathroom and likely ended up in the trash outside.

Last night, Fu Huaizhou had joked that the bathroom was the birthplace of their two kids, suggesting that her dresses met their untimely end there too.

Over the years, she’d lost count of how many expensive, one of a kind dresses and lingerie had perished in that bathroom.

In the end, she settled on a dress from the closet that she felt good about, snapping photos amidst the bedroom’s roses and taking plenty of cute shots with the two kids.

On the way downstairs, she asked the chef to make some rose pastries, not wanting the flowers to go to waste after being used only for decoration.

“Mom, what’s that?” Lingying asked, sitting on the sofa and eyeing the small bowl handed to Ruan Li by a servant.

A bitter scent wafted from the bowl.

Ruan Li pinched her nose, took a sip, and winced, her whole face scrunching up from the bitterness. Lingying, alarmed, quickly offered her mom a treasured candy.

“Mommy, this is my favorite candy, for you.”

Children’s candy consumption was strictly limited, so sneaking sweets and hiding them was not uncommon.

Fu Huaizhou returned from his morning jog to this scene. He saw the half-finished bowl of Chinese medicine and frowned.

“Why are you drinking this? I said you didn’t have to.”

Ruan Li glared at him. “Who told you to stay in the bathroom last night? I think it’s cursed something always goes wrong there. To be safe, I’m drinking the medicine.”

Fu Huaizhou almost laughed. It seemed like his surgery had been for nothing.

He walked over, grabbed the bowl, and poured it down the kitchen sink. “Trust science, Mrs. Fu. My surgery was flawless. No need to worry.”

Ruan Li blinked, stunned by his swift action.

Fu Huaizhou sat beside her, his voice deep. “You can relax and enjoy.”

The next moment, in front of Fu Chengjing and Fu Lingying, their father was hit in the head with a throw pillow.

Ruan Li was furious she couldn’t understand how Fu Huaizhou could be so shameless in broad daylight, especially with the kids around.

“Enjoy your big fat head, Fu Huaizhou! Tonight, you’re sleeping alone in the study!”