Fu Chengyu’s brows furrowed slightly, a trace of displeasure flashing in his eyes. He had originally intended to ignore the persistent ringing of the phone, but in the end, he answered it.

“Hello.”

It was his grandfather, Mr. Fu, calling. His voice was loud and filled with anger. “You little rascal, where the hell have you been? Get back here, now!”

Fu Chengyu pinched Lin Bai’s waist lazily, his tone nonchalant. “What’s up, Grandpa?”

“You still have the nerve to ask? Tell me, did you bully Nanxing at school?”

Fu Chengyu was momentarily stunned. He quickly defended himself, “No, when did I ever bully him?”

“You better come back right now, or I’ll have your uncle come and catch you!”

Hearing the mention of “uncle,” Fu Chengyu immediately fell silent. “Alright, I’ll be back right away.”

After hanging up, Fu Chengyu lost all interest in continuing. He kissed Lin Bai on the face and said, “I have to go back for a bit, you can stay here.”

Lin Bai buried his face in the pillow, not responding. Fu Chengyu took it as shyness. “A Bai, as long as you stay with me, I’ll make sure you’re well taken care of.”

“Get lost.”

Fu Chengyu’s anger was instantly ignited, and his patience ran out. “There will come a time when you’ll beg me!”

With that, he quickly dressed, grabbed his phone, and left.

Not long after, Fu Chengyu returned to the Fu family home with a smile as bright as spring. Upon entering, he immediately noticed the tense atmosphere. Even his usually indifferent father had a displeased look on his face.

“Grandpa, why did you call me back?”

Yesterday, he had only spoken to Shen Nanxing for a few minutes. He hadn’t bullied him at all. Why was everyone acting as if he’d done something terribly wrong? Their expressions were unusually serious.

Mr. Fu snorted and pointed a finger at him, scolding, “How dare you ask? Look at what you’ve done!”

He then threw the school’s announcement in Fu Chengyu’s face.

Fu Chengyu was bewildered by the scolding, his expression full of defiance. He glanced over the notice. “Grandpa, what does this have to do with me? I didn’t even know about this. You can’t just start yelling at me without explaining!”

He hadn’t expected anyone to post his interaction with Shen Nanxing online and misunderstand the situation. But people on the internet were like that anyway—was it really necessary to take it this seriously? He didn’t understand why his whole family was so upset.

Mr. Fu’s face turned an angry shade of green when he saw that Fu Chengyu wasn’t showing any signs of regret. “You’re getting bold now, huh? Talking back.”

“Zhiyuan, bring me the stick. I’m going to teach him a lesson today!”

Bai Mengqi, who had been silent until now and was Fu Chengyu’s mother, heard that her son was going to be beaten. She quickly intervened and pleaded with Mr. Fu on his behalf.

“Dad, please don’t act impulsively. Chengyu is so delicate, how could he endure a beating?”

She continued, “Chengyu spoke out of anger, he knows he was wrong. I’ll have him go to the Shen family immediately to apologize to Nanxing.”

After speaking, she tugged at Fu Chengyu’s sleeve, signaling him to say something good. Fu Chengyu then softened and said, “Grandpa, I’m sorry, I spoke out of turn. I’ll go apologize to Nanxing right away. You’re older, don’t get too agitated.”

Fu Chengyu’s father also spoke up to defend him. “Dad, why don’t we let this go just this once?”

Mr. Fu’s expression softened a little, and he snorted. “If only your grandmother weren’t away, she’d know about this. If she found out you bullied Nanxing, you’d be done for!”

The Fu family’s grandmother had always favored Shen Nanxing. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have tried to arrange the engagement between the two.

“You and your uncle go together. I’ll have Zhiyuan keep an eye on you. If you’re in any way insincere, I’ll deal with you when you get back!”

Fu Chengyu looked at Fu Zhiyuan, feeling somewhat apprehensive. He stiffly nodded. “Alright.”

Fu Zhiyuan had been silent the entire time since Fu Chengyu entered, his stern expression making it hard to tell what he was thinking.

Mr. Fu waved his hand. “You two go ahead. Oh, and pick out a couple of decent gifts from the study to take with you.”

Fu Chengyu nodded hurriedly.

Fu Zhiyuan then stood up, looked at Fu Chengyu, and succinctly said, “Follow me.”

On the way there, Fu Chengyu felt the atmosphere in the car had dropped to an icy level. He tried a few times to strike up a conversation with his uncle, but seeing Fu Zhiyuan’s grim expression, he swallowed his words each time.

When they got out of the car, Fu Zhiyuan slammed the door shut with a loud bang, startling Fu Chengyu and making his heart skip a beat. How terrifying!!!

Fu Chengyu silently followed behind Fu Zhiyuan.

Fu Zhiyuan fought the urge to give him a good beating. If it weren’t for Shen Chuanqiong’s phone call, he wouldn’t have known his nephew was this irritating. How could he bully Xingbao? No wonder Xia Zimu wanted to break the walls down. If he was sure Xingbao cared about Fu Chengyu, he would’ve definitely beaten him up and dragged him in front of Xingbao to make him kneel and apologize.

Fu Zhiyuan rang the doorbell, and after a while, Mama Wu came to open the door.

“Mr. Fu, Young Master Fu, I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”

Fu Zhiyuan’s expression remained unchanged as he replied, “It’s fine.”

Mama Wu led them inside. Shen Chuanqiong and his parents were at home.

Fu Chengyu, with a look of apology, greeted them.

“Uncle, Auntie, hello.”

Shen’s father and mother didn’t respond.

“Brother Shen, hello.”

Shen Chuanqiong snorted and didn’t even give him a glance.

At this point, Fu Zhiyuan handed over the gifts he had brought. “We truly apologize. It’s our fault for not teaching him better.”

“I’ve brought him here today to apologize to Xingbao. If Xingbao doesn’t forgive him, I won’t beg for him,” Fu Zhiyuan said, making his stance clear. He was on Shen Nanxing’s side and wouldn’t show any favoritism just because Fu Chengyu was his nephew.

His words made Shen’s father and mother’s expressions soften slightly.

Shen’s father cleared his throat. “Well, please sit down. As for the apology, we’ll need to consult the person involved.”

Shen Chuanqiong, however, looked unconvinced. “They’re not even married yet, and he lets others bully Xingbao like this? What’s going to happen once they’re married? Xingbao will be completely mistreated. I think it’s better to cancel the engagement between them altogether.”

Fu Chengyu was immediately panicked when he heard that the engagement might be canceled. “Brother Shen, I promise I will protect Nanxing from now on and never let him suffer any harm.”

“Promises are useless!”

Fu Chengyu looked at Fu Zhiyuan, hoping he would speak up for him. But Fu Zhiyuan acted as if he didn’t even see him and ignored him completely.

When Shen’s mother heard her eldest son speak this way, her expression softened a little. She would rather raise Xingbao for a lifetime than see him hurt.

“Old Shen, perhaps we should reconsider this engagement carefully!”

A good man’s first lesson is to learn to listen to his wife, and of course, Shen’s father had no objections. He took his wife’s hand and reassured her, “Alright, I understand.”

Fu Chengyu couldn’t understand how things had developed to this point. He was so desperate that he almost wanted to kneel. “Uncle, Auntie, I really know I was wrong. I genuinely like Nanxing, I…”