Chapter 25: A High-IQ Human’s Family Letter

Su Taotao naturally had no idea that her “branch of red apricot” had already strayed in the hands of her “cheap husband.”

She simply wanted to compete with her “cheap husband” over who could be more tight-lipped. But if any of the colleagues at the base saw a photo of Chenchen, they would definitely say, “Engineer Fu, your son looks just like you, like you were made from the same mold.”

Unfortunately, Engineer Fu was always distant with others—untouchable from a distance, like something you could only admire from afar. Even an ant would avoid him, let alone a human being.

Fu Zhengtu looked at the photo of the smiling, incredibly beautiful woman and felt more and more unfamiliar with her. It wasn’t anger; after more than two years, many things could have happened, and since he had been out of touch, he couldn’t blame her entirely. He also didn’t know whether she was referring to her biological son or her adopted one. He needed to go back home as soon as possible to clear things up.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. Just as Fu Zhengtu had purchased a ticket to go home, his superior suddenly asked him to attend a conference in the capital. It couldn’t be helped—there was a foreign guest who required someone with solid professional knowledge, fluency in foreign languages, and a high-ranking position. The most important thing was that the person had to look presentable and not bring disgrace to the country. When the director received the official memo, he couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. He thought, “Why don’t you just send Fu Zhengtu an invitation directly? The only one at the base who meets all these strict requirements is Fu.”

So, just when Fu Zhengtu thought he finally had time to return home, he was once again redirected to the capital. Already at the train station, he suddenly called his assistant, took out a pen, and scribbled a few words, asking him to send it to his family.

The assistant looked at the “family letter” Fu Zhengtu handed over and couldn’t help but question life. Was Fu Zhengtu encrypting the letter to prevent prying eyes? Why did he recognize every Chinese character on the letter, but the combination of them seemed completely unrelated to a family letter?

Could this be a secret communication style between Fu Zhengtu and his family? Or was it how high-IQ humans communicated, and only ordinary people like him couldn’t understand their vague, wordy messages?

In any case, one week later, this high-IQ human’s reply letter arrived in Su Taotao’s hands.

Su Taotao was puzzled when she saw the sender’s name. Wasn’t he supposed to return soon? Why waste a stamp writing just a few words? Did he want to ask about Chenchen after seeing the adorable child?

She opened the envelope with great anticipation once again.

And once again, she was left dumbfounded.

Fu Zhengtu’s letter was written in what seemed like Morse code—only two characters: “待定” (Pending).

There was no salutation, no closing, and no punctuation, only the two characters: “待定”!

Yet, surprisingly, Su Taotao understood that he meant his return time had been changed from “soon” to “pending”!

Su Taotao laughed in both frustration and amusement. She really wanted to write a “Go away” reply to her “cheap husband.” She had lost the competition. When it came to being concise and ruthless with words, Fu Zhengtu truly had no equal.

Su Taotao couldn’t even be bothered to tell Zhou Linglan and the others about this letter. As long as she knew he was safe, the difference between “soon” and “pending” didn’t matter.

When Fu Zhengtu had been out of touch, Su Taotao had perhaps felt some uncertainty. After all, she hadn’t followed the original path of the previous owner. She hadn’t returned to the city, nor had she rekindled anything with some childhood sweetheart. She didn’t know if it would cause any butterfly effect, changing the plot. She wasn’t entirely sure if Fu Zhengtu would return.

But now that she knew Fu Zhengtu was safe and she had stable income, she was no longer worried at all.

Even without Fu Zhengtu, she could raise Chenchen on her own. In a few years, when the college entrance exam resumed, she would send herself and Fu Yuanhang to university. It would just be a bit tougher, and they would have to live frugally.

Fu Zhengtu’s letter caused quite a stir for a moment, but it was short-lived. After that, things returned to normal. The only difference was that when they went out, gossiping neighbors would occasionally ask, “Did you get a letter from Zhengtu? Is he coming back soon?” “Good times are coming,” they would say, but everything else proceeded as usual.

Of course, Su Taotao had started to get a bit tired of hearing about “letters.”

By the end of the month, Zhou Linglan, seeing no sign of her eldest son’s return, began to feel anxious. She secretly said to Fu Yuanhang, “I wonder if your older brother has been assigned another task. Hopefully, it’s not another two-year assignment. If it happens again, Taotao will definitely stop waiting for him.”

Fu Yuanhang wasn’t sure either. He only knew his brother worked in research, where everything was highly confidential. He didn’t even know what exactly he was doing or whether it was dangerous. His wife hadn’t seen him for several months before, but this time it was the longest.

He looked down at his brand-new pair of Liberation shoes and touched the green military uniform on his body. He hadn’t wanted to wear them, but his sister-in-law had said that the more often clothes and shoes were worn, the more valuable they became. If they were still good by the time they didn’t fit, that was the real waste. So, he was the only one in his class wearing new clothes and shoes even though it wasn’t a special occasion.

“Mom, now that we know Big Brother’s new address, why don’t we write him a letter secretly without telling Sister-in-law? We can tell him how well Taotao and Chenchen are doing and that he needs to come back soon.”

He didn’t want to lose such a wonderful sister-in-law and hoped she would always be part of their family.

Zhou Linglan thought this was a good idea too.

“We should have written when Taotao replied last time. Usually, after reporting safety, he comes back soon. I didn’t expect him to be gone for so long this time.” This son, like his father, was raised to serve the country, a source of pride for the Fu family. Zhou Linglan had no complaints, but now that he was a father, he couldn’t be like a kite with a broken string, always away from home.

Zhou Linglan was truly worried: “Your handwriting is nice, so I’ll tell you what to write.”

Today was market day, and Su Taotao had gone to the county town and hadn’t returned yet. The mother and son took the opportunity to write a letter to their eldest son.

After finishing the letter, Fu Yuanhang held his nephew’s hand and scribbled a message: “Dad, I am your son Chenchen, come home soon,” and then solemnly had the little guy press his fingerprint, as if he had written it himself.

The little guy had no idea what he had written and found the fingerprint fun, not wanting to wash the ink off his hand, and tried to stamp it on his clothes. Fortunately, Zhou Linglan was quick-eyed and stopped him.

After dinner, Su Taotao, to help the child express himself better, asked as usual if there were any fun things to share with Mom today.

Chenchen tilted his head, thinking, then raised his dirty hand: “Daddy… letter… ink…”

Zhou Linglan and Fu Yuanhang looked at each other—Oh no! They had forgotten to remind Chenchen not to tell anyone!