Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  Time flowed back to the day of Fang Yusheng’s 25th birthday.

  In the morning, Fang Yusheng woke up.

  The sun’s rays fell on his body, making him feel warm.

  He slowly sat up and reached out to grab a handful of sunlight in the air. It was warm, but that surprised him. He usually slept early and woke up early, yet he had woken up so late today.

  Even the sun was out.

  He got out of bed barefoot and stepped on the wooden floor. Counting to himself, he walked toward the toilet.

  After washing his face and brushing his teeth, he went into the bathroom to take a shower and change his clothes. A wooden comb ran through his long hair. Fang Yusheng recalled what Aunt Jin had said last night. It was his 25th birthday today, and she was going to cook him a feast. He couldn’t help but smile.

  Fang Yusheng tied up his long hair with a light green ribbon before walking downstairs.

  When he reached the corner of the corridor, he heard Aunt Jin and Qi Bufan discussing something in the living room.

  Aunt Jin asked, “Young Master Yusheng hasn’t woken up yet. Is he feeling unwell?”


  “Maybe he slept late last night.” The stoic voice was Qi Bufan’s.

  Aunt Jin didn’t continue guessing and only said, “It’s good to sleep a little longer.” She continued, “Young Master Yusheng is allergic to eggs, so he can’t eat cake. Poor thing! I’m afraid he has never eaten cake before.”


  Qi Bufan asked, “What can he eat on his birthday?”


  After thinking for a while, Aunt Jin wiped her chubby hands on her apron. She said, “How about this? I’ll cook a bowl of longevity noodles for him, and he’ll live to a ripe old age.”


  “Then I’ll make some noodles.”


  Fang Yusheng stood in the corridor and heard the sound of the two of them cutting vegetables and rolling out noodles. He suddenly felt that even if he couldn’t see, with these two buffoons by his side, he wouldn’t feel so lonely anymore.

  He had eaten cake before. When he was two years old, his mother had made him a small cake. When he had eaten it, he had almost died of shock. It was then that Lisa learned that her son could not eat eggs.

  Aunt Jin and Qi Bufan looked at Fang Yusheng quietly.

  They were relieved to see that he was fine.

  Qi Bufan’s movements were fast. Aunt Jin boiled water and cut the shredded meat quickly.

  Soon, the longevity noodles were ready.

  Aunt Jin asked Fang Yusheng to sit down in the dining room and brought the bowl of noodles to him. She then passed the chopsticks to him and said, “Young Master Yusheng, this is Longevity Noodles. You must finish it in one go so that you can live a long life.”


  Fang Yusheng shook his head and chuckled. “You still believe that?”


  He picked up the noodles and sucked them. Just as he was about to bite, Aunt Jin hurriedly shouted, “Don’t bite!”


  Fang Yusheng was speechless.

  Poor Fang Yusheng. He actually sucked the long strand of noodles and puffed up his cheeks. Seeing that he had sucked it all into his mouth, Aunt Jin said, “Alright, you can chew now.”


  After swallowing the bowl of noodles with much difficulty, Fang Yusheng touched his stomach and said to Qi Bufan, “I’m afraid I’ll have to take some medicine to digest this bowl of noodles.”


  The corners of Qi Bufan’s mouth twitched, and he said to him, “Medicine has its toxicity. If you feel bloated, come exercise with me.”


  Fang Yusheng nodded and went to the gym to run on the treadmill.

  Qi Bufan was doing push-ups with one hand. Thinking of something, he said, “I heard Second Young Master is bringing his girlfriend home for dinner next week. Do you want to take a look? I heard that his girlfriend is only 19 years old.”


  He was blind and could not see anything. Why would he go and embarrass himself?

  Fang Yusheng said firmly, “No.”


  “Oh.”


  ***

  Fang Yusheng felt a dull pain in his head. His eyelids trembled a few times, and his long eyelashes cast black shadows under the light.

  Finally, Fang Yusheng opened his eyes.

  The sunset crept in through the window and landed on his face.

  Fang Yusheng felt as though his eyes were being pricked. He closed them again, and his mind fell in a daze.

  In the short span of two days, he had been watching himself in his dream as an outsider. In the dream, Fang Yusheng mistook Qiao Jiuyin for Qiao Jiusheng. When he found out the truth, he took every step carefully. After defeating Fang Mu and Qiao Jiuyin, he still missed out on the real Qiao Jiusheng…


  When Fang Yusheng closed his eyes, his dark mind was filled with the image of that old woman’s emaciated and miserable appearance.

  Her heart began to ache sharply again.

  At this moment, the door opened, and Qiao Jiusheng and Fang Yuqing walked in together. Fang Yuqing looked at Fang Yusheng, who was still sleeping, and saw the sadness and worry in Qiao Jiusheng’s eyes. She softly sighed and said to Qiao Jiusheng, “Sister-in-law, have dinner first. The babies in your stomach should be hungry.”


  Qiao Jiusheng nodded.

  She was not in the mood to eat, but the two fellows in her stomach could not go hungry. Therefore, she sat in the armchair and ate in a dull manner, unable to taste anything specific.

  Fang Yuqing saw that Fang Yusheng’s forehead was covered in sweat, so she went to fetch a basin of water. She wrung a towel and wiped his forehead. As she wiped him, she said, “Brother Yusheng has been sleeping for two days. I don’t know how long it will take for him to wake up.”


  Upon hearing this, Qiao Jiusheng felt even more bitter.

  As she ate, she was about to cry.

  She tried hard to hold back her tears and continued to eat.

  When Fang Yusheng heard Fang Yuqing call him Brother Yusheng, his heart ached again.

  In his previous life, this girl had died at the age of 17. Although Fang Yusheng had not said anything, he blamed himself in his heart. If he had gone to plead for her earlier, would this girl not have died? Perhaps Yu’an would not have completely broken off relations with the Fang family…


  When Fang Yuqing saw Fang Yusheng’s eyelids twitching, she was stunned. She took back the towel and looked at it again. After confirming that she was not seeing things, she turned around in surprise and said to Qiao Jiusheng, “Sister-in-law, Big Brother seems to be waking up.”


  Qiao Jiusheng suddenly threw away her chopsticks and bowl, got up, and walked to the bed.

  “Yusheng?” Her voice was soft. She was very careful, afraid that if she spoke too loudly, he would be in pain.

  Hearing Qiao Jiusheng’s voice, Fang Yusheng felt even worse.

  He opened his eyes and met Qiao Jiusheng’s concerned and worried gaze.

  The woman in front of him looked the same as the old woman with a sallow face in his previous life. He looked at Qiao Jiusheng, and his eyes gradually turned red.

  Seeing that Fang Yusheng was about to cry, Qiao Jiusheng got a little frightened. “Yusheng, do you feel pain anywhere?” Her expression tightened, and she hurriedly asked, “Where does it hurt? Tell me, I’ll get Zhuang Long to take a look at you.” Turning around, Qiao Jiusheng got Fang Yuqing to call Zhuang Long over.

  Now, only Qiao Jiusheng and Fang Yusheng were left in the room.

  Fang Yusheng opened his mouth and shouted, “Ah Sheng…”


  Qiao Jiusheng nodded. “I’m here.”


  “My heart aches…” Fang Yusheng’s heart ached for Qiao Jiusheng.

  Qiao Jiusheng was stunned.

  Then, her expression changed drastically.

  “Heartache?” She was worried that something was wrong with Fang Yusheng’s heart. So, she kept asking, “How does it hurt? Does it hurt much? Is it a dull or throbbing pain? Do you have difficulty breathing? Yusheng, you don’t have heart disease, right?”


  Seeing Qiao Jiusheng’s panicked reaction, Fang Yusheng felt even more bitter.

  “Ah Sheng.” He raised his hand, and Qiao Jiusheng quickly held it.

  Her eyes were red with anxiety. “It’s okay. Zhuang Long will be here soon. He will cure you. Yusheng, don’t worry. Nothing will happen. Really, the heavens help the worthy. Even if you did that to Fang Mu… he deserves it. Yusheng, you will live a long life. Ah, don’t be afraid…”


  Qiao Jiusheng started to speak incoherently.

  Fang Yusheng suddenly sat up on the bed and hugged her.

  “Ah Sheng.

  “Ah Sheng…”


  He called her name over and over again, holding her tightly in his arms, unwilling to let go no matter what.

  Qiao Jiusheng was stunned by his reaction.

  “It doesn’t hurt anymore?” she asked.

  Fang Yusheng said, “It won’t hurt anymore if I hug you.”


  Qiao Jiusheng nodded. She did not dare to move and let him hug her.

  Zhuang Long and Ji Yinbing rushed over and saw the two of them hugging each other passionately. One kept calling out for Ah Sheng, while the other foolishly said that she was there.

  Zhuang Long was speechless.

  “I’m going to be sick. I’m going to be blind if I see anything unclean.” Zhuang Long wanted to cover his eyes.

  Ji Yinbing looked at Fang Yuqing in confusion. Her gaze seemed to be asking,?

  Fang Yuqing shook her head in confusion. She seemed to be replying, “I’m curious too.”


  Seeing that Fang Yusheng was unwilling to let go of Qiao Jiusheng, Zhuang Long coughed and said, “Fang Yusheng, please be magnanimous and let go of your wife so that I can examine you.”


  Fang Yusheng released Qiao Jiusheng and turned to look at Zhuang Long and Ji Yinbing.

  Qiao Jiusheng also felt embarrassed. When she saw that Fang Yusheng did not seem to be in pain, she felt relieved.

  Zhuang Long walked over and patted Fang Yusheng’s chest. “Does it hurt?”


  He was very strong.

  Fang Yusheng didn’t feel any pain at first, but after being hit by him, he did feel some pain. He pushed Zhuang Long away and seriously said, “You’re not allowed to touch me. How can you touch my body?”


  Zhuang Long raised his eyebrows and turned around to say to Qiao Jiusheng, “Your husband is just moaning about nothing. Just give him a beating.”


  Qiao Jiusheng gave Fang Yusheng a rare look of blame.

  Fang Yusheng immediately became obedient.

  Ji Yinbing asked Fang Yusheng, “What’s wrong with you? Why did you faint all of a sudden? Zhuang Long and I did a checkup on you. There was nothing wrong with your body.”


  Fang Yusheng hid the truth and said, “I probably didn’t rest well.”


  “Then you’re pretty good at sleeping.” Zhuang Long snorted.

  Fang Yusheng had nothing to do, so he settled the discharge procedures that night. That night, they didn’t return to the neighborhood near the hospital but went straight to the small building. Aunt Jin cooked the food, and Fang Yusheng welcomed Zhuang Long and Ji Yinbing for dinner. During the meal, Fang Yusheng said to Zhuang Long, “Zhuang Long, have you been busy recently?”


  Zhuang Long did not say anything, only shooting him a puzzled look.

  Only then did Fang Yusheng say, “Our Ah Sheng will be giving birth soon. I’m worried about those doctors’ medical skills. I’ll be assured if you operate on her.”


  Upon hearing this, Ji Yinbing could not help but say, “C-section surgery is not difficult. Most doctors can do it.” Letting Zhuang Long perform a c-section surgery for Qiao Jiusheng was a waste of talent.

  Zhuang Long agreed with Ji Yinbing. “Many doctors know how to perform this surgery.”


  Fang Yusheng said, “I’m worried.”


  Zhuang Long stared at Fang Yusheng and suddenly said, “You’re finished, Fang Yusheng. You’ve changed. You’re no longer the fearless man I knew.” Zhuang Long revealed a look of regret and sighed. “The Fang Yusheng who used to insult the heavens and the earth is already dead. He died in my memory.”


  Ignoring Zhuang Long, the drama queen, Fang Yusheng asked Ji Yinbing, “You and Ah Nuo…”


  Hearing Ah Nuo’s name, Ji Yinbing, who had been calm just a moment ago, instantly turned gloomy.

  Fang Yusheng wisely chose to shut up.

  After the meal, Zhuang Long told Fang Yusheng that he would perform a cesarean section for Qiao Jiusheng. However, he had to return to America with Ji Yinbing tonight. The drug that they had been researching for the past few years was about to be released, so they would be busy for the time being.

  Fang Yusheng understood.

  That night, Zhuang Long and Ji Yinbing took a flight to America.

  Fang Yusheng sent them off.

  He watched them board the plane, then turned to go home.

  Their driver had already gotten off work, so Qi Bufan was driving today.

  Fang Yusheng sat in the back row. He stared at Qi Bufan, who was sitting in the front row, and suddenly asked, “What are your former comrades who retired because of injuries doing now?”


  Qi Bufan looked surprised and asked, “Why are you suddenly asking this?”


  Fang Yusheng said, “I’m curious.”


  In his previous life, when Fang Yusheng was almost 40, he had found out about Qi Bufan’s true ambition. He couldn’t help but take a few more glances at this man who didn’t like to talk but had great ambitions.

  Qi Bufan did not think too much about it and said, “Those who are discharged from the army are more or less disabled. Some are lucky enough to marry a wife and have children. They can even support their families when they go out to work. As for those who are more seriously injured…”


  Those who were seriously injured would spend their lives in wheelchairs or lying in bed. Not to mention marrying a wife and having children, living on was torture for them and a burden for their families.

  Fang Yusheng suddenly said, “What do you think about opening a military training base?”


  Qi Bufan’s heart was beating fast, but he looked calm on the surface.

  Five seconds later, the car that was driving along the road stopped. Qi Bufan turned off the engine and looked at Fang Yusheng…… Trying his best to control his emotions, he asked Fang Yusheng in a calm tone. “What’s your plan?”