“So why did you suddenly die when you were 55?”


  When Fang Yusheng heard Qiao Jiusheng’s words, his expression did not change at all.

  He had always been someone who knew how to hide his emotions.

  Fang Yusheng shook his head and lied. “I took poison.”


  In his mind, the soft voice of a boy rang again. “Liar!” It was Number 199’s voice, which had been quiet the whole day.

  Number 199 was worried for Fang Yusheng. It kept saying in his head, “Host, tell her what you did for her! 20 years of your life!”


  Fang Yusheng remained silent.

  Seeing this, Number 199 got so anxious that it was about to break down. If it really were a human, it would be baring its teeth and jumping around. Number 199 came up with an idea for Fang Yusheng. “Host, quickly tell her! If you tell her the truth, she will definitely love you to death!”


  Fang Yusheng quietly said, “She loves me now too.”


  Number 199 hurriedly replied, “She’ll love you even more if you tell her!”


  Fang Yusheng said, “That’s despicable.”


  Number 199: “You’re so stupid! So stupid! Really…” After a long time, Number 199 didn’t know how to describe him.

  A moment later, Number 199 sighed. It said, “Fools have foolish luck…”


  Fang Yusheng was speechless.

  When Qiao Jiusheng saw Fang Yusheng remain silent for a few seconds, her heart became filled with doubts about the answer he gave. “You took poison?” She raised her eyebrows and suspiciously looked at him. “Why did you take poison?”


  Fang Yusheng stared at her.

  Qiao Jiusheng was baffled by his gaze, but at the same time, a ridiculous thought arose in her heart.

  Fang Yusheng said, “Fang Mu was dead. Qiao Jiuyin was dead. I thought you were dead too. I suddenly felt that there was no point in living. I felt like dying, so I took the poison.” His cold tone seemed to be saying that he was tired of drinking soy milk and wanted to drink cow’s milk this morning.

  The truth was just as she had thought!

  Qiao Jiusheng did not look too good. She looked a little gloomy, but her heart was touched.

  “Fang Yusheng, change your name.” Qiao Jiusheng suddenly changed the topic and brought up his name.

  Fang Yusheng didn’t follow her train of thought. He asked, “What?”?

  Qiao Jiusheng said, “Change your name to Fang Yuchun[1]…” She was not worthy of him doing all this for her.

  Fang Yusheng remained silent.

  Even though he knew Qiao Jiusheng was mocking him, he chose to accept it.

  The stray cats were also full. They played around in front of Qiao Jiusheng and Fang Yusheng for a while, then rolled a few times before leaving in satisfaction. After watching them leave, Fang Yusheng said, “It’s time to rest. It’s almost one o’clock.”


  Qiao Jiusheng’s heart was filled with emotions as Fang Yusheng helped her up. The two of them returned to their room, but she could not fall asleep.

  Fang Yusheng couldn’t fall asleep either, because Number 199 kept mumbling about how stupid he was.

  Fang Yusheng covered his head with his hand and asked number 199, “Can you be turned off?”


  199 felt sad. “N-no.”


  Fang Yusheng replied, “You’re lying.”


  “Wh-who said that?”


  “You’re starting to stutter.”


  Number 199 was speechless.

  Without waiting for it to quibble, Fang Yusheng said in an unofficial tone, “Time wishing machine no. 199, I order you to be turned off.”


  “Don’t—” Before Number 199 could finish, Fang Yusheng’s mind went completely silent.

  He heaved a sigh of relief.

  When Qiao Jiusheng saw that he was holding his head, she turned on the bedside lamp and asked, “Do you have a headache?”


  Fang Yusheng shook his head. “I wasn’t feeling well. I feel much better now.”


  “Then sleep quickly. You’ll be fine after taking a rest.”


  Qiao Jiusheng was about to turn off the light when her phone rang.

  She opened it and saw that the caller was Dai Chukong. So, she answered the call.

  Dai Chukong sounded very worried. She asked Qiao Jiusheng, “Sister Ah Sheng, do you know… where my father is? He’s not back yet.”


  Qiao Jiusheng felt guilty and lied. “Bufan is with us. He’ll be back soon.”


  “Really?” Dai Chukong got a little suspicious. “I can’t get through to his phone.”


  Qiao Jiusheng thought of the phone and wallet in the living room outside the house and felt even more guilty. She could only continue lying. “His phone is switched off. It’s out of battery.”


  “Then, then tell him to come back earlier. I’m waiting for him.”


  “Okay.”


  After hanging up the phone, Qiao Jiusheng scolded Fang Yusheng. “Fang Yusheng, you’re not a child. Why are you so angry at him? It’s so late at night, and you left him alone halfway. Luckily, he’s a man. If he were a beautiful lady, would you be responsible if something happened to him?”


  Fang Yusheng gloomily said, “I’ve never seen a girl as beautiful as him.”


  Qiao Jiusheng got even angrier. “Are you still going to argue with me?”


  Fang Yusheng covered his head with the blanket. It was obvious that he didn’t want to argue with her; he wouldn’t admit his mistake.

  ***

  The next day, Fang Yusheng had breakfast with Qiao Jiusheng, then went to an apartment near the hospital to wait for delivery. After lunch, Qiao Jiusheng was about to take her lunch break when their doorbell rang. Seeing that Fang Yusheng was washing his hair, Qiao Jiusheng ran to open the door.

  Outside the door was Dai Chukong with a displeased expression.

  “Chukong, why are you here?” Qiao Jiusheng was surprised.

  Dai Chukong seemed to be suppressing her emotions. She glanced at Qiao Jiusheng and asked, “Where’s Brother Yusheng?”


  Qiao Jiusheng pointed to the washroom and said, “He’s washing his hair.”


  “Oh, I’m looking for him.” Without waiting for Qiao Jiusheng’s invitation, Dai Chukong squeezed into the apartment. She quickly walked toward the washroom. Coincidentally, Fang Yusheng had just finished washing his hair and was drying it with a towel. Just as he walked out of the washroom, he bumped into Dai Chukong, who was walking over angrily.

  Fang Yusheng was surprised to see Dai Chukong. He raised his eyebrows. Dai Chukong, who was in front of him, suddenly shouted, “My father came home last night at two! When he came back, his limbs were cold. He caught a cold and a fever because of you. He’s still lying in bed!

  “Mr. Fang, I’m warning you. You’re not allowed to bully my father!

  “Don’t think he’s easy to bully just because he’s honest! No one can bully my father. I’ll fight anyone who bullies him!” Dai Chukong glared at Fang Yusheng. Without giving him a chance to speak, she scolded him again. “Don’t think that just because you’re the young master of the Fang family, you can bully my father on account of being rich and powerful!

  “He’s grateful to you, but I’m not!

  “If you bully him again, I won’t let you off!”


  The newborn calf was not afraid of the tiger. Dai Chukong, who had just arrived in Binjiang City, was unafraid of Fang Yusheng. When she scolded him, her voice was loud and clear, and her tone was proud. This left Qiao Jiusheng dumbfounded.

  Even Fang Yusheng was stunned.

  In this lifetime, other than Fang Pingjue, no one had scolded him.

  His face darkened, making him look especially dangerous.

  Narrowing his eyes at Dai Chukong, he lightly said, “Do you know who you’re pointing your finger at? Do you know that the person you’re scolding is completely capable of killing your father without going to jail?”


  Dai Chukong’s heart trembled, and she withdrew his finger in fear.

  She bit her lip. Even though she was so scared that her calves were trembling, she still tried her best to straighten her back.

  Raising her head again, she met Fang Yusheng’s cold gaze. She didn’t give in at all and shouted at him, “No matter who you are, you can’t bully Qi Bufan! He’s my everything. I won’t let anyone bully him! Even if it’s you, Fang Yusheng!”


  Fang Yusheng laughed out of anger. “Good, very good!”


  Fang Yusheng threw down the towel. Qiao Jiusheng thought that he was going to hit Dai Chukong.

  When Fang Yusheng was ruthless, he would not even let women off. After all, he had gotten back at Qiao Jiusheng before.

  Dai Chukong also thought that she was going to get beaten up. At this moment, Fang Yusheng turned around and ran to the kitchen. When he came out, he was holding an unwashed potato in his hand. Striding, he grabbed Dai Chukong’s chin with one hand and stuffed the potato into her mouth.

  Dai Chukong bit into a potato that had mud on it. She could not speak. Her eyes were round like an owl’s.

  Fang Yusheng glared at her and threatened her. “Shut up if you don’t want to be hit by me.”?

  Dai Chukong really did not speak anymore. When Qiao Jiusheng saw this, she heaved a sigh of relief.

  Fang Yusheng found his phone and called the landline of Qi Bufan’s apartment. The call was answered after a long time.

  “Hey…” Qi Bufan’s voice was weak.

  Fang Yusheng’s cold voice traveled through the phone line into Qi Bufan’s ears. “If you’re not dead, come and take your little tiger away. In less than an hour, I’ll cut off the little tiger’s tongue and fingers. How dare she scold me and point her finger at me? Qi Bufan, you’ve raised a good daughter…”


  Qi Bufan understood what Fang Yusheng meant by “good daughter.”


  His head no longer hurt, and his fever had subsided.

  Qi Bufan staggered out of bed and ran out of the room while putting on his clothes. In less than forty minutes, he arrived at Fang Yusheng’s apartment.

  As he apologized to Fang Yusheng, he nervously looked at Dai Chukong. He was relieved to see that the girl was still unharmed, except for the mud around her mouth. “The little girl lacks discipline. I’ll educate her when I get back. Sir, you’re magnanimous. Don’t take what she did to heart.”


  Mr. Fang had already dried his hair. He sat on the sofa with a domineering look, with his legs crossed. However, he was disinfecting a baby’s milk bottle in his hand. Upon hearing Qi Bufan’s words, he sneered and sarcastically said, “Am I not a miser who doesn’t give a cent? An iron chicken?”


  Qi Bufan hurriedly replied, “No way! I can’t find anyone more generous than you!”


  Fang Yusheng sneered.

  “Get lost!”


  Qi Bufan left with Dai Chukong as if he had received a pardon.

  After leaving the apartment and entering the elevator, Dai Chukong threw Qi Bufan’s hand away and said, “You’re such a coward! He’s the reason you caught a cold. Why do you still respect him so much?” Dai Chukong was furious. When she had woken up this morning, she had realized that Qi Bufan had a fever and was delirious. She had fed him medicine and cooked porridge, then came to argue with Fang Yusheng.

  Qi Bufan was afraid of Fang Yusheng, but she was not!

  Qi Bufan felt a headache coming on. He quickly said, “Little ancestor, this is Mr. Fang. If it were someone else, you would have been punished a long time ago.” When Qi Bufan thought of Dai Chukong’s actions, he felt both warm and scared.

  The more Dai Chukong thought about it, the angrier she became. “Would a good person leave you by the roadside in the middle of winter and take away your wallet and phone?”


  Qi Bufan had to explain. “Last night was my fault.”


  Dai Chukong looked at him from the corner of her eyes and did not speak. It was obvious that she did not believe him.

  Qi Bufan continued, “Mr. Fang wanted to help me, invest in me, and have me set up a military training base to help those injured retired soldiers and give them something to do. But I said the wrong thing and instead questioned his stinginess. It was my fault.”


  Dai Chukong felt incredulous upon hearing this. “So you provoked him first?”


  “Yes.”


  “Mr. Fang wanted to help you and those uncles who were discharged from the army out of goodwill, but you questioned his stinginess and unwillingness to part with money?” Dai Chukong felt a little strange.

  Qi Bufan nodded again.

  “You’re really…!” Dai Chukong glared at him for a long time, but she could not find any words to describe him.

  The elevator reached the first floor.

  Qi Bufan was about to leave when Dai Chukong pressed the button to close the door again. Then, she pressed the floor where Fang Yusheng’s apartment was.

  “What?” Qi Bufan was a little surprised.

  Dai Chukong said, “Apologize!”


  Fang Yusheng had good intentions. It was fine that Qi Bufan had questioned him, but she had scolded him without knowing the truth. Dai Chukong suddenly felt that Mr. Fang was really well-mannered. He could actually resist hitting her.

  Qiao Jiusheng was about to open the door when Fang Yusheng stopped her. “I’ll go. Sit down.”


  He put down the bottle and brush, then ran to open the door.

  When he opened the door, he saw Dai Chukong and her dad returning. His expression turned cold as he asked in a neutral tone, “Why? Haven’t you been scolded enough?”


  Dai Chukong was flustered.

  Her hands hung in front of her as she rubbed her fingers together, looking embarrassed. She lowered her head and did not speak.

  Fang Yusheng was about to close the door when Dai Chukong said, “Brother Yusheng, I’m sorry!”


  Fang Yusheng stopped closing the door.

  He stared at the top of Dai Chukong’s head and said, “Why? Didn’t you call me Fang Yusheng before? Why are you calling me Brother now?” He chuckled. “I’m a ruthless person. I’m a bad person who bullies the weak and fears the strong. I don’t deserve to be called your brother.”


  Dai Chukong was speechless.

  She walked out from behind Qi Bufan and said to Fang Yusheng, “My father was in the wrong first. Brother Yusheng, you can vent your anger on him.”


  Qi Bufan, who was standing between Dai Chukong and Fang Yusheng, was dumbfounded.

  [1] Yuchun means stupid