After playing another game, Zhou Xuan won this time. He waved excitedly and then saw Fu Ying leaning against him, half asleep. Fu Yu Hai also looked a bit haggard. Startled, he noticed that the nanny, Aunt Yu, was also there and quickly asked, "Aunt Yu, what time is it?"
Yu said sullenly, "It's already two in the morning. The old man has never been this crazy before. Can he compare to someone your age?"
Zhou Xuan blushed and quickly said, "No, no, I won't play anymore."
Although Fu Yuhai stimulated Zhou Xuan's body and greatly changed his energy, how could he compare to Zhou Xuan, who was at the peak of his energy?
However, Fu Yuhai didn't want to leave. He blinked and said, "No, no, let's go again! How could I lose? I'll definitely win the next round!"
Zhou Xuan refused to continue playing. He shook his head, pulled Fu Ying up, and said, "Yingying, get up, go back to sleep!"
Fu Ying stood up and asked groggily, "Zhou Xuan, how many games did Grandpa lose?"
Fu Yuhai retorted angrily, "Nonsense! Your great-grandfather won six out of eight games. What do you mean by losing a few? If you're not convinced, let's play again."
Sister Yu had prepared some bird's nest porridge, which was also prepared by the two young masters. Everyone else had gone to bed early. Zhou Xuan originally didn't want to eat, but Fu Yu Hai felt a little hungry and wanted them to keep him company, so he and Fu Ying drank the porridge with Fu Yu Hai.
Fu Ying and Zhou Xuan each only drank a small half bowl, but Fu Yuhai drank two bowls and was in great spirits, which even surprised his wife. Usually, after playing two games of chess, he would be so tired he would lie down and fall asleep immediately, but today he played eight games, almost five or six hours. He still wanted to drink two bowls of porridge and was even clamoring for more at the table.
Zhou Xuan would never come back at this point. How could an old man of a hundred years old compare to him who was in his twenties?
After finishing the porridge, Fu Ying and Aunt Yu escorted Fu Yuhai to his bedroom before returning to the guest room in the third reception area. Fu Ying saw him to the door, standing shyly without going in.
Zhou Xuan scratched his head, looking at Fu Ying's shy expression. It was so alluring that he couldn't resist putting his hands on the wall and wrapping them around Fu Ying. He slowly leaned his head closer.
Fu Ying closed her eyes slightly and pouted her lips, waiting. Zhou Xuan liked her like this and didn't rush to press his lips to hers. Instead, he watched Fu Ying's shy yet expectant lips move.
Fu Ying waited for a while, her lips trembling. But Zhou Xuan's lips never came to kiss her. She couldn't help but open her eyes, only to find Zhou Xuan staring at her. She couldn't help but bite her lip in annoyance.
Zhou Xuan chuckled, not lingering any longer. He moved his lips to touch hers, but just then, the door to the living room next door seemed to make a sound.
Fu Ying let out a soft moan, then, like a startled rabbit, ducked out from under Zhou Xuan's arm and ran away, only to bump into the wall with a "thud" in the alleyway between the rooms.
Zhou Xuan couldn't see outside, but he heard Fu Ying cry out in pain, then hurriedly run away. He couldn't help but feel both annoyed and amused.
His wife had been brought back, and his parents-in-law had also been rescued and were safe. Zhou Xuan was completely relieved. Thinking of his wife immediately brought to mind his home, his parents, and his siblings. There was a telephone in the room.
Zhou Xuan picked up the phone, intending to call back home, but then he remembered it was almost three o'clock and calling back would only disturb his sleep, so he put the phone down and went back to bed.
But something still felt off. I glanced at the dark night sky outside the window and suddenly realized—I'd forgotten about the time difference. It was two or three in the morning in New York, but it was daytime back home!
He immediately picked up the phone, dialed the international number first, and then dialed his home number.
The call connected, and my mother, Jin Xiumei, answered: "Hello, who is this?"
"Mom, it's me!"
Zhou Xuan spoke in a low voice as much as possible.
To everyone's surprise, as soon as Jin Xiumei heard Zhou Xuan's voice, she immediately shouted, "Son! Is that you? Where are you? Are you alright?"
Zhou Xuan chuckled softly, "Mom, don't worry. I'm perfectly fine. I'm in New York now, so please don't speak so loudly. It's three in the morning here, everyone's still asleep!"
"Oh. Then, when will you be back?" Old Mrs. Jin Xiumei felt a sudden sense of relief. She hadn't been eating or sleeping well for days. Now everything was alright. Because Jin Xiumei could tell from Zhou Xuan's words that he was genuinely alright, and his laughter was genuinely cheerful.
"I'll be back in a few days. Yingying's grandfather is going to hold our engagement ceremony. We'll be back after that!" Zhou Xuan told Jin Xiumei with a smile. She figured her mother would be happy too. She'd been looking forward to getting married soon and having a grandson for her.
However, as soon as Zhou Xuan said that, he immediately heard Wei Xiaoqing crying on the phone. Then he heard Jin Xiumei sigh and murmur, "Xiaoqing, what a good girl."
Zhou Xuan's heart sank. He hadn't expected Wei Xiaoqing to still be with his mother and the others. And in his own home no less! To be honest, Wei Xiaoqing was deeply in love with him, and his grandfather and Wei Haihong seemed to have feelings for her too, but he simply couldn't spare even half his attention for her!
With a sigh, Zhou Xuan silently put down the phone. His mood was somewhat affected, and he did feel guilty towards Wei Xiaoqing. But frankly, it was better to be hurt sooner rather than later!
I lay down and practiced the ice-qi technique, trying not to think about anything else, until I fell asleep.
Upon waking up in the morning, although he hadn't slept for more than a few hours, Zhou Xuan felt refreshed. Each time his ice energy was depleted and then recovered, Zhou Xuan felt particularly comfortable, and his ice energy even improved.
After washing up, we went downstairs to the living room. Fu Tianlai and Li Junjie were the first to get up, followed by Fu Haoxiao and Yang Jie, and then Fu Ying. An hour later, at 8:30, Aunt Yu had prepared breakfast, but the old man still hadn't gotten up.
Fu Tianlai asked Zhou Xuan with a smile, "Zhou Xuan, how late did you play chess with your grandfather last night?"
Zhou Xuan said embarrassedly, "It was past two o'clock, and Grandpa even drank two bowls of porridge before going to sleep!"
The man surnamed Yu had set out breakfast and came over to invite them to the dining room. As they walked, he said, "The old man has never been out of bed before seven o'clock; he must have been really tired last night!"
Fu Tianlai waved his hand and laughed, "Forget it, don't go wake him. Let the old man wake up naturally. It's rare for the old man to be so happy!"
Zhou Xuan and Fu Ying's engagement ceremony was set for two days later. Although it was too rushed, Fu Tianlai gave the order that everything be handled at the highest level, and an entire floor of the Hilton Hotel was booked.
Originally, the time was indeed too short and the preparation was insufficient, but money makes the world go round. Fu Tianlai spent a lot of money and solved all the problems.
After breakfast, the old man still hadn't gotten up. Zhou Xuan chuckled, and Fu Ying dragged him out for a stroll.
For the sake of romance, Fu Ying didn't drive. She grabbed Zhou Xuan and hailed a taxi to a random place. Then, hand in hand, they strolled down the street. When they passed a bank, Fu Ying suddenly remembered the pocket money Fu Tianlai and her great-grandmother had given her yesterday. She grinned and took out the two bank cards from her purse, pulling Zhou Xuan to the ATM and asking with a smile, "Zhou Xuan, guess how much pocket money Grandpa and Great-Grandma will give us?"
How could anyone guess? Zhou Xuan, seeing Fu Yingxing's excited expression, didn't want to spoil her fun. He pretended to think for a moment and replied, "Grandma gives 100,000, and Grandpa gives 200,000!"
Fu Ying smiled and picked out a card, waving it and saying, "Let's look at Grandpa's first." She inserted the bank card into the machine, entered the PIN, and the screen displayed a series of numbers, the first one being...
Zhou Xuan counted the zeros at the end: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight—there were eight zeros in total!
The ancestor gave him a whopping 100 million!
This is Fu Yingzu, the ancestor of Fu Yuhai, who gave her pocket money to buy food and clothes.
This is US dollars! This casual pocket money is more than all of Zhou Xuan's wealth accumulated over the years!
Fu Ying took out the card, then inserted the card her grandfather Fu Tianlai had given her, entered the password, and a few seconds later the screen displayed the same "+" and a string of zeros. Zhou Xuan counted again. Still eight, zero. The allowance Fu Tianlai had given her was still one hundred million US dollars!