Chapter 3  : Undeserving

The house of the Zhao Family was located at the corner of the small town, and the path in front of the house was rough.

Fu Zhi did not have many belongings. A notebook, a mechanical watch, a few clothes, several potted plants, and an ultra-thin phone were everything she had, and only one bag was needed to store everything.

She picked up the phone while sitting on the bed. The screen lit up, and a list of missed phone calls appeared.

The calls were all from an unknown phone number.

She dialed back, and the call was picked up very soon. Then, a careful voice rang out from the other side of the line, “I heard that the director has found a new family for you?”

Fu Zhi put the other person on speaker and continued to pack her stuff. When she heard this question, she answered plainly, “Yeah.”

The voice paused for a short while before speaking up again, sounding a little hesitant. “The Lu Family was not on our list when we were looking for a family for you. We know very little about them, and all we ever understood is that this family is very complicated. We hope that you can come back for now, and then we will find another family for you. What about you? What do you think?”

Fu Zhi froze for a moment. She pressed her lips into a fine line and did not say anything.

She used to be a person who kept everything to herself. However, after spending some time with her, the person on the other side of the line could somewhat figure out if she was happy or angry whenever she stayed silent.

After about five seconds of silence, the other person gave in and let out a sigh. “If you don’t feel comfortable with the Lu Family, don’t force yourself. Come back.”

It was only then that Fu Zhi said something in return. Then, something suddenly popped up in her mind and she said, “I’ve planted some flowers in the backyard of the Zhao Family. You can come and take them away.”

There was some unused land behind the house. After Zhao Mingquan and Xu Lanzhi had taken her in, she had claimed the land for herself and planted some unknown plants in it.

The Zhao Family had often criticized Fu Zhi for paying more attention to this kind of unhealthy practice than to her studies. Initially, she’d wanted to leave those plants for them, but it did not seem necessary to her anymore.

The other person was taken aback for a few seconds. Then, his voice rose by a few octaves when he began to speak again. “Didn’t you tell me that the temperature and the soil there were not suitable for planting? Have all the seeds germinated?”

“Yeah,” Fu Zhi replied flatly.

The news came as a bombshell and gave the person on the phone a pleasant feeling. “That’s great! I’ll send some special staff to bring those babies back! Don’t worry, I’ll take better care of them than of my own mother!”

Fu Zhi did not know what to say. She did not want to listen to this person’s nonsense anymore, so she hung up the call. Then, she picked up her bag and bade the director farewell.

The sky outside the window dimmed, and a cold breeze began razing over the ground. The car drove around the small town for four hours before arriving at the Lu Mansion.

The Lu Family lived in a high-end residence. They were some of the most influential figures in Yu City, so the Lu Mansion was impressively large. There were a few ancient woody trees planted around the periphery, and the mansion in the center followed the classical architectural design of ancient times. As a result, it was pleasing to the eye.

“What took your dad so long?” a woman in a sky-blue tailor-made qipao asked the young man standing next to her. She was pacing back and forth nervously in front of the door as she gazed longingly at the gate.

One of them was Lu Jingqing’s wife, Xu Wei, while the other was his son, Lu Yushen.

When two figures appeared in her line of vision, her eyes shone and she shouted, “Your dad has returned!”

Then, when she saw the little girl, who she’d kept dreaming about for days and nights behind her husband’s back, she grabbed her son excitedly and said, “Yushen, the little girl over there is the younger sister that mom told you about.”

The young man followed Xu Wei’s finger and his eyes landed on the little girl walking behind his father.

The day had become gloomy, and every swirl of wind took some of Fu Zhi’s heat away.

Her skin was fair, and her cheeks were flushed pink. The whites of her eyes were so pure that they stood out like pearls on black satin. Her black pupils were at once clear and enigmatic.

After taking a brief look at his sister, Lu Yushen slowly lowered his head. He did not react in any way.

On the other hand, Xu Wei was excited. As if she could not wait any longer, she approached Fu Zhi with a large stride and grasped her hands.

All her motions were graceful, and time seemed to have been particularly lenient with her. She still retained her charm, and she now had an air of elegance about her.

Fu Zhi could smell the faint daisy perfume coming from the woman’s body. She was not used to having physical interaction with other people. As soon as her body turned stiff, the woman in front of her wrapped her into her embrace.

When she pulled Fu Zhi into her arms and felt her warm body against hers, tears began to fill Xu Wei’s eyes. Meanwhile, she cried out, “Zhizhi, mommy thought she had lost her chance to take care of you! I really didn’t expect that you would return to my side in the end. Mommy is so happy right now. It’s as if I’m dreaming!

“Mommy had been praying to God that you would have a smooth life. Perhaps God listened to my prayers, as you became an orphan again!”

Fu Zhi was speechless. She wondered why Xu Wei loved her so much.

Xu Wei, who did not care about Fu Zhi’s embarrassment, bawled her eyes out.

Lu Jingqing looked back and forth between his sobbing wife and Fu Zhi, who was in her arms. Enveloped in this sad atmosphere, he raised his hand to rub his temples and said, “Let go of Zhizhi first and let’s go inside. Zhizhi is exhausted. We should let her go rest in her room.”

It was only then that Xu Wei came back to her senses. She realized that her husband was right. Fu Zhi was exhausted from the trip, so she should let her rest in her room. She wiped the tears off her cheeks with the back of her hand and led Fu Zhi into the mansion, leaving her husband and son standing outside the door.

“Zhizhi, mommy didn’t know what you’d like, so the room has been decorated according to the house’s design. If you want to change anything, just let me know. Mommy will change it for you.”

As she was talking, the door to Fu Zhi’s room was pushed open.

Even though they had a tight work schedule, the room was equipped with everything that Fu Zhi needed. The bedsheets were pink in color, and there were plenty of dolls on the bed and on the floor.

The entire room was pink and looked very warm.

It was different from the room that she used to stay in when she’d been living with the Zhao Family. It was not just a resting place. It looked more like a warm abode that had been decorated with care.

“Zhizhi, we are a family, so you don’t have to thank mommy. This is what mom should do for you,” Xu Wei said as she placed her hand on Fu Zhi’s head. “This is not the first time your daddy and I are becoming parents. We know what we should do and what we shouldn’t do, and we will certainly take good care of you. Therefore, please don’t shut us out. Okay, Zhizhi?”

Fu Zhi lowered her head and said softly, “Thank you.”