Chapter 286: Childish
Chapter 286: Chapter 286: Childish
It took Tian Lu a great deal of effort to calm her son, who was throwing a tantrum about running away from home. Utterly exhausted, she returned to her bedroom.
Fu Haiting hadn’t returned to their room yet. Tian Lu washed up and lay on the bed, her mind a complete blank.
Suddenly, she thought of Fu Cheng.
’How wonderful it would be if the one with the Dual Ability was Fu Qi, not Fu Cheng.’
’She and Fu Haiting wouldn’t have to scheme and struggle so hard. According to the family rule that the strong survive, the position of Family Head would naturally fall into Fu Qi’s hands.’
’And then, if he married a daughter-in-law who also had a superpower, it was highly likely that Fu Qi’s children would also be Superpower Users.’
’Why was it that Fu Qi had no superpower, while Fu Cheng possessed a rare Dual Ability?’
Tian Lu was intensely jealous.
But she also knew that Fu Cheng’s mother was a large part of the reason.
Almost everyone in the Yun Family had a superpower. Even Yun Lian, who was adopted and not of their direct bloodline, had one.
Tian Lu thought, ’If I were a Superpower User like Yun Yao, surely one of Fu Qi or Fu Jialin would have awakened a power.’
’Unfortunately, I’m not.’
But fate could be a strange thing. She was an ordinary person, yet she had unexpectedly caught Fu Haiting’s eye. The two of them married, and while you couldn’t say they were passionately in love, they were very compatible.
Moreover, Fu Haiting never looked down on her for being an ordinary person, nor did he fool around with other women. He was wholeheartedly dedicated to fighting for their little family.
She should be content.
’Now, if I can just find a way for Fu Qi or Fu Jialin to awaken a superpower, everything will be perfect.’
They still had plenty of time to accomplish this.
Remembering the huge sum of money Fu Haiting had to pay, Tian Lu pursed her lips and began to wonder where they could get the funds.
’After all, this money can’t come from the family’s public accounts; it has to come from our private funds.’
’Oh, right! Fu Cheng still has a lot of Fu Haichen and Yun Yao’s private property under his name. The assets in the Imperial Capital Survival Base alone are probably worth tens of millions.’
’Counting the time, it’s been nearly two months since we dumped Fu Cheng on that fake heiress from the Shen Family. He should be well and truly dead by now, shouldn’t he?’
Although they had supposedly thrown Fu Cheng out of the Fu Family, Fu Haiting had discussed it with her. They decided not to remove him from the family registry so that when he died, they could inherit his estate.
Fu Cheng’s parents were deceased and he had no children, so as his uncle and aunt, they were able to inherit his estate.
Tian Lu excitedly opened her list of assets and scrolled through it several times, but she didn’t see what she was hoping for.
’There’s nothing new on the asset list. That means Fu Cheng isn’t dead yet. Otherwise, the system would have automatically assigned his inheritance to my name.’
Tian Lu couldn’t help but mutter, "Truly a menace that will live for a thousand years."
’How could someone who could die from a single missed breath manage to hold on for so long?’
Tian Lu really couldn’t understand.
Since she couldn’t figure it out, she decided she might as well have someone look into it. If necessary, she could even help her nephew on his way. It was a hassle for him to keep clinging to life, and more importantly, it was delaying their plans.
...
After Shen Lu finished watching Gong Tianhua’s apology, her almond-shaped eyes sparkled brightly.
Although she hadn’t gained any reputation value, seeing a villain get his just deserts filled her with an indescribable satisfaction.
It was like taking a sip of an ice-cold drink on a hot summer day; a feeling of pure comfort spread from the inside out, from head to toe.
"So the government does have a shred of humanity," Shen Lu hummed to herself.
"Did he offend someone important?" Xue Can had no idea what Shen Lu and Fu Cheng had done. Like any other ordinary citizen, all he had seen was Gong Tianhua’s tell-all video and today’s apology.
Xue Can didn’t have many dealings with the government, but in his experience, when someone of Gong Tianhua’s rank made a mistake, the government would usually handle it quietly as long as it wasn’t treason. They wouldn’t broadcast it with such fanfare.
For Gong Tianhua to be apologizing publicly now, he guessed it was highly probable that he had offended someone powerful.
In the Imperial Capital Survival Base, the only entities with that kind of influence were the government and the Royal Family.
Xue Can could only guess this much; he had no way of knowing the finer details.
"Well, he deserved it," Shen Lu said, wrinkling her nose.
’It’s just a shame we don’t know who else was supporting Gong Tianhua’s experiments.’
Shen Lu was in an excellent mood, so she decided to bake some snacks that evening.
Xue Can said, "Boss Shen, I have to go on a mission for the next couple of days, so I probably won’t be coming by to eat."
"Are you in a hurry to leave today?" Shen Lu asked. "I’m about to bake some thin almond crisps and some bread. If you’re not in a rush, you can wait until I’m finished and take some with you."
In light of Xue Can’s thoughtful "root out the weeds" service, Shen Lu decided to give him a little bonus.
Xue Can hadn’t actually had time to wait, but hearing that Shen Lu was going to make food for him, his body responded faster than his mind: "I’m not in a hurry. I can wait."
"Alright, make yourself at home then."
Xue Can had been to the shop many times, and since her other little admirer was there too, she didn’t need to entertain him specially.
Xue Can’s lips curled into a smile, and he shot Fu Cheng a victorious glance.
’See that? Shen Lu is making food specially for me. Do you get that kind of treatment?’
Fu Cheng: ’Childish.’
Shen Lu stopped beside Fu Cheng and turned to ask, "Do you have any of those little cookies I gave you before?"
The weather was cool now, so things kept longer. Shen Lu had given all the little cookies she’d made before to Fu Cheng, saving her the trouble of bringing them out every day.
She wasn’t sure how many he had eaten or how many were left. If he was running low, she could just make some more while she was at it.
"There’s still a small bag left."
"Mm, okay," Shen Lu muttered to herself. "Looks like I’ll need to bake some more butter cookies. But he might get tired of eating the same thing, right? Maybe I should make some granola bars instead?"
The young woman’s muttering vanished as the kitchen door swung shut. Fu Cheng raised an eyebrow slightly and gave Xue Can a nod, his expression a smirk that wasn’t quite a smile.
Xue Can’s expression twisted.
’I celebrated too soon!’
Cai Su had left the kitchen spotless. Shen Lu redeemed the ingredients she needed from her "store" and, following the recipes, weighed out the precise amounts for each.
First up was the milk bread. Shen Lu kneaded the dough and set it aside to rise. It would need an hour before it could be baked, which gave her time to make the thin almond crisps and granola bars.
Neither of these two items required the ingredients to rise; she just had to mix them, put them in the molds, and they’d be ready to bake.
Just as she finished mixing the batter for the thin almond crisps, there was a knock on the kitchen door.
Shen Lu thought it was Fu Cheng or Xue Can. The last time she was baking, they had hovered nearby out of curiosity.
"Come in."
The door opened a crack, and Yang Jing poked her head and torso through.
"Little Deer..."
Shen Lu’s movements paused. "Mom, you were looking for me?"
’Did the Liu father and son cause trouble again?’
Yang Jing nodded. "I was looking for you. Um... I finished tilling the ground today. And your dad and Yaozu have finished sorting the seeds."
Shen Lu had truly forgotten all about this.
So much had happened today, one thing after another, that she had completely forgotten she was supposed to inspect the work of the three Liu Family members.
"Okay, give me two minutes."
Shen Lu covered the batter with plastic wrap, took off her apron, and followed Yang Jing to the backyard.
There were lights on the backyard wall. Shen Lu used to keep them off when she had to pay for her own utilities. But after her utilities became free, she started leaving them on every night, making the yard bright and less gloomy.