Qiu Qiu wasn't afraid of a lot of things. However, his mother was one, and Xiao Li was another.

After breaking up, Xiao Li's temper was even worse. Seeing that she couldn't change his mind even after jumping into the lake, she went to the campus forums to serialized a post t.i.tled 《Qiu Qiu and his one two three four five six seven eight crimes.》 Qiu Qiu didn't often use the forums so he didn't know about his heaven-defying, heinous crimes until a month later. Apparently, having lived until he was 21 in such a carefree manner was really just a matter of Heaven being blind.

So now, every time Xiao Li calls, Qiu Qiu held his phone like it's an explosive package and prepares for a heroic death.

Fu Ruien couldn't stand his terrified look. He s.n.a.t.c.hed the phone and rejected the call.

"One little girl's got you all worked up like this?" Fu Ruien scolded him.

Before he could even finish his words, Xiao Li called again. The ringtone was like a death knell and Fu Ruien felt annoyed hearing it. Deciding to bring this matter to a conclusion, he straightforwardly picked up.

Once the call connected, Xiao Li immediately gained the upper hand. "QIU, QIU! You dare hang up on me?!"

The tone of the question sounded as if they were still dating.

Fu Ruien was used to being a tyrant. The moment he saw Qiu Qiu, he immediately placed this little honey pot into his sphere of influence. Xiao Li, this ex-girlfriend, was naturally unpleasant for him to even look at.

"Who are you?" Fu Ruien asked coldly, deliberately.

Upon hearing a voice that wasn't Qiu Qiu, Xiao Li blanked out. Half a day pa.s.sed before she could even ask, "……and who are you?"

Next to him, Qiu Qiu was watching anxiously, his hands clasped together. He looked like a small dog, his expression conveying that he hoped Fu Ruien wouldn't randomly say something to make the situation worse.

Fu Ruien took his hand into his own, flipping it this way and that way while pinching it. Don't judge Qiu Qiu just because he was tall and thin. The places where he should have flesh was soft to the point of death. On one side, Fu Ruien played with Qiu Qiu's hand. On the other, he spoke in a profound tone, "I'm his……daddy."

"Daddy??!!"

Young Lady Xiao Li was struck dumb.

She quickly changed her tune into something more flattering and cutely said, "h.e.l.lo, h.e.l.lo, h.e.l.lo! [1] h.e.l.lo daddy, this is the first time we're meeting. I'm your daughter-in-law."

"……"

Fu Ruien now knew how difficult this young lady was.

Xiao Li was simply too high-leveled so Fu Ruien decided to pick his battles and retreat——he hung up and put the number on blacklist. However, Xiao Li had eight different phone numbers and called Qiu Qiu's phone in tandem. Every time Fu Ruien wanted to work, he was distracted and interrupted. In a fit of fury, Big Chairman Fu Ruien flung Qiu Qiu's phone out the window.

Seeing his phone tossed and broken into eight pieces, Qiu Qiu was aggrieved. Once he graduated high school, his father and mother had gifted it to him; it was full of his feelings of accomplishment [2]. Usually, he would take it gently and set it down gently, but who knew, just like this, it was broken by his adoptive father without hope for repair.

Fu Ruien didn't even blink when he said, "I'll buy you a new one later."

The sugar baby cheered up. "The scholars.h.i.+p also includes a cell phone?"

Sugar daddy happily said, "The scholars.h.i.+p also includes sleeping with you."

This situation was like walking in a big circle and after a few hours, they've returned to the origin of the problem.

Qiu Qiu's family was well off. All his relatives were teachers, and for new years, they all came together, first talking about international matters, then chatting about domestic livelihoods, and finally criticizing the way bureaucrats and wealthy businessmen work. They all agreed that the worst of it was the abnormal relations.h.i.+ps from social cla.s.s disparity.

Qiu Qiu unexpectedly had an ambiguous relations.h.i.+p with a lonely, wealthy, middle-aged man. This was basically a violation of the highest order. It was absolutely necessary to have his mother punish him with dictionary memorization [3].

Seeing Qiu Qiu's beautiful face warp with sadness, Fu Ruien's heart trembled slightly. Without thinking, he blurted out, "……you can leave."

After saying it out loud, it suddenly became apparent.

He really did like this child. It was 80% s.e.xual attraction and 20% true affection. However, Big Boss Fu only "provided" for people who mutually consented. He wouldn't be a good man if he kept bullying this silly boy.

As a result, he decided to let Qiu Qiu go. Qiu Qiu can advance in his studies everyday just like before, and he'll continue being the black-hearted sugar daddy. He'll eventually find a handsome little brother to provide for, and even find one who will be unhesitant to perform in bed with him. [4]

This time, Qiu Qiu and Fu Ruien were finally on the same page.

"You…..you won't provide for me anymore?"

"I won't provide for you anymore. Quickly pack up your stuff, ba. In a bit, I'll have the chauffeur send you back." Fu Ruien avoided looking at the face that would make others hurt just by looking at it and instead turned to look at the contract on the computer screen.

There was an unhappiness in Qiu Qiu's heart that was unspeakable. He really did admire Fu Ruien. Ever since he was a child, his life was too neat and tidy; it wasn't until he met Fu Ruien that he knew a different world.

It was like the Little Mermaid's first time above sea. She saw the great sun set over the horizon, she saw countless stars light up the sky, she saw the dolphins breaking through the sea surface, and she saw the splas.h.i.+ng blossoms of ocean mist left in their wake. She saw a large cruise s.h.i.+p roaring through, and on the cruise s.h.i.+p, she saw people wearing Chinese costumes, dancing gracefully and lightly as they chatted and laughed. It was then she knew that the world above could be so wonderful.

……Ai, other than wanting to sleep with him, daddy didn't have a single shortcoming.

Qiu Qiu regretfully and melancholically left to go pack his luggage. In truth, he didn't come to the villa often and only had two sets of clothes. The most expensive thing he owned, other than his game account, was his guitar.

Qiu Qiu really loved to sing. Each time the literature department held a performance, they wanted his solo. However, other than daddy, no one knew he could write songs. He found it embarra.s.sing to ask others to witness his clumsy work. 

Ever since entering college and getting scholars.h.i.+ps, he didn't concern himself with the money at home. If he tried hard enough, other than paying for tuition, it was barely enough for everything else. The time daddy "provided" fifty thousand dollars allowed him to hot-headedly run to the music store to buy the guitar he had been coveting. 

He slung the guitar over his shoulder and held a bag of clothes in his hand. Hesitantly, he called out, "daddy."

"En?" Fu Ruien didn't look away from his computer screen at all, but actually, from then until now, he hadn't been able to read a single word.

"……I have a question……"

"En."

"……Do I have to repay you for the guitar?"

Fu Ruien was angry, but he also found this quite funny [5]. He mocked, "of course you have to repay it ah! Even if I marry a virginal heiress and the marriage fell through, she still has to return the betrothal gift. You used my money to buy the guitar, so if you don't return the money, then you can just leave the guitar here."

Qiu Qiu thought about it for a long time. He already owed Xiao Li a hundred thousand. If he took the guitar, that's an additional fifty thousand to his debt. He's a broke college student, how long would he take to pay back all of this? He painfully considered it for a long while before deciding to leave the guitar.

The chauffeur arrived and took Qiu Qiu's clothes to the back seat. Qiu Qiu dilly dallied at the front entrance, putting on his shoes slowly. His heart was a hundred percent gloomy. He raised his head to look at this adoptive father of his, but the whole time, he was just sitting in front of his computer doing work. Was it because daddy dealt with countless other sugar babies like himself?

Qiu Qiu desolately said, "then, I'm leaving."

"En."

"You'll have to take care of yourself."

"En."

"Daddy, I'll miss you."

"……"

"But you must not miss me."

"……En."

Thinking for a bit, this gentle Qiu Qiu also gently said one additional thing. "It's fine if you really miss me, but you can only think about me in the morning, not at night."

That one organ in Fu Ruien's chest cavity abruptly went "dong dong dong dong," violently throbbing. His feelings, which have been unmoved for twenty years, was suddenly provoked by this one young man. He wanted to say something, but since he decided to let go, he naturally would not change his mind.

"At night, you must absolutely not think of me. I'll sneeze too much to fall asleep," Qiu Qiu said genuinely. 

"……Qiu Qiu [6], how old are you, still believing in foolish things like 'if people miss you, you'll sneeze'?"

Qiu Qiu looked at him, his face pale and alarmed.

Fu Ruien then, with bad intentions in his heart, also said, "I'll also say this. When your mom said she'll help you 'store your red pocket money,' she was lying to you."

And just like this, Qiu Qiu was bullied into tears once more by this adoptive father of his.

The chauffeur was ordered to take Qiu Qiu back to the school campus. On the return trip, he received a call from Fu Ruien.

Fu Ruien asked him, "Has Qiu Qiu been sent back?"

"Yes boss."

"Was he still crying?"

"He wasn't crying anymore. He just kept sneezing."

"……" Fu Ruien ordered, "Tomorrow buy cold medicine and send it to him."

Footnotes:

[1]: Xiao Li is using the respectful version of "you" to say h.e.l.lo. It should be noted that repeating things is a way of showing friendliness and courtesy in China. Or at least, that's what I learned from the way my mom talks on the phone, haha.

[2]: Sometimes, Chinese only needs to use four words to tell a story and it takes a whole footnote to explain lol—"革命情誼" means "revolutionary friends.h.i.+p," which actually stumped me for a whole two days. After asking a native speaker, apparently Qiu Qiu's parents had said something along the lines of "if you can accomplish this, we'll buy the phone for you," with the undertone of disbelief, and Qiu Qiu managed to achieve graduation (probably with honors but the RAWs don't say that.) It's revolutionary in a way Qiu Qiu fought against his parents' disbelief. 

[3]: In China, children memorize poems ever since young. I remember having to do so, and even when learning English, my mom made me memorize things. It can be seen as one of the worst punishments, but also just for little kids. Think the American equivalent of sitting in the corner with a dunce hat.

[4]: This, another line I can't quite translate with certainty: "照樣能在牀上表演托馬斯全旋。" The direct translation is "like before, in bed, he can perform Tuo Ma Si immediately." XYZDict and Yabla just translated Tuo Ma Si as "Thomas." The connotation is there, somewhere.

[5]: Here, funny can also mean "ridiculous."

[6]: I think it's important to note that he's calling Qiu Qiu by his nickname again rather than his full name. 

The author compared Qiu Qiu to the Little Mermaid, but I think the Beauty and the Beast story fits this situation a bit better, don't you think? >w