Fu Zhou felt it deeply as well.

But he was a man; he ought to act stronger, especially when Ruan Ling had no ideas of her own. He had to shoulder it.

Fu Zhou sighed, reining in his emotions as he said, "Don't worry, you heard what Xiaochen said just now. He doesn't blame us. Even though he hasn't accepted us yet, he's at least very honest with us, he said he'll try his best to accept us. What we owe him, we'll slowly make up for. There's really nothing better than what we have now—we found him, didn't we?"

Ruan Ling thought about it and felt that was true. After all, the best outcome right now was that they had found Yang Chen; nothing could be better than that.

"Actually, this isn't a bad thing. Uncle Qin taught him with great care, that's why you see Yang Chen now so outstanding and so tough. Kids sometimes cry when they fall, they run to their parents to vent their grievances. But if there's no one there, they just get up in silence, pretending to be strong. After a long time, they really do become strong. That's something some people can't learn in a lifetime. But our son has learned it, and he's stronger than most people! Although he's gone through hardships and endured countless grievances, he'll have a very good future. That's something we couldn't have controlled under normal circumstances. At the very least, it looks like our son is truly remarkable."

Fu Zhou comforted Ruan Ling.

But Ruan Ling shook her head, indicating she didn't agree with Fu Zhou.

"No matter how remarkable he is, what does that have to do with us? Because the people who educated him, guided him, and made him this outstanding, aren't us! But he is still our child. During his whole growing-up process, he had nothing to do with us. Whenever I think of that, I just…" Ruan Ling couldn't help bursting into tears again.

Fu Zhou sighed helplessly and held her.

Once many things have happened, they can never be taken back.

In this world, there isn't much of a cure for regret.

...

Night.

In the bamboo grove of the First-Grade Kingdom villa district.

Yang Chen sat alone on the ground, legs crossed, weighing a bottle of red wine in his hand. There was another bottle sitting across from him, as if he were drinking with someone, but there was no one in the opposite seat.

"Instructor… it looks like I've found my parents."

He had nowhere to pour out his feelings, so he could only choose Zhuo Jingyu.

All these years, whenever Yang Chen ran into trouble, he would go and have a drink with Zhuo Jingyu.

Even though he didn't know if Zhuo Jingyu would be aware of it, Yang Chen insisted on doing this.

"Even now, I still find it a bit hard to believe. But they're both doing very well, and that really puts me at ease."

"I've realized I've grown up. I'm no longer that hothead who used to shout to you that the Guard was my home and that I had no family outside of it. I've begun to understand how important family is, how important friends are. I never thought I'd be able to have family again. It feels like that dream has come true."

Yang Chen remembered clearly that, back then, during the only family visit event with just ten slots, Zhuo Jingyu had given one to him.

At the time, Yang Chen seemed unwilling to go back, saying the Guard was his home and that if he left the Guard, he had no relatives. Thinking back now, those words weren't entirely wrong, but they carried a bitterness and cynicism.

Now, Yang Chen understood even more how precious kinship was, and cherished its taste even more.

On top of that, now that Yang Chen had found his parents, this feeling had become even more intense.

"Instructor, thank you! I know you've been watching over me all along, thank you!" Yang Chen said in a low voice, clinked his bottle against the other one, drained it in one go, then got up to leave.

No one is so strong that they're utterly invulnerable; everyone has a soft spot in their heart, and Yang Chen was no exception. He could act strong enough on the outside, but seeing his parents again, the excitement and nervousness inside, and all sorts of indescribable emotions tangled together, completely threw his mind into chaos so he couldn't calm down to think. Yet he still had to maintain a calm front, so as not to make everyone worry.

In fact, he was the most nervous and the most helpless one. Because in these more than twenty years, he had never truly thought about what it would be like to one day stand in front of his own parents—what he should do, what he should say—he had absolutely no idea.

Everything that happened today was something he had forced himself to carry through with gritted teeth.

Right now, the only one he could pour his emotions out to was still Zhuo Jingyu.

As he walked out of the bamboo grove, Yang Chen saw the dean standing at the gate, craning his neck anxiously to look outside.

Yang Chen knew the dean was looking for him.

The dean was still worried he wouldn't be able to handle it.

But Yang Chen's heart had already managed to contain all of this; he already knew the causes and consequences, and had no reason to hate or resent anyone. Yang Chen wasn't a small-minded person, but he wasn't someone who didn't care about anything either. In these more than twenty years, he had accumulated a lot in his heart, which was why he hesitated until now to acknowledge them, and even now could only say he still hadn't decided whether to accept them.

When he got home and the dean saw that Yang Chen seemed no different than usual, he finally relaxed.

Yang Chen went back to his room and didn't sleep the entire night.

The next day, early in the morning, Fu Zhou and Ruan Ling arrived at First-Grade Kingdom.

Three cars parked at the door of the villa.

Fu Zhou and Ruan Ling were directing people, having things carried down from the cars.

When Yang Chen went over to take a look, he saw all kinds of alcoholic drinks, all kinds of yogurt and milk, all kinds of snacks, and various household items, ornaments, paintings and calligraphy...

Anyway, everything you could think of was there, in a dazzling variety.

Yang Chen couldn't make sense of it and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing much," Ruan Ling said with a big smile. "Yesterday your dad and I had nothing to do, so we went for a stroll in the mall. We thought these things looked pretty good, so we bought them for you. We were afraid you didn't have them at home, or didn't have any spares, so we just brought everything over. See what you can use, and use it. Whatever you don't need, just store it in the basement."

Yang Chen looked utterly helpless. He really wouldn't use a single one of these things.

To ordinary people, a house is a home, and whenever they have time, they just stay home.

But for Yang Chen, a house was just a temporary place to rest. To him, this didn't even count as home yet. And with how busy he was now, he basically had no time to stay in the house; he basically just came back to sleep at night and have breakfast in the morning.

With all the things Ruan Ling and Fu Zhou had bought, he basically had no use for them.

But this was the heartfelt effort of the two elders, and Yang Chen couldn't turn it down.

So he just stood there watching all these people carrying in big and small bags, large and small boxes.

Even the dean, when he saw this, could only feel helpless.

He understood how eager Ruan Ling and Fu Zhou were, so he didn't say anything.

After watching Fu Zhou and Ruan Ling finish directing everything, Yang Chen asked, "Have you two eaten?"

Ruan Ling froze for a moment, then said slowly, "We… have we eaten?"

She didn't know how to answer and looked over at Fu Zhou.

Fu Zhou thought for a moment, then looked at Yang Chen and asked, "Have you all eaten?"

"Not yet. I've already cooked. If you haven't eaten, then stay and have some," Yang Chen said helplessly.

"Perfect!" the two of them said in unison. "We haven't eaten yet, we'll eat together!"

In fact, they had already had breakfast before they came.