Chapter 553: Number 2 10. News about Gu Qingzhu (Second Update)

Fu Chenxuan hung up the phone. An overnight binge left his head throbbing as if it might explode, and under such conditions, even going to work wouldn’t have been productive. Hence, Fu Chenxuan simply decided to rest at home.

He buried himself in his blanket and drifted off, not waking until after 2 p.m. Having overslept, his gaze was confused. Lying on the bed, he stared blankly at the ceiling while various scenes flashed through his mind, then faded to emptiness.

He lay there for about five minutes before finally getting up and heading to the bathroom.

After a shower and changing clothes, he left the house, having promised Shen Qinglan that he would come home for dinner today. Thinking about it, he realized he hadn’t been home in half a month due to being busy with company matters.

On his way, he stopped at a flower shop and bought a bouquet.

As soon as he stepped through the front door, he heard Fu Shuchen’s voice in the living room. Fu Chenxuan raised an eyebrow, noting that several months had passed since Fu Shuchen had returned from abroad and had stayed in the military school without coming home. Phone calls to him usually ended up going straight to voicemail.

Fu Chenxuan walked into the living room and, indeed, found his younger brother talking with their mother.

Upon seeing the person entering, Fu Shuchen called out, "Brother," to which Fu Chenxuan nodded, his face wearing a gentle smile, "On break?"

Fu Shuchen nodded back, his expression softening slightly, though his face still remained largely expressionless, "Resting at home for a few days."

Fu Chenxuan handed the bouquet of flowers to Shen Qinglan, "Mom, do you like these?"

Shen Qinglan took them, smelled them, and replied, "Mmm, I love them."

Fu Chenxuan sat down beside Shen Qinglan. Apparently, his mother had asked him to come for dinner knowing that Fu Shuchen would be home, "Has Shuyi finished her classes yet?"

"She’s had an important class this afternoon and said she’ll be late. Are you feeling better now?" Shen Qinglan was still concerned about her eldest son’s bout with alcohol.

Fu Chenxuan gave a slight smile, "I’m fine now."

Hearing their conversation, Fu Shuchen looked towards Shen Qinglan, "What happened to brother?"

"He had a social gathering and drank too much yesterday," Shen Qinglan offered an excuse on behalf of her son. Fu Shuchen just uttered an "Oh," and did not pursue the matter any further.

That evening, the family finally had dinner together, something they hadn’t done since the last New Year.

After the meal, Fu Shuyi dragged Fu Shuchen away. The twins had been close since childhood. Before Fu Shuchen went to military school, they had hardly ever been apart. It had been several months since Fu Shuchen left, and Fu Shuyi had much to share with him.

Meanwhile, Shen Qinglan went for a walk with Fu Hengyi, leaving Fu Chenxuan alone. He glanced at the empty living room, thought for a moment, and called Bai Junnan. Then, he grabbed his car keys and left the house.

"Do you have something to say?" Fu Hengyi turned to look at his wife, his eyes tender.

Shen Qinglan smiled slightly, "Can’t I just go for a walk with you for no particular reason?"

Fu Hengyi took her hand and wrapped it in his, Shen Qinglan struggled gently but didn’t break free, "There are people around."

Fu Hengyi looked unfazed, "We’re a legally married couple, not having an affair."

Shen Qinglan gave him a helpless look, "Aren’t you afraid others will see and laugh?" At our age, being so lovey-dovey might be embarrassing if the younger ones saw.

However, Fu Hengyi seemed completely shameless about it, "I think they would envy us."

Unable to argue with him as he grew more thick-skinned with age, Shen Qinglan was admittedly outmatched.

After a walk around the Military District, they returned home to find that all three children were out. Fu Hengyi expressed his satisfaction, "At least they’re considerate." Since they had the children, his alone time with Shen Qinglan had become increasingly scarce, improving only slightly as the children had grown older.

Shen Qinglan rolled her eyes at him.

The couple sat in the living room watching TV. It was an old war movie that was quite well-made. In the movie, the male lead was about to head to the battlefield, bidding farewell to the female lead when Shen Qinglan suddenly spoke, "Did you know Chenxuan has a girl he likes?"

Fu Hengyi raised an eyebrow slightly, "Oh? Who?"

"Gu Qingzhu."

"That name again."

"You’ve heard this name?" Shen Qinglan asked, looking at his profile.

Fu Hengyi glanced at her, "You just mentioned this name to me this morning, have you forgotten?"

Shen Qinglan: ... Does this person really not know, or is he pretending not to know?

"Who is Gu Qingzhu the child of? Have you met them? Are they reliable?" Fu Hengyi was very concerned about his son’s lifelong matter.

Shen Qinglan looked away, "I’m not sure, I haven’t met this child, I’ve only heard the name from Chenxuan’s mouth, I thought you would know."

"How would I know? Since he was little, he would tell you everything." Among the three children at home, besides the daughter Fu Shuyi who would share some secrets with him, the two sons weren’t close to him at all.

Shen Qinglan’s expression grew distant, "Do you really not know?"

Fu Hengyi looked calm, "Should I know? Why don’t you ask him yourself?"

"My son has grown up, now he doesn’t tell me his concerns."

Fu Hengyi scoffed, "Can’t even handle your own woman, serves you right not having a girlfriend."

Shen Qinglan glared at him fiercely, "I’m going to sleep, you can watch by yourself."

Fu Hengyi was somewhat bewildered, why did she suddenly get angry out of the blue? Seeing her walk away, he too stood up, but instead of heading to the bedroom, he went into the study.

Shen Qinglan did indeed remember the name Gu Qingzhu, but couldn’t recall where she had seen it, her memory wasn’t what it used to be at her age. Unable to get any information from Fu Hengyi, she felt a bit annoyed and locked herself in the art studio.

Fu Hengyi came out of the study only to think she was in the bedroom. After searching everywhere in vain, he finally found her in the art studio.

"Weren’t you going to sleep? Why are you still here painting?"

Shen Qinglan didn’t even lift her head, "I’ll sleep after I finish this painting, you go ahead."

Fu Hengyi glanced at the canvas, with its vast blank spaces, wouldn’t finishing mean staying up all night?

"Shen Qinglan, you still think you’re in your twenties." His tone clearly disapproving.

Shen Qinglan was initially painting out of spite, but as she continued, genuine inspiration struck and she didn’t want to put down her brush, "Wait till I finish the outline, just go out and don’t disturb me."

"How long will that take?"

"Maybe two or three hours."

It was already ten at night, "Continue tomorrow, staying up is bad for your health."

"Then give me half an hour, first go check if the kids are back."

Shen Qinglan wanted to hurriedly send Fu Hengyi away; in recent years, Fu Hengyi had gradually been spending more time at home, possibly trying to make up for his absences when he was younger. He indeed liked to be in charge of everything from meals to bedtime.

Fu Hengyi didn’t leave, but stood at the doorway waiting for Shen Qinglan. To him, all three children were grown up and he had fulfilled his responsibilities towards them. As for his wife Shen Qinglan, they had been married for over twenty years now, yet the days he had spent by her side were few, so naturally, he wanted to spend more time with her.

With a pair of eyes fixed on her back, even without saying a word, Shen Qinglan couldn’t paint for long. After about ten minutes, she put down her brush and looked helplessly at Fu Hengyi, "Let’s go, let’s sleep."

Before sleeping, she checked the rooms of all three children only to find them empty, not knowing where they had gone. She didn’t call them, she wasn’t worried about their safety.

**

Fu Shuyi, pulling Fu Shuchen out of the house, "Shuchen, last time I found this really fun bar, and they have Thai kathoey, so beautiful, I’ll take you to see."

Fu Shuchen responded expressionlessly, "Sis, I’m a military school student now, taking me to a bar doesn’t seem appropriate?"

Fu Shuyi grinned, "I’m not asking you to do anything bad, just to take a look. They are truly stunning, even more beautiful than women, you’ll understand once you see."

Fu Shuchen looked at the breathtakingly beautiful face in front of him; their family all had high aesthetic values and having been exposed to so-called beauties since childhood, he was immune and uninterested. However, seeing Fu Shuyi’s enthusiasm, he didn’t say no.

"How did you end up here in this place where fish and dragons mix?" Fu Shuchen looked at the row of bars in what was known as one of Beijing’s notorious troubled spots, puzzled how Fu Shuyi found it.

Fu Shuyi clung to his arm, "Just curious, came with a classmate once. Don’t worry, I have scouted this place myself, the security isn’t as bad as they say." At least, in her few visits, nothing untoward had happened.

Knowing the place well, Fu Shuyi led Fu Shuchen into a bar. Before entering, Fu Shuchen glanced at the sign over the door—Starting Point.

Once inside, the bar was noisy, and right upon entering, he smelled a mix of cigarette smoke and various perfumes, which made Fu Shuchen furrow his brows uncomfortably, grabbing Fu Shuyi’s arm, "Sis, let’s go home." He didn’t like such places.

"Since we’re already here, let’s just take a look, quickly." Fu Shuyi led him directly to the booth and ordered two cocktails.

Fu Shuchen’s face was solemn. Fu Shuyi sat beside him, enthusiastically looking towards the stage and explained, "At nine o’clock, there will be a transgender performance. They are all stunning. You’ll know once you see it."

Fu Shuchen was expressionless, "You just went to Thailand last month to see transgender performers. There were more and they were even prettier."

"That’s different. Seeing transgender performers in Thailand is nothing unusual, but it’s different in Beijing. I tell you, once you see it, you’ll know. You won’t regret it."

"I don’t want to watch at all. Besides, if Dad or our elder brother finds out you came here, we both would be in deep trouble."

"Then just don’t tell them. Only you and I know about this. If you don’t say anything and I don’t say anything, who will know?" Fu Shuyi stated nonchalantly. This brother of his was just too rigid, completely lacking a sense of fun. She actually preferred to come to such places with Fu Chenxuan, but she feared her brother might punish her, so she brought Fu Shuchen instead.

It was now eight-thirty in the evening, half an hour away from the start of the trans performance. Fu Shuyi wanted to use the bathroom, so she left her spot. Fu Shuchen, not wanting to drink, got up and went to the bar to order a glass of water. When he returned, he saw a man putting something into their drinks. His face darkened, and he approached swiftly, grabbing the man’s hand coldly, "What are you doing?"

The man, caught red-handed, had a flash of panic in his eyes, which quickly returned to normal, "I didn’t do anything. Why are you grabbing me?"

Fu Shuchen glanced at the drink, unsure of what the man had put inside, "What did you just put in there?"

"I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just saw that no one was sitting here, so I wanted to sit down."

Heh, not even bothering to draft a lie, and not using his brain, such a clumsy lie could come out of his mouth. Did he think him a fool, or was the person before him the fool?

Fu Shuyi returned and saw Fu Shuchen arguing with someone. She walked over with furrowed brows, "What’s going on?"

"He drugged our drinks, I saw it with my own eyes," Fu Shuchen said.

Fu Shuyi’s smile gradually faded, and she looked coldly at the man before her. She looked increasingly like Shen Qinglan, staring intently at people in quite an intimidating manner. The man’s heart trembled, he stubbornly argued, "Which of your eyes saw me drugging?"

"I saw it with both of my eyes," Fu Shuchen stated seriously.

The man choked, and Fu Shuyi suddenly laughed, "You said you didn’t do it. It’s simple, drink this glass and I’ll believe you didn’t do anything, or else..." she pinched her own fist, the joints of her little pink fist cracking, making the man inadvertently swallow his saliva. He glanced at the cocktail, then at Fu Shuyi.

Fu Shuyi waved her fist in front of his face, "Don’t underestimate my fist, though it seems small, I’m quite strong. One punch could keep you down for ten days to half a month. Want to try?"

The man shook his head vehemently. Fu Shuyi’s smile thickened. She glanced at the drink, "So this drink..."

"I’ll drink it now," the man said hastily, then picked up the glass and downed it in one go.

Fu Shuchen released the man, who hurriedly ran off - these two were not to be trifled with.

Fortunately, he had only put a general sedative in the drink. A good sleep would fix it.

Fu Shuyi clapped her hands, "Problem solved."

Fu Shuchen still frowned, "Let’s go. It’s a mixed bag here, who knows what might happen next." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Fu Shuyi plopped down onto the sofa and then pulled Fu Shuchen down, "Go? Why. The show is about to start. Relax, not many fools come here." Today was just unlucky; she hadn’t encountered such things in her previous visits. Plus, she wouldn’t touch her drink again after leaving it unattended; she’d rather order a new one.

She ordered another drink and sat comfortably in her seat waiting for the performance to begin. Fu Shuchen indeed wanted to leave, but this was his own sister — he couldn’t just abandon her. Thus, he could only sit there with patience, thinking about telling his elder brother, Fu Chenxuan, about this incident to prevent her from coming here alone in the future. Although Fu Shuyi’s fighting skills were decent, places like this were unpredictable and her naivety didn’t help. If anything happened, it would be too late.

Upstairs, a pair of eyes had observed the whole incident, "Give that man who just left a lesson. Using such dirty tactics in my place," the woman spoke softly.

The man standing behind her was momentarily stunned. Such incidents had happened before, but the boss usually just secretly intervened and never directly punished anyone like now, "Boss, this..."

The woman’s face darkened, and a trace of coldness flashed across her phoenix eyes, "Is my word no longer valid?"

"No, I’ll handle it now." The man’s heart chilled, and he immediately left.

This female boss had appeared beside their elder brother three years ago, her origin unknown. She was very attractive and intelligent. Initially, everyone thought she’d be the sister-in-law, but it turned out that wasn’t the case. Their relationship was more like friends.

The elder brother valued and trusted her greatly, giving her many responsibilities. The gang’s brothers initially resented her, but soon they realized their mistake. This woman wasn’t ordinary. Her ruthless methods chilled even those who were used to living on the edge.

The woman glanced downstairs once more, withdrew her gaze, and left the bar. She had only come to check on things today, not expecting to witness that scene.

Fu Shuchen suddenly looked up towards the second floor, feeling someone watching them.

"Shuchen, what’s wrong?" Fu Shuyi noticed his unusual behavior and looked at him, "What’s wrong?"

Fu Shuchen shook his head, "It’s nothing." He must have felt wrong just now.

Fu Shuyi didn’t take it to heart, her attention was soon captured by the performance, "Shuchen, look, the performance is starting."

Fu Shuchen turned his head toward the stage, but soon a blush crept onto his face as he unconsciously covered Fu Shuyi’s eyes. His face gradually turned ashen, and he quickly stood up, pulling Fu Shuyi along with him. This time, Fu Shuyi obediently followed him, not saying a word, her pretty face flushed.

"Fu Shuyi, is this the drag show you talked about?" Just after they left the nightclub, Fu Shuchen said in a stern voice, if you looked closely, you could see the tips of his ears were bright red.

Fu Shuyi wasn’t in the mood to notice these details. How could she have known that tonight’s drag show would turn into such a bold display? It used to just be simple dancing. It even made her eyes burn.

"This was definitely unexpected," Fu Shuyi whispered in defense. However, it was clear Fu Shuchen didn’t believe her, "I’m going to tell our big brother about this."

"Don’t, if big brother finds out, we’re both in trouble. Just think of the look on big brother’s stern face; do you have the heart to see me get scolded?" She put on a pitiful expression, "Shuchen, my dear Shuchen, I am your own sister, you can’t treat me so cruelly."

Fu Shuchen remained unmoved, "Hmph."

Fu Shuyi gritted her teeth, "You watched the show with me tonight too. If big brother finds out, he’ll definitely punish you first. Think about the consequences."

Her words clearly hit home for Fu Shuchen. In other families, males might be favored over females, but it was the opposite in his home. His mother Shen Qinglan and sister Fu Shuyi, being the only two women in the Fu family, were always pampered by the three men. If big brother knew Fu Shuyi came to this place, and he not only didn’t stop her but also came along, he subconsciously touched his arm; by the look on his sister’s face, she was also seeing such a show for the first time.

Fu Shuyi had merely caught a glimpse before Fu Shuchen had covered her eyes.

Seeing that Fu Shuchen had dismissed the idea of snitching, Fu Shuyi breathed a sigh of relief and silently decided never to come to this bar again.

Because they had decided to come to the bar today, Fu Shuyi hadn’t driven, and now they had to take a taxi home. Although there were many cabs outside the bar, there were also a lot of people trying to catch one, and they had waited a long time without success.

"Shuchen, why don’t we walk to the intersection ahead to get a taxi? There might be fewer people there."

Fu Shuchen had no objections.

As they passed an alley, they suddenly heard fighting noises. Fu Shuyi stopped in her tracks, "Shuchen, do you hear that? Is someone fighting?"

Fu Shuchen heard it too but didn’t pay much attention, "Let’s go."

"Aren’t we going to check it out?"

"Curiosity killed the cat, let’s go." Fu Shuchen didn’t want to get involved in such troubles. Those causing trouble in such places were usually just local thugs involved in minor scuffles, nothing serious.

"What if someone is being bullied? We’re soldiers, shouldn’t we help?" Fu Shuyi wasn’t reassured. She had seen news about people being ganged up on before. If they hadn’t come across it, it would’ve been fine, but since they had, they should help.

Fu Shuchen wanted to say more, but before he could speak, the noises in the alley had already stopped.

"Wow, that ended quickly?" Fu Shuyi frowned. Hopefully, no one got killed?

Hesitating, she was about to pull Fu Shuchen to take a look when they saw a person coming out of the alley, appearing to be a woman with loose hair dressed in black clothes and pants.

It wasn’t until she got closer that they realized she was quite beautiful. The woman seemed not to expect to encounter them here, her eyes flickered briefly, sweeping over them before walking past.FragmentManager.

Fu Shuyi’s nostrils flared, and under the dim street light, she glanced at the woman’s arm and called out to her, "Miss, your arm is injured."

The woman stopped in her tracks, turned to look at her, and gave a slight smirk, her phoenix eyes quickly flashing a gleam, "It’s a minor injury. This place isn’t safe. You kids shouldn’t be wandering around here so late, go home early."

Fu Shuyi was stunned and when she looked up again, the woman had already walked away, leaving only a trail of blood marks on the ground. Since it had rained during the day and the ground was still damp, the blood mixed with the rainwater and was quickly diluted.

Fu Shuyi glanced into the alley and could vaguely see several people lying on the ground, all moaning in pain, clearly just injured.

She looked once more in the direction the woman had left, shaking her head, "What a strange woman."

"Let’s go," Fu Shuchen said indifferently, and neither of them dwelled on the incident with the woman that night.

Five days later, Fu Chenxuan, who was in a meeting, felt his cellphone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and glanced at the number, rising to leave the conference room.

"Gu Qingzhu has news."