Chapter 66: A Person Without Roots

Hearing this, Fu Rangyi frowned. Before he could speak, Zhu Zhixi, beside him, suddenly widened his eyes and covered his mouth with both hands.

He gasped. “I know!”

Fu Rangyi and He Xueyao, who was sitting opposite, were both quite puzzled.

What do you know? Fu Rangyi didn’t say anything, extremely curious.

However, Zhu Zhixi’s next words were astonishing. He pointed at He Xueyao, then looked at Fu Rangyi, and asked in a hoarse little voice, “You, you two, you aren’t long-lost brothers, are you!?”

Fu Rangyi frowned in confusion. He Xueyao was momentarily stunned.

But after a moment, he rested his chin on his hand and smiled at Zhu Zhixi. “Xiao Xi, do you think I look a lot like your husband?”

Fu Rangyi bit down on his canine tooth and said in a low voice, “Answer him properly.”

Zhu Zhixi touched his chin. “How should I put it… You don’t look alike, you could even be said to be complete opposites. It’s just your temperament…”

Fu Rangyi looked as if he had been struck by lightning. “Our temperaments are similar? You think I’m like him?” Are ‘proper’ and ‘frivolous’ synonyms in your dictionary?

“You’re both like fox spirits,” Zhu Zhixi said after a dramatic pause. “A red fox and a white one.”

There it was again, Zhu Zhixi’s wild imagination.

Fu Rangyi felt a bit suffocated. Zhu Zhixi liked him. Zhu Zhixi thought He Xueyao was like him. By that logic, was it possible Zhu Zhixi might come to like He Xueyao too? He really shouldn’t have agreed to this meeting.

After hearing this, He Xueyao smiled and shook his head. “Is that a compliment? But no, your husband and I are not related.”

“Ah? I guessed wrong?” Zhu Zhixi rubbed his chin, and suddenly had another flash of inspiration. “I know.”

Fu Rangyi said, “You know again.”

“Did you two meet when you were kids?” Zhu Zhixi seemed afraid of being wrong, so his wording was very tactful. He leaned over the table, stretching his head towards the other side. His voice was already hoarse, and he lowered it even more, as if the words weren’t spoken but were smoke curling from his throat. “I mean… did you ever grow up together for a period of time? And then you recognized him.”

He Xueyao was amused by his antics and reached out to tap Zhu Zhixi’s forehead. “Ding—wrong answer.”

Zhu Zhixi was incredulous. “Ah? Then let me guess again…”

Fu Rangyi pulled Zhu Zhixi back. “Stop guessing. You don’t know. Let him talk.”

He wished he could take an alcohol wipe and scrub Zhu Zhixi’s forehead clean. Where was the family planning committee? They were always around when you didn’t need them, so why weren’t they here to drag people away today?

“You’ve misunderstood, Xiao Xi,” He Xueyao raised an eyebrow. “The first time I met your Professor Fu was at the hospital, and you were there too. I said it back then, didn’t I?” He looked at Fu Rangyi. “I thought you looked very familiar. To be precise, you look like someone I’ve seen before. Very much so.”

As he spoke, he took a tablet out of his bag, opened a scanned document that looked quite old, and handed it to them. Other than the ID photo in the top right corner, the rest was pixelated.

“Don’t screenshot it, don’t take a picture. If this gets out, I’ll be in trouble. It was very difficult to find,” He Xueyao said, zooming in on the photo in the corner. “Look alike?”

The man in the photo was thirty years old, wearing an army uniform, with sharp eyes and a stern expression. His entire face was almost a perfect match for Fu Rangyi without his glasses.

Zhu Zhixi stared at the photo, completely stunned. “Even a biological child wouldn’t look this similar…”

He Xueyao almost choked. “Is there a possibility…”

Zhu Zhixi immediately looked up. “You’re saying this might be Professor Fu’s biological father?”

“Based on just a photo?” Fu Rangyi looked at him. “Modern image synthesis technology is very advanced. I can give you a hundred photos like this.”

He Xueyao didn’t immediately refute him, explaining, “You don’t have to believe me. Why not keep listening?”

He flipped to the next page. “This is the Commander-in-Chief of the Central Theater Command, Mr. Huo Ping. Due to his participation in some early wars, he rarely appears in the public eye. At thirty-three, he was ambushed on the battlefield. Everyone thought he had been sacrificed, but he came back alive, though disfigured. So the way he looks now is completely different from that photo from his youth.”

Fu Rangyi asked again, “So where did you get this photo?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. I have my channels,” He Xueyao smiled. “When I saw you, I was extremely surprised. How could two people in the world look so much alike? To be honest, I’ve been investigating you privately since that day. I found that your parents had a history of being treated for infertility. Your younger brother’s birth record can be found at the hospital, but not yours.”

Zhu Zhixi blinked. “To say something you might not like to hear, your way of doing things is a lot like my brother’s… You’re my heaven-sent sister-in-law.”

He Xueyao glanced at him and smiled helplessly. “Don’t compare me to him, even if neither of us are good people.”

Fu Rangyi listened quietly and pointed out a loophole. “So you found a way to get close to me to get a sample of my DNA? I’m curious, with such extensive connections, were you able to get Commander Huo’s genes for comparison?”

“No, of course not,” He Xueyao shrugged, his tone light as if he were joking.

But in the next second, his expression turned serious, and he was almost absurdly candid, making no attempt to hide his actions or purpose.

“Professor Fu, I don’t need to do a DNA test. I just need a few strands of your hair. A fresh sample is my stepping stone to get in with this important figure.”

A stepping stone. Fu Rangyi wasn’t surprised at all; he even felt like laughing. How could someone state their intention to use someone so bluntly, so unburdened?

“What makes you so sure that he’ll find a few strands of hair important? If he really wanted to find me, with his power and status that reach everywhere, would he have waited until today?”

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a soft, warm hand gently take his.

Fu Rangyi looked down and squeezed Zhu Zhixi’s hand back, a light, reassuring pressure to show he was fine.

He Xueyao was also unsurprised by this question, as if he had pondered it many times himself.

“I suspect he doesn’t even know he has a child.”

“Professor Fu, the information I have is that he had an Omega lover before he went to war, but that person died later. The death was extremely brutal, and parts of the body were never recovered. For so many years, he has been trying to find them, with no result. The person is dead, but what if they gave birth before they died?”

“And—” he looked at Fu Rangyi, the smile gone from his upturned eyes, their base color surprisingly cold, “he has never married and has no children to this day.”

Fu Rangyi let out a cold laugh.

The orphaned child of a high-ranking military official was indeed a big business.

He Xueyao continued, “At first, when I saw you, I was just a little suspicious. If you were the Fu family’s biological child, then perhaps it was just a coincidence. But now that you’ve indirectly admitted you’re not, it’s very likely you are indeed related to Huo Ping.”

Zhu Zhixi sat aside, listening quietly, and said, “You’re also gambling.”

He Xueyao readily admitted it. “Yes, it’s a gamble. If I win, the return will be huge. I’ll get what I want much faster, and maybe even more.”

Zhu Zhixi frowned slightly. “You don’t want to be like my brother, switching from an ordinary businessman to an arms dealer, do you? Why does everyone like to make money by walking on a knife’s edge?”

He Xueyao laughed. “Xiao Xi, you don’t need to fish for information about him from me. I’ve said all I can say. I know you and your brother are in contact, but even so, I’ve told you all my thoughts. You should be able to see how sincere I am.”

“I’m not trying to find out anything for him,” Zhu Zhixi looked at him with sincere eyes. “Actually, my brother is looking for you. He can’t get in touch with you and is very worried.”

He Xueyao fell silent, his avoidance obvious. He looked down, swirled the cup in his hand, and then drank the rest of his coffee in one go.

“Professor Fu, you can think about it. This is a mutually beneficial deal. If the gamble pays off, you’ll also be able to find your real parents. Isn’t that a good thing?”

Real parents…

Fu Rangyi found the term unfamiliar. He had long since accepted that he was a person without roots.

In his view, everyone was an extension of their family. He had no so-called family memories, so he had no history, no sense of belonging.

In his youth, Fu Rangyi had been unable to find a sense of identity in the Fu family. He had been confused and had suffered. But later, he accepted it.

He told himself he might as well explore the history of civilization from the perspective of a rootless person. Wasn’t that also a way of searching for roots? A grander, vaster source of civilization. Long before meeting Zhu Zhixi, he had already decided to spend his life doing this, to be a wandering soul among ruins and artifacts.

Now, someone suddenly appeared and told him, I might know who your biological parents are, do you want to give it a try? Take a gamble?

This, on the contrary, plunged Fu Rangyi back into a swamp of confusion.

But the person who had released this information was preparing to make a stylish exit.

He Xueyao put on his coat, stood up, and left with a “Contact me anytime.” He smiled at Zhu Zhixi again and tossed something over.

“Goodbye, Xiao Xi.”

Zhu Zhixi subconsciously reached out to catch it. When he looked up again, the man was already gone.

He opened his hand. In his palm was a strawberry milk candy.

“How did he know I like these?” Zhu Zhixi said, unwrapping the candy and starting to chew. “Delicious.”

Fu Rangyi’s expression had been gloomy the whole time. He didn’t say anything, got up to leave, then seemed to remember something, extended his hand to Zhu Zhixi, took his, and led him away from the booth.

“Where are we going now?” Zhu Zhixi linked his arm with Fu Rangyi’s.

When Fu Rangyi spoke to him, the gloomy look in his eyes softened, tinged with a faint smile.

He said, “I’m taking you to eat some of the good local food here.”

His tone was very calm, as if He Xueyao had never appeared, had never brought with him a world-shattering secret about his origins.

Leaving the hotel, he hailed a taxi, gave a place name, and took Zhu Zhixi to a local restaurant, ordering a table full of specialty dishes that looked like things he would love.

“This lamb soup is so good.”

“Drink more.” Fu Rangyi ladled another bowl for him, patiently picking out the cilantro floating on top. “You’ve been eating hotel food for the past few days, you must be tired of it.”

To be honest, I don’t even remember what I ate. It felt no different from getting a nutrient injection, Zhu Zhixi grumbled to himself.

He could see that Fu Rangyi had a poor appetite and wasn’t talking, so he picked up a lamb shank, removed all the fat, tore the lean meat into strips, dipped them in sauce, and arranged them neatly in a bowl before passing it over. “For Professor Fu to eat.”

Fu Rangyi glanced at him and picked up his chopsticks, but paused before taking the food. He looked at Zhu Zhixi and spoke in a very serious tone.

“I’m fine, don’t worry.”

“Of course I won’t worry. You’re a great professor at such a young age. A person as amazing as you doesn’t need me to worry about you,” Zhu Zhixi took off his gloves and looked at him with a smile. “I only care if you’ve eaten enough.”

The meal was eaten in silence. Zhu Zhixi was no longer like before, where he would notice Fu Rangyi was unhappy but not know what to do, resorting to constantly pestering him. Now he understood Fu Rangyi very well; he could read every look, every expression.

He knew very well that what Fu Rangyi needed most right now was space to think.

Just sitting with him in the cafe and listening to all that, Zhu Zhixi felt as if he had personally experienced a tsunami passing through, his emotions rising and falling. Could what He Xueyao said be true? Such a bizarre and convoluted story, such a grand background—could it be a conspiracy?

Even if he wasn’t lying, who could be completely sure that it wouldn’t all end in nothing?

He so hoped it was true. That would mean Fu Rangyi would have real, direct relatives, and a chance to cure his illness.

Zhu Zhixi’s mind was in turmoil. He really couldn’t imagine how Fu Rangyi, who was at the very center of the storm, could digest all this so calmly. Would he be reminded of the past, would he be sad?

Back at the hotel, Fu Rangyi applied medicine for him again. During the process, Zhu Zhixi deliberately tried to seduce him, leaning against the headboard, stretching out his long legs, and teasing him with his toes. He was caught several times but didn’t give up.

After applying the medicine, Fu Rangyi finally stopped indulging him. He gripped his restless ankle and, without using much force, pulled him into his arms.

“If you want to comfort me, a hug is enough,” Fu Rangyi showed that expression of being unable to do anything about him again.

“You don’t want to?” Zhu Zhixi wrapped his arms around his neck, tilted his face up, and rubbed his nose against his chin. “Is the susceptible period completely over?”

“Don’t provoke me,” Fu Rangyi pinched his cheek. “Rest up. It’s been too much these past few days.”

“Too much? I think it was fine,” Zhu Zhixi grinned, then suddenly remembered something, his eyes darting. “It’s very effective, you see. I can calm your susceptible period, and you directly added three days to my countdown! Us sleeping together is not only legal, it’s also very efficient.”

Fu Rangyi was finally amused by him.

“Really three days?” he raised an eyebrow.

Zhu Zhixi raised his hand. “Really, I swear.”

Fu Rangyi took his hand, kissed his palm, then rubbed it and said softly, “That’s good.”

Although he failed to “sell” himself completely, Zhu Zhixi still clung to him for many kisses. No matter how calm Fu Rangyi was, he would become passionate when they kissed, uncontrollably leaving his pheromones on him, wanting to mark him.

But he was extremely stubborn, unwilling to continue any further, stopping just at the right point.

For a moment, Zhu Zhixi’s mind wandered, recalling the General that He Xueyao had mentioned. Just a few words had sketched out a man’s lonely half-life. He lost his lover, and so he never chose anyone else? So stubborn.

They really are like father and son.

“Lie down.”

“Huh?” Zhu Zhixi thought he had changed his mind and obediently lay down, only to be turned over by Fu Rangyi and forced onto his stomach.

It was a massage. Fu Rangyi opened a tube of ointment he had bought at some point, squeezed it into his palm, and spread it over his lower back with a comfortable pressure.

He had wanted to help distract him, but in the end, he was the one being served again. Zhu Zhixi lay on the pillow, facing the rabbit doll, and sighed a long sigh.

Perhaps wanting to return to S City sooner, Fu Rangyi went back to work early the next morning. He left without a sound. Zhu Zhixi didn’t notice at all, waking up at ten-thirty in the morning.

On the small table was the breakfast he had specially ordered, with a note tucked underneath.

[Might not be able to come back at noon. Will finish work early this afternoon to have dinner with you. Send me a message when you wake up.]

Zhu Zhixi, with a piece of toast in his mouth, rummaged through his suitcase, then picked up his phone to type.

At 11:40 AM, Fu Rangyi, standing at the construction site, received a reply.

[Wifey (rabbit emoji): Message.]

He was a bit baffled.

[Ex-husband: ?]

Just as he sent it, Zhu Zhixi’s call came through. As soon as he answered, he heard Zhu Zhixi’s lazy voice.

“I miss you so much. Can’t you slip back to have lunch with me?”

Fu Rangyi felt an inexplicable itch in his ear, but he couldn’t bear to move the phone away. He held it with his shoulder, freeing his hands to continue working. “Mm, I was thinking of coming back, but there isn’t enough time for lunch, I could only take a look at you.”

“Then just come take a look at me,” on the phone, the end of Zhu Zhixi’s words was especially clingy.

Fu Rangyi let out a soft laugh and glanced at his watch, calculating the time in his head.

Maybe I should go back and spend some time with him? he thought, waving to a student not far away. “Come here for a second.” He was preparing to let them take over his work.

“Why are you ignoring me? If you don’t want to come back, then don’t.”

“No, I’m handing things off to a student right now,” Fu Rangyi took off his gloves, switched the phone to his other hand, and drew a diagram on a piece of paper with his free hand. “Wait a moment, I’ll be quick.”

The students gathered around, standing beside him to watch him sketch. Fu Rangyi gave a few simple instructions, and suddenly felt a finger tap on his back. He thought it was a student behind him being blocked—this happened often—so he held the clipboard and half-turned. “Can you see better like this?”

Who would have thought that when he turned his head, he would see the most familiar smiling face. He was wearing an oversized shirt and a gray baseball cap. With a slight tilt of his head, the diamond on his earring sparkled.

“Mm, I can see now,” Zhu Zhixi answered with a grin.