Chapter 97: The thing in the reef area

Chapter 97: Things in the Reef Area

Kids show affection by kissing and hugging each other.

Song Qingshan hadn't expected Fu Cheng to get so jealous over something so innocent.

Barely containing his laughter, Song Qingshan pressed his grandson’s head down, forcing him to apologize.

“Yan Zhi is still young. It’s normal for him to like his little sister and want one of his own. Come on Fu Cheng, be the bigger person here, could you let this slide?”

Fu Cheng still looked annoyed. He snorted and immediately began lecturing his daughter.

No kissing or hugging strange boys.

No following strange boys even if they offer candy.

Zhi Zhi listened in confusion, and her final remark nearly made Fu Cheng explode.

She said, “But the little brother isn’t a strange little brother. Can Zhi Zhi still not kiss him?”

Gritting his teeth, Fu Cheng forced a smile. “Right. Besides Daddy, Mommy, and your brothers, you can’t just kiss anyone else.”

“What about uncles and sisters?”

Zhi Zhi’s clear, innocent eyes were filled with pure curiosity.

Fu Cheng pinched the bridge of his nose, then cracked open an eye to glance at Song Qingshan.

Spotting the barely contained laughter on the latter’s face, Fu Cheng cursed under his breath. “Uncles and sisters are fine.”

“Why?”

Taking a deep, exasperated breath, Fu Cheng’s patience was wearing thin. “Because... Zhi Zhi, look! A stingray!”

Suddenly pointing at the glass enclosure, Fu Cheng redirected her attention. Zhi Zhi quickly followed his finger and saw a stingray almost as big as she was pressed against the glass outside. Its flat, diamond-shaped body had a snow-white belly, tiny bean-like eyes, and a smiling mouth.

“Daddy! A big fish!”

Completely forgetting the earlier debate about kissing little brothers, Zhi Zhi tiptoed carefully, afraid of startling the stingray.

Relieved to have moved past the topic, Fu Cheng exhaled and pointed at the hermit crab they’d been discussing earlier.

“And that—that’s not a conch. It’s a hermit crab.”

Zhi Zhi nodded earnestly, adopting a studious expression. “Mhm! Hermit crab!”

The whole meal had Fu Cheng tense while everyone else struggled to hold back laughter.

By the time Fu Cheng carried his daughter—who had fallen asleep while watching the fish—out of the restaurant, Song Qingshan, following behind, finally burst into laughter.

“If someone had told me years ago that Fu Cheng would one day get jealous and angry over his daughter because of a little boy, I wouldn't have believed it.”

“You’ve been the same for decades—quick-tempered, solving everything with your fists. Jealousy just doesn’t suit you.”

Patting Fu Cheng’s shoulder, Song Qingshan glanced down at the peacefully sleeping Zhi Zhi and grinned, eyes crinkling. “How times have changed. The once invincible President Fu now has a weakness.”

Fu Cheng looked down at his daughter and smiled. “Not a weakness—an unbreakable shield.”

As long as his daughter was by his side, he would clear every path ahead for her and clear every thorn in her way.

He had once thought he’d live out his life alone, dividing his assets among his three sons before his death.

But now, his daughter’s presence had created a new sense of responsibility and excitement in him.

He wanted to give her the best the world had to offer. Whatever she desired, he would put it in her hands.

Even if she wanted the stars in the sky.

Looking up at the moon, Fu Cheng blinked. When he looked back down, his vision suddenly blurred.

The well-lit street before him transformed into a crystal-clear lake.

On the opposite shore stood a woman with blurred features, holding the hand of a little girl.

Rubbing his eyes, Fu Cheng looked again—only to see the busy street again.

The lake, the woman, and the child had all vanished.

Song Qingshan was joking about what a good father he'd be when he noticed Fu Cheng staring into space, his expression grave.

“Fu Cheng? What’s wrong?”

“Dad? Are you okay?”

Fu Yuchen waved a hand in front of his father’s face. When Fu Cheng snapped out of it, Fu Yuchen frowned. “Are you feeling unwell? Should I call a doctor?”

Snapping back to himself, Fu Cheng swallowed hard.

Shaking his head, he muttered, “No need,” before looking down at his daughter again.

This was really strange.

The last time he’d seen a golden small fish in the office elevator, he’d written it off as a hallucination from just waking up after the car accident.

But now, his body had fully recovered—in better shape than ever—so why had that vision appeared again?

And that little girl the woman had been holding...

Fu Cheng stared hard at his daughter, his heartbeat gradually speeding up. For what felt like forever, he didn’t take another step.

Fu Yuchen wanted to call for a doctor, but since his father refused, he could only keep a worried eye on him.

Only when Fu Cheng seemed normal again and said, “Let’s go back to the hotel,” did Fu Yuchen relax slightly.

Once they returned to the capital, he’d arrange a full medical checkup for his father.

Making note to himself, Fu Yuchen followed silently, watching his father’s tall figure with quiet concern.

The paperwork for purchasing the reef area took some time.

-

During this period, Fu Cheng took his daughter, sons, and that Song family brat—who’d made him jealous all night—all around the Maldives.

When the purchase agreement finally arrived, Fu Cheng signed it on the spot and wired the payment for the reef area to the management account.

But just excavators wouldn’t be enough.

Fu Cheng had arranged in advance for his eldest son back in the capital to rent construction equipment and have it shipped over. The equipment arrived just as Fu Cheng had just signed the contract.

Other than when this island in the Maldives was first developed, the local residents had never witnessed anything on this scale before.

Watching the workers sent by Fu Cheng methodically clear the reef area, the fishermen were getting more and more nervous, fearing that some terrifying creature might truly lurk beneath the reefs.

But there was nothing.

Under the reefs was just sea mud—nothing more.

Holding his daughter, who wore noise-canceling headphones, Fu Cheng said in a steely voice to the construction manager, "Keep digging. You don't stop until I tell you to."

The manager’s forehead was slick with sweat.

In just two days in the Maldives, they'd already lost three machines, and it was unclear whether the remaining ones could last until the new equipment got here.

This was the first time they had encountered such a situation.

Based on their past experience, jobs like this didn't usually wreck equipment—at most, someone might get injured accidentally, and the employer would just cut a check for the injury.

But now, machines worth millions were failing one after another. If not for Fu Cheng’s insistence on continuing, the cost alone would have bankrupted most small and medium-sized enterprises.

The pit grew deeper and deeper, and just as seawater threatened to flood in, a worker suddenly shouted, "We’ve hit something!"

The sun had already dipped below the horizon, as daylight gave way to darkness.

Under the bright glare of the floodlights illuminating the rocky area, Fu Cheng, still holding his drowsy daughter, hurried forward.

"Boss Fu, it’s a coastal placer deposit—good heavens, we hit the jackpot, Boss Fu!"