Chapter 148: About Zhi Zhi’s mother

Chapter 148: Regarding Zhi Zhi’s Mother

The moment the sandstorm struck, everyone was too preoccupied to think of anything else. To avoid being swept away, they clung to whatever they could hold onto—even if it was just a shriveled sapling.

As the sandstorm gradually receded, shouts gradually echoed across the desolate Gobi.

Dusted with sand, Fu Yuchen pushed himself up slightly. "Zhi Zhi? Are you okay?"

Zhi Zhi, who had been pressed tightly into her second brother’s arms since the sandstorm began, murmured in reply.

She reached up and squeezed his palm, to show she was okay.

"Dad!"

Returning to where they had left her father, Zhi Zhi broke free from her second brother’s grip and ran forward when she saw her father surrounded by bodyguards.

Fu Cheng was even more disheveled than ever, but upon seeing his daughter, his lips curled into a smile.

He opened his arms and caught her as she rushed into his embrace, tousling her soft hair affectionately. "My good Zhi Zhi."

Her hair, already a mess and barely restrained by a hair tie, Zhi Zhi lifted her head and gave him a matching grin, looking just as bedraggled.

The stretcher was carried out of the desert, along with the two stones in Fu Yuchen’s arms.

The tour guide kept remarking on their family’s unbelievable luck—encountering a rare heat lightning storm in the desert, yet not a single lightning bolt hit them.

When the sandstorm came, none of them were injured or buried.

And now, they had even managed to leave the desert safely.

What else could it be but sheer luck?

Leaving the desert was quicker than entering it.

With no signal in the desert, Fu Yuchen had been trying the whole time to call the Fu family’s helicopter.

It wasn’t until the next day that they received a response. Waiting where they were, it didn’t take long before the helicopter arrived to fly them out of the desert.

The moment they returned to the capital, Fu Yuchen, holding his sister in his arms, was overwhelmed with emotion.

"Dad, don’t go wandering off recklessly next time. We were worried—Zhi Zhi too..."

His sister had already fallen asleep in his arms. Sitting by the hospital bed, Fu Yuchen watched the IV drip before his gaze shifted back to his father’s eyes.

"Yu Chen, you might not believe this, but... I’ve already died once."

Fu Yuchen’s brows furrowed instantly. "Dad, you can be casual about food, but not about things like this. You’re right here alive, how could you—"

"It’s true," Fu Cheng interrupted. "I was saved—or rather, my savior wasn’t human."

His gaze shifted to his youngest daughter in his second son’s arms. "I found Zhi Zhi’s mother."

"There are no caves in the desert. Zhi Zhi’s mother saved me. I only woke up when I heard you and Zhi Zhi calling for me."

"I know how absurd this sounds, but... tsk!"

Frowning deeply, even Fu Cheng found his own words unbelievable.

He still remembered the woman he had met in the cave while unconscious.

Had he only encountered her because he was on the verge of death?

His chest tightened again. Licking his dry lips, his dark eyes grew deeper.

Fu Yuchen frowned as well after hearing his father’s words.

He looked down at his sister in his arms. She had been terrified these past few days, so exhausted she slept so deeply that she hadn’t woken the entire journey.

He had already handed the stones to his father’s assistant, instructing him to find a way to contain them before finally sitting down, reassured.

Now, his father’s words left him stunned, at a loss for words.

Until the hospital room door suddenly burst open.

"Dad! You’re back!"

Fu Siyuan, who had just left school, rushed to the hospital the moment he heard his father and sister had returned.

He ran into his eldest brother at the entrance but moved faster, getting to the room first.

Seeing how much more worn his father looked after days apart, Fu Siyuan’s eyes reddened instantly.

He approached the bed, asking softly about his father’s condition. Only after confirming that his father was only dehydrated and otherwise unharmed did he relax.

"Dad, please don’t run off alone again, okay? Zhi Zhi and I were scared to death."

"When Fu Yuchen wanted to go into the desert alone to find you, Zhi Zhi was hysterical, insisting on going with him. If something had happened to you, what would Zhi Zhi do? What would we do?"

Halfway through, Fu Siyuan’s voice trembled slightly. "This time, you made us worry by running off to the desert alone. That’s one thing, but now you’re even uglier. If you really do find Zhi Zhi’s mom someday, she might take one look at you and not want to pick up where you left off..."

Lying in bed, Fu Cheng listened to his youngest son’s words, feeling guilty as he saw the tears in his son’s eyes. He was about to apologize, admitting he hadn’t thought things through this time.

But before he could speak, his son called him ugly...

The otherworldly woman in his memories—so beautiful, utterly perfect, the kind one would want to offer the world’s finest treasures to.

Had his face been just as unpresentable when she saved him?

He touched his face, no longer as smooth as before, his stubble unshaven.

A muscle twitched at Fu Cheng’s temple. Snatching a tissue from the bedside table, he hurled it at his son. "Fu Siyuan, scram!"

Wiping his tears with the back of his hand, Fu Siyuan muttered, "It’s true though. Dad, you’ve gotten way uglier. Fu Yuchen, tell him—hasn’t Dad gotten uglier?"

After days in the desert, weathered by the desert, Fu Cheng had tanned, his skin roughened, nothing like the elite businessman who once commanded negotiation tables.

Still, his features remained striking, even if he was now thinner, darker, and more worn...

Fu Yuchen paused before answering. "It’s fine, Dad. You can see a stylist after you’re discharged."

Fu Cheng had always been meticulous about his appearance, even somewhat obsessive about his appearance.

But in the desert, unable to groom himself, he had neglected his looks.

Now, even his second son agreed—he must be unrecognizably rough.

When Fu Jingyi entered the room right after Fu Siyuan, he was met with a tense atmosphere.

Hanging up his phone, he approached the bed, his brows drawn with worry. "What’s wrong, Dad? How are you feeling now?"

Fu Cheng's eyebrows drooped, and he gave a soft scoff upon hearing this.

Seeing his father remain silent, Fu Jingyi's heart skipped a beat, and unease surged within him.

He turned his gaze to Fu Yuchen and asked in a low, serious tone, "What's going on? What did the doctor say?"

Fu Yuchen was still soothing his sister, who was about to wake up in his arms. "It's nothing. Dad just thinks he's gotten uglier and is being all moody about it."

Other patients in the hospital only worry about their health.

Fu Cheng, however, is only concerned about his appearance.

Fu Jingyi's eyelid twitched violently, and his anxious heart calmed at the same time.

If his father could still worry about his looks, it meant his health was fine.

Leaning down to take his sister's small hand, Fu Jingyi's expression softened into a smile when he saw her tiny fingers wrap around his. "Once again, it's Zhi Zhi who saved Dad. Zhi Zhi is such a little hero."

As if hearing someone praise her, Zhi Zhi, who had been sleeping soundly, sleepily opened her eyes.

In her dazed state, she saw her brother smiling at her, and an adorable, sleepy grin spread across the little dumpling's face.

She reached out her little arms, asking for a hug in her tiny voice, "Brother, hug~"