Xu Wei pushed Lu Yumo aside. She stole a glance at the “Tears Are A Woman’s Best Weapon” and “Women Who Flirt” on the table. Then, with a hoarse throat, she said, “Zhizhi, your brother told me that he saw you skip school today, but Mommy knows you aren’t that kind of delinquent. Could you tell me why you skipped class today? I don’t care even if you told a lie. Mommy’s just worried about you...”
Fu Zhi lowered her head as if she was absorbed in thought.
Upon seeing her reaction, Xu Wei decided to go for the killing move. “Zhizhi!”
She dragged out the last letter and stamped her feet. After she finished speaking, she put her hand on her forehead, giving people the impression of a frail-looking woman in her death throes.
Fu Zhi was so impressed by her mother’s acting skill that her tongue could not utter a word.
“Let’s be serious.” She looked at the “100 Skills A Professional Actor Needs” as her eyebrows twitched slightly. Then, she added, “My grandfather just passed away.”
The living room suddenly became quiet. Xu Wei stared at Fu Zhi with confusion etched all over her lovely face. She cocked her head to the side and said, “But your grandfather passed away a long time ago, didn’t he?”
She was talking about Lu Jingqing’s father. He had been laid to rest a few years ago, and the grass on his grave had grown taller than Fu Zhi’s knees.
As Xu Wei was wondering if today was his death anniversary—oh no, the memorial day of Lu Jingqing’s father—Fu Zhi hugged the box to herself even tighter and lifted her head.
She looked straight at the trio and said, “It’s my grandfather from my small town. He took care of me a lot while I was staying there and he died today of old age.”
“Ah, so that’s it.” Xu Wei’s delicate face crumpled. She took out the “Pillow Talk Between A Good Mother And Her Teen Girl” as a myriad of feelings flooded her heart.
She had not experienced much grief and loss in her whole life other than losing her cabbages and Ragdoll cat. Therefore, she did not know how to comfort Fu Zhi at all.
As she sank into a pensive silence, thinking about what to say, Lu Yumo stepped forward and snarled, “Fu Zhi, how could you lie to mom? Don’t you feel ashamed of yourself? I saw you clearly hop into a Volkswagen with a man with my own eyes. What’s more, it wasn’t a Volkswagen with five 6s as a number plate. Was your grandpa rich enough to buy that kind of vehicle?”
Xu Wei and Lu Yushen were brought back to reality at the sound of Lu Yumo’s voice. Both of them squinted their eyebrows, turned their heads in unison, and stared at Fu Zhi with blinking eyes.
Fu Zhi had no idea why but she thought her mother and her second brother looked like two mole-rats hopping up and down around a farm.
At the same time, Lu Yumo was in seventh heaven over driving Fu Zhi into a corner. With a triumphant grin playing at his lips, he pressed on. “Go on, explain yourself. Don’t just keep quiet and stand there.
“I knew it. You can’t explain yourself because what I said is the truth! You’re lying to us!”
The living room fell silent.
Nobody spoke for a few seconds. As everyone stared at each other in an abysmal hush, a few tweeting sounds erupted in the air, prompting Xu Wei and Lu Yushen to lower their heads simultaneously again and stare at the box in Fu Zhi’s hands. There was nothing but question marks on their faces.
“The man you saw is my grandpa’s grandson. He just won the lottery.”
After saying that, Fu Zhi opened the box and put it on the table before adding, “These ducklings were left to me by grandpa.”
Craning his neck, Lu Yumo took a glance at the ducklings and felt stumped. However, he refused to admit defeat, so he moved on. “Alright, then, I’ll give you a pass on that Volkswagen, but these ducklings... How are you going to explain them? It’s considered a huge fortune to have so many ducklings. If they are his legacy, then why would he bequeath them to you instead of leaving them to his own grandson?”
Fu Zhi nodded. “It’s because his grandson refuses to go home at night and keeps running away from home. That’s why he didn’t want to leave these ducklings to him.”
Lu Yumo was stumped. He had no idea why but he felt a chill go down his spine when he heard what Fu Zhi said.
Fu Zhi then said calmly, “I suppose you can understand that more than anyone else, right, Brother?”