Chapter 13: Leaving Home – Two-Faced

Fang Chuning felt something was strange. Her father rarely missed having dinner with them.

As she was wondering if something had happened, she caught sight of the young boy putting a piece of beef into her bowl from the corner of her eye. She glanced at the meat and then looked at him.

Su Qi raised an adorable smile, “This beef is very tasty.”

Fang Tianli, sitting opposite, chimed in at the right moment, pretending to complain: “Qiqi, you didn’t give me any, you’re playing favorites!”

Su Qi instinctively looked up at the girl, then blushing, he also gave him a piece, “Lili, you eat too.”

“Thank you,” Fang Tianli winked at him, and then Fang Chuning noticed that the young boy’s ears turned even redder. Her gaze moved back and forth between the two, wondering what little secret they were up to.

After dinner, Fang Chuning didn’t return to her room. After showering, she sat on the couch downstairs playing with her phone. It was around 9 PM when she saw her father enter with a cold face, walking so quickly that he didn’t even glance at her.

“Dad?”

Her father still ignored her, going upstairs and slamming the door shut.

Not long after, Fang Hong also returned home in a hurry. Her face looked somewhat unpleasant, a rare sight compared to her usually serious and stern expression.

Fang Chuning watched as she went upstairs and stood outside the room, knocking on the door, “Azi, listen to my explanation!”

Azi was her father’s pet name, and Fang Hong rarely called him that. Usually, she would use sticky terms like “dear” or “baby”, despite their age, showing no sense of embarrassment.

Fang Chuning leaned on the stair railing, “What’s wrong with Dad?”

Looking at the tightly closed door, Fang Hong felt a bit of panic. She beckoned to her daughter downstairs, “Come up.”

When she came up, Fang Hong gestured for her to knock on the door, her expression as if she was afraid her father might do something rash inside.

“What exactly happened?”

Fang Hong didn’t speak, glancing at her, somewhat irritably taking out a cigarette from her suit pocket intending to light it. But halfway through the action, she remembered her promise not to smoke at home, and reluctantly put the cigarette back.

Fang Chuning stared at her silently, looking suspicious.

Just as Fang Hong was considering whether to kick the door open, it suddenly opened without warning, and the two outside looked in unison.

Her father’s face was expressionless, but upon closer inspection, one could see his eyes were slightly moist, clearly having just cried.

Fang Hong reached out to wipe the corners of his eyes, but was mercilessly pushed away. Her father didn’t look at her, but at his dumbfounded daughter standing to the side, “Dad wants to go back to Grandma’s house, do you want to come along?”

Although she still hadn’t figured out what exactly had happened between the two, Fang Chuning of course unconditionally stood on her father’s side, “Okay!”

She said this and ran upstairs at full speed to pack her luggage.

Her father tried to close the door again but was blocked by the woman. He ignored her, acting as if he couldn’t see her, and went back into the room to pick out a few clothes from the dressing room to put in his suitcase. Fang Hong followed closely behind him, constantly trying to explain what had happened today.

“Azi, please don’t be like this, okay? There’s really nothing between Secretary Li and me! He had had a few drinks at that time, I was just worried about him and wanted to send him home on the way, it just happened that you saw us.”

Her father paused in packing his clothes, turned his head to look straight at her, “It’s not that I just happened to see, it’s that you two were having an affair and didn’t know how to choose a place. If my friend hadn’t told me, I’d still be in the dark now.”

His expression was unusually calm as he spoke, which made Fang Hong feel a bit at a loss. She moved in front of him, cupped his face and sincerely explained: “I can swear to you, there’s nothing between Secretary Li and me.”

“Nothing and he could be in your arms? Nothing and you wouldn’t push him away? He was about to kiss you and you didn’t even push him away!” Towards the end, her father pushed her away, his eyes red. Although he was almost forty, there wasn’t a single wrinkle on his face. With his handsome features, his tearful appearance was particularly heart-wrenching.

Fang Hong was speechless. Today, she seemed to be possessed, having no resistance against Secretary Li at all.

“Azi, I promise you, what happened today won’t happen again.”

Her father’s lips curled coldly, “Fine, if you want me to forgive you, kick that vixen out of Fang Group. I don’t want to see him again in the future.”

Fang Hong, who had been earnestly promising just now, frowned slightly at these words and refused in a disapproving tone, “Secretary Li is still very helpful in work. If I fire him, I’ll have to train a new person, which takes both time and energy. There’s really no need for this.”

Always thinking from a businesswoman’s perspective about benefits, even at this moment she didn’t change her mind. Her father ignored her, stuffed a few clothes into the suitcase and walked out past her.

Fang Hong followed closely behind him, “Azi, you weren’t such an unreasonable person before.”

Her father suddenly turned back, “You’d better not make me feel that the most unreasonable thing I’ve ever done was marrying you.”

Fang Hong’s body stiffened, her mouth twitched slightly, but in the end, she didn’t say anything more. At this moment, Fang Chuning, who had finished packing upstairs, ran down with her suitcase, “Dad, I’m ready!”

She thoughtfully went forward to pick up his suitcase as well.

Seeing this, Fang Hong’s eyelid twitched, her own daughter’s eager appearance looked as if she couldn’t wait to leave the Fang family.

With such a commotion, Fang Tianli on the same floor also heard. He walked over slowly, wearing cartoon pajamas and hugging a teddy bear as big as himself, still a bit groggy from being woken up, “What’s going on with you all?”

Fang Hong, afraid he would leave too, quickly went over and gently covered his eyes with her hand, turning him in another direction, her voice gentle: “It’s nothing, go back to sleep.”

“Oh,” the boy, like a silly goose, hugged his teddy bear and slowly went back to his room.

Only when the door closed did Fang Hong breathe a sigh of relief. When she turned back, the father and daughter were no longer on the second floor. She looked down to the first floor, the two had already reached the door, “Ningning!”

Fang Chuning paused, turning back to look up at the second floor.

Fang Hong, her brows slightly weary, closed her eyes briefly and instructed, “Take good care of your dad.”

“I know.” Fang Chuning hesitated for a moment, “Mom, you should know which side is more important. If you’re wrong, you’re wrong. If you don’t admit it yourself, I can’t help you.”

With that, she dragged her suitcase and ran out, leaving the woman standing alone in the desolate villa.

The father and daughter moved to the Liang family, which was her father’s parents’ home, overnight. The Liang family had only the two elderly living there. The two old people were used to a simple life, leaving their big house and buying a hundred-square-meter flat in a remote area of the city, saying the air was good for retirement.

The two elders were overjoyed at their arrival, bringing out all the good food in the house and putting it on the table, “Ningning, why have you gotten so thin? You should eat what you need to eat, you can’t starve yourself like other young people trying to lose weight.”

Fang Chuning thought to herself that she had gained two pounds the last time she weighed herself, how could she look thinner?

This is probably just how people who love you always think you’re not eating enough.

Seeing his parents, her father, like a wronged child, poured out all his grievances. Fang Chuning, playing with her phone on the side, heard the whole story. It turned out that Fang Hong and that Secretary Li were caught by her father having an intimate interaction while eating out, which was why her father was so upset that he left home.

Fang Chuning had seen that Secretary Li before. He indeed looked quite good, and with his makeup, he looked like a seductive spirit. No wonder her father couldn’t stand the sight of him.

The two elders of the Liang family comforted him, knowing well their son’s stubborn personality. They didn’t speak for Fang Hong. If this matter didn’t get a satisfactory “explanation”, not only would their son not agree, but they as elders wouldn’t agree either.

After pouring out his grievances, her father, who had been pampered since birth, quickly began to complain about the house, “Mom and Dad, how can you live in a place like this? It’s as small as a doghouse.”

“It’s just right for the two of us to live in, but if you and Ningning move in, we’ll move back to the East District first. That way it’ll be more convenient for Ningning to go to and from school. What do you think, Ningning?”

Fang Chuning, sprawled on the couch texting Gao Qiong, didn’t even raise her head when called, “Whatever is fine.”

…

Fang Tianli only found out the next day that his father and sister had left home. He felt resentful, wondering why they didn’t take him along when they left.

Because of his resentment at being “abandoned”, Fang Tianli was in a gloomy mood even when he got to school. Su Qi asked him what was wrong, but he wouldn’t say.

On their way to the classroom, they were suddenly blocked by a girl who jumped out. Fang Tianli thought it was another one of his nonsensical pursuers and rudely tried to chase her away, “Get lost! Don’t block my way!”

The girl didn’t move aside but instead looked at Su Qi beside him, “Um, I have something I want to say to classmate Su Qi.”

Only then did Fang Tianli realize he had been presumptuous, which made him even angrier, “Didn’t you hear me tell you to get lost?”

The girl hesitated a bit, her eyes fixed on Su Qi beside him.

Su Qi slightly averted his eyes, his fingers lightly tugging at Fang Tianli’s school uniform, his voice soft, “Lili, you go back to the classroom first, I’ll be there soon.”

“Why bother with her? Don’t you like my sister? If you like my sister, you shouldn’t be flirting with other girls.”

Such direct and even sharp words made the already shy Su Qi’s ears turn red. He was a bit embarrassed and annoyed, “Lili!”

Fang Tianli had a “Did I say something wrong?” expression on his face.

Su Qi glanced at the girl, slightly stood on tiptoe and whispered something in his ear. Only then did Fang Tianli reluctantly huff and leave first.

When he had walked far away, Su Qi slowly withdrew his gaze and looked at the girl in front of him, pursing his lips and saying softly, “I’ve told you before, I can’t be with you.”

With Fang Tianli gone, the girl became bolder. She reached out excitedly and grabbed his arm, “You like Fang Tianli’s sister? What’s so good about her? She’s just from a rich family, my family is rich too, and I’m willing to spend money on you!”

Su Qi seemed to be frightened, his eyelashes trembling, becoming even more timid, “You… you shouldn’t do this…”

His other hand gently pushed her, but without much force. Although his features weren’t as gorgeous and striking as Fang Tianli’s, they were also delicate and cute. Especially now with his weak and helpless appearance, it made people want to possess him recklessly.

The girl took out a small gift box from her school uniform pocket and stuffed it into his hand, “This is Swarovski’s latest bracelet, it’s a gift for you!”

Su Qi looked at the box that had been stuffed into his hand, lowered his eyes and mildly resisted, “I don’t want it…”

The girl persisted stubbornly, insisting, “I just want to give it to you. It’s okay if you don’t accept me, I can wait!”

Su Qi pursed his lips without speaking.

The girl felt that he must have softened a bit, and timely provided a sense of security, “Even if you keep refusing me, I will wait for you, until you agree to be my boyfriend.”

The girl thought that few boys could resist such sweet talk, especially an innocent one who hadn’t seen much of the world. Feeling that she had acted with proper restraint, she let go of his hand. Before leaving, she even gave him a smile that was a bit greasy, “I’ll be waiting for you.”

When the girl’s figure disappeared, Su Qi withdrew his gaze. His hand slowly opened the small gift box. Inside was an exquisite decorative bracelet. Although it couldn’t be called very expensive, it was something he couldn’t afford.

He took out the bracelet and put it on. The rose gold color made his skin look delicately white. Su Qi’s lips curved slightly upwards as he pulled his sleeve over the bracelet and walked away with light steps.