Fu Ruien was in a hurry. After hastily eating a few bites, he was about to leave. Qiu Qiu asked him where he was going on this business trip, but Fu Ruien deliberately dodged the question, asking instead, "You've already blocked me, yet you still care where I'm going?"
Knowing he was in the wrong, Qiu Qiu could only obediently remove Fu Ruien from his blacklist.
"Just adding me back isn't enough," President Fu pushed his luck, making another demand. "Pin my chat to the top."
And so, "Daddy is Sugar Daddy's Daddy" became the permanent NO.1 in Qiu Qiu's WeChat.
Actually, Fu Ruien's WeChat name was the perfectly proper "Ryan." Those six characters were a playful nickname Qiu Qiu had intentionally set for him, previously hidden well, but unfortunately exposed under Fu Ruien's watchful eyes today.
"...Is this the couple name you set for me?"
"No, no, no," Qiu Qiu hurriedly said. "You can think of it as... a father-son name. So symmetrical."
"..."
To thank Qiu Qiu for his filial piety, Fu Ruien took out his phone and, right in front of Qiu Qiu, changed this silly son's contact name to "Fu the Second Generation."
This time, it was Qiu Qiu's turn to be left speechless.
Fu Ruien looked at him with a smiling face. "Father-son name. It has a sense of legacy."
Before leaving, Fu Ruien originally wanted to hug Qiu Qiu, but mindful of the many classmates in the cafeteria, he only properly ruffled Qiu Qiu's hair. As his hand slid down from Qiu Qiu's cheek, he deliberately pinched his earlobe.
Back when the two were together (?), Fu Ruien often got handsy with Qiu Qiu. When the mood was good, he would even kiss his forehead and the little dimples on his face.
Qiu Qiu had been good-looking since he was a child, a truly exquisite and adorable treasure, frequently kissed on the cheek by elders who held him in their arms. Later, Qiu Qiu grew up into a young man. People couldn't bring themselves to kiss him on the mouth anymore, but in Qiu Qiu's mind, he still held onto the formula "an elder kissing your cheek = likes you." Every time Fu Ruien kissed his left cheek, he would offer his right cheek for him to nibble on too.
Thinking about it now, he really was digging his own grave.
Before leaving, Fu Ruien quietly warned Qiu Qiu, "If you dare not reply to my WeChat again, do you believe I'll cut your guitar strings one by one?"
The threat was too vicious. Qiu Qiu subconsciously clenched his legs, feeling as if what would be cut off wasn't his guitar strings, but his lifeline.
Terrified, Qiu Qiu trembled like a plate of tender tofu tossed with scallions, nodding frantically and swearing to the heavens that he absolutely wouldn't dare block him again.
Only then did Fu Ruien leave contentedly with his secretary.
Once the two figures disappeared outside the cafeteria door, Da Xiong immediately shifted his butt from the opposite side of the table to sit next to Qiu Qiu.
Da Xiong hooked his arm around Qiu Qiu's neck, pulling him close. His face was as dark as Judge Bao's. "Qiu! What did you just call that vice president?"
"...Sugar Daddy."
"Do you know what 'sugar daddy' means?"
Qiu Qiu answered naively, "...A father without a blood relationship?"
"That's called an adoptive father! ...No, that's not what I'm talking about. That shady vice president just now, eating your leftovers, touching your head... he clearly doesn't seem like a decent person at all."
Qiu Qiu couldn't stand anyone speaking ill of his sugar daddy, but he was clumsy with words and didn't know how to refute it—and besides, his sugar daddy really was an old rogue—so he could only use all the features on his face to express his anger.
Although Fu Ruien was a wolf in sheep's clothing who had kept countless handsome young men in white shirts, he was mature, calm, and exceptionally wise. Even if he was a bastard, he was a handsome old bastard.
—Who knows how many layers of sweet son filter Qiu Qiu was seeing through.
Seeing Qiu Qiu completely infatuated and led astray by a diamond bachelor, Da Xiong was so anxious he nearly fainted. As someone in the arts, he had seen people in certain circles who didn't focus on honing their craft, insisting on taking shortcuts and crooked paths, sacrificing their young selves and ending up tarnished. His friend here looked clever but was actually quite silly. He mustn't let him be taken advantage of in a daze!
Back when Hong Tailang pursued him, he got together with Hong Tailang. Now that he had finally broken up with Hong Tailang, how could another Grey Tailang pop up?!!
Da Xiong wanted to nag a bit more, but seeing Qiu Qiu's utterly impenetrable attitude, he knew any further words would be useless.
Forget it. He'd better find someone to make Qiu Qiu a shoe sole, embroider that sugar daddy's name on it, and let Qiu Qiu step on the villain more often to ward off evil.
※
When Qiu Qiu returned to his dorm, his phone rang. The caller was Fu Ruien, who had already arrived at the airport.
Fu Ruien also found himself strange. They had just parted, yet he already missed everything about Qiu Qiu. His quick wit, his slowness, the way he held his guitar and sang love songs for him, and how he blew kisses to the audience while pushing a cart full of flowers... He had long decided to stay far away from him, yet sometimes he couldn't bear to let him leave his sight.
Qiu Qiu's voice was always full of energy. When he said "HI," Fu Ruien's mind conjured up his slightly childish smile.
Fu Ruien asked him, "I'm about to take off. Aren't you going to say something nice?"
"Then should I sing 'Wishing You Peace' for you?"
"...Save your energy. Keep that song for the Top 10 to Top 6 competition stage."
"Uh, then I wish you a quick trip and a speedy return, no delays or missed flights?"
Qiu Qiu really wasn't good at "saying nice things." He racked his brains for a long time, but everything he came up with was down-to-earth to the point of being corny. How could he know that the words Fu Ruien wanted to hear were only one kind—the kind that would make him sneeze.
The two chattered on for a long time until a flight attendant came to remind him. Only then did Fu Ruien reluctantly hang up.
"One last thing. Aren't you going to wish me a smooth journey?"
"Ah?" Qiu Qiu's hesitant voice came through. "But... planes take off and land against the wind..."
"..."
Fu Ruien laughed—so silly, so clueless, so blunt. Truly his little darling.
Sigh, this sugar daddy's filter was pretty thick too.
