38: Chapter 38 The Two Things Chen Fan Hates the Most

The steam in the kitchen covered the glass window in a layer of white mist, turning that space of only six square meters into a small world isolated from the rest of existence.

The kitchen knife in Su Wanqing's hand hung in mid-air as the man's burning body heat radiated through the thin fabric of her clothes, making her heart tremble. She could hear Chen Fan's steady heartbeat right by her ear, one beat after another, as if trying to make up for the nineteen-year void.

"The... the water is boiling." Su Wanqing's voice was soft as she nudged back with her elbow. "Hurry up and let go. Do you still want to drink ginger soup or not?"

Only then did Chen Fan reluctantly release her from his embrace, but he didn't leave. Instead, he stood blocking the doorway like a guardian deity, watching Su Wanqing pour the shredded ginger into the boiling water, add brown sugar, and stir. Her movements were smooth and fluid, carrying a sense of domestic warmth that fascinated him.

"Tianshu had someone deliver some fruit earlier; it's sitting by the door." Chen Fan suddenly spoke, pointing to the inconspicuous black plastic bag in the living room. "I'll go wash some."

Su Wanqing ladled out the ginger soup and brought it to the folding table, which only had three steady legs.

Looking back, she was almost moved to laughter by anger.

Chen Fan was sitting on a small stool with a fruit knife in hand and two oranges in front of him. These weren't ordinary oranges from the wet market that cost two yuan a pound; their skins were golden-bright and covered in labels entirely in English.

The point was, this man was clumsily slicing the oranges into pieces, desperately trying to arrange them into a heart shape on the plate.

But he clearly hadn't unlocked the culinary skill tree; that "heart" was lopsided and crooked, looking like a half-rotten backside.

"Aren't you being childish?" Su Wanqing walked over and poked him on the forehead, right on that large, swollen bump.

"Hiss—" Chen Fan bared his teeth in pain, yet he shielded the plate, refusing to let go. "This is called a sense of ritual. These oranges were flown in from Australia; one of them costs as much as our living expenses for half a month back then. They have to look good."

Su Wanqing froze for a moment, looking at the expensive fruit slices with mixed emotions.

She sat down and pushed the ginger soup toward Chen Fan. "Drink it. It's for reducing swelling and dispelling bruises."

Chen Fan picked up the bowl and gulped down half of it in one breath. It was so spicy his throat felt like it was on fire, but he thought it tasted sweet.

"Wanqing." Chen Fan put down the bowl and tucked away his playful demeanor. He looked at Su Wanqing with an intensity that made it hard to meet his gaze. "I know you're angry. You've always wanted to ask where I've been for these nineteen years and why I only came back after I got rich."

Su Wanqing's hand holding the spoon paused.

This was a thorn in her heart. She couldn't pull it out, and she couldn't swallow it.

"Go on," Su Wanqing said with her head lowered, staring at the ginger shreds bobbing in the bowl. "If you dare make up lies to deceive me, I'll splash this bowl of soup in your face."

Chen Fan gave a bitter laugh, reached out to grab Su Wanqing's hand from the table, and held it tightly in his palm.

"I didn't run away, and I wasn't out living it up," Chen Fan's voice was low, carrying a sense of weariness. "I was 'taken' away."

Su Wanqing snapped her head up, her eyes filled with horror. "You went to prison?"

"Not that kind of 'taken'." Chen Fan organized his words and began his carefully woven 'truth'. "Our Chen family actually has some history. I didn't know before, but on the day I left you, I suddenly... awakened."

"Awakened?" Su Wanqing had a look on her face that said, 'Has your brain been damaged from the beating?'

"Yes. An absolute intuition for money." Chen Fan pointed to his eyes. "I can look at any business and see whether it will make money or lose money. It's a talent, but also a curse."

He sighed and pressed Su Wanqing's hand against his swollen face.

"Back then, I was terrified of being poor. When I suddenly got this ability, I went crazy trying to make money. But I discovered that this ability has a fatal flaw."

Chen Fan stared into Su Wanqing's eyes and said emphatically, "It requires bloodline suppression."

"What does that mean?" Su Wanqing was completely bewildered.

"It means the more money I make, the more my body breaks down and the more manic my spirit becomes. Only by staying by my wife and child's side—by my blood relatives—can this baleful aura be suppressed." Chen Fan spoke with such conviction he almost believed it himself. "For these nineteen years, I worked desperately to make money abroad, but I almost died out there. Later, I found a master to read my fortune, and they said my lifeblood is in Jiangcheng, with you guys."

"So, I came back."

Chen Fan's eyes burned with intensity. "Wanqing, it's not that I'm coming back to make it up to you; it's that you are saving my life. Without you, no matter how much money I have, I would just end up a lonely ghost."

These words were half-true and half-false.

The system had indeed given him the ability, and he had indeed discovered that wealth without family was so empty it made him want to die.

Su Wanqing listened, stunned.

If anyone else had said this, she would have definitely slapped them. But this man was Chen Fan—the man who had brought down Tiansheng Group overnight and bought Huihuang Group.

Such an outrageous experience, paired with such a mystical reason, actually seemed... somewhat reasonable?

Especially the phrase "you are saving my life" struck the softest part of Su Wanqing's heart.

So, it wasn't that he didn't need us.

It was that he couldn't survive without us.

Su Wanqing's eyes reddened. She forcefully pulled her hand back, picked up the plate of hideously cut oranges, and stuffed a piece into her mouth.

It was very sweet. Juice overflowed.

"Always talking nonsense..." Su Wanqing chewed the orange, her voice choked with emotion. "Who would believe your tall tales? 'Bloodline awakening'—why don't you just say you're Ultraman transforming?"

Although she said that, the cold and hard aura that kept people at a distance visibly dissipated from her.

"You don't believe me?" Chen Fan immediately got anxious. "I'll have Tianshu pull up my medical reports right now. During those years, I..."

"Enough!" Su Wanqing interrupted him and stuffed another piece of orange into his mouth to shut him up. "Eat your fruit! It's two thousand yuan a piece, don't waste it."

This meal was exceptionally quiet, yet exceptionally noisy.

The quiet part was that no one spoke; the noisy part was the sound of two hearts gradually drawing closer.

After finishing the last sip of ginger soup, Chen Fan insisted on washing the dishes.

"Can you wash dishes with your hands like that?" Su Wanqing glared at him.

"My hands aren't broken, it's just my face that's swollen." Without another word, Chen Fan snatched the dishes and squeezed in front of the tiny sink.

Su Wanqing couldn't win against him, so she could only stand by with a dry towel, waiting to wipe them.

The kitchen was too small, making physical contact between the two inevitable.

Chen Fan washed very slowly, as if he wanted to scrub a layer of skin off every plate. He was enjoying this moment.

When he got to the last bowl, Chen Fan suddenly turned off the faucet.

He didn't turn around. With his back to Su Wanqing, he looked out at the pitch-black night and suddenly asked, "Wanqing, actually, I've been thinking about something these past two days."

"Thinking about what?"

Chen Fan shook the water off his hands and turned around, leaning back against the sink. The warm yellow light hit his face, making his half-swollen face look a bit comical, yet his gaze was incredibly affectionate.

"I was thinking, if I hadn't left nineteen years ago. If I could have come back sooner with all these abilities..."

"Would we have turned our lives into poetry long ago?"

The towel in Su Wanqing's hand dropped to the floor.

She looked at Chen Fan, at this man whose eyes were filled with regret.

At this moment, the defensive line she had guarded for nineteen years collapsed.

"Then use the rest of your life to prove it."

Su Wanqing picked up the towel, threw it at him, and ran out of the kitchen, her voice clearly carrying a sob.

"If the dishes aren't clean, don't even think about coming to bed tonight... No! Don't even think about sleeping on the sofa!"

Chen Fan caught the towel and watched her fleeing figure, grinning.

He smiled like a child who had just received candy.

As long as she was willing to let him stay, even if he had to sleep on the floor, he would be sleeping at home.

...