Chapter Twenty-Six: A Guest Appearance by Friendship

In order to calm Chongchong down, Fang Yuan could only hurriedly promise that he wouldn’t agree to Pei Xi’s request, nor would he let her be sad or upset. Hearing Fang Yuan’s words, Chongchong finally brightened up.

Ah, truly it is said that petty men and women are the hardest to satisfy—Fang Yuan had truly learned this lesson now.

“Fang Yuan, there’s something I need your help with. You won’t just stand by and do nothing, will you?” Pei Xi saw Fang Yuan smile slightly and felt she had a good chance, so she pressed her advantage quickly.

“No matter what kind of request big sister asks you, you have to agree to her. If not, I’ll cry right in front of you,” Chongchong threatened.

This matter… had come so suddenly that Fang Yuan could only scratch his head helplessly and look at the instigator, Pei Xi.

“Well, here’s the thing. Tomorrow, my father will be coming back from a faraway place. I haven’t seen him for such a long time, so I want to give him a surprise. And you—you’re the biggest surprise I want to give him. You have no idea, my father has always been urging me to find a reliable boyfriend. He’ll definitely nag endlessly about it again this time, and since I’m a filial daughter, I hope you can play the part for me just for a day. That shouldn’t be a problem, right?” Pei Xi rattled it out in one breath, and seeing Fang Yuan’s expression, she felt her judgment wasn’t bad—at the very least, this Fang Yuan was quite steady.

Fang Yuan thought for a moment. Wasn’t it just a friendly cameo? Nothing serious, and besides, he had already promised Chongchong. So he agreed readily.

Yet, why did he feel uneasy at the triumphant smile on Pei Xi’s face? Surely he was just overthinking it…

Old Master Pei, who had been living among distant tribes, was truly coming home this time. As soon as he heard his daughter had suffered food poisoning, vomiting and diarrhea, he was frantic with worry. He didn’t bother with slow boats or rundown vehicles, but instead switched to a private car and chartered flight.

What used to take nearly a week, Old Master Pei accomplished in just half a day this time.

He didn’t stop for a moment along the way, desperate to see his precious daughter as soon as possible. The old man really pushed himself to the limit.

It was hard on Pang Dahai, whose layers of fat were almost entirely burned off by the journey. That body of soft flesh had taken countless buckets of fried chicken to achieve, and now it was nearly gone.

Pang Dahai was heartbroken, and even more so because Old Master Pei gave him not a moment to rest. Terrified of heights, he hadn’t dared to sleep on the plane, while Old Master Pei had managed to doze off from one high altitude to another, straight to the cloudless skies above the coastal city.

Pang Dahai had already informed Zheng Hao and the others of their flight. At this moment, Zheng Hao was waiting outside.

When Old Master Pei’s plane landed, it was already evening. Figuring that Pei Xi might already be asleep, Old Master Pei stayed in the room next to hers.

If her father was coming home, why didn’t his daughter go to the airport to meet him?

Pei Xi had wanted to, but Old Master Pei, worried she would be delayed coming back, absolutely refused to let his precious daughter wait for him. So, today Pei Xi decided to be the dutiful daughter and, tomorrow, she’d prepare a grand surprise for her father.

Pei Xi had always been a good girl, but perhaps it was the age of rebellion now, and her favorite thing was to go against her father. Just thinking about how her father would meet Fang Yuan tomorrow, Pei Xi couldn’t help but get excited.

Should she prepare herself a suit of armor just in case tomorrow?

Fang Yuan, following the principle of doing things thoroughly or not at all, even went out in the afternoon to buy himself a new outfit.

After buying clothes, he thought maybe he needed a haircut, so he went to get his hair washed, cut, and styled.

After all this sprucing up—he had to admit—Fang Yuan looked a bit like a celebrity.

Maybe it was because he’d spent so much time soaking in seawater, but his skin seemed fairer than before, and the pimples on his face had vanished, leaving his complexion smooth and delicate.

Yes, this must be what people called a fresh-faced idol.

“Chongchong, why do I feel like tomorrow’s affair is going to be a bit tricky?”

That night, Fang Yuan lay in bed thinking about playing Pei Xi’s boyfriend the next day. Judging by Pei Xi’s demeanor, she was surely the daughter of a wealthy family, and her father must be a prominent figure. With his ordinary background, wouldn’t he be seen through at a glance?

“I’m nervous too. I wonder what kind of person Pei Xi’s father is. I’m really looking forward to it,” Chongchong said.

Chongchong had no memory of a father, nor did she know where she herself had come from.

Could it be that she really had sprung out of a crack in a stone?

These past few days, Fang Yuan had been sleeping soundly—so deeply that even if someone came in at night and carried him away, he wouldn’t wake up. His body hadn’t fully recovered yet, but he wasn’t aware of this condition at all.

Even if Chongchong knew, she wouldn’t tell Fang Yuan. After all, it was her own greed for a moment’s delight that led her, while Fang Yuan was still unconscious, to do several things not in his best interest.

Chongchong was already trying to help Fang Yuan’s body recover as quickly as possible, but recovery takes time.

The next morning, before dawn, Fang Yuan was awakened by Pei Xi’s phone call. He deeply regretted having bought a phone in the first place—what had he been thinking?

This phone was clearly just a tool for Pei Xi to disrupt his dreams.

Getting up, Fang Yuan was in a foul mood, contemplating whether to throw the phone away and claim it was stolen.

“Good morning, master! What shall we have for breakfast today?” chirped Chongchong at the break of dawn, giving Fang Yuan a shock.

Master? Did she think she was some kind of cute pet?

He had no idea where Chongchong had picked up this term. Hearing it made Fang Yuan feel utterly vexed.

“Chongchong, if you keep grossing me out, I’ll go on a hunger strike,” he threatened, thinking two could play at that game.

“I think ‘master’ sounds really cool, don’t you think?” Chongchong said smugly, feeling quite pleased with herself.

“Chongchong, are you sure you’re from a thousand years ago and not just some modern-day millennium bug?” Fang Yuan felt that Chongchong was always surprising him—or rather, shocking him.

He really wanted to know how Chongchong, who was supposed to be ancient, knew these strange internet terms that only modern people would recognize.