Chapter 1102: The End (Lu Guixin Part 26)  Upon hearing that Lu Guixin's father would only arrive in the late evening, Zhou Fu didn't feel so nervous anymore. He then started car engine and drove to Starlight Plaza, where he brought Lu Guixin to a newly opened restaurant that specialized in fish.

A fragrant spicy scent could be smelled the moment they reached the entrance of the shop. Lu Guixin's eyes lit up immediately as she pulled Zhou Fu inside.

After sitting down at a table, Zhou Fu watched Lu Guixin, who was focused on ordering the dishes on a tablet. Upon recalling how stern her father had sounded on the line just now, he asked, "Aren't you worried that your father's going to deal with you?"

Lu Guixin handed the tablet back to the waiter once she was done ordering and then gave the question a serious thought. "My dad said that he was going to break my boyfriend's legs if I turn out to be dating."

Zhou Fu didn't catch that the first time. "Break whose legs?"

"Yours." Lu Guixin flashed him a polite smile. "It's your legs that are going to be broken, so I'm not worried at all."

Zhou Fu was speechless.

Lu Guixin's eyes curved when she saw his stiff expression. "My dad's going to arrive tonight. Do you want to elope with me and then come back once my dad's calmed down?"

Zhou Fu, who had been feeling pretty nervous about meeting Lu Guixin's father, suddenly felt a lot relaxed when he heard what she said. He rubbed his finger against the cup. "Although the university entrance exams are over and I've graduated from high school, I'm still a minor. If your dad reports me to the police and says that I abducted you… Won't we end up being separated by death?"

His eyes twitched at the mention of death, his expression dimming as he lowered his gaze and picked up the cup of water to drink.

When Lu Guixin noticed that, she learned forward and gently asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Zhou Fu appeared pretty much like usual when he looked up again. He looked much gentler. Will her parents mind my family background? Will they be willing to let their daughter marry an orphan?

All of a sudden, Lu Guixin sighed and pouted. "Should I get my mom to come here? My dad only listens to my mom."

Zhou Fu propped his face up on his hand while smiling. "Are you going to let your mother come beat me up and break my arms?"

Lu Guixin thought about it seriously, her eyes lighting up moments later. "Then we'll go stay with my uncles. I'm sure they'll help us to stop my dad."

Zhou Fu tapped the table with his finger. "What does your dad like? We can go buy some things for him later."

Lu Guixin said quietly, "He'll mostly likely toss you out along with the presents."

Just then, a wok of spicy fish was served.

Zhou Fu helped Lu Guixin to tear open the cutlery packaging before passing a pair of chopsticks to her. "Let's dig in first. We have the whole afternoon to think about what to do."

"Okay." Lu Guixin tried her best to make him relax. "Actually, my dad probably just finds it too sudden to accept. Once he cools down during the long plane ride, he might not be as angry anymore."

Of course, she was lying when she said that. She'd never seen her father fly into such a huge rage before.

Zhou Fu picked some fish for her. "Push the blame to me. Tell him that I wooed you and seduced you."

The corners of Lu Guixin's lips slowly lifted as she cupped her face and looked at him. "You do have a handsome face, Zhou Fu."

Zhou Fu looked at her. "If you do that in front of your parents, won't they disfigure me so as to make you change your mind about me?"

Lu Guixin shook her head. "Don't worry. Your waist feels good, too. Once the lights are off, I won't have to see your face."

Zhou Fu was speechless.

After the meal, the two returned to school.

With one hand gripping the steering wheel and his other hand resting on the window while holding a cigarette, Zhou Fu flicked the cigarette ash while waiting for the red light to turn green. He turned to look at Lu Guixin. "Are you going to go back to class?"

"No, I'm going back to the dorm to get my laptop." Lu Guixin had a milk candy in her mouth. "After that, we'll go to Seal Palace to wait for my dad."

"Okay."

When the red light turned green, Zhou Fu stepped on the gas pedal and turned the steering wheel to head toward Ming City High School. He placed the cigarette between his lips and then slowly increased the car speed while squinting slightly.

Lu Guixin stared at the cigarette between his lips, where wisps of smoke wafted in the air. "How's smoking like?"

She was rather keen on smoking, but her family didn't allow her to touch even a cigarette. She knew that her mother smoked in the past, but she was now under the strict control of her father.

Zhou Fu nonchalantly said, "It's like the milk candy in your mouth."

As soon as Lu Guixin hopped into the new car Zhou Fu bought, she found several packs of her favorite milk candy in his storage compartment. She stretched her hand out toward him with two milk candies on it while smiling obediently at him, "Shall we do an exchange, then?"

Zhou Fu looked down and glanced at her fair palm through the smoke. "No."

"You only have half a stick left, anyway. What's wrong with doing an exchange?" Lu Guixin huffed.

"Still, no."

Lu Guixin glared at him and reached out to take cigarette on her own.

Zhou Fu grabbed her hand, which felt tiny in his. With one hand on the steering wheel and his other hand holding on hers, he said, "Don't move. Behave yourself while I'm driving."

Lu Guixin stopped moving, but she stared at the cigarette between his lips for the rest of the journey back to the school.

After parking the car at the entrance of the school, Zhou Fu and Lu Guixin got out and walked inside.

"I'll just take a puff." Lu Guixin made a compromise.

Even though Gu Si and Gu Hui would smoke in front of her occasionally, they didn't allow her to smoke.

Holding her hand in his, Zhou Fu walked toward the trash bin, preparing to toss the cigarette in it when Lu Guixin suddenly pouted and said, "Fine. I'll go buy it myself."

Zhou Fu stopped in his tracks.

Lu Guixin, who was still walking forward, got pulled backwards. She glared at him with displeasure. "What now?"

Zhou Fu took a drag on his cigarette. Its butt was scarlet and bright. The next second, he hold the cigarette between his fingers in one hand and hold Lu Guixin's chin with his other hand while bending down to kiss her. As his tongue pried open his lips, the smoke traveled into her mouth bit by bit.

Lu Guixin's eyes widened in surprise. Although Zhou Fu had been threatening to kiss her if she didn't do as he said, he had never kissed her other than the time in the Student Union office.

"Lu Guixin!"

All of a sudden, a deep, cold, and hostile voice rang out.

Lu Guixin felt a chill travel from the base of her spine right to her head as she pushed Zhou Fu away immediately. Even as she choked on the smoke that she inhaled too fast, she didn't dare to close her eyes. She looked in the direction of the voice and saw a black SUV down the road with its rear window opened.

A sharp and defined face gradually appeared in vivid color.

Lu Guixin frowned, her eyes all red from the coughing as she stammered, "D-Dad…"

Zhou Fu was also coughing hard from the smoke in his mouth.

Lu Chengzhou's face couldn't be any darker at the moment. "You're having the time of your life, huh?"

Lu Guixin kept quiet.

As the car door was pushed open from the inside, what came into sight first were Lu Chengzhou's long legs. After getting out of the car, he slammed the door shut and slid a hand into his pocket as he looked at the nervous-looking Lu Guixin and Zhou Fu from across the road with narrowed eyes.

Lu Guixin took a step forward and admitted her mistakes with her head lowered. "I'm sorry, Dad. I shouldn't have lied to you."

Lu Chengzhou glanced at his daughter before looking hostilely at Zhou Fu, sending waves of oppression at him.

Zhou Fu stepped in front of Lu Guixin and shielded her. "It's my fault, Uncle. Please don't blame her."

Lu Chengzhou became angrier at the sight of Zhou Fu protecting his daughter.

Just then, a Rolls-Royce stopped in front of them.

Everyone looked over and saw the driver get down to open the passenger door.

Lan Sha, in a Chinese tunic suit, got off.

Lu Guixin, who hadn't seen Lan Sha in a long time, had been planning to visit him for a few days during the summer vacation. Hence, she was happy to see him. "God-Grandpa."

Lan Sha walked over, his expression genial and kind. "Guixin."

Lu Guixin tugged on Zhou Fu's clothes. "Zhou Fu, this is my god-grandfather."

Zhou Fu politely bowed at him. "God-Grandpa."

Lan Sha patted his shoulder. "I've heard of your name long ago. Although you requested to keep your identity confidential when you helped to solve the computing problem, I managed to find out some things about you. Not bad."

Lan Sha, who had high attainment in computing, had great appreciation for the young talents.

Zhou Fu remained slightly tense. "Thank you, God-Grandpa."

Just then, Lu Qi opened the other side of the passenger door. A tall and slim figure, who was wearing a black silk shirt with its collar unbuttoned revealing her fair and delicate collarbones, got out of the car while holding a phone in hand.

The sun was shining rather brightly, causing Gu Mang to squint. So, she took her cap from the car and put it on before walking over to Lan Sha's side. "What brings you here, Godfather?"

Lan Sha put his hands behind his back. "I heard that Guixin and her boyfriend topped the university entrance exams and will soon be going to university, so I came over to take a look."

Zhou Fu was surprised when he saw Gu Mang. "Sister Gu."

Lu Chengzhou and Lu Guixin were rather surprised to hear him address Gu Mang that way.

Gu Mang walked over, nodding and smiling slightly at him. "It's been a while."

"Mom." Lu Guixin looked at Gu Mang and then at Zhou Fu. "How do you know Zhou Fu?"

"His mental condition wasn't in a good state when he was nine, and I was responsible for his treatment in The Gray Building."

Having read Zhou Fu's information, Lu Chengzhou knew that The Gray Building had a rather capable psychiatrist working for them, but he didn't think to check their identity, so he didn't know it was Gu Mang.

It was currently around 2 PM, so it was hot and sweltering outside.

Gu Mang, who was irritated by the heat, said, "Let's talk at Seal Palace."

…

At Seal Palace.

When Lu Qi went to prepare some drinks for everyone, he was stopped by Lu Guixin, who said she'd do it instead.

Zhou Fu followed Lu Guixin to the kitchen, but he didn't allow her to do the work. He did it himself and even brought the drinks to the coffee table. As he placed the cups in front of the elders, Gu Mang lifted her chin in the direction of the sofa as an indication for him to sit down. He nodded. "Thank you, Sister Gu."

Even though the hierarchy was messed up, nobody bothered to correct Zhou Fu, knowing that he was used to address Gu Mang as such.

Lan Sha, who was highly satisfied with Zhou Fu, said to Lu Chengzhou, "You found yourself a good son-in-law. You won't have to marry her off. They can both stay in the capital in the future."

While Lu Chengzhou said nothing to that, Lu Guixin sat next to Lan Sha and hugged his arm happily while saying with a smile, "We'll go back to Changning County to visit you often, God-Grandpa."

Lan Sha let out a hearty laugh. "Sure. You're welcome to come over anytime."

Lan Sha then patted her hand. "Now that your results are out and you've chosen your schools, it's time for you to bring Zhou Fu to meet your grandparents and the other elders. I won't be going back to Changning County for the time being. I'll stay here until you start school."

Gu Mang smiled when she saw how silent Lu Chengzhou was being, but the next second, she felt him pinching her finger.

Lan Sha looked at everyone. "In that case, shall we head back to the capital this afternoon?"

"No. Something cropped up at Shadow League. Yun Ling agreed to meet with F, and I want Guixin to meet F before sending them to Shadow League for training," said Gu Mang. This was part of the reason why Lu Chengzhou and her had brought forward their plans to come to Ming City.

Lan Sha had also heard of that hacker before. F had joined Shadow League two years ago and had successfully completed several missions. Their status in Shadow League was almost on par with that of the founding elders.

Just then, Zhou Fu, who had been keeping quiet, suddenly lifted his head. "Sister Gu, what's your relationship with Shadow League?"

Given how good he was at computing, he must've heard something about Shadow League before. After giving it some thought, he looked at her and said, "Arctic Fox."

From the first time Gu Mang saw Zhou Fu, she knew that he was smart. Her lips curled as she nodded. "That's me."

"In that case, we can head to the capital this afternoon."

Everyone turned to him in surprise as he said, "Because I'm F."

The room went silent for several seconds before Lan Sha burst out laughing, "What a coincidence!"

Zhou Fu then respectfully said, "Sister Gu, before going to the capital, I'd like to go see my mother."

"Sure, take Guixin with you."

Just then, Lu Chengzhou suddenly spoke up, "Quit smoking, or don't smoke in front of Guixin."

Zhou Fu respectfully responded, "Noted, Uncle."

…

At the Martyrs Cemetery.

Zhou Fu crouched down and placed a bouquet of flowers on the ground. "Mom, this is Lu Guixin. She's Sister Mang's daughter and my girlfriend."

Lu Guixin bowed. "Hello, Auntie. My name's Lu Guixin, and I'm Zhou Fu's girlfriend. You don't have to worry about him anymore. You can leave him to me with peace of mind. I have my parents, two elder brothers, two uncles, one god-father, and grandparents. I have many people who love me, and I'll share all of them with Zhou Fu."

Zhou Fu's vision blurred as tears pooled in his eyes. He suddenly stood up and turned around to hug Lu Guixin.

When Lu Guixin looked up, she could feel his trembling breath behind her ear.

Zhou Fu buried his face in the crook of her neck and greedily sniffed her scent. After a while, he whispered, "After my parents passed away, I didn't know the meaning of my life and how I should continue to live on. It was Sister Mang who told me that if I didn't know why I should live on, then I should just go to school with ordinary people of my age, gain knowledge, and slowly move forward like everyone else. That's why I didn't quit high school even though I was accepted into university long ago. It turned out that, by living the pace of an ordinary person, I was able to meet you."

—The End—