Ch 99: After My Mother Returned to the Rich Family

The company project was going smoothly, and Yu Zheng’s situation was more or less resolved. With a light heart, Ruan Cha was happily looking forward to her weekend couple’s meal with Fu Chen at Seven Pointed Star.

However—

Things always had to come with a little twist.

The owner of Seven Pointed Star had been proposed to by her boyfriend, and the two of them had taken off on a spontaneous vacation. The long-time single He Wuwei had tagged along to the City of Love in search of romance, and with both of the restaurant’s main chefs gone, Seven Pointed Star temporarily shut down operations.

On Friday night, Ruan Cha received a text message:

【Dear customer, Seven Pointed Star will be closed indefinitely starting today. Reopening time is not yet confirmed. For customers with existing reservations, your package validity has been extended to one year and tripled in usage. If you wish to cancel your booking, you may do so on our website. Xiao Qi will process it within 24 hours with a 10x refund. Thank you for your understanding — Seven Pointed Star】

Lying in bed, Ruan Cha stared gloomily at her phone.
“Sister Shu, Boss Shu… you’re way too capricious!”

Honestly, this wasn’t the first time Seven Pointed Star had pulled something like this.
They’d closed on a whim more than ten times already.
They were the textbook definition of: skilled enough to afford being willful.

Ruan Cha was sure that half the customers were probably thrilled by the extended validity and the triple use bonus.

Because unless you were an old customer with a private room or had supported the place early on, it could take months to get a reservation.

【They’re rich. They can afford to be willful.】1128 replied, then paused as it watched Ruan Cha roll around on the bed.
【Ruan Cha, you didn’t used to be this excited about going to Seven Pointed Star. After Spring Festival, you only went once.】

【There’s a huge recipe library in the digital archive. I can pick a few out for you to browse?】

“No thanks.”
Ruan Cha mumbled from under her pillow, voice muffled.
“1128, you don’t get it. It’s not Seven Pointed Star I was looking forward to, I was looking forward to—”

Looking forward to the person going with me.

She tossed the pillow aside, sat back at her desk, and pulled out the half-finished science test paper from the shelf.

【You’ve got another message.】

Still scribbling away at her worksheet, Ruan Cha shook her head.
“Don’t check it yet. I need to calm down with a few papers.”

Once she was calm enough, then she’d tell Fu Chen that Seven Pointed Star had closed.

To be honest, Ruan Cha wasn’t entirely sure what it meant to be in love.
But among all the people she knew, Fu Chen was the only one who made her blush and get a fast heartbeat.

And—

When she imagined a future where someone could be by her side, like her dad was with her mom, the first person who came to mind was always Fu Chen.

1128 didn’t really understand human affection, but it stayed diligent, just in case Ruan Cha missed something important.
【Ruan Cha, the WeChat message is from Fu Chen. Weren’t you two just discussing studying and the game project? He might—】

Before it could finish, it saw that the girl who said she needed to “calm down” had already picked up her phone and was quietly replying.

Rolling its round mochi body to the edge of the screen, 1128 peeked at the message.

Hmm.

Fu Chen had also gotten the news that Seven Pointed Star was closing.

Not only that, he said that when the restaurant reopened, if Ruan Cha needed someone to go with her, he was really looking forward to helping her use that meal card—
After all, it would be such a waste not to.

1128 stared, its big round head full of question marks.
Did Fu Chen really want to go just to not waste the card?

Wow, even rich people could be so frugal.

【Ruan Cha, aren’t you doing your science worksheet?】

Ruan Cha, satisfied, slipped her phone away and pulled out a language paper from the shelf.
“I’m in a good mood now. Language exercises feel more fitting.”

Even though their couple’s lunch had fallen through, Fu Chen had invited her to his house to study and tour the holographic sim room.
Of course Ruan Cha had said yes!

1128：【……】

Humans are way too emotionally complicated for a system to understand.

——

The next morning.

Ruan Cha was in a great mood after washing up, feeling refreshed as she went downstairs.
Seeing Liang Cunjin at the dining table, she looked surprised.
“Second Brother, you’re actually up early?”

“I wanted to sleep in.”
Liang Cunjin yawned, ruffling her hair while pretending not to see her glaring at him.
“But I’ve got a brand endorsement at noon. Gotta make money to support you.”

Ruan Cha plopped a soup dumpling onto his plate with a sweet smile.
“Thanks, Second Brother.”

Liang Cunjin happily ate the dumpling she gave him, then asked curiously,
“I’m only up early ‘cause I’ve got work. Why are you up so early? Got plans? Want a ride?”

“No need. Fu Chen said he’d pick me up.”
She sipped half her soy milk.
“We were supposed to go eat at Seven Pointed Star before heading to his place, but since it’s closed…”

“Fu Chen said his house has a really good chef, great at Hangzhou and Cantonese dishes. We talked it over and decided I’ll go eat at his place instead.”

Honestly, Ruan Cha did want to go.
But mainly, she couldn’t refuse after what Fu Chen had said:

“Cha Cha, I stayed at your place for two nights, you even showed me your storage room, and I’ve eaten at your house a bunch of times. Let me treat you just once, okay?”

↑ After reading that, how could she say no?

She didn’t want to say no!

Liang Cunjin nodded in understanding.

But even though he understood, something still felt… off.

At 9 AM, just minutes after Liang Cunjin’s chauffeur arrived, Fu Chen showed up too.
After exchanging pleasantries, he left with Ruan Cha, chatting and laughing.
His whole vibe screamed happiness—it was impossible to ignore.

Watching them go, Liang Cunjin scratched his chin, trying to sort out the strange gut feeling that had been bugging him since morning.
It only grew stronger when his manager teased him in the car.

“I didn’t get a good look, but that guy with Cha Cha earlier—is that her childhood friend?”

“Childhood friend? They’re practically bro—”
Liang Cunjin was mid-sentence, grinning, when he suddenly cut off, realization hitting him like a truck.
He smacked the back of the seat.
“Fu Chen, you sneaky little punk!”

He was just about to say that Fu Chen treated Ruan Cha like a little sister, but now it was obvious—Fu Chen’s every move made it very clear he didn’t just want to be her “brother”!

Liang Cunjin leaned back, one hand over his forehead, devastated.
I’m blind… completely blind! How did I not see this coming?!

You used to be the little brother… now you’re trying to be the brother-in-law?!

You sly fox!

——

Ruan Cha had no idea Liang Cunjin had just called Fu Chen out in his head.
And honestly, she didn’t want Fu Chen to treat her like a little sister either.
She already had two older brothers. She didn’t need another.

The Fu family’s villa was a bit larger than the Liang family’s.
After all, it had been passed down for generations, and if you included both the front and back gardens, the property spanned over 3,000 square meters.

Most people’s first reaction would be: “Wow, this place is huge.”

But Ruan Cha had grown up in a small town.
Her family’s three courtyards weren’t that large, but the artificial lake in the front and the several mountains behind their property all belonged to the Ruan family.
So if you were comparing land size, the Ruan family actually had more.

The main difference was in appearance.
The Fu and Liang villas were three stories tall, so visually, they looked bigger than the Ruan family’s estate.

Leading her inside, Fu Chen turned to look at her.
“Cha Cha, how about we check out the holographic simulation room first this morning?”

“Sure, we’ll check out the sim room first, then eat, and we’ll have the afternoon for studying.”
Ruan Cha thought the Fu home felt a little colder than the Liang home—not just in design, but in atmosphere too.

Throughout the whole place, there wasn’t a single auntie or house staff in sight, just one elderly butler with graying hair.

Ruan Cha glanced around. “Uncle Fu isn’t home?”

“He’s not,” Fu Chen replied with a shake of his head, leading her toward the sim room as he spoke softly.
“He has friends visiting from out of town. They made plans to play golf together.”

The butler following behind turned his face aside with a smile.
If his old eyes hadn’t been mistaken last night, he did catch Ah Chen persuading his boss to make weekend plans and get out of the house.

Fu Chen didn’t hear the butler’s silent commentary.
He had intentionally talked his dad into going out.
After all, it was Ruan Cha’s first time visiting.
He didn’t want her to feel nervous, and their alone time was already rare enough—he couldn’t let his dad take any more of it.

Most importantly—

Fu Chen lowered his gaze.
His dad already knew how he felt.
If all three of them ended up chatting and his dad accidentally said something, it’d be awkward for Cha Cha to deal with.

In his heart, Fu Chen felt like he was basically a “probationary boyfriend” already.
That couple’s meal card proved he was an important male figure in Ruan Cha’s eyes.

So no way he could let his dad ruin the moment during this critical phase.

The sim room was equipped with two recliner-style chairs, a bit bulkier than standard gaming chairs on the market but with much more advanced features.
When future tech fully matures, people would be able to lie in these chairs, put on a headset, and experience truly immersive gameplay.

Seeing the two chairs, Ruan Cha smiled.
“Fu Chen, do you and Uncle Fu test games here together sometimes?”

“He doesn’t do testing.”
Fu Chen pulled two helmets out of a metallic cabinet.
One was pink, with a Hogwarts crest embedded on the right side.
He handed the pink one to her.
“There’s two chairs. One for each of us.”

Ruan Cha looked down at the obviously-customized headset in her hands, momentarily stunned.

This thing probably took at least two weeks to make.
That meant Fu Chen had been planning to test games with her since over two weeks ago?

Before she could think deeper, Fu Chen powered up the system.
With a tap on the screen, a softly glowing planet expanded into view, slowly revealing a detailed post-apocalyptic landscape that awaited rebuilding.

“Cha Cha, before we test the game, there’s a new project I want to show you.”

“Remember how we said, once your mobile game is released, if possible, I’d help your company integrate holographic tech?”

He gestured toward the planet, where wastelands stretched into the horizon.
“I think we can add one more planet to the list you gave me.”

Ruan Cha blinked. “A new planet?”

Technically speaking, they were partners—
The Fu family was developing a martial arts-themed VR game, while hers leaned more toward future-based infrastructure.
After hearing her vision, Fu Chen had directly told her that if she ever wanted to make it holographic, he’d provide the tech from Sanjing.

To be honest, Ruan Cha felt like she was getting a bargain.
She barely had to pay and already gained access to holographic tech the Fu family had never shared with outsiders.

Fu Chen nodded.
“Yeah. You said you wanted to observe how players evolve. NPCs are probably more intuitive than game devs when it comes to that, right?”

“You’d be the sole planet master in the game. You’d assign tasks, and see how players perform.”

He looked up again, his dark eyes shimmering faintly with amusement.
“Right now, we can’t own real planets. But someday, I hope I can use holographic tech to let you become a planet master in-game—give you a planet of your own.”

Ruan Cha opened her mouth in shock, clearly caught off guard by Fu Chen’s proposal.

To be honest, she’d only wanted to observe player behavior so she could identify highly talented and hardworking ones, then give them access to deeper knowledge stored in the system’s digital library.

Sure, the title Planet Master sounded a little cheesy…

But she shamefully… loved the idea.

Also—

As a Planet Master NPC, she could clearly observe players and their behavior, even their values.

Fu Chen finished and waited for her reaction.
But she stayed quiet.
“Cha Cha, if you don’t like it—”

“I love it!”

She really, really loved it.
Getting to appear in the game as the central figure?
How could she not love that?

As soon as she said it, her eyes lit up as she looked at Fu Chen and seriously asked,
“Fu Chen, can I hug you?”

Fu Chen’s fingers tightened slightly around the helmet.
He heard her voice—and maybe even his own heartbeat.

When he didn’t respond right away, Ruan Cha took that as consent.
She shut her eyes and hugged him directly, even remembering to give herself a reason:

“Last time, you hugged me. I want to return the favor.”

Fu Chen: “……”

I hugged you once and in my heart, I’ve been hugging you ever since. If you’re gonna return it… could you maybe hug me for a lifetime?