He watched the flow of the water under the warm lighting, then couldn't resist looking at Lin Nuan, who had her brows tightly furrowed. There was an inexplicable feeling in his heart.
"Leave your hand under the cold water and don't move. I'll go upstairs and see if there are any ointments for burns," Lin Nuan instructed Fu Tianci.
His ears flushed as he nodded.
Seeing Lin Nuan head upstairs, Fu Tianci's body relaxed. He leaned his elbow against the edge of the sink, keeping the back of his hand under the water from the running tap, which had turned a transparent shade of gold under the warm lighting.
Upstairs, Fu Huai'an had carried Tuan Tuan back to his room. He saw Fu Tianci at the door with one hand on the door handle and the other browsing through late-night food deliveries on his phone. At the sight of Fu Huai'an upstairs, Fu Tianci got a shock and quickly hid his phone behind his back.
Fu Huai'an thought of how Fu Tianci must not have eaten with all that had happened, so he told him to eat something downstairs.
The moment he went downstairs, Fu Tianci could smell the aroma of home-cooked food from the kitchen.
Fu Tianci never had much chance to taste his own mother's cooking. When he was little, his mother was always busy, so she either bought him takeout or took him out to eat.
Later, after becoming Fu Tianci, he had a chef and servants right in his home.
Sometimes, Fu Tianci would miss those times when he was still Lu Tianyu, when he would eat at his cla.s.smates' homes and get to taste the home-cooked food made by their mothers, particularly envious of them.
The home-cooked taste was something shops outside, or even the specially hired chefs of the Fu Manor, couldn't emulate.
But Fu Tianci liked that taste…
To have someone get busy in the kitchen at this late hour gave Fu Tianci a feeling of warmth in his heart.
He guessed that no matter how late Fu Huai'an came back, Lin Nuan would wait up for him like this?
Fu Tianci's mother had always been strict with Fu Tianci. Generally, after 7 pm, he wasn't allowed to eat anything, not even fruit. His mother had said that this was called discipline and that only a disciplined person could amount to great things.
At the thought of his mother, Fu Tianci's eyes started watering…
Actually, his mother had always been doting on him. However, when it came to matters concerning the Kaide Corporation, his mother had a hard stance, making Fu Tianci feel that she only cared if the Kaide Corporation would land in his hands and that she didn't care about him as a person.
Sometimes, Fu Tianci even felt like he was a card in his own mother's hand, a mere tool.
Upon hearing Lin Nuan's light footsteps as she descended the stairs, Fu Tianci rubbed his swollen eyes with the other hand.
"Leave it under the water for a while longer…" Lin Nuan placed the medicine on the tabletop as she advised Fu Tianci. Afterward, she took out another rice bowl from the kitchen cabinet, though she didn't fill it with rice.
Fu Tianci stood there as he let the cold water run over his hand, watching Lin Nuan take the dishes and soup over to the dining table.
Fu Huai'an had already changed into his home clothes before coming downstairs.
Lin Nuan had already told him about Fu Tianci's scalded hand when she was looking for the ointment for burns upstairs earlier, so he merely sat down and didn't ask about it. He gazed up at Lin Nuan, who was coming over with the rice bowls, gentleness in his eyes. "What a sumptuous spread…"
Lin Nuan smiled. Because Fu Tianci was around, she merely smiled but didn't say anything else.
This was a meal Lin Nuan had specially prepared to please Fu Huai'an, so of course it was sumptuous!
Fu Tianci's gaze swept over the rice bowls Lin Nuan just brought over to Fu Huai'an. There were two rice bowls in her hands; she had set one in front of Fu Huai'an, the other in front of herself. There wasn't a share for him…
Fu Tianci's mouth twitched, his eyes suddenly burning up with tears as he stared at the running water. He had no idea if he was twitching his mouth in nonchalance for himself or for other people to see.
So what if there wasn't a share for him? Did he lack those few morsels of food? If Fu Huai'an hadn't asked him to come down, he wouldn't have come down in the first place!
It wasn't as if he couldn't afford the money to order takeout, did he care for her food?
Seeing Lin Nuan scoop a bowl of soup for Fu Huai'an, then scoop out another bowl of soup, Fu Tianci spitefully whipped out his phone from his dirty jeans pocket and opened the food delivery app. In a breath, he ordered pasta and three boxes of little lobsters pizzas. He didn't believe… outside food wouldn't taste better than her cooking.
Fu Tianci had just set down his phone when Lin Nuan drew a few napkins and handed them to Fu Tianci. "Wipe your hands dry and apply the ointment! Can you apply it yourself?"
Fu Tianci lowered his head, receiving the napkins from Lin Nuan without as much as looking at her. He then grabbed the ointment off the countertop, not uttering a sound.
Lin Nuan entered the kitchen and scooped some rice for Fu Tianci. Seeing that Fu Tianci was still applying the ointment, she brought the steaming hot bowl of rice and set it down opposite of her on the table. "Come over and eat after you're done applying the ointment!"
Fu Tianci looked up and saw Lin Nuan setting down a pair of chopsticks opposite her, same as the second bowl of soup she had scooped; there was no soup in front of her.
After being out at room temperature for a while, the temperature of the soup was just right for consumption. Fu Tianci sat across from Lin Nuan, noticing that she had scooped very little rice for herself.
"Are you not drinking soup?" Fu Tianci asked in a small voice.
"I need to control my weight, it's easy to get fat from drinking soup at night…" Lin Nuan explained.
Even if Lin Nuan wasn't a celebrity, she had to appear on screens; she indeed wouldn't look as good if she got fat.
Fu Tianci's mood suddenly brightened. He nodded and finished his bowl of soup in a few big gulps. It wasn't too hot, the temperature was just right, exactly like his mood at this very moment.
"Let Uncle Hu take you to the shoot tomorrow…" Fu Huai'an said to Lin Nuan as he drank a mouthful of his soup.
Perhaps because Fu Tianci was around, Fu Huai'an didn't talk dirty like he usually did when only the two of them were around.
"Letting Uncle Hu take me to the station building will do. Ms. Fang sent me a text this afternoon saying that she would pick me up from there…"
Fang Yan had originally asked Lin Nuan where her home was and said that she could pick Lin Nuan up from her home, but Lin Nuan didn't want anyone else to find out about her marriage to Fu Huai'an for the time being, so she just said to meet at the entrance of the station building.
Since Fu Tianci would be going there as well for a recording, he chirped up after thinking about it, "I'm going to the station building tomorrow too, can you bring me along?"
Lin Nuan was about to nod when Fu Huai'an interrupted, saying, "Things have gotten to such a state, and you still want to go?"
From his tone of voice, there was no intention to slight him, and neither was he questioning him. It was just a calm inquiry, as if he was talking about an everyday affair.
Fu Tianci gripped the spoon in his hand. He was unable to detect Fu Huai'an's tone, so he didn't know if Fu Huai'an was trying to stop him. After a moment's silence, he said, "I don't want to be the puppet Fu Tianci who is manipulated by other people. I also have my own dreams. I've reached an agreement with my mother, if I don't manage to clinch the champions.h.i.+p this time, I'll never touch this stuff again! No matter what, I want to work hard for my dreams for this once and not just be the Fu Tianci other people expect me to be!"
Previously, Fu Tianci's mother had never expected Fu Tianci would unanimously get rave reviews from the panel of judges; in the eyes of Fu Tianci's mother, it was normal for kids of this adolescent age to harbor dreams of becoming a celebrity, to want all the attention and adoration celebrities received.
