Chapter 39: The Future
After Fei Han finished speaking, the atmosphere in the study suddenly fell silent.
A gentle breeze blew in through the slightly ajar window, rustling the thick pile of documents on the table.
It took Fei Jing a long while to recover from this astonishing conjecture. He opened his mouth with difficulty. “Wen Yuan’s timeline?”
This theory was a bit beyond Fei Jing’s comprehension, as if he had suddenly crossed from the real world to the interstellar era, where the parallel universe theory had appeared.
Indeed, he had underestimated his eldest brother’s mind. What was asexual reproduction? Who knew, maybe one day he would break through the shackles of this world and directly bring back his parallel-world self. Wouldn’t that mean there would be two devastatingly handsome Fei Hans?
At this thought, the hair on Fei Jing’s neck stood on end. He quickly closed his eyes and shook these terrifying thoughts out of his mind.
Fei Han also placed the documents in his hand back on the table, let out a soft “hmm,” and then continued.
“I think there’s a deviation between the timeline we know and the one Wen Yuan and those outsiders know.”
Fei Han paused. Seeing the serious look in his father’s half-closed eyes, he knew the other had taken his words to heart.
Although it was indeed a bit of a fantasy, and even last night when Fei Han was searching through various papers and suddenly thought of this, it had taken him a lot of effort to convince himself. But this conjecture was indeed the best explanation he could find for the current situation.
“We already know the result: Nuonuo is related to Father by blood. So, if we work backwards, under what circumstances is a life born? One is the union of parents, which is Wen Yuan’s timeline, where she and Father had a relationship and had Nuonuo. The other is the current situation, where Nuonuo might not have a mother at all.”
This long deduction made Fei Jing’s head ache a little. He gently massaged his forehead with his slender white fingers, feeling that he needed a moment to accept Fei Han’s strange theory. But after sorting it out, Fei Jing actually felt that what Fei Han said made a lot of sense.
“So Nuonuo really is a product of asexual reproduction?” Fei Jing’s fingers came down, trembling slightly as he looked at Fei Han in shock.
Fei Han nodded. “Actually, with current technology, it’s not entirely impossible…”
“Stop!” Fei Jing didn’t want to listen to Fei Han’s long lecture on those headache-inducing academic concepts and quickly interrupted him. “I know, just stop talking.”
Fei Zhiyan leaned back in his chair, his eyes slightly narrowed, his fingers once again unconsciously tapping on the desk as he quietly pondered what Fei Han had said.
After Fei Han finished speaking, he was silent for a moment before continuing. “Of course, the above theory could also be overturned. For example, if the conclusion was wrong from the beginning, and Nuonuo is not Father’s child.”
“That’s impossible.”
Fei Zhiyan, who was deep in thought, directly spoke up, refuting this assertion.
Fei Han didn’t say anything more. His thin lips were pursed, and his eyes held a hint of envy that he himself hadn’t even noticed.
Fei Han was the first child to be adopted by Fei Zhiyan.
Unlike Fei Jing and Fei Luo, who didn’t know their parents, Fei Han had an outstanding IQ since he was a child and remembered things from when he was one or two very clearly. So Fei Han knew very well that he was the one who had been abandoned by his parents.
There were too many children in his family. Compared to the silent, cold, and aloof Fei Han, his parents clearly preferred the younger siblings who were born later. Although they were not as smart as Fei Han, they had the innocence and liveliness of ordinary children, who would follow their parents around, acting spoiled and asking for candy, instead of being like Fei Han, who always had an icy expression.
Fei Han’s parents even felt that they had taken the wrong child back then. Otherwise, why was Fei Han so different from them? He could even correct his parents’ mistakes with a straight face when he was only two or three.
His parents were not a wealthy family and couldn’t afford to raise so many children. After much deliberation, they had abandoned Fei Han at the entrance of a crowded supermarket.
They had said at the time, “Hanhan, you wait here. Mommy and Daddy will go buy you some ice cream.”
Fei Han knew very well that his parents were not going to buy him ice cream. They would just get into the taxi at the corner of the street and, with guilt and feigned reluctance, take his younger siblings and leave.
Leaving him alone in a crowd of strangers.
That ice cream, which only his younger siblings had ever eaten, Fei Han had not gotten to wait for this time either.
It wasn’t until the lights came on and night fell that Fei Han was seen by the passing Fei Zhiyan, who took the dusty little puppy-like him home.
So, compared to Fei Luo and Fei Jing, Fei Han had a little more respect and affection for his father.
Perhaps because he had never been favored and was never the exception, Fei Han had already disliked Nuonuo in his heart before he even met him. But after actually meeting Nuonuo, his previous dislike had also dissipated a lot due to Nuonuo’s silly and dazed appearance.
But he would still be envious.
With a barely perceptible sigh, Fei Han lifted his eyes, which had regained their calmness. “Why don’t we do a test? Although the merman race is different from humans, as long as it’s a parent-child relationship, there will definitely be similar genetic material in the blood.”
Fei Zhiyan actually felt it was unnecessary. He had already accepted in his heart that Nuonuo was his child. But a test would indeed be more convincing, so he nodded in agreement.
“Then is Eldest Brother’s guess right? Is Wen Yuan really from another world?”
Fei Jing crossed his arms, tapped his chin with his finger, and frowned in thought.
Fei Han looked up, his gaze like he was looking at a fool. He opened his thin lips and said something that made Fei Jing furious. “You should read more books instead of messing around in the entertainment industry. Of course, Wen Yuan can’t be from another world. Parallel worlds can’t intersect. Do you know the consequences of them intersecting? It would be like two planets colliding, and everything would be destroyed.”
A small angry cross appeared on Fei Jing’s forehead. He really wanted to sew up Fei Han’s mouth, which couldn’t say anything nice. “Fine, I don’t understand. Then what do you think is going on?”
With his arms crossed, Fei Jing looked at Fei Han with his light-colored, cold eyes.
Fei Han also furrowed his brow, glanced at Fei Jing, and then said, “Perhaps her consciousness is from another world. It can’t travel through space, but her spiritual power can.”
This point actually touched the limit of Fei Han’s knowledge reserve. He could only offer a rough guess. “Wen Yuan’s experiences in another world have been integrated into her current consciousness, which is the so-called ‘rebirth.’ Knowing the future, that’s why she came to find her ‘son’.”
But in fact, in this world, Nuonuo was not Wen Yuan’s son.
Fei Jing let out a soft “tsk” after hearing this. Thinking of Wen Yuan’s crazed appearance, it was clear that she saw Nuonuo as her own property. If she knew the truth, wouldn’t her consciousness just collapse?
The thought was actually quite satisfying. Fei Jing’s lips curled up slightly, and for some reason, he wanted to see Wen Yuan’s belief collapse, to see her in despair.
Fei Zhiyan, on the other hand, lifted his eyes and glanced at Fei Jing, a warning in them.
The thought that had just risen in Fei Jing’s mind was instantly extinguished like a small flame doused by a bucket of ice water.
“Fei Jing, if I remember correctly, you just turned sixteen.”
Fei Zhiyan felt that this second son’s personality was really a headache. So he thought for a moment and decided to find something for him to do.
Fei Jing saw the coldness in his father’s eyes and inexplicably felt a chill run down his back, a very bad feeling.
Sure enough, in the next second, Fei Zhiyan continued, “What university are you planning to apply to?”
Fei Jing had started school early and had also skipped a grade, so he had just graduated from high school. But he had never thought of going to university. After all, he didn’t need such a high level of education to work in the entertainment industry.
“I think my current knowledge is still sufficient.”
Fei Jing still wanted to struggle a bit, trying to save himself from the impending swamp of academics.
“I think you need it very much.” Fei Zhiyan gave a faint smile and decisively made the arrangements for him. “This year’s college entrance exams have just finished, so let’s make it next year. I’ll give you one year. At the very least, you have to get into Yuncheng University.”
As Fei Zhiyan spoke, he even stretched out his arm and pressed a few buttons on the landline. “Keith, come and arrange for high school tutors for the second young master. By this time next year, I hope to see Fei Jing receive his acceptance letter.”
Fei Jing was completely numb. His usually dazzling golden hair seemed to have lost its luster at this moment, and his light, glass-like pupils were also devoid of any spirit. In that instant, he seemed to have empathized with Fei Luo, who was always immersed in his own world.
Yuncheng University, a world-class university. Besides that, only Huacheng University in Huazhou could compare.
Which one of the students who got into this school wasn’t a genius with an super-high IQ?
Seeing Fei Jing’s “the sky is falling” expression, Fei Han’s previously annoyed mood instantly lifted. “My alma mater. Little Jing, don’t worry. If there’s anything you don’t understand, I can help you.”
Raising an eyebrow slightly, Fei Han said in a very brotherly manner.
Hearing Fei Han’s suddenly gentle tone, Fei Jing just let out a couple of emotionless “heh”s.
“That’s it then. Fei Jing, you go find Keith and arrange for the upcoming courses.”
With Fei Zhiyan’s final decision, Fei Jing could only leave with his head drooping.
After the door closed, Fei Zhiyan finally said, “Fei Han, continue with your previous conjecture.”
Fei Han nodded. “Although the information we have now is very limited, it’s clear that Wen Yuan and those outsiders have the same understanding of the future. I guess that in the other world, there is no future at all, so Father, your plan… should have succeeded.”
Fei Zhiyan had never hidden his dislike for humans from Fei Han. In fact, Fei Han had even experimented and researched a potion that would make humans mutate, based on his preferences. Once successful, and combined with Fei Zhiyan’s power and status, the destruction of the world didn’t seem too difficult.
Propping his chin on his hand, Fei Zhiyan lowered his eyes, his cold expression unchanging. He had thought he would feel pleased hearing this, but for some reason, his heart felt a little heavy.
The birds outside were chirping again. On the lawn below, Nuonuo’s giggles came through the crack in the window, light and cheerful, full of joy and excitement. It seemed that at any time, this silly little one was always happy.
Fei Zhiyan thought of the little dumpling’s expression when he had lazed in his arms in the morning, and his eyes unconsciously softened. “We’ll talk about this later.”
Fei Zhiyan avoided the topic and stood up, walking to the window. He looked down and saw Nuonuo chasing a ball.
“Papa!”
Nuonuo lifted his little face. Seeing his papa’s slender figure behind the floor-to-ceiling window, his little eyes lit up, and he ran to the window with his little hands held high.
