Fu Yuanjun and Elder Tong were sitting in a quiet corner of the abandoned temple. Many heavy thoughts flashed through his mind. He felt that many things that had happened in his life were unfair, but from his childhood to the present, he had accepted a bitter truth: not everyone is a natural-born heir. He stared at the ordinary steamed bun in his hand, a humble source of comfort. He knew that many times in his life he had struggled for an ordinary bun, a common food that most people wouldn't even touch. He understood that he was forced to do things against his will so that the "other son" could inherit the family name and legacy without blood on his hands.
For Fu Yuanjun, he was the sword that had to cut down all the dense bushes and treacherous obstacles that stood in front of him and Cao Wenyan. He would ruthlessly clear the path so that Cao Wenyan could reach the destination set by Cao Fengge unimpeded. Because of this profound, lifelong sacrifice, he had lost his temper when Cao Wenyan had the audacity to complain about the very position and entitlement he had bled to secure for him. When Cao Wenyan's dreams were full of sweets and candies, he was the person whose dreams were full of nightmares.
He closed his eyes and sighed, then leaned his head against the cold, stone wall. He remembers...
He remembers...
Fu Yuanjun was sitting in a secluded wooden house, nibbling on a sweet potato. He was too young to know how to make a proper fire, and the nanny who had raised him had died four months ago. His small nails were bleeding from digging, but he didn't care because he was so overwhelmingly hungry. His father had assured him he would be back soon, but that was four months ago. He was stinky, filthy, and dangerously skinny.
Just when he was on the verge of starvation, his father, Cao Fengge, finally showed up. He walked into the house and coldly threw a bun onto the dirt floor. Fu Yuanjun grabbed it and ate the entire steamed bun in one desperate breath.
Cao Fengge watched him with an unsettling, assessing gaze. "Yuan'er, do you understand hunger now?"
Fu Yuanjun nodded, the memory of the past four months a searing lesson.
Cao Fengge walked to Fu Yuanjun and patted his left cheek lightly, a gesture of perverse affection. "You understand that everything I do here is for you."
Fu Yuanjun nodded again, accepting the twisted reasoning.
Cao Fengge continued, his voice devoid of emotion. "Do you remember everything I asked you to do?"
Fu Yuanjun nodded.
Cao Fengge laid out the terrifying path ahead. "Someone will come to pick you up later tonight. Your next training is very hard, but you have to endure it. You have to remember that to succeed in the future, every drop of sweat is worthy. Only those who have undergone the most brutal training can become champions."
Fu Yuanjun, clinging to the only connection he had, asked, "Father, when can I see you again?"
Cao Fengge's answer was the ultimate emotional blackmail. "If you want to see me, you must survive the training. If you succeed in your training, you will meet me, but if you fail in your training, you will never see me again."
Fu Yuanjun, desperate for his father's approval, vowed, "I will finish my training."
Cao Fengge replied cynically, "When I see you, I will believe what you say."
Fu Yuanjun squeezed his small hand into a fist, swearing in his heart that he would succeed in whatever Cao Fengge wanted him to do. He would be the best son.
That night, Cao Fengge gave him a bowl of congee. Fu Yuanjun was ravenously hungry and swallowed the bowl in one go. Then he remembered Cao Fengge gently tucking him into bed.
The next thing he remembered was the shocking sensation of pouring cold water on his body. When he opened his eyes, he was no longer in the warm bed but confined within a wooden cage with fifty other children of a similar young age.
Fu Yuanjun looked at these dirty and terrified children. There is no food or water in the wooden cage. The children are almost starving to death, but Fu Yuanjun is okay. He has been hungry for many days. It seems that Cao Fengge had specially trained him for this. On the seventh day, only thirty buns were thrown in the cage, and the children were vying for it. The older children took the bun from the younger children.
In the end, after untold brutality, Fu Yuanjun realized that apart from himself, there were only four children left in the wooden cage.
One day, the cage door opened, and a guard stood by the entrance.
The Guard called out, "Zhu Mingyang, Li Chong go to the right, you go to the left."
Fu Yuanjun watched as the two young boys' hands and feet were shackled by chains and they were led away by a man dressed in black, carrying a sword on his back.
The Guard then looked at the three remaining children: "The three of you come with me."
In the following five years, Fu Yuanjun used the pseudonym, Li Jizhu. He trained relentlessly every single day, proving his worth. He became the top student of his class. One day, his instructor told the boys that in the next ten days, everyone would gather at the Shaolin Temple to meet with the other three households and exchange skills.
Fu Yuanjun and nineteen other students were selected as the top students representing the Gu Household to compete with the other three households. For someone who had survived starvation and caged brutality, Fu Yuanjun was thrilled; he finally had a chance to prove his value to his father.
It was at the Shaolin competition that Fu Yuanjun finally understood what Cao Fengge truly meant when he spoke of the "training." While queuing with his classmates, he saw Cao Fengge walking confidently on the red carpet with a young boy two years younger than him and a little girl standing by his side.
Fu Yuanjun wanted so badly to step forward to say hello, to let Cao Fengge know that he was one of the top students in the class. He didn't expect much—just a smile, maybe a pat on the back—but Cao Fengge didn't even glance his way.
Fu Yuanjun immediately understood who this young man was when Gu Tingfang walked over and greeted him: Cao Wenyan, the legitimate son, the heir.
At the end of the competition, Cao Wenyan, bored and arrogant, came over and pointed his sword directly at Fu Yuanjun.
Cao Wenyan sneered, "Servant... I choose you to fight me."
Fu Yuanjun did not flinch. He channeled his entire being into proving his worth, determined to let Cao Fengge know that he was the better son. He looked at Cao Wenyan and replied with icy calm, "This servant accepts your challenge."
Fu Yuanjun and Cao Wenyan walked into the arena. Fu Yuanjun risked a glance at Cao Fengge from the corner of his eye, hoping for a flicker of recognition.
Cao Wenyan, however, noticed the look. "Why do you keep looking at my father? I noticed it since we got here. I hate those eyes of yours so much!" He looked madly at Fu Yuanjun. "I will dig your eyes out with my sword!"
Fu Yuanjun's defiance was absolute. "If this Young Master could dig out this servant's eyes... then this servant's eyes shall be yours." He stared coldly at Cao Wenyan, making no move to back down.
Inside Fu Yuanjun's heart, a desperate, silent vow was made: "Father, you treat me as if I am not your son, and you treat your other son as your golden egg. This bastard son will prove to you that he is not just a golden egg, but the rarest pantao in Xiwangmu's immortal peach garden."