Song Jingyu, who was all smiles, had stepped out but stopped in her tracks all of a sudden. Especially after she heard Fu Chengyan call out the number. Her face was filled with disbelief. She glared at the number tag in his hands and heard him asking the crowd in a teasing manner. “May I know which of you ladies is number 520?”
Everyone looked down to check their numbers, but no one responded.
Fu Chengyan looked around. “No one?”
Shi Wei and Bai Qing, too, checked their numbers and were disappointed when they realized it wasn’t them.
“How is that possible? It can’t be!” Song Jingyu walked towards Fu Chengyan and snatched the number tag away from his hand. When she saw the number on it, she screamed, “It can’t be, it just can’t be!”
Fu Chengyan turned and asked, “Why can’t it be? What’s wrong? Is there anything wrong with the number I picked?” Fu Chengyan’s voice was frosty as he glared at Song Jingyu.
Song Jingyu suddenly realized what she had done. She quickly hid the number tag in her hand and shook her head. “Nothing, Yan, I didn’t mean that!”
“Give it back!” Fu Chengyan furrowed his eyebrows and took the number tag back from her hands. “Mai Qi, check the list to see who number 520 is.”
“Um, okay, I’ll do it at once…”
“You don’t need to.” A lady suddenly emerged from the audience. She wore a white shirt and a woolen top underneath with a chic black coat on the outside. She looked smart and professional. And because of her attire, she also stood out since everyone else was wearing a gown.
She held a number tag in her hand and held it up for all to see. “I’m number 520. I’m sorry, I was busy searching for it in my bag. I thought I had forgotten to bring it with me.”
Her voice was casual and didn’t carry much emotion. When compared to all the other ladies who were dying of excitement, she seemed calm as a cucumber.
The hall was instantly filled with chatters. Although they were all from the same company, the different departments did not really know each other well. It was because Shengyuan was very big and had many employees.
“Oh, it’s Shi Nuan. Mr. Fu, it’s Ms. Shi from the project management department!” Mai Qi said in delight. “Mr. Fu, I’ve just checked, and it indeed is her!” Mai Qi pointed at Shi Nuan as she smiled.
Fu Chengyan’s eyes sparkled, but he projected a calm facade. He tried to hold his smile back. “Are you Ms. Shi?”
“Yes, Mr. Fu!” Shi Nuan laughed. “Thank you for giving me the opportunity.”
“It’s just your good fortune.” Fu Chengyan smiled. “I guess fate has brought us together!”
Shi Nuan was stunned, and her eyes were filled with surprise. The audience who heard them yelled in delight. They had not expected Fu Chengyan to flirt with Shi Nuan in public.
Shi Nuan was stunned for a short moment but recovered her senses quickly. “You sure like to make jokes. I think fate has brought every one of us here tonight. Isn’t that so?”
“Yes…yes…yes.”
“Yes.”
Shi Nuan smiled. “It’s just that I’m a bit luckier today. I must still thank you for your Midas touch to have picked me.”
Fu Chengyan grinned. “Lin Yu, your assistant really has a way with words.”
Lin Yu was stunned for a second when his name was called. He stood up immediately and smiled. “Mr. Fu, you’re being too kind. Shi Nuan…is indeed very capable.”
While they were chatting, Song Jingyu, who was standing beside them, felt as she had been struck by lightning. She stared at Shi Nuan’s face dumbfounded as she couldn’t believe her eyes, “You…You are…”
Song Jingyu pointed at Shi Nuan. “Yan, she…she…”
Fu Chengyan’s shot a fierce glance at Song Jingyu from the corner of his eyes. He then immediately looked at Song Zhenyan, who was below the stage. He saw the shocked expression on Song Zhenyan’s face as if she had seen a ghost. She would have collapsed if not for Fu Sheng supporting her.
“Mother, I think Song Jingyu is tired from hosting today. You should take her backstage!”
Song Zhenyan glared fiercely at Shi Nuan when she recovered her composure.
Shi Nuan was puzzled as to why Song Zhenyan was glaring at her. She then heard Song Jingyu scream and saw that she had lost all the poise she carried with her earlier. “No, Yan, I won’t leave. This woman is a witch. Yan, have you already forgotten? She betrayed you all those years ago. How could you…”
“Enough!” Song Zhenyan rushed forward and grabbed Song Jingyu’s hand. “What are you babbling about?” Song Zhenyan walked closer and said, “Look properly, she is not Shen Qianan. Do you know where we are?”
Song Jingyu realized her mistake and looked at Song Zhenyan. “But Aunt Song…”
“Yan, Jingyu is tired. I’ll take her someplace to rest. As for the annual meeting…I’m sure you can take care of it!”
“Take care!”
Fu Chengyan nodded and motioned for Zhou Zheng to come. “Ask Jiang Hu to have two of his men accompany them.”
“Yes, Mr. Fu!”
Zhou Zheng got Jiang Hu to arrange for two of his bodyguards. “Madam, Ms. Song, this way please!”
Song Zhenyan knew that today wasn’t the time or place to kick up a fuss despite how upset she was. She could only grudgingly take Song Jingyu to rest backstage.
The dispute was just a small distraction to the evening and was quickly forgotten. It was a big day for the company, and it was also obvious that it was Fu Chengyan’s personal matter. No one could interfere, and neither did anyone dare to.
When Fu Sheng saw Song Zhenyan leave, he looked at Fu Chengyan before turning his attention to Fu Sheng and Ning Xin. He had mixed feelings about it. “It appears both of you already know?”
Fu Heng replied, “I won’t deny it if you believe that to be true.”
“That girl…”
Fu Heng squinted his eyes as he helped Ning Xin sit properly. “Brother, we’re already old. Let’s not interfere with his life.”
“But, that girl. She…”
“She’s called Shi Nuan, didn’t you hear it just now? She works in Shengyuan’s project management department. As she works under Lin Yu, how bad can she be? However, not everything is set in stone yet!”
Fu Sheng raised an eyebrow. “It looks like you know more than I do!”
“That’s not true!”
Fu Chengyan walked down the stage and took a look around. After that, he approached Shi Nuan and smiled at her. “I wonder how lucky I am to be able to have the honor of dancing with you?” Fu Chengyan reached out his hand in a chivalrous manner.
Shi Nuan hesitated for a moment as she looked around. She kept thinking about what Song Jingyu had said just now. She felt that Song Jingyu had been acting unpredictably and was saying things that didn’t really make sense. She didn’t seem to be of sound mind. But who is the lady that she kept bringing up? The look that Song Jingyu gave her was a very strange one indeed.
“Ms. Shi?” Fu Chengyan couldn’t help but raised his eyebrows when he saw Shi Nuan space out. “Huh?”
Shi Nuan recovered her senses and saw a familiar pair of hands in front of her. She bit her lip and placed her hands in his. “The pleasure is mine.”
Fu Chengyan smiled as he led Shi Nuan to the center of the ballroom with one hand. He then put his other hand behind her waist in a gentlemanly manner.
Both of them became the focal point of everyone’s attention. It wasn’t just the ladies; even the men sighed with disappointment when they saw both of them together. If one were to look at Shi Nuan alone, her dressing seemed to be too monotonous today. In fact, it might actually be rude given the occasion.
However, when she stood beside Fu Chengyan, both of them looked inexplicably well matched. Especially with their relatively ordinary clothes. However, it made them both stand out from the crowd.
The music began to play as they stood in the center of the dance floor. Fu Chengyan held Shi Nuan’s waist with his hand as he started leading her. Shi Nuan was wearing three-inch heels today, which put her at the perfect height to match the tall Fu Chengyan.
Both of them started to dance gracefully on the dance floor. Their movements had great symmetry as they flowed with the rhythm. It was as if they were born to do this.
Shi Nuan was all smiles. She was initially worried that she had forgotten the steps but did not expect Fu Chengyan to be well-practiced. Soon enough, she quickly got into her groove with him leading her on.
Fu Chengyan looked proudly at Shi Nuan as if she was the only one he could see and no one else was there. “May, how do you find my dancing?”
Fu Chengyan asked in a very soft tone where only both of them could hear. Shi Nuan couldn’t help but let out a smile, “You really are full of surprises, I couldn’t be any happier!”
“Oh?” Fu Chengyan raised his eyebrow and said, “So, were you surprised?”
Shi Nuan raised her eyebrow too and pretended to be angry. “More shocked than surprised.”
“Being feisty now, are we!” Fu Chengyan didn’t believe her. He smiled. “I thought that you would be touched. Especially since I spent a lot of effort in making sure I got your number.”
“Hmph!” Shi Nuan felt a little embarrassed. “After such a high-profile display, I’m going to have a target at my back.” Although she was really happy with the surprise that Fu Chengyan had planned for her, she felt that it might sow the seeds of future problems.
“Don’t worry. I’ve already planted another bomb right in front of you.”
“Bomb?” Shi Nuan was stunned and turned her head immediately. She saw Shi Wei standing at a corner, glaring at them with animosity. “Are you talking about Shi Wei?”
Fu Chengyan raised an eyebrow. “Mm-hmm!”
“I don’t think it succeeded!” At least Song Jingyu went ballistic when she saw Shi Nuan just now. Shi Nuan felt that Song Jingyu wouldn’t do anything to Shi Wei and would be coming for her instead.
A woman’s intuition was usually correct, and that was why it worried Shi Nuan.
“Why was Song Jingyu so upset just now? When she heard that the number picked was 520, I could see from her face that she couldn’t believe it. Did she know about the number tag?”
Fu Chengyan pursed his lips. “It’s just a small matter.” He then said, “I promise you that Song Jingyu would not do anything to you.”
“Why?”
“You will know when the time comes.” As Fu Chengyan spoke, he spun Shi Nuan around. “Enough. Let’s concentrate on the dance and not think about anyone else.”
“Alright.” Shi Nuan nodded as she smiled at him. She swung away at his cue and came back before making another spin. She finally lay in his arms to end the first dance.
The audience erupted into loud applause as Fu Chengyan kept Shi Nuan in his arms. After a long while, he finally let her go with a smile. “Ms. Shi, you dance really well!”
