After watching Shi Nuan leave with the two men in suits with a frown, Lin Yu took the elevator and made a beeline for Fu Chengyan’s office.
As he made his entrance looking flustered, Mai Qi immediately greeted him, “Mr. Lin, are you here for Mr. Fu?”
“Yes, where’s he?”
“He’s gone out with Mr. Zhou. Do you have anything urgent to tell him?” Seeing the worried expression on Lin Yu’s face, Mai Qi suggested, “You may tell me, and I’ll pass the message to him.”
“There’s no need for that.”
As Fu Chengyan was not in, Lin Yu had no choice but to leave. However, he quickly dialed the former’s number because he was worried about Shi Nuan’s safety. Yet, he couldn’t reach Fu Chengyan because he was somewhere out of coverage area. That only deepened the crease on Lin Yu’s forehead.
Shi Nuan got into a car with the two suited men. The car kept moving forward, but none of them told her where they were heading to.
Thinking that it would do her no good to be panicked, she decided to be patient and find out why Old Master Fu wanted to meet her. Her mind slowly wandered to her last encounter with Fu Chengyan’s mother, Song Zhenyan, which escalated into something horrible. Because of that experience, she decided to steel herself to face Old Master Fu, who was highly likely to be even more difficult to deal with than Song Zhenyan.
Holding her head low, she fished out her phone from her bag. One of the suited men at the front passenger seat instantly whirled around and fixed his sharp gaze on her.
Looking stunned, Shi Nuan raised her eyebrows slightly and said in what sounded like a breezy tone, “Why are you staring at me like that? Can’t I even check and reply to my messages?” She added with a relaxed smile, “If I’m not mistaken, Old Master Fu only instructed you guys to bring me to his place instead of restricting my freedom.”
It was obvious that the suited men were taken aback by what she said. They couldn’t help but admit that Shi Nuan had a point – it was true that they had not been asked to do so. However, the sight of her holding her phone was alarming. Is she trying to ask for help?
“Don’t worry; I’m only chatting with my friend. I’m not trying to reach Fu Chengyan!” Waving the screen of her phone at him, she chuckled. “Why are you guys so uptight about this? It’s not like I’m a criminal!”
“Ms. Shi, I advise you to behave yourself,” the man warned.
Shi Nuan couldn’t help but roll her eyes in her mind at the man. Despite feeling reluctant, she stuffed her phone back into her bag obediently. She pressed a button on her phone before leaving it in her bag. After that, she was on her best behavior.
The two suited guys stopped giving her a hard time after that. During the rest of the journey, she switched on her chatterbox mode by talking to the two guys non-stop. As they ignored her most of the time, she decided to talk to herself.
Soon, the car pulled up in front of a seaside mansion. After exiting the car, she followed the two guys into the mansion. One of them cast her a glance before saying, “Old Master Fu is waiting for you upstairs.”
She raised her brows at him. “Should I go look for him?”
“Please just wait for him here.”
“Okay!” She nodded at him before adding, “May I have a glass of water? My mouth is parched. I haven’t drunk a drop of water since I was at the construction site. I reckon your boss didn’t ask you guys to abuse me, did he?”
The two guys narrowed their eyes at her before one of them bellowed irritably, “I’ll go upstairs to get Old Master Fu while you go and get her a glass of water!”
Wearing a smirk, Shi Nuan first thanked the guy in a level voice before sitting down on the sofa. After making sure the suited guy had left to the kitchen to fetch her a glass of water, she made use of the opportunity to give the mansion a scan. The guy made it back quickly enough. Handing her the water, he yelled at her, “Drop your escape plan if you’re trying to come up with one!”
“Why would I even need such a thing?” With composure, she took a sip of the water and leaned back against the sofa, pretending to look calm while waiting for Old Master Fu. She had no idea what was on Fu Zhengyun’s mind or what he planned to do to her. However, she knew there was no point in looking restless or anxious at the moment.
After waiting in the living room for around half an hour, Old Master Fu was still nowhere in sight. She furrowed her brows slightly, wondering what he might be hiding up his sleeves.
In the meantime, Fu Zhengyun was staring at the CCTV footage upstairs. He had been observing every action and movement of Shi Nuan right from the time she entered the mansion.
He was really surprised by her composure; she did not fidget much even after having been waiting for more than half an hour. Other than asking for a glass of water at the beginning, she was showing no signs of losing her patience.
Standing next to Fu Zhengyun was his butler, who was also watching Shi Nuan from the CCTV camera. He, too, was slightly amazed by her poise.
Fu Zhengyun knitted his brows at the screen and asked, “What do you make of this girl?”
The question was meant for the butler, who looked stunned to be asked such a question. After a moment of contemplation, he answered, “Old Master, I’m not good at judging people.”
Hmph! Fu Zhengyun snorted icily, “We should steer clear from this girl!”
“Why is that so?”
“It’s because she’s got even more composure than Song Jingyu and Shen Qianan.”
“Isn’t that a good thing? Young Master Chengyan is in need of someone like that to assist him.” The butler was puzzled by Fu Zhengyun’s reaction. Yet, the elderly man disdainfully cast the butler an oblique glance. “Do you think I’m wrong to think of her in that way?” he asked.
“Certainly not!” As the butler of the Fu family, he knew his opinion did not carry much weight.
Then, Fu Zhengyun returned his gaze on the screen to continue staring at Shi Nuan.
In fact, he had to admit that the girl was indeed quite excellent. He knew she was also outstanding at work, judging from her performance at Shengyuan. Despite that, he still would not give his permission to the marriage between Fu Chengyan and her. The calmer she was, the more she looked like the perfect girl for Fu Chengyan, the more determined he was to make sure the girl stayed away from his family.
The family only needed one talented person at its helm. What his grandson needed was a girl like Song Jingyu or Shen Qianan – a girl who came from a rich and powerful family. In comparison to them, it seemed hard to keep Shi Nuan under control. On top of that, he was not satisfied with her family background either.
“Let’s go and meet her now.”
“Right away!”
The butler quickly offered his help as Fu Zhengyun took the stairs, making his way to the living room.
Meanwhile, Shi Nuan had been patiently waiting and wondering what Old Master Fu was up to.
He had not shown up yet, although he had asked her to meet him there. All she could do was wait because she couldn’t figure him out.
Only after quite a long while did Fu Zhengyun arrive at the living room together with the butler.
Immediately, she rose to her feet and greeted him, “Grandpa!”
“Ms. Shi, I’m afraid I don’t deserve to be addressed by you in that way.” It was clear that Fu Zhengyun did not buy her adulatory tone.
A pleasant smile spread across Shi Nuan’s face. In a gentle tone, she explained, “I’m calling you that simply out of basic courtesy because you’re of a similar age as my own grandfather. Since I’ve done my part to show my manners, it’s up to you whether you’re willing to accept it or not.”
With that, Shi Nuan freed herself from the awkward situation effortlessly.
Watching Fu Zhengyun making his way over, she flashed him a faint smile. “May I know why you’ve asked me here?”
Fu Zhengyun, who had his brows furrowed, was slightly irritated by how unfazed Shi Nuan was in response to the trouble he had brought upon her. However, it took him a short time to adjust his emotions, thinking that it was inappropriate of him to get mad at a young girl.
“Ms. Shi, may I know more about your family members?”
With her eyebrows slightly raised, Shi Nuan wondered whether Old Master Fu was finally losing his cool. Judging the way he had posed her the question, she knew he had already done exhaustive research on her family tree before this.
She braced herself to answer him with a smile. “I have my parents, my Granddad, my Grandpa, and a sister.”
“Oh, is that so?” Fu Zhengyun quirked an eyebrow, taken aback by how readily she answered his question. “By the way, I heard from the grapevine that you’ve not been on good terms with your family members.”
“Grandpa, isn’t it common sense to take rumors with a pinch of salt? Sometime before this, I too heard about the rumored dispute among your family members who weren’t completely fine with having Yan as the successor to the family wealth!”
“You…” Fu Zhengyun leaped to his feet furiously and snapped, “Shi Nuan, I’m going straight to the point with you here. Look, I don’t care whether you and Yan have married each other or not because I’m not going to accept you as one of us in any event. So, you’d better don’t get your hopes up.”
“Old Master Fu, aren’t you going to share with me some of your insights on a familial relationship?” Instead of looking obedient as docile like how she had been earlier, Shi Nuan looked up at him and fearlessly stared straight into his eyes.
“Since you’ve decided to be straightforward with me, I don’t mind making my stance clear to you either.” Clearing her throat and sitting with her back straight, Shi Nuan forced herself to stay calm. At the same time, her eyes were gleaming with determination.
“In fact, Yan and I already married each other six months ago. It was Yan who proposed such a plan to me. Since we are married, we plan to keep it that way forever. I’ve never thought of leaving him unless he dumps me first. Until the day he asks to break up with me, no one will be able to break us apart.”
“You certainly sound arrogant!” All of a sudden, Fu Zhengyun knocked his walking stick against the floor with a loud thud.
He fixed his sunken eyes on her as he raged, “Girl, you sure have guts despite your tender age. I know you only married Yan for his family background. To be honest, I’m not blaming you for having such an intention because every single lady in this town is dreaming of becoming a member of our family. However, let me make this very clear to you – not every Tom, Dick, and Harry is allowed to become one of us. You won’t be part of this family as long as I refuse to acknowledge you. At the same time, Yan won’t be able to take charge of the family too!”
“Old Master Fu, are you trying to threaten me?” Clenching her fists tightly, she confronted him, “Are you going to deprive him of his right to inherit the family wealth just because he’s married to me?”
“What’s the matter? Are you feeling disappointed because I mentioned that his right of inheritance would be taken away?” While Fu Zhengyun was staring unflinchingly at Shi Nuan, she suddenly let out a chuckle.
The latter laughed out loud for several seconds before snorting icily, “Old Master Fu, I must say that you’re really a very interesting man. Do you really think I only married Yan so that I could become a part of your family?”
“Did you not?”
“I don’t see the need to explain myself to you. In fact, I was laughing so hard at how little you know about your own grandson just now. Do you think he’ll be left with nothing without his family?” Meeting Fu Zhengyun’s gaze, she continued, “Indeed, the Fu family has a business that’s lasted for a century, and it is without a doubt, still going strong. It might be a glittering treasure box to outsiders, but that family business might not be able to survive without Yan.”
“What did you just say? I dare you to repeat that!”
“Old Master Fu, you don’t seem firm about the purpose of meeting me here. Are you trying to convince me to break up with Yan? I’ve already given you a very simple solution concerning that. You just have to ask Yan to be here himself. Once he agrees to part ways with a sound reason, I won’t hesitate to leave him. However, judging from how you would rather have me here alone, I highly doubt you understand Yan at all.”
Before she could finish her sentence, the two of them heard the sound of a car engine being switched off coming from the courtyard of the mansion. Raising her brows, Shi Nuan chuckled. “I’m afraid you’ve missed the best time to threaten me or bribe me into leaving Yan.”
