Su Shaoqing gave him a sympathetic look and clicked his tongue as he made his remark.
Li Heng narrowed his eyes. “Shaoqing, are you itching for a beating?”
Su Shaoqing tensed up and quickly backed away. “Hehe… Why are you looking at me like that? I’m not the one who did this to you… But, this child…” Su Shaoqing couldn’t shake the feeling that something was odd.
Li Heng was growing impatient. “Don’t you have anything else to do?”
“Of course I do! In fact, I’ve got tons of stuff to do! Take care, buddy!” Su Shaoqing gave him a pat on the shoulder and sighed.
If Pei Huan really is married to someone else and that child belongs to her current husband, then… Li Heng won’t stand a chance at winning her back at all! Sure, Li Heng has always gotten what he wanted, but Pei Huan isn’t your average girl! She’s Fu Chengyan’s sister, and that alone means even Li Heng can’t do anything to her! Besides, even if he were to tear apart their relationship, there’s no guarantee that Pei Huan would go back to him!
Li Heng glared at Su Shaoqing as he disappeared into the distance. For the first time in my life, I actually feel like strangling that guy!
Fu Heng was cutting up some fruits while chatting with Ning Xin. They thought Su Shaoqing had returned when they heard the footsteps belonging to Shi Nuan and Pei Huan coming through the door. Fu Heng called out, “Don’t worry, Shaoqing. We’ve got everything taken care of here, so you… Huan?”
Shi Nuan had to quickly grab hold of Fu Heng’s knife to stop him from accidentally cutting his finger due to the shock. “Uncle Heng, Aunt Ning. Look who’s here!”
“Is it really you, Huan?” Fu Heng got up immediately and turned towards Ning Xin. “Ning, look! Huan’s back! She’s really back!”
“Oh, Huan! My baby!” Ning Xin sat up straight as well. “Mom, Dad, I’m sorry for being such an unfilial daughter. I should’ve come back sooner!” Pei Huan said with her face full of tears.
She walked up to them and knelt on the floor. “It’s all my fault! It’s because of my selfishness that you two…”
“Hey, get up!” Fu Heng was tearing up as well when he helped her to her feet.
It’s been three years… She was full of scars when she left, and now she’s finally back…
“I’m sorry, Dad!” Pei Huan threw herself into Fu Heng’s arms. “It’s all my fault!”
“Silly girl, I’m just glad you’re back!” Fu Heng gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder and turned towards Shi Nuan. “We’re sorry to have troubled you like this, Nuan!”
“Not at all, Uncle Heng!” Shi Nuan chuckled and pulled a chair over. “Don’t just stand around, guys! Come on, take a seat!” She then walked towards the door and called out, “Li Heng!”
Li Heng shot her an awkward glance but Shi Nuan simply smiled at him and said, “If you trust me, let me carry Bao. Pei Huan and her parents are catching up on old times right now, so your showing up might ruin the mood.”
Li Heng pursed his lips. The woman whom he had been waiting three years for was right before his eyes, and yet he felt as if they were on the opposite ends of Earth.
“Say, do you believe that Pei Huan has gotten married?”
Li Heng frowned. “What do you mean?”
“She’s going to be staying here in Jiang City for quite a while, so I’m sure you’ll be able to find out if she really has a husband in C Country as well as the identity of this child’s father. All you have to do right now is give Pei Huan some space and let her spend time with her parents.”
Li Heng clenched his fists.
“I think Bao looks…kinda like you.” Shi Nuan smiled and took Bao over when Li Heng appeared stunned. Noticing that Bao was about to wake up, she hummed softly in his ears to help him go back to sleep.
Li Heng’s expression eased up, too, when he saw how adorable Bao looked.
Shi Nuan giggled when she saw Li Heng’s rare display of gentleness. “They say blood is thicker than water. I bet you’d be really angry if Bao were someone else’s child, huh?”
Li Heng paused for a moment and smiled as if he had thought of something. “Oh my, this is embarrassing.”
“Nah, you were just too worried, that’s all!” Shi Nuan continued patting Bao on the shoulder while peeking into the ward. “Now, how about you go do what you have to do instead of standing around here like this?”
Li Heng nodded and glanced at the ward as he walked past the door, his eyes filled with affection and longingness.
Shi Nuan waited till Li Heng had left before going inside. “Uncle Heng, Aunt Ning, look who it is!”
“What…” Fu Heng got up and took a good long look at Bao. He couldn’t help but feel that Bao seemed somewhat familiar. “Nuan, this child…”
“Dad, this is my son, Bao!” Pei Huan stood up and took Bao over from Shi Nuan. “Here, I’ll hold him!”
“Good idea! He may be little but he’s quite heavy! I’ve only been holding him for a short while and my arms are aching already!” Shi Nuan laughed. “Look, Aunt Ning! Isn’t he just adorable?”
“Bring him closer, I want to get a closer look!” Ning Xin seemed to be feeling a lot better when she saw the child.
Bao woke up from all the noise around him as Pei Huan brought him towards Ning Xin. He was a little frightened by the sight of so many people around him and shouted, “Mommy!”
“Oh, you’re awake?” Pei Huan quickly held him close until he was fully awake. She then sat him on the bed. “Bao, this is mommy’s mommy. She’s your grandma.”
Bao stared at Ning Xin for quite a while before mumbling timidly, “Grandma…”
“Good boy!” Ning Xin was very excited to see Bao. Pei Huan then pointed at Fu Heng and said, “Bao, this is Grandpa.”
“Grandpa!”
“There’s a good boy!” Fu Heng smiled happily and looked at Pei Huan with teary eyes. “I’m so glad you’re back!”
“Go give your grandpa and grandma a hug, Bao!” Pei Huan said before turning to look at her parents. “Mom, Dad, I’ll come by the hospital tomorrow for an examination. And then, I’ll…”
“Let’s not talk about this now!” Ning Xin interrupted her. “I’m really glad you’re back. As for this child… He’s very cute and all, but… Is Li Heng the…”
“No, Mom. I got married in C Country, and this child belongs to me and my husband, He Beiting. His name is He Yun, and we nicknamed him Bao.” As Pei Huan explained, the entire ward went silent.
Both Fu Heng and Ning Xin didn’t seem too happy about what they had heard. Nevertheless, they tried their best to hide their feelings and asked, “So… Where is he?”
“I was worried about your health so I brought Bao over to see you. Beiting was out on a business trip a few days ago, so he didn’t know about your condition. He did call me after I got off the plane, though. Beiting is really nice to me, so don’t you worry, Mom!”
Fu Heng and Ning Xin saw how Pei Huan defended He Beiting and decided not to say anything further, especially with Bao around.
Regardless of who the father was, the two of them liked Bao very much nonetheless.
They continued to chat for a little while longer, and Ning Xin urged Shi Nuan to take Pei Huan home as she didn’t want her daughter to become too tired.
Shi Nuan gave Fu Chengyan a call on the drive home; he told her he was about to head back after finishing his work. He then asked Shi Nuan if she would like anything to eat. Shi Nuan gave it some thought and turned towards Pei Huan. “Pei Huan, do you have any dietary restrictions?”
“Nope!” Pei Huan shook her head. “Is that my brother on the phone?”
“Yeah, Yan is getting off work soon. He says he’ll make us dinner and told us to wait for him at home.”
“My brother is going to cook?” Pei Huan had a surprised look on her face. “Oh, right, you two are married… Does the Fu family…”
Shi Nuan tightened her grip on the steering wheel but tried her best to force a smile anyway. “Yeah, they already know.”
“Alright, then!” However, Shi Nuan didn’t tell her if they agreed to it.
Pei Huan thought her parents liked Shi Nuan. “Thanks for keeping my parents company throughout the past few months.”
“Don’t mention it! They’re really nice people, after all!” Shi Nuan remembered that Fu Chengyan was still on the phone and quickly said, “Yan, Pei Huan says she doesn’t have any dietary restrictions, so you can buy whatever you like! Oh, maybe you can buy some snacks for Bao… I mean, Pei Huan’s son.”
Shi Nuan stole a glance at Pei Huan after getting off the phone.
Although Pei Huan and Ning Xin really do look alike, their personalities seem to be complete opposites… Ning Xin is very kind and gentle, whereas Pei Huan is a bit more aggressive, especially towards Li Heng. I can feel this strong tension between them…
“Nuan, you can call me Huan, too.” Pei Huan chuckled and eyed Shi Nuan from head to toe. “You seem younger than I. My brother sure has…” Quite the taste in women…
Shi Nuan blushed a little but didn’t say anything in response.
They soon arrived at Wutong Residence. Having taken such a long nap, Bao was full of energy when Shi Nuan opened the door for them. “Mommy, Mommy! Is this Uncle’s house? It’s so beautiful!”
“Do you like it, Bao?” Shi Nuan patted him on the head after locking the car.
“Yes, I do, Aunt Nuan!”
“There’s a good boy!” Shi Nuan gave him a gentle tap on the nose. “Come on, let’s go inside!”
Shi Nuan opened the door and handed Pei Huan a pair of slippers. “Here, put this on, Huan. Aunt Ning used to wear these when she was here.”
“My mom was here?” Pei Huan was surprised.
From what I heard, Fu Chengyan doesn’t allow anyone in here, especially women! Even those from the Fu family are only allowed to stay in the Fu Residence, and I was no exception.
“Yeah, is it that strange to have Aunt Ning over here?” Shi Nuan said while changing into a pair of slippers. “As for Bao… Uh… I’ll buy him a pair of slippers tomorrow!” She picked Bao up. “You’re so cute, Bao!”
