“Damn it, how am I supposed to know about her return? Hold on, were you unable to make it to the Shi residence yesterday because you went to meet Shen Qianan? Holy cow, don’t tell me you still have feelings for…”
“I went back to Fu Residence because the butler gave me a call telling me my grandfather was dying.” Fu Chengyan ended his sentence with a cold snort and an icy glint in his eyes.
Su Shaoqing looked dumbfounded. “Something doesn’t add up. Didn’t your grandfather think Shen Qianan was not good enough for you back then? I can still remember how much he used to resent her and that look on his face when he couldn’t wait to kill her to vent his anger! Why is he suddenly taking her side now? Is he resorting to the childish trick of using Shen Qianan as his pawn to destroy Nuan?”
Su Shaoqing stroke his jaw contemplatively. When he saw the ominous look on Fu Chengyan’s face, he couldn’t help but roll his eyes when he realized his speculation was right. “I can’t believe he’s really doing such a thing! Your grandfather is certainly very… intriguing.”
“He’s so insistent on breaking Nuan and you apart though he hates Shen Qianan too. I’m shocked that he still cares to punish you like that at his age.” While condemning Fu Zhengyun, Su Shaoqing was observing Fu Chengyan’s expression too. “Anyway, it’s only a matter of time before Nuan finds out about Shen Qianan. The point is, they literally look the…”
“I’m very sure I know which one I love.” Fu Chengyan frowned at Su Shaoqing without him realizing it, making Su Shaoqing shudder in fear. “Why are you shooting daggers at me? It’s not like I’m accusing you of anything. Look, you know yourself well, but what about the rest of the people?
There’s no way they’ll know what is on your mind. To make matters worse, you really did meet Shen Qianan before marrying Nuan. That’s a fact. Anyone is bound to get the wrong idea, let alone Nuan.”
Su Shaoqing shook his head and sighed. “What are you planning to do about it now?”
“I didn’t meet her first!” Holding the knife, Fu Chengyan emphasized sternly with his lips pursed. “I didn’t.”
“Uhm… What do you mean?” Su Shaoqing thought he had heard him wrongly. At the same time, he was intimidated by the grim expression on Fu Chengyan’s face as well as the knife in his tight grip. It seemed highly likely that the latter would slaughter anyone who offended him with that knife he was currently holding.
Touching his neck subconsciously, Su Shaoqing decided to take a few steps back to maintain some distance from him.
Meanwhile, Fu Chengyan fixed an icy gaze on Su Shaoqing, putting emphasis on each and every word he was about to say. “I didn’t meet Shen Qianan first. I met May before her!”
This time, Su Shaoqing got his message loud and clear. He was stupefied for a few seconds before exclaiming, “Are you saying that you actually knew Nuan first? Boy, you really are great at keeping secrets! Since you met Nuan first, why did you date Shen Qianan instead of her then?”
Su Shaoqing was deterred from continuing his sentence by Fu Chengyan’s lethal stare. “Who told you I even dated her before?”
Huh?
“Did you not?” Su Shaoqing tried to recall what had taken place over the past few years. Indeed, he had often seen Shen Qianan appearing together with Fu Chengyan at various places, but Fu Chengyan had never introduced her as his girlfriend or fiancée.
“Wait a minute. Does it mean you’ve never had feelings for Shen Qianan?” That piece of information was too shocking that Su Shaoqing needed some time to process it. Anyone who did not know Fu Chengyan well enough would assume the man was lying. But as his long-time buddy, Su Shaoqing knew that Fu Chengyan couldn’t be more serious about it, judging from his flinty face.
Su Shaoqing fell silent for a short while to ponder over everything. “Seems like everybody has been having this misunderstanding about you all along. But then again, why did you let Shen Qianan shadow you wherever you went at that time if you had no feelings for her at all?”
Fu Chengyan knitted his brows and fell silent.
“Is there a story behind it?”
“That is none of your business.” Pursing his lips, Fu Chengyan chided, “Just leave if you aren’t going to help me with the food.”
Su Shaoqing thought there was no point in staying either. Before leaving the kitchen, he reminded Fu Chengyan, “Here’s a tip for you, bro – you should act fast and decisive when it comes to relationships. Although your relationship is Nuan is pretty stable now, you can’t be sure how much damage your dirty little secret is going to cause. If you love Shi Nuan deeply enough, I think that there are certain things you should share with her. Trust me; you won’t want to risk letting her find out about it herself.”
After Su Shaoqing left the kitchen, Fu Chengyan fell silent as he got lost in thought.
Shen Qianan…
He narrowed his eyes in disgust at the thought of that woman. Although he had never had feelings for her, he did keep her by his side back then to his personal advantage. Besides that…
His eyes darkened slightly as he let out a sigh. As long as Shen Qianan did not do anything too damaging, he would leave her alone as a way to repay the help she had offered him back then.
He turned to look in the direction of Shi Nuan, who was chatting with Su Bancheng in the living room at the moment. His eyes gleamed with an inscrutable emotion.
Shi Nuan seemed to able to sense his eyes landing on her. She whirled around to meet his penetrating gaze from the kitchen. She stiffened as her cheeks turned rosy. Having cast a tentative glance at the two guys in the living room, she rose to her feet. “Gentlemen, please make yourself comfortable while I go and check on Yan in the kitchen.”
Su Shaoqing flashed her a roguish grin. “Nuan, are you going to get all lovey-dovey with your husband again?”
Shi Nuan smiled bashfully. “Mr. Su, since you know your way around our house very well, would you mind helping me to give your cousin a house tour?”
With that, Shi Nuan made her way to the kitchen and was just in time to see Fu Chengyan tasting the soup. “Yan, do you need any help?”
“Your clothes will be reeking of grease if you stand there. Why don’t you go outside and chat with Shaoqing and his cousin?” Fu Chengyan waved dismissively at her and urged, “Go on. I can handle it by myself.”
“You certainly can, but by the time you finish everything, we’ll be having this meal as supper,” Shi Nuan couldn’t help but tease. “Why don’t you let me take over from here? You should go out and talk to Mr. Su. Don’t you have some things to discuss with him?”
“It’s fine. It’s not urgent.”
The couple went on to churn out a sumptuous spread of exquisite delicacies. By the time, the two of them walked out of the kitchen, Su Shaoqing and Su Bancheng were already sitting at the dining table. They didn’t wait until they were invited. When Shi Nuan was busy scooping rice into several bowls, Su Shaoqing did not hesitate to stretch his arm over. “Nuan, thanks for the food.”
She smiled craftily as her arm moved past his outstretched hand to pass the bowl of rice to Su Bancheng instead.
Su Bancheng nodded in appreciation while taking the bowl of rice and a pair of chopsticks from her.
Su Shaoqing immediately protested, “Hey Nuan, you can’t be this unfair! Besides, shouldn’t you be worried that Chengyan might get jealous because of your special treatment toward Bancheng?”
Both Shi Nuan and Fu Chengyan froze upon hearing his remark. Staring at Su Shaoqing with his eyes filled with amusement, Fu Chengyan made a brutal comeback. “I might get jealous? At least I know how it is to be jealous while you don’t even know what’s that!”
Su Shaoqing was rendered speechless and made a wise decision to keep his mouth shut.
In the meantime, Su Bancheng was wearing a faint smile while staring at his cousin wryly. “Shaoqing, you must be a troublemaker, aren’t you?”
“Hey, what trouble can possibly be created by a person as mature and responsible as me?”
Suddenly, Shi Nuan burst out laughing at their banter, causing all eyes to land on her at once. “Hey, shouldn’t we focus on enjoying this meal? Mind you, this is something money can’t buy because it was prepared by Yan.” While talking, Shi Nuan picked up some greens with her chopsticks and put them into Fu Chengyan’s bowl. “Yan, come on. Dig in!”
After dinner, Shi Nuan volunteered to clean up the table while the three guys headed off to have a chat. Fu Chengyan came to check Shi Nuan, who was looking busy as a beaver. “Why don’t you leave everything in the washbasin first? I’ll do the dishes later.”
“It’s fine. I can finish everything before you even know it. You go ahead and join them!”
She flashed him a reassuring smile while shoving him away from the kitchen.
Fu Chengyan gave her an appreciative nod before heading upstairs to the study, where Su Shaoqing and Su Bancheng were waiting for him.
As soon as he was there, Su Shaoqing somberly rose to his feet. “Let’s get straight to the point here. Why did you need us here?”
Fu Chengyan glanced at them with his lips pursed. Then, he walked past Su Shaoqing to take a document out from a safety box and then handed it to Su Bancheng. “How much do you know about the Jiang family?”
Su Bancheng stiffened. He took the document and gave it a quick scan before returning it to Fu Chengyan. “What do you need me to do for you?”
“Jiang Shizheng!” Fu Chengyan announced. In the meantime, Su Shaoqing eyed them both puzzledly.
After a moment of hesitation, Su Bancheng asked, “What?”
“Let me put it this way – I’d like to know everything about the relationship between Jiang Shizheng and Jiang Shilin.”
Su Bancheng froze upon hearing that. Finally, his eyes, which had been looking as calm as a pool of still water, flickered in response. “What makes you think I will help you?”
Fu Chengyan narrowed his eyes on him and uttered, “Xu Chuyan.” Keeping both hands tucked in his trouser pockets, he continued, “I’ll help you track that woman down if you help me with my case.”
Fu Chengyan was never one who fought battles he couldn’t win. Therefore, he already had some leverage ready before asking Su Shaoqing to bring Su Bancheng here. As per his expectation, Su Bancheng’s expressionless face flinched at the mention of Xu Chuyan.
Su Bancheng put the document aside. “I must say that you’ve got yourself a great bargain here with me.”
Fu Chengyan smirked. “I’m sure we’ll work well together.”
Su Bancheng nodded. “If that’s all you want to talk about, I should get going then!”
“Hey, hold on!” Su Shaoqing couldn’t understand a single word of their conversation. “Are you guys talking in riddles? I know who Jiang Shizheng and Jiang Shilin are too! Eh, isn’t Jiang Shilin your grandfather, Bancheng?” Only then did Su Shaoqing start to get a clearer picture of their conversation. “But Jiang Shizheng is Shi Nuan’s grandfather.”
Sounding confused, he started throwing a barrage of questions at the other two. “Do you guys think they are somehow related to each other? Who’s Xu Chuyan? Bancheng, I know that you’ve not dated anyone for years. Is Xu Chuyan your…”
Su Shaoqing was forced to swallow the remaining part of his question when Su Bancheng shot him a glare. The latter chuckled coldly. “You’d better mind your own business first before you start meddling in mine!” After picking up the document from the table, he turned to Fu Chengyan. “Please give me some time.”
Fu Chengyan nodded. “I need the information on the Jiang family to be as comprehensive as possible.”
A slight trace of annoyance flashed in Su Bancheng’s dark pupils. “Mr. Fu, don’t you think you’re being too demanding?”
Fu Chengyan retorted, “For your information, Prosperous Group is the developer of that project at Mount Emerald in Sheen City.”
Upon hearing that, Su Bancheng’s face softened a little. “Let’s work well together then!” he said with a smile at last.
As Su Bancheng was leaving, there was no reason for Su Shaoqing to prolong his visit. Minutes before he walked out of the house, he looked at Fu Chengyan worryingly. “Look, I still think you should come clean with Nuan about that matter. Also, you’d better do it sooner rather than later!”
“What’s the thing he has to come clean with me?”
