Ten years ago?
Shi Nuan stared at Fu Chengyan in confusion. She could still feel the tingling sensation his finger left on her lips. She could hear her heart throbbing at his bewitching voice.
For the rest of the night, Shi Nuan couldn’t get the question off her mind, even when they got home after dinner.
Ten years ago, I was still a kid, right? Did I fall from the tree?
Shi Nuan narrowed her eyes as she tried to jog her memory. She was curious as to why Fu Chengyan would ask her such a bizarre question. Did I fall from a tree ten years ago and hit him?
“What do you have on your mind now?”
Fu Chengyan got out of the bathroom and noticed the blank expression on Shi Nuan’s face. He dried his hair with a towel and walked to her. Then, he knocked on the nook of her head as he saw that she was still in a stupor. “What’s wrong?”
Shi Nuan broke out of her trance and shook her head. “Nothing. I feel like I was thinking about something earlier but I can’t remember what it was.” Shi Nuan pouted and spun her head around while chanting a string of gibberish as if she were performing a ritual on herself.
Fu Chengyan’s fingers clamped onto Shi Nuan’s small head. He spoke in a sturdy tone with a sliver of admonishment, “Stop moving!”
“Okay!” Shi Nuan stopped bobbing her head around. However, her mind was still running. “Yan, did you know me a long time ago? You secretly admired me for many years, right?”
Shi Nuan extended her neck upwards like a giraffe and stared at Fu Chengyan seriously.
She had run through many possibilities in her head but she found this the most plausible. Honestly, she didn’t believe in love at first sight, at least not in the relationship she had with Fu Chengyan.
The man’s dark eyes were twinkling as if they had a lot to tell Shi Nuan. Fu Chengyan reached out a finger and swept her bangs to one side. Shi Nuan’s petite face was beaming like a full moon. He prodded the tip of her nose. “Just guess.”
“No, I don’t want to!” Shi Nuan shoved Fu Chengyan aside. “You are such a hooligan. Everyone who doesn’t know said you are a tame and harmless sheep, but I say you are a big bad wolf hiding under a sheep’s hide.”
“Hmm?” Fu Chengyan lifted one of his brows. “What are you talking about?” With a scoop, he had Shi Nuan falling into his embrace. He pinched her nose and ordered, “Say it again!”
…
Meanwhile, a fatigued Shen Qianan finally returned to the Fu Residence. After rejecting Shi Nuan’s offer to fetch her home, she had no luck in hailing a cab. She then walked across the road for the bus stop. As she waited for the bus to come, she saw Fu Chengyan and Shi Nuan walking out of Ruyi Tea House. Only then did she know that Fu Chengyan also went to the tea house.
Why did he go to the tea house? Was he worried about what I’ll do to Shi Nuan? Or did he have qualms about how Shi Nuan will treat me?
Shen Qianan soon realized that her heart was uncontrollably getting jealous of Shi Nuan.
Earlier that day, Shen Qianan suffered a crushing defeat when she was trading blows with Shi Nuan. Shi Nuan seemed nonchalant when she was replying to Shen Qianan. But the truth was that every single of her words slammed down Shen Qianan’s attempt at provoking her. Shen Qianan had to admit that Shi Nuan was quite a formidable woman. She could now see why Fu Chengyan liked her.
Nevertheless, this acknowledgement of what Shi Nuan was capable of made Shen Qianan quiver in green envy.
Shen Qianan was pacing outside the gates of the Fu Residence until the servant gave her a call saying that Yu was crying because he couldn’t find his mother. Only then did Shen Qianan hurry into the house.
Upon entering the house, Yu rushed into Shen Qianan’s embrace. “Mommy!”
Shen Qianan stumbled as Yu charged into her. The servant held her steady from behind. “Ms. Shen, are you alright?”
“Yep, I’m fine!” Shen Qianan shook her head and hoisted Yu into the air. “What’s the matter, Yu?”
“Mommy, can we go home? I don’t want to be here! I don’t want to stay here anymore!” Yu hugged his mother tight as if he were afraid of something. “Mommy, you are a liar! You said we are going to find Daddy! Where is he?”
Shen Qianan’s face stiffened at the mention of Yu’s father.
Song Zhenyan and Ning Xin, who appeared behind Shen Qianan at that moment, also looked grim.
“Yu, be a good kid, okay? Daddy is busy with his work at the moment. Once he’s not busy, he will come to visit you!” Shen Qianan could no longer care too much. All she wanted at the moment was for her baby boy to feel better.
Yet, Yu only seemed to cry louder. “Mommy, you’re a liar! Everyone says Daddy doesn’t want me anymore! They say my Daddy isn’t my Daddy! They are bad people!”
Yu pointed a finger at Song Zhenyan. “She’s a bad person, Mommy! Can you chase her away?”
“Pfft! Shen Qianan, you better teach your kid some manners!” Song Zhenyan scoffed. “You want to chase me out of this house, kiddo? There is indeed someone in the Fu Residence who can chase me out, but it’s definitely not you. Shen Qianan, you’re not even from the Fu clan, but we are generous enough to take you and your illegitimate son under our roof. You guys better be more grateful!”
“Mdm. Song, please don’t take Yu seriously. I apologize on behalf of him for his misbehavior. But Yu is not just anyone else’s child. He’s-”
“He’s what? You really want us to believe that he’s Yan’s son? Shen Qianan, if this child is really Yan’s, why have you stayed away from us for the past three years?”
Song Zhenyan did not give Shen Qianan any room to breathe at all. She was not fond of the woman just as she disliked the latter’s mother.
In her whole life, Song Zhenyan didn’t have much hate for any women, except for Shen Qianan’s mother and Ning Xin. Now that Shen Qianan came to stay with her, she was not going to let her have an easy time.
Song Zhenyan spat at Shen Qianan. “I know Old Master Fu brought you back, but that doesn’t mean anything. If he can despise Shi Nuan, I say the same can happen to you. Even more, you brought along your illegitimate son. What will people think of us if they knew we took in a woman who has a kid out of wedlock? At least, Shi Nuan used to be a single woman with a clean track record.”
Song Zhenyan’s words were sharp daggers. They shredded up Shen Qianan’s heart without any mercy. Shen Qianan just couldn’t bear being compared to Shi Nuan.
Shen Qianan lifted her head to look at the older woman. Her bloodshot eyes were quivering with rage.
Song Zhenyan was also dumbfounded. It was the first time she saw Shen Qianan in such a livid state.
Shen Qianan started to giggle in a deranged manner. “I do have respect for you since you are Yan’s mother, but that doesn’t mean you can ridicule me as if I have no feelings. We all know what happened three years ago. If I recall correctly, you were also involved in the grand scheme of things. I wonder how Ms. Song is now?”
“You…”
“That’s enough! What are you guys arguing about?”
A fearsome growl came from upstairs. Fu Zhengyun walked down from the stairs with his walking cane. His fierce eyes were glowering at the two of them. “Qianan, Zhenyan is older than you. Now that you are in the Fu Residence, you need to respect her!”
“Yes, Grandpa!” Shen Qianan had no choice but to give in as much as she didn’t want to. After all, she and her son were living off the Fu family right now. She held Yu tight in her arms. “If there’s nothing else, I will bring Yu upstairs.”
“Hold up!” Fu Zhengyun halted Shen Qianan in her steps. “Zhenyan, how could you berate Shen Qianan in such a manner? You should know better as an adult,” Fu Zhengyun chided Song Zhenyan in front of Shen Qianan. “You need to know that this is the Fu family and not the Song family!”
He turned to Shen Qianan. “Qianan, I think Yu must be missing his father a lot! Bring Yu to work tomorrow!”
“But isn’t that-”
“No!”
Coming downstairs, Fu Heng draped the cloak in his hand over Ning Xin’s body. He patted her shoulders gently. “It’s already late. Why don’t you head up to rest?”
Ning Xin swept her eyes across the people in the living room and nodded. “Alright then. I don’t feel very well too. I’ll take my leave now. Good night!”
After Ning Xin left, Fu Heng glared at Shen Qianan. He then turned to Fu Zhengyun. “Father, we all know why you brought Shen Qianan back. However, I hope you are aware of the consequences that might happen.”
“Are you trying to lecture me?” Even though Fu Zhengyun was a retired old man, he was still as capable as he was back in his prime days. Thus, he didn’t like to be warned by his son.
“I’m not lecturing you, Father.” Fu Heng shook his head. “However, Yan is now in charge of Shengyuan. I bet you are aware of how well he is doing now. You were there when he set up the rules for his company. Heck, you even agreed to them. When you slot Shen Qianan into the company, it’s already against the rules. Now, you want her to bring her kid in? Aren’t you going head to head with Yan now?”
“Yan is the one who’s trying to oppose me!” Fu Zhengyun sneered, “I am not blind. Just this morning, he fetched that woman to work. There were so many people looking at them when they walked through the company’s gates. Has he ever had Shengyuan’s reputation under his consideration?”
Fu Heng’s eyes darkened. He also didn’t expect Fu Chengyan to be so showy of his relationship with Shi Nuan. However, there was nothing for Fu Chengyan to hide. “Shi Nuan is Yan’s legal wife! Why can’t he fetch her to work?”
“What? She’s his wife? Pfft! Do you know what family she comes from? The Shi family doesn’t even have anything. How can she ever be a match for any men from the Fu family?” Fu Zhengyun scowled as he mentioned the Shi family. “Also, Shi Nuan has a messy background. Her brother-in-law was literally her boyfriend. Tsk! Besides, her sister was really something to have the heart to steal her boyfriend. How preposterous is that! That guy is that useless brat Fu Yuqing, right? Anyway, have I not said enough? Clearly, the Shi family doesn’t know how to raise their children well!”
To sum up, Fu Zhengyun just abhorred Shi Nuan with a passion.
“Father, no family can be spotless. I’ve seen Shi Nuan! She’s a pretty nice girl. Moreover, she must be a good person if Yan likes her.” Fu Heng was fervent in defending Shi Nuan as all of his encounters with Shi Nuan had been nothing but pleasant.
Fu Zhengyun responded with disdain, “Yan likes her for how she looks! Do you think Yan will like her if she doesn’t have that pretty face on her?” Then, Fu Zhengyun turned to Shen Qianan. “How’s work today, Qianan?”
Shen Qianan faltered slightly as she suddenly heard her name. She squeezed out a smile. “It’s fine.”
“What do you mean by its fine? So did you see Yan today?” Fu Zhengyun seemed to be dissatisfied with Shen Qianan’s answer. “I purposely arranged for you to be on the twenty-seventh floor so you can be close to him. Since your looks are the reason why Yan is so interested in Shi Nuan, now that you’re back, I hope you can grasp the opportunity and steal his heart back from that wretched woman!”‘
