“Is that too much to ask for?” Shi Nuan mumbled under her breath and seemed to be seriously pondering over it. Then, she looked at Fu Chengyan and asked, “Darling, am I being too much to ask you for a diamond?”
“Not at all!” Fu Chengyan reached out and brushed aside the loose strands of hair on Shi Nuan’s forehead. “You can have any kind of diamonds you want!” Fu Chengyan replied affectionately, going along with his wife’s demands.
Shen Qianan’s expression changed as she said, “I used to be Yan’s fiancée after all. Isn’t Ms. Shi going a little overboard now?”
“Hehe, I’ve already said just now that I don’t lack anything and will not covet anything that belongs to others. Even though I am not exceptionally capable, I am still apt at protecting my properties. I won’t be going after things that belong to others, but if anyone has their eyes on what’s mine, I won’t go easy on them. What are your thoughts on this, Ms. Shen?”
“You… “
“It’s nice to be sentimental, but no one can accurately predict events that will unfold. Change is the only constant. Sometimes, we think we’re sure that something would last forever, but that’s just because it’s not time yet. When the time comes, we may then realize that there’s no such thing as forever. That’s why it’s most important for us to cherish the present.”
Shi Nuan slid her hand into Fu Chengyan’s hand and said, “This man is mine now. If you’re still not convinced, Ms. Shen, let’s just wait and see then!” After she finished speaking, she opened Fu Chengyan’s car door and pushed him in before turning around and looking at Shen Qianan. “I got my looks from my parents and not you. Ms. Shen, you should really think about your words just now. If Yan married me because of my looks, you wouldn’t have been his past tense.”
Shi Nuan got into the car after that. She put on her seat belt and shut the door immediately, not giving Shen Qianan any chance to reply. Her execution was smooth without missing a single beat.
With one hand supporting the left side of his face, Fu Chengyan looked at Shi Nuan with interest.
Shi Nuan halted her actions and eyed the man suspiciously. “Why are you looking at me like that? Is your heart aching from the way I spoke to her just now?”
Fu Chengyan had an amused glint in his eye and smiled broadly as he replied, “Why would my heart be aching?” The man had never known that his wife had such a silver tongue. Her domineering aura had completely knocked Shen Qianan out earlier on.
Shi Nuan managed to relax a little after hearing what the man said. When she saw that Fu Chengyan had looked away and was driving past Shen Qianan, she appeared to be deep in thought before asking, “Regarding Shen Qianan… What are your feelings toward her?”
Fu Chengyan cocked his head to the side and looked at Shi Nuan again. “What do you think?”
Shi Nuan shook her head and answered, “I don’t know and I can’t tell. But like what I told you previously, if there’s something that you’re intentionally keeping from me, then keep it from me forever.”
Fu Chengyan reached for Shi Nuan’s hand and gave it a light squeeze. “It’s not the right time to tell you some things yet.”
“Then when’s the right time?” Shi Nuan held Fu Chengyan’s hand and continued, “You should know that I’m just an ordinary woman. There are certain things that are inflexible to me and I’m very serious about them. Even I myself don’t know what I would do if I’m triggered.”
Shi Nuan had tried not to mind at first, but Shen Qianan kept pushing it. She wasn’t someone who would allow herself to be taken advantage of.
“Give me some time. I’ll tell you all about it after my investigation is complete.” Fu Chengyan patted the back of Shi Nuan’s hand and added, “Trust me, alright?”
Shi Nuan nodded and agreed, “OK then!” After pausing to think for a while, she said again, “Are we going to House of Chigu to pick a gift for your grandpa?”
Fu Chengyan nodded and replied, “Did you hear it from Zhou Zheng?”
“Yup. But you should have told me about it earlier so that I would have time to prepare!” It was too rushed. Besides, Shi Nuan was not exactly in Fu Zhengyun’s good books. If the gift she had chosen was not to Fu Zhengyun’s taste, wouldn’t that give the old man a reason to split them up again?
“Actually, if Zhou Zheng had not reminded me, I would have forgotten as well.”
“What?” Shi Nuan was bewildered and widened her eyes in disbelief. “Are you kidding me?”
In response to that, Fu Chengyan looked at Shi Nuan seriously to make a point that he was not joking at all. Shi Nuan held his gaze for a while before letting out a helpless sigh. “Fine, so what are you thinking of getting him?”
“We can just get him anything. The old man already has everything,” Fu Chengyan replied nonchalantly. “Besides, do you really think that it’s gonna be purely a birthday celebration?” Fu Chengyan had never liked attending such events. For the past years, he would leave shortly after showing up and he intended to do the same this year.
Seeing that the man was taking his own grandpa’s birthday celebration so lightly, Shi Nuan suddenly felt pity for Old Master Fu. The old man had spent so much time worrying and thinking about Fu Chengyan’s marriage, but this grandson of his did not care much about his birthday at all.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Shi Nuan shook her head and looked away. “Nothing!”
Fu Chengyan chuckled and said, “Grandpa won’t be particular about it. There’s nothing that he lacks, so we can just pick anything for him. It’s the thought that counts.”
Time seemed to pass by quickly while they spoke and they reached House of Chigu shortly after. It had been a long while since the last time they visited.
At that time, Shi Nuan wasn’t married to Fu Chengyan yet. The purpose of their previous visit to House of Chigu was to choose a present for Shi Yunsheng. Shi Nuan remembered feeling shocked that the place was owned by Fu Chengyan. “Yan, just how many assets do you have that I don’t know of yet?”
“Why? Since I’m already all yours, everything that belongs to me are naturally yours as well!”
After Fu Chengyan parked the car, he put his arms around Shi Nuan as they entered the shop. When Mr. Qin saw Fu Chengyan approaching, he went up to welcome him immediately. He was slightly stunned to see Shi Nuan as he found her really familiar, but was unable to recall where exactly had he seen her before.
However, seeing how intimately Fu Chengyan was behaving with Shi Nuan, the man knew that they definitely shared an extraordinary relationship. “Mr. Fu, you’re here!”
“Yup!” Fu Chengyan nodded and said, “Where’s the item that Mr. Zhou asked you to prepare?”
“It’s right here!” Mr. Qin called out to his employee to bring out a long rectangular gift box and passed it to Fu Chengyan. “Mr. Zhou said that it’s Old Master Fu’s birthday. This painting would make a suitable gift!”
Fu Chengyan nodded. “Put it in my car later!”
“Understood!” Mr. Qin immediately instructed an employee to carry it to Fu Chengyan’s car. Seeing that Fu Chengyan was venturing further into the shop, Mr. Qin followed behind and said, “Mr. Fu, a new batch of antiques has arrived recently. Would you be interested to take a look?”
Fu Chengyan dismissed the suggestion with a wave and said, “Not today. I remember that there was a jade pendant in the shop a few years back. Is it still here?”
“Yup, it is!” Mr. Qin replied immediately. “That’s one precious treasure and I’ve been keeping it till now! Someone was asking about it a while back but I didn’t take it out. Mr. Fu, please give me a while. I’ll go get it right away!”
“Sure!” Fu Chengyan nodded. After Mr. Qin had gone in, he held Shi Nuan’s hand and headed to the private room to have a seat. Shortly after, an employee served tea to Fu Chengyan and Shi Nuan. Mr. Qin took quite a while before returning with a box in his hand. “Mr. Fu, this jade pendant is a treasure from the Song dynasty and it has a very good shine. Even after so many centuries, it’s still so well maintained.”
He handed the item to Fu Chengyan, who held it in his hand and observed it for a moment before passing it to Shi Nuan. “See if you like it?”
“Is it for me?” Shi Nuan was slightly astonished. She didn’t know much about jade pendants or antiques, but after listening to the introduction by Mr. Qin, she took a close look at it and felt that it was indeed a masterpiece. “But I don’t know anything about this stuff. Why are you giving it to me?”
“You don’t like it?”
“I love it!” It was actually love at first sight for Shi Nuan. However, liking it was not the same as being suitable for it.
A smile appeared on Fu Chengyan’s face as he asked Mr. Qin to pack the item up and said to Shi Nuan, “If you don’t like the design, I can bring it to Jian and get her to redesign it!”
“Better not.” Shi Nuan felt a slight pity in her heart. “This is such a lovely item and the design is perfect as well. But for some reason, I feel like it doesn’t match my charisma. You know how my workplace is like. It’s doesn’t seem very nice for me to wear it to work. If you get Jian to make changes to it, the pendant would lose its original feel.”
“Silly girl, it’s more important that it suits you than to retain its originality. However, since you are not keen about the idea, we shall keep it as it is.” Fu Chengyan took over the jade pendant from Mr. Qin and handed it to Shi Nuan. “Since it’s for you, you can do anything you want with it. You can choose to just keep it as well!”
“OK then!”
Shi Nuan thought that she should just accept it since the pendant would be lying in the shop anyway.
“Oh yeah, who are the people who will be present at your grandpa’s birthday banquet?”
Shi Nuan had mulled over it for a while. After all, it was her first official visit to the Fu Residence, so she wanted to be more careful in order not to embarrass herself. Besides, the Fu clan was an influential large family with wide networks. Shi Nuan was sure that there would be a huge turnout, including both family members and guests. She was worried that she might accidentally do something wrong and become the joke of the day.
Fu Chengyan frowned slightly at her question and replied, “I’m not sure! I don’t usually stay long enough to notice who the people there are. The Fu clan is huge and I don’t see a need to greet every single one of them.”
“OK then!” Shi Nuan let out a sigh after hearing what her husband said. Indeed, being the future head of the Fu clan came with privileges. She should have known that there was no need for Fu Chengyan to get to know everyone but the other way round instead.
“Oh, since this is the case, wouldn’t Fu Xicheng and Shi Wei be there as well?” Shi Nuan suddenly remembered. So much time has passed that Shi Nuan had almost forgotten that even though Fu Xicheng was only distantly related to the Fu clan, according to Fu Yuqing’s personality, he would definitely not miss out on such an important occasion.
A crease appeared between Fu Chengyan’s brows as he replied, “I suppose so, but I am not very sure! What about that?”
“Sigh, your grandpa already doesn’t like me. If he sees Fu Xicheng and Shi Wei, I may become the target of ridicule.”
Fu Chengyan took Shi Nuan’s hand and headed outside. When he saw Shi Nuan pulling a long face and seemed to have reservations, he couldn’t help but give her cheeks a light pinch. “Don’t worry. Given the number of people who are going to be present, no one is going to pay much attention to all these. Besides, most likely, they wouldn’t be able to enter the main hall inside the Fu Residence.”
“Huh?” Shi Nuan looked at the man quizzically and asked, “What do you mean?”
“As there were too many guests turning up at his birthday celebrations the past few years, the Old Master had split the celebration grounds into two parts in order not to be disturbed by too much noise. There is the main hall inside and an outside reception area. Entry into the main hall requires a formal invitation. As long as they do not have the formal invitation, you won’t bump into them.”
“Really?” Shi Nuan’s eyes lit up. “It’s a surprise that your grandpa came up with such a fantastic strategy.”
Fu Chengyan pinched Shi Nuan’s face slightly harder with a grumpy look on his face. “What do you mean by ‘your grandpa’? Since you are my wife, wouldn’t my grandpa be your grandpa too?”
Shi Nuan slapped Fu Chengyan’s hand away and pouted her lips. “Well, first, I would need to gain Old Master Fu’s approval. Didn’t you notice his look of disdain every time he saw me? I am quite sure that he wouldn’t be happy to see me on his birthday too.”
“Are you being a coward now? When you argued with him in the morning, I don’t remember that you cared for his feelings that much?”
