Li Heng raised his brows. “Shameless? I’m not as shameless as you.” He snorted. “Anything else you need?”
“Any progress there?”
“Not at the moment. What about you? Liang Lin told me Shen Qianan is back?” His expression darkened at the mention of the woman. “I told you not to spare her baby!”
“It’s a living being,” Fu Chengyan retorted. He was not that kind, of course. Shen Qianan had once saved him – he was merely returning the favor. Besides, he couldn’t stand aside and do nothing when Shen Qianan asked for his help.
“I heard Shen Shixiu is back too?”
Fu Chengyan’s face fell. “You’re well-informed, aren’t you?”
“Did you forget that Jiangyuan Group is partnering with Prosperous Group? Li Xufan told me Shen Shixiu has been in contact with him.” Li Heng waved a hand, hinting at Pei Huan to bring Bao out. When they both had left, he continued, “You want me to find out if Shen Shixiu and Shi Yu are the same person, right?”
“You’re smart. May told me Shi Yu left the Shi family to go to C Country when he was a teenager. Coincidentally, Shen Shixiu appeared in the Shen family when he was in his teens. We couldn’t find anything about him when he was young. Obviously, someone had deliberately erased his past.”
Fu Chengyan squinted his eyes. “I’ve never connected them both. However, Shen Shixiu resembled both Shen Qianan and May a lot. That might be a huge possibility.”
Li Heng pondered the possibility before saying, “I’ll find out ASAP. You inform me if you find something too.”
“Okay!” Fu Chengyan hung up. When he turned around, he saw Shi Nuan standing by the door. Waving her over, he asked, “You heard everything?”
Shi Nuan inclined her head. “Do you also think Shen Shixiu could be my uncle?”
“There might be a possibility, but I can’t be sure yet.” Fu Chengyan held her hand and gestured for her to take a seat. “There is no evidence to prove that for now. But since you’re curious, I’ll find out ASAP.”
“Thank you, Yan.” Shi Nuan was moved. “Actually, I’m not that sure either. I just want to find out who my birth parents are. Why did they leave me with the Shi family? How are they related to them? I think Grandpa knows something, but he refuses to reveal anything.”
“He has his reasons for keeping it a secret.”
“I know, so I didn’t force him to reveal it.” Shi Nuan knew Shi Yunsheng had his reasons for keeping her birth parents’ identity a secret. As her grandpa had always said, sometimes, it might be better to stay in the dark.
However, Shi Nuan didn’t think that way. She was an adult now, so she didn’t want to have any regrets in her life.
“No worries. Both Shen Shixiu and Shen Qianan are in Jiang City now. If you’re suspicious, I can arrange for a DNA test to find out your relationship with the Shen family.” Fu Chengyan would resort to extreme means for Shi Nuan’s sake.
However, Shi Nuan held his hand and shook her head. “Not now. Let’s not alarm them. It’s a complicated matter.”
Shen Shixiu was acting as if he didn’t know her at all. It’ll be okay if they weren’t related, but if they were related, and Shen Shixiu refused to acknowledge her, Shi Nuan wondered who she was to him.
“Sure!”
Meanwhile, the Shi family left Yun Shui Jian. Shi Jingzheng was frowning as he brought Jiang Yu and Shi Wei back. Shi Wei didn’t want to come back at first, but she dared not go against an obviously upset Shi Jingzheng. She had never seen her father this mad.
Previously, whenever Shi Jingzheng got furious, Jiang Yu would try to console him. But she realized that today’s situation was different and stayed silent, especially after Fu Chengyan played the recording of Shi Wei bursting out in anger.
“Didn’t I remind you not to argue with Shi Nuan before we left? Did you forget?”
“I… Dad, you saw how Shi Nuan provoked me deliberately. I’ve always talked to her that way, but she had never talked back to me like she did today.” Shi Wei replied indignantly. After all, what she did today was for the Shi family and Huancheng’s sake.
“Shi Nuan is arrogant because she’s married to Fu Chengyan. I need to let her know that she’s nothing but a replacement for Shen Qianan. She looks exactly like that woman! The one Fu Chengyan loves is Shen Qianan, not her. He’s only temporarily infatuated with her. Shi Nuan doesn’t deserve his love!”
“You! How dare you!” Shi Jingzheng glared at her. “You still don’t get who Fu Chengyan was threatening? He was threatening all of us! Everyone who stands against Shi Nuan will be standing against him! Even if Shi Nuan is Shen Qianan’s replacement, he hasn’t dumped her as for now.”
“Zheng, stop reprimanding Wei. She’s right. I think Shi Nuan did it on purpose. Didn’t you hear the entire conversation? Shi Nuan was obviously setting up a trap for Wei. She wasn’t trying to help us!” Jiang Yu had never liked Shi Nuan, so she didn’t have anything nice to say. “That ungrateful b*tch! You think she’ll help us? We should be grateful she isn’t trying to bring us down!”
“You women are so gullible!” Shi Jingzheng was furious at the hopeless women in his household. “By the way, only your mother and I knew about Shi Nuan’s identity. How did you find out?”
Shi Jingzheng glowered at Shi Wei. It had just occurred to him that not many people knew about Shi Nuan’s identity. How did Shi Wei find out?
“I…” Shi Wei hesitated while Shi Jingzheng turned to Jiang Yu. “Did you tell Wei?”
“Yes. So what if I told her? After all, Shi Nuan isn’t our child. We raised her without demanding anything in return. Why? Do you want to be her real father?” Jiang Yu scoffed. “I knew you think differently of that b*tch’s daughter. Tell me, are you still hung up over that b*tch?”
“Enough, stop spouting nonsense. I’ve never thought of her that way. She’s way out of my league,” Shi Jingzheng snapped impatiently. “Besides, Shi Nuan is the offspring of her and another man. Why would I treat her well? You were the one who insisted on keeping her back then. Did you think I was happy with your decision?”
“You—”
“Dad, Mom. What are you talking about?” Shi Wei stared at her parents in confusion. She had no idea what they were talking about. “I know Shi Nuan isn’t my sister. Mom told me about it. But who is her mother? Do you know her?”
“No. That’s none of your business, young lady. It’s late. You should go to bed!” Shi Jingzheng dismissed her with a wave.
Shi Wei was curious, but her father refused to reveal anything, so she had no choice but to give up. I’ll need to ask Mom about this next time.
After Shi Wei left, Shi Jingzheng glared at Jiang Yu sternly. “From now on, don’t tell Shi Wei anything. You shouldn’t impose your hate on the innocent girl.” Shi Jingzheng didn’t love Shi Nuan, but everyone else knew that Shi Nuan was his daughter. Hence, he couldn’t go too far. “Besides, don’t forget about my father’s shares in Huancheng. He said he gave it all to Shi Nuan, didn’t he?”
“Yes. I nearly forgot about that.” Jiang Yu gritted her teeth. “What is he thinking? He knew Shi Nuan isn’t a Shi, but he insisted on giving Huancheng’s shares to her! He must be doing this on purpose!”
Jiang Yu was frustrated. “It’s not just a few thousand. It’s half of Huancheng’s shares! If Shi Nuan stops working for Shengyuan, she might one day come to Huancheng with her shares and take over your position!”
Shi Jingzheng was also worried that would happen. Back then, he had been wary of Shi Yu because of the same reason. Shi Yu finally left later on. Shi Jingzheng thought his father would give him the shares, but the old man had ended up giving everything to Shi Nuan.
“That was why I told you to be nice to Shi Nuan, but look at what you did! She’ll never come to you anymore.” Shi Jingzheng felt his head throbbing at the thought. “Now, Fu Chengyan is on her side. We’ll be in deep trouble if she gives her shares to Fu Chengyan.”
“I don’t think she will,” Jiang Yu said doubtfully. “Shengyuan is huge. Fu Chengyan wouldn’t be interested in our little company. Besides, didn’t Shi Nuan say she signed a prenup before getting married? They won’t get anything from each other if they end up getting divorced.”
Jiang Yu was naïve. “You shouldn’t worry.”
“Hopefully,” Shi Jingzheng returned. He wasn’t as optimistic as Jiang Yu.
Fu Chengyan had made it clear that he was married to Shi Nuan, but he would have nothing to do with the Shi family. They never informed us when they got married. I don’t think they will bother right now.
Shi Jingzheng whipped out the check Fu Chengyan told Zhou Zheng to give him before he left. He unfolded it to reveal a shocking amount of ten million!
