“Where’s Nuan?” Su Yunwan surveyed the surroundings, but Shi Nuan was nowhere to be seen. In the end, she stared at Su Shaoqing and asked, “Shaoqing, where is she?”
Frowning, Su Shaoqing asked in return, “Aunt, why are you guys here?” Albeit reluctantly, he brought himself up and surveyed the bunch of people behind his aunt. He was taken aback by their presence———almost everyone from the Su family had come!
Su Shaoqing saw his grandfather, Su Yumin; his aunt, Su Yunwan; and his parents, Su Huainan and Lin Shuqin. Even Su Yunqing, his aunt who spent much of her time living abroad, was present as well.
Su Shaoqing’s mind was all over the place. “Dad, Mom, Grandpa!”
“C’mon, where is she?” Su Yumin glared at Su Shaoqing. As he was about to lose his cool, he raised his cane at Su Huaibei. “Aren’t you here to reunite with my granddaughter? Where the hell is she? You unfilial son, are you lying to me?”
Su Huaibei’s face turned pale and haggard as a result of the beating. He stood up and explained himself, “D-Dad, Nuan is in the washroom.”
Turning around and looking at Fu Chengyan, he made an introduction.
“Dad, this is Nuan’s husband.”
Su Yumin narrowed his eyes and sized up Fu Chengyan over and over again.
Naturally, Su Yumin was aware of Fu Chengyan’s identity. In fact, they had encountered one another in the corporate world before. He had always been fond of the young man due to his exceptional capability, but he was displeased because the young man had married his granddaughter without his consent.
Su Yumin couldn’t get over the fact that his granddaughter was already married before he could reunite with her. Hence, he was slightly irritated by Fu Chengyan’s presence.
“Old Master Su!” Fu Chengyan brought himself up and held his chest high, addressing Su Yumin in a courteous manner instead of acknowledging him as his grandfather-in-law.
“Mr. Su? Are you kidding me? I’m Nuan’s grandfather!” Su Yumin scoffed in return and implied that Fu Chengyan should have addressed him as his grandfather-in-law.
Squinting, Fu Chengyan rebuked Su Yumin’s statement, “May’s grandfather is Shi Yunsheng.”
“Y-You! Hmph! How dare you compare me to the stubborn old fool of the Shi family?” Su Yumin gritted his teeth and rebutted.
“Really? But May has been calling him her grandfather for over two decades.”
Su Yumin’s expression turned gloomy all of a sudden. “What’s wrong with you? And how dare you marry Nuan without our consent!”
Chuckling, Fu Chengyan rendered Su Yumin speechless. “Actually, the consent of the Su family doesn’t really matter because we are already married. As a matter of fact, we’re legally husband and wife now.”
“Y-You!”
“Grandpa! Hey, Grandpa!” Su Shaoqing got in Su Yumin’s way and signaled his grandfather to calm himself. He whispered, “We can’t afford to offend Chengyan because we have yet to get Nuan to acknowledge herself as a member of the Su family! If we accidentally offend him and Nuan refuses to reunite with the family, we’re going to lose her for good!”
Once Su Yumin heard his grandson’s words, his jaw dropped open. He turned around and confronted Su Huaibei, “Y-You haven’t got her to open up with you?”
His son massaged his temples and wondered, “Dad, why are you here? Why did you bring along so many people with you?”
Su Huaibei’s heart sank to the bottom of his stomach; no one could feel worse than he at the moment.
After dealing with Fu Chengyan and finally winning him over, a bunch of people showed up out of nowhere and disrupted his initial plan. He felt as though things had spun out of his control. He had no idea what was about to happen.
“What? Are we not supposed to come? How could you keep me in the dark when you knew you would be meeting my granddaughter?” Staring at Su Huaibei in the eyes, Su Yumin bellowed, “I’ll deal with you later on! In the meantime, let’s have a seat and wait for my beloved granddaughter’s return!”
Su Shaoqing was speechless because he was certain Shi Nuan would be intimidated by the presence of so many people who had shown up out of the blue.
He would also react in a similar manner and flee if it happened to him.
Seeing Shi Nua standing at the entrance of the dining suite, the restaurant manager asked, “Mrs. Fu, why are you out here?”
The manager had come to serve the dishes they had ordered, but the moment he spotted the crowd inside the suite he thought those people were there to seek revenge.
Everyone inside the suite turned around collectively once they heard the manager.
Su Yunwan greeted, “Nuan!”
“What? This is my beloved granddaughter, Nuan?” Su Yumin rushed over and checked out Shi Nuan. He nodded and complimented her, “Great! You’re a fine-looking young woman!”
Shi Nuan stood right where she was in an awkward manner. Feeling anxious, she accidentally tightened her grip on Cheng An’s hand. The little girl’s face puckered in pain. “Aunt, you’re hurting me!”
Finally, Shi Nuan returned to her senses and shot a glance at her husband, indicating she desperately needed him by her side.
Fu Chengyan took a quick glance at the spacious dining suite that was now relatively stuffed given the number of people standing around. Squinting, he made his way past the crowd and approached his wife. He wrapped his arm around Shi Nuan’s shoulders, asserting to those in the suite his dominance as her guardian and husband.
Su Yumin’s irritation was written all over his face. However, he decided to keep his emotions to himself for the time being. He greeted, “Nuan, I’m your grandfather!”
Furrowing her eyebrows, Shi Nuan was at a loss for words to reciprocate the enthusiastic greeting from her so-called grandfather. She was rather confused by their presence.
She started feeling uneasy and trembled in her husband’s arms. Similarly, Fu Chengyan was aware of his wife’s concerns. In response, he drew her even closer to him. Putting on a stern front, he announced in a serious manner, “I’m so sorry, but my wife isn’t feeling well. We’ll be leaving in advance.”
Of course, the Su family would not allow him to leave just like that.
Su Huainan stopped Fu Chengyan and requested, “Mr. Fu! Since we’re all here today, why don’t we talk things out?”
Pausing for a few seconds, Fu Chengyan gave it a thought. In the end, through the corner of his eyes, he cast a skeptical gaze at Su Shaoqing and Su Huaibei. “I don’t recall inviting the entire Su family to join us. I’m just here for lunch with you and Shaoqing.”
Su Yumin was on the verge of losing his temper. Fortunately, Su Huainan got ahead of his father and said, “We’re the ones at fault for showing up unannounced, but we mean no harm. My father only came because he can’t wait to see his granddaughter.”
Glancing at Shi Nuan in Fu Chengyan
’s arms, he let out a long sigh of helplessness and told her, “Nuan, your uncles, aunties, and grandfather mean no harm!”
Shi Nuan remained silent, yet she nudged her husband.
Looking into her eyes, Fu Chengyan nodded in return and assured his wife, “I will definitely respect your decision. If you wish to leave, we’ll leave immediately. But if you wish to stay, I won’t bring you away against your will.”
Fu Chengyan whispered in a gentle manner. As those were words intended for his wife, his previously indifferent and callous tone was nowhere to be found. Those from the Su family heaved a sigh of relief because Fu Chengyan seemed to be serious about Shi Nuan.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have changed his mind and allow his wife to make the decision. He had always been known as a man of few words amongst the corporate players.
Shi Nuan hesitated for a few seconds. In the end, she suggested, “Since we have so many guests, let’s have the manager get us a bigger suite.”
The members of the Su family felt a boulder being lifted off their shoulders upon hearing Shi Nuan’s suggestion.
“She’s right! Since we have so many people today, let’s move to a bigger space!” Su Yumin couldn’t hold back his excitement anymore.
Shi Nuan’s lips convulsed involuntarily. She asked, “Is there a larger room that is available?”
Fu Chengyan looked in the manager’s direction. Immediately, the manager said, “Mr. Fu, there’s another suite that is currently unoccupied. I’ll go get everything ready at once!”
Since Fu Chengyan had agreed to relocate, the manager immediately asked his staff to get the bigger suite ready.
Soon, everything was sorted out and all guests were ushered into a spacious suite. Fu Chengyan wrapped one arm around his wife while holding Cheng An with his other arm.
The trio led the way with the Su family following behind. As they approached the bigger suite, Su Yumin whispered to Su Shaoqing, “Qing, is Fu Chengyan a close acquaintance of yours? Is he a good man? Has he been taking great care of Nuan?”
Su Shaoqing rolled his eyes in return. If he weren’t serious about Shi Nuan, Fu Chengyan wouldn’t have gone to great lengths to arrange today’s meet-up, nor risk the relationship between the Fu and Su families with his serious choice of words just now.
Su Shaoqing was dumbstruck by his grandfather’s silly question, but he replied casually, “Yes, he’s a great man. He has been doing a wonderful job protecting Shi Nuan all this while. Actually, he’s a dedicated man. He has helped her sort out all the issues she encountered before I became acquainted with her.”
Su Yumin nodded in return. “That is reassuring. I have always been worried that he’s a playboy who’s going to break Nuan’s heart. Since Nuan will soon be a member of the Su family, I’m sure those from the Fu clan won’t dare to bully Nuan from now on.”
Su Shaoqing couldn’t believe his ears. He rebuked, “Grandpa! Have you been spending your time watching soap operas again? Those are the plots of a typical soap opera! No one is bullying anyone, okay? Besides, she has Chengyan by her side. No one will be foolish enough to try anything silly against her!”
“You shouldn’t be so certain because the old fool from the Fu clan is—”
“Dad! Please mind your words!” Su Huaibei got in his father’s way and stopped him from finishing his sentence. Glaring at him, his father bellowed, “Huh? I have yet to deal with you. You dare to raise your voice at me?”
Su Yumin hit his son with his cane once again. The old man didn
’t bother to hold back against his son at all and the resulting thump was so loud that even Shi Nuan, who was way ahead of them, could hear the noise.
She paused momentarily, but Fu Chengyan held her hand firmly and shook his head. Shi Nuan pursed her lips and reassured her husband, “Don’t worry. I’m fine. I will be fine.”
After they entered the spacious dining suite, Fu Chengyan paid no heed to others. He brought Shi Nuan over to her seat and instructed the manager, “Please serve us the dishes we have ordered just now. As for those who are present, have them order their own meal.”
Su Shaoqing rebutted Fu Chengyan’s seemingly harsh statement the moment he entered the suite. “Hey, Chengyan! Why are you treating your guests in such a manner? How come Nuan gets to have her meal sorted out on her behalf? What about us?”
“Are you going to snatch a pregnant woman’s meal?” Fu Chengyan glared at Su Shaoqing.
“Get out of the way!” Su Yumin hit Su Shaoqing with his cane. “Are you blind? Can’t you see Nuan is heavily pregnant? Go get yourself something to eat if you’re starving!”
Once he chased his grandson away, he scurried over and took a seat by Shi Nuan’s side. He put on a gentle front and greeted her politely, “Hello, Nuan! My name is Su Yumin! I’m the father of that rascal over there, and I’m also your grandfather!”
The rest of the Su family members were flabbergasted. They thought the old man was possessed because he had never behaved so gently in front of others.
Shi Nuan responded with an odd smile because Su Yumin was overly enthusiastic. She had no choice but to reply, “H-Hello.”
His expression turned grim for a second when he heard his granddaughter’s reply, but he quickly beamed again. “Since I have just come from the airport, I don’t have anything valuable for you.”
Reaching for the jade pendant in his pocket, he handed it over to Shi Nuan and told her,
“This is your late grandmother’s favorite pendant. It’s one of the Su family’s heirlooms. It’s yours from now on.”
