Chapter 578 The Scheme of Fu Chengyan
Fu Chengyan made quite a spectacle when picking up Shi Nuan and Shen Qianan at the hospital. He had arranged a fleet of more than twenty cars that were identical to one another and even assigned two highly-trained bodyguards in each vehicle.
With such great pomp in front of the hospital, it was hard not to catch the attention of others, who marveled at the sight. The crowd then realized that it should not be surprising to see such an elaborate arrangement. After all, it was one of the most well-known private hospitals in Jiang City, and the director was Su Shaoqing, one of the city’s Big Four, no less. Hence, it was very likely that the visitors to the hospital were all rich and famous, and the crowd assumed that the display of grandeur must have been for one of those visitors.
Regardless, a lot of the passersby took out their phones and started taking photos before posting them on Weibo with various hashtags and headlines, including but not limited to their shocking discovery of the extravagance of a wealthy person in Jiang City and Jiang City’s Big Four.
The posts soon went viral, with some of them gaining more likes and reposts than even the hottest gossip about celebrities in the entertainment industry. The netizens who saw the posts unanimously agreed that the wealthy person in question must be one of Jiang City’s Big Four. Some netizens even claimed that they had seen Jiang City’s Big Four at the hospital. The post quickly became one of the trending topics on social media.
When Liang Lin and Zhou Zheng saw the trending topics that appeared so suddenly and unexpectedly online, it caused an involuntary yet simultaneous twitch of their lips. However, they did not care about it but instead observed the live feed of surveillance cameras on the computer screen with solemn expressions.
Once everything was ready, Liang Lin reported to Li Heng that things were in place.
Soon after, Fu Chengyan, in all-black attire, helped a pregnant woman into one of the cars. Following that, Su Shaoqing also accompanied another woman into a different car.
After that, the cars drove out of the hospital compound. During the journey, they separated into several teams, each taking a different route at the designated intersections. It might seem like they were doing it arbitrarily, but the formation was constantly changing, with the cars switching in and out of lanes in an orderly manner so that it was impossible for anyone to track who was in the vehicles.
Sitting in a cafe opposite the hospital, a man kept his gaze firmly glued to the entrance of the building across. A while later, another man dressed in black approached him. “Mr. J, they’ve already left.”
Despite his subordinate’s words, Fu Sijue did not shift his gaze away from the hospital entrance. “Keep monitoring.”
Yun was confused. “But Mr. J, our men reported that Ms. Shen has already left in a car with Su Shaoqing.”
Fu Sijie turned to look at him. “And what happened next?”
When the other man stayed quiet, he drummed two long fingers on the table.
He stared at the hospital entrance for a long time, his expression slowly becoming twisted with anger. “Fu Chengyan!” he snarled, fists clenching so hard that his knuckles cracked.
Naturally, Yun noticed the rage that was radiating from his superior. “Mr. J, what do we do now?”
“Where are our men who’re stationed at the various crossroads?” Fu Sijie asked through clenched teeth as he glanced sharply at Yun. “You guys have some nerve disregarding my orders.”
The latter looked at him with unease. “Mr. J, our men didn’t see Ms. Shen initially… So they dared not make a move. We’re in Jiang City, after all. We can’t risk having you exposed. On the brighter side, since Fu Chengyan is agreeable to discharging the two ladies from the hospital, it means that Ms. Shen is all right—”
Before he could finish the sentence, his superior shot him a murderous look, and he subsided immediately.
Fu Sijue slammed a fist on the table; his expression was dark and thunderous. Fu Chengyan, it seems that I’ve underestimated you.
Fu Chengyan knew how cautious and skeptical he could be. Hence, the former put up an intricate show with the fleet of cars because he knew the latter would assume it was just a decoy and that Shen Qianan was not in one of the cars.
The plan worked. All the while, Fu Sijue had assumed that Shen Qianan must have been in the hospital still. It was only then that he realized Fu Chenyan had strategized everything.
Shen Qianan must have left in one of the cars and perhaps has even reached the Su residence safely by now.
True enough, the two women who got into the cars earlier were indeed Shen Qianan and Shi Nuan, though they had undergone some disguises. Even though Fu Sijue hated to admit it, he was well and truly duped by Fu Chengyan’s clever trick. The latter had deliberately put on a show to confuse and distract him, misleading him into assuming Shen Qianan was not in the car and would hence continue monitoring the hospital.
By the time Fu Sijue discovered that he had been tricked, it was too late. Shen Qianan and Shi Nuan were long gone from the hospital.
That was precisely why he was so enraged.
Despite having planned for every possible scenario, he was still outsmarted by Fu Chengyan in the end. At the same time, Fu Sijue was forced to acknowledge what a powerful adversary the other man was. After all, he had spent years strategizing, yet it only took Fu Chengyan less than twenty days to figure him out and deliver a severe blow to him.
“What do we do now, Mr. J? Ms. Shen—”
Yun’s words were cut off by a steely glare from Fu Sijue.
The latter clenched his fists. “The war’s not lost yet,” he said with a sharp glint in his eyes. “How’s the situation in Sheen City?”
“All is well for now. Mr. J, about—”
Once again, Fu Sijue did not wait for his subordinate to finish. Waving his hand, he ordered, “We’re leaving.”
“But…”
Yun still could not understand Fu Sijue’s intentions. If he really wants to seek revenge, why wait for so long? But if it’s not revenge he’s after, then why is he doing all this?
For the first time, he realized that he knew nothing about Fu Sijue even after all those years of being his subordinate. As cold and cruel as the man was, Yun had thought he would at least spare Ying, who had served him for years alongside Yun. However, Fu Sijue had proven him wrong with his actions, showing him just what would happen to those who betrayed and disobeyed him.
Meanwhile, Fu Chengyan, Su Shaoqing, Li Heng, and the rest took different routes and convened at Wutong Residence. The place was very secure as its vicinity was heavily guarded by Fu Chengyan’s men.
Shi Nuan, with her pregnant belly, was carefully supported by Fu Chengyan as she waddled along. However, she was clueless about what had transpired on that day and only thought Fu Chengyan was being needlessly ostentatious when picking them up from the hospital.
“Are you doing this because you’re afraid others don’t know how rich you are or something?” she muttered while walking.
Fu Chengyan had a faint smile on his face. She had been nagging at him throughout the whole car ride. “You must be thirsty,” he said lightly.
“I’m not.” Shi Nuan cast a dubious glance at the man beside her and saw him smiling from ear to ear. Even his eyes were sparkling with joy. “Why did you ask me that?”
She then turned to see the group walking behind her. The rest all carried similar smiles on their faces. At that, Shi Nuan narrowed her eyes, finally realizing the meaning behind Fu Chengyan’s words. “Oh, so now you think I’m naggy?” she grumbled in mock annoyance, making a show of punching him in the shoulder.
Smiling, the man caught her hand mid-air and squeezed it gently before landing a soft kiss on its back. “No way. You have a melodious voice, and I love it. You should talk more. I was just worried that your mouth might be dry, so I was trying to make you drink some water,” he deadpanned.
“Such glib words!” A blush crept up Shi Nuan’s cheeks in an instant. What is it with him now? I don’t know why he can set my heart racing every time he talks.
Su Shaoqing coughed loudly. “Hey, Chengyan, show some consideration, will you? Keep the lovey-dovey stuff away from us!”
He and the others naturally got an eyeful of the display of affection between the couple since they were walking behind them. Su Shaoqing was the first to voice his objections. How can they start indulging in a PDA as soon as they get home!
Fu Chengyan narrowed his eyes. “Do you have a problem? If you do, feel free to leave. The exit’s over there,” he said, pointing in the direction of the door.
“Hey, are you kicking me out now that you no longer need me? That’s so harsh!”
Unfazed, Fu Chengyan raised a brow and smirked. “Glad you know that.”
“You…” Su Shaoqing faltered. Exasperation appeared on his face, though he soon regained his composure. “Forget it. I’m going to play nice instead of stooping to your level.” He then turned to Shi Nuan, putting on his best innocent look. “You must be tired, Nuan. Let’s sit down!”
Grinning, he went over to Shi Nuan. Just as he was about to sit down beside her, Fu Chengyan unexpectedly stepped in and nudged him out of the way. “Go sit over there!”
Su Shaoqing shot him a glare before walking away begrudgingly. “Chengyan, I’ll have you know that I’m technically your brother-in-law. Is this the way to treat your in-laws?” he complained.
Fu Chengyan ignored him. The former’s attention was solely on Shi Nuan. After helping his pregnant wife sit comfortably, he looked at Shen Qianan. “Your room is ready. Why don’t you ask the servant to guide you there?”
“All right.” Shen Qianan nodded with a slight smile. While she and Shi Nuan had reunited with each other and maintained an amicable relationship, it was somewhat awkward for her to interact with Fu Chengyan and Su Shaoqing. She could talk freely with Shi Nuan, who was a woman like her as well as her sister. However, it was a different story with the men. Shen Qianan was too embarrassed to talk to them about the things that had happened in the past and, as a result, was discomfited to be in their presence.
“Sorry to have troubled you,” Shen Qianan said to Fu Chengyan. “I guess, technically, you are also my brother-in-law now.”
As though he had not expected her to address him as such, the man looked surprised for a second.
There was a brief silence before he nodded. “Don’t worry about it. We’re family now.”
Only then did she finally feel relieved. “Well, thanks again. I’ll head upstairs then.”
“All right.”
Per Fu Chengyan’s arrangements, the majority of the servants in Wutong Residence used to be from the Fu residence. He had begun to handpick those people a few days ago. The remaining ones who had not worked for the Fu clan before were selected after a stringent process of interviews and background checks through Zhou Zheng. Hence, Fu Chengyan was confident that the servants would not pose any threat to his wife and Shen Qianan’s safety.
Shi Nuan watched the interaction between her husband and sister with a happy grin, pleased to see that they were on friendly terms. After Shen Qianan had gone upstairs, she turned to Fu Chengyan and the rest. “So Qianan will be living here? What about Ms. Huo?”
“It’s up to her,” Fu Chengyan said, glancing at Li Heng and Huo Ling. “She can stay here if she wants, or she can stay with Li Heng.”
Huo Ling weighed her options in her mind and preferred staying with Li Heng. After all, Aunt Zhang’s cooking was really delicious, and it reminded her of home. Besides, she enjoyed being in Pei Huan’s and Bao’s company. The time staying with them had been the happiest period in her life. “I’d like to—”
Li Heng interrupted abruptly, “I think Ms. Huo should stay here. Since the virus in Shi Nuan’s and Shen Qianan’s bodies is now active, she could help them timely if the need arises. My place is too far from here.”
Fu Chengyan nodded. “What about Huan and Bao?” he asked after some contemplation, knowing that they, too, had the virus.
“I can fetch them here,” Li Heng offered immediately. He flashed Fu Chengyan a toothy grin. “If they are willing, they can stay here too. It’s a big place. I’m sure there are enough rooms for everyone, am I right?”
The corner of Fu Chengyan’s lips twitched when he heard Li Heng’s suggestion. He could not help but feel that the latter was using him.
