I Want a Lifetime with You
Chapter 143

Fu Chengyan narrowed his eyes but his gaze was still upon Shi Nuan, completely ignoring Fu Xicheng in the process. This made Fu Xicheng feel rather awkward, as he did not know what to say at all. Sensing the subtle unease in the atmosphere, Shi Nuan said, "Mr. Fu? Why are you here?"

Fu Chengyan's lips curled up slightly as he said, "I was just having a chat with Old Mr. Shi where he brought you up, Ms. Shi." He barely responded to her question, but she understood his meaning immediately. "You are good friends with my Granddad? He had just given me a call just now, asking me to join him."

"In that case, shall we?" Fu Chengyan said while Shi Nuan nodded hurriedly. "Yes, let's go!"

Of course Fu Xicheng was not about to let Shi Nuan leave so easily. "Nuan!" He called out to her. "You promised to talk this through with me."

Shi Nuan frowned at him. How could he still not give up, even with Fu Chengyan's appearance?

Fu Chengyan's eyebrows raised slightly at that. Despite his mounting domineering aura, his expression remained unchanged. He then looked sharply at Fu Xicheng and said brusquely, "If I remember correctly you are getting married to the eldest Ms. Shi today. Instead of being at the hall as you should, here you are disturbing your sister-in-law? That's rather strange, don't you think?"

His tone was rather flat, but still sounded authoritative nonetheless. This was especially so with the elevated pitch in his final sentence, which gave more effect to his authoritative presence.

Fu Xicheng's heart thumped. Something felt strange, but he could not put his finger to it.

He looked at Fu Chengyan and Shi Nuan who were standing side by side. They weren't exactly stuck to each other, but there was not much distance between them either. Next to Fu Chengyan, Shi Nuan looked even more petite than ever, and the two of them looked strangely perfect for each other whilst side by side. A sense of crisis then rose within Fu Xicheng.

Fu Xicheng's gaze fell upon the two of them. Even though he was not happy about it, he knew very well that Fu Chengyan had stated the truth. "I...."

"It's getting late, and I don't think it'd look very good if the bridegroom is nowhere to be seen at the banquet hall." Fu Chengyan said as he glanced at Shi Nuan. "Ms. Shi, shall we go?" Shi Nuan nodded. "I haven't seen my Granddad for a while."

"Timing is perfect, because your Grandpa Jiang Shizheng is there too." There was now a hint of gentleness in Fu Chengyan's otherwise cold voice. "They are both so superb at chess, they make me feel ashamed of myself."

Shi Nuan looked up to his eyes and said teasingly, "Mr. Fu, you are too humble! Both my grandfathers are just playing around, how could they compare to you?"

Fu Xicheng was both annoyed and frustrated at how they completely ignored his presence. "Uncle, you...."

Fu Chengyan lifted his eyes and shot a glance at Fu Xicheng. "Since it is your wedding, you should be playing your part, no? Did your father invite me here today to just watch you make a fool out of yourself?" Fu Xicheng's face fell as he looked at Fu Chengyan, and took another look at Shi Nuan. "Uncle, let's not joke around. I'll be going out to entertain the guests now."

Shi Nuan's eyes grew a little colder as she watched Fu Xicheng walk away hurriedly. As she glanced at her wrist which he had grabbed onto earlier, she headed to the bathroom to wash her hands again. Wher she came out, she saw Fu Chengyan standing at the door staring at her with his deep dark eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Fu Chengyan's lips curled up but he didn't say much apart from "Come here!" as he beckoned to her.

Shi Nuan did not know why, but Fu Chengyan clutched her hand when she walked up to him. Compared to the chills she felt earlier, she currently felt nothing but comfort and warmth.

Shi Nuan looked down at Fu Chengyan's grip on her hand before looking up to his slightly curled up lips. "You look like you are in a good mood?"

Fu Chengyan's eyebrows raised a little as he stared at her smooth and fair hand. This man is just so strange sometimes. His temper is probably worse than women! She thought to herself. "Come on, Granddad and Grandpa have been waiting for us for a long time!"

On their way to Shi Yunsheng's room, Fu Chengyan never let go of Shi Nuan's hand. She wanted him to let go, but he was not having it. "No one is going to see us here!"

Fu Chengyan reached out to gently caress her forehead. "What are you so worried about?"

Shi Nuan had no choice but to let him hold her hand.

When they arrived at Shi Yunsheng's room, the two old men were embroiled in a bitter battle. The game was so close they began to argue with each other, and neither of them was willing to back down at all. Shi Nuan could not help but burst out in laughter, which stopped both Jiang Shizheng and Shi Yunsheng in their argument before looking at the two of them awkwardly.

Shi Nuan was quite happy as she rarely had the opportunity to see this childish side of both her grandfathers, but she did not dare to be too obvious about it either. It was Fu Chengyan who walked in calmly while still holding Shi Nuan's hand. "Granddad, Grandpa, I've brought Nuan with me."

"Nuan! Come and sit here!" Shi Yunsheng beckoned to her. "Come and sit next to Granddad."

"Nuan, come and sit with Grandpa!" Jiang Shizheng refused to be left behind either.

Shi Nuan was plunged into a dilemma as she looked at Shi Yunsheng and then turned to look at Jiang Shizheng. Finally, her eyes could only fall on Fu Chengyan.

Fu Chengyan's lips curled up slightly as he whispered a few words to Shi Nuan. She immediately smiled and nodded, "Alright, I'll go and make some tea while you chat with Granddad and Grandpa!"

Shi Nuan headed to the side table where she chose the tea leaves and set the kettle to boil. She then began to brew the tea earnestly.

Shi Yunsheng and Jiang Shizheng's eyes met briefly before they both put down their chess pieces. "Come on, let's go and take a seat!"

The three men were deep in conversation while Shi Nuan made the tea patiently, forming a very harmonious scene indeed. However, before they knew it, the two old men began to argue again. Shi Nuan felt a little helpless but she was still rather amused by how sweet the situation was.

"Here's your tea, Granddad, Grandpa!" Shi Nuan handed the tea cups to Shi Yunsheng and Jiang Shizheng respectively. Then, she looked at Fu Chengyan and said, "Yan."

When Fu Chengyan received the tea cup, his slim fingers brushed past Shi Nuan's fingers, which made her shiver a little before shooting him a disapproving glare. Of course the two old men caught that little interaction. The sight of Shi Nuan and Fu Chengyan behaving in this manner alleviated much of their initial worries.

Even though they have never brought it up, they had been rather worried for Shi Nuan. After all, Fu Xicheng was her ex-boyfriend while Shi Wei was her sister. Of course she would be somewhat affected by this wedding. However, they might have been overthinking it. Now that she was with such an outstanding man, there was no reason for Shi Nuan to be affected by Fu Xicheng and Shi Wei's wedding at all. "Nuan, I can finally rest easy." Shi Yunsheng sighed. "I don't have any other wishes for now, apart from you and Yan's marriage...."

"Granddad, Yan and I are married, aren't we?" Shi Nuan smiled. "Don't worry, I am really fine!"

"You know I don't mean that. Look, you two may be married, but you haven't had a wedding yet. Also, you haven't met the Fu family." Shi Yunsheng's worry was echoed by Jiang Shizheng.

Jiang Shicheng trusted Fu Yancheng, as he was his student after all. However, as this had to do with Shi Nuan's happiness, he had no choice but to worry for her. "Shi is right. Both of us will continue to worry as long as you don't hold a wedding!"

Shi Nuan shook her head and looked at Fu Chengyan imploringly. However, not only did he not help her, he responded with a quizzical look at her. Shi Nuan bit her lips as she felt like she had been pushed to a corner. She was at a loss now.

"Granddad, Grandpa, didn't I tell you this already? Yan and I don't really need a wedding. Yan and I....we...."

"Granddad, Grandpa!" Finally, Fu Chengyan could not bear to see her in this dilemma anymore. He rested his hand over her hand and said calmly, "We will definitely hold a wedding, so that I can let everyone know that Nuan is my wife. However, before we can do that, Nuan needs to cross several hurdles first. I can help her with some of them, but she will still need to finish the rest by herself."

He spoke in a calm and collected manner, and did not hesitate at all in front of the older men.

"Promises can be too burdensome, but they can also be too fickle. I don't make promises easily, but I will use my actions to show you that Nuan has married the right man. Yes, Nuan has her concerns, but we are a married couple, so we will bear the burdens together. Since she is not willing to hold a wedding now, I have chosen to respect her feelings."

Shi Nuan looked up to Fu Chengyan with gratitude in her eyes.

She knew that both her grandfathers' concerns were normal now that she had married Fu Chengyan. She also knew that Fu Chengyan wanted nothing more than to have their relationship out in the open. However, he was forced to consider her feelings first.

Shi Nuan put her hand over Fu Chengyan's hand this time. "Yan, thank you!"

Shi Yunsheng and Jiang Shizheng were both taken aback, as they had not expected Fu Chengyan to say something like that. Both of them shook their heads. "Alright, alright, we are too old to meddle with you young people and your viewpoints. However, Yan, you must treat Nuan well. She is a very kind and forgiving person, so while she may not take certain things to heart, not everyone else behaves the same way You know what I am talking about?"

Fu Chengyan nodded. "Yes, I do. Granddad, Grandpa, don't worry. I am committed to protect Nuan for the rest of my life, and I will definitely not allow anyone to hurt her."

"Good to hear that!"

"Hey, why are you guys so serious? Look at me, I am the main subject of your discussion and I haven't said anything yet!" Shi Nuan saw that the atmosphere was getting rather tense, so she quickly chimed in. "Granddad, Grandpa, after some time when Yan's and my relationship stabilize a little, we will definitely hold a wedding. That'd be fine, right?"

Shi Nuan refilled their teacups. "It's Shi Wei's wedding today. Granddad, Grandpa, you two are really not going out there to take a look?"

"Hrrmph, take a look? They probably don't want to see us two wretched old men, for fear that we will disrupt them!" Jiang Shizheng's temper was threatening to flare up as he harrumphed coldly. He knew his daughter a little too well. "Let's wait for a while before going out, so that we don't be annoyed by what we see!"