I Want a Lifetime with You
Chapter 178

The equestrian club was in the outskirts where there were vast amounts of empty land. Only the rich and famous would come here to pass their time. Shi Nuan had heard Song Rongrong talked about it before but had never been there.

Song Rongrong's family was not considered very wealthy but was rich enough still. When she was little, her family hoped that she would do well in life and brought her to places where the rich and famous would hang out. She told Shi Nuan that she had visited this equestrian club when she was fifteen. She was almost stomped to death by a horse during the visit so she never dared to return since the accident. Although Shi Nuan had started out full of enthusiasm and was looking forward to horseback riding, she started to feel apprehensive the moment she arrived. She had never ridden a horse before and only saw the actors ride them on TV. Sometimes she would watch horse races where the jockeys were professionals.

Fu Chengyan could feel that Shi Nuan was nervous and he held her hand to reassure her. "Don't worry, I'm here. You will be fine!" Fu Chengyan smiled. "The facilities here are very safe. Even if you're not confident in them, you still have me here!"

"By the way, if you're still not confident in Chengyan, you still have both Li Heng and I here. Li Heng's horse-riding skills is a lot better than Chengyan's. He's really good at it." Su Shaoqing approached Shi Nuan bravely to reassure her as he too saw that she was nervous. "If Li Heng fails, you still have me!" Su Shaoqing beat his chest as he declared, "I'm the best among the three of us!"

"Oh?" Shi Nuan felt her nervousness dissipate a little after hearing Su Shaoqing's words. She laughed and said, "I believe you when you say that Li Heng is better than Yan. But, it would be ludicrous to think that you are more skilled than both of them!"

Shi Nuan started to play along with Su Shaoqing's attempt at humor. She said, "I am confident in Yan's skill. I think you had better put in more effort to keep up with him."

"Pfft!" Su Shaoqing made a heart-piercing gesture when he heard her. He then turned to Li Heng to complain. "Li Heng, look at them. They are displaying public affection everywhere they go. Don't you think this is unfair? I don't remember you being this rude when you first got married."

The moment Li Heng heard those words, his jovial expression turned into a gloomy one. He shot a sharp glance at Su Shaoqing who immediately realized that he had said something wrong. He then gulped as he raised his hand apologetically. "I'm sorry. It's my fault! I know better than to bring her up in front of you." Su Shaoqing took another look at Fu Chengyan but was no longer able to smile. "I was just saying that both of you don't have to be so harsh on me. One of you is her brother while the other is her husband. I mean ex-husband. Nevertheless, Pei Huan had left for such a long time. Haven't you gotten over he yet?"

Li Heng pursed his lips as he lifted his eyebrows. He was visibly upset to hear Su Shaoqing bring up the topic. Even Fu Chengyan looked miffed as the person Su Shaoqing was talking about was his sister Fu Jiazhen. She was also Li Heng's ex-wife, Pei Huan.

"What about you? Fu Ling left long ago, why haven't you gotten over it yet?"

Pei Huan's name was a taboo to Li Heng and Fu Chengyan. Just like how the name Fu Ling shouldn't be mentioned in front of Su Shaoqing.

The three of them had problems in dealing with what happened then.

Shi Nuan felt like an outsider as she didn't know their story from the old days. However, she was sure that both Pei Huan and Fu Ling definitely had something to do with it.

Shi Nuan felt awkward being caught in the middle of the conversation. She shook Fu Chengyan's hand and asked, "Erm... Yan, didn't you say that you will teach me how to ride?"

Shi Nuan spoke at the right time as she broke the awkward silence among the three friends. Fu Chengyan nodded with a smile and stroked her hair. "Alright, let's go. I'll take you to get changed and we will go pick a horse."

As Fu Chengyan led Shi Nuan away, Su Shaoqing stared at them from behind. He felt a sense of remorse in his heart. After a long while, he finally said, "I'm sorry!"

Li Heng squinted his eyes and put a hand in his pocket. He handed a cigarette to Su Shaoqing with another hand. Su Shaoqing waved them away. "I've quit!" Perhaps Li Heng wasn't aware that he had quit many years ago. He would only smoked once in a blue moon to scratch the itch."

Li Heng glared at him as he retracted his hand and put the cigarette pack back in his pocket. He turned over the cigarette in his other hand as he looked towards the horizon. "I made a mistake too."

Both of them exchange glances and smiled as they made peace. "Let's go have a race with Chengyan. The two lonely men shouldn't let him show off that easily."

Su Shaoqing raised an eyebrow and said, "You definitely got that right!"

Shi Nuan turned back to take a look at them. "I hope both of them won't fight!" The atmosphere was so tense just now that she was worried that the three of them would start fighting. Hence, she quickly changed the topic to ease the tension. But Fu Chengyan had pulled her away too quickly so she was worried that Li Heng and Su Shaoqing would start brawling.

"No, they won't. Don't worry." Fu Chengyan's eyes gleamed with confidence. He knew in his heart that it was more likely that they ganged up on him rather than fighting with each other.. "The four of us won't get into a fight that easily. Hence, Li Heng won't do anything to Shaoqing."

"Really?" Shi Nuan was doubtful. She could feel the overwhelming animosity just now. If not for her presence, they would have all started fighting.

In fact, Shi Nuan's fears were not unfounded as it happened before. It was just that Fu Chengyan kept it from her to not frighten her instead. "Really!"

Shi Nuan nodded. "If that's the case...can I ask you something?" Shi Nuan bit her lip. "Is Pei Huan, that was said to be Li Heng's wife, the same person as Fu Jiazhen whom you have always talked about? Is she your sister?"

Fu Chengyan nodded. "Yes, she is my uncle's daughter but got mixed up at birth. She was brought up by a man named Pei Qingcheng. Pei Huan found out about the mix-up by sheer luck as she looked very much like my aunt. So, that aroused suspicions and they proceeded to investigate. Her relationship with Li Heng was a long story. They got married but broke up because of a misunderstanding. We still don't know where she is until now."

Shi Nuan pursed her lips as she didn't know what else to say. Although Fu Chengyan didn't say much about Pei Huan, Shi Nuan could feel how much she meant to both Li Heng and Fu Chengyan. "Didn't all of you look for her?"

Fu Chengyan shook his head. "Of course we did. But she is a very headstrong character and it's hard to change her mind. I'm afraid it will be really difficult to get her to come back." Fu Chengyan frowned as he finished. "When she disappeared, she left behind some divorce papers for Li Heng. It is very likely that she has decided never to return!"

"What about Li Heng? What did he say about it? Does he not want to look for her?"

"May, not everyone's relationship is that clear cut!" What Fu Chengyan meant was it was up to the parties involved to resolve their problems. Even though Pei Huan was his sister, there wasn't much he could do. It was really up to them both.

Shi Nuan understood instantly and held on tight to Fu Chengyan's hand. "Yan, promise me that you will never leave me no matter what happens." She was fearful of being betrayed as she had already experienced the despair that came with it once. She knew that she couldn't bear to experience it the second time.

"I won't unless you leave me. Or else, I'll never do that to you!" Fu Chengyan squeezed her hand in return. "I know promises aren't something that's reliable. But to me, I'll never break it once I have made one!" Shi Nuan nodded as she replied, "I love you, Yan!"

"I love you too!" Fu Chengyan kissed her forehead and then gently relieved the tension in her eyebrows with his fingers. "What else you do want to know?"

Shi Nuan nodded. "Fu Ling."

Fu Chengyan's expression darkened and Shi Nuan could feel his grip tighten. "She is the other sister that I had mentioned to you before that was trusted by the Fu clan."

"Fu Jiasi?"

Fu Chengyan nodded. "Her situation is different from that of Pei Huan. She's my half-sister as she was born out of wedlock when my father made a mistake when he was young." Fu Chengyan frowned. "She wasn't compatible with the Fu family and equally unsuitable for Su Shaoqing."

Shi Nuan pursed her lips. "Did she also break up with Su Shaoqing because of a misunderstanding?"

"No." Fu Chengyan shook his head. "There was no misunderstanding between them. It was simply because they didn't love each other anymore. They were unsuited to begin with."

Shi Nuan felt her heart drop. "What about her? Where did she go? Did she disappear too just like Pei Huan?"

"I'll tell you more about her next time. But you must definitely not bring her up in front of Su Shaoqing, or else he will go ballistic!" Just as Fu Chengyan finished, they arrived at the changing room. "I have a private room here. Zhou Zheng have already made the preparations in the morning so I think you will replace your riding gear inside."

"Alright!" Shi Nuan nodded as she put the matter of Pei Huan and Fu Ling at the back of her mind for the moment. She then followed Fu Chengyan into the changing room.

"Here they are. Why don't you give them a try!" Fu Chengyan handed Shi Nuan the riding gear. "I'll teach you some basic techniques before we pick out a horse for you. Since it's your first time, we'll just let you experience have a feel of it. I'll bring you back the next time we get a chance. Hopefully, we will be alone then!"

He had planned to spend the weekend with Shi Nuan as he wanted to take her mind off what happened recently. Although she didn't seem to be traumatized, Fu Chengyan was worried that it still might have some impact on her. However, he did not expect Su Shaoqing and Li Heng to join them instead.

Fu Chengyan raised his eyebrow in surprise when he saw Shi Nuan emerged ready from the changing room. As she turned around for him to see, his eyes glinted in awe of how she looked. She had tied her hair into a tall ponytail and her face hardly had any makeup on but she looked gorgeous.

Her usually calm disposition could no longer be seen as it was take over by someone who looked vibrant and energetic.