I Want a Lifetime with You
Chapter 202

"You're not late." Shi Nuan realized Lin Yu's aura seemed different today. She shot him a grin. "Mr. George is inside."

Lin Yu nodded, his face slightly pale. The man followed Shi Nuan in.

George had already spotted Lin Yu. He stood up to welcome him. "Lin, long time no see!"

"George, long time no see." Both men shook hands and exchanged greetings. Shi Nuan noticed Lin Yu seemed unwell, so she poured him a cup of warm water. "Mr. Lin, if you're unwell, you don't have to come."

"I'm fine." Lin Yu took the water from her politely, but set it aside. His slender fingers began folding up his coat. Su Yian gave George a cup of tea before standing up. "Mr. Lin, please give me your coat." Su Yian stretched her hand out politely, but Lin Yu was taken aback, like he had just noticed her existence.

The man's dark gaze fell on Su Yian.

Because Lin Yu had arrived late, he didn't know who Su Yian was, so his gaze was full of curiosity.

Both of them froze. Shi Nuan reacted first and introduced them to each other. "Mr. Lin, this is my friend, Su Yian. She's also the owner of this teahouse. I personally invited her to talk to Mr. George." Lin Yu finally regained his senses and shot Su Yian an apologetic look. "Thank you, Ms. Su."

"It's nothing." Su Yian gave him a slight smile and took his coat. When she came back, Lin Yu's gaze was still fixated on Su Yian.

The woman found a quiet place and sat down. She took over Shi Nuan's task of making tea. George was excited as he hadn't seen Lin Yu in a while, so both men started discussing about new project animatedly.

Shi Nuan would join in their conversation from time to time, but it was mostly Lin Yu and George talking. However, Lin Yu's gaze would dart towards Su Yian occasionally. Su Yian might not have realized it herself, but Shi Nuan noticed Lin Yu's expression. She smirked and inched closer to Su Yian before winking at her.

Su Yian glanced at her curiously. "What?"

The woman seemed baffled, so Shi Nuan tilted her chin in Lin Yu's direction, but he had already looked away awkwardly. Shi Nuan raised her brows and shook her head with a chuckle. "It's nothing." Su Yian's lips curved up in resignation. She handed a cup of tea to Shi Nuan. "I thought you came closer because something's up."

Meanwhile, Fu Chengyan arrived at the golf course on time. At this time of the year, the golf course wasn't empty. Instead, it was full of players. Fu Chengyan found out later that it was Lin Shen's birthday today, and he had planned to invite a few friends to play golf with him. But because Fu Chengyan and Li Heng were too intimidating, Lin Shen dared not invite them.

When Fu Chengyan walked in, he saw Li Heng casually sipping his tea. The man didn't look like he was here to play golf. He saw Fu Chengyan approaching him and told the server to prepare tea. Fu Chengyan narrowed his eyes and walked up to him. "Why are you free today?"

"I thought you were the one who asked me out?" Li Heng shot him a look before realizing Fu Chengyan was dressed in... "What is it about?"

Li Heng handed a cigarette to Fu Chengyan, but Fu Chengyan man placed it aside. "We're in a no-smoking zone."

His friend merely smirked. "I never knew you cared about that! I thought you'd be busy on weekends."

"Yes, I am. I didn't want to come at first," Fu Chengyan told him honestly. Li Heng narrowed his eyes before gazing sharply at Fu Chengyan. He tapped his fingers on his knee. "Are you sure you want Li Group to take over the West City project?"

"Of course!" Fu Chengyan caressed the spot between his thumb and forefinger, pausing. "I thought Li Group would be an excellent partner in Jiang City."

"But you should know I'm not in charge of Li Group now," Li Heng replied, his tone indifferent. "My father allowed Li Xufan to share my position in order to weaken my influence in the company."

"I believe you can settle that issue yourself as it's a division within your company, and I won't interfere. But then again, are you not planning to monopolize Li Group?" Fu Chengyan asked with a sharp glint in his eyes.

To Fu Chengyan, Li Group had little value. If it wasn't for Li Heng, he would've acted ages ago.

Li Heng narrowed his eyes and paused upon hearing Fu Chengyan's words. "I have news about her."

Fu Chengyan flinched and curled his fingers. "You want her to return?"

They knew exactly who that "her" was - the person who had left and caused Li Heng and the entire Fu clan to end up in a stalemate. If it wasn't for Li Heng, Fu Chengyan unleashed hell upon on Li Group and the Li family.

"But you should know that the person who hurt her the deepest wasn't the Li family. It was you. Coming back might not be the best choice for her. You should understand that. If there's even a slight chance tha she'll get hurt again, I won't allow her to return."

Fu Chengyan refused to back down. Pei Huan might be Fu Heng's daughter, but Fu Chengyan treated her like a sister.

Back then, Fu Chengyan's mother, Song Zhenyan, had a fight with his father, Fu Sheng, and left in a fit of anger. The man grew up without his mother. His father buried himself in work, so Fu Heng and Ning Xin were the ones who raised him up. Fu Chengyan was nice to Fu Jiaqi because he thought Fu Jiaqi was his uncle's daughter.

Back then, when Pei Huan started dating Li Heng, Fu Chengyan didn't know Pei Huan was Fu Heng's daughter. When he finally found out, it was too late. Li Heng and Pei Huan had been through too much for them to break up.

Li Heng fell silent. He suddenly raised his head to look at Fu Chengyan. "I've been waiting for too long. Chengyan, I don't think you know what it feels like to wait for someone. I just want her back. Even if I have to sacrifice myself, that's what I want."

Fu Chengyan frowned and massaged his temples. "You're my friend, so I don't wish to see you unhappy. But Pei Huan is my sister, and I won't allow her to get hurt. If she comes back to meet your family's wrath, what will you do? Whose side will you stand on? I hope you understand the complexity of this."

"I know. I'll deal with everything before she comes back."

Fu Chengyan's lips thinned. This was the first time he had ever heard his friend say that.

Waiting for someone?

Li Heng said Fu Chengyan knew nothing about waiting, but in fact, he did. After waiting for a year, and even ten years, he had gotten through it.

Fu Chengyan patted Li Heng's shoulder. "Then please help me finish the West City project as soon as possible. After that, you can do whatever you want to Li Group."

An amused smile lit up Li Heng's face. He shoved Fu Chengyan's hand away and stood up. Both men faced each other, refusing to back down. "Well played, my friend. The West City project will take at least a few years to finish. You want to delay Huan's return?"

Fu Chengyan narrowed his eyes. "Do you have a better solution? Do you know where Pei Huan is now?"

Li Heng pursed his lips. "Chengyan, the day I defeat you, I'll make sure you feel the same way I feel today!"

Fu Chengyan merely smirked. "If that day ever comes. By the way, how did the investigation go?"

Li Heng raised his brows inquisitively. "Are you that curious about Shi Nuan's background?"

"I'm not curious. I just want to cut ties with the Shi family." If it wasn't for them, he and Shi Nuan wouldn't have to go through all that trouble.

The Shi family was like a timed bomb. Even if they weren't to be feared at all, they might do something out of desperation. The Shi family's attitude towards Shi Nuan was really strange, and it didn't help that Shi Nuan was full of secrets.

It wasn't easy to get his family's approval, too. Besides Song Zhenyan, who had already stated her disapproval, Fu Yunsheng would also be against them. He had no choice but to let Shi Nuan cut ties with the Shi family as soon as possible.

That was also the reason Fu Chengyan agreed not to inform the public about their marriage. Once everyone knows about their marriage, the Fu clan and the Song family would target Shi Nuan. Even if he could protect Shi Nuan, he wasn't sure about Shi Nuan's feelings. There were still things beyond his control. Fu Chengyan would never do anything he was unsure of. Before resolving these hidden dangers, he agreed not to make their relationship public.

"Shi Nuan might not be Jiang Yu's daughter. I need to replace out if she is Shi Jingzheng's daughter. It's not an easy feat, because she's already in her twenties. If she is neither Jiang Yu's daughter nor part of the Shi family, I would have to investigate the events that had happened twenty years ago. But, Jiang Shizheng and Shi Yunsheng are suspicious too, as they treat Shi Nuan too well, like they owe her or something."

Fu Chengyan frowned. He had noticed this, too. If they didn't know Shi Nuan's background, that would be normal. The other people in the Shi family would be the strange ones. But if they both knew Shi Nuan's true background, they would be the outliers.

"This is what I have discovered. Besides Shi Yunsheng, who transferred his shares to Shi Nuan, Jiang Shizheng also left everything—including his real estate to Shi Nuan. But she will only receive these after his death. Don't you think it's strange? Jiang Yu is Jiang Shizheng's daughter, and Shi Wei is Jiang Shizheng's granddaughter. But why didn't they appear in Jiang Shizheng's will? Why did the old man mention Shi Nuan only?"

Li Heng told Fu Chengyan what he found. Fu Chengyan was deep in thought, too. "What else did you replace out?”

"What else?"