I Want a Lifetime with You
Chapter 276

"Yan, I-"

"Silly girl!" Fu Chengyan pulled her close for a hug. He caressed her back gently. "I'll always be here."

Shi Nuan felt the warmth from his body and gradually relaxed. She snuggled deeper and nodded. "Yes." I know you'll always be here.

"Have you decided? Will you tell me what happened?" Fu Chengyan rubbed her back like he was consoling a child, and Shi Nuan gradually calmed down. But after a long silence, Fu Chengyan realized Shi Nuan wasn't going to say anything.

He lowered his gaze to meet Shi Nuan's conflicted gaze, and nodded understandingly. "You haven't decided yet? Close your eyes and sleep. You can tell me whenever you're ready, okay?"

Shi Nuan nodded. "Thank you, Yan." Thank you for being so understanding.

She shifted and kissed the corner of his lip. Her husband leaned closer to her ear and whispered, "Sleep. When you wake up, everything will be fine."

That night, Shi Nuan clung onto Fu Chengyan like a koala bear. Her insecure pose made Fu Chengyan's heart wrench in pain while holding her. By dawn, Shi Nuan was in a deep sleep. Fu Chengyan pulled the covers back and went downstairs.

Su Shaoqing had trouble falling asleep, too. One reason was that someone was following him out there. The other reason was that he always had trouble sleeping around the new year period. Of course, he had thought about curing his insomnia, but nothing worked. He could barely sleep, let alone fall into deep sleep.

Every year around new year, once he closed his eyes he would see an image of a woman bleeding profusely while clutching his arm. Using all her energy, the woman would declare, "Su Shaoqing, from today onwards, I want nothing to do with you!"

In the night, not a sound was heard in Wutong Residence.

Su Shaoqing had quit smoking a while ago, but today he was itching to smoke. He held the cigarette between his fingers for a long time before lighting it up.

The living room was dark. When Su Shaoqing heard footsteps on the floor above, he narrowed his eyes. The next moment, the lights in the living room lit up.

Su Shaoqing held the cigarette in his hand as he watched Fu Chengyan walked over wearing a creased shirt. Since his friend seemed exhausted, Su Shaoqing handed him a cigarette, too. "Do you want one?' Surprise flashed across Fu Chengyan's eyes. After a brief silence, he smiled. "Are you upset?"

Su Shaoqing frowned. "You make it seem like you are not!" He continued. "What happened to your wife?"

Fu Chengyan wasn't in the mood to tease Su Shaoqing anymore. He took the cigarette but didn't light it up. "Didn't you hear what Shi Jingzheng and Jiang Yu were talking about in the study?"

"No," Su Shaoqing rolled his eyes. "When I came out, she was already in that state. Since someone was talking in the study, I pulled her away. She seemed terribly shaken by it. Is it about her identity?" Actually, Fu Chengyan had told Li Heng to investigate Shi Nuan's identity a few months back, so Su Shaoqing heard about it. "Anyway, she seemed strange."

Fu Chengyan nodded. "I think so." He took out his phone to call Li Heng. "Did you replace out anything regarding that matter?"

"What?" Li Heng had just fallen asleep when Fu Chengyan woke him up again. "This had better be something important, or else I will make you and Shaoqing pay for waking me up."

Li Heng sounded furious on the other side of the phone.

Fu Chengyan arched his brows at Su Shaoqing as if he was asking did you wake him up earlier?

Su Shaoqing shrugged, and Fu Chengyan got his answer. "What did you discover about May's identity?"

"About that?" Li Heng paused for a while before replying, "It's not a simple task. Strangely, Shi Nuan's identity seems to be complicated. Everything I've found had been deliberately changed. To make it short, Shi Nuan's identity must be unique. Otherwise, they wouldn't need to go to great lengths to hide it."

Li Heng was already wide awake. "You didn't ask me before the new year, so I thought it wasn't urgent. I have told my men to speed up the investigation, but you need to give me more time."

"I can't wait any longer. What have you found?" Fu Chengyan had no patience - especially on matters relating to Shi Nuan.

"Jiang Yu and Shi Jingzheng didn't give birth to Shi Nuan. Your guess was right. To be exact, Shi Nuan isn't part of the Shi family." That was all Li Heng found. "But strangely, Shi Yunsheng and Jiang Shizheng treated her differently. I believe you felt it as well, because both men were sincere to her."

Fu Chengyan's lips thinned. "So, Shi Jingzheng and Jiang Yu didn't adopt Shi Nuan accidentally. It was a deliberate action."

"Rather than asking me to investigate, go ask both grandfathers. I'm sure they know more than we do," Li Heng replied calmly, "By the way, I'm afraid there's something you don't know." "What is it?"

"Your teacher, who is also your wife's grandpa, Jiang Shizheng, has connections with the Jiang family in Sheen City!"

Fu Chengyan raised his head to look at Su Shaoqing. His friend was confused and asked, "Why are you staring at me?"

"Okay, got it." Fu Chengyan told Li Heng as he looked away. "Please focus on May's matter. Let me know as soon as possible." After Fu Chengyan had hung up, he stared at Su Shaoqing. "The Jiang family in Sheen City."

"What's wrong? Why are you suddenly interested in the Jiang family? This is giving me the creeps," Su Shaoqing sensed something was amiss. "I'm not one of them!"

"But your cousin is." Fu Chengyan had nearly forgotten about the Jiang family. His own teacher, Jiang Shizheng, was of the same surname, too. "What about the Jiang family's personal contacts?"

"Don't ask me that. You'll have to ask my brother since he's one of them," Su Shaoqing replied. His eyes suddenly lighted up. "Right, it nearly slipped my mind. Chengyan, your teacher, Jiang Shizheng, has the same surname as my brother. Wait a minute, I think my brother's grandfather's name is Jiang Shilin. I've never thought about it. Are they really related to each other?"

After hearing what Su Shaoqing had to say, Fu Chengyan felt like there was an invisible thread connecting everything together. But because the thread was now tangled up, the questions in his heart remain unanswered. "Go back and ask Su Bancheng about this."

Su Shaoqing nodded. "I will ask him even if you didn't tell me to. The Jiang family is complicated. But why are you suddenly curious about them? Is this related to your wife's real identity?"

Fu Chengyan shook his head. "I'm not sure. It's just a guess."

If Jiang Shizheng is related to the Jiang family in Sheen City, it will explain many things. Jiang Shizheng isn't a simple man. And, why did Jiang Yu bring Shi Nuan up? If Shi Nuan wasn't her biological child, there could only be one reason for her to bring up Shi Nuan. Will she get something from Jiang Shizheng in return? That means Shi Nuan must be closely related to Jiang Shizheng.

In other words, even though Shi Nuan isn't Jiang Yu's daughter, she is still related to Jiang Yu. The only option now is to begin with Jiang Shizheng.

Tsk tsk. "Her identity is full of twists and turns," Su Shaoqing never imagined things would escalate to such a point. He continued, "But if she's really related to the Jiang family in Sheen City, your marriage will be easy to settle."

Fu Chengyan shot a look at Su Shaoqing. "Even if she isn't from the Jiang family, I will make sure she gains a firm foothold in the Fu clan!" My wife need not rely on anyone else.

Su Shaoqing arched his brows and snapped, “Fine, I know you and your wife are capable. Do you have to irritate a single man like me?" He couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Did your departure today cause an uproar in the Fu clan?"

Fu Chengyan knitted his brows. He fiddled with the cigarette between his fingers and remained silent for a long time before answering, "Is there any drug that can make people go insane momentarily?" "Uh..." Su Shaoqing was stunned. He didn't even realize his cigarette was at its end and had started to burn his fingers. Su Shaoqing snapped back to reality when he felt the pain. He asked in shock. "Are you serious?"

"Do I sound like I'm joking?" There was a long silence before Fu Chengyan continued, "This has dragged on for some time. The Song family should be taking action soon." Most importantly, he wanted Shi Nuan to be accepted by the Fu clan. He hoped he wouldn't cause her any trouble and that she would be safe by his side.

Su Shaoqing fell silent, too. "Chengyan, you've changed a lot. Back then, I thought you married her because of her looks. She-"

Fu Chengyan raised his head and glared at his friend. "I know what I want. From the beginning until now, she's the only one I want. There is no other woman!" He squeezed the cigarette hard before throwing it into the trash can.

Standing up, the man looked down at Su Shaoqing. "Give the drug to Zhou Zheng. He knows what to do with it."

He then left, leaving Su Shaoqing staring at his retreating figure. He sat still for some time before nodding to the air. "Okay!"

Well well, I never knew Fu Chengyan would act like this when he is in love.

They had been friends for ages, but this was the first time Su Shaoqing saw him being this serious about a woman. Back then, when Shen Qianan knelt on the ground and pleaded, Fu Chengyan remained calm and indifferent. In the end, he even sent her overseas himself. She was kept away from the rest of the world and was not allowed to return without his permission. To Shen Qianan, it was the worst possible punishment.

Even if Shen Qianan belonged to the Shen family in the capital and her brother was Shen Shixiu, he never went easy on her.