I Want a Lifetime with You
Chapter 278

It was soon New Year's eve. Shi Nuan was feeling better emotionally. Fu Chengyan was still worried about Shi Nuan's mood. He stayed at Wutong Residence to keep her company. As for the matter of Shi Nuan's birth secret, Fu Chengyan had Li Heng investigate in secret. But the answers were still the same. It was clear someone was trying to keep it all hidden.

Fu Chengyan also realized that Shi Nuan's true identity might not be as straightforward as it appeared, but it wasn't the right time to pay a visit to Jiang Shizheng or Shi Yunsheng. Since both of them were choosing to keep it all a secret, that meant there was something about her origins that people weren't supposed to know. After reaching this conclusion, Fu Chengyan suddenly didn't feel like digging into it anymore.

Two days before New Year, Shi Nuan made an important decision to meet with Shi Yunsheng at Ruyi Tea House without Fu Chengyan. It had been a few years, and many of the shops in that area had closed down. Only a handful was still operating, and Ruyi Tea House was one of them.

Shi Nuan arrived very early. Su Yian wasn't working that day. The two waiters who saw that it was Shi Nuan and just casually greeted her.

When Shi Yunsheng arrived, Shi Nuan was in a private room preparing tea. She saw Shi Yunsheng walked in with the help of Mr. Yang and quickly stood up. "Granddad!"

"Sweetie!" Shi Yunsheng was happy to see Shi Nuan, knowing that she must've experienced some grievance that night or she wouldn't have left so abruptly. Even though he had asked Shi Nuan about it after and also tried to get information out of Fu Chengyan, he just couldn't get a straight answer out of anyone.

He was glad that his granddaughter had called. "It's only been a few days. Do you miss me already?"

"That's right! Don't you miss me?" Shi Nuan looked at Shi Yunsheng, her eyes were tearing. She told herself to stay calm before coming here, and yet she still found herself unable to handle it.

She knew she wasn't really from the Shi family, and Shi Jingzheng and Jiang Yu were not her biological parents. Nevertheless, Shi Yunsheng had always been genuinely nice to her. He even treated her better than Shi Wei.

"Look at you. Are you crying?"

Shi Yunsheng felt his heart aching when he looked at Shi Nuan. He sat down with the help of Mr. Yang, grabbed Shi Nuan, and sat her next to him. "Are you that happy to see me?"

Shi Nuan gave him a small smile and tried to appear as normal as possible. "Yes, very happy."

"Sweetie." Shi Yunsheng shook his head helplessly. "Why do you want to meet me?"

Shi Nuan fell silent and poured a cup of tea for Shi Yunsheng. “Granddad, I have something to ask you."

Shi Yunsheng's hand trembled as he saw Shi Nuan's serious expression. He was both curious and uneasy, though he couldn't say why. "Go ahead. Let's see if I can't help you."

Shi Nuan fell silent again, as if she was trying to arrange her thoughts. Just as Shi Yunsheng thought she would not continue on, Shi Nuan took a deep breath and asked, "Granddad, am I your biological granddaughter?"

Shi Yunsheng's hand, that was holding the cup of hot tea, jerked in response. It spilled and scalded him. He quickly gathered himself. "Granddad is fine."

"Granddad, I..." Shi Nuan saw how Shi Yunsheng had reacted. She bit her lip and said, "You don't need to hide it from me anymore. I know."

Shi Yunsheng gripped the teacup in silence for a long time before he sighed. "What do you know? I don't even know how or what you think you know."

"Granddad, you don't need to hide it from me anymore. Didn't you want to know why I left abruptly a few days ago?" Shi Nuan smiled bitterly. "Father and Mother were talking in the study when I walked by and overheard them."

Shi Yunsheng's eyes darkened, and he shook his head gently. "Silly girl. Why do you assume you aren't their child? If you aren't a part of the Shi family, why do you think I'm so good to you?" Shi Yunsheng was about to continue, but Shi Nuan interrupted him. "Granddad, I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm an adult now. If I hadn't known, so be it. But now that I do, I can't pretend like nothing ever happened." This was the line in the sand for Shi Nuan. "I've always found it strange when I was younger. Why the other parents could love their children so much? Why were Father and Mother so good to Shi Wei and yet treated me like an enemy? I've wondered if I wasn't good enough or smart enough. So I studied harder and tried to do everything to please them. But no matter what I did, they were never pleased with me."

"Nuan..."

"Granddad, I know you've always been good to me and you have treated me like your actual granddaughter. But now I know that I'm not, I want to ask you. Who are my real birth parents?" Shi Yunsheng froze.

"Granddad, you know. Don't you?"

Shi Yunsheng fell silent, which gave Shi Nuan her answer. "They don't want me, do they?"

"Don't jump to conclusions. It's not that they don't want you, it's because... they're not in this world anymore. Nuan, you shouldn't get torn up over this. You just need to know that you are a part of the Shi family and you are my granddaughter. Everything that I have is yours. That should be enough."

"But Granddad..."

Right then, the door to the private room suddenly opened, and a man strode in. The man had a light coffee-colored coat in his hands and looked relaxed.

Despite his relaxed demeanor, the cold air surrounding him indicated that he had rushed over. Shi Nuan looked at him in surprise. "Yan!"

Fu Chengyan held his coat in one hand and had his other hand against the door. The moment he walked in, his gaze fell on Shi Nuan. "May." Then he looked over at Shi Yun Sheng. "Granddad!"

"Yan's here!" Shi Yunsheng breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Fu Chengyan. "The two of you planned to meet?"

Shi Nuan frowned. "Weren't you going back to the mansion today?" When Shi Nuan left the house that morning, Fu Chengyan was clearly gone.

When Fu Chengyan heard Shi Nuan, the chill surrounding him became even colder. His eyes darkened when he looked at Shi Nuan, but he said nothing to reprimand her. Instead, he walked over calmly and sat next to her.

He handed his coat over to Shi Nuan, who hesitated for a second before taking it and hanging it up for him.

Fu Chengyan chose a cup, then poured a cup of tea for himself. He held it in his hand as if he was warming himself. "I wasn't able to spend the last holiday with Granddad, so I wanted to take the chance to apologize to you today."

Fu Chengyan raised his cup. "May was thoughtless to ask Grandad out again today."

"I wasn't!" Shi Nuan was unhappy, but she grumbled under her breath because of Fu Chengyan's very strong presence.

He gave Shi Nuan a pointed look, then leaned in to whisper in her ear, "You better have a good explanation for all this later." He then smiled at Shi Yunsheng. "May has always been skilled at preparing tea. Is Granddad enjoying it?"

"It's not bad. Nuan has been spoiled by me since young. If she's doing something wrong, just tell me!"

Fu Chengyan grinned, "Okay!"

Shi Nuan was displeased. "What can I possibly do wrong?"

Fu Chengyan narrowed his eyes and said, "Be good and go get us a pot of Biluochun tea."

Shi Nuan hesitated, knowing well that Fu Chengyan was deliberately sending her away. As displeased as she was, she knew that even if she found anything out, she wouldn't be able to keep it a secret from Fu Chengyan, especially since he was so shrewd.

Shi Nuan excused herself and left the private room.

Fu Chengyan was still smiling as he watched Shi Nuan leave, but became stern right after. "I'm sure Granddad knows May well. If she's trying to get to the bottom of something, she won't stop until she does. Moreover, this is such an important matter."

"You know too?" Shi Yunsheng was shocked. "Did Nuan tell you?"

Fu Chengyan shook his head. "No, she didn't. I won't intervene until she is ready to share. Since she came to you today, I couldn't just sit idly by any longer."

Shi Yunsheng sighed and looked at Fu Chengyan with a complex expression. "I'm suddenly a little regretful that I allowed Shi Nuan to marry you." A man like Fu Chengyan wouldn't be easy to handle. If Fu Chengyan leaves Nuan, she would be heartbroken.

"Don't you trust me?" Fu Chengyan continued, "In the six months that I've been with May, even if I haven't fully figured out everyone in the Shi family, I've more or less figured out those she needs to interact with. How do you think I found out, Granddad?" Fu Chengyan placed his cup down. "Truthfully, I have already started investigating a few months ago. But there are people who don't want me to learn more about May's background. Isn't that right, Granddad?"

"Yan, listen to me. If you have Nuan's best interest at heart, pretend this never happened. Nuan is my granddaughter and she will always be my granddaughter. I will give her all that I have." Shi Yunsheng divulged nothing regarding Shi Nuan's biological parents to Fu Chengyan. "As for Zheng and Jiang Yu, I'll warn them not to try anything with Nuan again. This will be the end of this."

"Granddad, the cat will always replace a way out of the bag. May won't give up so easily and I won't sit idly by either." Truthfully, Fu Chengyan would not insist on getting an answer. He only wanted to test Shi Yunsheng's reactions and see what secrets were being kept.

Clearly, a secret that had Shi Yunsheng adamantly keeping silent was not a small one.

Shi Yunsheng sighed, "Why are you so persistent? It doesn't matter what her family name is. What's important is she's living a good life now. Sometimes, not replaceing out the truth can be the better option."