I Want a Lifetime with You
Chapter 331

"Oh yes!" Bao clapped his hands in glee.

Li Heng's eyes curved smilingly. "Ok! Let's play that one again!"

"Wait!"

Seeing how Li Heng wanted to leave with Bao in his arms, Pei Huan immediately rushed over and snatched her son from him. "Why are you taking Bao out with you?" Pei Huan confronted him sternly. "I already said Bao is not your son, so why are you-"

"Pei Huan, it has been a long time since Bao last came out to play, so I don't want to talk about this whole biological father thing with you. I'm not in a hurry, anyway. We have a long time ahead of us to clear things up," Li Heng interrupted Pei Huan. "Goodness, I wonder how you raised Bao for the past few years. He's already three, and it's time for him to mingle around with people. Do you know he'll end up with some character flaw if you always keep him indoors?"

"Enough, Li Heng! What right do you have to reprimand me? Bao and I are not even related to you. I'm warning you now; if you bring Bao out without my permission again, I'll call the cops and get them to arrest you!"

Pei Huan turned around with Bao in her arms, but the little boy looked at her with his pitiful puppy eyes. "Mommy, why won't you let me play with Uncle Li? I really like him!"

Hearing his words, Pei Huan's brows knitted so tightly that it almost formed a knot. She didn't expect Bao to be so attached to Li Heng, especially when he had never met the man before. How is Bao so close to him when they have never met each other before? Is this what people call the bond between a biological father and son? But I'm the one who put my life on the line to give birth to Bao! Throughout those years when I almost died of childbirth, struggling to raise Bao alone, Li Heng was never by my side.

"Be a good boy, Bao. You've been playing outside for a long time already. Let's go home, alright?" Pei Huan wiped off the sweat on his forehead. "Look how much you've perspired. What if you fall sick later?" "But..."

"Huan, since Bao is already here, let him have some fun. Don't tell me you're still worried that something bad will happen to him with so many of us here," Fu Chengyan spoke up. He then eyed Shi Nuan briefly before adding, "Plus, it's your sister-in-law that brought your son out, and not us. Letting Bao staying indoors all day is bad for him."

"Yes, Huan. You shouldn't worry about your son so much. We had so much fun playing with him just now. I know you're worried about his safety, but Li Heng asked the park to clear the crowd before we came over, so there's no one else here now. Besides, we're now in Jiang City; no one would dare to harm Bao over here. You've seen how happy he is to play with us. I even took pictures of him too. I plan to develop the photos and keep them in our photo album. Bao looks so cute in here!" Shi Nuan gushed before her friend.

Hearing that, Pei Huan knew she couldn't just leave with her son like that. Hence, she had no choice but to nod her head reluctantly. "Fine. But he cannot play for too long. Bao... he has been physically weak as a baby."

"Alright, sure. We shall play for another hour and head back." Shi Nuan chuckled at her reluctance. "Bao, your Mommy just agreed to let you play for a while longer!"

"Oh, yay! I love you, Mommy!"

Despite her reluctance, Pei Huan couldn't bring herself to rob her son of fun and happiness. Hence, she brought Bao to play, with Li Heng tagging along.

Meanwhile, Shi Nuan took Fu Chengyan's hand and dragged him to a bench. "Look how adorable Bao looks here!"

"Indeed!" Fu Chengyan had on a wide smile. "You seem to like children very much, don't you?”

"Yes, I do!" Shi Nuan nodded happily as she waved her phone screen before Fu Chengyan. "Look, I've captured the moment when Li Heng is playing with Bao. They resemble each other so much! Bao is literally the exact copy of his father! Even their expression and actions are the same! My goodness..." Shi Nuan rambled away while commenting on the similarities between Li Heng and Bao. When she looked up, her gaze suddenly met with Fu Chengyan's smoldering ones. She couldn't help but feel her heart skip a beat.

Fu Chengyan's face moved nearer and nearer as Shi Nuan stared at him. She blinked her eyes and touched her nose sheepishly while letting out a dry laugh. "Yan, why are you looking at me like that?" Fu Chengyan's slanted eyes were full of mirth as he replied, "Since you like children so much, why don't we make one ourselves?"

Make one ourselves?

Shi Nuan's heart thumped erratically at his words. She started to blush profusely as she looked into his attractive eyes. She couldn't help but gulp in response. "Err... about that... Hehe, we should just let nature take its course. Having a child is something to be decided by fate, you know."

"So you're not against the idea of making one, right? My dear Mrs. Fu?" Fu Chengyan wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling Shi Nuan towards him.

The couple now sat on the bench with Shi Nuan's head leaning on Fu Chengyan's shoulder. From her position, she studied his handsome side profile with a crimson face. "Err..." Wait, do I even mean that? I don't remember saying I want a child myself.

Regardless of what she meant, Shi Nuan indeed favored children, especially one as cute as Bao. Shi Nuan couldn't help but melt at the thought of her future children that would be as adorable as Bao. "Actually, that sounds like a good idea!"

Shi Nuan jerked back to her senses after realizing what she had said. "Wait a second. I thought we were talking about Li Heng, Pei Huan, and Bao?"

"Yes, we were." Fu Chengyan averted his gaze to the family of three. What a glaring sight!

Shi Nuan chuckled teasingly. "Li Heng has always been so strict and serious. I never expected him to behave so differently around Bao and Huan!”

"You seem to like Li Heng very much." Fu Chengyan raised his brows at her. Are you saying that Li Heng is better than me? He thought while looking at her questioningly.

Shi Nuan got his meaning and let out a chuckle. "No, I'm just wondering how we can get Huan to reconcile with Li Heng. You have no idea how pitiful it is for a kid to not have a father. I've always dreamed of having a happy and complete family showered by the love of my parents."

"Nah, you don't have to worry about those two. Li Heng wouldn't fail in any of his endeavors. By the way, about these photos..."

"Nice shots, right?" Shi Nuan showed all her photos to Fu Chengyan. "Look how close Bao is with Li Heng here-"

"Have you sent these to Li Heng?" Fu Chengyan suddenly asked.

Shi Nuan was taken aback by his question. "Not yet. There's no Wi-Fi here, so it will consume a lot of my mobile data if I send them now. I've also taken quite a few videos. I plan to edit them before sending them to Li Heng. Why do you ask?"

Fu Chengyan curved his lips and took Shi Nuan's phone from her. After tucking the phone in his pocket, he began playing with her slender hands, but his eyes were trained on Li Heng and Pei Huan. A cunning glint flashed across his eyes as he smirked evilly.

Upon seeing his smirk, Shi Nuan turned to him in confusion. "Yan, why are you suddenly smirking so evilly? You look pretty... scary to me.”

Fu Chengyan squeezed her hand in response. "Li Heng ruined your car last time. Don't you want some payback from him?"

Shi Nuan's mouth twitched at his answer. "But Li Heng has already apologized this morning. Didn't he promise to buy me a brand new Ferrari as compensation?" Shi Nuan blinked her eyes innocently. Why do have a feeling Chengyan wants to rig something off Li Heng?

Fu Chengyan curled his lips again. "You're being too easy on him by saying you only want a Ferrari. You'd better think about what you really want right now. Use the photos you took in exchange for the thing you really want from him."

"Err..." What? Wow, that's so cunning of him!

I guess one should never try to guess the thoughts of Mr. Fu Chengyan, the cunning Second Master of the Fu clan. Even I cannot guess what sort of cunning tricks he has up his sleeves.

The couple chatted for a while longer when Shi Nuan suddenly demanded ice cream. Of course, Fu Chengyan would never allow her to have ice cream in such cold weather, but Shi Nuan kept pestering him for it. He had no choice but to let her drag him all the way to the ice cream parlor.

On the other hand, Li Heng was grinning in satisfaction as he watched Pei Huan playing with Bao from afar when his phone suddenly rang.

Li Heng checked the caller ID; it was a call from the Li Residence. "Hello?"

"It's me." Li Xinzhi's voice sounded from the other side. "Come back right now."

Li Heng narrowed his eyes. "Anything?"

Li Heng hardly returned to the Li Residence for the past few years - even for important family celebrations like the New Year. It wasn't like they couldn't celebrate it without him. Li Heng guessed that something important must have happened back there to prompt the patriarch of the Li clan to call him personally now. As expected, Li Xinzhi replied, "Your Uncle Bei is back. You better come home right now!"

Li Heng's gaze turned colder at those words. "Oh, congratulations then. God must be kind to you for allowing you to see your favorite son one last time before passing away."

"You! How dare you speak to me that way? Where are your manners, Li Heng! Is this how your parents educated you?" Li Xinzhi never expected Li Heng to be even more sarcastic and headstrong than he had been three years ago.

Li Heng's face turned stormy at his words. Even Bao and Pei Huan could feel the rage emanating from him from a distance away. Pei Huan paused in her actions and turned to Li Heng.

Li Heng was looking back at her too. He only softened his expression when he landed his eyes on Bao. With a cold snort, he replied, "I guess you've forgotten that I wasn't raised by my parents. Don't you remember that you exiled me out of the family clan?"

"You!" Li Xinzhi's voice shuddered in rage. "Heng, you know... I only did it for the clan's sake. The fortune-teller told me that Xufan was destined to be jinxed in his life. Back then, he was faced with all sorts of accidents and terrible illnesses. The fortune-teller then told me that he became like that because your strong magnetic field affected his. I was told that you were the one who would jinx him with your presence. I had no choice but to send you away for Xufan's sake. But I've let you come back now, haven't I?"

"Heh! Why aren't you afraid of me jinxing Li Xufan this time?" Li Heng tightened his grip on his phone while his other hand balled into a fist in his pocket. He might be leaning leisurely on the railing, but his torso had actually tensed up in anger. "Grandpa, I think you've forgotten that although Li Xufan bears our surname, he is technically not the direct descendant of our family clan. Now that Uncle Bei is back, are you planning to ditch Li Xufan and I now?"

"Heng, you've misunderstood me. You are all children of the Li clan. How could I have the heart to ditch and mistreat you two! But you know how tragic was your sister's life back then. She lost her parents at a young age. Your brother-in-law also passed away young, leaving behind your sister and Xufan alone in this world. I... I had no other choice back then!"

"Enough of that bullshit. Whatever happens to the Li clan is none of my business. When you asked me to return, I told you back then that I don't care or want anything from the Li clan. But if you can't replace anyone to inherit your fortune, I won't reject the offer."