I Want a Lifetime with You
Chapter 374

"Madam, our young lady would like you to go over!" One servant from the Fu clan approached Shi Wei respectfully and invited her over. Shi Wei narrowed her eyes and asked, "Who is your young lady?" "Ms. Shen. She's the one who allowed you and your husband to enter just now!"

Ms. Shen?

Shi Wei was led by the servant to a private lounge. Once she walked inside, she saw a woman with a curvy figure who had her back to her. It wasn't difficult for Shi Wei to guess that she must be that 'Ms. Shen' whom the servant was referring to.

Shi Wei put on a serious expression and approached the woman with a smile. "Ms. Shen, are you looking for me?"

The woman turned around slowly when she heard Shi Wei speaking to her. She looked at Shi Wei with a soft smile on her face and replied, "Yup. It's nice to meet you, Ms. Shi!"

At the instant when Shi Wei saw Shen Qianan, her brain seemed to stop functioning for a moment. She stared at the woman and blinked her eyes a few times, thinking that her eyes were playing tricks on her. After taking a deep breath, she asked, "You are... Ms. Shen?"

Shen Qianan nodded and replied, "I'm Shen Qianan." As she spoke, she noticed how shocked Shi Wei looked, but she continued keeping a smile on her face and carried on, "Ms. Shi seems to be very shocked to see me. Actually, that's not surprising, given that I myself could not believe it too when I saw your sister, Shi Nuan. It scared me and I was wondering how could there be two people who looked so alike in this world. People who don't know may even mistake us for twins!"

Shi Wei had a grim expression on her face as she realized that the woman definitely did not have any good intentions, especially when she mentioned Shi Nuan.

Even though Shi Wei was not exactly fond of Shi Nuan, the latter was still a part of the Shi family.

Shi Wei took a deep breath and responded with a gracious smile, "May I know why are you looking for me?"

Shen Qianan merely smiled without replying to her immediately. Instead, she got Shi Wei to take a seat. "You're my guest now since you're here. Ms. Shi, please have a seat." After Shi Wei sat down, Shen Qianan got someone to bring some tea over. "I like drinking tea usually. But I'm not sure if it's to Ms. Shi's taste!"

"I'm OK with it!" Shi Wei nodded. "It's all thanks to you that we get to enter the main hall tonight. But what do you have in mind though?" Shi Wei was no fool. She was sure that she was not Shen Qianan's target, especially after the woman had said that Shi Wei was her guest. "There's something that I'm not sure if I should be asking," she continued tentatively.

"Ms. Shi, you can ask me anything."

"Ms. Shen, what's your relationship with the Fu clan?" Shi Wei met Shen Qianan's gaze as she asked that question.

Shen Qianan was slightly taken aback. Immediately after, an awkward smile with some bitterness appeared on her face as she replied, "I don't have any sort of relationship with them now!" Shi Wei frowned and asked, "Why?"

As Shen Qianan beckoned Shi Wei to have some tea, she started speaking. "He's already married. Besides... It seems that he and his wife are very loving to each other! I-I'm just an extra person."

Shi Wei finally understood the reason Shen Qianan wanted to meet her. The 'he' whom she was referring to was most likely Fu Chengyan. If so, his wife would be Shi Nuan.

A flicker appeared across Shi Wei's eyes and she replied with a smile, "Why are you sharing this with me? It's your private matter, Ms. Shen."

A sharp glint appeared in Shen Qianan's eyes as she said, "I know that you're an intelligent woman. I'm sure you already know the reason I'm looking for you. I was Yan's fiancée. Previously, some misunderstanding occurred between us and I left. When I returned, I was shocked to replace out that he's already married to someone else. Actually, I should be giving him my blessings now that he has found his happiness, but when I saw that his wife looks exactly like me, I know that there are just some unfinished business between us. I-I just can't bring myself to let him go easily!"

"So, you think that Fu Chengyan married my sister as a substitute for you?"

"Ms. Shi, let's just lay it out in the open. Fu Chengyan and Shi Nuan's marriage does not benefit you at all. You've experienced it yourself just now at the banquet. With Fu Chengyan's backing, there's nothing you can do to Shi Nuan. Will you be willing to be subject to her oppression for the rest of your life?"

Shi Wei tightened her grip on her tea cup until her knuckles turned white.

When Shen Qianan saw that, a faint smile appeared across her face. She knew that the woman was already wavering. "Ms. Shi, why don't we strike a deal?"

"What's the deal about?"

...

Back at the Fu clan's banquet hall, almost all the guests had already arrived. Everyone was still in a state of shock by what happened a while back. When Fu Zhengyun, who had been resting, heard about it, he was livid with anger. "Did she really say that?"

"Yes," the butler answered while observing the look on Fu Zhengyun's face. When he realized the man's expression was turning grim, he said, "Old Master, please mind your health!"

"Ha! That rascal is going to be the death of me! Mind my health? I think he can't wait to drive me to my grave!"

"Old Master..."

"Let's go! I want to see how long can he protect that woman till!" Fu Zhengyun picked up his walking cane as he finished speaking and left the room. The butler quickly followed behind him while cautioning, "Old Master, please slow down!"

Just then, Fu Zhengyun suddenly stopped in his tracks and asked, "Where's Shen Qianan?"

"She should be busy with something!" The butler replied without much thought. Fu Zhengyun frowned slightly and said, "She needs to be present tonight. And where's Yu?"

"Madam Ning is taking care of Yu. He should be asleep by now!" The butler answered while observing a sudden change in expression on Fu Zhengyun's face. Seeing that, the butler's heart skipped a beat. Is Old Master intending to...

Just then, Fu Zhengyun shot a sharp glance at the butler and instructed, "Carry Yu over to me."

"But Old Master, Yu..." If the boy appears at the banquet, chaos would definitely ensue!

"Are you the master or am I the master?"The butler was at a complete loss for words after Fu Zhengyun said that.

"Understood. I'll get someone to bring Yu here immediately!" He was extremely worried about what was going to happen next.

The banquet hall was especially lively due to Fu Chengyan's arrival. Everyone wanted to have a chance to speak to him in order to establish good ties with the man and that night was a golden opportunity for them to achieve that goal.

Besides, Fu Chengyan was already married. That was no doubt one of the most shocking news in Jiang City. Even though everyone already knew the identity of Fu Chengyan's wife, no one knew her background at all. As such, all of them were eager to butter up to Shi Nuan.

They were sure that Fu Chengyan's wife would be an easier target than the man himself.

Therefore, for the rest of the night, there was always someone surrounding Fu Chengyan and Shi Nuan at any moment in time.

Shi Nuan could feel her face stiffening from keeping a smile on her face for so long. In fact, Shi Nuan had never been fond of such parties.

In the past, whenever an elder from the Shi family held a birthday banquet, even though Shi Nuan was a part of the family, she seldom stayed throughout the entire event. Besides, she wasn't exactly very popular among the Shi family members. Basically, the woman would usually take her leave shortly after showing up.

Right then, the heels which she was wearing were so tight that it was making her feel extremely uncomfortable. She could hardly continue to keep up the smile on her face.

Noticing that Shi Nuan was acting strangely, Fu Chengyan put his arms around Shi Nuan's waist and whispered next to her ear, "Tired?"

Shi Nuan nodded and replied, "Ugh, why are there so many people?"

Fu Chengyan chuckled. "It's fine. Shall we take a break first?"

Shi Nuan nodded. When Fu Chengyan was about to lead her to a resting area, he saw Shen Qianan supporting Fu Zhengyun as they headed toward the banquet hall.

At that moment, everyone turned their attention toward the two. The guests gasped in shock when the two of them walked out, especially when they saw Shen Qianan. Murmurs of discussion immediately ensued. "Who's that woman? Why does she look..."

The next moment, everyone shifted their gazes toward Shi Nuan. Right then, Shi Nuan could hear buzzing sounds in her head. She stiffened up, as if all the blood in her body had frozen.

Shi Nuan was mentally prepared that she might be humiliated at the banquet that night, but she had not expected Old Master Fu to pull off such an act and subject her to such ridicule.

She was Fu Chengyan's wife. But at that instant, with Shen Qianan taking her place next to Fu Zhengyun with such a look on her face... It felt like Shen Qianan was exerting her dominance over Fu Chengyan instead.

Fu Chengyan frowned as he held on tighter to Shi Nuan's waist. He was feeling displeased with his grandpa's arrangement. Nevertheless, he lowered his head and whispered to Shi Nuan, "I'm here!" Shi Nuan looked up and met Fu Chengyan's deep-set gaze. She moved her lips, but was unable to say anything.

Shi Nuan was neither a submissive nor an insecure woman, but what Fu Zhengyun did was akin to a slap to her face. She did not want to be melodramatic but she was indeed feeling really miserable at that moment.

Just then, Shi Nuan could feel warmth in between her fingers. She lowered her eyes and saw that Fu Chengyan had interlocked his fingers with hers. "Don't be bothered by the actions of others. They don't concern us. You just have to remember that you are Fu Chengyan's one and only wife!" Fu Chengyan said.

Shi Nuan took a deep breath and replied, "OK!"

Fu Chengyan had a point. She was his wife. Even if the entire Fu clan were against their marriage, she would still be Fu Chengyan's wife, unless the man abandoned her.

Fu Zhengyun narrowed his eyes as he saw the interaction between Fu Chengyan and Shi Nuan. Letting out a cold snort, he held Shen Qianan's hand and gave it a light pat. "Dear all, allow me to make an introduction. This lady here is Shen Qianan, and she's my future granddaughter-in-law!"

Fu Zhengyun's words started a commotion in the hall. At once, the guests started discussing among themselves and speculating what could have happened.

They all knew that Fu Zhengyun had only two sons. His elder son, Fu Sheng, had one son and one daughter. The daughter had already gotten married, while the son was Fu Chengyan, who had also just announced his marriage. As for Fu Zhengyun's second son, Fu Heng, he and Ning Xin had only one daughter, who was also married. So whose future wife was Fu Zhengyun referring to?

After Fu Zhengyun made the shocking revelation, the crowd erupted. Shi Nuan was almost losing it. She bit her lip and squeezed Fu Chengyan's hand.

The deep abyss of Fu Chengyan's gaze surged with darkness and just when he was about to speak, everyone heard a child's voice coming from somewhere.

"Daddy!"

Suddenly, Fu Chengyan felt someone hugging his leg and froze. Naturally, he could feel that the woman next to him had the same reaction.

The entire banquet hall went quiet as everyone held their breaths. They were all confused as to what exactly was going on. No one dared to speak as the more they spoke, the more mistakes they were likely to make. So, the best option was to keep quiet and watch the show.

Yu extended his neck while hugging Fu Chengyan's leg. He had a sweet and innocent smile on his face. "Daddy, why didn't you come and visit me?"