I Want a Lifetime with You
Chapter 389

Looking at how disheartened Shi Nuan looked, Shen Shixiu had a pressing urge to say something but thought better of it in the end. At last, he let his hands down and tried to look nonchalant. "No problem!" Pursing her lips, Shi Nuan responded, "Since Mr. Shen isn't the man I'm looking for, I shall not disturb you any longer than I should." Shi Nuan was not going to prolong her conversation with Shen Shixiu. She decided not to waste her time since she would not get the answer she wanted from him.

Shen Shixiu nodded. As Shi Nuan was getting ready to leave, he followed suit. "Please let me offer you a ride home, Ms. Shi."

"No need for that because I actually drove here." Shi Nuan pointed toward somewhere outside the shopping center. "My car is just at the parking lot."

Shen Shixiu nodded. "Well, let me help you with your shopping bags then!"

Shi Nuan did not reject his kind offer, so they walked out of the shopping center together. They were comfortable in each other's presence even though no words were exchanged between them along the journey.

Shi Nuan stared straight ahead as she was walked. Surprise flickered in her eyes when she suddenly spotted a man who looked familiar to her, especially when he scrambled toward a woman and tried to pull her back toward himself. The woman, whose face Shi Nuan could not see clearly, seemed reluctant to go with him. Then, Shi Nuan caught a glimpse of the guy's face to replace that he was actually Su Shaoqing. Su Shaoqing seized the woman by her arm and pulled her hard toward his chest. The next second, he claimed her lips and gave her a passionate smooch. Shi Nuan was so flabbergasted by the sight that she stood rooted to the spot at once.

With her eyes wide open, she observed their interaction. The woman quickly shoved Su Shaoqing away and gave his face a vicious slap. After wiping her mouth clean in disgust, she scurried away. What the heck is going on?

As far as Shi Nuan knew, Su Shaoqing had never had any trouble with women before. Although he always acted and spoke frivolously, he was a rather decent guy who did not fool around. However, it was obvious just now that Su Shaoqing was forcing a kiss on that woman.

"What's the matter?"

Shen Shixiu walked up and stood beside Shi Nuan. When he noticed how her eyes were glued on a man standing somewhere not far away from them, he narrowed his eyes in bewilderment. "Do you know tha guy?"

Shi Nuan's mind was pulled back to reality instantly. In a slightly awkward manner, she nodded. "Yes!"

She took a sharp intake of breath when Su Shaoqing turned around to face her. He appeared fairly unfazed as he covered the part of his face that had been slapped by the woman earlier with his hands. To Sh Nuan's surprise, there was even a glimmer of delight in his eyes.

The corners of her lips twitched in confusion. Am I seeing things, or is Su Shaoqing actually looking quite pleased to be slapped by the woman?

Su Shaoqing finally spotted Shi Nuan, and the faint smile on his face froze. He first fixed his gaze on her and then on Shen Shixiu.

After the burning sensation on his cheeks subsided, he approached Shi Nuan. "Nuan, are you here to do some shopping?"

Raising her brows slightly, Shi Nuan put back on her usual faint smile. "Yes. What about you?" In the meantime, she cast a meaningful glimpse in the direction behind Su Shaoqing. The man narrowed his eyes to follow the direction she was looking at but found no one in sight. He then returned his attention to Shi Nuan and flashed her his typical good-natured smile. “Nuan, I see that you've got a companion with you here. Does Chenyan know about this?"

With a smile, Shi Nuan introduced Shen Shixiu to him. "Shaoqing, let me introduce this great guy to you. His name is Mr. Shen Shixiu. Mr. Shen, this is Mr. Su Shaoqing.”

The two men started sizing each other up as Shi Nuan made the introduction. In fact, both of them had heard of each other, but they had not met in person before.

The smile on Su Shaoqing's face disappeared the moment he learned that it was Shen Shixiu. In the end, it was Shen Shixiu who took the initiative to offer his hand to him. "My name is Shen Shixiu. It's my pleasure to meet you."

Raising his brows slightly, Su Shaoqing took his outstretched hand and replied, "I'm Su Shaoqing! Mr. Shen, I'm surprised to see you in Jiang City. I had no idea you're actually such a good friend of Nuan too!" Shen Shixiu grinned in response. Without answering him, he handed the shopping bags back to Shi Nuan. "Ms. Shen, I'm afraid I can't help you with your shopping bags as I'm in a rush to get to another place."

"Don't worry about it!" Shi Nuan took the shopping bags and nodded at him. "Thanks for your help, Mr. Shen."

Only after Shen Shixiu left did Shi Nuan turn to look at Su Shaoqing solemnly. "Shaoqing, I saw you with..."

Su Shaoqing stiffened in response. "Nuan, are you sure you saw anything just now? In fact, I'm pretty sure I witnessed you with another guy here. Do you think Chengyan will get jealous if he knows about this?"

"Yan told me he wasn't prone to jealousy!" With a knowing smirk, Shi Nuan continued, "It's fine if you don't feel like talking about it. However, I must say that I've never seen you trying so hard to get a girl after being your friend for such a long time. So... I guess you have yet to win her heart?"

Su Shaoqing's face hardened. "Nuan, there're certain things you should refrain from sticking your nose into."

"Are you threatening me?" Shi Nuan broke into a smile, unruffled by his warning. "Don't be so uptight. I didn't get to see her face clearly enough just now. Even if I did, there's nothing I'd do to that girl!"

Su Shaoqing smirked. "Nuan, you seem to be really interested in my stuff, huh?" While talking, his eyes lingered on the shopping bags she was holding. "Did you shop for clothes together with Shen Shixiu alone?"

"Nope. I came with Song Rongrong and some other girls. I only met Mr. Shen halfway! Did you come here by yourself?" she responded.

"Yup. I have a patient who stays nearby." After saying that, Su Shaoqing took the shopping bags from her and offered, "Let me drive you home."

"Alright!"

With that, Su Shaoqing drove Shi Nuan back to Wutong Residence. Halfway through the journey, he gave her a reminder in a grim tone. "Mind you, Shen Shixiu is a very cunning and dangerous guy. You'd better stay away from him in the future."

"Why do you think so?" Shi Nuan clearly did not sense a dangerous vibe from Shen Shixiu. "Didn't you meet the guy for the first time just now? Talking bad about someone you just met isn't your style at all." "Just be careful, okay? Have you forgotten the fact that Shen Qianan is your love rival? Shen Shixiu is her brother. I won't be surprised if he decides to help his sister snatch Chengyan away from you!" "I'm sure he won't!" Shi Nuan shook her head, her tone resolute.

Su Shaoqing was intrigued by her confidence. "Nuan, how can you be sure?"

"I have no idea, but my instinct tells me he won't!" Shi Nuan had always trusted her own instinct, which was telling her that Shen Shixiu was different from his sister. Even though he was Shen Qianan's brother, she had a feeling that he wouldn't hurt her for the sake of his sister.

"Nuan, I really replace your blind confidence very interesting. Indeed, your relationship with Chengyan is going pretty steady at the moment. However, shouldn't you be worried that Chengyan might get jealous once he replaces out how you trust that guy absolutely and unconditionally? I'm sure he's lying if he tells you he isn't jealous."

"I believe you when you say that. Should Yan be jealous of you and start plotting against you too?" Shi Nuan turned to look at Su Shaoqing with amusement in her eyes.

Su Shaoqing was so shaken upon hearing what she said that his hands slipped from the steering wheel. At the same time, he almost floored the accelerator to bring the car to full speed in shock.

He cast an exasperated look at her. "Fine, forget everything I just told you. It's up to you to do things as you see fit!"

When they arrived at Wutong Residence, Su Shaoqing left directly after dropping Shi Nuan off.

Shi Nuan had a feeling that something was bothering the man. However, it was not appropriate of her to probe if he did not feel like sharing it with her.

She quickly opened the door to the house. Fu Chengyan was sitting in the living room with his eyes downcast; he was staring at something. She entered the foyer and changed into a pair of slippers. Meanwhile, Fu Chengyan looked up and fixed his gaze on her.

Shi Nuan was exhausted after spending the whole day shopping. Tossing the shopping bags onto the sofa, she trotted off toward Fu Chengyan and clung onto his arm. "Yan, I'm so tired!"

As she was talking, she grazed her face against his arm, only to replace him gluing his eyes on a stack of photos in his hands. Her face froze when she saw the photos.

"What are these?"

She glanced at Fu Chengyan and then back at the photos. "Who gave you these?"

Fu Chengyan looked up into her eyes. "A parcel arrived just now. It was from an unknown sender." Then, he threw the stack of photos onto the coffee table and asked with a smile, "Were you with Shen Shixiu just now?"

"Yes. I bumped into him at the shopping center." Shi Nuan reached out to pick up the photos and examined them thoroughly. They were all taken from perfectly adjusted angles to make Shen Shixiu and her look like they were having an intimate moment.

A crooked smile emerged on her face. "I'm impressed by how fast these people act!"

With his brows raised, Fu Chengyan took the photos from her. "Don't you have anything to say in your own defense?"

"I don't really see the need to offer any explanation. Since my husband is such a clever guy, I'm sure you can figure this out yourself. I'm just wondering who took the photos and sent them here so quickly. You actually received the photos not too long after Mr. Shen and I parted ways. That person must be an impatient one. Can't he or she wait for a few more days before sending them over?" Shi Nuan grumbled resignedly.

Meanwhile, she edged closer to him and gave him a nudge. "Don't tell me you're jealous?"

Fu Chengyan frowned as he massaged the area between his brows. "Jealous? I've never experienced jealously before. Only guys who have no self-confidence will believe what these photos are trying to portray!" Once again, he tossed the photos back to the coffee table. "What did you and Shen Shixiu talk about?"

"Nothing much. We just had a casual chat over coffee, but it was hard to get anything concrete from him. I must give him credit for how great he was at keeping everything so vague." Shi Nuan couldn't help but complain, "You know what, I felt like an innocent and gullible kid when I was talking to him."

Fu Chengyan let out a chuckle in amusement. Then, he drew her toward his arms and let her head rest on his lap carefully. Using his slender fingers, he started massaging her temples. "Do you still think he has something to do with Shi Yu?"

"Even if he doesn't have anything to do with him, I'd still like to know whether I'm related to the Shen family in any way." Deep down inside, she really yearned for kinship though she refused to admit it.

Shi Nuan had spent her childhood with the Shi family, but they did not treat her with love and affection. It was something that had made her upset for years. When she later found out that she was not the biological child of her parents, she started convincing herself to get over the grievance of not being loved. But in the end, she couldn't stop herself from thinking about her origins. She wondered who she really was and where she actually came from.

The existence of Shen Qianan and Shen Shixiu in her life provided her a chance to glean more clues about her family. Therefore, she was eager to replace out everything she could through Shen Shixiu. "Yan, do you I think I am being... too persistent?" The truth was that she was very happy with the current life she was living. Other than the few people who hated her, she was glad to have Fu Chengyan by her side; she knew he really loved her with all his heart.

"I don't think you are. Just go for it if you think he's the guy who's going to lead you to your family. I'll help you if you need any help, alright?"