I Want a Lifetime with You
Chapter 402

Fu Ling's eyes shot open in fright, only to replace herself staring straight into Su Shaoqing's eyes.

She jumped and shot away from him immediately. She had just had a nightmare, and it had taken an obvious toll on her body-beads of sweat were appearing on her forehead. Fu Ling looked up and wiped her forehead dry. She turned to look at Su Shaoqing and swallowed. "You..." Glancing around her, Fu Ling realized that they were at the villa he was telling her about just now. "Have we arrived?" Su Shaoqing nodded. "Yes, we have."

Su Shaoqing turned to look at her again. Passing her a few pieces of tissue paper, he joked, "Here, wipe your sweat with this! What were you dreaming about?"

Fu Ling took the tissue paper from him and gripped them tightly. After a short silence, she replied, "I had a nightmare!"

She tried to laugh it off. "It's been going on for a few years. I'm quite used to it by now."

She sounded very nonchalant about it, as though she didn't care at all. "When did we get here?"

"We just arrived!" Su Shaoqing felt his heart break a little as he looked at her. He reached out his hand as though to caress something, but Fu Ling didn't give him that chance. She opened the car door and walked out to the boot of the car. "Hey! Where's my luggage?"

"Liang Lin has brought it into the house for you."

"Liang Lin? When did he get here?" Fu Ling hadn't realized it at all.

Su Shaoqing smiled and got out of the car too. "You were sleeping so soundly that I felt a little sorry to wake you up. Right. What do you want to eat for dinner?"

Fu Ling glanced at him suspiciously. "I don't feel like eating anything. Where's my room?"

"Follow me!"

Su Shaoqing led her into the house but turning around to look worriedly at Fu Ling, who was trailing behind him. As they made their way to the door, Su Shaoqing told her all about the history of the place. "Li Heng built this place a few years ago. Originally, his plan was to move in here with Pei Huan, but many unfortunate things happened, leading to a delay in those plans. His house is right over there. It's just next to ours, so in the future..."

Su Shaoqing continued to chatter excitedly, and Fu Ling pretended to listen to him. Truthfully, she couldn't really understand what he was saying. She kept telling herself not to think nor care about these things. She never thought for a second that Su Shaoqing was doing all this for her sake.

After all, Su Shaoqing's attitude towards her had been very clear back then. If he had any sort of romantic feelings toward her, Su Shaoqing would never have treated her so horribly.

Since she had experienced all that before, Fu Ling refused to read too much into his advances now. Nevertheless, the scenery in this villa was indeed splendid. The garden on Li Heng's side of the villa looked especially beautiful. Pei Huan must have decorated it.

Although the garden was only dimly lit by the moonlight, Fu Ling could see how lovely it looked. She felt really happy for Pei Huan. After all, Pei Huan had broken up with Li Heng around the same time Fu Ling had been dumped by Su Shaoqing. Now that Pei Huan and Li Heng were back together, Fu Ling felt nothing but joy for the happy couple.

Lost in her thought, Fu Ling's steps grew slower as she strolled through the garden, admiring the view. Su Shaoqing slowed down to match her pace. He stood under a tree, watching Fu Ling intently as she looked around the garden, lost in her own thoughts. He couldn't help but think how wonderful it would be if they continued like this with each other.

After a while, Fu Ling turned around and spotted Su Shaoqing standing some distance away from her. Feeling a little shocked, she ran up to him and said, "Come on, let's go! I want to see my room."

"It's upstairs. It's right opposite my bedroom. I've already asked the maids to clean it up for you. Go and have a look-all the toiletries and furniture are new. If they aren't to your liking, I'll have someone come in and change them for you."

Su Shaoqing looked at her, expecting to be praised for his ingenuity. However, Fu Ling shook her head. "That's alright, thanks." After all, she would only be staying here for a short time. Besides, this was Su Shaoqing's house and not hers—it wasn't up to her to impose her own preferences on the decoration of the room.

Fu Ling went upstairs and soon located her room. As Su Shaoqing had promised, everything in it was fresh and new, including the bedsheets on the bed.

Looking rather peculiar, Fu Ling opened her luggage and started putting her clothes away. Thankfully, she hadn't brought many things along with her, and she finished putting them away quickly. Turning around to look at Su Shaoqing, she pursed her lips and said, "Don't worry; I won't sneak off in the middle of the night. Stop following me around."

Su Shaoqing pouted. "You must be hungry! Do you want to order in or go out to a restaurant for dinner? What do you want to eat? I can make dinner for you."

"No thanks. I've already ordered takeout for myself," Fu Ling replied. "Thanks for your offer, Mr. Su, but there will be no need for that. If you're hungry, you can go out and eat or make dinner for yourself!"

"You..." Su Shaoqing looked extremely awkward. However, the next moment, a smile had appeared on his face again. "What takeout did you order? Is it good? Order a portion for me, too! We can have dinner together."

Seeing the grin on Su Shaoqing's face, Fu Ling felt a headache coming on. "No, it tastes like crap. The food I eat is for the masses, so you might not be accustomed to its taste. Out of consideration for you, Mr Su, I think you should order your own dinner or make your own meal!" As she spoke, Fu Ling went over to shut the door. "Mr. Su, I'd like to rest now. Is that okay with you?"

Su Shaoqing's lips curved into a smile. Before he could say anything else, Fu Ling stuck out her hand and shoved him out of the room.

When Fu Ling leaned towards him, Su Shaoqing caught another whiff of her flowery perfume. He fell into a daze instantly, and Fu Ling took that opportunity to push him out of the room and slam the door in his face.

Su Shaoqing stood staring at the door, feeling stunned at Fu Ling's actions. Still a little dazed, he slapped himself across the face. A while later, he finally snapped out of his reverie and walked away from the door. Sighing pitifully, he mumbled, "Have a good rest, then!"

Su Shaoqing headed downstairs, feeling rather despondent. Just then, he received a call from Fu Chengyan. "What's up?"

"Where did you take Ling?" It was obvious from his tone that Fu Chengyan already knew the answer to his own question. "You should know that Ling is no longer the same Ling from the past. You..."

"Fu Chengyan, I know exactly what I'm doing. I know Ling is your younger sister. I also know that you're probably afraid I'll hurt her again, as I did so many years ago. But what if I tell you I can't live without her? Can't you give me a chance to get her back?"

Su Shaoqing shot a furtive glance at the staircase landing to check if anyone was eavesdropping on his conversation. Gripping the phone tightly in his hand, he said, "I helped you when you were trying to get with Shi Nuan back then. Are you going to stop me from pursuing the love of my life now?"

"You should know that Ling is my sister. I should never have allowed you to toy with her feelings like that so many years ago. Leaving her was the best thing you could do back then. This time, Shaoqing, don't you dare let her down again!"

Su Shaoqing's eyes shifted about furtively. "I know." He had let her down once, and if he did it again, he knew that not only would Fu Chengyan beat him up ferociously, but he would also hate himself for it. "Oh, right. Zhou Zheng should've told you by now. The kid, Bai..."

"You want to ask for Qin Yanzhi's help? If the kid turns out to be Qin Yanzhi and Ling's child, are you sure you'll be able to withstand the shock?"

Su Shaoqing's fingers trembled a little as a look of hurt flashed across his face. "I...”

"Ling has already lost a child once. So..."

"I know that. You don't have to keep bringing that up, you know." Su Shaoqing pursed his lips. "Since I've decided to woo her again, I won't take it so lightly this time. Don't worry about it."

"Don't worry?" Fu Chengyan repeated incredulously. "What about the Su family, then? Do you really think you can get them to accept her? Even the Fu family refuses to acknowledge her as part of our family. Thus, even if she chooses to forgive you, your relationship won't be smooth sailing in the future!"

"I know!" At that moment, Su Shaoqing heard a loud thud coming from upstairs. Panicking slightly, he said, "Let's talk later. I'm going upstairs to check on something!"

Su Shaoqing hung up immediately and flew upstairs to Fu Ling's bedroom. Throwing open the door, he found her sitting on the floor with a painful expression on her face. He ran over to her and exclaimed, "Ling, are you alright?"

Fu Ling placed a hand on the floor gingerly and tried to raise herself from the ground. However, she could barely move an inch. Su Shaoqing stretched out his hand and helped her up from the floor. Looking at her worriedly, he said, "Are you alright? Are you hurt? Did you injure yourself?"

"No, I didn't!" Fu Ling shook her head, gritting her teeth in pain. She tried to shove Su Shaoqing away from her, but he grabbed hold of her hands. "Don't move!" He bent down to look at Fu Ling's feet. The moment his finger made contact with her ankle, Fu Ling let out a gasp of pain. "Ouch! Be more gentle, will you?"

"Does it hurt?" Su Shaoqing noted that Fu Ling's face had gone white with pain. "How could you have fallen so easily? Did you twist your ankle?"

"No, I didn't! Stop touching me. I told you I'm fine!" Fu Ling tried to push him away again. Her foot had been throbbing with pain this entire time, but Su Shaoqing's touch made her entire leg tingle with numbness. She had never experienced this sort of feeling before, but she hated the way it paralyzed her entire limb.

She looked down and swatted Su Shaoqing's arm away impatiently. "Are you deaf? I said I'm fine!"

Fu Ling raised her voice slightly when she spoke and immediately felt guilty about it. Su Shaoqing narrowed his eyes and looked at her disapprovingly. Before Fu Ling could react, he bent down and carried her up in his arms, bridal style.

Fu Ling screeched in panic, throwing her arms around his neck tightly to stop herself from falling. Without another word, Su Shaoqing left the room and walked downstairs with her in his arms. When Fu Ling finally snapped out of her daze, she found herself in Su Shaoqing's arms. She struggled a little in protest, but eventually gave in and lay in his arms, looking rather resigned. Thankfully, the journey to the living room lasted only a few seconds. Su Shaoqing placed Fu Ling onto the sofa gently and gazed softly at her. "Don't move! I'll go get you some towels and ice." Fu Ling watched as Su Shaoqing walked into the kitchen. For the first time in a long time, she couldn't replace the words to describe the conflicted emotions churning within her.

Her hands curled into fists by her side. Fu Ling took a deep breath and forced herself to look anywhere else but at Su Shaoqing.

He returned almost immediately with towels, ice packs, and a first-aid kit. "I'll take a look at your injury. If it isn't too serious, we can take care of this now. If it's a little more serious and you injured your foot, we'll go to the hospital right away to take an X-ray. How could you have been so careless and slipped in your own house?"

As he spoke, Su Shaoqing prodded the sole of her foot and asked, "Does it hurt when I press it?"

Feeling the jolt of pain that shot through her foot, Fu Ling tried to jerk her foot away. However, Su Shaoqing held on tightly to it and gave it a slight pinch. "Seems like your bones are fine. Bear with the pain for a while. I'll help you massage your foot a little."

Su Shaoqing started to massage her foot with added pressure. Fu Ling tried hard not to let her pain show on her face, but the man pressed particularly hard on one spot, making her screech in pain. "Be gentle will you? It hurts!"

"Su Shaoqing, I said be more gentle!"

Su Shaoqing frowned. "If I don't press down hard, you're going to have a blood clot right here! Here, take my arm and bite into it if it hurts so much!" As he spoke, he stuck out his free arm for her. Fu Ling looked at him, aghast.

Su Shaoqing turned his attention back to her swollen foot and started massaging it again. Fu Ling's face turned green with pain. Without another thought, she grabbed hold of Su Shaoqing's arm and sank her teeth into it.

She bit into his arm with as much pain as she felt. Su Shaoqing's face turned red with pain, but he refused to utter a single word of complaint.