I Want a Lifetime with You
Chapter 431

What do you mean for a boy or a girl?

Fu Chengyan frowned. "She's only been pregnant for eight weeks. How would I know whether it's a boy or a girl!" He looked at the sales representative as though she was an idiot and then said impatiently. "Bah! I'll choose for myself!"

She was absolutely stunned. "Only eight weeks pregnant?" Why are you shopping for clothes when the fetus is only at eight weeks?

Zhou Zheng had just dismissed the onlooking women. He overheard the exchange between the Fu Chengyan and the sales representative when he returned and failed to suppress a snicker.

Fu Chengyan shot him a look. Zhou Zheng came over immediately and hinted for the sales representative to excuse herself first before addressing Fu Chengyan. "Mr. Fu, it's still too early into the pregnancy so it isn't necessary to purchase these things now. Moreover, these products can go out of style very quickly. I reckon that they would have become unsuitable by the time Mrs. Fu delivers the baby!"

Fu Chengyan looked silently at Zhou Zheng and Zhou Zheng held his tongue as well as he stood by the side waiting.

Fu Chengyan placed the items he had back down and stuck a hand in his pocket before he stated staidly, "Who said I was buying anything? I was just browsing!"

Zhou Zheng was flabbergasted.

You're the boss! Whatever you say goes!

"In that case Mr. Fu, do we continue here?"

Fu Chengyan shot Zhou Zheng another look. What do you think?

The two men continued to window shop at Jinghe for another hour or so. Zhou Zheng almost thought Fu Chengyan was possessed and Fu Chengyan behaved as though he was completely lacking in self- awareness as he went on to cover every inch of ground on the third floor.

Zhou Zheng was concerned about getting looks and disturbances by other shoppers so he got the mall's management to close off the third floor to everyone else except the retail assistants, Fu Chengyan and Zhou Zheng himself.

Fu Chengyan did not seem too concerned about seriously disrupting the mall's regular operations. Zhou Zheng just stood close by as he waited for his boss.

The mall manager for Jinghe came over hurriedly. "Mr. Zhou, why are you here? Where is Mr. Fu?"

The man followed where Zhou Zheng was looking and his eyeballs nearly dropped. "Is Mr. Fu... shopping in the children's department?"

He continued to track Fu Chengyan's movements as though he seemed to have chanced upon something unimaginable. Zhou Zheng could not tolerate it any longer and waved his arms frantically to block the mall manager's line of sight. "Stop looking!"

"Ha Ha, Mr. Zhou." The manager chuckled as he self-consciously looked away. "Is Mr. Fu here to survey the operations?"

Zhou Zheng chortled and gave the man an icy stare.

"Shall I go prepare some refreshments? Or reports...?"

"That's enough. Do you think Mr. Fu is that free? He doesn't have time for this!" Zhou Zheng felt gassed even as he said these.

Fu Chengyan had no time for work but was able to shop for clothing for his wife and unborn children. In spite of what the truth was, Zhou Zheng felt that no one would believe this if he told them.

"But Mr. Fu..."

"You can go now. Don't ruin Mr. Fu's mood!" Zhou Zheng had never encountered anyone as daft as this man. "Mr. Fu doesn't like to be followed around in a private capacity! And also, no one is to speak of what happened here today!"

"Yes, of course." The manager then scampered away.

Despite Zhou Zheng's best efforts to keep word of Fu Chengyan's little excursion to the mall under wraps, it did not seem to have the desired effect. That same night, news of it started to explode within the cha group that Fu Chengyan belonged to.

The reason for it was that someone shared a video of Fu Chengyan's interaction with the sales representative. What made it worse was it featured the sequence where the representative asked Fu Chengyan the gender of the baby.

When Fu Chengyan was in the showers, Shi Nuan casually swiped away on her cellphone. This was when a WeChat message came in. Shi Nuan quickly opened up the message when she saw that it was from the group. That was when she saw the video footage.

Her initial reaction was to look in the direction of the bathroom. When she saw that the doors to the bathroom was shut, she went to look for Fu Chengyan's phone. Indeed, the same video could be seen on it. Shi Nuan held a hand to her forehead. On closer investigating, she gritted her teeth when she discovered that the clip was shared by Su Shaoqing. "Where did this came from?"

Shi Nuan immediately tagged Su Shaoqing. "Delete it right away or Chengyan will get you for it later!"

Before she could send out her message, others had started to chime in.

Li Heng: Never expected Chengyan to have such a moment.

Bei Jingxiu: I know right!

Su Shaoqing: Woot woot! Ha Ha! Didn't expect to see such an adorable side to him. I'd say Nuan, your belly isn't even visible yet! Su Shaoqing tagged Shi Nuan.

Shi Nuan could not help but chuckle, and replied with a laughing emoji.

Then the entire group started to discuss enthusiastically.

Pei Huan: Chengyan is so funny. Nuan, you are only two months in. Isn't he getting ahead of himself?

Li Heng: What's the rush? He's just being silly.

Ning Xi: Didn't realize Mr. Fu could be so hilarious!

Pei Jingxiu too got in on the action. Most of the comments were meant to ridicule Fu Chengyan. Most everyone in the group jumped on the bandwagon, all except for Fu Ling.

Shi Nuan flipped herself around a couple of times in bed and giggled.

It was no wonder Fu Chengyan came back with his handful of purchases. She thought those were what he got Zhou Zheng to buy, and did not expect that he went to shop for them himself.

Her smile grew broader at the thought of this. Shi Nuan rubbed her still flat belly in bliss, "Babies, look at how much your daddy loves the both of you!"

"Love what?"

Fu Chengyan opened the door to Shi Nuan clutching her belly smiling with all the tenderness of motherly love, beholding her unborn children like they were a precious treasure. His expression softened and brightened in response. "How were things for you at home today?"

Both of them were currently staying at the Fu residence. Shi Nuan was to remain at home as Fu Zhengyun and the rest of the family unanimously agreed that Shi Nuan should not be working given her current condition. That was why Shi Nuan wrapped her hands and legs around Fu Chengyan's waist and clung onto him like a koala when he was preparing to head out for work in the morning.

Had Fu Zhengyun not walked past and gave her a dressing down, Shi Nuan would not have let Fu Chengyan go.

Shi Nuan could not be faulted completely though. Since her conception, she had been aware of herself becoming significantly more demanding and unreasonable than usual. On top of that, she was unfamiliar with the Fu residence. Even though she knew the people there, there were not many amongst them who thought of her favorably. All in all, this made her feel rather insecure. Shi Nuan was a career minded person.

She had always been in the opinion that she could still carry on working past the third trimester even when pregnant. It so turned out that she was stopped and made to stay in by the Fu Residence before her first trimester was up. Shi Nuan was naturally unhappy about this.

When she heard her husband pose that question to her, she pouted. Whatever good mood she was in before quickly dissipated. "What do you think? Eat, sleep, sleep and eat. There's nothing else to do." Shi Nuan rolled her eyes as she got out of bed. She clutched Fu Chengyan's arm with both hands and tugged on it. "Yan."

"Yeah?"

With a towel in one hand and Shi Nuan tugging on the other, Fu Chengyan was rocked helplessly back and forth. He reached out and ruffled Shi Nuan's hair. "All right, go on and speak your mind!"

Shi Nuan snickered and with her knees on the bed, inched towards Fu Chengyan while keeping her hands on him. "Let me go back to the company!"

"No way!" Fu Chengyan shook his head. "That is non-negotiable!"

"Why isn't this up for discussion?" Shi Nuan sulked as she tugged at his arm. "I think we could really talk this through. Nobody out there gets grounded this early into her pregnancy. Just look at how many of our company's own staff are continuing to go to work as usual even when they are with child. How could you be such a meanie?"

"There's them and there's you. They are not my wife while you are!" Fu Chengyan was not going to relent no matter how Shi Nuan remonstrated. "Be a good girl. It's your first pregnancy and they are twins. Don't have me worry for you, alright?"

Fu Chengyan reached out to pinch Shi Nuan on the nose but she knocked his hand away. "I want to go to work. At most, I promise not to walk the grounds and just stick to the administrative stuff. Would that do? Otherwise, I might start sprouting mold at home!"

Shi Nuan looked at Fu Chengyan with her large watery eyes. Her pitiful expression lodged a lump in his throat and almost had him nodding in agreement. But Fu Chengyan managed to endure and dig in his heels. He shook his head. "No."

"Yan!" Shi Nuan was upset. "Look at me. My belly is not even visible. Moreover, I'm not your property. I just want something to have something to do, that's all!" Cooped up at home and having to face Fu Zhengyun and Song Zhenyan day in day out, Shi Nuan was genuinely worried that she might become sick from anguish.

Shi Nuan let go of Fu Chengyan's arm and climbed into bed. She then tumbled about in protest.

"Alright, be careful there!" Fu Chengyan got up as well and reached for Shi Nuan's hand to steady her. "Don't be stubborn. You are no longer responsible for only yourself. Remember that there are two little ones inside of you, what if... I mean it would be better to be on the side of caution! Just endure this for a few more months. I'll take you on a trip after this, how about it?"

"No deal!" Shi Nuan is playing up now. "I don't want to. I want to go out and work. Just give me an assignment, any will do. I just don't want to stay at home!" Shi Nuan hugged Fu Chengyan's elbow. She then pressed her head against his arm and acted coquettishly like a child. "Come on! Or you could put me somewhere close to you!"