Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
It had snowed a few days ago, and the accumulated snow had already melted. The cold wind was bone-chilling.
When Fu Chen saw the message, the tip of his brush paused, and a blot of ink dripped onto the golden-gilded Xuan paper. He put down his brush and casually pulled the Xuan paper off the table. His movements werenât quiet.
âThird Uncle?â Huai Sheng, holding a pencil, looked at him suspiciously. âWho made you angry?â?His expression got cold all of the sudden. Itâs scary.
âNothing.â Fu Chen crushed the Xuan paper bit by bit in his palm.
The alliance is canceled?
So that means that he and Aunt Yun have gotten together, and now heâs kicking me away?
Iâve never seen a person kick someone to the curb when theyâve outlived their usefulness so quickly.
Yan Wangchuan, youâre really great.?
Right after that, he received another message.
[As a businessman, Iâm honest and trustworthy. Unless you expose yourself, I wonât tell anyone about you, but I wonât help you either. Youâre on your own.]
Fu Chen sneered and threw the crumpled Xuan paper into the trash can.
Iâm on my own?
Weâll see.
After thinking about it, Fu Chen still decided to give him a call.
But when he dialed Yan Wangchuanâs number, all he heard was: [The number you have dialed is currently unavailableâ¦]
Huai Sheng lowered his head and continued practicing writing.?Third Uncle is so scary right now. I canât provoke him.
Not long afterâ¦
There was a knock on the door. âThird Brother, can I come in?â It was Sun Qionghuaâs voice.
âOkay.â When Fu Chen looked up again, he seemed to be the gentle and elegant Third Master Fu again.
Sun Qionghua pushed the door open and entered. âYuxiu and I will be going overseas tomorrow. I want to treat the Qiao family to a meal tonight, and I hope you will go with us as well to mediate in case things get too awkward. If this matter isnât handled well, I wonât be able to go overseas in peace.â
Fu Chen nodded. âSure.â?I just happen to have something to talk to Aunt Yun about.
At this moment, Yan Wangchuan was sitting on the plane and casually flipping through a magazine. He was in a good mood, and even his usual cold and stiff lips were gentler. Old Madam Yan kept grinning from ear to ear, thinking about the marriage or bringing the mother and daughter back to Nanjiang to celebrate Lunar New Year.
Yan Wangchuan was still thinking that he had to hurry back to Yuncheng after getting his residence booklet.
Heâd only feel at ease once he married her.
Little did he know that Fu Chen was considering stabbing him in the back.
***
Meanwhile, at the Qiao residenceâ¦
When the three of them arrived home, Qiao Wangbei asked, âAiyun, are you and Senior Brother together now?â
Although Qiao Aiyun wasnât a young lady anymore and that reserved about relationships, she was still a woman after all. She wasnât willing to discuss such matters with her elder brother, so she merely smiled and remained silent.
âWhy are you just smiling? Have you two confirmed your relationship?â Qiao Wangbei was a domineering person, and he wouldnât stop until he got an answer.
Qiao Aiyun could only nod. âI guess so.â
âWhat do you mean âI guess soâ? You two kissed inside the lounge, and both your mouths were swollen. How is it only âI guess soâ?â Qiao Wangbei raised his eyebrows. âIf this doesnât mean that youâve confirmed your relationship, then what will?â
Song Fengwan laughed out loud, making Qiao Aiyun feel extremely embarrassed.
She hated Yan Wangchuan from the bottom of her heart. He had kissed her so hard that he had bit her lips. She was too ashamed to face anyone.
âBig Brother, do you really want to make things so obvious?â
Qiao Wangbei snorted. âIâm a rough person. If you have something to say, just say it. Donât beat around the bush. If you just keep smiling at me, how would I know?â
âExactly,â Song Fengwan echoed.
âSong Fengwan, youâre still smiling? I havenât settled the score with you yet!â Qiao Aiyun harrumphed coldly. âYouâre really bold. Youâve even learned to tease me, and you even helped your Uncle Yan hide the secret from me. Youâre very capable now, arenât you?â
âItâs not my fault. Itâs not like you donât know Uncle Yanâs temperament. He threatened me, and I was too afraid, so I didnât dare to say it.â Song Fengwan thought of how Yan Wangchuan had threatened her twice that night and kept wanting to get some interest back from him.
âThreatened?â Qiao Aiyun raised her eyebrows.
âYou donât say. Heâs really capable of doing it. Back then, when I found out about his feelings for you, he also threatened me and blocked me in my room. If I didnât agree to keep it a secret, I might have been beaten to death by him,â Qiao Wangbei said.
âYeah, Uncle Yanâs face was so scary. How would I dare to say it? He was leaving this time, so I purposely messed with himâ¦â Song Fengwan muttered softly.
Qiao Aiyun nodded while listening to them.?I really didnât expect that Yan Wangchuan would do such a thing.
Threatening a child?
Thatâs simply childish and ridiculous.
âThen, Iâll go upstairs first.â Song Fengwan was afraid that she would expose herself if her mother continued probing further.
âOh right, weâll be having dinner with the Fu family tonight. Wanwan, take note of the time and get ready by then,â Qiao Aiyun informed.
âFu Yuxiu?â Song Fengwan was speechless. âI donât want to go.â
âI donât want to go either. But Fu Yuxiuâs family is going overseas, and theyâre insisting on treating us to dinner and apologizing properly to you. Fu Chen is going this time as well. Heâs been taking care of you all this time, and the matter this time is all thanks to him too. Otherwise, youâ¦â Qiao Aiyun was furious at the thought of Song Jingren.
âWe should thank Fu Chen properly too.
âSince heâs coming for this meal, we have to go for his sake.â
After hearing that Fu Chen would be going as well, Song Fengwan still pretended to be troubled and pondered for a moment. âAlright, Iâll go.â
***
Evening, a Yuncheng restaurantâ¦
When three Qiao family members arrived at the private room, the Fu family members were already here. Sun Qionghua hurriedly invited them to sit down.
âHello, Auntie. Hello, Third Master,â Song Fengwan greeted obediently.
âCome and sit.â Sun Qionghua welcomed them warmly. âIt just snowed, and itâs cold outside.â
âHello, Uncle and Auntie.â In addition to Fu Yuxiu, another woman stood up and greeted Qiao Aiyun and Qiao Wangbei. âWanwan, long time no see. Do you still remember me?â
Song Fengwan saw her the moment she entered the room.
Fu Yuxiuâs elder cousinâ
Sun Rui.
From her name, people could tell how much her parents doted on her.
âHello, Big Sister.â Song Fengwan smiled. When she got engaged to Fu Yuxiu, Old Madam Fu was in poor health at the time, so they hadnât held a grand ceremony. Instead, they had only invited their close family and friends, so Sun Qionghuaâs family had naturally come as well.
But this Miss Sun didnât take her seriously at all. At the time, she had added Song Fengwanâs number, but she had never once contacted her.
There was also no friendship between them.
âWe havenât seen each other in a long time, right? You seem to have lost weight. Even if youâre in your senior year of high school, donât study too hard. You have to take care of your health.â Sun Rui held Song Fengwanâs hands as if they were very familiar with each other.
But there were many people around, so Song Fengwan didnât embarrass her in front of them.
Sun Rui wasnât particularly good-looking, but she had a very good bearing and aura. Her makeup was exquisite, and she had paid a lot of attention to her outfit.
âSit with me.â
âAuntie, I want to sit with Big Sister,â Huai Sheng suddenly said.
Sun Ruiâs eyebrows twitched.?Auntie?
From the moment the little monk saw her, he kept calling her auntie. He also called Sun Qionghua auntie.?Am I that old?!
âBig Sister, come sit here!â Huai Sheng pulled Song Fengwan to sit on the other side, which happened to be directly opposite Fu Chen.
Fu Chen was young, but he was high in terms of seniority. Sun Qionghua was counting on him to mediate during the dinner today, so he naturally had to sit between the two families, separated from juniors.
âUncle Qiao, Aunt Qiao, please take a seat.â Fu Yuxiu braced himself and went to greet the Qiao family members.
Qiao Wangbei snorted coldly and sat down straight away.
Fu Yuxiu poured the tea for them. âUncle Qiao, please have some tea.â
âI have something that Iâve been wanting to ask you. Iâve been busy recently and havenât been able to see you. Today is just rightâ¦â Qiao Wangbei held his teacup and took a sip of the hot tea.
âPlease go ahead.â Fu Yuxiu was uneasy. He knew very well that this dinner would definitely not be that simple and that the Qiao family would definitely find trouble with him.
âWhat was the emergency you had that day you left both Wanwan and Huai Sheng halfway?â
The Qiao family only knew that Fu Yuxiu did it because of Jiang Fengya, but they didnât know the whole situation. Qiao Wangbei had been suppressing this matter in his heart for a long time.
âThat dayâ¦â Fu Yuxiu thought of many excuses, but Qiao Wangbeiâs eyes were so sharp that Fu Yuxiu was so scared, he was rendered speechless for a moment.
âI heard that you abandoned Wanwan in the cold because of that illegitimate daughter of Song Jingren. Fu Yuxiu, how dare you!â
Qiao Wangbei slammed the teacup on the table, and the tea inside it splashed out. The entire private room instantly became silent.
âIf you didnât want to send her that day, you shouldâve just said it. Why did you leave her halfway?
âYou clearly know that we donât get along with that girl, yet you still deliberately chose that time to meet her and abandoned our Wanwan. Are you purposely embarrassing our Qiao family?!
âYouâre trying to make me lose face, arenât you?!â
Fu Yuxiuâs heart was pounding wildly. âUncle, there was an emergency that day. I really didnât do it on purpose.â
âSo tell me, what was the emergency?â Qiao Wangbei looked at him coldly. âIf you donât give me a satisfactory explanation, I donât think thereâs a reason for us to eat this meal.â
Fu Yuxiu didnât dare to explain too much. As long as Jiang Fengya was mentioned, Qiao Wangbei would definitely be infuriated. He simply lowered his head and remained silent, putting himself at Qiao Wnagbeiâs mercy.
âEven if you had something urgent, couldnât you call us first and tell us?
âThe weather was freezing, and the university town is far away. If they had encountered an accident, can you bear the responsibility?â
â¦
Qiao Wangbei was domineering and formidable, and his words were sharp and aggressive.
Fu Yuxiu was already feeling guilty, so he couldnât refute Qiao Wangbeiâs words at all.
Seeing this, Sun Qionghua was so anxious that she was furious. She knew that the Qiao family would definitely bring up this matter, but she thought that with Fu Chen here, he would definitely help them out. However, a certain someone just watched by the side, not saying anything.
She could only walk to Fu Yuxiuâs side and reach out her hand to press his back. âHurry up and apologize to them!â
âUncle, Aunt, Wanwan, Iâm sorry.â What could Fu Yuxiu do? He could only bend over 90 degrees and apologize to them continuously.
Sun Qionghua kept giving Fu Chen looks, wanting him to help them out.
A certain someone lowered his head and looked at his teacup, seemingly scrutinizing the tea leaves inside, ignoring the looks she was giving him.
âHeâs still young and inexperienced, so itâs inevitable that heâll take detours and be deceived. Please be magnanimous. He did something wrong, and as his mother, I have a responsibility for it too. I also apologize to you.â Sun Qionghua gritted her teeth and apologized to them along with Fu Yuxiu.
âMrs. Fuâ¦â When Qiao Aiyun saw Sun Qionghua bow and apologize, she was about to reach out her hand, but Qiao Wangbei blocked her.
âWe can accept her bow.â
â¦
After Fu Yuxiu apologized continuously, Qiao Wangbei didnât continue flaring up. Everyone sat down and began eating.
If Fu Chen wasnât here today, Qiao Wangbei would definitely have already gone forward to give Fu Yuxiu a punch.?Throwing down two kids halfway so late, heâs simply a scoundrel.
When Qiao Wangbei first met Fu Yuxiu, he had looked fine to him and thought that since he was a descendant of the Fu family, he would definitely be alright, so he didnât object to the marriage.
But now, he was extremely glad and thankful that the engagement had been broken off.?If she really married such a person, she would definitely have suffered greatly in the future.
Especially when compared to Fu Chen, who was sitting beside Fu Yuxiuâ¦
He wasnât even worth being compared to Fu Chen.
***
Song Fengwan had originally thought that Sun Rui came this time because Sun Qionghua was going overseas, so she specially came to see her off. But when they started eating, she clearly noticed something was amiss.
Sun Ruiâs eyes were on Fu Chen almost the entire time, and she kept wanting to talk to him.
Fu Chen ignored her throughout, making her feel a little embarrassed and awkward.
Sun Qionghua also spoke occasionally, seemingly having intentions to matchmake the two of them.
Every one of the Qiao family could tell, but this was the Fu familyâs business, so they didnât want to get involved. They just watched by the side and didnât make any comments.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
But no matter what Sun Qionghua said, Fu Chen didnât respond to her at all. As his sister-in-law, she was in a difficult position, so she could only turn her focus to Song Fengwan.
âWanwan, you and Little Rui are around the same age. You two can contact each other more in the future.â This wasnât Sun Qionghuaâs first day in Yuncheng. The Qiao family was very close with the Nanjiang Yan family recently, so there was a high chance that they would become in-laws. In that case, her familyâs relationship with the Qiao family mustnât be strained.
Otherwise, she wouldnât have gone through so much trouble to invite them time and time again.
âThere must be a lot of topics to talk about between you girls,â Sun Qionghua said with a smile.
âYeah, you two can contact each other more.â Fu Yuxiu chuckled lightly.
Song Fengwan bit her lip and casually looked up at Fu Chen, who was opposite her.
Their eyes met.
Itâs so obvious that Sun Rui has intentions toward Third Brother, but they still want us to contact each other more?
Iâm not stupid.
Song Fengwan looked at Fu Chen with a smile.. Her little eyes were meaningful, and they were clearly saying, âYou sure have good luck with women.â