After leaving the company, Fu Shinian arranged a dinner with Qiao Yu, Ji Nanfeng, and Wei Shaoqin.
As for the the of this gathering, everyone except Fu Shinian found it quite odd. Given the timing, such a eting didn’t seem appropriate. They thought Fu Shinian might have so kind of plan, but from beginning to end, he didn’t ntion anything important. It seed like it was just a simple al.
However, he did subtly bring up a lot of their stories.
Fu Shinian looked at Ji Nanfeng:
"I told Jiang Bei about you severing ties with the Ji Family."
Ji Nanfeng raised an eyebrow:
"At a ti like this, you still have the leisure to ddle in my business?"
"Your business is not just ’business’," Fu Shinian said with a faint smile. "I just brought it up while talking to Jiang Bei. She didn’t express any opinion on it, but judging from her reaction, she doesn’t seem too insistent on the divorce anymore. After all, there’s the matter of Qiqi. She probably wants to give the child a complete family, to let her experience more family love."
Ji Nanfeng remained silent for a few seconds:
"Honestly, it doesn’t matter. I haven’t even talked to her about this issue yet. Qiqi’s matter is one thing; on the other hand, I don’t want this to beco a burden for her. Whatever she decides, I’ll fully respect it. Even if it’s divorce, I believe I can still give her and the child a good life."
Fu Shinian nodded:
"That may be true, but if you can stay together, you should."
Ji Nanfeng didn’t respond further. Fu Shinian turned to Qiao Yu:
"What about you?"
"What about ?"
"Do you have nothing to say about Jiang Bei?"
This was the first ti Fu Shinian openly ntioned Jiang Bei in front of Ji Nanfeng, and in such a blatant way. Qiao Yu couldn’t help but glance at Fu Shinian. "What’s wrong with you today? Did you take the wrong dicine?"
Fu Shinian laughed, taking a sip of wine:
"Let’s just say I’m in a mood, looking for trouble."
The reason Fu Shinian brought this up with Qiao Yu was because he had noticed a significant change in Qiao Yu’s attitude toward Jiang Bei after her recent disappearance. If Fu Shinian’s guess was correct, if it weren’t for Qiqi’s involvent, Qiao Yu might have already acted on his intentions toward Jiang Bei.
Qiao Yu was soone who considered all aspects thoroughly. Precisely because of this thoroughness, he didn’t accept Jiang Bei in the first place. However, once soone as resolute as Qiao Yu made up his mind, there was no turning back. For example, with Jiang Bei—once he decided to act, so things no longer mattered to him.
Ji Nanfeng had sensed this but chose not to say it.
Qiao Yu looked at Fu Shinian, sighed helplessly, and spoke directly: "I do want to win Jiang Bei back."
Ji Nanfeng looked at Qiao Yu. Qiao Yu’s gaze slowly shifted from Fu Shinian to Ji Nanfeng’s face. He smiled faintly:
"What? Do you think I’m not qualified?"
Ji Nanfeng shook his head:
"No, I just think it’s unnecessary. If you understood Jiang Bei even slightly, you’d know: between and Rong Shen, she wouldn’t choose either of us, and she definitely wouldn’t choose you. She wouldn’t allow a life entangled with three n, even if it ant growing old alone."
"Maybe there’s an exception," Qiao Yu said, looking at Ji Nanfeng. "After all, the first two n weren’t exactly good people."
Ji Nanfeng opened his mouth, wanting to retort, but ultimately said nothing.
Fu Shinian chuckled at this:
"If you want to pursue her, none of us will stop you. But I’ll repeat myself: don’t let this affect our brotherhood."
Qiao Yu glanced at Ji Nanfeng upon hearing this and smiled:
"If it affected us, I doubt we’d even be sharing the sa table right now."
Ji Nanfeng also smiled:
"That may be true, but let lay it out here first: no matter what you plan to do, Jiang Bei is still, at this mont, my wife—rightfully so."
"Now you care about being ’rightful’? What were you doing before?"
"You—"
Wei Shaoqin let out a long sigh, unable to hold back anymore and interjected:
"Did I co here just to listen to you guys bicker?"
Qiao Yu and Ji Nanfeng fell silent. Wei Shaoqin shook his head and downed a glass of wine. These past few days had been so of the most frustrating in his life. He was desperate to cure Su Mu’s emotional scars—that is, to bring Qiqi back. But despite his best efforts, he hadn’t succeeded.
He initially thought Fu Shinian had called him here for sothing important, but now it seed there was nothing to do—just idle chatter.
Wei Shaoqin couldn’t understand how Fu Shinian could still have the leisure for this at a ti like this. Unwilling to stay in such an atmosphere any longer, he got up: "I have other matters to attend to. I’ll skip the al—carry on without ."
Qiao Yu opened his mouth as if to say sothing, but Fu Shinian stopped him and stood up alongside Wei Shaoqin:
"Let walk you out."
Outside the private room, Wei Shaoqin stopped Fu Shinian: "No need to see off. I know the way."
Fu Shinian smiled faintly, said nothing, but walked ahead of Wei Shaoqin until they reached his car. Even if Wei Shaoqin was slow to understand, by this point, it was clear Fu Shinian had sothing to say to him. Though he wasn’t sure what it was.
Still grappling with his irritation, Wei Shaoqin pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and stared at Fu Shinian:
"What do you want to say?"
"Nothing much, just a question: Do you still stand by what you told before?"
"I’ve said a lot. How am I supposed to know what you’re referring to?"
Fu Shinian didn’t mince words and got straight to the point:
"You said you’d always stay by Su Mu’s side and wouldn’t leave."
Fu Shinian’s words left Wei Shaoqin montarily stunned. No matter how he tried to guess, he hadn’t expected Fu Shinian to bring this up. His gaze upon Fu Shinian shifted—full of scrutiny. After a mont, understanding dawned:
"What are you planning to do?"
"Answer my question first."
"I will stay by Su Mu’s side, but Fu Shinian, what Su Mu needs isn’t . As much as I don’t want to admit it, I have to say it—I can’t take your place. If I could, these three years apart wouldn’t have ant anything."
Fu Shinian smiled faintly:
"I never asked you to replace . I just hope that if sothing happens in the future, you’ll look after her. She’s stubborn but not incapable of listening to reason."
"Don’t feed these useless words. Su Mu is my friend—she was at first and always will be. Whether you say sothing or not, I’ll take care of her. Now, tell what the hell you’re planning to do!"
Fu Shinian gazed at Wei Shaoqin and softly replied:
"You want to nd Su Mu’s heart, and so do I."
"How?"
"That, I can’t tell you."
"You’re not afraid I’ll tell Su Mu?"
Fu Shinian laughed:
"If you do this, I’d think you had feelings for ."
"Screw you," Wei Shaoqin snapped. "I may not think highly of you, but Su Mu depends on you. If you pull any heroic stunts and end up dead, Su Mu won’t live through it. She wouldn’t rember you fondly—in fact, she might just take your fortune and marry soone else."
Hearing this, Fu Shinian frowned slightly, as if picturing that scenario. Ultimately, he just smiled faintly and said:
"If that day does co, it might not be a bad thing."
"You—"
"If you truly care for Su Mu, don’t bring up these things. I’m not looking to be a martyr; I just don’t want Su Mu to be in danger."
"And you?" Wei Shaoqin stared at him. "What if sothing really happens to you?"
"Then it’s fate."
Returning to the private room after seeing off Wei Shaoqin, Fu Shinian inevitably faced further questioning from Ji Nanfeng and Qiao Yu. Throughout, he simply smiled, saying he wasn’t in a good mood and just wanted to talk to soone. He knew his lie would be seen through instantly but didn’t care. Let them see through it—they wouldn’t know what he was planning anyway, or when or where it would occur.
After the al, Fu Shinian really intended to visit the old family residence. Before getting into his car, Ji Nanfeng stopped him:
"If anything happens to you, I won’t help look after your wife or child. Keep that in mind."
Qiao Yu chid in:
"Don’t think that because Su Mu and I have a good relationship, I’d selflessly take on all your responsibilities. It won’t happen."
Fu Shinian smiled:
"I know. That’s why I won’t let anything happen to myself."
Returning to Gui Ning Residence, the matriarch’s condition seed stable, though she was still weak. She had been bedridden since her illness, unable to leave even once. Fu Shinian spoke to her about many things, mostly about Qiqi and Su Mu. His concern was evident. He stayed by her side, comforting her, until she grew tired and fell asleep. Only then did he quietly tuck her in and leave the room.
Lately, Su Shiyue had been taking care of the matriarch, and she had noticeably lost weight. Initially, Fu Shinian hadn’t intended to say much to her, but upon seeing her in this state, he couldn’t help but offer so words of advice:
"How have you been doing recently?"
Su Shiyue seed surprised that Fu Shinian would ask her this. After a brief pause, she nodded:
"I’m doing fine. You don’t need to worry about ."
"Alright." Fu Shinian nodded. "Walk to my car."
Su Shiyue agreed, knowing he probably had sothing else to say. She followed him outside. His car was parked a bit farther away, so the siblings walked side by side for a while in silence. Finally, as they reached the car, Fu Shinian turned to her:
"I haven’t asked before—how’s your mood these days?"
Su Shiyue hesitated for a mont before realizing what he was referring to. She forced a bitter smile:
"If you’re asking about my love life, I’m not thinking about it at all right now. With so many unresolved issues, I don’t have the ti or energy to consider things that don’t matter."
Looking at her, Fu Shinian sighed quietly:
"Things will eventually pass. You should think about your future, too. Just because you don’t say it doesn’t an I can’t see it. When it cos to relationships, you’ve never truly let go. But love is like that—it doesn’t always go the way you want. I just hope you don’t dwell on it forever. After all... from the start, it was never possible."
Su Shiyue nodded and smiled faintly:
"Why are you suddenly telling this today?"
Fu Shinian chuckled softly:
"No particular reason. I just noticed you’ve lost a lot of weight. Taking care of Grandma is hard, but don’t neglect your own health. Don’t let yourself collapse in the process."
"Don’t worry, I won’t."
Fu Shinian nodded. As he turned to get in the car, he rembered sothing and added:
"Shiyue, don’t overthink Qiqi’s situation. Neither Su Mu nor I are blaming you in any way. What happened with Qin Nianwan was bound to happen sooner or later. If not that day, it would’ve been another. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself."
These words caused Su Shiyue’s eyes to redden instantly. She had been staying at Gui Ning Residence these past days to care for the matriarch. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to visit Bishui Yuntian—it was that she didn’t know how to face Su Mu or what to say to her. Every word seed ill-suited, especially given Su Mu’s fragile state, as though on the verge of collapse.
But not speaking, not visiting, not showing concern didn’t an Su Shiyue wasn’t consud by guilt. As Fu Shinian said, no one blad her, but she couldn’t forgive herself.
Qiqi was Fu Shinian’s child and her niece, soone she had adored deeply, yet she had lost her. This debt would weigh heavily on her for the rest of her life.
However, in front of Fu Shinian, she didn’t show her emotions. She didn’t want him to worry further. She nodded:
"I’ll be fine. You don’t need to worry about , just focus on finding Qiqi. When Qiqi cos back, everything will be okay."
"Alright." Fu Shinian looked at her. "I’m leaving now."
"Okay, take care on the road."
Today had been a non-stop, hectic day. Only while driving back to Bishui Yuntian did Fu Shinian feel a bit of relief. Whether it was company matters or property arrangents, everything had been explained. Even the letters to Su Mu had been entrusted to the lawyer.
Now, Fu Shinian was finally ready to face whatever challenge Qin Nianwan might bring.
As the car neared Bishui Yuntian, Fu Shinian’s phone chid—not his usual ringtone, but another one. Realizing this, he imdiately turned the steering wheel sharply, braking and pulling the car to the side of the road. Reaching into his pocket, he retrieved a different phone—not his own—and unlocked it.
There was one unread ssage waiting. He opened it. An unfamiliar number had sent a concise, direct line:
- The day after tomorrow, 2 PM. Deep Harbor Pier. Co alone.
This phone was the one Fu Shinian had asked Song Yi to clone from Su Mu’s SIM card. The phone Su Mu currently carried had been modified to block incoming ssages from unfamiliar numbers. Now, reading this text, Fu Shinian closed his eyes briefly, experiencing a sense of relief.
Co. What must co, will co.
He was tired of these days filled with constant anxiety.
Fu Shinian replied to Qin Nianwan:
- Bring Qiqi.
But by the ti Fu Shinian arrived at Bishui Yuntian, Qin Nianwan hadn’t responded.
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