“Well, in that case, I guess there’s nothing left for me to say. You’ll have to handle these things by yourself anyway.” Su Huainan patted Su Huaibei’s back. “Let’s have a seat. Tell me, what in the world is going on? Isn’t Shi Nuan Shi Jingzheng and Jiang Yu’s daughter?”
Since the incident twenty-five years ago, the Su family rarely had any interactions with the Jiang family, much less with the Shi family. Hence, Su Huainan wasn’t very clear about the situation in the Shi family. However, he had recently heard about Shi Nuan in passing.
Su Huainan suddenly remembered that Lin Shuqin had mentioned Shi Nuan during their phone call two days ago. However, he was too busy at that time. Hence, he had only listened half-heartedly and soon forgot about it altogether. Now that Su Huaibei had brought it up, Su Huainan recalled that Shi Jingzheng indeed had two daughters. The elder one, Shi Wei, was in showbiz and was considered to be a popular celebrity. As for the younger daughter, Su Huainan had not heard much about her. Even when he did, it was never pleasant.
As Su Huainan thought about it, his face darkened. “I can’t believe it. It was bad enough that the Shi family had taken away a child from the Su family! In addition to that, they didn’t even treat her well! Outrageous!”
“That’s why I plan on taking Nuan back into the family. Unfortunately, Nuan is already all grown up now, and she’s even married. I’m worried that she wouldn’t be able to accept it.” This was the reason that Su Huaibei did not tell Shi Nuan the truth just yet. It was especially the case after he met her at the hospital the other day. Su Huaibei became increasingly afraid of reuniting with her because he was worried she would be unwilling to acknowledge him as her father.
“We can’t rush this for now. I’ve long heard about Shi Nuan’s marriage as well. That man from the Fu clan is close to Shaoqing. Thus, you can start with Shaoqing!”
“That’s what I was thinking too.”
The next day, Su Huaibei directly made his way to Su Shaoqing’s hospital to probe him about matters regarding Shi Nuan and Fu Chengyan.
Seeing that his uncle was living an honest life now, Su Shaoqing no longer felt the need to hide anything. “Uncle, I’m not discouraging you, but Shi Nuan is already an adult and has her own thinking. So I really can’t say whether or not she’ll acknowledge you. However, I must warn you that Fu Chengyan isn’t a simple person. Shi Nuan suffered a great deal all those years living with the Shi family and Fu Chengyan isn’t one to let bygones be bygones. He’s just waiting for the right time to strike the Shi family!”
Su Huaibei met his gaze, his brows knitting into a frown. “You don’t have to tell me all of this. I just want you to help me test the waters so that I can see what Fu Chengyan and Shi Nuan think of me.”
Su Shaoqing’s hand that was holding a pen froze mid-stroke. He was slightly surprised to see this side of Su Huaibei. For as long as he could remember, this uncle of his was a very stubborn and assertive person. He always did as he pleased, never caring about what others had thought. Otherwise, things would never have panned out the way that they did that year.
“Okay.” Su Shaoqing smiled. “I’ll help you. Is there anything else, Uncle Huaibei?”
“I need to get her medication.”
Although he didn’t mention her by name, Su Shaoqing clearly knew who he was referring to. “Oh. Here you go!” Su Shaoqing took out the medication from his drawer and passed it to Su Huaibei. “Uncle, women are supposed to be pampered, not tortured. Weren’t you afraid that you’d kill her by using so much force on her?”
Su Huaibei raised his brows, a hint of amusement peeking out from his eyes. “Qing, since when did you become such a merciful person?”
Su Shaoqing’s expression stiffened. “Uncle, these two hands of mine save lives, not harm them!”
Only until Su Huaibei left did Su Shaoqing take a cigarette out of his pocket. He held it between his fingers for quite a while before inhaling deeply and calling Li Heng who was all the way in C Country. “About the information that I’ve told you to dig up on my Uncle Huaibei, have you found it?”
“What information, specifically, do you want?” Li Heng waved his hand, gesturing for Bao to go look for Pei Huan. Then, he left the room and went to the beach outside. Narrowing his eyes, he asked, “He didn’t do anything suspicious when he was abroad. What exactly are you suspicious of?”
“Nothing!” Su Shaoqing laughed it off. “So, when are you and Pei Huan going to come back? Are you just going to let that brat Li Xufan run that shabby company of yours? Aren’t you afraid that he’d take over it, one day? You’ll be left with nothing if that happens.”
Li Heng scoffed, sounding like he wasn’t worried in the least. “If he manages to take over my company, that would mean that he has what it takes, right?”
“Eh? Heng, don’t tell me that you don’t plan on returning?” Su Shaoqing gasped. “You must be having a lot of fun there, huh! If Pei Huan doesn’t rein you in and allows you to continue being idle, you might very well become completely broke one day. Let’s see if Pei Huan would still want you then!”
Li Heng scoffed again. “You don’t need to worry about this. Even if I’m penniless, my wife is rich, and my wife’s brother is rich too. There’s no way that I’ll starve to death!”
“Tsk, tsk. Heng, you’re seriously getting more shameless by the day. Does Pei Huan know you’re like this? Does Fu Chengyan know?” Su Shaoqing couldn’t help but nag at him. “Seriously though, haven’t you finished settling matters there? You know that Pei Huan and Ling are friends, right? And… I might need Pei Huan’s help with Ling!”
Li Heng’s gaze darkened. “Not yet. I haven’t found the miracle doctor. Although Huan and Bao are fine now, I can’t help but worry!” This was also why Li Heng had been reluctant to return home.
Of course, there was another reason too. He had missed three years’ worth of time with Pei Huan. He did not want to make the same mistake twice. Hence, he wanted to treat himself to a long vacation and compensate for those three years.
When Su Shaoqing heard his answer, he did not push any further. After a momentary silence, his lips lifted into a smile. “My Uncle Huaibei has returned, and Shi Nuan could be his daughter!”
“Yeah! I caught wind of this matter. Is this why you’ve asked me to investigate him?” Li Heng pondered for a moment. “Your uncle has been living in C Country for more than twenty years, and it seems like there weren’t any problems. He was indeed very close to Shu Qing, but their relationship is rather complicated. If you want to know what exactly happened between them, I think you’d better go to the capital to find clues. After all, they were in the capital for a period of time. Furthermore, that specific period of time is the key to your answers!”
Su Shaoqing brushed his nose lightly and replied, “Okay!”
Shu Qing rested for a few days due to her injury. The medication that Su Shaoqing had prescribed was the best, so there weren’t any long-term sequelae left behind.
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