Chapter 696 Do You Want to Sit Inside With Miss Lin?
After Tuan Tuan left, Lin Nuan was alone in the empty house. It was so quiet that it made her panic.
Fu Huai’an’s absence was so painful that Lin Nuan felt as if her pillar had been taken away from her.
She kept her chin up and texted Fu Huai’an to tell him that Tuan Tuan had been sent off to kindergarten and that she would prepare a sumptuous dinner for him when he returned.
Now that Fu Huai’an wasn’t around, Lin Nuan kept herself busy…
She had no appet.i.te for breakfast, so after was.h.i.+ng the cutlery, she cleaned the entire villa.
Exhausted, Lin Nuan fell into a deep sleep while sitting on the couch to rest and drink water.
When she opened her eyes, she saw You Nainai bend down to cover her with a blanket and touch her forehead with her hand to check if she had a fever.
“Nainai? Why are you here?” Lin Nuan propped herself up.
You Nainai stood back up. As she looked at Lin Nuan’s overly pale face, she said to her worriedly, “Little Candy called me this afternoon and told me that Tuan Tuan said Sir Fu isn’t around today. I called you, but you didn’t pick up. I was worried, so I came over to check up on you!”
Lin Nuan wasn’t fully awake yet. She picked up her phone, which had dropped in between the couch cus.h.i.+ons, and glanced at it.
She could have been holding on to her phone when she fell asleep and accidentally turned down the volume.
“Sorry, I accidentally set my phone to mute!”
You Nainai shook her head. “Sir Fu told me before that I must stay by your side when he’s not around. I came too late.”
“Huai’an will be back tonight, and nothing will happen to me at home. You didn’t have to rush over!” Lin Nuan smiled at You Nainai.
Lin Nuan didn’t eat breakfast and spent the entire morning cleaning. She pa.s.sed out from exhaustion in the afternoon, and it was already 1:30 pm when she woke up. She was so hungry that her blood sugar was a bit low, and she felt dizzy.
“Do you need to go to the hospital?” You Nainai nervously looked over at Lin Nuan and asked.
Lin Nuan shook her head. “Nainai, can you please get me a gla.s.s of hot milk…”
You Nainai nodded and headed to the kitchen to heat some milk for Lin Nuan. Lin Nuan took some sweets from the coffee table, unwrapped one of them, and placed it in her mouth.
Lin Nuan leaned against the back of the couch and closed her eyes. Time seemed to pa.s.s by especially slowly today.
The strawberry-flavored sweet began to melt in her mouth. Lin Nuan suddenly felt nauseous, and the feeling rushed up to her throat. She suddenly sat upright…
The nauseous feeling only stopped once Lin Nuan spat out the sweet onto a tissue and retched a few times.
You Nainai walked out of the kitchen with a gla.s.s of hot milk. She saw Lin Nuan patting her chest and asked, “What happened?”
Lin Nuan reached out for the milk and said after thanking her, “I felt a bit nauseous. Maybe the flavorings used in the sweet are too strong.”
You Nainai suddenly remembered how she felt nauseous after eating a sweet when she was pregnant with Little Candy. She remained sick for the next few days, only discovering she was pregnant after a trip to the hospital.
You Nainai sat on the armchair and asked, “Could it be because you’re pregnant?”
Lin Nuan paused at You Nainai’s question, and her heartbeat suddenly quickened.
“I don’t… think so! My period just ended not too long ago. According to my menstrual cycle, it shouldn’t be time yet…”
“That messed up menstrual cycle isn’t that accurate! I also thought I was safe when I got pregnant with Little Candy…” You Nainai suddenly stopped speaking. She pursed her lips awkwardly and cleared her throat before continuing, “Do you want me to buy a few pregnancy test kits for you to try?”
Lin Nuan and Fu Huai’an hadn’t used protection this time, so maybe… she really was pregnant.
The dark clouds that loomed over Lin Nuan’s heart because of Fu Huai’an’s absence faintly began to disappear because of what You Nainai said.
“Finish the milk first. I’ll get some pregnancy test kits for you. Be right back!”
Lin Nuan tried to keep her heartbeat steady as she nodded.
After hearing the sound of You Nainai closing the door, Lin Nuan placed a hand over her abdomen. If she really were pregnant, Fu Huai’an would be delighted at the news when he came back!
Lin Nuan inevitably started to wait in antic.i.p.ation.
Lin Nuan had just finished her milk when You Nainai came back with a bunch of pregnancy test kits produced by various brands.
“Do I need that many?” Lin Nuan was terrified as she reached out for the pregnancy test kits.
“Sometimes, one pregnancy test kit isn’t accurate enough, and you have to test out a few more!” You Nainai pulled out one of the test kits. “This one even indicates how long you’ve been pregnant! I bought three just in case! Read the instructions carefully and then test them out in the bathroom!”
Lin Nuan nodded. She was uneasy, as she didn’t know if the fruit of her and Fu Huai’an’s love was really here. She was so nervous that she forgot about her hunger.
With the pregnancy test kits in hand, Lin Nuan sat on the toilet in the bathroom and carried out the tests after carefully reading the instructions.
Lin Nuan actually didn’t need to use all of the pregnancy test kits You Nainai had bought for her. She only used six of them.
Lin Nuan washed her hands and stared at the pregnancy test kit. The red line for comparison had already shown up, but the results window remained pure white.
Just as Lin Nuan wiped her hands with a towel, she saw that the result of the Clearblue pregnancy test kit You Nainai talked about, which indicated how long one had been pregnant, was in words: Not Pregnant.
Lin Nuan inevitably felt disappointed. She held up the other pregnancy test kits to the light and looked at them carefully. The results windows remained pure white.
Back when Lin Nuan was planning to have a child with Fu Huai’an, she looked up many articles on preparing for pregnancy and signs of pregnancy on the internet and would always try to apply the various symptoms to herself. So she knew that if someone felt nauseous while pregnant, the baby would probably be more than a month old…
But Lin Nuan’s period had just ended recently, so it didn’t make sense for her to be feeling nauseous.
Although she already knew the truth in her heart, Lin Nuan thoroughly checked every pregnancy test kit, holding each one up to the light and staring at them.
After confirming that she wasn’t pregnant, Lin Nuan threw all of the pregnancy test kits into the trash. But then, she thought about the tests possibly being positive later on. Therefore, she picked them up and placed them aside before rewas.h.i.+ng her hands.
Lin Nuan raised her hand to hold her slightly aching head as she walked out of the bathroom.
Seeing Lin Nuan walk down the stairs, You Nainai got up from the couch and looked upstairs. She asked, “How did it go?”
Lin Nuan smiled and shook her head. “I probably felt nauseous earlier because I suddenly ate a sweet when I hadn’t eaten anything beforehand.”
You Nainai nodded. She could seemingly tell that Lin Nuan wanted a child, adding, “Maybe it’s because you used the kits too soon. You can try again after waiting for a few days.”
Lin Nuan nodded.
Lin Nuan regained some energy after having a small bite, but her head still ached.
She and You Nainai switched on the TV and sat by the full-length window. The steaming hot cup in her hands had scalded her fingers until they turned red, but she failed to notice.
She wondered how Fu Huai’an was doing.
You Nainai saw that Lin Nuan was in a bad mood and thought she was upset because the results of the pregnancy test kits came out negative. However, she didn’t know how to comfort Lin Nuan and could only sit beside her and look at her anxiously.
Lin Nuan’s phone on the coffee table vibrated. You Nainai glanced at Lin Nuan, who was s.p.a.cing out, and took her phone. She glanced at the screen and saw that it was an unknown number. She called out to Lin Nuan and handed her the phone. “The phone…”
Lin Nuan came back to her senses and put down the cup. She took the phone and answered the call, placing the phone near her ear. “h.e.l.lo, who is this?”
“Mrs. Fu…”
Lin Nuan heard Ah Zhan’s voice from the other end of the line and suddenly stiffened. Her spine straightened, and she pursed her lips tightly.
Lin Nuan looked as if she had encountered her arch enemy. You Nainai saw this and looked at her without batting an eye.
“Mr. Fu should have been taken in for questioning, and he should still be out right now. Our boss wants to meet you. This concerns Mr. Fu!” Over the phone, Ah Zhan sounded very genuine and respectful.
Lin Nuan’s voice was relatively calm. “My husband will return home tonight. You and your boss need not worry about his matters.”
On the other end of the line, Ah Zhan’s phone was taken away by Li Muyang…
“Nuan Nuan, do you really think Fu Huai’an will return home tonight?”
Lin Nuan could hear the smile in Li Muyang’s deep voice from the other end of the line. It made her subconsciously grab onto the end of her s.h.i.+rt.
“I’d believe in Mr. Li being well-informed if this was America, but this is China—Mr. Li’s sources probably aren’t that reliable!” Lin Nuan pretended to be calm and made her voice sound as relaxed as possible.
Fu Huai’an already said he would be back tonight, so Lin Nuan believed he would definitely come back tonight.
Li Muyang’s soft laughter could be heard over the phone. He said, “But there’s evidence that points to Fu Huai’an being Mr. Moral. What makes you think they will release Mr. Fu so quickly?”
Lin Nuan clenched her fists tightly. “Did you do this?”
Li Muyang wasn’t surprised at Lin Nuan’s cleverness. “Come out and meet me! You decide on the place… if it makes you feel at ease, you can bring along that female bodyguard of yours.”
Lin Nuan hung up immediately, feeling uneasy.
She couldn’t sit still as she thought about how Fu Huai’an had honestly admitted to her that he was Mr. Moral and that he had secretly let Gu Qingcheng manage his business.
If they found out about all of this, what would happen to Fu Huai’an?
Lin Nuan was frantic, but she couldn’t blindly believe Li Muyang’s words. She couldn’t rush to meet him just because he said the men took Fu Huai’an away because they knew that he was Mr. Moral!
Lin Nuan thought of Lu Jinnan. She vaguely remembered Fu Huai’an saying that Lu Jinnan and Tang Zheng knew about the business that he let Gu Qingcheng manage.
Lin Nuan had also heard about Fu Huai’an’s business from Li Muyang. She didn’t know the details, so she couldn’t act rashly. She had to discuss this with the people who knew what was going on. Otherwise, they would only make a fool of themselves in trying to be smart, and that wouldn’t be good for Fu Huai’an.
She forced herself to calm down and stop panicking, then called Lu Jinnan without hesitation.
After receiving Lin Nuan’s call, Lu Jinnan didn’t dare to waste a single moment and rushed over to Tianfu Bay in his car.
Tang Zheng also rushed over to Tianfu Bay after receiving Lu Jinnan’s call. He reached Tianfu Bay a lot earlier than Lu Jinnan since he lived closer.
Tang Zheng saw You Nainai the moment he opened the door, but he paid no attention to You Nainai’s greeting and asked Lin Nuan, “Old Lu said that Old Fu was taken away. What happened?”
You Nainai knew that something was up and didn’t shy away just because Tang Zheng was there. She said, “I’ll keep watch outside!”
Lin Nuan nodded.
Even though Lin Nuan trusted You Nainai, she didn’t intend to let more people know that Fu Huai’an was Mr. Moral.
Lin Nuan’s throat swelled up. “Yesterday afternoon, someone came looking for Huai’an. Judging from his aura and stride, he seemed to be a soldier. Then, later on, when we were about to have dinner, someone came by and showed his identification doc.u.ments to Huai’an. He was too quick, so I didn’t clearly see what the doc.u.ments were. I thought they were policemen, but now that I think about it, based on the behavior of those men, they seemed to be soldiers too! I think… Huai’an being taken away has something to do with the man who looked for him in the afternoon, but I don’t know who he is!”
Lu Jinnan entered the house as she spoke.
Lin Nuan repeated what she just said to Lu Jinnan.
She looked at Lu Jinnan and said, “Just now, I received a call from Li Muyang. He said those men took Huai’an away because there’s evidence that points to Huai’an being Mr. Moral. Huai’an told me he’d be back by tonight at the latest, but Li Muyang said that Huai’an wouldn’t be coming back tonight…”
Lin Nuan was extremely frantic. Although she tried her best to keep her voice from shaking, she just said whatever came to mind. Her words were all over the place and revealed how fl.u.s.tered she was to Tang Zheng and Lu Jinnan.
“Calm down!” Tang Zheng comforted Lin Nuan.
Lu Jinnan knew about Li Muyang.
He frowned and asked Lin Nuan, “What business does he have calling you?”
“He said he wants to meet me!” Lin Nuan bit her lip and frowned. “I asked him if Huai’an was taken away because of him. He didn’t give me a straight answer and instead asked me to meet him. He said I could pick the location and even bring Nainai along!”
After Lin Nuan was abducted and Gu Qingcheng rescued her from Li Muyang, Gu Qingcheng, Lu Jinnan, and Tang Zheng were clear about Li Muyang’s abnormal feelings towards Lin Nuan.
“Should we tell Old Gu?” Tang Zheng asked Lu Jinnan.
After hesitating for a moment, Lu Jinnan shook his head. “If Gu Qingcheng finds out that Old Fu has been taken away, who knows what he’ll do. We should keep it from him first.”
Tang Zheng frowned and nodded his head, as what Lu Jinnan said made sense.
“I think…” Tang Zheng looked towards Lin Nuan. “We should just let Lin Nuan meet Li Muyang and see what information she can get from him. We’ll go together with her and watch her from afar to make sure nothing goes wrong! Everything should be fine with Nainai at Lin Nuan’s side!”
Besides, there were many people around Lin Nuan whom Fu Huai’an had a.s.signed to protect her, and more so in Haicheng.
Even if Li Muyang wanted to make a move on Lin Nuan, he probably wouldn’t have the means to do so in Haicheng.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to go!” Lu Jinnan said to Lin Nuan, worried that she would face an emotional burden because of this.
Lin Nuan shook her head. “I’ll go as long as you two think this will help Huai’an!”
Tang Zheng said, “If you meet him, we’ll at least know what he did to make the army take Old Fu away for questioning… and this will allow us to address things more directly!”
Lu Jinnan nodded. “Arrange to meet him at a coffee shop with more people around. We’ll go over too!”
Lin Nuan said without hesitation, “Okay, then I’ll go! I’ll call Li Muyang back right now!”
She picked up her phone and dialed the same number that was used to call her. This time, it was Li Muyang who answered the call.
Li Muyang seemed convinced that Lin Nuan called him to arrange for the meeting. He smiled and said, “Time and place!”
Lin Nuan glanced at Lu Jinnan and Tang Zheng. Her eyes then landed on the grandfather clock in the living room as she said to Li Muyang over the phone, “Meet me at the open-air coffee shop on the first floor of s.h.i.+ Ji Sheng Tang in half an hour.”
“Okay!” Li Muyang agreed. “See you in half an hour!”
After she hung up, Lin Nuan went upstairs to put on a coat. You Nainai then drove her to s.h.i.+ Ji Sheng Tang, while Lu Jinnan and Tang Zheng followed behind them closely in another car.
In the car, Lin Nuan watched as the scenery outside the car window went by. In her heart, she rehea.r.s.ed what she would say to Li Muyang when she met him later on. Her mind was in a mess.
It would be Christmas Day on Friday. The sidewalk and the windows of street-level shops had been full of the Christmas atmosphere since a week ago.
There were decorated Christmas trees as well as red and white Santa-themed decorations everywhere. The colored lights glowed brightly, and the shops were playing songs with a strong Christmas vibe.
Lin Nuan thought about the present she had prepared for Fu Huai’an again. She wasn’t too skilled at it, so she had to put in a lot of effort to prepare it.
She didn’t know if the present would be ready before Christmas Day…
You Nainai switched on the turn signal and made a left turn. After she drove another few hundred meters, Lin Nuan could see the Christmas tree in the Sheng s.h.i.+ Tang Chao Square, which was dozens of meters high. The five-pointed star that shone brightly on top of the Christmas tree seemed especially dazzling in this gloomy weather, and the colored lights wrapped around the tree glowed magnificently.
Lin Nuan kept her spirits up. She couldn’t show Li Muyang that she was nervous when meeting him later on.
You Nainai parked the car on the ground level of the parking garage. As she unfastened her seatbelt, she saw that Tang Zheng’s car was parked nearby.
When Lin Nuan put on a mask and opened the front pa.s.senger door, the rain was mixed with snow.
The cold wind brought rainwater and small snowflakes with it when it blew. It was so cold that it left people trembling.
Lin Nuan closed the car door and looked towards the open-air coffee shop…
Li Muyang and Ah Zhan had already arrived!
There was no one in the open-air seating area of the coffee shop since it was so cold. All of the customers had moved inside the coffee shop. Hence, Li Muyang seemed especially conspicuous as he sat under a large parasol in leather gloves and held onto his cane.
Ah Zhan stood beside Li Muyang. He saw Lin Nuan from afar and bent down to speak in Li Muyang’s ear.
Li Muyang smiled as he watched You Nainai take out an umbrella from the trunk and hold it above Lin Nuan’s head…
In the snow and rain, Lin Nuan wore a black woolen turtleneck sweater and a black coat as she slowly walked over. Her long hair was draped over her shoulders, and she wore a black mask, only leaving her beautiful, clear eyes uncovered. Her whole body gave off a cold aura.
Li Muyang had a gentle smile on his face. He gripped his cane tightly, causing his leather gloves to make small noises.
Before Lin Nuan had made her way over, Li Muyang said to Ah Zhan, “Order a cup of hot cocoa for Lin Nuan!”
“Boss, it’s too cold outside. Do you want to sit inside with Ms. Lin?” Ah Zhan bent down beside Li Muyang and asked him.
“No need. There aren’t many people out here, so it’s nice and quiet.” Li Muyang seemed to be satisfied that there was no one else outside and didn’t seem to mind the cold at all.
Li Muyang sat in the seat closest to the sidewalk while wearing a light gray woolen turtleneck sweater and a dark, coffee-colored long woolen coat. He looked extremely pleasing to the eye and caught the attention of many ladies who turned back to look at him. As they watched Ah Zhan speak to Li Muyang respectfully like a bodyguard, they could guess that his status was half as dignified as his attire.
Although Li Muyang’s skin was so pale that he looked sickly, he indeed had an overwhelming beauty that was almost demon-like. There was no denying that…