Chapter 702: Felt That Her Heart Was Going to Be Torn Apart
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Seeing that Lu Jinnan’s frown was increasingly deepening, Lin Nuan couldn’t help but add, “Xiaonian is someone who is open to persuasion, but not to coercion. If you were to show her your weaker side, she wouldn’t know how to deal with you! This is something you must remember when handling things concerning Bai Xiaonian.”
Lin Nuan was already very reserved in her words.
She wasn’t going to be straightforward to the point of telling Lu Jinnan that when he was with Bai Xiaonian, he should just follow her orders.
Fu Huai’an took a long look at Lin Nuan, who had a hidden meaning behind her word. He then said to Lu Jinnan, “You’re better off listening to Xiao Nuan when it concerns Bai Xiaonian. She can be considered one of the people who understands Bai Xiaonian the most in this world…”
Lu Jinnan had his meal without saying a word, then went to the study with Fu Huai’an.
Lin Nuan was supposed to film the publicity video for the new program today, but she was really too tired, so she gave Fang Yan a call to postpone it.
She stayed downstairs, working on the Christmas present for Fu Huai’an. It was a few days before Christmas, and Lin Nuan had to speed up.
Lin Nuan didn’t pay any heed to the setup of the wedding location or the wedding photos that they were going to take the next day. She had thrown all of these responsibilities to Little Lu while fully focusing on working on Fu Huai’an’s present.
The pitiful Little Lu was so busy that during this period of time, he was even preparing the various aspects of the wedding in his dreams.
Knitting a scarf was too elementary. What Lin Nuan was knitting for Fu Huai’an was a sweater. She had carefully chosen three colors for the knitting yarn—dark gray, light gray, and white—and put them together while knitting. In the past, Lin Nuan had seen Liang Mulan knitting a sweater for her like this, and the colors came out especially beautiful, and it also wouldn’t coincide with another person’s.
Lin Nuan tugged on the yarn and tangled it around her pinky finger while holding onto two knitting needles. She knitted seriously, her actions serious and meticulous.
“Ding-dong— Ding-dong—”
Lin Nuan had just started knitting when she heard the doorbell. Her hands shook, and the yarn almost fell off the needles.
Lin Nuan was already traumatized by the sound of doorbells. Before she could stand up, her phone on the coffee table rang. Lin Nuan put down the sweater she was working on, covered it with a blanket, and picked up the call. “Mom…”
“Nuan Nuan, are you at home?” Liang Mulan asked. “I’m right outside Tianfu Bay’s villa…”
Realizing that the person who rang the doorbell was Liang Mulan, Lin Nuan quickly put on her slippers and ran to the door. “I’ll open the door right away!”
When the door opened, Liang Mulan was seen holding onto many bags. Even the chauffeur behind Liang Mulan was holding onto many bags.
The moment Lin Nuan opened the door, she quickly took the bags from one of Liang Mulan’s hands. “Mom… What did you bring? Why are there so many bags?”
Liang Mulan, in her high heels, lugged the items into the house with great difficulty. When she reached the entryway, she placed the heavy items at the door and naturally bent over to look for shoes in the shoe cabinet.
“Second Miss!” The chauffeur, Old Zhu, addressed Lin Nuan in the same way he had in the past.
Old Zhu had already worked as a chauffeur for the Lin family for 18 years. He could be considered to have watched Lin Nuan grow up. However, he was a chauffeur for Lin Jingquan alone, so how come he had driven Liang Mulan there today?
Lin Nuan smiled at Old Zhu. “Uncle Zhu…”
“Old Zhu, you can just leave the things at the door! You can go back first… I’ll give you a call one hour in advance for you to pick me up!” Liang Mulan changed her shoes, put her high heels into the shoe cabinet, and then turned to speak while taking off her coat.
Old Zhu nodded and bent over to put the things down at the door. “Madam, Second Miss, I’ll be making a move first!”
“Be careful on the road!” Lin Nuan cautioned.
“Yes! Second Miss, don’t worry!”
Seeing Old Zhu walking out, Lin Nuan lugged the things in from outside and closed the door.
When she turned, Liang Mulan had already hung up her scarf and coat. She bent over to pick up the many bags and quickly headed in the direction of the living room.
Lin Nuan could only lug in the many bags Old Zhu had put down.
Putting the bags next to the coffee table, Lin Nuan asked, “Mom, what are these?”
“I told you to find time to return home with Huai’an and discuss wedding matters, but you guys haven’t done so. However, you have to take a look at these things. It’s your wedding, after all. After much thought, I decided to bring everything over. Your dad also said that if I were to make a trip here, it’d save you guys the trouble of heading over when you’re so busy!”
Liang Mulan took out all of the things, placing invitation cards of various designs onto the coffee table, almost filling it up entirely. “Although we’ve already called to inform our friends and relatives, we should still be more formal and send out invitations! You choose the design for the invitations… I’m all muddled up from trying to pick them out!”
Just the invitation cards alone filled up seven bags. Each bag was filled with a series, with every invitation card in the set having a different design.
Liang Mulan had always been very graceful, but she seemed to be very anxious now, not showing any of the dignified disposition that she usually had…
It was apparent that Liang Mulan was agitated and nervous. She checked through the invitation cards meticulously and realized that one stack was missing. She quickly went to the entryway to take out her phone from her bag, giving Old Zhu a call and asking if they had been left in the car.
Lin Nuan took a look at Liang Mulan, who was standing at the entryway, then bent over and took a look at the other things in the bags…
There were wedding confectionery gift boxes from various reputable confectionery shops. These were especially heavy!
There were also over ten thick photo alb.u.ms that were used to decorate the bride’s bedroom, from which she’d be married out. There were all sorts of alcohol and some special miscellaneous items as well.
After hanging up the call, Liang Mulan ran over. “They aren’t in the car. I brought everything when I left… Are they in the other bags?”
Liang Mulan bent over and checked through all of the bags one by one.
Lin Nuan randomly picked out one and said to Liang Mulan, “Mom, I think this doesn’t look bad!”
Liang Mulan straightened up. When she saw that the one Lin Nuan had picked was the same as the one she had taken a liking to previously, she smiled. “I said this was good, but your dad said that it’s in poor taste because it’s gold and has feathers!”
Liang Mulan held the invitation card in her hand. “Then we’ll decide on this. I’ll make a call and get them to send the invitation cards home! There’s also the confectioneries. There’ll definitely be guests on the first night of your wedding. I’ve picked out a few shops to provide the confectioneries for our guests. These are their samples. Give them a taste and pick one out!”
Upon saying that, Liang Mulan started taking out the boxes of confectioneries in succession…
Lin Nuan’s heart was beating very quickly. She hadn’t told Liang Mulan that she wanted to let their friends and relatives head to Fu Huai’an and her new home directly, not going through with the procedure of picking up the bride.
Seeing that Liang Mulan had prepared so much, spending so much effort on this, the words were stuck at her throat. Her heart was a mess, and she could only bend over and take out the confectionery boxes together with Liang Mulan.
Liang Mulan opened up the boxes in succession, and a thin layer of sweat had already appeared on her forehead. Her hair stuck to her forehead, making her appear to be in a bit of a sorry plight. However, her eyes were filled with joy…
Lin Nuan felt awful, and she couldn’t stop those seething warm currents from das.h.i.+ng out of her eyes.
“Give it a taste! See which shop to choose from!” Liang Mulan looked at her hands. “Mom’s hands are dirty, so I won’t be feeding you…”
Lin Nuan took out a piece of tissue paper and pa.s.sed it to Liang Mulan. Her throat felt so swollen and sore that she couldn’t say a word.
Liang Mulan took the tissue paper, not realizing that Lin Nuan had wanted her to wipe off her sweat. She held onto it and urged Lin Nuan, “Give it a taste! After you’ve picked out a shop, I’ll quickly give them a call and get it settled!”
This made it even harder for Lin Nuan to say that she wasn’t going to get married out from the Lin manor.
She squatted down in front of the coffee table, picked up a piece of confectionery, and took a small bite with reddened eyes.
“How is it?” Liang Mulan asked.
Lin Nuan nodded and smiled, but she didn’t dare to raise her head. She was afraid that if she were to meet Liang Mulan’s gaze, her tears would flow out uncontrollably.
“Try another one!”
Lin Nuan put down the confectionery she was holding and picked up another piece, sending it to her mouth. Before she could open her mouth, her throat was already feeling unbearably swollen and painful. She tried hard to open her eyes big so that tears wouldn’t flow out, but after opening her mouth, she couldn’t get herself to take a bite.
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She held onto the piece of confectionery tightly and lowered her head. Her brows were tightly furrowed, and large drops of tears fell onto the table.
“What’s the matter?” Liang Mulan’s face turned pale. Not caring that her hands were dirty, she quickly went over and half knelt next to Lin Nuan, patting her back gently. “What’s the matter, Nuan Nuan? Are you feeling unwell or something?”
Lin Nuan shook her head.
“Then what’s the matter? Huh?” Liang Mulan tucked the long hair that was on the side of Lin Nuan’s face behind her ears, her gentle voice filled with worry. “If you’re feeling unwell, don’t hold it in!”
Lin Nuan shook her head again. She swallowed her saliva with much difficulty before saying, “Mom, I’m not feeling unwell. It’s just that…”
Lin Nuan’s voice choked once again as she spoke.
“What is it? Go on… don’t let Mom feel anxious!” Liang Mulan’s eyes trembled slightly as she stroked Lin Nuan’s head, feeling a little anxious.
Lin Nuan bit her lower lip, put down the confectionery she was holding, and hugged Liang Mulan. Just like a child, she rested her head on Liang Mulan’s shoulder and sobbed, speaking with a strong nasal voice, “It’s just that… I feel that it’s too hard on you, Mom!”
Liang Mulan was stunned, and she immediately broke into a smile. She stroked Lin Nuan’s back gently, and there was a vast amount of gentleness in her delicate eyes. She used the tissue paper Lin Nuan had pa.s.sed her earlier on to wipe away her tears. Liang Mulan’s voice was filled with smiles. “Foolish child, Mom is the happiest to see that you’re getting married! Why would I feel that it’s hard on me?”
Although Lin Nuan wasn’t Liang Mulan’s birth daughter, she had grown up next to Liang Mulan, and Liang Mulan had doted on her, treating her preciously for so many years.
When Liang Mulan’s birth daughter, Lin Ran, returned to her side, she felt both happy and apologetic. As a mother, she loved her own daughter, Lin Ran, deeply. However, she also loved the daughter, Lin Nuan, who had grown up by her side.
They were like the two sides of her hands, and she loved them both equally.
It was just that before Lin Ran gave in, Liang Mulan had been driven by guilt and thus took more care of Lin Ran since she felt that Lin Ran had been through too much hards.h.i.+p when she was young.
In the years that Lin Ran had been unable to accept Lin Nuan, Liang Mulan’s heart felt as if it was going to be torn apart as she was torn between her two daughters.
Now that Lin Ran had given her approval, Liang Mulan couldn’t help but feel guilt toward Lin Nuan. Therefore, she wanted to treat Lin Nuan much better than before.
Liang Mulan held Lin Nuan by the shoulders, pus.h.i.+ng her away from her own shoulders. She smiled and looked at Lin Nuan’s reddened eyes, then raised her hand to tuck Lin Nuan’s long hair behind her ears. “I’m your mom! Which mother in the world would feel that it’s hard work to be busy over her daughter’s wedding? Foolish girl!”
Lin Nuan smiled at Liang Mulan and nodded, unable to say a single word.
After calming her emotions, Lin Nuan said, “Mom, don’t be angry after hearing this. I’ve talked it over with Huai’an, and we decided to hold our wedding at our new house, skipping the part of receiving the bride…”
Liang Mulan was stunned. At first, she didn’t realize what Lin Nuan was trying to say, but when she realized it, Lin Nuan’s eyes were already filled with apologetic emotions.
“You mean that you won’t be married out from the Lin family’s mansion or house?” Liang Mulan frowned deeply. “How can we do that? Putting aside whether your dad and I can accept this, your grandpa and grandma definitely won’t agree to it. This is exactly when the older generation tends to have a more old-fas.h.i.+oned mindset…”
“Mom!” Lin Nuan grabbed Liang Mulan’s hand. “Regardless of whether I’m married out from the Lin family’s mansion or house, it will be a form of hurt for Lin Ran. Like how things were in the past, as long as both Lin Ran and I are together in the same place, others will compare us! Even more so if I’m married out from the Lin family! I can already imagine what those tabloid magazines will be writing!”
It was normal for people to flatter those above them and trample on those inferior to them!
With Lin Nuan and Fu Huai’an getting married, there would definitely be magazines that trampled on Lin Ran in an attempt to flatter Lin Nuan. Lin Nuan didn’t wish to see something like this happening.
Their wedding wasn’t open to the media, so Lin Nuan would get Lin Ran to come and take care of Ji Yun. They wouldn’t even be announcing the location to the public. If it wasn’t because of the rumors between Li Muyang and Lin Ran, the two of them hadn’t even planned on announcing the wedding date!
Even when they notified their friends and relatives, they instructed them to keep the time and location a secret.
“This is something that Ran Ran agreed to!” Liang Mulan quickly explained to Lin Nuan, “I told Ran Ran my thoughts on this, and she agreed! That’s why everyone in the family has started to discuss this matter!”
“Mom… Although this might not sound nice, no matter how magnanimous Lin Ran is, I mustn’t take advantage of it!” Lin Nuan said seriously, “It’s fine for Huai’an and myself since we won’t be staying in the Lin family’s house after our wedding, but Mom, the one who will be living with you, Dad, Brother, Grandpa, and Grandma, facing each other every day, will be Lin Ran. She is also the one who is related to you by blood. You guys should… have her as your priority! Only by doing this will Lin Ran not feel as if she is excluded outside the Lin family, as if she’s an outsider who is just tied to the Lin family by blood!”
Moreover, the relations.h.i.+p between Lin Nuan and Lin Ran had just calmed down a little…
Lin Nuan wasn’t expecting to be able to be as close as sisters with Lin Ran, but at the very least, she hoped that neither of them would feel awkward when they met. She also didn’t wish for them to harbor grudges against each other.
Therefore, Lin Nuan would do her best to avoid doing things that would make Lin Ran uncomfortable.
Lin Nuan could understand how Lin Ran felt. That was why when Lin Ran was going overseas to take the enrollment test for the University of Sheffield, Lin Nuan had suggested that if Liang Mulan was free, she should accompany Lin Ran on the trip in an attempt to win her back!
Lin Ran was actually very sensitive and soft-hearted!
All she wanted was for the Lin family to view her, who was the biological daughter, as more important than Lin Nuan.
She understood that Lin Ran was afraid that… her blood ties with Liang Mulan and Lin Jingquan wouldn’t be able to compare with the relations.h.i.+p they had built with Lin Nuan, who had grown up in the Lin family.
Deep within her, Lin Ran was the same as Lin Nuan. She just wanted a home.
“Mom, the more it comes to times like my wedding, the more you mustn’t neglect Lin Ran. If you have time, you can accompany her to pick out a gown. Mom, you have a good eye for things, and Lin Ran will definitely like the gown that you pick out!”
Liang Mulan looked at Lin Nuan with reddened eyes. It wasn’t that what Lin Nuan said didn’t make sense…
Liang Mulan had been the one to ask Lin Ran about the matter of Lin Nuan getting married out from either the Lin family’s house or mansion. Even if Lin Ran felt uncomfortable about it… she’d probably still agree to it out of consideration for Ji Yun.
However, Liang Mulan couldn’t just wash her hands of Lin Nuan’s wedding completely.
“You’ll only have one wedding in your lifetime!” Liang Mulan held Lin Nuan’s hand tightly, feeling upset, and tears welled up in her eyes.
“Therefore, I’d like to get Mom’s help in decorating the place! I know that Mom is the best at this!” Lin Nuan smiled with a warm glow in her eyes. “On the day in question, I’ll also need both Mom and Dad’s help to entertain the guests!”
Seeing that Liang Mulan looked as if tears were going to flow out of her eyes, Lin Nuan added, “Moreover, if I were really to be married out from the Lin family’s house, the media would definitely follow us. There’d be a chance that they’d film our wedding! Mom, don’t you think so?”
Knowing that Lin Nuan was trying to make her feel better, Liang Mulan grabbed Lin Nuan’s hand tightly.
“Furthermore, we’re still able to use the wedding invitations. If relatives or friends are coming over the night before, the confectioneries and wine would be helpful as well!” Lin Nuan went through the bags and brought out an alb.u.m for the gowns. “I can also pick out your gown with you!”
Liang Mulan was previously feeling anxious, thinking that there wasn’t enough time for them to prepare for the wedding. However, with Lin Nuan putting things this way… the tension in Liang Mulan’s heart dissipated, and she suddenly felt a little weak.
Knowing that Lin Nuan was considering Lin family’s harmony, Liang Mulan’s guilt toward Lin Nuan deepened.
Seeing that Liang Mulan’s thoughts were already moved away from wedding preparations, Lin Nuan tried to divert her attention. As if she had just thought of something, she turned to move the blanket on the sofa away. She took out the sweater she was knitting and showed it to Liang Mulan as if she was presenting a treasure. “Mom, look, this is the sweater that I’m knitting for Huai’an. What do you think about it?”
Looking at the sweater that Lin Nuan was almost done knitting, Liang Mulan took it, held the knitting needles, a.s.sessed the sweater, and nodded. “Not bad. To think that my Nuan Nuan knows how to knit a sweater now!”
Lin Nuan smiled and nodded. “I knitted a vest for Tuan Tuan. This sweater is for Huai’an. I also plan on knitting a pair of gloves for Tuan Tuan later!”
Liang Mulan saw that the knitting st.i.tches that Lin Nuan had worked on seriously were very tight, and she said, feeling a little jealous, “Girls really are partial to outsiders after they grow up. Your dad and I haven’t even received a sweater that you knitted personally, yet you’re already knitting one for someone else… Sigh!”
Liang Mulan’s reddened eyes were smiling. She sighed and pretended to wear a disappointed expression as she looked at Lin Nuan.
Lin Nuan smiled. “I knitted scarves for you and Dad in the past! The first scarf I knitted was for Mom…”
“That’s true!” Liang Mulan held up the sweater that Lin Nuan was knitting, and her eyes were filled with smiles. “We couldn’t bear to wear the scarves you knitted and had them hung up in the wardrobe. Later on…”
Liang Mulan’s voice suddenly stopped, and she smiled. She held the sweater and gave Lin Nuan pointers on what techniques she could use to make the knitted sweater even better.
Lin Nuan smiled…
She knew what it was that Liang Mulan had almost said unconsciously!
Liang Mulan had hung up the scarves that Lin Nuan had knitted for them in their wardrobe. Later on, Lin Ran had seen the two scarves which weren’t well-knitted. After hearing from a servant that Lin Nuan had knitted them for Liang Mulan and Lin Jingquan when she first learned how to knit, she threw the two of them into the trash and bought new scarves for Liang Mulan and Lin Jingquan.