Alerted by the movements in the living room, Lin Nuan raised her head to see Fu Tianci, standing rooted to the ground.
The skinny and fair lad snorted and looked away immediately. He raised his head and strutted haughtily up the stairs with the tablet in his arms. The violent fighting noises from the movie playing on the tablet were still audible.
Holding on to the Doraemon training chopsticks, Tuan Tuan was just about to shove the noodles into his mouth when Lin Nuan quickly stopped him. She was afraid the piping hot noodles might scald him. She held his hand and blew at the noodles to cool it down before letting him have a taste.
Fu Tianci, who had been walking up the stairs, saw what happened and stopped to take a photograph of the scene. He lowered his head as he posted the photograph on his Weibo account while he continued to make his way up the stairs.
"She's so desperate to be a stepmother that she practically worships the ground someone else's son is walking on!"
The caption he posted on his Weibo was accompanied by a photo of Lin Nuan holding Tuan Tuan's little hand and blowing on the noodles.
Fu Tianci didn't feel inappropriate posting it as he was certain of Lin Nuan's ulterior motives and that Tuan Tuan has been won over only because he was too innocent and naive.
…
It was five a.m. in the morning when Fu Tianci awoke. He was absolutely famished and decided to go down to look for something to eat.
He had just gone down the stairs when the doorbell rang, giving him a shock.
It was still dark outside, and it was pouring. The street lamps from the estate lit up the scene, and he could see the ripples of rain pelting mercilessly against the windows.
Fu Tianci froze on the foot of the stairs, wondering who could it be at the ungodly hour of five a.m. in the morning.
The doorbell rang again. Fu Tianci walked to the door and peered into the peephole curiously.
Lu Jinnan was standing outside, wearing a suit and leather shoes.
He was standing under the dim lights of the roof shelter, holding a thick file in one hand and a cigarette in his mouth. He lowered his head and dialed a number on his phone. He seemed to have no intention to continue pressing the doorbell.
Fu Tianci opened the door, Lu Jinnan looked up and was surprised to see him.
"Fu Huai'an isn't here…" Fu Tianci said while holding onto the door frame. He had no intention of inviting Lu Jinnan into the house.
The lad knew that Lu Jinnan didn't like him, and the feeling was mutual. If not for the fact that Lu Jinnan was a good friend of Fu Huai'an, he wouldn't have bothered to open the door or informed him that Fu Huai'an wasn't around.
Someone answered the call at the other end of the line. Lu Jinnan stared intensely at Fu Tianci, who was still blocking the doorway and placed the phone to his ear. Biting onto his cigarette, he mumbled, "I am at your house now, Fu Tianci is here as well…"
Although he couldn't make out the voice at the other end of the line, Fu Tianci figured that it should be Fu Huai'an. He started to loosen his grip on the door frame.
The truth was, Fu Tianci had always been a little fearful of Fu Huai'an. It was probably because Fu Huai'an had always exuded a sense of power and authority.
"Ok, got it…"
Lu Jinnan hung up and put his phone back into his pocket. He removed the cigarette hanging from his lip and said, "Fu Huai'an wants me to wait inside, excuse me…"
It was Fu Huai'an's house. Since he had given permission, Fu Tianci didn't have the right to stop Lu Jinnan.
Fu Tianci let go of the door frame and turned to walk into the kitchen. While he was taking out a bottle of cold milk from the refrigerator, he saw that Lu Jinnan had already stepped inside the house.
Lu Jinnan removed his shoes and walked to the side of the sofa. He removed his coat, loosened his tie, casually tossed the thick file onto the coffee table, and plonked down onto the sofa. He was holding onto his cigarette and phone at the same time as he typed out a message to send to Fu Huai'an.
Lu Jinnan had made a trip to Jincheng the night before around nine p.m. to meet Tang Xi. It was his subordinate who had made a blunder, and he had to clear up the mess.