“All of me is yours…” He whispered into her ear.
Song Fengwan’s heart was pounding wildly. The two of them were already very close to each other.
He leaned forward again and pressed against her. “You only want a red packet?”
Song Fengwan held her breath. Who didn’t like money? If he was willing to give money to her, she would naturally be willing to accept it. But at this moment…
They were too close. She was surrounded by his aura, and his intoxicating scent of alcohol mixed with sandalwood and agarwood drilled into her bones and blood domineeringly.
“What else?” Her voice was soft.
“You don’t want me?” Fu Chen leaned his forehead against hers, blatantly flirting with her.
He had drunk alcohol, so his voice was hoarse. The end of his voice sounded as if it had a hook, making Song Fengwan’s heart flutter.
She lowered her head slightly and avoided his burning gaze.
“Move away first. I’m afraid my classmates will come out.” Many waiters and waitresses had already walked past.
“Hmm…” His voice was hoarse, and he seemed to be pulling away traces of her rationality. “I’m asking you a question. Answer me first?”
Fu Chen’s fingertips were burning as he reached out to touch her blood-red ear. His fingers rubbed it, and his throat tightened.
Song Fengwan’s body felt itchy from his touch. When she wanted to push him away, Fu Chen had already lowered his head and kissed her…
He didn’t seem to notice any taste from the light taste just now. Now that he was licking the corner of her lips, he felt that…
She is really sweet.
He opened her mouth and kissed her tender lower lip, sucking and biting it. Her breath was taken away, and her entire body felt hot.
“You did so well this time. Your reward…”
“Huh?” Song Fengwan looked up at him, unable to react for a moment.
The next second, he kissed her hard, as though he was taking her by force. He was very strong, causing Song Fengwan to moan softly.
Her legs were so soft that she couldn’t stand.
Fu Chen pressed her against the wall and rubbed her hard.
Was he rewarding her, or was he rewarding himself instead?
…
After some time, the door of Song Fengwan’s private room suddenly opened. She was in a trance at this moment and naturally didn’t care until a drunk boy stumbled out while supporting himself against the wall.
Song Fengwan was shocked. Fu Chen hugged her waist and held her tightly in his embrace. She couldn’t push him away and could only bury her head in his arms.
“My classmate is here.” She also wanted her face. If this kind of thing was exposed by a classmate, anyone would die of embarrassment.
The boy squinted and sized up the two people not far away, then he turned dumbfounded.
Isn’t this…
Song Fengwan’s uncle?
He had participated in the Hundredth-day Pledge Ceremony, and there had been many discussions about him among the students.
Am I too drunk and seeing things?
Why am I seeing Song Fengwan’s uncle pressing her against the wall and kissing her?
F*ck!
I must have gotten alcohol poisoning.
He turned around and wanted to return to the private room to calm down, but he bumped his head against the wall. He walked around them in a daze and went to the restroom.
Song Fengwan reached out and pinched Fu Chen’s waist. “I told you not to do it here.”
“Then, let’s go somewhere else?” Fu Chen pressed down her unruly hand. This girl is really bold now. She actually pinched my waist?
Song Fengwan glared at him. “I’m going back first. Uncle Yan will come and pick me up later. I’ll go out with you tomorrow.”
Fu Chen nodded. He had drunk a lot tonight, and his mind was spinning.
Seeing her return to the private room, Fu Chen turned around and left.
After Song Fengwan returned, the male classmate came back from the restroom and kept staring at her.
“Song Fengwan, I just…”
“What?” Song Fengwan drank her juice, pretending to be calm.
“I think I saw you and your uncle…”
“What uncle? Are you drunk?”
The boy also thought that it was impossible. He reached out his hand and slapped his face twice. “I might have drunk too much.” Otherwise, why would his eyes be so blurry?
***
When Song Fengwan returned home, it was almost midnight.
“Is my mom asleep?”
“She went to sleep around eight. Knowing that you were coming back, she woke up again.” Yan Wangchuan held the steering wheel.
The night in Yuncheng was dark and silent.
Song Fengwan turned her head and looked at the backseat of the car. “Did you buy a midnight snack?”
“Your mother said she was hungry and didn’t want to cook in the middle of the night, so I bought some food. If you’re hungry, you can eat some when we get back and then go to bed.” Yan Wangchuan didn’t have the habit of eating midnight snacks.
“Okay.” Although the banquet had lasted for more than two hours, everyone had been chatting, so Song Fengwan didn’t eat much. “Don’t you think my mom has gained weight recently?”
“Really?” Yan Wangchuan raised his eyebrows. He stayed with Qiao Aiyun all day, and he really didn’t mind.
“I went shopping with her a few days ago. She used to wear size medium clothes, but she has to wear large now.” Song Fengwan was speechless.
Yan Wangchuan didn’t say anything else.
After they returned home, Qiao Aiyun sat at the dining table and ate, and Song Fengwan ate a few mouthfuls with her. Sitting at the side, Yan Wangchuan didn’t eat and just stared at them.
The older generation always said that eating was a blessing.
He didn’t think that Qiao Aiyun was fat at all. Instead, the more he looked at her, the happier he felt.
“Wanwan, do you want to enroll in an art school or another university?” Qiao Aiyun looked at her sideways while eating. “I’ve found a teacher who specializes in helping people fill in their applications. I’ll bring you to him for a consultation tomorrow.”
“Consultation?” Song Fengwan had her own plans.
“It’s quite expensive for him to help people fill in their applications. Many people look for him, so he can give you some pointers.” Everyone naturally knew the best universities, but Qiao Aiyun was not proficient in choosing a major and the other aspects.
Song Fengwan’s results were filled in early. After she filled in the forms, they would have to rush back to Nanjiang to prepare for the wedding.
“I still want to study at an art school.”
“Is it because of your grandfather?” Qiao Aiyun tilted her head to look at her.
Old Master Qiao had passed away relatively early in his life. He had devoted his entire life to carving stone and jade. Back then, it wasn’t like now. Grinding and polishing were all done by hand instead of using machines like today. He had inhaled dust every day, and he got lung disease in his fifties.
When he got older, he had problems with his arm and couldn’t hold a carving knife anymore. At that time, he had to step down.
In the years before he left, he had been sketching and designing various kinds of jade pieces every day, leaving behind many precious manuscripts. Museums had even collected some of them. There were tens of thousands of manuscripts left in the Qiao residence.
Song Fengwan held a brush to write and draw due to Old Master Qiao’s enlightenment. Back then, he would put down a piece of white paper on a drawing board, hold her hand, and teach her to draw flowers, birds, fish, and insects…
“Our Wanwan’s hands are tender. It would be a pity for you to hold a knife. In the future, you’ll learn to draw from Grandpa.”
Song Fengwan didn’t understand at the time and nodded while giggling.
She still remembered the feeling of her grandfather holding her hand.
His hands were full of thick calluses, and there were numerous knife cuts on his palms. When he held her, it felt warm and strong.
He had once brought her to recognize many jade stones. He would drive an old car and bring her around the streets. He would also stuff coins into her hands and let her go out to buy sweets…
Old Master Qiao had a great influence on her.
Old Master Qiao had left very suddenly. When the family was packing up his belongings, they found a simple sketchbook. It was an introductory sketchbook that Old Master Qiao had specially drawn for Song Fengwan, but it was still unfinished…
Song Fengwan thought of Old Master Qiao and felt a lump in her throat. “It’s not just because of Grandpa. I’m also interested in it. The Beijing Academy of Fine Arts has a design course in this field. I want to enroll there.”
When Qiao Aiyun thought of her father, sorrow welled up in her heart.
She originally didn’t want Song Fengwan to be too far away from her. At the mention of her father, she remembered that she couldn’t serve him by his side after getting married and felt regret in her heart. Song Fengwan wanted to fulfill her father’s wish, and her heart ached.
Her hands were clumsy, and she didn’t have any talent in drawing, so she could only help manage the business. There were too few people who inherited the Qiao family’s craftsmanship. Perhaps in another hundred years, no one would remember the Qiao family.
“Mom—” Song Fengwan bit her lip, feeling nervous.
“If you insist on going to the Beijing Academy of Fine Arts, and you’ve made your decision, I won’t stop you. After all, you have to walk your own path in the future. Even if I choose the best school and the best major for you, if you don’t like it, you won’t be comfortable after studying for four years.”
Qiao Aiyun felt sorrowful after thinking of her father, and her heart softened.
“Thank you, Mom.” Song Fengwan smiled.
She had always been worried about filling in the applications. Her uncle wanted her to go to Suzhou, and the Yan family wanted her to go to Nanjiang. But she chose the capital, which was the farthest away.
She hadn’t known how to start the conversation with her mother, but they talked about it today. After she received her approval, her heart was finally at ease.
Yan Wangchuan saw that Qiao Aiyun’s eyes were red and frowned slightly. He still clearly remembered the scene when he first entered the Qiao family to acknowledge Old Master Qiao as his master.
Qiao Aiyun thought of her late father and couldn’t hide her feelings of loss. After a long time, she sighed. “Since you’ve decided and filled in your choice, we’ll return to Nanjiang.”
Song Fengwan nodded.
“By the way, when I was on the phone with Mom during the day, I heard that Yan Zhihuan and Xiao Jingan are getting engaged. She asked her sister to send an invitation to the house, but Mom threw it away.” Qiao Aiyun tried to change the topic.
“They’re engaged?” Song Fengwan was speechless. At the time, Mrs. Xiao was so unyielding. She shouldn’t have accepted Yan Zhihuan so easily. Why did they suddenly get engaged?
“I heard that she’s pregnant.” Qiao Aiyun sighed. “They probably used the child as a threat, saying that she’s pregnant with Xiao Jingan’s child. What could they do? We saw what that mother and daughter are like that day. They would definitely cling to the Xiao family.”
It had been more than half a month since the day they were caught being intimate in the coconut grove. If she was pregnant, she would naturally be able to find out by now.
Song Fengwan shook her head helplessly.
Xiao Jingan would probably be pestered by this terrifying woman for the rest of his life. He deserved it for not being able to control his lower body.
***
Song Fengwan went out on a date with Fu Chen the next day. It was nothing more than eating, watching a movie, and strolling around the streets. He sent her home before ten.
She didn’t stay long in Yuncheng. After filling in her choice, she returned to Nanjiang because Qiao Aiyun and Yan Wangchuan’s wedding was set to be in August, which was the day of the Qixi Festival. There were many things to prepare before the wedding.
In order to welcome the wedding, Old Madam Yan had people completely renovate the furnishings in the house. Even the carpet had been changed into a festive brick-red color.
In the middle of July, Old Madam Yan personally went to Suzhou to discuss the marriage with the Qiao family.
In today’s society, there were still some criticisms about second marriages, but Old Madam Yan didn’t think much of it. Since Qiao Aiyun was marrying into the Yan family, everything had to be proper and grand.
The betrothal gifts given by the Yan family were also very generous. One of them even included a real estate investment in the capital, which was directly transferred to Song Fengwan.
Old Madam Yan was very direct. “Wanwan will go to Beijing to study in the future. If you don’t want to stay in a dormitory, having a house is also considered a home. When we can go to the capital to see her, we can’t always stay in a hotel. It’s convenient to have a house.”
Little did they know that this house would become a place for Fu Chen and Song Fengwan to date secretly in the future.
Time passed very quickly while preparing for the wedding. During this period, Qiao Aiyun was so busy that her feet barely stayed still.
One day, there were strong winds outside, and the weather forecast warned that there was a typhoon. Only then did Qiao Aiyun idle at home. Song Fengwan had been learning embroidery from Old Madam Yan for more than a month. She wanted to embroider a double happiness[1] symbol for her mother’s wedding. But it was crooked and ugly, and she even ruined a ball of gold thread.
“Aiyo, my little ancestor, don’t ruin my gold thread anymore. How many gold threads have you destroyed?” When Old Madam Yan saw the knot at the end of the thread, her entire body felt uncomfortable.
“Say, Old Master Qiao’s family are all craftsmen. You’re also an art student. Why are your hands so clumsy?!”
Song Fengwan was speechless. “I’ve already worked very hard. This thread is too long.”
“Don’t ruin them with me here anymore.” Old Madam Yan sighed repeatedly. “I teach you every day. Why can’t you learn?”
Song Fengwan looked at the dog face-like symbol in her hands and felt helpless.
“Mom, don’t worry about her. This girl has been clumsy since she was young.” Qiao Aiyun smiled and poured tea for Old Madam Yan.
“I didn’t inherit it from Grandpa or Uncle, so I must have inherited it from you,” Song Fengwan muttered softly.
Qiao Aiyun glared at her. She’s really becoming more and more cheeky.
“Madam, have some soup.” Mother Huang brought a bowl of black chicken soup from the kitchen. Ever since Qiao Aiyun arrived at the Yan residence, she had been nourishing herself every day.
“Thank you.” Just as Qiao Aiyun was about to reach out to take the soup bowl, she felt nauseous. Her face turned pale, and she ran to the bathroom in a panic…
“Mom?” Song Fengwan frowned.
The sound of retching came from the bathroom…
Old Madam Yan and Mother Huang looked at each other and were overjoyed. Old Madam Yan threw away the embroidery. It was a rainy day, so her knees were sore. But now, there was wind under her feet as she ran all the way to the bathroom.
Song Fengwan also came back to her senses.
Her heart skipped a beat. Could Mom be…
… pregnant?
[1] 双喜, a Chinese traditional ornament design commonly used as a decoration symbol of marriage.