Chapter 161: Chapter 161

In the old man’s view, his silence was tantamount to defiance.

"Good, you’re really something!"

The old man was furious, smashed the teacup by his hand, and pointed at the study door, telling him to get out, the farther the better.

Facing the enraged old man, Fu Jichen refused to yield, and directly slammed the door as he left.

The door shook behind him, and he walked down the stairs with a sullen face.

Fu Yuling was waiting for Fu Jichen at the corner of the stairs on the second floor. Seeing him approach, she hurried forward with concern: "Brother, what did Grandpa say to you... Ah!"

Her body, as she moved closer, was mercilessly shoved away by Fu Jichen, accompanied by a "get out."

Her elbow hit the wall, sending a sharp pain through her, almost bringing her to tears. More than the physical pain, it was the sadness and grievance that surged in her heart, that her brother actually told her to get out.

She clutched her right elbow with her left hand, looked up, and could only see his back as he descended the stairs.

From that brief glance, his face looked extremely unpleasant, evidently not a happy conversation with Grandpa.

Fu Yuling didn’t dare to follow and trigger his temper, turned to glance upstairs, and endured the pain in her elbow to climb to the third floor.

The study door was tightly closed, with no sound coming from inside.

Standing outside for a moment, Fu Yuling raised her hand and knocked twice on the door.

"Who is it?" The old man’s voice came out, unsteady as if he was very angry.

To be honest, although Fu Yuling considered herself fearless, she was indeed a bit afraid of the angry old man. To find out the result of their conversation, she could only muster her courage, push open the door slightly, and peek in. She was startled to see the teacup shattered into pieces on the ground.

That was Grandpa’s favorite tea set.

Fu Yuling swallowed dryly, steadied herself, and softly asked, "Grandpa, I saw that Brother didn’t look well, what did you say to him?"

"That’s none of your business." The old man’s face was also not looking good, his tone still carrying anger.

Fu Yuling was unwilling to give up, straightened her back and walked in, she just wanted to confirm one thing: "Did Brother agree to marry the Xu family’s daughter?"

"Your brother is being foolish, choosing beauty over legacy." Speaking of this, the old man was so angry his hand shook, his brows deeply furrowed, and recalling the look in his most favored grandson’s eyes before he left, he couldn’t help but feel heartbroken.

Exactly, if Brother had agreed to marry Xu Youxuan, Grandpa wouldn’t have this expression now. Fu Yuling got the answer she wanted, but she couldn’t feel happy at all.

Brother had actually refused the alliance with the Xu family for the sake of Shen Jianian, even at the cost of angering Grandpa.

But, if Brother gave up Shen Jianian and agreed to marry Xu Youxuan, could she then be happy? The answer was no.

Fu Yuling snapped back to reality, comforted the old man a few words, and closed the door as she left.

The study was left with just the old man alone, he took a new teacup, poured himself a cup of tea, and sighed heavily, wondering if the events of thirty years ago were about to repeat themselves.

Just based on this, Jichen was somewhat like his father, a lovesick fool, with the difference being that Fu Zhengjun eventually compromised and married Wei Ronghua, who was chosen for him by the family. He didn’t know how long Jichen would persist in his stubbornness.

Fu Jichen had driven himself there. Passing through the living room, he didn’t greet Fu Zhengjun, who was sitting on the sofa, just grabbed the car keys on the table and prepared to leave.

"Jichen." Fu Zhengjun called his name.

Fu Jichen stopped but didn’t turn around.

Fu Zhengjun probably guessed what the old man had talked to him about, feeling rather helpless. Regarding some matters, the old man’s word was final. He had experienced it himself and naturally knew how powerless it could feel.

"I’ll talk to your grandfather about it again."

Fu Zhengjun didn’t spill everything out, but Fu Jichen understood what he meant and spoke each word slowly with his back to him: "No need, I will handle it myself."

Fu Zhengjun said, "Don’t be too rash. After all, your grandfather is getting old, and he was hospitalized not long ago, can’t handle the stress."

Fu Jichen didn’t respond, pulled open the front door, and walked out, coming face to face with Wei Ronghua, who had just returned.

Wei Ronghua wasn’t surprised to see him at the old residence tonight, but wasn’t quite composed when unexpectedly seeing him: "You’re back? Why not stay a bit longer?"

Fu Jichen nodded at her, said nothing, and walked straight down the steps.

Wei Ronghua turned around, opened her mouth to say something, but he had already opened the car door and sat inside, not giving her a chance to say more.

The headlights of the black Maybach lit up, turned around, and drove towards the gate.

On the road, Fu Jichen received a business call from abroad.

"Mr. Chen, bad news, Lawrence wants to breach the contract," the head of the Swiss branch said anxiously, "I sent someone to investigate, and the news is that three days ago, Lawrence met with a businessman from Hong Kong."

Fu Jichen had a premonition and said the name: "Xiao Hesheng?"

The head was stunned, then asked incredulously, "How did you know it was him?" He suddenly had a brainwave, "So, is this Xiao Hesheng deliberately targeting us? Did our company have a conflict with him before?"

Fu Jichen did not answer, his brows covered with heavy frustration: "I’ll talk when I get there."

After finishing the call with the head in Switzerland, Fu Jichen pulled over and dialed Song Fang’s number: "There’s a situation in Switzerland, I need to go deal with it. Check the flights and book the next one available."

Fortunately, the previous trip to Switzerland wasn’t long ago, and the visa hadn’t expired.

"Okay, got it." Song Fang answered while holding a tablet in his other hand, quickly searched for flight information, and reported to his boss, "There’s a flight at ten past midnight, with a two-hour layover in Istanbul... Eh, no, there’s a direct flight at 2:25 in the morning, arriving in Geneva just past seven in the morning."

"Book the direct flight. You’re coming with me," Fu Jichen thought for a moment and said, "Book three tickets."

Song Fang was puzzled but hadn’t had time to ask before his boss explained, "Lu Yanzhi is in Beicheng, have him go too. Call him and ask for his ID number."

Shortly after, Song Fang had booked the tickets and informed him.

Fu Jichen hung up the phone, tossed his phone onto the passenger seat, took out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes from the glove compartment, flicked one out and bit it between his lips. With a click, the lighter produced a faint blue flame, igniting the cigarette.

He squinted his dark eyes, took a deep puff, the smoke rolled into his lungs, unable to dispel the irritability.

The phone on the passenger seat rang. Fu Jichen glanced at the screen with a cold expression and found it was Shen Jianian calling, his expression subtly changed, he removed the cigarette from his lips with his left hand, and reached for the phone with his right hand, pressing the answer button with his thumb.

"When are you coming home?" Shen Jianian asked on the phone, her voice soft as a feather, reminding him of a wife waiting for her husband to return from work.

The irritation between Fu Jichen’s brows dissipated, and he laughed abruptly.

Shen Jianian, upon hearing him laugh, was a bit puzzled: "What are you laughing at?"

"Do you miss me?" Fu Jichen asked with keen interest.

Shen Jianian hesitated, unwilling to say, diverting back to the original question: "Are you still at the old house? When will you be back?"

"No, I’m already on the way, about half an hour to get home." Fu Jichen lowered the car window, stretched his hand out to the edge, flicking the ashes, "Be good and wait for me at home."

Shen Jianian seemed to hear the sound of a car horn, gave an "um", and added: "Are you driving yourself? Drive safely, don’t go too fast."

Fu Jichen replied, "Okay, see you later."

Soon he finished a cigarette, pressed the butt into the car ashtray, his long fingers grasped the steering wheel, made a slight left turn, and drove onto the main road.

Around eight-thirty, the Maybach drove into the villa at Yunding Palace.

Fu Jichen got out of the car with the keys, met Cheng Jin in the living room, exchanged a few words, found out Shen Jianian was upstairs, and didn’t linger in the living room, heading straight for the elevator.

Arriving at Shen Jianian’s room, she was tidying up her things.

Fu Jichen, travel-worn, appeared at the wardrobe door, watching Shen Jianian kneeling on the carpet folding sweaters, asked: "Why suddenly thinking of packing?"

"The weather’s warmer, some thick clothes are unwearable, just taking up space." Shen Jianian put the sweaters into storage boxes, walked over and stood in front of him, holding his hand, "Why is your hand so cold?"

It used to be him who always said this to her, now it was the other way around.

Fu Jichen couldn’t help but laugh, lifting his other hand to touch her hair, his knuckles brushed her ear, his voice low, "I had the window open while driving."

"It’s still a bit chilly morning and night at this time of year," Shen Jianian said, "even if you’re in good health, don’t ignore it."

Fu Jichen nodded, indicating he’d heed her advice, then changed the topic: "Aunt Cheng said you didn’t have dinner at home, ate outside, and then came back?"

Shen Jianian acted naturally, not showing a hint of flaw: "Saw a private restaurant online during the day that seemed good, happened to be on the way, so I went to try it."

"Which restaurant?" he asked.

Shen Jianian named a restaurant. Fu Jichen had heard of it but hadn’t been there: "Let’s go together next time."

Shen Jianian kept holding his hand, her small hand warm and soft, gradually warming his cold hand, and upon hearing this, she smiled and agreed cheerfully: "Sure."

"Why so obedient all of a sudden?" Fu Jichen’s eyebrows lifted with amusement.

Shen Jianian looked up at him, a hint of attachment in her eyes, but the next second, she heard him say: "I need to go to Switzerland, pack some clothes, will you help me?"

Shen Jianian tightened her grip on his fingers, her heart sinking slightly: "Tonight?"

Fu Jichen turned his palm over, enclosing her hand.

He was reluctant to leave her too, could only finish the overseas matters quickly, then return to contend with the old man: "The flight’s at 2:25 in the morning."