Chapter 538 - All Sorts of Emotions in Her Heart
No matter how outsiders looked at this, Fu Qingquan and Fu Huai’an seemed to be close family.
Fu Huai’an’s dark gaze swept over Fu Tianci’s mother, Lu Qingmei. She was chattering merrily with a bunch of rich ladies, appearing to be adept at socializing.
Fu Huai’an retracted his gaze and smiled as he said, “With you and Madam Lu around, why would you need me to help entertain the guests?”
“Okay, okay, you go laze around! Forget it, I won’t count on you to entertain the guests. Later, when Tianci comes down, you bring Tianci around to get to know people! This isn’t a tedious task, right?” Fu Qingquan patted Fu Huai’an’s arm. Not planning to give Fu Huai’an a chance to reject him, he made up an excuse about wanting to entertain an incoming guest and started busying himself.
Gazing at Fu Qingquan’s back view as he shook hands with other people, Lin Nuan didn’t know what to say. When she turned around, she saw Assistant Liu, who worked for Old Master Lin, looking in her direction. He seemed as if he wanted to say something but was hesitating about whether to approach her.
Assistant Liu was a man in his fifties, notably tall and thin. It was rare to see a man his age who maintained their figure so well, so he was striking in the crowd.
Their gazes met. Assistant Liu saw Lin Nuan looking over and revealed a smile.
Assistant Liu was very fond of Lin Nuan when she was young. Every time Old Master Lin traveled for work, Assistant Liu was the one in charge of asking Lin Nuan what she wanted, and he personally selected her present for her.
After so many years, Assistant Liu no longer looked as dashing as he did when he was young. There were now signs of age at the corners of his eyes, and his back wasn’t as straight as it used to be. Also, there were traces of white in his brows and sideburns.
Since Assistant Liu was here, then Old Master Lin must be here too!
Lin Nuan wasn’t sure if Old Master Lin would take to heart the fact that she hadn’t gone to Old Madam Lin’s birthday banquet yesterday.
After confirming it was Lin Nuan, Assistant Liu began walking in her direction. He nodded at Fu Huai’an, then beamed at Lin Nuan.
“Uncle Liu!” Lin Nuan greeted Assistant Liu without waiting for him to speak first.
“Nuan Nuan, it’s been a long time… I wasn’t sure if it was you when I saw you from afar just now! You’re getting prettier as you age!” Assistant Liu appeared comforted to see this, as if Lin Nuan was his own daughter.
She tugged at Fu Huai’an next to her and introduced him, “Uncle Liu, this is my husband, Fu Huai’an!”
“En! President Fu and I have met!” Assistant Liu smiled and extended a hand to Fu Huai’an.
Originally, Assistant Liu wasn’t planning to talk more with Fu Huai’an after nodding at him. He didn’t want Lin Nuan to think that he was making use of the chance to greet her to get closer to Fu Huai’an.
Fu Huai’an shook Assistant Liu’s hand politely. “Assistant Liu, Old Master Lin’s capable assistant. I know him!”
Seeing Assistant Liu chatting up Fu Huai’an, those who knew Assistant Liu well were tempted to walk over and make use of Assistant Liu to suck up to Fu Huai’an.
Assistant Liu had been in the circle for so many years, and he was sharp-eyed and clear-headed. So he said, “I’m not sure if Nuan Nuan has the time today, but Old Master is here today too. Do you want to go over and meet Old Master?”
Lin Nuan hesitated. Fu Huai’an grabbed Lin Nuan’s hand and said, “Go ahead!”
Since they bumped into each other at the party, it might appear too cold-hearted to avoid Old Master Lin deliberately.
Seeing that Lu Jinnan was feeding fruit to Tuan Tuan on his shoulders not far away, Lin Nuan nodded. “I’ll be right back!”
Before the people greedily eyeing Fu Huai’an could approach them, Assistant Liu led Lin Nuan to the resting room where Old Master Lin was.
“Previously, because of that incident that happened to the Lins, Old Master Lin has had to go out in order to socialize and beg others for favors in spite of his age. He appears much older after this short period of time. Now, all Old Master wants is to live out his remaining days surrounded by his children and grandchildren, but Lin Ran that kid…”
The thought of Old Master Lin having to go out to socialize and beg others made Lin Nuan’s heart ache terribly.
It upset Lin Nuan more to hear this coming from Assistant Liu, as compared to Liang Mulan. The Old Master Lin in Lin Nuan’s heart was a prideful person, someone who would never be associated with the word “beg.”
Assistant Liu heaved a sigh. “Lin Xia has been gone for so many years, whereas Xiao Chen is mature and steady. Only with you and Ran Ran around did the old manor appear to be more crowded! If you have time in the future, you can avoid Ran Ran and go back home to visit Old Madam and Old Master!”
Assistant Liu had watched Lin Nuan grow up, so he knew her temperament very well. Even the gift sent to the Lins’ house yesterday was sent in Fu Huai’an’s name, so all the members of the Lins, as well as Assistant Liu, knew that Lin Nuan was deliberately doing this in consideration of Lin Ran.
Seeing Lin Nuan’s serious look, and with her not nodding or agreeing to what he suggested, Assistant Liu changed the topic. “Yesterday, after the banquet ended, Old Master brought up the topic of remarrying with your second uncle again. They didn’t come to an agreement, so Old Master beat up your second uncle with his walking stick. His anger has yet to be appeased. You know Old Master the best, when you go in later, make sure to calm him down!”
After knocking on the door of the resting room, Assistant Liu pulled on the door handle and opened the door. Under the comfortable lighting inside the resting room, Lin Nuan could see Old Master Lin sitting and leaning on the sofa. He was wearing his presbyopic glasses and had one hand rested on the armrest of the sofa. He was looking at his phone under the light of the tall lamp.
Old Master Lin, who was in a suit, had a head of silver hair and well-defined features, appearing old and tough.
Upon hearing the sound of the door opening, Old Master Lin thought it was Assistant Liu who came back, so he didn’t turn around. With one hand on his presbyopic glasses, he was squinting at the photo on his phone screen. “Little Liu, come and take a look. Is the person in the photo Nuan Nuan? Why can’t I see clearly? Is the screen too dim?”
Assistant Liu took a look at Lin Nuan by his side and didn’t make a move forward. With delight in his voice, he said, “Old Master Lin, guess who’s standing at the door?”
Old Master Lin turned his head around. Seeing that it was Lin Nuan, he removed his presbyopic glasses. Noticing that Lin Nuan wasn’t moving, he folded his glasses together.
Being the sharp person that Assistant Liu was, he beamed and said he was going to brew the old master some chrysanthemum tea and then left, leaving the grandfather and granddaughter duo alone in the room.
Lin Nuan couldn’t keep standing frozen at the door, so she walked inside and gently closed the door, calling out, “Grandpa…”
Old Master Lin was in a trance upon seeing Lin Nuan again.
Just as Assistant Liu mentioned, Old Master Lin had indeed aged by a lot, different from the intimidating and tough Old Master Lin that Lin Nuan had known. Old Master Lin now seemed to be weighed down by age.
Lin Nuan felt her eyes turn watery, all sorts of emotions in her heart.
Her vision swept to Old Master Lin’s smartphone on the armrest of the sofa. In order to soothe the atmosphere, Lin Nuan walked to Old Master Lin and smiled. “Let me take a look!”
“Okay…”
Bending over to pick up Old Master Lin’s brand new smartphone, Lin Nuan took a look then raised the phone to Old Master Lin’s face and said in a low voice, “Grandpa… you’ve adjusted the brightness to the lowest setting, that’s why you couldn’t see clearly!”
Lin Nuan remembered that Old Master Lin had previously been using an old-school Nokia phone when smartphones started becoming popular.