Chapter 103: The Apple of One’s Eye

Chapter 103: Chapter 103: The Apple of One’s Eye

Shen Jiajia thought for a moment, then shook her head.

"When your father was fighting in the war, there were times he didn’t come back for three or four months, but the longest was never more than half a year."

"Your mom has never left home. Back when your eldest aunt and I were in Beijing, she never once stepped outside the city gates."

Yang Wanqing added a comment.

"She occasionally liked to stroll to the end of the alley to buy candied haws. The farthest she ever went was West Suburb Park. If she went too far, it was hard to even buy a ticket, so how would she dare to just wander off?"

Shen Jiajia looked at Shen Songyao, her tone growing serious.

"Your mother... she’s a very proud woman, right down to her bones."

The meaning was clear: Yao Yuzhen wasn’t the type to do things behind people’s backs.

Her style had always been to handle things out in the open.

Even if it meant taking a loss, she refused to get involved in anything shady.

Shen Songyao scratched the back of her head, her face feeling a little hot.

"Gosh, I’ve been letting my imagination run wild. I’ve really wronged Mom."

"I was so focused on *why* she would do it that I never considered she might not have done it at all."

With one possibility eliminated, only the last one remained.

"Then... could Shen Shuangshuang actually be the daughter of my mom’s ’white moonlight’?"

After saying this, she held her breath, her eyes quickly scanning everyone’s expression.

"The man my younger aunt ran into all those years ago."

Shen Jiayue looked up at Yang Wanqing, her tone flat.

No matter how dramatic Yao Yuzhen could be, she knew the weight the Shen Family’s name carried.

That’s why she would rather bring the child back and let her grow up with the title of a Shen Family daughter.

Not to mention everything else—the food and drink of the Shen Family, the important people they knew, the jobs they could arrange in the future...

Which of those things could that man have ever afforded to give her?

Yang Wanqing and Shen Jiayue’s eyes met. Yang Wanqing opened her mouth, then closed it, ultimately saying nothing at all.

If these rumors were true, the first thing that would make anyone break down was...

...that Shen Songyao, this child, had been abandoned by her own mother’s hand.

Only Shen Jiajia was there, desperately digging through her memories, her brow furrowing tighter and tighter, until she finally forced out a sentence.

"Now that Song Yao mentions it... Oh dear, it really is... really..."

’Really what?’

She couldn’t even bring herself to finish.

’So, my sister-in-law, who’s always complaining about her bitter fate—could it be she threw away her own daughter to make room for someone else’s beloved child?’

’Does my eldest brother know the truth about this?’

’Did he already sort through all the suspicious points long ago, but chose to keep his mouth shut?’

Suddenly, you could hear a pin drop in the room. No one said a word.

Shen Rongdan took Shen Zhenwu back to his hospital room.

Shen Zhenwu glanced at the fading red mark on his son’s face, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke.

"Why don’t you head home for now?"

’Why is he telling me to leave?’

’He’s still worried about Yao Yuzhen.’

’Her wounds haven’t even scabbed over yet. What if something else goes wrong...’

Shen Rongdan raised a hand to touch the thin scab that had just formed on his own face, and nodded.

"Alright. What do you want for dinner? I’ll bring it over on my way."

"No, no, there are options at the hospital cafeteria."

"Your leg is in a cast. How are you going to get food?"

"I’ll... ask a nurse to help me buy some."

"That’s too much trouble! I can run the errand, I’m free anyway."

Shen Zhenwu thought for a moment, then waved his hand dismissively.

"No rush, no rush. I’m just lying here, not moving. Even my stomach isn’t protesting!"

"Okay, got it. I’m off then."

"Drive safe!"

When Shen Rongdan got home, the living room was empty and quiet. Aunt Zhang was busy at the stove.

Hearing the door open, she quickly wiped her hands and came out.

"Oh, Rong Dan, you’re back? The pork rib and lotus root soup is almost ready. I’ll ladle a bowl for you to take to your mom at the hospital."

"I also braised some chicken with chestnuts. Have some to tide you over, it’s delicious!"

Shen Rongdan glanced around the living room, then looked up at the dark second floor.

"Mom and Shuangshuang aren’t back?"

Aunt Zhang was taken aback.

"Isn’t your mom still in the hospital?"

Shen Rongdan couldn’t be bothered to explain the details and asked directly.

"The two of them haven’t set foot in the house at all this afternoon?"

"That’s right! Shuangshuang went to the hospital at noon with a lunchbox and hasn’t been seen since."

He turned and rushed out. Just as he stepped into the courtyard, he ran into Shen Rongjing and Guo Shushu, who were coming home from work.

Seeing him, Shen Rongjing asked casually.

"In a hurry to deliver food to the hospital?"

"Let’s go together. I’ll go see them too!"

Shen Rongdan shook his head and, right in front of his older brother, poured out everything he had heard in the hospital room that afternoon.

After Shen Rongjing heard everything, his expression darkened.

"You go check our parents’ other properties. See if she’s hiding there with Shuangshuang."

"Shushu, you go make a trip and ask some of the old friends she usually hangs out with. See if anyone has seen them."

"I’ll contact our eldest aunt right away. This matter... let’s not alarm Dad yet."

Shen Rongdan nodded and left through the courtyard gate with Guo Shushu.

At that very moment, Yao Yuzhen was holding Shen Shuangshuang’s hand, sitting in Ruan Yongxing’s old one-story house.

When Ruan Yongxing came home from work and pushed open the courtyard gate, he saw the two of them sitting on small stools and asked in confusion.

"What brings you here at this hour?"

Yao Yuzhen’s wrist was wrapped in a white cloth, and her face was a mask of displeasure.

It was Shen Shuangshuang who couldn’t hold it in any longer. Cupping a hand to her face, she spoke with a trembling voice.

"Mom, today... you and I were both slapped."

Ruan Yongxing froze on the spot.

"Who? Who laid a hand on you?"

’I know perfectly well who Shen Zhenwu is. Who would dare to touch the people around him?’

Shen Shuangshuang raised a hand and pointed to her own cheek.

In reality, before she and Yao Yuzhen left the hospital that afternoon, they had specifically stopped by a clinic to get it checked. She had put on some ointment, so by now the redness and swelling were long gone, and there was no mark left.

But the lightbulb in Ruan Yongxing’s room was too old, casting a dim, yellow glow that made it impossible to see clearly.

So he blinked and asked.

"Your face... what’s wrong with it?"

As he spoke, he put down the basket of vegetables in his hand, rolled up his sleeves, and walked toward the kitchen.

"It’s already getting dark out. If you’re not staying for dinner, you should head back soon. The alleys twist and turn, and it’s easy to bump into things when it’s pitch black. It’s not safe."

The moment these words left his mouth, the aggrieved act Yao Yuzhen had just put on was instantly cut short.

Shen Shuangshuang immediately whipped her head around to look at her, her gaze flickering, unsure of what to say next.

Ruan Yongxing scooped some rice, rinsed it, and poured it into the pot before turning around and urging them.

"Hurry up and go! Any later and the wind will pick up. It’ll be so cold on the road you’ll be stamping your feet to stay warm!"

Shen Shuangshuang stared at him, her eyes practically bugging out of her head.

’He’s my biological father, after all!’

The thought exploded in her mind, making her eardrums go numb.

’If only...’

’If only Shen Zhenwu were my real dad!’

She really couldn’t understand what Yao Yuzhen saw in him.

’His poverty? His laziness? The fact that he can’t even say a single kind word?’

’I didn’t want to come here in the first place, and now he...’

She bit back the rest of her thoughts, which turned into a silent gasp.

Just then, Yao Yuzhen suddenly stood up, hiding her bandaged hand behind her back and offering Ruan Yongxing a smile.

"Yes, we should be getting back. When you cook for yourself, use a little more oil. Don’t always be eating plain steamed buns with pickled vegetables."

Ruan Yongxing nodded.

"Yeah, the rice is in the pot. I won’t see you out."

He had seen the white gauze bandage when he walked in, but he couldn’t be bothered to ask, nor did he intend to get involved.

The two of them walked to the end of the alley. A gust of night wind blew, and Yao Yuzhen shivered.

Shen Shuangshuang stuck close to her, not daring to stray too far.

"Mom, are we going home now?"

’I really do want to go back. Even though I was just hit, at least home is warm, and I can still make a scene!’

’Unlike now, standing in this cold wind with nowhere to even go!’