Chapter 128: Scumbag

Chapter 128: Chapter 128: Scumbag

She wanted to throw a few more barbs, but she saw Shen Zhenwu slowly shake his head.

"The money, it’s all yours. But the properties... the one you’re living in now, I’ll leave to you. The other one, I’ve given to Song Yao."

"The remaining two... one for Rong Dan, one for Rong Jing..."

He didn’t continue, but his meaning was crystal clear.

What he’d given to the children couldn’t be touched again.

The moment Yao Yuzhen heard this, her face turned livid. She gritted her teeth and cursed again.

"Hypocrite!"

In her eyes, the man talked a big game, but in reality, he always held something back.

’He gave properties to three of the four children, while I’m just left cooped up in this old house.’

’All this fighting... it was just a matter of principle in the end.’

As for the Western-style house Shen Zhenwu lived in?

She hadn’t even thought about it.

It was assigned by the military district. Her moving in after the divorce?

He would find it awkward, and she would find it even more humiliating.

Shen Zhenwu added.

"Rong Jing’s place was transferred to him when he got married. As for Rong Dan’s, that was also settled in person back then."

"Song Yao... she was just found not long ago. We have to give her a place to call her own."

Yao Yuzhen immediately shot back.

"What about Shuangshuang, then? She’s called you ’Dad’ for twenty years and hasn’t gotten so much as a single brick?"

Shen Zhenwu didn’t say anything.

She called him a hypocrite, and he couldn’t argue.

He was concerned about Song Yao, but he truly hadn’t thought about giving Shen Shuangshuang a property.

He only planned on saving up a respectable dowry for her and sending her off in style.

Yao Yuzhen tilted her face up, chin held high, and declared stiffly.

"This house will be Shuangshuang’s in the future!"

He replied indifferently.

"You earned it, you saved it. You get to decide."

Yao Yuzhen immediately waved her hand, shooing him away.

"Alright, hurry up and go. Just bring the divorce certificate. Don’t drag it out."

"As for my things, I’ll have Shuangshuang go get them later!"

Shen Zhenwu stared at her for a few seconds, but in the end, he said nothing more and left.

As soon as the door closed, Shen Shuangshuang quietly slipped out of the bedroom.

She moved closer to Yao Yuzhen, bent down, and asked in a small voice.

"Mom... are you really going to divorce him?"

Yao Yuzhen’s body went limp, and she sank into the sofa.

She closed her eyes and slowly nodded.

She had longed for this divorce for so long, and it was finally happening, but she couldn’t muster even a trace of happiness on her face.

Shen Shuangshuang bit her lip until it turned white, nearly blurting out a curse.

’Mom, are you out of your mind?’

But she swallowed the words right as they were about to leave her lips.

She crouched down, looked up at Yao Yuzhen, and asked softly.

"The family’s money... it’s all with you, right?"

Yao Yuzhen opened her eyes and nodded.

"When I left, I stuffed all the passbooks and bank slips into my pocket."

Hearing this, Shen Shuangshuang’s shoulders relaxed a bit.

With this property as a safety net, plus the money the Shen Family had saved over the years, her and her mother’s future wouldn’t be so uncertain.

Shen Zhenwu walked out of the building and sat on the stone steps downstairs for a long while.

It was almost completely dark when he finally got up, wiped his face with his hand, and drove back to his military unit.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go home, but he was afraid everyone would crowd around him with questions the moment he walked in the door.

He really couldn’t handle it.

「At the military compound in Ning City」

Li Hanchen had just hung up the phone when it rang again.

It was a call from Wei Guilan.

Li Hanchen had previously asked her to help investigate Shen Songyao’s background, and she had been working on it ever since.

Liu Yumin had always told everyone that Shen Songyao was a child she’d found on the side of the road.

But Li Hanchen didn’t buy it.

If she had really been picked up on a main road, could it be that not a single person in the surrounding villages saw anything?

If you asked enough people, you were bound to find some trace of the truth.

Wei Guilan took on her son’s task, running over to Song Family Village every other day and prying for information from anyone she knew.

And the result?

Seven or eight of the village elders all said the same thing.

"Liu Yumin herself said it back then—Song Yao was her biological daughter!"

"She said she went back to her parents’ home to take care of her sick mother that year. She was gone for several months and didn’t have a chance to come back."

"She gave birth at her parents’ home, and since you can’t be exposed to drafts during postpartum recovery, she just stayed there for the entire month."

"By the time she came back with the baby, the child was already a month old!"

Still not giving up, Wei Guilan went straight to Liu Yumin’s parents’ hometown to dig for the truth.

And guess what?

The people there insisted that nothing of the sort had ever happened!

Liu Yumin’s mother was as healthy as a horse. She had never been seriously ill, let alone bedridden for months needing to be cared for!

Li Hanchen relayed these words verbatim to Shen Rongdan.

Shen Rongdan’s brows knitted into a tight knot.

"So, you’re saying Liu Yumin lied? Shen Songyao wasn’t found at all."

"To make people believe she was the biological mother, she deliberately hid herself away for several months?"

Li Hanchen nodded.

"Yeah, my mom asked everyone she could in Song Family Village, and they all tell the same story."

Without another word, Shen Rongdan dialed Shen Rongjing’s number.

When the call connected, he relayed the story from Song Family Village and what Li Hanchen had said, word for word.

The moment Shen Rongjing heard this, he immediately started contacting his connections to verify the information.

But he didn’t tell anyone about this, not breathing a word even to his closest family members.

But then Shen Zhenwu dropped a bombshell on him first.

"I’m planning to divorce your mother."

Shen Rongjing was usually unflappable, but even he was stunned for a beat upon hearing this.

"What’s Mom’s take on it?"

"She agreed. The property, the one she’s living in with Shuangshuang, will go to her. All the money saved up in the family will also go to her."

As Shen Zhenwu spoke, his gaze fell on a draft of an agreement spread out on the desk.

"Your mom doesn’t work, and Shuangshuang doesn’t work either. It seems reasonable to give them the money."

Shen Rongjing’s tone was even.

"How much money has the family saved?"

"...I honestly don’t know."

Shen Zhenwu paused.

"She has always kept the passbooks. I’ve never asked about the specific amount."

Shen Rongjing paused for a moment, then changed the subject.

"Rong Dan was just mentioning a couple of days ago that he wants to settle down soon."

He was subtly giving his father a way out.

But Shen Zhenwu didn’t catch the hint, merely replying offhandedly.

"He should hurry up. He’s at that age."

Shen Rongjing raised a hand to adjust his glasses.

"Finding a partner is easy, but getting married costs money."

"Song Yao’s already showing, you know. You’ll be a grandfather next year. Aren’t you going to prepare a gift for your new grandchild?"

Only then did Shen Zhenwu belatedly furrow his brow.

"You mean..."

Shen Rongjing lowered his eyes.

"Shuangshuang isn’t a child anymore. She’s twenty-three. She can find a job and support herself."

"Mom will be living alone. How much could her expenses be?"

"She could casually pull out five thousand yuan to give Song Yao to make her leave Beijing. That proves five thousand isn’t a difficult sum for her. The family’s savings must be much more than that."

"She couldn’t possibly spend that much all by herself."

Seeing Shen Zhenwu open his mouth to speak, he added another sentence.

"Too much money can sometimes be a burden."

Shen Zhenwu said no more. He just lowered his head and slowly took a breath.

Shen Shuangshuang dumped the news of Yao Yuzhen’s impending divorce on Ruan Yongxing.

The moment he heard they were really splitting up, Ruan Yongxing’s expression soured.

"Aiya, that woman really doesn’t have a clue!"

"Does she really think some perfect man is just going to fall from the sky after she leaves Shen Zhenwu?"

"Does she think she’s some kind of princess?"

"She should take a look in the mirror. She’s already got crow’s feet. Who would still want her? Besides Shen Zhenwu, what idiot would give her the time of day!"

Listening to him, Shen Shuangshuang froze completely.

She herself wasn’t the kindest person, but she knew perfectly well how Yao Yuzhen had treated Ruan Yongxing all these years.

She had doted on him, protected him, and given him whatever he asked for.

And what was the result?