Chapter 79: Selling Misery

Chapter 79: Chapter 79: Selling Misery

Song Yao suddenly broke into a smile, her eyes curving into crescents. "As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Neither of us can stand Song Shuangshuang, so wouldn’t it be great to be friends? Since you like Sheng Hui, I’ll do you a favor and give him a hand. Consider it my good deed for the day."

Humming a little off-key tune, Song Yao headed home.

As soon as she entered the main hall, she saw Yao Yuzhen talking with Sister Qin, a mediator sent from the military department.

"Sister Qin, it’s not that I’m clinging to this and refusing to let go. It’s Shen Zhenwu! He only has eyes for that child, Song Yao, now. Twenty years of marriage, torn apart just like that by her!"

Song Shuangshuang was sitting right next to Yao Yuzhen.

She was huddled in her chair, head down, hands tightly wringing the hem of her clothes.

Sister Qin’s gaze swept over Song Shuangshuang before slowly returning to Yao Yuzhen’s face.

"Yu Zhen, everyone in our circle knows about what’s going on with you and Mr. Shen. The root of the problem is that you spoil this child too much. I heard you transferred ownership of both apartments in Hai City to Song Shuangshuang?"

Yao Yuzhen’s throat tightened, and she lowered her eyelids.

"Sister Qin... you know my family background. All these years, people call me Miss Yao to my face, but the moment I turn my back, they sneer and shake their heads. I gritted my teeth and stayed in Hai City back then, just for some peace and quiet. It was Zhenwu who later persuaded me to pack up and move to Beijing."

"My origins are shameful; the Yao family carries that guilt. For years, Shen Zhenwu was always away, leaving me all alone at home without a single person to confide in. I was tormented by my own conscience every day. Several times, I thought about ending it all, just for some peace."

Yao Yuzhen gently stroked the back of Song Shuangshuang’s head, her eyes turning red.

"If Shuangshuang hadn’t come into my life, I really don’t know how I would have gotten through those days. It doesn’t matter how she came to me. Heaven delivered her into my arms, and I consider her a blessing of fate. I know perfectly well that if the babies hadn’t been switched back then, the one by my side should have been Song Yao."

"But it’s Shuangshuang and I who have been together all these years. We’ve long become each other’s pillar of support. We can’t live without each other."

Song Shuangshuang’s nose stung, and tears began to fall, DRIP, DROP. "Mom..."

Yao Yuzhen raised a hand to wipe her face and let out a long breath.

"You’re a mother too, so you should understand what a child means to a woman. Song Yao is my own flesh and blood. How could I not love her? But when I transferred the apartments to Shuangshuang, I had no idea she wasn’t my biological daughter!"

"Now Song Yao is back, and what’s done is done. All I asked was for Shen Zhenwu to treat them equally, to care for both girls the same. But what did he do? Him, on the other hand..."

Before she could finish, Yao Yuzhen bit her lower lip, her shoulders trembling slightly.

Song Shuangshuang threw her arms around her, sobbing and gasping. "Mom, it’s all my fault... It’s because of me that Dad is ignoring you..."

Sister Qin paused for a moment before speaking slowly. "I’ve spoken with Mr. Shen. He said you were the one who first brought up divorce. The reason he’s agreed this time is because he truly can’t bear to watch you hurt Song Yao over and over again for Shuangshuang’s sake. He still has feelings for you. That much, I can see as clear as day."

Yao Yuzhen’s voice was choked. "We’ve been married for twenty years. How many storms has he weathered for me? All the vicious gossip out there, he was always the one shielding me from it. How could I have no feelings for him? How could I not care?"

"So, you don’t actually want a divorce either?" Sister Qin asked bluntly.

"Who would want a divorce? It’s humiliating, not to mention I’ve become a part of his family. Starting over with a stranger? The very thought of it terrifies me."

Yao Yuzhen sobbed. "But Shen Zhenwu is as cold as ice now... Is he really angry that I favor Shuangshuang? Or has someone been whispering poison in his ear, telling him lies? Otherwise, how could he have changed so much that I don’t even recognize him?"

The words had barely left her mouth when Song Yao pushed the door open and walked in.

"Comrade Yao Yuzhen, there’s a hidden meaning in your words. Are you trying to drag me into this mess?"

She didn’t stop walking, striding directly into the center of the room.

Both Yao Yuzhen and Song Shuangshuang stiffened.

Anyone who had ever dealt with Song Yao couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated.

In just two months, the glamorous and respected wife of the Shen Family had been forced into playing the victim just to hold on to her husband.

Song Shuangshuang’s situation was even worse. She was even forced to change her surname, going from the cherished daughter of Mr. Shen to the daughter of a felon.

"Song Yao? Didn’t you just go out for a walk?"

Yao Yuzhen’s eyelid twitched, and she quickly put on the expression of a doting mother.

"You usually stay out for most of the day and don’t come back until sunset, so I didn’t prepare lunch for you today. Don’t take it the wrong way! Mom will go put on an apron and whip up a couple of hot dishes for you right now!"

She had gotten smarter now, deliberately humbling herself in the hope that others would see it.

The mother rushes to cook for and dote on her biological daughter the moment she returns, only for the daughter to show complete indifference!

As expected, Sister Qin frowned, her expression darkening with displeasure.

But just as she opened her mouth to say something, Song Yao immediately held up a hand.

"Oh, I wouldn’t dare! Mrs. Shen’s cooking should be saved for Song Shuangshuang. How could an outsider like me presume to pick up my chopsticks?"

"I’ve been in Beijing for so long, and I can count the number of times you’ve personally cooked for me on one hand with fingers to spare. No need to trouble yourself. I’ll just find something to tide myself over."

Sister Qin froze on the spot. Her lips parted slightly, but no sound came out. She silently turned to shoot a look at Yao Yuzhen.

’...What is this act?’

Yao Yuzhen immediately clutched her chest, her body swaying as she spoke in a weak voice.

"Sigh, my chest has been feeling so tight lately, constricting in waves... I really didn’t mean to not cook for you. If you’re truly upset, starting tomorrow, Mom will fry eggs and make noodles for you every day!"

As she spoke, her gaze darted about, not daring to meet Song Yao’s eyes.

"Comrade Yao Yuzhen," Song Yao said, rolling her eyes dramatically as her voice turned several degrees colder, "let’s stop beating around the bush and get back to the point."

Without even waiting for a response, she turned and smiled at Sister Qin.

"Aunt Qin, I’m so sorry to have the organization worry about our family’s messy business. The day my dad and Yao Yuzhen had that fight, I was standing right there. I heard everything, and I remember everything."

Song Yao had a frighteningly good memory, especially for things she set her mind to.

She could recall exactly who said what and where they pointed, reproducing the scene perfectly.

She crisply recounted the argument from beginning to end.

She didn’t miss a single detail, not Shen Zhenwu slamming the table nor Yao Yuzhen turning away with a sneer, and Sister Qin nodded repeatedly as she listened.

Finally, she looked directly at Yao Yuzhen. "Comrade Yao Yuzhen, did I get a single word wrong? Why don’t you recount it for us again?"

Yao Yuzhen dabbed at the corners of her eyes and shook her head. "I didn’t say it like that... He’s the one forcing me to get a divorce!"

"It’s true that Dad was the one who brought up divorce last time."

Song Yao scoffed. "But have you forgotten? Before he brought it up, you were the one wielding divorce like a club and hitting him with it several times, weren’t you?"

After speaking, she turned to Sister Qin, her voice growing somber.

"Actually, what hurt him the most was something else. You knew perfectly well that Liu Yumin swapped me and Song Shuangshuang back then, yet you only protected Song Shuangshuang, treating me like a burden to be cast aside."

"It’s not that he can’t tolerate a couple’s squabbles. It’s that he simply can’t swallow the fact that his daughter, lost for twenty years, has no one to speak a word of justice for her."

Sister Qin’s expression slowly changed. Her gaze flickered from Song Yao’s calm face to Yao Yuzhen’s, which was gradually turning pale.

She began to wonder: ’This time, this attempt at reconciliation... was it a mistake?’