Chapter 141: Heartless Thing

Chapter 141: Chapter 141: Heartless Thing

"I swear, I came as soon as I heard! Zhenwu, you’re the one who called me here personally!"

Shen Zhenwu nodded, his face devoid of expression. He turned and called out.

"Rong Dan, help your aunt up."

Shen Rongdan hurried forward and reached out to help her up.

Yao Yingying didn’t try to stay on the floor, but her legs had gone as soft as noodles, completely unable to support her body.

She had to be practically half-dragged and half-carried to the edge of the sofa, where she collapsed.

"I went to keep her company, and she told me she felt empty inside. She was always thinking about her child and wanted a distraction, so she decided she might as well adopt one."

"I thought it was a good idea at the time. It was better than her spiraling and doing something foolish."

"She asked me to tell you, so I did. I didn’t overthink it; I just brought it up. I said that having a child around to raise as her own, to dote on just like Song Yao, might make her feel better. Besides, even if the real Song Yao was found one day, with your family’s resources, what’s one more mouth to feed?"

"You’ve always been very protective of her, so you just nodded and agreed after I finished."

"But later... Later, she suddenly said she wanted to adopt Ruan Yongxing’s daughter... and I..."

It was only then that it dawned on Yao Yingying: her sister had never truly broken things off with Ruan Yongxing!

That’s why she had been in such a rush to warn Shen Zhenwu back then.

Otherwise, the day the truth came out, the couple would have a massive falling-out.

"What exactly was the relationship between Ruan Yongxing and my mom?"

Seeing Yao Yingying falter, Shen Songyao cut straight to the crucial question.

"Ah... It’s nothing that special, really. Years ago, our family and the Ruan Family were very close. The adults visited back and forth all the time, saw each other for holidays, and the kids grew up together. Ruan Yongxing and your mom were around the same age, only three months apart."

Yao Yingying said this much and then trailed off.

But everyone in the room understood.

The two of them had been betrothed as children.

This time, she truly looked up, carefully studying Shen Songyao from head to toe.

After staring for a long moment, she suddenly broke into a grin.

"Song Yao, your face is the spitting image of your mother when she was young! But your eyes aren’t like hers. You have your father’s eyes."

In fact, she had secretly wondered back then if her sister, in a moment of confusion, had lost her own biological daughter.

Or even...

...something worse.

She was terrified that if this came out, the entire family would collapse. That was why she had gritted her teeth and refused to breathe a single word of it to the Shen Family.

If the child had just gotten lost and was never found, the family would have fallen apart anyway.

But what if...

What if she was really... gone?

That wouldn’t be a missing person case. It would be murder.

How old were her two nephews back then?

One was still nursing, and the other had just learned to walk.

She couldn’t take that risk. All she could do was swallow her suffering and go home without saying a word.

Shen Songyao gazed back at her quietly, then suddenly spoke.

"You’re not much like my mom."

Yao Yingying faltered, subconsciously touching her own face. Her voice softened.

"Even though your mom and I are full-blooded sisters, since we were little... I was never as radiant as her. At five, she could recite the *Thousand Character Classic*, but at ten, I still couldn’t remember the start of the *Hundred Family Surnames*. She could just wear two braids and perform at the county festival, while I’d get my pigtails crooked and be laughed at by my classmates."

As she spoke, she looked down and wrung her hands.

"And I... I wasn’t as lucky in life as her, either. I dropped out of school at seventeen to fold cardboard boxes in a factory and got married at twenty-three..."

But Song Yao continued.

"You’re not like her. She resents me and refuses to acknowledge me. You don’t."

The words had barely left her mouth when Yao Yingying froze.

"Resents..."

Song Yao added quietly.

"She won’t let me in the house because she hates me. Now she’s trying to divorce my father over it."

Yao Yingying went rigid.

She had always assumed her sister wasn’t home because the truth about Shen Shuangshuang had been exposed, and she’d been kicked out by the Shen Family.

She had never expected this...

"Your mother, she..."

Just as she opened her mouth, the doorbell let out a crisp DING-DONG.

The door opened to reveal two people on the doorstep: Yao Yuzhen and Shen Shuangshuang.

Yao Yuzhen was dressed in a qipao and a pair of round-toed ankle boots, carrying a glittering handbag.

She carried herself with even more poise than she had at the last dinner at the Shen residence.

Shen Shuangshuang stood half a step behind her, her hair combed smooth and sleek.

Judging by her outfit and her posture, who would believe she was here for a divorce?

It looked more like a triumphant return, a special trip just to show off and be seen.

But that air of smug arrogance dissipated before she even crossed the threshold.

The moment the door closed, Yang Wanqing lunged forward and grabbed Yao Yuzhen by the hair.

"You heartless bitch! If I don’t tear that face of yours off today, my name isn’t Yang Wanqing!"

"OW!"

Yao Yuzhen instinctively threw her hands up to protect her head, letting out a piercing shriek.

After a half-second pause, Shen Shuangshuang lunged forward, trying to pry her grandmother’s hands away.

But Yang Wanqing’s fingers were like iron hooks, dug deep into the roots of her hair, and they wouldn’t budge.

Shen Shuangshuang gritted her teeth and started trying to claw her grandmother’s fingers away.

"Grandma! What’s wrong with you? Have you lost your mind?!"

Without even looking up, Shen Songyao lashed out with the back of her hand, her nails raking viciously across Shen Shuangshuang’s forearm.

"AHH!"

This scream belonged to someone else.

"Shen Songyao! You worthless piece of trash! You dare touch me?"

Shen Shuangshuang whipped her head around to curse, then swung her handbag straight at Song Yao.

It slammed into her side. Song Yao let out a grunt and took half a step back.

Just as she was raising the bag for a second swing, Shen Rongdan reached out and intercepted it. The strap snapped.

But Song Yao had already lashed out, her slap leaving two red marks across Shen Shuangshuang’s left cheek.

Shen Shuangshuang burst into tears.

"Second Brother! Are you really protecting an outsider against me?!"

Shen Rongdan ignored her, instead hurrying to gently but firmly pry Yang Wanqing’s hands from Yao Yuzhen’s hair.

"Grandma, please let go. Let’s just hear what Mom has to say, all right?"

No matter how unreasonable Yao Yuzhen could be, she was still his mother.

A bond forged over twenty years of her care couldn’t be severed in an instant.

Besides, once Yao Yuzhen recovered her senses, it would be a healthy middle-aged woman against a seventy-year-old.

If they really came to blows, Yang Wanqing would undoubtedly get the worst of it.

Seeing them separated, Shen Zhenwu, who had just risen to his feet, silently sat back down on the sofa.

Yao Yuzhen caught her breath and raised her hand to strike.

Shen Rongdan threw up his arm to block, and the slap landed squarely on his face with a sharp SMACK.

Shen Songyao, who had been about to follow up with another scratch, froze with her wrist in midair, her brow furrowing slightly.

After landing the blow, Yao Yuzhen finally seemed to catch her breath.

"Shen Zhenwu! I’m telling you right now, if there’s a next time, I’ll smash my head on the courthouse steps and make sure your entire family goes to prison for it!"

Just then, Yao Yingying stood up from the sofa and slowly walked to the center of the living room.

The moment she appeared, Yao Yuzhen’s hysterical fit immediately subsided. A corner of her mouth quirked up in a mocking smile.

"Heh. Shen Zhenwu, you think calling her here for backup means I have to stay with you? Not a chance in hell!"

Yao Yingying had just opened her mouth when Yao Yuzhen’s shrill voice cut through the air.

"Shen Zhenwu, can you grow a spine for once? Give me one reason to actually respect you!"

"You know what I hate most about you? That desperate, clingy persistence! You’re like gum on my shoe. Do you really think the sky will fall if I leave you?"

For a man in his fifties, those words were the equivalent of being stripped bare in public.

And that was to say nothing of the fact that Shen Zhenwu was a man who wielded actual power.

But Yao Yuzhen wasn’t done. Her voice rose to a shriek.

"Fine. If you get down on your knees right here and now—THUD—and give me three real, solid kowtows, I’ll consider your apology sincere, and maybe... just maybe, I’ll reconsider this divorce."