Chapter 159: Shifting the Blame

Chapter 159: Chapter 159: Shifting the Blame

She was a complete mess. Her hair, her clothes, her shoes—everything was smeared with filth.

Worse, her bottom and elbows ached with a piercing pain from the fall.

She sat there for a long while, trying to recover. The icy ground she was pressed against was bone-chilling.

The silence all around was terrifying.

It was the middle of the night. The wind whipped pellets of snow against the windows. No one opened their door, no one peeked out, and certainly no one came downstairs.

Even if someone upstairs did happen to catch a glimpse, they would just pull their curtains tighter and pretend they hadn’t seen a thing.

She raised a hand to wipe her face, smearing away the tears and muddy water. She pushed herself up, inching her body upward.

Her fingernails were caked with black mud, but she couldn’t be bothered with that now. Gritting her teeth, she stood up and limped upstairs.

The moment she pushed the door open, a burst of laughter erupted from inside the room.

"Hahaha, this is hilarious!"

She stood in the doorway. Shen Shuangshuang, acting as if she hadn’t seen her, kept her eyes glued to the television and called out casually, "Mom, you’re finally back."

"Is dinner ready? I’m hungry!"

Her voice was as soft and wheedling as ever.

In the past, Yao Yuzhen’s heart would have already ached for her. She would have immediately gone into the kitchen, saying, "What do you want to eat? Mom will make it for you!"

And if it had been anyone else in the old Shen Family estate, she would have already unleashed a tirade on them.

"Shuangshuang said she’s hungry! Are you all deaf? Can’t you hear?"

Back when Shen Shuangshuang was with the Shen Family, she never missed a meal and could have anything she wanted. If she wanted fried eggs in the morning or white fungus soup in the middle of the night, Zhang Dongxue would be sure to bring it right to her.

There was nothing she couldn’t order, and nothing Zhang Dongxue couldn’t make.

But today was different.

She looked down at her filthy pant legs, her knees throbbing with a fiery pain.

Then she lifted her gaze. Shen Shuangshuang was curled up on the sofa, giggling, the coffee table covered in snacks.

Her face fell. She turned and walked to the bathroom, peeling off her soaked clothes layer by layer.

Shen Shuangshuang waited a few seconds. When there was no response, she finally asked, "Mom..."

As she called out, she picked up a walnut cookie and popped it into her mouth.

"How about we have hot pot tonight? It’s freezing out. A nice pot of that would warm our stomachs and our hearts! I’ve been craving it for so long!"

Yao Yuzhen stood in the bathroom, having just taken off her clothes. The cold air made her shiver violently, and tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.

Shen Shuangshuang heard the crying. Without even taking a bite of the walnut cookie in her hand, she quickly stood up and ran over.

Pushing the door open, she saw Yao Yuzhen standing there in just her undergarments, her shoulders shaking with sobs.

She froze for a second. "Mom? What’s wrong?"

"Did you run into the Shen family again?"

"What did they do to you?"

Shen Shuangshuang had it all figured out.

As long as she mentioned the Shen Family, all of Yao Yuzhen’s anger would be redirected toward them.

Yao Yuzhen was stunned for a moment, then lifted her red, swollen eyes. "Shuangshuang... your father... he was arrested today."

Shen Shuangshuang was at a loss for words. "Arrested..."

"It’s all your fault!"

Shen Shuangshuang: "...I..."

"Back then, to bring you back and raise you, your father and I plotted to secretly send Shen Songyao away to some remote mountain ditch."

"We just wanted you to have a good life from a young age, to have powerful backing, so you could marry into a good family and live a comfortable, stable life."

"We risked going to jail! It was all for you."

As she spoke, Yao Yuzhen’s voice was terribly hoarse, but every word landed with immense weight.

But Shen Shuangshuang didn’t hear any of that convoluted reasoning. She only latched onto one sentence.

"Dad was really taken away? When did this happen?"

"This morning! When I went to find him, he’d already been taken away."

Yao Yuzhen wiped her face, her hand trembling slightly.

Shen Shuangshuang’s brows furrowed. "Mom, why didn’t you tell me sooner?"

Her voice rose an octave, laced with shock and anxiety.

Yao Yuzhen paused before saying quietly, "I thought... there was nothing you could do to help."

She lowered her eyes, no longer looking at her daughter.

Her emotions had calmed a little by now. She picked up a towel and slowly began to dry her hair.

Shen Shuangshuang asked urgently, "So Dad... will he go to prison?"

"When you asked to borrow money from me a few days ago, was that for Dad too?"

She stared into her mother’s eyes, waiting for confirmation.

Yao Yuzhen nodded.

"The Shen Family is dead set on holding us accountable and is demanding I return the money."

"Everything they gave your dad over the years. Not a single cent less."

Shen Shuangshuang immediately flew into a rage. "Do they have any conscience at all?"

"They’re sitting on mountains of gold and silver, and they choose now of all times to strike?"

She spun around, grabbed a cup, and hurled it to the floor.

"They’re obviously doing this just to screw with us! It’s so disgusting."

She clenched her fists, her face flushed red.

"Let them sue if they want to sue. The money? We’re not giving it back! Let’s see what kind of trouble they can stir up!"

As Shen Shuangshuang cursed out the Shen family, Yao Yuzhen’s heart finally eased a little. She felt that someone finally understood her own suffocating frustration.

"You should see the state your father is in now!"

She said, choking back sobs as she wiped away her tears.

"Those people from the Shen Family are getting more outrageous by the day! They... they actually laid a hand on your father!"

Before she could finish, she covered her face again, her shoulders shaking.

"They... they hit my dad?"

Shen Shuangshuang’s voice grew tight, almost cracking.

She was about to curse them out and ask what right they had, but the words caught in her throat.

’On second thought, what right?’

’They stopped playing by the rules a long time ago!’

She gritted her teeth so hard they audibly ground together.

"So... so what do we do now?"

She took half a step forward, her voice dropping, yet still laced with fury.

"Mom, how much cash do you have on you? Is it enough to pay them back?"

Yao Yuzhen shook her head. "Not enough. I gave your dad a lot before, and I gave him everything I withdrew last month..."

"Oh, right," she said, suddenly looking up. "That time at the teahouse, didn’t you pick up all the money that was scattered on the floor?"

Her gaze rested on her daughter’s face, not pressing, just waiting.

"Huh? I... I took it. I put it all away."

Shen Shuangshuang’s eyes darted around. She spoke haltingly, looking extremely guilty.

Yao Yuzhen stared at her for two seconds, and her heart sank. She vaguely understood something.

But this was the daughter she had doted on for over twenty years, spoiled like the apple of her eye. Even now, she couldn’t bring herself to say anything harsh. She only sighed.

"Of the five thousand I brought that day, a few hundred were missing when I got home."

Her voice grew quiet.

"In the past, I wouldn’t have cared about such a small amount. But now, with your father locked up..."

"The Shen Family also told me that all the money and property deeds transferred to him previously must be returned. I just..."

Her face was ashen. She reached up to wipe her face, only to find it covered in tears.

It was an expression that had never appeared on her face before.

But now, she felt as if she had aged ten years.

Shen Shuangshuang frowned, thinking for a long time before forcing out an idea.

"Mom, what about... your golden bracelets, earrings, and rings? Should we take them out?"

The moment the words left her mouth, her own face fell.

"Isn’t that just what the Shen Family is waiting for? For you to return all this? They probably want to give it to that thing, Shen Songyao, to wear, don’t they?"

"How disgusting!"

She rolled her eyes.

Hearing this, Yao Yuzhen froze, not saying a word.

Shen Shuangshuang hadn’t said a single word about the money she had secretly taken.

She just felt a prick in her heart, as if jabbed by a needle.

’This... I don’t think she should have done this.’

’She really shouldn’t have.’

In order to gather the money to bail out Ruan Yongxing, Yao Yuzhen made another trip to the detention center.

When they met, she repeated the Shen Family’s words to him, exactly as they were spoken.

"They made it very clear. Pay back the debt, return the house, and they’ll release you immediately."