Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Grandmother Chang was unwilling to yield even though he was telling the truth. Then, she protested with a softer tone. “Even if I gave her a few comments, it would just be an elder advising a youngster. But their actions tonight were dreadful!”
Chang Zhiyuan sighed. He knew well enough that Grandmother Chang was unwilling to admit her mistakes for the sake of her dignity. Besides, her current weakened temper was indicative that she regretted her previous actions.
“Mom, I know how harsh your words can be when you’re angry,” Chang Zhiyuan said.
Grandmother Chang pursed her lips tightly and remained silent.
“Don’t you understand? Qi Chenglin made it obvious that no one could scold Ruan Danchen—even the slightest complaint about her would make him explode with anger. Besides, anything between them was none of your business, so please don’t trouble yourself and provoke them again,” Chang Zhiyuan advised.
Grandmother Chang kept quiet but Chang Jingqiu wailed all of a sudden on her thighs. “Grandma, what should I do after what happened just now? Nobody will pay any attention to me if this issue leaks out. Boohoo…”
“That’s enough! Jingqiu, I’ve always assumed that you were a thoughtful lady, but is this the right moment to cry? Would any of this happen if you advised your grandma yesterday?” Chang Zhiyuan interrupted Chang Jingqiu and scolded.
“That’s it. What does this have to do with Jingqiu? She’s pitiful enough today, so why are you scolding her? Jingqiu is the most innocent here. Ruan Danchen wouldn’t bear grudges if you didn’t introduce her to Qi Chenglin last time. Besides, can you really blame her when she had no idea that Qi Chenglin was engaged with Ruan Danchen at that time? Ruan Danchen was so narrow-minded, and she even harbored bitter resentment. What a vicious lady!” Grandmother Chang glared at Chang Zhiyuan angrily.
Chang Zhiyuan smiled angrily after listening to Grandmother Chang. Did she realize that she was putting all the blame on him when she mentioned all those?
Chang Zhiyuan felt too lazy to continue arguing with Grandmother Chang. He only hoped that she would remember the lessons and stop provoking Ruan Danchen in the future. He gave this some thoughts during Grandmother Chang’s period of unconsciousness and realized that it was pointless trying to apologize to Qi Chenglin anymore. He only hoped that Qi Chenglin would not bear grudges after taking his revenge.
Grandmother Chang’s sons fetched her home, since she was better, instead of staying and creating more disturbances in the hospital.
Chang Jingqiu decided to leave as well.. Even though she did not continue wailing at Grandmother Chang, she needed to express her feelings after being unjustly treated too. Thus, a steady stream of tears flowed down her cheeks like a loser on her way home. The sight of her would induce pity in others for her.
Grandmother Chang felt especially sorry for Chang Jingqiu when she noticed Chang Jingqiu’s expression trying to contain her grievance despite being wronged. Then, she mumbled that Chang Jingqiu was well-mannered, unlike Ruan Danchen whose thoughts were vicious.
Fortunately, Chang Zhiyuan and his family were in a different vehicle, or else he would feel vexed upon noticing Grandmother Chang and Chang Jingqiu’s behaviors.
…
…
On the other hand, Qi Chenglin and Ruan Danchen bid farewell to Yan Beicheng and his gang before returning to Prestige Residences.
Ruan Danchen’s heart sank immediately when there was no sign of the kid yelling or welcoming them enthusiastically like he usually did upon entering the house. Then, Aunt Zheng whispered after Ruan Danchen changed into a pair of slippers, “Youxuan is in the living room watching cartoons just now. Then, he turned off the television immediately after realizing that you were back and started sulking.”
Ruan Danchen fought the urge to grin. The kid started to sulk only after they returned home, so was that considered sulking at all?
This was exactly why they thought Youxuan was the cutest. The wind would blow away his temper so easily whenever he was angry.
“Youxuan, we’re home.” Ruan Danchen’s sweet voice went up several decibels on purpose, and unsurprisingly, there was no response from the kid.
Ruan Danchen turned around and smiled at Qi Chenglin before bringing him to the living room.
The kid extended his neck to stare at them initially, but he pouted and turned his head away immediately after noticing his parents.
This was the first time the kid threw a tantrum at Ruan Danchen, so she had no idea how to respond. Left with no choice, she put on a smile and hugged the kid, trying to ingratiate him.
The kid was stunned and frozen to the spot, pondering whether he should struggle or not. After a few seconds of consideration, he pouted unhappily and his small and soft body leaned closer to Ruan Danchen unconsciously like a good boy, sniffing the familiar scent his mother emitted.
The kid really missed his mother after parting with her for three days.
Ruan Danchen noticed his reaction and immediately recalled a phrase commonly used in novels with cool, handsome, wild, domineering, and assertive themes back in the days, ‘The mouth says no, but the body says otherwise.’
It was especially amusing to apply this phrase on the kid himself.
Looking at his awkward expression, Ruan Danchen smiled and planted a kiss on his soft cheek heavily.
“Don’t be angry, your dad and I were caught in some situation this evening, which was why we couldn’t fetch you personally today,” Ruan Danchen coaxed gently.
“Humph, don’t you guys miss me?” Qi Youxuan pouted and questioned them.
“Of course we miss you. The house was so desolate and quiet when you left that day. I even went to your room to check on you on the same night after you left, but I opened the door to an empty room instead.”
Ruan Danchen went to his bedroom last Friday night to check if he kicked his blanket away and wanted to give him a goodnight kiss, but she had completely forgotten about the fact that he was not at home that night.
She opened the door to a cold, dark room with no signs of life. The sight of an empty bed without hearing his familiar snoring reminded Ruan Danchen that his son had left for his school trip, and she felt especially upset about it.
“What were you guys doing in the afternoon?” The kid asked with an ‘I will not forgive you if your answer was unsatisfying’ look on his face.
“She was bullied yesterday so I brought her to take revenge on the bully today,” Qi Chenglin explained lightly.
Qi Youxuan forgot about his annoyance at them immediately after hearing what Qi Chenglin said. He asked firmly with a high-pitched tone, “Who bullied Mom?”
Qi Chenglin fought the urge to smile and sat beside Ruan Danchen, resting his elegant palm on the kid’s head and stroking his hair gently.
The winter camp organized by his school was meant to train the children, so the kid had no time to take care of his cool and handsome hairstyle. Thus, the hair which was soft and smooth on his head was now kinked out in random directions. It vaguely resembled a bird’s nest after Qi Chenglin tousled his hair.
“Dad, don’t mess around with my hair. I need to take care of my image at home too.” Qi Youxuan quickly lifted his chubby and fair arms and started combing his messy hair with his short and plump fingers.
“There are no outsiders at home and besides, we’ve seen your scruffy appearance after you wake up in the morning too.” Since the kid was so particular about his image, Ruan Danchen wanted to tease her cute son playfully, so she ran her fingers through his hair and made a mess out of it again.
The kid sighed grudgingly and stared at Ruan Danchen as if he was trying to say, ‘Mom, why are you so immature?’
“This is me trying to take care of my image from a young age. I need to preserve my image consistently when I’m married to Mumu in the future too. I can’t afford to relax just because I’m at home. Mumu will despise me when I become a faded old man,” Qi Youxuan said with a serious expression on his chubby face.
Ruan Danchen felt speechless as she stared at her son. She heard of the phrase ‘faded old woman’ before, but what in the world was a ‘faded old man’?
Then, Qi Youxuan glanced at Qi Chenglin. His father had been dressing up nicely and made himself presentable ever since his mother stayed in this house in fear that she may feel disgusted at him.
“Dad, you haven’t answered me. Who bullied Mom?” Qi Youxuan remembered Qi Chenglin’s statement just now and his attention was not shifted by the sudden change in topic.
Qi Chenglin did not raise Qi Youxuan as an ignorant boy, so he did not give his son any perfunctory explanation and told him the truth instead.
Qi Youxuan listened to his explanation and his anger ceased immediately after realizing that they really went to take revenge for Ruan Danchen. The way Qi Youxuan tightened his fists and narrowed his big eyes made him look like Qi Chenglin.
“I’m not angry now, but bring me along with you next time when you seek revenge again!” Qi Youxuan said with tightened fists.
“Silly boy, you want your Mom to get bullied again?” Qi Chenglin tapped on Qi Youxuan’s small head gently.
Qi Youxuan pouted after realizing the mistake in his statement. He sat up straight in Ruan Danchen’s arms with his chubby hands resting on each side of his rotund waist and said arrogantly, “They only need to bully my mom once but we can avenge her multiple times. Make them regret, and make them too busy to bully my mom again!”
Ruan Danchen did not take his words seriously. She just smiled and kissed his cheek in response.
However, Qi Chenglin nodded his head seriously and said, “Good idea.”
“…’ Ruan Danchen was at a loss for words.
…
…
Since the kid was back from his school trip, Ruan Zeer called him on Wednesday night and asked if the kid and his family were free the coming Sunday. Ruan Zeer would bring Li Yiming along to visit them if they were free on that day.
The kid jumped up out of exhilaration and ran barefoot from his bedroom to Qi Chenglin’s bedroom. “Dad, Mom, Brother Ruan called. He wants to visit us and asked if we’re free this Sunday!”
“We’re free,” Ruan Danchen took over her son’s phone and replied Ruan Zeer personally.
Ruan Zeer hung up the phone call happily and started reading an authentic literature on the head end of the bed.
In the study room, Ruan Keshan was writing a thesis while Chen Minxia was searching for some reference books. All of a sudden, she noticed a box under the bookshelf and became interested in it after realizing that it was a box of photo albums.
Her son had grown up and as a mother, she yearned for her son’s cuteness during his youth. Thus, she withdrew the box and took out the photo albums inside it, wiping the dust that accumulated on the album cover over time, and flipped through the photographs.
Then, she picked up another photo album, wiped the dust off the front cover before opening it. This was the Ruan family’s photo album and inside it were photographs of Ruan Keshan and Ruan Keyu in their youths.
Just when she was about to flip through the album, a photograph slipped out of it.
Even though the photograph was colored, it had become discolored over the course of time and the outfits inside the photograph were old-fashioned too.
Inside the photograph were three youngsters—a male and two females. The females stood together beside the man, who was wearing a white shirt with rolled-up sleeves, revealing his muscular and fair arms, and a pair of black long pants. She looked at the date which was written on the right lower corner of the photograph; it was taken twenty-eight years ago.
The way the man inside the photograph dressed up was considered old-school according to current trends because it was almost thirty years ago, but somehow the man did not radiate such temperament. He would still be a handsome and admirable individual if he wore the same outfit in the current world.
The young man in the white shirt even looked scholarly and elegant, and with a pair of delicate eyes, he appeared like an angel descending to the mortal world. He was considered an out-an-out handsome man even in the current world.
It was considered beautiful if such facial features were on a woman, but it would be too good-looking if it belonged to a man.
One of his hands was buried in his pocket while another held onto the woman’s hand. Their fingers intertwined tightly and the very sight of it induced envy in others.
The woman’s height reached the man’s shoulder level. Her skin was white as snow but her cheeks were flushed red. The redness was not only due to the makeup, but was also contributed by the joy and shyness when she stood beside her lover.
Her waist-length hair hung limp naturally without any straightening or coloring, and a few strands of hair rested on the man’s arm as it was blown by the wind, making it appear charming and beautiful.
Happiness flared in her eyes as they extended into crescent shapes, and by the looks of her, even the strangers would think that she was a gentle and quiet lady.
The kind of shy smile she had was natural and poised, whereas the other lady who appeared almost the same age as her had the same shy smile on her face too. However, the second lady’s shy smile appeared unnatural in Chen Minxia’s opinion.
The second lady had a pair of eyes that appeared innocent and could easily invoke pity in others. Some men loved such facial features, but most of them were as thick as two short planks. Chen Minxia assumed that any intelligent man would choose the lady in the middle to be his other half instead of the lady whose expression appeared fake and unnatural.
Chen Minxia could not refrain from glancing at Ruan Keshan because her husband was an intelligent man too.
Then, she grinned involuntarily while immersing herself in her thoughts.
All the brainpower Ruan Keshan possessed was reflected in his intelligence quotient, whereas his emotional quotient was terrific. He was a dull person who only specialized in the research field. Anything other than research would be all Greek to him, so naturally, he knew nothing about circumlocution. In conclusion, he was considered a pure-minded man.
He dedicated his life researching various propositions and theses, not for fame or fortune, but for scientific breakthroughs and advancements. His aim was simple and yet, no one would doubt him when he stated his intentions. That was his personality.
She was introduced to Ruan Keshan through friends. It was not love at first sight, but she was intrigued by his honesty and straightforward personality. Even though there was no mention regarding Ruan Keshan’s true feelings towards Chen Minxia but she figured that he liked her at first glance, judging from his constant stuttering on their first meeting.
Besides research, Ruan Keshan puts the rest of his efforts into his family, wishing for good and prosperous lives for both his father and brother. Even though his father gave more compliments to Ruan Keyu, Ruan Keshan never felt envious at all and instead, he felt honored and proud to have such an awesome brother.
Ruan Keshan who was too absorbed in his work did not notice his wife’s gaze. Chen Minxia smiled and shifted her gaze back to the man in the photograph.
Ruan Keyu was Ruan Keshan’s brother and also her brother-in-law. Even she must admit that Ruan Keyu would be an outstanding and remarkable man if he was still well and alive. He would be the utmost pride of the Ruan family.
Chen Minxia sighed at the thought of Ruan Keyu, whose intellect induced jealousy in God and thus, he was sent to heaven.
Then, she shifted her gaze for no reason to the second lady whom she disliked, staring at her demureness…
Demureness?
A thought struck Chen Minxia. She took out her phone hastily and searched for Liu Ronghua in Weibo. Then, a list of topics regarding Liu Ronghua popped up almost instantaneously.
Chen Minxia scrolled through the topics and in the twinkling of an eye, she found Liu Ronghua’s photographs.
“Lao Ruan!” Chen Minxia yelled all of a sudden.
The engrossed Ruan Keshan jumped at Chen Minxia’s sudden cry, assuming that something had happened to her. He got up from the chair quickly and asked, “What’s going on?”
He was in such a hurry that he almost knocked down the chair..
Chen Minxia was not in the right mood to laugh at him. She hurried forward and said, “Don’t worry, I’m alright. Take a look at this.”
Then, she passed her phone with Liu Ronghua’s photo in it and the old photograph to Ruan Keshan.
“No wonder you said the name ‘Liu Ronghua’ sounded familiar. I felt that it was familiar too. Look at these two photographs—aren’t they the same person?” Chen Minxia uttered excitingly. Her heart raced at an incredible speed and her hands, which were holding the photograph, trembled uncontrollably.
Ruan Keshan compared the two images in his hands, and without the need for Chen Minxia’s reminder, he found Liu Ronghua straight away in the old photograph.
It was fortunate that Liu Ronghua remained unremitting in her skin maintenance. She appeared more mature and plump now. There were faint wrinkles on her face and her skin was not as smooth as before, but Ruan Keshan recognized her straight away since there were not many physical changes in general.
“This… this…” Ruan Keshan stammered and his hands trembled out of excitement.
Chen Minxia continued. “This lady followed Keyu and Yuehuan when they came to Shuo City for the first time to visit us. If I’m not mistaken, I was the one who took this picture of them at that time. Initially, it was just a photograph of Keyu and Yuehuan only, but this lady ran towards them out of excitement and stood right beside Yuehuan. None of us gave this much thought since she it might just be her childish character. We kept this photo too because both Keyu and Yuehuan looked so compatible together.”
Ruan Keshan stared at his brother in his youth in the photograph. His appearance would remain the same throughout the memory, devoid of any chances to grow old again.
Tears started welling up in Ruan Keshan’s eyes. “Who would expect an explosion in a laboratory in Shuo City University when Yuehuan was giving birth and coincidentally, Keyu was in that building too…”
Chen Minxia felt dejected too. She tapped gently on Ruan Keshan’s back with a lump in her throat, fighting back the tears that threatened to leave her eyes. “Who would’ve expected Yuehuan to pass away due to an obstructed labor? When we received the news and rushed to the hospital, both Yuehuan and the child were already long gone. We have no idea what has happened to the kid now…”
Ruan Keshan shuddered. Even his hand which was holding the old photograph was shaking uncontrollably. “Do you mean… Liu Ronghua knows the whereabouts of Keyu’s child? We don’t even know about his child’s gender as of now. Keyu left us for more than twenty years already and we didn’t even take good care of his child for this whole time. I’ve failed you, Keyu! When Dad knew both Keyu and his wife passed away, and their only offspring were left deserted, alone in the world, he locked himself in his room for three days without having any meals, looking so much older when he finally came out of his room. The only matter I regretted the most throughout this lifetime was my lack of care towards Keyu and thus at such a young age, he ended up…”
Tears welled up in his red-rimmed eyes. They managed to escape as Ruan Keshan started weeping silently.
“I regret that I didn’t manage to locate Keyu’s child and take good care of his only offspring. How should I face him when the time comes? I’ll die with an everlasting grievance if I can’t find the child! I get scared whenever I think about how I have no idea what kind of life his child lived or the suffering he endured. I’m worried that his life may be in a mess or he has suffered a great deal in life. What if he became a beggar? Nowadays the beggar organizations treats children rather inhumanly. What if they bullied and harmed him since young?
“I couldn’t refrain from thinking about Keyu’s child whenever I see those young beggars with deformed limbs on the road. I know some organizations controlled these beggars and none of the cash would end up in their hands, but I can’t help but give them money because I fear Keyu’s child is one of them! Don’t forget about the human traffickers too. What if he ended up with a trafficker? I would be looking for a needle in a haystack if he got sold somewhere else. I lost Keyu’s child just like that. I lost him! I don’t deserve to be his brother!
“I remember Keyu liked to follow me when we were young. He was so small at that time, and he would grab onto my shirt and follow me wherever I went like a tail. He was always bullied by boys just because he was too beautiful—just like a girl—and I would always be there to protect him. When we went to school, the girls would have a crush on him because of his appearance, whereas those hateful boys would bully him. I protected him. Our financial status wasn’t very good at that time. We reared hens, and every time they laid eggs, my grandpa would be the first to eat. If there was more than one egg, then mom would give it to dad, and he would leave it for us to split it in half silently. I would always give the half with the most egg yolk to Keyu.”
