Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“I was Chang Yuehuan’s roommate back then, although Ruan Keshan was never the popular type, however, he had attracted the attention of countless female students. However, it wasn’t similar to the flaunting love we have now, only burying it in our hearts. There’s joy in peeking at him. There were a few who were bold enough to send him a love letter, and when Ruan Keyu received said love letters, he was polite enough to say thanks, however, things never progressed further than that. I have no idea how Ruan Keyu fell for Chang Yuehuan, however, they ended up as a couple. Upon graduation, Ruan Keyu proposed to Chang Yuehuan.”
It seemed this event troubled Liu Ronghua. She continued after taking another puff of her cigarette, “You already knew, back then, the Chang family household was also on J city. Chang Yuehuan brought Ruan Keyu back home, however, the family disapproved of their relationship, and had even decided on an arranged marriage for her. Back in those days, the parent’s approval was more important than anything else. The free relationship such as the one, both Ruan Keyu and Chang Yuehuan shared was extremely rare, not to mention a huge family such as the Chang family would have never even bother to glance at a poor boy like Ruan Keyu. At that time, Ruan Keyu’s father was still a chief in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and was not awarded the Fields Medal, and was not even well known throughout the country. A mere assistant professor in B University. A family like that would have never gained the approval of the Chang family.”
“However, after that, Chang Yuehuan and Ruan Keyu ran away together. They ran away to (Blank) City and I’ve come along with them” Liu Ronghua let out a self derogatory chuckle and said, “Of course I am extremely in love with Ruan Keyu, the only thing was, I’ve kept my love for him buried deep within my heart, and the both of them had no idea. I’ve told Chang Yuehuan that I’ve got a job as a teacher in an elementary school in Shuo City. Ruan Keyu however, was a lecturer in Shuo City University. Although Shuo city was not huge, however, Shuo City University was still well known, especially when it’s also ranked in the international University ranking and that was why even till this day, Shuo City University was still ranked domestically. However, even if that was the case, he was forced. If he wanted, he could’ve very easily worked in B City University and it was all due to the fractured relationship with the Chang family, he left to Shuo City with Chang Yuehuan.”
“I’ve always thought, Chang Yuehuan had a hand in Ruan Keyu’s death. If it wasn’t for her, Ruan Keyu would have never had to endure the shame of leaving to that secluded rural Shuo City University, and thus, would’ve never been a victim in that explosion. However, with a much deeper thought, if it wasn’t for the disapproval of the Chang family upon their relationship, Ruan Keyu would’ve never had the need to run away with Chang Yuehuan. If the Chang family had not been so arrogant, and was willing to accept Ruan Keyu, it was their lack of mercy to prevent Ruan Keyu to survive in J city. Not only in J city, any city that would provide a bright future, with the Chang family’s power and influence, they are able to do anything.”
“Although the reach of their influence and powers were not as powerful as The Great Eight Families, however, to take care of someone as insignificant as Ruan Keyu, wouldn’t even be an issue for the Chang family. And thus, Ruan Keyu dared not to even head over to B City since he was worried this debacle would bring unwanted trouble to his own brother and father. I was once happy for the Chang family’s refusal in accepting Ruan Keyu. I thought as long as Chang Yuehuan had gotten herself married, I will stay by Ruan Keyu’s side, consoling him, comforting him, maybe then he will finally notice me.”
Chang Jingqiu let out a mocking laugh while pouting furiously.
Whatever Liu Ronghua said was pleasing to hear, perhaps she truly loved Ruan Keyu back then, however, Ruan Keyu had absolutely nothing of value. The Ruan family back then was completely worthless and as a vainglorious woman such as Liu Ronghua, it was impossible for her to stay by Ruan Keyu’s side for too long.
Even if she ended up with Ruan Keyu and had gotten married; if she met someone more exceptional than Ruan Keyu, wealthier than him, Liu Ronghua would leave him in a heartbeat. It was uncertain how often she would cheat on while she was with Ruan Keyu.
As Chang Jingqiu silently contemplated, Liu Ronghua’s face suddenly contorted and morphed to an odd-looking expression.
Her thumb and index finger were gripping the cigarette tightly as if she was grabbing onto a stick. The ash in front of the cigarette grew longer with every passing second. However, in Liu Ronghua’s agitated state, she flailed her shoulders while gripping onto the cigarette as the ash began to scatter around. Chang Jingqiu frowned as she watched Liu Ronghua made such a mess in her car.
Liu Ronghua spoke in her severely agitated state, “It was all the Chang family’s doing to have caused Ruan Keyu to die at such a young age, and to even die in such a violent death! It seems the heavens were not blind to sentence Chang Yuehuan to die from a miscarriage, it was retribution for the Chang family, it was Chang Yuehuan’s own retribution! She deserves to die! However, she died on the same day as Ruan Keshan, was it due to their bond as a married couple? Even through death, they had to die on the same day!”
Liu Ronghua’s face contorted further as her movements were even more unstable, she continued, “However, I will never let go of the Chang family! It was the Chang family that had caused the death of Ruan Keyu, I’m not done with the Chang family yet! I love him and so I will avenge his death.”
Liu Ronghua’s voice gradually became softer. The initial soft tone in her voice became even softer this instant, however, through Chang Jingqiu’s ears, her voice seemed slightly terrifying and mad.
“And so I’ve given the Chang family a complete fraud, you. The Chang family had raised you for 27 years, given you the best that they could offer, took care of you and even Madam. Chang spoiled you rotten. So tell me, what would happen if that old coot found out the child she raised for 27 years was a fraud all along, and had placed herself in various tough positions for her granddaughter, how exactly would she feel? Would the members of the Chang family be disgusted as if they had eaten faeces? Would the old Madam. Chang be so infuriated, it would cause her to be in a cardiac arrest? Even to the extent of being at the brink of death?” Liu Ronghua lightly chuckled. Her expression grew madder, and her chuckles were extremely high pitched.
It seemed the old Madam Chang had poured everything she owed to her daughter on Chang Jingqiu. However, Liu Ronghua do not think the old Madam. Chang did all of that out of the kindness of her own heart, hence her assumption of guilt.
Back then, she acted so mercilessly and now she wanted to repent for her sins; things would not be so simple!
She intended to rob the opportunity of repentance and redemption from Madam. Chang, the redemption she attempted for several decades would have ended up to be a mistake, she wanted her to be disgusted by her own actions!
The more Liu Ronghua thought about it, the more excited she grew. She laughed and cackled to the extent of shrugging both her shoulders.
Chang Jingqiu was stunned as both her eyes were completely wide open, she stared directly at Liu Ronghua as she could not believe a thing she had just heard. She asked, “So you’re saying the true daughter of Ruan Keyu was Ruan Danchen?”
“You’re absolutely right.” Liu Ronghua flicked off some ash out the side window of the car then proceeded to take another puff. She continued, “I’ve loved Keyu that much, how could I ever have the heart to give his own daughter to the heartless Chang family. I need to raise her myself, she’s Keyu’s daughter. She truly resembled Keyu, every time I see her, it was like meeting Keyu, the resemblance was uncanny. It was like… Keyu was still with me by my side.”
Liu Ronghua’s eyes were clouded at this moment, unsure where she drifted off too.
Out of a sudden, Chang Jingqiu mockingly took a jab at her saying, “You truly have a way with words, since you’ve loved Ruan Keyu that much, why are you so cruel to his daughter? Even if you wouldn’t send her to the Chang family, then send her over to the Ruan family, by doing so, she wouldn’t have suffered that much staying by your side. You would send her to sleep with a complete stranger just to secure a better future for yourself, seeing how cold she was to you right now, and you would not have gotten anything from her any longer, you would ruin her good name, so tell me, is this how you choose to love Ruan Keyu?”
Chang Jingqiu was never one to impose absolute justice, and she never wished to speak for Ruan Danchen, however, she could no longer stand to look at Liu Ronghua’s awful face.
Liu Ronghua’s eyes were wide opened as if she was seemingly still under a trance. She said, “So what if that’s the case? All I ever wanted was to keep her close to my side, I allowed her to carry the Ruan family’s name so I’ve already kept an heir for Ruan Keyu! Who told her to be Chang Yuehuan’s daughter? I wanted to treat her well, every time I thought about Ruan Keyu, I wished to treat her well, however, the moment I thought about Chang Yuehuan, thought about her being Chang Yuehuan’s daughter, I would change my mind. Tell me, what can I do? I had no other choice.”
“What about me? Where did you find me then?” Chang Jingqiu questioned coldly.
“My house used to be in J City, the only thing was, I’ve left my village. Your parents too were from our village, both of them already had two daughters and they wanted a son. However, unexpectedly, you were their third-born child and too was a daughter. The husband works away from the village and the wife would remain in the village to watch over that tiny plot of a field, the family wasn’t wealthy. The truth was, our village was never poor, however, that married couple was infamous for their impoverished state in the village.” Resentment was obvious through Liu Ronghua’s face from the sheer mention of that village.
“The more they’ve wished for a son, the more unlikely they’ll bear one, the less likely to have a son, the more they attempted to give birth to one; and hence they more children they have, the poorer they’d be.” Liu Ronghua pouted extremely mockingly while judging the family. She continued, “And thus, they’ve sold their child. Both your blood-related sister were mature enough then, not a single person was willing to make that purchase, they fear it would be a burden to raise. They hoped to sell you off for a great price. However, since it was a daughter, and at that time, only those who were wealthy and infertile would think about buying a child, however, who would spend money for a daughter? The only people who would buy one, would only want you as a child’s bride”
“And thus, they had no choice but to sell their child off to human traffickers.” Liu Ronghua said while taking another puff of the cigarette then proceeded to exhale a cloud of thin white smoke. She continued, “So, you should really thank me for not only saving you from human traffickers, I had given you such an extravagant luxurious life. If it wasn’t for me to have bought you from both your parents, you would’ve been sold to human traffickers, perhaps even be sold into a life of slavery, never seeing the light of day for the rest of your life, or maybe even harvest your organs by someone malicious.”
“I have given you a second chance in life, you should be extremely grateful to me.” Liu Ronghua said with a mocking grin. Upon noticing there was only a tiny bit of her cigarette remaining, she pulled out the ashtray from the car, proceeded to put out her cigarette then toss the remaining cigarettes she had left in the ashtray.
“What do you want for telling me all of this?” Chang Jingqiu stared coldly at her. She said, “You’ve spent so much effort to send me into the Chang family, just to destroy the Chang family. I believe you wouldn’t want the Chang family to know the truth. ”
“Who told you that? I happened to be extremely excited to watch the reaction from the old Madam. Chang’s face when she found out about the truth of all of this. It would be better if she would end up bedridden by some ailment. Especially when she was permanently bedridden by the plaguing ailment, to never have a happy ending for the final years of her life.” As Liu Ronghua spoke, both her lips were pressed tightly and firmly together, while a sadistic expression formed on her face.
“If you were determined to tell everyone the truth, you wouldn’t be here, talking to me.” Chang Jingqiu coldly exclaimed.
Liu Ronghua chuckled softly while she brushed her hair, dawning a carefree look, she said, “You were the one who brought me here, hellbent to know the truth right? If I hadn’t been so blatantly honest with you, how would you be convinced that I have leverage over you? At the end of the day, I am not like you, to have done heartless, traitorous things. I’ve never once sought you out after sending you into the Chang family, never once interrupted your personal life. Unlike you, after using me to further your goals, you’ve tossed me aside. If it wasn’t for your lack of mercy and gratitude, you wouldn’t have forced my hand.”
Liu Ronghua chuckled and said, “I am now finally a firm believer of the importance of a person’s familial status. It’s no wonder families of status were so adamant in matching up with the right familial background and name. It seemed I have ruined the status you’ve held.”
Chang Jingqiu was extremely furious as she could not believe and accept the fact that she, herself was birthed with such horrible status.
Furious by how clearly Liu Ronghua had seen through her facade, without a second of hesitation, she lifted her left arm which was the same arm she used to punch the steering wheel earlier to hit Liu Ronghua.
However, the strength in her left arm was not enough, and was instead grabbed by Liu Ronghua. The current state of Liu Ronghua was never the same, usual weak and frail persona she presented herself to be.
Chang Jingqiu never attempted to continue assaulting her, only saying, “Speak for yourself, you weren’t as great of a person either and yet you had the audacity to mock in my face? Liu Ronghua, if you can’t show me any actual evidence, I will never believe a word you say.”
Liu Ronghua pouted and said, “I’ve already booked a flight for your actual birth parents. When both of them had arrived, you may go on ahead to reunite with both your actual birth parents, and perhaps even run a DNA test, only then will you know what the actual status for your birth was.”
Chang Jingqiu gritted her teeth tightly as the boiling fury exploded in her chest however, she had nowhere to unleash her anger. As Liu Ronghua stared at her expression, seemingly hinting at her that she was merely a toy that held no actual power.
“What on Earth do you want by telling me all of this?” Chang Jingqiu questioned coldly.
Liu Ronghua knew she had finally believed her, she said, “Qi Chenglin gave me 30million bucks to stop me from ever approaching Ruan Danchen. If you want me to keep this information to myself, how much do you think it’ll cost?”
Without moving an inch, Chang Jingqiu stared at Liu Ronghua’s mocking expression of her own self inflated ego, [She had the audacity to make such a request!] Chang Jingqiu thought to herself.
“I’ll think about how much I am willing to pay, however, it will have to wait for any evidence to be presented, we’ll wait for those two people to arrive, after testing their DNA, I will give you a sum.”
After Chang Jingqiu was done speaking, she drove away from the scene. She forced Liu Ronghua to get out her car after reaching the city, since she was not in the mood to send her all the way back home.
…
Ruan Danchen made Ruan Zeer and Li Yiming stay in the prestigious residences for lunch. Lunch was hand-cooked by Ruan Danchen, thus causing both Ruan Zeer and Li Yiming to feel slightly bashful. They only intended to visit Ruan Danchen and the kid in order to make sure they were doing fine, however, they inadvertently caused so much trouble for Ruan Danchen.
Since Qi Chenglin was home today, a person of such high godly status in their presence made both of them extremely nervous.
However, it seemed that Qi Chenglin too seemed unsure, as he was conflicted between striking up a casual conversation with them or he should use questions to connect with them.
With Qi Chenglin’s age and experience, he was completely in the position to be their elder, however, it seemed to Ruan Zeer that Qi Chenglin was no regular elder as a commanding aura that was radiating out of Qi Chenglin’s body, it almost seemed as if, Alexander The Great was present with them.
Ruan Zeer was usually never this nervous even with the presence of his own grandfather since even though his grandfather was the chief of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, his grandfather was extremely caring and friendly toward him; in addition to his grandfather as a researcher, his grandfather seemed much more elegant in comparison to the morbid person such as Qi Chenglin.
And thus, both Ruan Zeer and Li Yiming were unknowingly extremely tense.
Since it was Sunday and the stock market was closed, Qi Chenglin was watching the news. Ruan Zeer was unsure how Qi Chenglin managed to interact with them while watching the news.
A much fitting example would be, while watching the news, Qi Chenglin would suddenly ask them, “So, where do you both study?”
Ruan Zeer: “B1 High School.”
Qi Chenglin: “Okay.”
And thus, the conversation ended.
Ruan Zeer: “…”
However, after several minutes, Qi Chenglin would suddenly question again, “So, besides your grandparents and your parents, who else do you still have in your family?”
“There is still my grandpa, grandma and both my uncle and aunt from my maternal side.” Ruan Zeer stared curiously at Qi Chenglin as he wondered why was Qi Chenglin so interested in his family, was he worried that he would be up to no good in attempts to grow closer to Ruan Danchen and Qi Youxuan?
However, judging from Qi Chenglin’s looks, it was unlikely for that to be the case.
Qi Chenglin placed the Ipad down and stared directly at Ruan Zeer with his pearly black eyes, then suddenly with a grin on his face, he calmly said, “There’s no need to be nervous, I was simply making small talk.”
“…” Ruan Zeer felt his heart was beating as if a thousand horses were galloping and stampeding in an open field.
Just by his looks alone, how can he not be nervous?
Mr. Qi, would you like to take a good look at your own reflection?
“I heard you say you had an uncle previously?” Qi Chenglin said as his eyebrows twitched a little.
Ruan Zeer was stunned as he had a sad look on his face. He said, “Yea, but he passed away a good while ago, my parents showed me a picture of him, a full family portrait; my dad and grandpa would very often tell me stories about his past. He was a great uncle, if he was still around, I believe, I would very much get along with him and even follow him around, he would love that.”
Qi Chenglin remained silent as he simply nodded.
Ruan Zeer took a quick peek at Qi Chenglin, he noticed that man seemed slightly bored, he thought it was a natural thing for anyone to console him at situations like these.
That man never offered any words of consolation, then why even bother to ask in the first place?
Then, Qi Chenglin proceeded to pick up his Ipad once more, unsure of what exactly he was looking at.
At this moment, the child walked out from the washroom while lifting his pants up with one arm. He noticed the tense atmosphere in the living room, and it was by the tense pressure subjected by Qi Chenglin’s presence, causing both of them to not even dare speak up. Even the sounds of the meal being cooked up in the kitchen was livelier than that tense situation.
The kid pouted while he waddled his way over. He said, “Oh my god daddy, can’t you entertain these two big brothers properly?”
Qi Chenglin glared at him, with a calm demeanor on his face, he replied, “We were talking earlier.”
“…” Ruan Zeer was completely speechless.
He thought to himself, [Mr.Qi, you call this talking?]
The toddler felt the need to shoulder the weight of the responsibilities as the man of the house, especially when Ruan Zeer went out his way to come by just to visit him today, hence he fed him a strawberry on a fork while saying, “Big bro Ruan, hurry up and eat it, there’s no need to care about my dad, he won’t be talking.”
“…” Ruan Zeer was once again speechless.
[Kiddo, you don’t seem to talk too much either!] He thought to himself.
[Just look at how furious your dad’s face had become!]
Ruan Zeer never had much interaction with anymore members of the Qi family, he only knew Qi Youxuan and his father, and he wondered if people from the Qi family do not actually enjoy talking too much.
The toddler proceeded to feed Li Yiming a strawberry as well. He then said, “In the entirety of our Qi family, there is no one else more talkative than I am. My eldest uncle was like that as well. From what I’ve heard, my fourth uncle wasn’t like that in the past, However, ever since he got enlisted in the military, he progressively became less and less talkative, and grew closer with my dad and my eldest uncle. You guys had no idea that every family gathering we held, all the way from my grandpa, my dad to my uncle, not a single word was spoken by them, or sometimes, they speak very little. It’s only when they speak to their wives will they speak more often. Like my grandpa, he would only spend the entire day talking to my grandma. My eldest uncle would only talk to my eldest aunt, and my dad would only talk to my mom. The remaining members, the ladies of the family would all speak to me.”
And thus, the kid spoke out gleefully without holding anything back, Qi Chenglin felt as if his son would actually blurt out some deeply hidden family secret; finally unable to watch any longer, Qi Chenglin responded with a loud cough, “Ahem!”
“Daddy, here, eat some strawberries!” Qi Youxuan’s reaction was lightning fast as he immediately fed his father a piece.
“…” Qi Chenglin was speechless and hence he shoved an entire strawberry into his mouth.
Qi Youxuan then proceeded to feed Ruan Zeer a piece of papaya with a fork, with a gleeful, excited tone, he said, “Big bro Ruan, hurry up and eat it, my aunt told me it was good for your health.”
“…” Ruan Zeer was speechless.
Ruan Zeer was in an anguished state while receiving that piece of papaya from Qi Youxuan. He watched as Qi Youxuan gleefully enjoyed his papaya and he was worried that kid would tell everyone the same thing, he responded with a forced cough and said, “Oh Youxuan, this would be better for a woman to eat, it doesn’t really matter if a man eats it or not.”
“Really? Why is it better for a woman to eat it then?” Qi Youxuan asked as he was puzzled by his response.
“Well, this…” Ruan Zeer stared blankly at Qi Youxuan. Since his family was deeply rooted in the field of research, even as quick-witted as Ruan Zeer was, he was still slightly dull, as he felt that even if he was still a child, he could not lie to him.
And thus, he said, “The anatomy for both a guy and a girl is different, so there are certain foods that would greatly benefit women.”
As the kid listened to his explanation, it seemed as if he was still slightly confused but still somewhat understood the general gist of the explanation, he responded with a loud, “Oh.” unsure of what the child had suddenly realized, he looked down at his pants with a fully enlightened expression on his face; then proceeded to look up while facing Ruan Zeer, he said, “I understand now.”
