“All right, it’s too late today. I’ll come for you tomorrow morning and take you back to the unit.”
Qin Lie said this, his brow still tightly furrowed.
He couldn’t fully trust Shen Ran. In his eyes, this woman had very little credibility. Only after everything was settled tomorrow could he finally relax.
Shen Ran: “Fine.”
Having discussed matters, the two of them went downstairs together.
Shen’s mother was setting the table. Seeing Qin Lie, a flicker of surprise crossed her eyes.
“Xiao Qin, you’re here! Why don’t you stay for dinner?”
Qin Lie glanced at Shen Ran and politely declined:
“No, Mom. I still have some things to handle at the unit. I’ll be going.”
With that, he strode away with long, confident steps.
Shen’s mother sighed. “Ah, this boy… why is it always something with him?”
Shen Ran didn’t respond. She knew the reason.
The fake heiress’s husband, Fu Ziming, came from a wealthy family, with both parents alive.
Qin Lie, on the other hand, came from a rural background, orphaned from a young age—a stark contrast.
The original Shen Ran, feeling pressured by the fake heiress, vented all her resentment on Qin Lie. She called him a parentless “mudfoot” unworthy of her, even criticizing his loud eating.
From that point on, Qin Lie never shared a meal with her at the same table again.
Looking back, he really had been patient, so his request for divorce was understandable.
Since that was the case, Shen Ran decided to give him freedom. After all, the original owner of the body had handed it over to her.
Now, she was Shen Ran, and Shen Ran was herself—she had the right to make her own decisions.
“Mom, Sister Yunrou won’t come down for dinner. She says her face is swollen and she’s embarrassed to be seen!”
At that moment, a chubby little boy came running down the stairs with a “thump-thump-thump.”
It was Shen Yunyang, the youngest of the Shen children, only ten years old this year.
Seeing Shen Ran downstairs, his face immediately twisted in disgust. He shouted loudly:
“Shen Ran! It’s all your fault! If you hadn’t hit Sister Yunrou, she wouldn’t be so upset!”
“What? She hit Yunrou?!”
Shen’s mother furrowed her brow and turned to Shen Ran:
“Xiao Ran, why would you hit your sister? How could you?”
“Mom, I didn’t want to, but Sister Yunrou called the unit and claimed I stole the jade bracelet.
If outsiders had found out the truth—about your little blunder with the bracelet—it would have spread, and you’d have been laughed at.
As her older sister, I hitting her was just to stop her from speaking recklessly. I did it for your reputation!”
A few words, and Shen’s mother was silenced.
Her face turned a mix of pale and flushed, showing her displeasure:
“That Yunrou… the issue was already resolved, yet she goes around spreading rumors!”
See? When trouble landed on themselves, people got flustered.
Shen’s mother had always favored Yunrou and never understood the original Shen Ran’s suffering—mainly because she had never been betrayed by Yunrou.
Today, Shen Ran was letting her mother experience being conned firsthand.
Her eyes sparkled with schadenfreude, eagerly anticipating the show to come.
Not long after, Shen’s father returned from work.
Yunrou timed her descent, fawningly offering her father a warm towel:
“Dad, you’ve had a long day. Wipe your face quickly.”
Shen’s father ignored the towel, tossing his briefcase onto the sofa, his expression dark.
Seeing this, Shen’s mother’s heart skipped a beat. Cautiously, she asked:
“Old Shen, what happened?”
Shen’s father shot her a glance and demanded:
“You still have the nerve to ask? Today, the police came to our house. The neighbors all saw. Were you planning to hide it?”
Shen’s mother’s face paled.
She hadn’t expected that in just half a day, the news would spread so widely.
Seeing her parents’ conversation, Yunrou’s eyes flickered nervously.
She hadn’t expected it to escalate this way.
Her plan had been simple: have Bai Man make a scene, make everyone believe Shen Ran had stolen the jade bracelet, disgrace her parents, and then have them kick Shen Ran out in anger.
The situation did escalate, but the person who lost face ended up being her mother instead.
The incident was originally minor, but Yunrou encouraged Bai Man to report it loudly outside, so nearby neighbors heard everything clearly.
By the time the police left the Shen household, a group of gossiping women had already surrounded them for details.
For a case that wasn’t criminal, the police naturally didn’t hide anything—they told the truth.
Now the rumor outside was that the matriarch, Lin Jie, had clumsily broken the family jade bracelet and shifted the blame to her daughter.
(Shen Ran: Thanks to the impartial police!)
When Shen’s father arrived home, even before entering, a few neighbors chased him for details.
Always concerned with appearances, he was furious to hear what happened and immediately demanded answers once home:
“Wife, tell me everything from start to finish!”
Shen’s mother nervously explained: “Today, Yunrou’s friend Bai Man came over… Yunrou told her about the lost bracelet, and then she reported it to the police…”
She told the story plainly, without exaggeration, since the people involved were present.
Hearing this, Shen’s father’s anger flared:
“Yunrou, why didn’t you stop your friend from reporting it? Do you know how much face I lost today?”
Tsk. True to form, Shen’s father valued personal gain above all else.
She was being slandered, yet all he cared about was his own face.
Shen Ran sneered silently, her dislike for the Shen family growing.
Being scolded, Yunrou quickly apologized:
“Dad, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let Bai Man come to our house. She’s impulsive, and I didn’t even know she was going to report it…”
With Bai Man gone, she could say whatever she wanted.
Shen’s father frowned. “Stay away from people like this in the future!”
Yunrou bit her lip. “Understood, Dad.”
Shen’s mother fretted: “Old Shen, what should we do now?”
They needed an explanation to the outside world today.
But it couldn’t be that Shen’s mother was “clumsy.”
Even if she agreed, Shen’s father wouldn’t. The family’s honor rose and fell together.
Shen’s mother wasn’t even fifty, yet this news could ruin her reputation.
His gaze swept over the three children and finally landed on Shen Ran. He ordered:
“Shen Ran, tomorrow you tell everyone that you accidentally broke the jade bracelet and hid it in your mother’s room. Got it?”
Shen Ran heard this and couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation.