“I can do that, and I won’t mind. If you like spending money, I’ll work hard to earn money for you to spend. Since you’re so beautiful, you shouldn’t have to work.
“I’ll take care of everything at home. I’ll do the work. These are the wages I’ve saved over the years. Take them and spend them.”
His voice was indulgent and resolute, his protectiveness toward her unmistakable.
Under everyone’s astonished gazes, Huo Tingyuan reached into his pocket, pulled out a savings book, and handed it directly to Ruan Xining.
Wen Yunru looked at Huo Tingyuan with complicated emotions.
Ruan Xining, however, accepted it without hesitation. Her fingertips unexpectedly brushed against the man’s warm palm, and the instant their skin touched, it felt as though tiny currents of electricity had passed between them.
Huo Tingyuan’s gaze trembled slightly, and his palm grew faintly hot. He instinctively curled his fingers, still able to feel that soft touch lingering on his fingertips. The tips of his ears immediately turned bright red, and even his neck flushed.
Ruan Xining had not expected a man of his age to be so easily embarrassed. Could it be that he had never even been in love before?
Seeing that Huo Tingyuan had not only failed to reject Ruan Xining but had even handed her his savings book, Ruan Nianzhi was so furious that her face turned green.
But then she remembered that Huo Tingyuan had come from the countryside. Even if he had been fortunate enough to become a military officer, his family still had a whole host of burdens weighing them down.
That savings book was probably just for show and contained hardly any money at all. Deliberately trying to embarrass Ruan Xining, she smiled and said, “I suppose being beautiful really does come with good fortune.
“Brother-in-law treats you so well, Sister. There must be quite a bit of money in that savings book, right? Let me have a look.”
Ruan Xining ignored her, tucked the savings book into her pocket, yawned, and began seeing everyone off.
“Thank you, Aunties and Uncles, for witnessing this today. Once Comrade Huo and I get married, I’ll invite everyone to share our wedding sweets.”
Seeing how tightly Ruan Xining guarded the savings book, Ruan Nianzhi became even more certain that there could not be much money in it.
Otherwise, didn’t she know Ruan Xining’s personality? She was someone who could never keep anything to herself. The only time she would hide something so carefully was when she felt embarrassed about it.
The thought that, without Ruan Xining and Huo Tingyuan in her way, she would be able to marry Brother Zhixu made Ruan Nianzhi hum a little tune as she affectionately linked arms with Song Huizhi and left.
Ruan Jianwei’s heart was naturally with this mother and daughter.
After everyone had left, Ruan Xining turned to Huo Tingyuan with a coquettish smile in her eyes.
“Come early tomorrow so we can discuss the wedding arrangements.”
“Okay.”
Huo Tingyuan answered, and as he watched her, the corners of his thin lips unconsciously curled into a faint smile.
Once his figure disappeared from sight, Ruan Xining took Wen Yunru’s hand.
“Mom, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“What is it? Why are you being so mysterious?” Wen Yunru asked with a smile.
After they entered the house, Ruan Xining sniffled, her eyes reddening as her expression turned serious.
“Mom, Nianzhi drugged the water I drank.”
She knew her mother would probably have a hard time accepting this, but she had to tell her. She also had to expose the true faces of Ruan Nianzhi and that pair of shameless adulterers.
“Xining, are you sure?”
Wen Yunru’s face went almost deathly pale in an instant. She looked at Ruan Xining in disbelief, her voice trembling.
“I’m sure. I drank the water Nianzhi gave me, and then my consciousness became hazy. After that, Huo Tingyuan entered my room.
“Then Dad and Nianzhi came over with you.”
Ruan Xining cried even more pitifully.
“The cup of water is still here. If you don’t believe me, Mom, you can have it tested.”
Seeing that her mother remained silent, Ruan Xining pointed to the cup of water still sitting on the table.
It wasn’t that Wen Yunru didn’t believe her. She finally understood why her daughter, who had always loved Su Zhixu so deeply, had chosen to marry Huo Tingyuan instead.
She fought back her tears and tightly clasped Ruan Xining’s hand.
“Xining, you’ve suffered. I’ll deal with Nianzhi properly. How did she become like this?”
“Mom, there’s something else I need to tell you.”
Ruan Xining’s voice was very soft.
“Dad has another woman. Nianzhi isn’t your biological daughter either. She’s the daughter of Dad and Song Huizhi.
“They aren’t actually cousins. They’ve been childhood sweethearts who grew up together. Dad married you only because he wanted the wealth of your maternal family.”
The air instantly froze.
Ruan Xining watched as her mother’s expression gradually stiffened, her heart filled with pain.
Wen Yunru’s face, which had already been pale, turned as white as paper. She stood there as if she had been struck by a heavy blow, her mind going blank as a buzzing filled her ears. For a long while, she could not make a sound.
She could not imagine that the man who had spent decades pretending to care for her so attentively had been deceiving and scheming against her all along. Nor could she imagine that the child she had poured all her maternal love into was actually someone else’s daughter.
She had believed that she had a happy family and had treated these people with complete sincerity, never imagining that they could be so heartless as to deceive and plot against her.
If Nianzhi was not her biological daughter, then where was her own child?
Seeing her mother standing there heartbroken and trembling with cold, Ruan Xining’s heart ached.
“Mom, I know this is very painful for you, but you still have me, Grandpa and Grandma, and my uncles.
“All of us will stay by your side and protect you. Please don’t grieve over people who aren’t worth it, okay?
“When you’re hurting like this, those of us who care about you will hurt too.”
Ruan Xining had originally thought her mother might not believe what she said.
Now, seeing her reaction, she felt both relieved and heartbroken.
In this life, she had exposed the true faces of her scumbag father and his mistress early, and with her mother’s trust, she would make sure to personally settle the score with those beasts.
After crying bitterly, Wen Yunru gradually calmed down. The vulnerability in her eyes faded, replaced by a weary yet resolute strength.
After all, she had been born into a prominent family and had seen plenty of filthy schemes. She would never allow others to humiliate and bully her without consequence.
She raised a hand to wipe away the tears on her face and tightly clasped Ruan Xining’s hand.
“Don’t make this known for now. I won’t let either of those two shameless people off the hook.
“What else do you know about them?”
Hearing this, Ruan Xining finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Mom, I’ll deal with this together with you. I also overheard Dad and that mother and daughter saying they planned to hide prohibited items in Grandpa’s house.
“After that, they were going to report Grandpa and have him sent to the cowshed. I was still wondering how I should tell you about it, but I never expected them to act so quickly. We need to tell Grandpa and the others about this immediately.”
Wen Yunru nodded. There was no trace of sorrow left on her face now, only hatred.
Seeing her mother like this, Ruan Xining finally relaxed the tension that had been wound tight inside her.
After learning the true face of the man who had shared her bed for years, Wen Yunru could not even be bothered to return to her own room and look at that disgusting face. She simply stayed in Ruan Xining’s room that night.
Lying in her mother’s arms, Ruan Xining still felt as though she had just awakened from a long dream.
Everyone was still here in this life.
It was wonderful.
Early the next morning, Ruan Jianwei, just like every supposedly good husband, got up early and prepared breakfast. In all these years, Wen Yunru had never cooked a single meal.
She had thought she had found the right man, never imagining that he was actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
“Yunru, you’re awake. Come have breakfast. Little Huo said he’d come over today to discuss the wedding arrangements, so he should be here soon.”
Ruan Jianwei considerately pulled out a chair for her.
If this had been before, Wen Yunru would have found the gesture heartwarming. Now, however, she found it painfully glaring.
“Sister, congratulations. This marriage was originally supposed to be mine, but now it has become yours. It seems you and him are simply more destined for each other. You’ll have to enjoy your life from now on.”
Ruan Nianzhi pretended to be gentle and gracious, but her tone was unmistakably filled with schadenfreude.