“Ruan Xining, I think you did this on purpose. Auntie has no man at all, and I won’t let Auntie marry anyone!” Seeing Director Sun leave, Ruan Nianzhi turned around and glared viciously at Ruan Xining.
Wen Yunru watched the way she defended Song Huizhi so desperately, and her heart grew even colder. No wonder she had always felt that although Nianzhi was her own daughter, there seemed to be an invisible barrier between them.
She had once thought it was because she was biased and simply loved her elder daughter more. Only now did she realize that Ruan Nianzhi had probably known who her biological mother was for a long time, which was why she had always kept her distance from her.
“Nianzhi, tell me, is your aunt your biological mother, or am I your biological mother? Why have you been clinging to your aunt ever since you were little?”
Wen Yunru’s expression darkened as she questioned her.
“Mom, don’t tell me you’re saying that my sister isn’t your biological daughter?” Ruan Xining covered her mouth in feigned shock. “But my sister does look more like Dad and Auntie. She really doesn’t look much like anyone from the Wen family.”
Cold sweat broke out on Ruan Jianwei’s forehead. “Your aunt is a relative from our side of the family. It’s perfectly normal for your sister to resemble her.”
“But I don’t think Dad looks anything like Auntie.”
As Ruan Xining spoke, she discreetly pinched Huo Tingyuan. As expected of a man with a military background, his powers of observation were far sharper than ordinary people’s. With nothing more than a subtle glance from Ruan Xining, he immediately understood what was going on.
He followed her lead and said with a solemn expression, “I think your sister looks like the child of your father and your aunt.”
His words caused an uproar among the crowd. Even Ruan Xining had not expected him to say it so bluntly.
Wen Yunru stared at Huo Tingyuan in shock.
Ruan Jianwei’s face turned livid, but what overwhelmed him even more was the panic in his heart. “Huo Tingyuan, shut up!” Afterward, he hurriedly turned to Wen Yunru and explained, “Huizhi and I are relatives. Nianzhi simply takes after people from our side of the family, so she naturally resembles Huizhi more.”
“Jianwei, why are you so anxious? I didn’t say anything,” Wen Yunru said understandingly. “You and Huizhi are cousins. How could you possibly do something improper? Even if other people said such things, I wouldn’t believe them.”
Ruan Jianwei finally breathed a sigh of relief, but once a rumor was heard by a few people, it was bound to be exaggerated and spread even farther.
Especially when Ruan Xining added fuel to the fire.
“Have you heard? Song Huizhi has a man on the side.”
“I know about that. I heard her sister-in-law caught them red-handed, right there in bed!”
“Exactly! It’s utterly disgraceful. Even our street director knew about it and told them to get married as soon as possible. Isn’t that improper conduct? But who is the man? Song Huizhi certainly kept him well hidden.”
“Who else could it be? Hmph, it’s that kept man Ruan Jianwei. That whole cousin excuse is just a cover. I heard Song Huizhi was Ruan Jianwei’s fiancée back in their hometown. He married Wen Yunru entirely for the money from her family.”
“Exactly! I’ve suspected for a long time that something was going on between Song Huizhi and Ruan Jianwei. I’ve caught the two of them going out alone several times. Who knows if they were sneaking around together. And look at how much Nianzhi resembles Song Huizhi. She must be their daughter, brought into the family and passed off as Yunru’s child.”
In less than a day, the rumors had spread everywhere, with everyone saying that Ruan Jianwei and Song Huizhi’s relationship was far from ordinary.
Ruan Xining and Wen Yunru still knew nothing about how far the rumors had spread. At noon, Huo Tingyuan had lunch at the Ruan residence, and after spending some time alone with Ruan Xining, he was reluctant to leave.
“Comrade Ruan Xining, I’ll apply for the marriage report as soon as possible. When the time comes, I’ll come and take you home.” Huo Tingyuan’s lips were pressed into a firm line. His expression remained calm, but his gaze lingered on her, unwilling to move away.
“I’ll wait for you.” Ruan Xining’s clear eyes were filled with sincerity. The thought that they had only just reunited and were already about to part made her gaze linger on Huo Tingyuan with reluctance.
She rose onto her slender toes and suddenly pressed her soft lips against his.
The instant he felt that softness against his lips, Huo Tingyuan’s entire body stiffened. His heart suddenly grew hot, with a mixture of sweetness and nervousness surging through him.
“Okay!” His heart was clearly pounding, yet his insecurity kept him from raising his hands to embrace her. After saying that, he fled almost as if he were escaping.
Only after watching him leave did Ruan Xining return to her room and open the red envelopes Huo Tingyuan had given her. There were six of them in total.
Each envelope was stuffed thickly. When she opened them, she found stacks of large-denomination banknotes inside.
Two of the envelopes contained twenty bills each, while two others added up to 666 yuan. The remaining two were stuffed completely full, bringing the total to 1,000 yuan.
These days, even in the countryside, marrying a wife would generally require at most one or two hundred yuan in bride price. Even in the city, a bicycle, sewing machine, watch, and radio, together with the bride price, would probably cost only around 1,000 yuan.
A family capable of providing those things along with the bride price could hardly be considered an ordinary household. Ruan Xining was genuinely surprised that the Huo family had brought out so much money.
Wasn’t the Huo family supposed to be from the countryside, with no one in the family holding a proper job and barely enough money to get by, with the entire family relying on Huo Tingyuan?
Thinking of the bankbook Huo Tingyuan had given her the previous day, Ruan Xining had not yet had the chance to look at it. Now she opened it, and when she saw the amount recorded inside, she was stunned again.
A full 2,000 yuan.
In the past, Ruan Xining had never had much concept of money. It was only after she had given her entire fortune to the Su family in her previous life in an effort to please Su Zhixu that she learned how expensive even the necessities of everyday life could be.
The Su family had three people with stable jobs, yet without her financial support, they had only managed to save 1,000 yuan over all those years.
Huo Tingyuan alone had to support such a large family, so how had he managed to save so much? Did he not eat or drink?
And the Huo family had given nearly another 2,000 yuan.
What Ruan Xining did not know was that among the money in the Huo family’s red envelopes, 1,000 yuan had come from Huo Tingyuan himself. In the countryside, one or two hundred yuan was generally enough to marry a wife.
However, Huo’s Father and Huo’s Mother wanted to show the Ruan family proper respect, so they scraped together more than 800 yuan.
The remaining 1,000 yuan was Huo Tingyuan’s way of expressing his guilt toward Ruan Xining, as well as his determination to let her marry him with dignity and in grand style.
Ruan Xining had not even had time to put the money away when the door suddenly swung open.
When Ruan Nianzhi saw the countless large-denomination bills scattered across the bed, she rubbed her eyes in disbelief. “Sis, where did you get so much money? Could Mom have secretly prepared a dowry for you?”
“If Mom has already prepared your dowry, why does Dad still have to prepare another one for you?” Ruan Nianzhi demanded angrily.
Every bit of money given to Ruan Xining meant less for her.
“I’m going to tell Dad right now.” With that, she stormed into the room and told Ruan Jianwei everything.
“Yunru, what do you mean by this? Why didn’t you tell me that you prepared a dowry for Xining? You even wanted me to prepare another one for her separately. If Nianzhi hadn’t seen it, were you planning to keep this from me? No wonder Nianzhi isn’t close to you. How can a mother be this biased?”
Wen Yunru was utterly confused. She had indeed intended to prepare a separate dowry for her daughter. After all, if she did not give her daughter something, wouldn’t that simply benefit outsiders?
But she had not even had the chance to prepare it yet.
“I haven’t prepared a dowry for Xining. Nianzhi, you’re becoming more and more capable of lying.”
“Dad, look how biased Mom is. If Mom didn’t prepare all that money on Xining’s bed, then who else could have?”
“Of course, my fiancé gave it to me today as my bride price.” Ruan Xining’s expression turned cold as she deliberately raised her voice. “Nianzhi, I don’t understand why you’ve suddenly changed and started lying all the time. You didn’t want to marry Huo Tingyuan, so I married him in your place. Now that you’ve seen how much bride price Huo Tingyuan gave me, you’re jealous again, aren’t you?”