Leaving Lin Zhao's room, An Ruo found herself bored and alone. The Shen residence felt too unfamiliar to her; compared to this place, she'd rather return to the seaside villa. She walked out into the courtyard and ran into Shen Xingrou at the corner.
An Ruo recognized her—the third daughter of the Shen family, the youngest child of Shen Yu and Fang Yingxue, and Shen Tingfeng's sister. She had been so quiet during the gathering that An Ruo had nearly forgotten she existed. She looked no older than seventeen or eighteen, around the same age as An Che.
But when she looked at An Ruo, her gaze was far from friendly.
An Ruo dismissed it as teenage rebellion, offering a light smile and a nod as she passed by. As she walked past, the girl spoke in a cold voice: "What did Grandfather give you to make you willingly marry Big Brother?"
See? Everyone thought she'd taken some reward to marry the blind and crippled Shen Xiaoxing. She couldn't deny it.
An Ruo stopped in her tracks, turning to look at her with curiosity. "You really want to know?"
"No." Shen Xingrou shot her a fierce glare. "Whatever your reason for marrying him, you won't last long in the Shen family anyway."
And she knew that too?
"With your weak and useless look, you probably can't even protect Big Brother. Don't end up dragging him down."
Who's dragging who down is still up for debate!
An Ruo saw no need to argue with a young girl. She walked on, ignoring her, but the girl raised her voice from behind.
"Hey!" Shen Xingrou bit her lip. "You'd better stay away from the Shen residence as much as possible. Watch out for my brother and the second branch of the family..."
An Ruo stopped again. "You..."
"Seeing how dumb you are, don't run back to the An family before even lasting a month."
An Ruo suddenly found this girl amusing. "You said to watch out for the second branch—does that include you?"
The girl nodded, then, as if remembering something, shook her head.
"Should I trust the nod or the shake?"
Shen Xingrou: "Anyway, protect Big Brother and yourself. Good luck!"
After blurting out this cryptic remark, she scurried away in a panic, as if afraid someone might catch them talking.
An Ruo had a general understanding of the chaos within the Shen family. Shen Xiaoxing, as the next heir, was exceptionally capable and sharp-minded. She'd heard he was highly valued by the old man in his early years, but after his accident left him in this state, he naturally lost power and became a target of the second branch. Among the second branch, only Shen Xingrou seemed to respect her big brother, right? Otherwise, she wouldn't have sneaked over to warn her to be wary of them.
She had a bold suspicion: Shen Xiaoxing's plane crash might have been orchestrated by someone.
---
She'd thought the grandfather and grandson would just chat about family matters, but two hours passed with Shen Xiaoxing being wheeled away. An Ruo nearly thought the man had forgotten her at the Shen residence and sneaked back on his own!
Seeing her fidgeting in the living room, the butler led her to Shen Xiaoxing's old room. As the door opened, a wave of gloom hit her...
The entire space was a dreary gray. An Ruo fumbled for the light switch, and the butler followed behind, saying, "Since the young master moved out, nothing in this room has been touched. Besides the regular cleaning by the servants, few people come in here."
The dark gray curtains sealed the room airtight. An Ruo glanced around, then yanked them open—
Her eyes widened. Behind the curtains was a brick wall, blocking the warm sunlight and shrouding the room in damp darkness, with a faint musty smell.
"After the young master lost his sight, he became more and more reclusive, often locking himself in here, unwilling to talk to anyone. Back then, even the servants delivering meals only dared to stand at the door..."
In the early days of his injury, his temper grew so violent that he broke a servant's leg. Who would dare to get close to him?
An Ruo listened quietly, as if she could see the man sitting with his back to her in his wheelchair, his empty, sightless eyes staring blankly at the window. At the seaside villa, he often sat alone by the window, like a mannequin, staying there for an entire afternoon without changing his posture. She could always sense loneliness in his silhouette—like a child forgotten by the world, living only in his own dark realm.
The room had nothing but luxurious furniture. The table was polished spotless, yet it still felt desolate and bleak.
As the butler watched her wander aimlessly around the room, about to say something, footsteps sounded at the door.
Han Chong wheeled Shen Xiaoxing back into the room. The man's face was as icy as ever; whatever he and his grandfather had discussed, it left no expression on him.
Hearing the noise, An Ruo turned around and suddenly felt this man was like a flower on a high peak—so cold and proud that one couldn't bear to defile him.
Recalling the butler's words, she walked over and asked softly, "What did you and Grandfather talk about?"
The man's handsome face showed no change, always ignoring her words. An Ruo had grown used to his dismissive attitude.
"Are we going back now?"
"What, you want to stay the night here?"
An Ruo instinctively shook her head. "No."
She didn't want to spend a second longer in this den of trouble at the Shen residence.
Before they left, Lin Zhao came over for a brief chat. Her topics were nothing more than urging An Ruo to take good care of Shen Xiaoxing and persuade him to cooperate with his medical treatment. But the last sentence made An Ruo blush.
She wanted them to continue the Shen family line and let the old man hold a great-grandchild soon.
An Ruo found it strange—Lin Zhao clearly cared about her son, yet she always whispered these instructions to her alone, while Shen Xiaoxing responded to Lin Zhao's concern with cold indifference, not even once calling her "Mother."