Even if he was not favored, he should have had servants attending to him wherever he went, not having to do everything himself.
The man skillfully pinched the dumpling into shape, lifting his eyes to glance at her briefly before saying slowly, "I wasn't so lucky before."
His sudden mention of his past made An Ruo recall Shen Tingfeng repeatedly calling him "bastard," and his strained relationship with Lin Zhao.
Curiosity grew within her. "You didn't live at the old mansion before?"
The man's dark pupils were deep and unfathomable. "They've never been willing to accept an illegitimate child, so why would they welcome me living in the Shen family's old mansion?"
So he really was the Shen family's illegitimate son. No wonder the second branch kept pushing him away—they feared the family fortune falling into an outsider's hands.
But even so, Shen Xiaoxing was still part of the Shen family, carrying the Shen bloodline. He shouldn't have been so despised by them.
An Ruo wanted to know about his past, but noticing the grim expression on his face and the flicker of pain in his eyes, as if the conversation had stirred up old memories, she tactfully dropped the subject. She didn't know his past or experience his pain, so she decided to wait until he was ready to talk, then she would listen earnestly.
...
At the Shen family's old mansion.
When they arrived, it was still early, so they went to Lanting Pavilion to visit the old man. A few days ago, she heard that a project Shen Yu was overseeing had suffered heavy losses. The old man was so furious he had been bedridden for days. An Ruo, mindful of the poor impression she had left on him last time, stood at the door and didn't enter.
The conversation between grandfather and grandson was mostly about the Shen Group. After about twenty minutes, the butler wheeled the man out.
Seeing him come out, An Ruo immediately stood up to take the butler's place pushing the wheelchair, asking softly, "How is it?"
"Nothing serious."
The man reached back, gently patted her hand, and said in a low voice, "Let's go back to Jingyuan first."
Jingyuan was the main branch's residence. Returning to this airtight room, An Ruo took a deep breath, feeling suffocated.
"We came early. After the New Year's Eve dinner, we might have to stay the night."
An Ruo looked around, pulled open the window that had been bricked up into a high wall, and turned around. "Since we're staying a day, we might as well have this wall knocked down so the air can circulate in the room."
The man followed her gaze to the wall. This was the wall he had ordered sealed up in a fit of rage after waking up to find his legs crippled and his eyes blind, unwilling to face reality.
But Fang Yingxue had also played a part in this. Hearing that he was blind and crippled, she visited frequently during that time, deliberately stirring up hatred in his heart, making his temper increasingly violent until he became a despised figure.
Over the years, to bide his time, he had to suppress his true nature and become the bloodthirsty, irritable, cruel monster the second branch expected him to be.
Shen Xiaoxing slowly exhaled. Now he had the power to protect those he loved and no longer needed to pretend.
"Do as you wish."
An Ruo smiled with relief. Now that his sight had returned and he was willing to step out of the shadows, his personality was becoming more cheerful.
Lin Zhao was drinking tea in the living room when she suddenly heard a rumbling sound. It wasn't an earthquake, but it created quite a noise.
Frowning, she asked, "What's going on?"
"It's the eldest young mistress. She ordered the servants to tear down the wall in front of the eldest young master's window."
Lin Zhao set down her teacup and stood up. "When did they return to Jingyuan?"
"Half an hour ago."
"Boom!"
A cloud of thick smoke billowed out. Several servants waved away the dust in front of them, working hard to move the bricks to an open area.
An Ruo covered her mouth and nose, coughing softly. The dust stung her eyes, making it hard to keep them open.
As the wall collapsed, the bedroom was suddenly flooded with light.
The man slid his wheelchair to the window, watching the girl directing the servants to move bricks. Sometimes when they were short-handed, she helped herself, quickly bonding with the unfamiliar servants.
"What are you doing?"
A low female voice came.
An Ruo turned around and saw Lin Zhao, dressed in elegant luxury, walking toward her.
She immediately put down the brick in her hand, brushed the dust off her clothes, and tried to tidy herself up, nodding politely. "Mother."
"You just got back and you're already planning to tear down the house in Jingyuan?"
An Ruo quickly waved her hands. "No. Since we're staying for a day or two, Xiaoxing's room window was blocked, making it gloomy and unsuitable for living, and bad for his health. So I thought..."
"These matters can be handled by giving orders. As the eldest young mistress of the Shen family, look at yourself now—what a disgrace!"
Ever since she learned that An Ruo was not the legitimate daughter of the An family but an orphan adopted from somewhere who had married in under false pretenses, Lin Zhao's attitude toward her had cooled.
An Ruo looked at her dust-covered clothes, indeed damaging her image. As a daughter-in-law of the prominent Shen family, she had brought shame to the main branch.
"I'll be more careful in the future..."
"Ruoruo." The man's deep voice came from the second-floor window.
Both of them looked up.
Shen Xiaoxing's sharp, hidden gaze swept coldly over Lin Zhao before softening instantly as it turned to An Ruo.
"Come up."
Knowing he was rescuing her, An Ruo nodded respectfully to Lin Zhao. "Mother, Xiaoxing needs me. It must be time for his medication. I'll go take care of him."
Lin Zhao watched her retreating figure, then looked up at the cold silhouette at the window. Shen Xiaoxing's fierce, intimidating gaze was unguarded, his eyes full of chill as if warning her.
Ever since that family meeting where she hadn't defended An Ruo in time, Shen Xiaoxing had harbored resentment toward her.
They had been using each other. Since she hadn't spoken a word to exonerate him when he needed it, he would have to reconsider whether to continue their long-term cooperation.
With the wall gone, the room felt exceptionally bright. The suffocating feeling upon entering was completely gone.
"Shen Xiaoxing, you know, grass may be everywhere and ordinary, but they have tenacious willpower and grow wildly." An Ruo took a few sunflowers from a servant and placed them in a new glass vase. Just then, the sunset fell on her hair. "Like these sunflowers, always facing the sun."
The man leaned back in his wheelchair, squinting slightly as he watched her.
This scene was beautiful.
The sunflowers faced the sunset, she looked at the sunflowers, and he looked at her. Even without sweet words, just gazing like this, from youth to old age, would be wonderful.
She suddenly turned around. "What are you looking at?"
The man chuckled. "Looking at you."
"What's there to look at in me? I told you to look at the sunset outside."
"You said I should grow wildly toward the light. I'm not grass, but you are my sun. What's wrong with me looking at you?" Shen Xiaoxing rested his elbow on the wheelchair armrest, lightly clenching his fist to prop up his head as he watched her.
The smile on his lips was both alluring and sexy, and upon closer look, it held a hint of adoration.
He compared himself to the sun, meaning that without her, the world would be dark?
An Ruo glanced at the man, then looked out the window at the sunset, wishing it could stay like this forever, with no one to disturb them.