Chapter Seventy-Nine: A Fake Marriage? Or a Real One?

Jiang Yunzhu could disregard Shen Ruizhang, but she could never disregard Grandma Shen.

Those years, Grandma Shen had cared for her as if she were her own granddaughter. Many of the skills she possessed had been taught by the old lady herself. No matter what, she could not let anything happen to her.

Zhou Qingfei!

Taking a deep breath, she excused herself from the dinner, ordered a car, and headed straight to the hospital. Even before she stepped inside, she could hear the commotion within.

The sound of something shattering against the floor rang out, stark and clear.

“Get out! Get out of my house! If you want to marry into the Shen family, it will only be over my dead body!”

“A child? Who knows if you didn’t get pregnant by some man outside.”

“Shen Ruizhang, if you still care for me as your mother, get her out of here! I don’t want to see her again!”

Madam Shen was so agitated that even from the doorway, her voice rasped like a broken bellows.

Pausing briefly, Jiang Yunzhu entered.

“Grandma Shen, what could possibly make you so angry?”

The moment she stepped in, Shen Ruizhang’s eyes fixed on her. At the same time, he gripped Zhou Qingfei’s arm, signaling her to leave at once.

But Zhou Qingfei would not. She’d been driven to desperation; the child in her belly was her last hope. If even Shen Ruizhang wouldn’t help her, she’d have no choice but to go to prison.

Damn it, she only wanted to stir up some trouble for that wretched Jiang Yunzhu, simply because she couldn’t stomach seeing how successful her company had become. And yet Jiang Yunzhu wanted to send her to jail!

“Jiang Yunzhu, there’s no need for you to play the saint here. Do you think I don’t see through your schemes?”

“Zhou Qingfei!” Shen Ruizhang snapped, yanking her arm and trying to force her out.

“I’m warning you, my mother just had surgery. If anything happens to her, I will never forgive you!”

“Never forgive me?” Zhou Qingfei’s eyes were sharp and venomous as she clung to the door, her voice shrill and hysterical. “When you slept with me, did you think about never forgiving me then?”

“Isn’t it true that my appearance gave you a way out of that disgraceful relationship?”

Her chest heaving, Zhou Qingfei pointed at Jiang Yunzhu and shouted, “Five years ago, you drugged Shen Ruizhang and tricked him into bed—do you dare tell the old madam about that?”

“You keep calling him uncle, but in truth? You’d already been carrying on in secret for ages, hadn’t you?”

“And you, Shen Ruizhang, you promised to propose to me—why did you back out, hmm? Was it because you found out Jiang Yunzhu didn’t want you anymore?”

All the color drained from Jiang Yunzhu’s face. She lowered her head, unable to meet Shen Ruizhang’s eyes, much less Grandma Shen’s.

For a moment, there was utter silence in the hospital room, the kind where even the sound of a falling pin would echo.

After a long pause, Madam Shen finally asked in a low voice, “Ruizhang, is what she says true?”

“Mother…”

“I asked you, is what she said true?”

Silence.

A suffocating silence descended before Jiang Yunzhu finally spoke.

“Grandma Shen, actually I have—”

“Don’t speak! I’m asking Shen Ruizhang!” The old lady’s authority rang out; Jiang Yunzhu could only bow her head in submission.

She couldn’t help but smile bitterly to herself.

Shen Ruizhang… How could he possibly admit it? Hadn’t he always found this matter the most repulsive?

She already knew the answer, but still, hearing him deny it with his own lips, a wave of bitterness surged in Jiang Yunzhu’s heart.

Suddenly, she found herself thinking of Shen Tingxiao.

“Yes, I love Zhouzhou.”

Love… Zhouzhou?

Jiang Yunzhu jerked her head up, her eyes wide with incredulity as she looked at Shen Ruizhang, completely bewildered.

Impossible. How could this be?

He had actually—actually admitted it himself?

Shen Ruizhang went on, “It’s true that Zhou Qingfei and I were together for a while. I always thought I loved her. But over the years, protecting Zhouzhou became a habit for me.”

“I don’t know when my feelings for her began to change. I couldn’t help it… I always treated her as a junior. Then, just as Zhou Qingfei returned, I…”

He paused, as if he wanted to continue, but seeing the expression on Madam Shen’s face, he realized there was no need to say more.

The old lady let out a long sigh and closed her eyes. “You… You have all kept me in the dark for so long.”

She patted her legs and reached out to pull Jiang Yunzhu to her side.

“Good child, why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“I…”

“I raised you myself. I know your character and education. If you were the one to marry Ruizhang, why would I ever object?”

Everyone in the room was stunned by her words.

But on reflection, it made perfect sense.

After all, the two shared no blood relation. Though Jiang Yunzhu called Shen Ruizhang ‘uncle’ in name, he was only ten years her senior.

Zhou Qingfei couldn’t believe it, refused to believe it. Shaking her head, she muttered, “You’re all crazy… you’re all insane…”

She turned and left.

Madam Shen paid her no mind, only looked tenderly at Jiang Yunzhu, holding her hand as she spoke gently, “Zhouzhou, I know Ruizhang has wronged you with other women and caused you pain.”

“But I know, in his heart, he truly cares for you. Every word he said just now came from the heart. Are you willing to give him another chance?”

Jiang Yunzhu tasted bitterness on her tongue. After a long pause, she whispered, “I’ve already…”

“Zhouzhou.” Shen Ruizhang interrupted, “Come with me. There’s something I want to say to you alone.”

In the long corridor, Shen Ruizhang looked haggard, exhaustion written all over his face.

“I’m sorry, I dragged you into this mess again.”

Jiang Yunzhu shook her head. “Don’t say that. I’ve always owed the Shen family. You’ve never treated me unjustly.”

She paused, then asked, “Are you feeling better? The injury was so serious—Grandma Shen doesn’t know, does she?”

“I’m much better. I didn’t dare tell her, afraid she couldn’t bear it.”

At this, Shen Ruizhang’s voice caught in his throat. After a long moment, he managed to say, “My mother’s illness… it’s very serious. The doctor says she may not live past next year.”

“How could that be? She—”

“Zhouzhou, no one can escape birth, aging, sickness, and death. The only thing my mother can’t let go of is my marriage.”

“You saw just now. She would rather die than let Zhou Qingfei marry in. So… would you marry me? Give my mother peace in her final days.”

“But you know full well…”

“I know.” Shen Ruizhang gripped her wrist, his dark eyes swirling with pain as he let his feelings pour out. “I know Shen Tingxiao loves you. I see how much he cherishes you. I’ve already let go.”

“But you two still have much time ahead. My mother does not. Just think of it as fulfilling her last wish, Zhouzhou. We can have a fake marriage, all right?”

Jiang Yunzhu’s mind was a tangled mess. She wanted to say no, to refuse, even to slap Shen Ruizhang across the face. But she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t say a word.

“Let me think… Let me think about it…”