Chapter 29 False Alarm

Ruan Yaoyao felt a bit scared.

She said she didn’t care, but when it came down to actually letting them go unattended, she couldn’t fully let go. If something happened to those kids because of her, she would regret it.

Her feelings toward Xu Chengyan were complicated too.

He was supposedly her son. She had raised him for so many years, only to find out in the end that he was an illegitimate child. She couldn’t simply reject him, because she had spent so many years raising him, giving so much, and those feelings weren’t something you could just cut off.

If Xu Chengyan hadn’t caused her trouble on his own, she might have already let go of her prejudice against him being illegitimate and treated him as her own biological son.

Speaking of her biological son, that would be the third child, Ru Anzhi.

By the time he was recognized, the scumbag father was already dead. Ru Anzhi’s surname could change or not; it didn’t matter to Ruan Yaoyao. She let him continue using his foster father’s surname.

That family treated Ru Anzhi extremely well, raising him to be upright and brave. Now he was in the special forces.

Ruan Yaoyao didn’t know the exact details of his work, only that it was special and required secrecy.

He was exceptional, yes—but unfortunately, not closely connected to her.

Sigh…

In the car behind them, a panel lifted, giving the two brothers some private space.

Once they were sure the driver couldn’t eavesdrop, Xu Chengyan recounted his entire day to his older brother Xu Lianghan.

“So surreal?!”

“Yeah! If I hadn’t experienced it myself, I wouldn’t have believed it either,” Xu Chengyan said, unsure what expression to show on his face.

He didn’t know whether he should follow fate and stay with that woman, or keep resisting.

“Do you think Mom can handle this?”

“How could Mom handle it?”

“Have you forgotten what happened with your sister-in-law? And her family? They were both trapped, all rescued by Mom.”

Xu Chengyan felt a glimmer of hope: “Is Mom in danger?”

Xu Lianghan shook his head. “I don’t know. Mom didn’t say. Your sister-in-law and I have been watching, and so far we haven’t seen anything unusual. Mom did mutter that after the black thread entered her body, she felt like her body got stronger.”

“So… what exactly is that weird black thread?”

Xu Lianghan’s expression turned serious. “I and your sister-in-law read a lot of supernatural novels. Based on our guesses, it should be some kind of negative energy—like black qi, evil energy, that sort of thing. In short, some negative thing. But when it reached Mom, it became a benefit, like negative times negative equals positive. What’s normally harmful turned into nourishment for her.”

“But my case is different. What if Mom intervenes and something goes wrong?”

“That’s unlikely… right?” Xu Lianghan’s tone lacked certainty. “Think about the things with your sister-in-law, and her family. Mom intervened in all of them. If this is really some sort of plot force, we’ve avoided the original destiny lines, and so far, nothing seems to have gone wrong.”

“So… should I give it a try?”

The two brothers discussed how to handle the situation in a way that wouldn’t alarm Ruan Yaoyao but would still resolve the problem.

Their conclusion: selective honesty.

Both cars drove into the Xu family’s underground garage one after the other.

After Ruan Yaoyao got out, she saw Xu Lianghan and Xu Chengyan walking toward her.

“Mom, my younger brother has something he wants to say to you,” Xu Lianghan said. “You two talk; I’ll wait upstairs.”

Ruan Yaoyao crossed her arms, deliberately wearing a stern expression. “Go ahead. What do you want to tell me?”

“Mom, I’m sorry! I was too willful before, always causing trouble with you, deliberately opposing you. Big brother is right—I relied on your favoritism to have confidence. If it had been someone else, I wouldn’t dare act like that toward you.”

Ruan Yaoyao looked at Xu Chengyan in surprise. 【Was he sick from the rain, feverish? Otherwise, why would her son apologize to her?】

“Mom, the reason I acted that way before… I was stupid. I thought you killed the woman who gave birth to me, so I was angry at you,” Xu Chengyan admitted, a little embarrassed. “Also, I was angry at myself. Even though you raised me, why wasn’t I your biological child? I felt embarrassed, like I had stolen someone else’s life, like a thief…”

He struggled to describe his complicated feelings: love, hate, jealousy, and resentment all mixed together.

As long as it was her fault, he could prove his own integrity and no longer be the shameful illegitimate child.

Ruan Yaoyao’s eyes turned slightly red.

How could she not understand the child she raised herself?

Xu Chengyan felt ashamed of being illegitimate and tried to wash away his “stain” by blaming her, proving he wasn’t so disgraceful after all.

He was in puberty then, just a teenager.

“You… you sulked at me all these years, refused to acknowledge me as your mom, spread bad words about me everywhere. All my good intentions went to the dogs—you know how hurt I was?” Ruan Yaoyao said. “I always treated you as my own child, giving you all my love, yet you treated me like this…”

“Mom…” Xu Chengyan’s eyes also reddened. “I’m sorry, it’s all my fault, I was immature. You can scold me if you want, hit me if you want. I will never make you angry again. No matter whether you recognize me as your son or not, you are my mom. I only have you as my mom. That woman… forget about her being dead. Even if she were alive, I still wouldn’t acknowledge her.”

“You… your temper really takes after someone. Love then love, hate then hate. How did I end up raising such a troublemaker!” Ruan Yaoyao exclaimed.

“That’s true, Mom raised me, I’m your son. But I was born flawed, naturally crooked. If Mom didn’t keep an eye on me, I might have gone astray someday, really done something illegal.”

“You dare! If you do anything illegal, I’ll personally send you in, and feed you prison meals every day!” Ruan Yaoyao’s delicate fists pounded Xu Chengyan’s back one blow after another, venting her anger on him.

Xu Chengyan didn’t resist, obediently taking it.

After a while, when Ruan Yaoyao’s emotions settled, Xu Chengyan explained what had happened today.

At the police station earlier, he hadn’t told her clearly because he didn’t want to worry her. Although she had reported a false alarm, it did, in fact, “save” him.

He hadn’t been on a date with Li Tingting at that time; he had been forced into that place, trapped there. Had he stayed until the next morning, he might have been stuck with that strange woman forever, unable to escape.

He didn’t know how it all happened. One day he came home, met Li Tingting, and from then on, she was everywhere in his world, impossible to shake off even by taking a wrong turn.

“Mom, you don’t know, it was terrifying!”

Xu Chengyan’s expression of lingering fear left Ruan Yaoyao stunned.

【Wait… he doesn’t like that woman? Forced love was for his mom??】

【Why does this plot feel wrong?】