Chapter 133: An Apology is Out of the Question

Chapter 133: Chapter 133: An Apology is Out of the Question

The room was silent. Not even an echo answered.

He had already suspected they might not be home, but his heart sank all the same.

He knocked for a while longer before the door next to them cracked open and a neighbor peeked out.

"Oh, you just missed them! They’d just wolfed down their lunch not long ago and all went out. There’s no one home."

"Oh, thank you!"

After thanking the neighbor, Shen Rongdan stood there for a few seconds before turning to go downstairs.

At the time, he didn’t understand why the neighbor had specifically said "the whole family."

It wasn’t until he walked out of the building’s entrance and looked up that he came face-to-face with three people approaching.

Yao Yuzhen’s gaze met Shen Rongdan’s. She stopped in her tracks, a look of surprise on her face.

"The whole family went out..."

Those words exploded in his mind.

It felt as if the sky had instantly crashed down on him, crushing the air from his lungs.

By the time he came to his senses, Ruan Yongxing was already lying flat on his back on the ground.

He’d taken two heavy punches to the face. His cheekbone was bruised, and his eye socket was swollen.

Yao Yuzhen and Shen Shuangshuang were desperately pulling at his arm, but they couldn’t hold him back.

SMACK!

A sharp crack echoed.

Shen Rongdan flinched, his right hand still gripping Ruan Yongxing’s collar in a death grip.

He turned his head blankly, looking toward the source of the sound.

Yao Yuzhen stood there, her eyebrows knitted together and her eyes wide with fury.

"You stop it right now!"

Before the words had even faded, she strode forward and gave him a hard shove.

Despite being tall and long-legged, Shen Rongdan was actually pushed so hard he landed right on his butt on the ground.

Yao Yuzhen immediately knelt to help Ruan Yongxing up.

Just as she reached out to touch his injuries, Ruan Yongxing instinctively flinched back, avoiding her hand.

Then he stared at Shen Rongdan, a look of complete confusion on his face.

"Who are you?"

"Why are you attacking people on sight?"

Shen Shuangshuang also chimed in, rushing forward.

"Exactly! Second Brother, why did you suddenly hit him?"

Only then did Ruan Yongxing get a good look at Shen Rongdan, who was still sitting on the ground.

"You’re... Yu Zhen’s son?"

"We’ve never even met, have we? You can’t just attack me out of the blue. There’s no excuse for that."

"Apologize to him right now!"

Yao Yuzhen’s voice rose, her tone sharp and urgent.

Shen Rongdan stared at her, his eyes hollow and blank.

In the past, she had always protected Shen Shuangshuang in everything.

She was the younger sister, so it seemed only natural for the older brother to give in to her.

He himself had even bought into that logic.

’But what about now?’

’Who was sitting on the ground?’

’And who was standing before him?’

’Even his own mother was siding with an outsider, desperately leaning on that man.’

Shen Rongdan just stared at her, not a single harsh word escaping his lips.

Instead, it was Yao Yuzhen who couldn’t take it anymore. She turned her face away and forced herself to shout.

"You’re just like your father! Boorish and reckless, with no manners at all!"

Shen Rongdan’s eyes narrowed. His Adam’s apple bobbed, but he remained silent.

Seeing him quiet and sullen, Ruan Yongxing raised a hand to press on his brightly flushed cheekbone.

"I don’t know why you attacked me on sight, but I need to make one thing clear: I am your mother’s business partner."

Yao Yuzhen’s head snapped around, her brow furrowed. For a moment, she was at a loss for words.

But before she could react, Ruan Yongxing continued.

"Whatever you may think, the fact is you hit someone. There have to be consequences for that."

He knew perfectly well that Shen Rongdan had hit him because he’d mistaken him for Yao Yuzhen’s lover.

That’s why he was quick to throw out the words "business partner."

Their relationship couldn’t be proven one way or another, but the assault was an undeniable fact.

"Shuangshuang, hurry and get the public security patrol."

He gestured to Shen Shuangshuang with his chin.

Shen Shuangshuang glanced down at Shen Rongdan, her eyelid twitched, and she took off running.

Yao Yuzhen was panting heavily, her chest heaving. She raised a hand and poked her son’s forehead.

"You just go and hit someone, and you think you’re justified?"

"You can’t even stammer out an apology? Cat got your tongue?"

"What, just because your dad’s still around, you think no one can control you or tell you what to do?"

The blank look in Shen Rongdan’s eyes slowly faded, replaced by a dull, gray ache.

His throat was dry as he asked in a low voice.

"Mom, is he... really your business partner?"

Yao Yuzhen paused for half a beat before speaking.

"We’re planning to take over a small jewelry shop. He just went with me to pay the deposit."

"How long have you been... mixed up with him?"

Shen Rongdan stared into her eyes, unblinking.

"An old friend."

Her voice suddenly turned cold.

"Shen Rongdan, what are you trying to achieve by digging all this up?"

In that moment, Yao Yuzhen’s conscience was clear. She hadn’t done anything wrong.

In all her years with Ruan Yongxing, the most that had happened was some good conversation. They had never even held hands.

She hadn’t wronged Shen Zhenwu, nor had she mistreated her son, Shen Rongdan.

’So what right did Shen Rongdan have to give her that attitude?’

Shen Rongdan choked on her words.

He wasn’t the type to make baseless trouble. Without any real proof, how could he dare to sling mud at his own mother?

But a string inside him was pulled taut. Something still felt wrong.

After a tense standoff of less than two minutes, the public security patrol arrived, ready to take them in for processing.

Yao Yuzhen immediately spoke up.

"Rong Dan, apologize to Uncle Ruan."

Shen Rongdan clenched his jaw, turned his head aside, and refused to utter a single word.

Ruan Yongxing, while rubbing the red mark on his face with his fingers, leaned close to Yao Yuzhen and lowered his voice.

"Yu Zhen, I really don’t want to make things hard for the boy. But think about it. Today it was me he hit. What if it’s someone else tomorrow? If he runs into someone tough, is he just going to kick them out the door?"

"Besides, how could an ordinary person withstand a blow like that?"

"I just want to teach him some restraint. I really don’t intend to drag this out."

Yao Yuzhen was silent for a few seconds, then gave a slight nod.

In front of the patrol officers, the two of them got their stories straight.

They said Shen Rongdan had suddenly flown into a rage and started hitting him.

They were taken to the police station, where officers took separate statements from both parties.

When asked about their relationship to one another, Yao Yuzhen paused before speaking.

"I’m his biological mother."

The officer looked up, sizing her up for a couple of seconds, then asked again.

"And this Mr. Ruan..."

"Oh, he’s my business partner. We’re planning to open a small jewelry shop together."

Yao Yuzhen answered quickly.

After taking notes, the officer got up to check the details with the colleague responsible for Shen Rongdan.

Shen Rongdan, for his part, was straightforward and admitted to hitting the man.

Seeing that both parties knew each other and the injuries weren’t serious, the officer proceeded with standard mediation.

"Mr. Shen, if you apologize and pay for his medical expenses, we can just put this behind us, all right?"

Shen Rongdan’s jaw tightened.

"Apologize? No."

The officer was taken aback.

"Huh?"

"I can pay, but an apology is out of the question."

Shen Rongdan spoke slowly, as if forcing each word through his clenched teeth.

At this point, Ruan Yongxing chimed in, speaking to the officer with a smile.

"How about this? I can see he’s admitted his mistake. For medical expenses, one thousand, and we’ll call it even."

The officer blinked.

"One thousand? Of what?"

"Renminbi!"

Ruan Yongxing answered quickly.

He had just heard Yao Yuzhen mention the family’s savings, so he immediately had an idea of their finances.

The Shen Family had connections and a solid financial foundation.

’One thousand yuan?’

’To them, that was probably pocket change.’

But back then, that sum was enough to feed an ordinary family for two years.

The officer couldn’t help but ask another question.

"Mr. Ruan, where do you work?"

"The materials factory..."

Ruan Yongxing’s voice dropped by half.