Chapter 159: She Can Also Remarry an Officer

When I was young? Who could ever forget that.

At that time, there were no wrinkles on her face, and there was not so much hatred in her heart either.

"Back then, you were always hanging your head, looking so troubled; I found it quite interesting," Shen Lan said, rambling on.

A smile played on his face; at that time, he had truly loved Li Xuan.

"You are a good woman. After I die, just remarry. Xiao Chi has already married and had children; he will have his own life to live from now on. You take Xiao Yuan and start a new family, live a good life in the future, and stop chasing those unrealistic dreams."

Li Xuan had been on the verge of tears upon hearing the first half of his words, but this last sentence made her feel uncomfortable again. "What do you mean by 'unrealistic dreams'? Are you trying to tell me not to compete with Si Rong anymore? Oh! You're about to die and you're still worried about her? Do you want me to help you call her over to see you off on your final journey?"

"I am only kindly reminding you; I don't want you to end up like me in the future."

Being near death, Shen Lan really did not want to argue with her anymore. "In the future, it would be best if you two just leave each other alone. Living your own life well is what matters most."

"Do you mean that I'm not even worthy of comparing myself to her?"

Li Xuan began to cry again. Why on earth couldn't she compare herself to Si Rong?

She would turn around and remarry an officer too, and become an officer's wife!

However, Shen Lan was already dying, so she could not say these things out loud. She endured her discomfort and said, "Don't worry, I will take good care of the two children in the future, and I will live our life well."

Shen Lan knew she hadn't taken his words to heart.

But this was all he could say.

"You go out first, and let Xiao Chi come in," Shen Lan waved his hand.

After Shen Chi came in, he finally looked like a son. "Dad, go in peace! From now on, your son will hold this family up!"

"Dad believes in you."

Shen Lan looked at his son, recalling the beautiful image from when he was small, letting him ride on his shoulders with Si Rong supporting the child from behind.

How happy their family had been back then.

It was a pity that false things are always false.

He said earnestly, "Dad knows you are a smart child, but you must use it for the right path. Now that you have married a wife and are about to become a father, don't go looking for trouble with Si Rong again. This is Dad's last will and testament to you."

At the final moment of his life, he wanted to protect his son one last time.

Given Si Rong's temperament, if Li Xuan and Xiao Chi did not provoke her, she would not retaliate against these two people.

Yes, over these past few months, while he was building a rapport with Zhu Yun over old wine, he had confirmed that Zhu Yun's act of scaring him away from Huaiyang back then indeed had Si Rong's hand in it.

But, where had she done anything wrong?

She had merely used more sophisticated means to pay him back in his own coin.

If one were to assign blame for all this, it was his own fault for having harbored crooked intentions many years ago.

But it was enough to show that Si Rong was not stupid; she had only trusted them, which was why she had fallen into their trap.

If they really fought, their whole family combined would be no match for Si Rong.

Shen Chi still wanted to play dumb. "Dad, what are you saying? Why would I go looking for trouble with Si Rong?"

And he even had to use a last will to restrain him.

"I know you want to target Si Rong's children. After so much time, can you still not see her character? Even without those two children, Si Rong would no longer treat you as her child, and it is even more impossible for her to give you her assets."

In the end, he sighed long and hard. "It's all Dad's fault for setting a bad example for you, which is why you have these thoughts now. But you have seen my current end; do not remain lost and deluded. Turn back before it is too late."

Shen Chi nodded solemnly. "Dad, I will listen to everything you say."

But that was not what he was thinking in his heart. His father had ended up this way because his own body was in poor health; what did that have to do with anything else?

Moreover, a last will and testament was like a fart to him. During the few months he spent running a street stall, he had tasted the coldness and warmth of human relationships.

To get rich, counting on being down-to-earth was impossible; one still had to fish for illicit wealth.

Shen Lan closed his eyes in a state of regret, because he knew his son had not taken his words to heart either.

He would also repeat his own mistakes.

Before his consciousness vanished, the images of his life flashed by like a revolving lantern.

The most stunning moment was that look Si Rong gave him back then, under Li Xuan's introduction.

Her eyes, clear as spring water, looked at him with a beaming smile.

He thought, if only time could turn back, he would definitely hold Si Rong's hand tightly and never look at another woman again.

Shen Lan died.

The morgue was a mess of crying, with Shen Mu having rushed over from Shen Family Village, and Shen Yun, whose married life was not happy.

One was crying for her son, the other for her brother.

The pillar of the family was gone; from now on, only the women were left. How were they supposed to live?

"It's all your fault, you jinx!" Shen Mu vented her anger on Li Xuan. "My son was perfectly fine; it's all because he married you that he lost his life at such a young age! My poor son, how am I supposed to live from now on..."

Shen Yun cried along with her. Her weeping carried a sense of bewilderment, as if their family had started having bad luck ever since her brother divorced Si Rong.

First, she married an unsatisfactory man, then her brother married the shameless Li Xuan, and now he had even lost his life.

Their family shouldn't have ended up like this.

A baby's cry awakened the dawn.

"She's given birth, she's given birth!" Si Mu's heart finally returned to her chest. She kept twisting the Buddhist prayer beads on her wrist with her fingertips, praying for the ancestors of the Si Family to protect her poor daughter and ensure a safe delivery.

Jiang Mu bought breakfast and urged Si Mu to eat a little. "The baby is born, Rongrong should be coming out soon. I'll wait at the door. In-law, you have hypoglycemia, go eat some of the sugar cakes and sticky rice porridge I bought."

"It's fine, I'll wait a little longer." Si Mu had no heart to eat until she saw her daughter come out safely.

After waiting a while longer, there was still no sign of the delivery room opening.

"What's going on? Why hasn't Rongrong come out yet?"

Si Mu's heart began to feel uneasy again.

Jiang Cheng supported her. "Mom, don't worry. I just found an acquaintance who is also a nurse at this hospital; we will know the news inside very soon."

That nurse is Fang Ting's younger sister, and they had just started their shift.

Knowing that Deputy Army Commander Jiang was worried about his wife, she told the director and prepared to go into the delivery room to take a look for him.

Very quickly, the young nurse ran over, "Rest assured! Both children have been born, and mother and children are safe; they will be wheeled out in a moment."

Half an hour later, Si Rong finally came out of the delivery room.

The two children lay in the crook of her arms, one on the left and one on the right; her long hair was completely soaked with sweat, and it was hard to imagine how much pain she had endured over these nearly ten hours.

Mother Si's tears fell immediately.

Jiang Cheng's eyes turned red as he touched his wife's cheek, and he secretly made a decision in his heart.