Chapter 2: The Ungrateful Children

"Rongrong, what's wrong?"

As soon as he entered the door, Shen Lan changed into his slippers and placed the roast duck on the dining table, immediately sensing her unhappiness.

Hearing his gentle voice, Si Rong felt even more aggrieved in her heart.

She whispered to Shen Lan about what had just happened with Shen Yuan.

"What does this amount to?" Shen Lan smiled and pulled her into his arms. "Asking our second brother to help buy a concert ticket isn't a difficult task; we can just give the money to second brother later!"

Shen Lan often said this, but in truth, the second brother had never accepted money whenever he did things for them.

Usually, Si Rong wouldn't think much of it, but today, hearing it made her feel quite uncomfortable.

"It's not about buying the ticket, nor is it about the money," Si Rong said, sharing her worries with him. "Xiao Yuan is about to take the College Entrance Examination; if her mind isn't on her studies, how will she get into university?"

Shen Lan rubbed his brow.

Si Rong knew this was a precursor to his impatience.

But this man had excellent self-restraint and never lost his temper with her.

Si Rong also knew her limits and stopped nagging.

Although Shen Chi and Shen Yuan were children they had adopted, it was clear that Shen Lan cherished them as if they were his own.

Because of her infertility, Si Rong felt guilty, so she also treated these two children as her own.

It was just that this was the first time she had refused Shen Yuan's request, and she hadn't expected the child to have such a reaction.

Could it really be, as that phone call suggested, that Shen Yuan was truly an ungrateful wretch?

Right, the phone call.

Si Rong gathered her thoughts for a moment, intending to tell Shen Lan about the call she had received this afternoon.

"By the way, this afternoon, I..."

As Shen Lan turned around, Si Rong suddenly saw a long black hair on the back of his neck.

That position was one that couldn't be reached unless there was a very intimate action.

And her own hair had been dyed chestnut brown a while ago.

Si Rong's heart skipped a beat.

"What have you been doing all afternoon?" Si Rong asked, suppressing the shock in her heart.

Shen Lan didn't suspect a thing and placed the hot roast duck onto a plate.

He spoke to her about his schedule in a gentle and natural way, "I had a meeting, and then I went to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a real estate project."

As a Deputy County Magistrate, these tasks were common occurrences.

For a moment, Si Rong didn't know where to start her suspicions.

At this moment, Wang Ma returned from buying groceries.

"Sir is back? I was delayed a bit while buying vegetables today, the rice is already steamed, I'll go stir-fry the dishes now."

After Wang Ma went into the kitchen, Shen Lan tore off one of the roast duck legs and handed it to Si Rong.

He said dotingly, "Let me guess what Rongrong did this afternoon. Did you watch some TV first, then take a nap, and finally drink tea on the balcony while admiring that new tank of lotus flowers you planted in the courtyard?"

Si Rong felt a pang of bitterness in her heart again.

Shen Lan was always like this, understanding all her preferences.

"I, I'm going to the restroom."

Not until she entered the restroom and locked the door could Si Rong calm her emotions.

What was going on with that hair?

She remembered that the secretary Xiao Huang who followed Shen Lan this year had short hair, and there didn't seem to be any particularly pretty young girls in their unit either.

Wang Ma finished cooking and called them to eat, but Shen Yuan refused to come out of her room to eat.

Si Rong knew she was waiting for her to compromise, just like in the past.

But today she felt very annoyed and truly had no mood to coax her.

Shen Lan used a small bowl to pick up some dishes and a roast duck leg, then sent them into the room.

Guilt surfaced in Si Rong's heart once more; Shen Lan was truly a good father. If she had been able to bear a child for Shen Lan back then, they wouldn't have any regrets between them.

After a good while, Shen Lan still hadn't come out of their daughter's room. Si Rong pushed the door open to look and saw Shen Yuan clinging to Shen Lan, hanging off him like a kangaroo.

Her fluffy hair was hanging all the way down to Shen Lan's neck.

Si Rong's expression softened; she had overthought it, and that hair had just rattled her nerves.

Besides being Shen Yuan's, whose else could it be?

It was impossible for Shen Lan to be this intimate with any woman other than the two of them.

"Alright, come out and eat. Tomorrow I'll have your second uncle ask about the concert tickets for you."

Only when Si Rong said this did Shen Yuan have a smile on her face, immediately turning to hug her and act like a spoiled child, "Mom! You're the best! Let second uncle buy two more! I want to go with my classmates!"

"Fine! Everything for my little princess!"

Since Shen Lan had said so, Si Rong didn't want to dampen their spirits, so she thought she would just give the money to the second brother later.

The family had just sat down to eat when Shen Chi returned, talking about his work while eating.

"Mom, let big uncle take me under his wing. I also want to open my own company and do foreign trade; I don't want to work for others."

Si Rong's elder brother, Si Yan, ran a foreign trade company that was quite large, and he was already driving his own sedan.

It was one of the first batches of joint-venture cars.

Although Shen Lan also had a car for his travels as Deputy County Magistrate, it was government property and did not belong to him personally.

He could use it for official business, but it wasn't convenient for private matters.

In short, although their family's standard of living was already quite good, there was always someone better, and mountains beyond mountains.

Compared to the Si Family, they were still a bit behind.

Therefore, the siblings Shen Chi and Shen Yuan had been very close to the Si Family since they were young.

"Your uncle is busy; I'll mention it to him when I see him later."

Si Rong agreed subconsciously, but then she remembered the phone call saying that children are all ungrateful wretches.

Would Shen Chi be like that?

Perhaps it was due to his personality; although she also loved Shen Yuan dearly, deep down she favored Shen Chi more.

Shen Chi had a very sweet tongue.

Approaching forty these past two years, she had some appearance anxiety, yet every time Shen Chi came home, he would praise her as the most beautiful mother in the world.

"Thank you, the most beautiful mother in the world!" Shen Chi laughed heartily, "Just wait at home with peace of mind; in the future, when your son makes it big in business, I will definitely treat you with great filial piety!"

Si Rong was coaxed into laughter by him.

"Rongrong, eat some fish."

Shen Lan placed the fish, from which he had personally removed the bones, into her bowl; this was a habit Shen Lan had formed since the two of them had been together.

However, for some reason, Si Rong could not taste the deliciousness of the fish today.

After dinner, Wang Ma washed the dishes, and Shen Lan went for a walk with her in the residential complex as usual.

Wenxin Garden was the house allocated by the government after Shen Lan took office as County Magistrate; most of the people living here were Shen Lan's colleagues, either wealthy or noble.

They hadn't walked far when they ran into someone, Si Rong's longtime friend Li Xuan.

She lived downstairs from them and was still unmarried to this day.