Chapter 31: There Was Never Any Foster Daughter

Si Rong had previously been unaware of Li Xuan claiming to be the Si Family's foster daughter.

She only knew that Li Xuan had good relationships with everyone at school and in the county dance troupe; it turned out she had been relying on the Si Family to maintain them.

Sometimes Si Rong would also wonder, how could a person be so shameless?

She saw the pleading in Li Xuan's eyes.

Yes, the people who came here today to watch the rehearsal were all influential leaders from Li Xuan's dance school.

If she exposed Li Xuan in public, Li Xuan would become a laughingstock in their school from then on.

But this was something she brought upon herself.

A flash of confusion crossed Si Rong's eyes, "As far as I know, my mother has never adopted any foster daughter."

As soon as these words left her mouth, Li Xuan felt her face instantly burn with heat.

She kept her head lowered, suppressing the resentment she felt toward Si Rong in her heart.

Admittedly, it was wrong for her to claim to be the Si Family's foster daughter, but at this moment, Si Rong knew the consequences of exposing her and still chose to do so—was she not also in the wrong?

Not only was she wrong, she was extremely vicious.

The superior image she had worked so hard to build at school had now been completely ruined by Si Rong.

Listening to the chattering discussions of those people, Li Xuan wished she could crawl into a crack in the ground.

"I always thought she was a hypocritical person, look at that, what now? She actually had the nerve to say she was the Si Family's foster daughter?"

"Now that she's been exposed by the Si Family's real daughter, if I were her, I'd be too ashamed to face anyone; I'd just hide away."

"I've seen people steal other people's husbands, but this is the first time I've seen someone try to steal someone else's parents! Pfft! It's hilarious!"

Si Rong smiled lightly and took her students to prepare for the rehearsal.

Leaving Li Xuan there to suffer alone!

After the rehearsal, the school leaders were full of praise for the Rongzi Dance Studio.

"I rarely heard that Miss Si Rong danced so well before."

Director Huang asked with a smile.

"I had been staying at home before, and only recently decided to open a dance studio."

Si Rong answered neither humbly nor arrogantly.

This demeanor of hers was what Li Xuan envied most but could never learn.

Even if she possessed Si Rong's husband in secret, even if she claimed to be the Si Family's foster daughter where Si Rong could not see.

Most of the dance groups rehearsed very smoothly, with the exception of the school team led by Li Xuan.

This was supposed to be her home turf, where she had everything she was familiar with.

Yet she made frequent mistakes in front of the school leaders, and even forgot the dance moves twice, requiring her students to remind her.

The school leaders' impression of Li Xuan plummeted instantly.

After the rehearsal ended, the date for the County Dance Competition was set for New Year's Eve.

At that time, county leaders would attend, including Ma County Magistrate, Deputy County Magistrate Shen, Secretary Jiang, and many other big figures.

A faint smile rippled across Si Rong's face; such a good day would surely be very lively.

In the following days, apart from taking her students to practice at the dance studio, Si Rong stayed at home.

Guarding the living room.

But that mysterious phone call from the future never rang again.

Now everything was proceeding according to her plan, just waiting to expose the affair between those two under the sunlight.

But only this phone.

Si Rong did not know what the situation was on the other end of the line at that time, nor did she know what catalyst was needed if the phone were to ring again.

Therefore, she had to have this phone when she divorced.

This house was a suite allocated to Shen Lan after he was promoted to Deputy County Magistrate; she could not take it away when they divorced.

However, all the home appliances in this house were dowry gifts from her two brothers back home.

Taking the phone away when the time came would be perfectly reasonable.

Ever since Shen Lan proposed not letting Jiang Zhi continue to stay at the dance studio, Shen Lan had been intentionally giving her the cold shoulder.

He was waiting for Si Rong to take the initiative and admit her mistake to him.

After all, Si Rong was indeed the one at fault in this matter; if he didn't give her the cold shoulder for a while, she wouldn't realize her mistake.

Si Rong was happy to be at ease.

She used to hate this kind of cold violence from Shen Lan, but now it felt quite good; at least she didn't have to deal with him now.

Approaching National Day, many shops had hung up national flags.

"Look! The new national flag I bought is the largest and most vibrant one on our street!" Ming Zi held it up for Si Rong to see.

"It really is beautiful."

After setting up the flag and returning to the dance studio, Ming Zi asked her, "How have things been between you and Shen Lan lately?"

That time she found someone to beat him up felt so satisfying.

It was practically addictive; she wanted to beat him again.

"He's there having a cold war by himself."

Si Rong only found it ridiculous; not only was Shen Lan ridiculous, but the version of herself who liked Shen Lan when she was young was also ridiculous.

He didn't have a shred of the responsibility a man should have; whenever a conflict arose, he always thought about making the woman accommodate him.

"It would be best if he froze to death!" Ming Zi sneered, "I think he's just a blockhead! No real ability, just full of idiocy!"

"He's one thing, but what about those two children, Shen Chi and Shen Yuan?"

Although their biological mother was Li Xuan, they had been raised by Si Rong through thick and thin.

"Ever since I stopped letting them take whatever they wanted from me, our relationship hasn't been what it used to be."

Si Rong felt chilled; just as she had said on the phone, those two were ingrates.

"But there is one thing I'm quite curious about," Si Rong said, looking at the coffee cup in front of her and slowly stirring it with a spoon, "do you think those two children know about their true parentage?"

Judging by how Shen Mu had covered for Shen Lan and Li Xuan when she had made a surprise visit to the hospital last time, that old hag clearly knew.

"Probably not," Ming Zi, who had children of her own, thought that since those two children were Shen Lan's biological offspring, he would never let them find out, otherwise, she didn't know how the children would be able to accept such a twisted worldview.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

Shen Chi, one of the subjects of their conversation just moments ago, strode in.

"Most beautiful Mom, I'm here!" Shen Chi's mouth was still as sweet as ever, but in her heart, Si Rong could no longer muster even a shred of affection for him.

Si Rong thought that, in the end, she was just an ordinary person.

Just the fact that these two children were born to Shen Lan and Li Xuan was enough to completely erase the seventeen years of mother-son affection they had shared.

"Aren't you supposed to be at work? Why are you here at this hour?"

Shen Chi hadn't been able to get into high school back then, so Shen Lan had found him a job as a junior clerk in a government department.

"The job my dad found for me is so boring; the people in the office just read newspapers, drink tea, and take naps all day. I still want to follow my uncle and learn some real skills!"

So it was still about this.

Si Rong had originally thought it was because of the cold war between her and Shen Lan these past few days; it seemed she was being sentimental again.

"No." Si Rong refused directly.

She didn't even want to bother with pretense anymore.

Shen Chi tightened the fists hanging at his sides, his mind flashing back to what his little sister had said.