Shen Xiaoming remained silent for a long time, his head bowed, before he looked at Shen Xiaoyan with a blank expression. "Eldest Sister, who is our father? Or, are we not..."
"Don't talk nonsense. No matter what, I am still your Eldest Sister," Shen Xiaoyan interrupted Shen Xiaoming. She smiled reassuringly at him and added, "Neither you nor I know what happened back then, so we cannot make hasty judgments."
"I know," Shen Xiaoming nodded.
"Besides, Mother risked her life to save you. You shouldn't harbor any resentment," Shen Xiaoyan continued.
Shen Xiaoming remained silent. Because of the rumors, people in school always said things about him.
Although they wouldn't say it to his face, nor would they let him hear what they said, the feeling was truly agonizing.
Should he hate them?
Hate a father whose identity he didn't know?
Hate the mother who risked her life to give birth to him?
Shen Xiaoming's lips curved slightly. He could not.
That was his mother, who had risked her life for him.
That was his father, who had given him life.
Although he had never met his parents, he thought his mother must have loved his father deeply, otherwise, how would he be here today?
Once Shen Xiaoming understood, he showed Shen Xiaoyan a smile. "Eldest Sister, I understand."
His parents were not like Shen Cheng and Lady Xu. Apart from not having met them, they had not caused him any harm.
He truly had no reason to resent them.
Shen Xiaoyan was very comforted by Shen Xiaoming's understanding. She had not misjudged him; Shen Xiaoming was a good child, and it was worth her doting on him as if he were her own younger brother.
However, she still had to go find Shen Cheng and get to the bottom of the truth from back then.
But before she could find Shen Cheng, Shen Cheng himself came looking for them.
Shen Xiaoyan sat on a wooden chair in the main room and looked at Shen Cheng as he slowly walked in, somewhat surprised.
In such a short time since they last met, Shen Cheng had become so aged.
Thinking about it, Shen Cheng was only thirty-six this year. He had good looks and had appeared quite young before.
But now, he looked as if he had aged by ten years.
Not only that, but he seemed to have been drained of his vitality, appearing lifeless. The wrinkles on his face were as if carved by a knife.
"Are you wondering why I look like this?" Shen Cheng sat on the wooden chair and turned to Shen Xiaoyan with a desolate smile.
Shen Xiaoyan raised her eyebrows and remained silent, waiting for Shen Cheng to continue.
Shen Cheng had no intention of waiting for Shen Xiaoyan to answer his question. He looked at Shen Xiaoyan's face for a while and continued, "You've grown to look more and more like your mother."
Upon hearing Shen Cheng mention Lady Zhen, Shen Xiaoyan's heart tightened.
Even though Shen Cheng and Lady Zhen were married in name only, they had been together for nearly ten years. Among the people Shen Xiaoyan knew, he was the most familiar with Lady Zhen.
"Your mother was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen," Shen Cheng said, his gaze seemingly passing through Shen Xiaoyan and seeing that peerlessly beautiful woman from back then. He sighed and praised her.
But in the next second, he shook his head again. "However, in front of me, your mother was like an automaton, or rather, like a celestial fairy. Even when she was before me, I felt she was unattainable, untouchable."
Shen Xiaoyan was surprised. She never expected Lady Zhen to hold such a position in Shen Cheng's eyes.
"Did you ever ask my mother who she was and why she returned with you?" Shen Xiaoming tried his best to keep his voice sounding calm, but the tension deep in his eyes revealed him completely to Shen Cheng.
Seeing this, Shen Xiaoyan secretly shook her head. He was indeed still a child, unable to hide his emotions very well.
At the question, Shen Cheng shifted his gaze from Shen Xiaoyan to Shen Xiaoming.
Shen Xiaoming was already twelve years old. He had grown considerably taller since he left the Shen family. His skin was fair and smooth, and his face was rosy, making him look healthier than his peers.
His appearance was not very similar to Shen Xiaoyan's, but one could still find a trace of Lady Zhen in his features. It was estimated that he mostly resembled his biological father.
Thinking this, Shen Cheng examined Shen Xiaoming more closely.
Shen Xiaoming's features were rather refined, filled with masculine vigor and determination. Even though he was still slightly immature, it could not hide his future extraordinary charm.
"Heh heh..."
Shen Cheng suddenly threw his head back and laughed loudly, startling Shen Xiaoming, who was looking at him. "What are you laughing at?"
"No wonder, no wonder she didn't think highly of me," Shen Cheng stopped laughing and muttered to himself.
Looking at Shen Cheng like this, Shen Xiaoyan first frowned, then understood. Shen Cheng was talking about why Lady Zhen didn't think highly of him.
But why did he say that?
Shen Cheng had been looking at Shen Xiaoming just now.
Shen Xiaoyan thought this and then looked at Shen Xiaoming's face. After a few seconds, she suddenly realized.
"What happened between you and my mother? Are you here today to talk about this matter?" Shen Xiaoyan asked directly.
"Yes, I am here today to talk to you about your mother," Shen Cheng nodded and said. "However, I want to ask, have you already guessed it?"
Shen Xiaoyan nodded. She didn't intend to hide it from him, so she said, "Yes, looking at my face, I know that there is no blood relation between you and me."
Shen Cheng smiled again, looking at Shen Xiaoyan with admiration. "Not bad, you are very intelligent."
Shen Xiaoyan felt a chill rise from the soles of her feet. Shen Cheng was too normal, so normal it was abnormal, making her unable to accept it.
Shen Cheng paid no heed to the surprise on Shen Xiaoyan's face and continued to recount his encounter with Lady Zhen.
Shen Xiaoyan and Shen Xiaoming sat there silently, listening to Shen Cheng's narration. By the time he finished his very last word, a long time passed, and still, no one spoke.
"This is everything that happened between your mother and me," Shen Cheng closed his eyes and then reopened them. "Who your mother is, where she came from, why she came back with me, I don't know any of it. I don't even know if she was truly foolish or not."
Looking at Shen Cheng like this, Shen Xiaoyan, for a moment, actually felt a sense of pity for him.
He met her only once, and without even knowing who Lady Zhen was, he brought her home because of her beauty, and even married her.
Although they never had a wedding ceremony, nor consummated their marriage, and even the child Lady Zhen gave birth to was someone else's, Shen Cheng still lived like this for ten years.
Was he pitiable?
This was his own doing. If he hadn't been infatuated with her beauty, none of this would have happened.
"Don't pity me. I don't pity myself at all. This is all my own doing," Shen Cheng sighed, then stood up and turned to leave.
"Wait, how did Xu Xiao'e know about this?" Shen Xiaoyan called out to stop Shen Cheng.
"How do you know it wasn't me who told her? After all, I haven't treated you and Shen Xiaoming very well," Shen Cheng turned around and looked at Shen Xiaoyan, asking.
"If you really wanted to tell, would you have waited until now?" Shen Xiaoyan raised her eyebrows.
"Heh heh," Shen Cheng chuckled a few times before saying, "It really wasn't me who told her. She came to see me a few days ago and told me about it directly. I asked her how she knew, and she didn't answer."