Chapter 62: Products of an Arranged Marriage

Then he asked, "First love? So that woman came along later?"

Si Zuochen scoffed dismissively: "Maybe? Otherwise, why would he have no feelings for his father?"

"Perhaps they're only after the Si family's wealth."

Si Youlin pursed his lips, pondered for a moment, and then suddenly asked, "But it's no wonder. If Father could do something like that, I'm sure anyone would feel resentful, right?"

"Are you speaking up for that woman?" Upon hearing this, Si Zuochen's face showed displeasure, and he rebuked, "Have you forgotten what she did?"

"Besides, didn't you just hear that? She didn't know anything about what happened back then, so it's not because of that at all."

Si Zuochen spoke eloquently, but Si Youlin looked in the direction Jiang Ran had left, lost in thought.

"And what about you?" Si Youlin suddenly asked, "Why did you suddenly ask her that question?"

Upon hearing this, Si Zuochen pursed his lips, a hint of unease flashing across his face: "Actually, when I first heard this news, for a while, I thought that she treated us so badly because she had been betrayed."

"Whenever I see her, I think of her as someone who is also in the same boat, and I imagine she is not having an easy time, so she takes out her resentment on us."

Recalling the past, a look of realization flashed in Si Zuochen's eyes. He paused slightly, then continued speaking.

"But one time I overheard her conversation with Song Yuqing and realized that she knew nothing about the truth of the car accident."

"My initial sympathy for her vanished instantly. It turns out that her beatings and verbal abuse towards us weren't due to any other external reason."

"It's nothing more than simple disgust..."

After saying that, he suddenly gave a self-deprecating laugh.

He even thought at one point that they were being targeted because of someone else's anger.

Looking back now, I realize how foolish I was. It turns out that regardless of whether that happened or not, her attitude towards them remained as awful as ever.

After hearing his explanation, Si Youlin's face showed a hint of doubt, and he asked, "Is this matter true?"

Si Zuochen nodded and replied, "Indeed, I heard it with my own ears at the door when my grandfather went to visit my father."

Hearing his answer, Si Youlin felt a pang in his heart, but he still shook his head and murmured, "No, I don't believe my father is that kind of person."

On the surface, he is the young master of the Si family, but in reality, he has a hard time surviving.

Laughing at those in power, Jiang Ran, as a mother, only knew how to listen to those bad friends and was very critical of them.

Therefore, he has always regarded Si Yanxiao as his spiritual pillar, and he would confide in him about any troubles he had, even though he knew that Si Yanxiao would not respond.

He now felt a strange irony, looked at Si Zuochen, gave a self-deprecating smile, his eyes full of mockery: "Brother, so we were the joke after all..."

Seeing that he had suffered a blow and looked somewhat dazed, Si Zuochen couldn't help but want to say something to comfort him, but he continued talking to himself.

"Although my father is still unconscious, I think that once he wakes up, he will love us very much."

"After all, there are very few people in the world who hate their own children; that woman is an exception."

"But now it seems that they are the same kind of people. They can give up everything and elope with their first love. In their eyes, we are just a stumbling block."

"Looking back now, it's really laughable!"

As Si Youlin spoke, a mocking smile appeared on his lips, and a hint of sadness flashed in his eyes.

Seeing Si Youlin's strange expression, Si Zuochen couldn't help but reach out and pat his shoulder, gently comforting him.

"What they do doesn't matter to us. We are the closest people in the world, aren't we?"

Upon hearing this, Si Youlin looked up at him in a daze, tears still glistening in his eyes.

A pang of heartache welled up in Si Zuochen's heart, and he said, "Sooner or later we'll have to accept reality. We were just a product of the absurdity of the wealthy families."

"But so what? Compared to those who are barely clothed, we are already much better off."

Si Zuochen tried to comfort him from the side. He was always quite realistic, and even after learning the news, he didn't feel much.

But Si Youlin is different. He has been kind-hearted since childhood and still retains a childlike innocence. He even has unrealistic desires for family affection, otherwise he would not have been deceived by Jiang Ran time and time again.

Now he has to shatter his illusions himself.

On the other side, after Jiang Ran parted ways with them, she kept thinking about Old Master Si's illness.

The corpse poison in his body had been accumulating for too long, which had seriously affected his bodily functions. Although it was temporarily suppressed by spiritual energy, it could not last long.

The most important thing now is to prepare all the medicinal materials, but one of the ingredients requires some special care.

Fine, consider this my way of fulfilling my filial duty on behalf of the original owner...

She had done so many outrageous things before, but Old Master Si had always turned a blind eye to it.

Lost in thought and unaware of her footsteps, Jiang Ran found herself in the banquet hall. She sighed softly and walked to a corner, where she overheard people whispering nearby.

"Hey? Have you heard? The Si family's child beats and scolds him all the time. It's so pitiful that such a young child has to endure all this at such a young age."

“Who says otherwise?” someone chimed in. “That woman has a terrible reputation outside, I don’t know where she got the nerve to come to the banquet.”

"She clearly couldn't afford a gift, so she used grapes instead, but she still insisted on saying something like 'it's a small gift but the sentiment is deep.' It's fortunate that the old man is magnanimous. If it were me, I would have embarrassed her in public for all the things she did before."

Jiang Ran listened casually, but unexpectedly heard only ridicule of herself. She couldn't help but find it a little funny. She took a sip of her wine and listened intently.

"I don't know how a wealthy and powerful family like the Si family could possibly take a fancy to such a vulgar woman?"

The sounds around me gradually joined in.

"I heard she's keeping a gigolo on the side. She's still living off the Si family, how shameless of her to secretly support a man."

Someone chimed in, "Maybe there's more than one, maybe even several in one night?"

After he finished speaking, everyone burst into laughter.

Jiang Ran raised an eyebrow slightly, a slight smile playing on her lips: "Who is it? So impressive?"

Upon hearing her voice, everyone was startled.

Jiang Ran took in their expressions, pretending not to notice, and asked, "What's wrong? Weren't you chatting happily just now? Why did you stop talking as soon as I joined in?"

"Go on, I'm really enjoying it."

Speaking ill of someone behind their back, and being overheard by the person involved, caused a flash of displeasure on everyone's faces. Some of the bolder ones even dared to speak up and mock, "I had no idea Mrs. Si had a hobby of eavesdropping?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ran covered her mouth with one hand and chuckled softly.

The man, puzzled, asked, "What are you laughing at?"

Jiang Ran smiled slightly and was about to speak when she was interrupted by a voice behind her.

"You're quite reasonable in speaking ill of others, aren't you? Trying to turn the tables?"

Everyone looked toward the source of the sound and saw Ji Xia slowly approaching.

"Why is she here?" someone whispered. Before the words were even finished, Ji Xia had already walked to Jiang Ran's side.

"Why did you stop talking? Let me hear it too!"

"Mrs. Cheng, this matter doesn't seem to concern you much," the woman who had just mocked Jiang Ran said coldly.

Ji Xia raised an eyebrow: "Oh? So that's none of your business? You mean you have to consider how close you are to someone before you can speak ill of them?"

"Then tell me, what is your relationship with Mrs. Si?" Ji Xia retorted abruptly.

The man's expression changed after being rebuked by her, and he sneered, "Ha...you actually speak up for her? Mrs. Cheng's circle of friends is really questionable."

Ji Xia sneered as she listened, "You really are a busybody, aren't you? Too bad, do you know why we didn't become friends?"

The man was taken aback, then heard her continue, "Because I look down on you."

"Gossiping behind people's backs, what a show of power!"

"You!" The man felt utterly humiliated by her public mockery and took a few steps forward to argue.

Her friend quickly pulled her aside and whispered, "Don't get into a direct conflict with her. The Ji family is behind her."

The arrogant person who was just moments ago instantly deflated like a wilted eggplant.