At 8 p.m., the Shen family's villa was brightly lit.
Today, Shen Jiahao was home, which was rare for him, so Gao Muyun specially cooked a pot of soup to nourish him.
Shen Xinrou helped her in the kitchen, while Shen Xinxing sat quietly on the sofa reading a book.
Not far from him were Shen Yurong, who was playing Dou Dizhu (a card game) in silence, and Zhong Yan, who was shopping via live stream.
Because Li Hongxia preferred quiet, and Shen Xu was afraid of people.
So the two of them stayed on the third floor and didn't come down.
Once the soup was ready, Gao Muyun ladled out a small bowl and gestured to Shen Xinrou to take it out.
Shen Xinrou hesitated, but in the end she couldn't go against her mother's wishes.
She carried the tray to the living room and carefully placed the bowl on the coffee table: "Dad, have some soup."
Shen Jiahao gave a casual "hmm".
He put down his crossed legs, picked up the bowl, blew on it, took a few sips, and then put it back on the coffee table without touching it again.
Looking at the bowl of soup, Shen Xinrou hesitated, wanting to say something but holding back.
But in the end, he didn't say anything and silently returned to the kitchen with the tray in his arms.
Behind her, Shen Jiahao suddenly called out to her: "How did you feel about the young men you were looking at this time?"
Shen Xinrou was startled and froze on the spot.
She turned around and stammered, "It was...it was like that..."
Shen Jiahao raised an eyebrow, his eyes filled with impatience: "Even if you're going to be picky, you should know when to stop. You're already 32 years old. Other people your age have kids who are old enough to run errands. Is it appropriate for you to still be staying at home?"
Shen Xinrou lowered her head, not daring to utter a word in rebuttal.
Shen Xinxing remained in his reading posture.
However, the grip on the book tightened, and the pages in his hand became noticeably wrinkled.
Hearing her daughter being scolded, Gao Muyun quickly stepped in to smooth things over: "Look, I forgot to mention. Rou Rou was chatting with me last time, saying she had a good impression of the young masters from the Zhang and Li families... Our family will definitely have some good news this year."
However, Shen Jiahao was not satisfied with this. Instead, he blamed Gao Muyun as well: "It's because you're so picky all the time that you've never been able to get married!"
"If you don't get married soon and start working for the benefit of the Shen family, all three of you, mother and sons, get out of the Shen family!"
Gao Muyun stood to the side, looking aggrieved, and endured the scolding with her head down.
Shen Xinxing wanted to step forward to protect his mother, but Shen Xinrou gave him a look that told him to stay calm.
At times like this, whoever steps forward will inevitably face a reprimand. Rather than that, it's better to let Shen Jiahao vent his anger.
They didn't hold a high position in the Shen family to begin with, so it was better to avoid trouble.
Since he wasn't the one being scolded, Shen Yurong continued playing cards indifferently.
Only Zhong Yan watched quietly as Gao Muyun put on this lively performance, her eyes darting around.
She likes this play.
I love it so much...
...
Shen Jiahao swore and cursed for a while.
They verbally abused Gao Muyun and her daughter.
She then started complaining about Shen Xinxing, saying his poor health had cost the family a lot of money over the years.
The commotion reached the third floor, and Li Hongxia brought Shen Xu downstairs: "What's all this noise about so late at night? Don't you let people get any rest?"
She glared at Shen Jiahao fiercely: "You're never home, and when you do come back, you're all yelling and screaming. If you don't like coming home, then don't come home. Go outside, you have plenty of other places to stay!"
Shen Jiahao, who had been arrogant and domineering, fell silent upon seeing his mother.
"You too!" Li Hongxia glanced at Gao Muyun, whose eyes were filled with tears. "You've been looking gloomy all day. Have we, the Shen family, been neglecting your food or clothing? If people don't know better, they'll think we're mistreating you."
Gao Muyun's tears welled up in her eyes, but she didn't know whether to let them fall or wipe them away.
Zhong Yan had watched the show long enough, so she kicked Shen Yurong and winked at him.
Shen Yurong reluctantly put down his phone and then went to the stairwell to help Li Hongxia sit on the sofa.
However, before they could even settle in, the doorbell of the villa suddenly rang.
The maid went to open the door, and several uniformed police officers walked in together.
Upon seeing the police, everyone in the room seemed utterly bewildered.
Shen Jiahao stood up and extended his hand to them in a friendly manner.
The lead police officer waved his hand, then took out his identification and stated his purpose: "Hello, I am a police officer from Yuncheng Police Station, [name]. May I ask which one of you is Ms. Zhong Yan?"
When her name was called, Zhong Yan panicked for no apparent reason.
Even though she had a rough idea of what it was about, she suppressed her unease and calmly stood up: "...That's me. May I ask what's wrong?"
The police officer took out handcuffs: "You are suspected of involvement in a kidnapping and instigation of murder. Please come with us to the station."
...
Meanwhile, on the other side, clues were also found about the mastermind behind Dazhuang and Xiaozhuang.
When the confessions of Da Zhuang and Xiao Zhuang, who had regained consciousness, and all the evidence pointed to Ning Jianshe, not only Lu Chen, but even Shen Fu was stunned.
"Could someone really be so heartless as to not even spare their own grandson?" Lu Chen found it hard to believe.
Although his father passed away early, Lu Chen grew up under the care of his grandfather and mother.
He had only heard about the dirty dealings within the family, but had never experienced them firsthand.
Therefore, Lu Chen did not understand whether there really were parents like Ning Jianshe and his wife in the world.
"The world is vast and diverse, with countless people and phenomena. What we can actually access is but a drop in the ocean," Shen Fu said calmly.
Compared to Shen Fu, Lu Chen is undoubtedly fortunate.
But compared to the many people at the bottom of society who struggle desperately just to survive, Shen Fu is undoubtedly lucky.
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