Chapter 62 Chapter 62 Life
Chapter 62
The expression on Wen Ying's face changed from puzzlement to surprise, and then to absurdity and disbelief.
"What are you talking about?" She wondered if she had misheard and hoped this was a prank by Ruan Yan. "Or are you deliberately joking with me?"
Ruan Yan's heavy and serious eyes showed that everything was true: "I am the lost child of the Ruan family."
Wen Ying felt dizzy for a moment, unable to think straight: "You are Ruan Qian? You said you are Ruan Qian..."
"I'm sorry I kept this from you for so long," Ruan Yan said, knowing she was having a hard time accepting and digesting this fact. "I've wanted to be honest with you so many times before, but I didn't have the courage and ultimately backed down. I'm sorry..."
Still in shock, Wen Ying tried to regain some clarity: "Did you recover your memory? Or did you never lose your memory at all?"
Ruan Yan confessed honestly, "I never lost my memory. I was pretending to be her from the beginning to the end. I'm sorry."
"How could you..." Wen Ying frowned. The whole thing was so ridiculous that she was speechless. "Why did you do this?"
Why do this?
Ruan Yan had asked herself this question countless times.
At first, she just wanted to find out the secret of her life experience. She admitted that in addition to curiosity, she also had some inexplicable awkward emotions.
Since she was a child, people around her have mocked her as an abandoned "bastard". She has a hidden hatred in her heart. Over time, she even believes that she is a burden abandoned by her family. Otherwise, why has no one come to find her for so long?
As fate would have it, she happened to save a tourist during a landslide that year. Fortunately, the tourist was only slightly injured. When he regained consciousness and saw her, he pointed at her and excitedly shouted, "It's really you! It's really you..."
Confused, she helped the other person wipe the mud and sand off his face, and his expression instantly became as shocked as hers.
It was a face exactly like his own.
That was Ruan Yan, who had just arrived in Beishui County from City C, and later became Xiaoman.
She heard some information from Xiaoman and learned that she might be the child lost by the Ruan family.
"You must be my twin sister," Xiaoman said with absolute certainty. "Our copy-pasted faces are more reliable than DNA testing."
She looked at the extremely familiar eyes, nose, and mouth, and could not utter a single word in rebuttal.
Only then did she realize that fate was so dramatic. She was actually a child from a wealthy family, just like the plot in the 8 o'clock soap opera.
"What about them...how are they?" she asked cautiously.
"Are you referring to Mom and Dad?" Xiaoman thought for a moment, quickly guessing who she was talking about. Then her expression turned solemn. "They're both gone. Mom died of illness when I was very young, and Dad passed away two years ago..."
She lowered her head and remained silent for a long time.
Xiaoman continued, "But I just heard them calling you Ruan Yan. Why is your name also Ruan Yan? Shouldn't you be called Ruan Qian?"
"I don't know either. My mother...my adoptive mother has always called me that. She said that the safety lock I hung around my neck had this name written on it," she said.
"It's really interesting, two Ruan Yans. You're Ruan Yan, and I'm Ruan Yan too. We're truly twins, but..." She blinked and said half-seriously, "It doesn't matter. I don't plan to keep this name. I'm going to die anyway, so there's no point in giving me a name."
Her smiling face made her think it might just be a joke.
But later, Xiaoman, who was drunk almost every day, had an accident and was rescued by her when she was about to drown.
She also learned that she had been betrayed by both her beloved boyfriend and her most trusted friend.
"My life is awful. It's no different from rotting meat. My parents are gone, my lover and friends are gone, and I've had a falling out with Sister Wen Ying. No one loves me, everyone hates me. I have nothing left." Xiaoman's face was covered with tears, but she was smiling, but her smile was so sad. "So there's no need for you to save me. Just let me die."
The night sea breeze blew over, wrapping around her trembling voice.
Ruan Yan sat down next to her: "Will death be better than now? Will living be worse than dying? Compared to going to that unknown world and fighting an uncertain battle again, it is much more cost-effective to start a new life in this familiar place. Besides,"
She turned around and gently grasped her arm: "Don't you still have me? We are twins, and I am also your family."
Xiaoman looked at her, feeling the warmth on her arm, with tiny ripples of light flickering in her bright eyes.
After a while, Xiaoman suddenly hugged her: "Yes, I still have you..."
From sobbing quietly at the beginning to wailing loudly later, she cried very hard, as if she wanted to vent all the grievances that had been suppressed in her heart for so long.
The two wet bodies hugged each other like this, with the same heartbeat and blood temperature, resisting the low and biting night wind around them.
It was also after this night that Xiaoman decided to bid farewell to the past completely and start a new life.
"I want to live the life I want. From now on, I will no longer be Ruan Yan." Xiaoman said that the new name came from the nickname her father always called her jokingly when she was a child because she was slow in doing things, Manman - Xiao Manman.
…
Xiaoman's situation can be regarded as a catalyst for a series of chain events that followed Ruan Yan. She was hesitant until then, and finally she made up her mind to go to that distant and unfamiliar place to take a look, as the eldest daughter of the Ruan family who had been living a life of luxury since childhood.
Both of her biological parents have passed away, and Xiaoman knows everything about what happened back then. If she wants to find out the truth, she can only go there in person.
Her plan at the beginning was simple. She would infiltrate the Ruan family under a false identity to find out the truth about her life experience, and meet that scumbag and bitch by the way. When she found the answers she wanted, she would wave her sleeves and retire, returning to her original small village without any contact, and continue her original simple and unchanging life.
Unfortunately, reality is not like a TV series. There is no preview of the next episode, and the plot often does not develop as smoothly as expected.
After arriving in City C, she met Wen Ying, Aunt Wang, Xiao Wen, Zhao Tian, Liu Mengmeng, and a group of lovely colleagues, as well as Lu Peishi...
She found herself involuntarily integrating into this place, and her psychology gradually began to change. The longer she stayed, the more conflicted she felt.
She found herself becoming selfish and greedy, occupying the life that originally belonged to Ruan Yan, and even reluctant to leave.
When her identity was later exposed by Lu Peishi, besides feeling nervous and anxious, she actually felt more relieved.
Later, Wen Ying fell ill and was hospitalized. Only then did she realize that she had long regarded herself as a member of the Ruan family, so she felt so uneasy and wanted to tell Wen Ying her true identity several times.
Although at the last moment, she and Xiaoman both retreated cowardly.
Now she could no longer leave anonymously as she had originally imagined, as if she had never been there, like an insignificant speck of dust, blown away by the wind without a trace.
At this time, she and Lu Peishi had already obtained their marriage certificate, still under her own identity, so she could no longer hide it from Wen Ying.
"I'm sorry, sister..." Her throat was blocked and she had a lot to say, but the words were stuck there with difficulty.
Wen Ying's mind was in a mess, with countless questions rushing to her mind: "Then...how did you find this place? Where is the real Ruan Yan? Where is she? How is she now? Does she know about this?"
She wanted to explain the whole process clearly, but found it was really very long. She could only summarize it as briefly as possible and tell the key parts, starting from when she rescued Ruan Yan from the landslide. Then she came to Ruan's house alone and pretended to have amnesia, living under the name of Ruan Yan. Later, how her fake identity was exposed by Lu Peishi, and the psychological changes she went through along the way.
"I thought I wouldn't be here long, so I hid my identity, but then..."
Before telling the truth, she also thought about the consequences. Wen Ying might not be able to accept this, or she might be very angry with her and unwilling to recognize her, but she would accept any result. She could continue to pretend hard in front of outsiders, but she didn't want to deceive Wen Ying anymore.
At this time, Wen Ying had gradually calmed down. Looking at this face that was exactly the same as her sister whom she had lived with for more than 20 years, she couldn't help feeling sad.
Looking back on all the drastic changes and anomalies that had occurred since she returned to the Ruan family, they all had reasonable explanations.
It turned out that she was not Ruan Yan, she was another child of the Ruan family, her other sister, Ruan Qian.
All that anger and blame instantly turned into tender care and heartache between family members. I couldn't help but ask, "Have you been doing well out there these years? Have you been bullied? Is the family you're with treating you well?"
"They are all good people. I live a good life and no one dares to bully me."
Although her adoptive parents were poor, they gave her their love selflessly, making her childhood basically happy. The "bullying" she suffered in her childhood was completely insignificant and insignificant to her.
Wen Ying was relieved: "That's good, Dad can rest assured now."
She said cautiously: "Sister, are you very angry with me?"
"Yes," Wen Ying said, "How could you have kept it a secret from me for so long? You are so cruel."
Although she said this, the next second, Wen Ying gave her a hug.
Wen Ying had seen all the ways in which she had behaved over the past few days, especially the difficult times when she had accompanied him during his illness and hospitalization. Wen Ying remembered all of them in her heart.
"sister……"
Ruan Yan's nose felt sore and tears fell before her voice could make them.
At night, the two of them slept in the same room.
Ruan Yan recounted this experience like a story.
When the name was mentioned, Wen Ying's first reaction was also surprise: "Is your name also Ruan Yan? That's a bit unbelievable."
When Jiang Shuyu came back that year, she was unconscious because she kept shouting "Xixi, Xixi is missing", so everyone thought that it was Ruan Xi who was lost and the person she was holding back in her arms was Ruan Yan.
Whenever Wen Ying thinks of this memory, her heart is filled with helplessness and pity.
But now that her younger sister is back and she is growing up well, Jiang Shuyu must be very happy too.
However, Wen Ying still has someone in her heart.
"Has she really decided not to come back?" Wen Ying asked in a low voice.
"I probably won't be back in the short term." Ruan Yan remembered what Xiaoman said at that time. She liked the small town by the sea very much. She felt very relaxed and comfortable there. She was enjoying the feeling of experiencing another brand new life at the moment.
Wen Ying nodded, supporting her decision, but there was a faint sadness in her heart.
"She actually came back once," Ruan Yan said. "When you were sick and hospitalized, she flew back immediately. It was the day your pathology report came out, but she didn't dare to see you. When we went out for a walk, she secretly hid downstairs in the hospital. She was relieved only after she saw with her own eyes that you were really okay."
Wen Ying was very surprised, remembering her always proud and stubborn temper as a young lady. It turned out that she was still the same as when she was a child, the little girl who would cry anxiously when she knew she was sick or uncomfortable.
"This silly child..." Wen Ying murmured, her eyes filled with sourness, and she quietly wiped the wet corners of her eyes with her fingertips.
She cried so much today, but fortunately, they were all tears of happiness.
*
Lu Peishi's trip to Jiangcheng was originally scheduled for a week, but he insisted that Special Assistant Zhao shorten it to five days.
When he got back to the hotel after work in the evening, the first thing he did was to check his phone, but there was still no message from Ruan Yan.
In the afternoon, he took a break from his busy schedule and sent her a WeChat message asking her what she was doing. She simply replied that she was busy at the moment.
He immediately replied to her understandingly, OK, let’s talk when you are free.
As a result, she still hasn't replied until now.
Not a single word or punctuation mark was returned.
What's going on?
Is it because his signal is bad? Is it a network error? Or is his phone broken?
He checked his phone, nothing was wrong.
Is she still busy and still not finished? Is there something wrong?
He was really worried, so he checked the time and tentatively sent a question mark.
A few minutes later, Lu Peishi's cell phone rang.
Seeing Ruan Yan's name on the screen, he quickly picked up the phone.
"Are you done with your work over there? Do you need my help?" he asked.
Ruan Yan seemed to be deliberately lowering her voice: "No, it's okay now."
"Oh, what takes you so long?" He said in a casual tone.
"I confessed my identity to my sister," she said, her voice rising and falling as she seemed to be walking. "When you sent the message this afternoon, we were discussing this matter."
Lu Peishi was slightly stunned. It was conceivable that she must have been under great psychological pressure at that time, but he was only concerned with his own little thoughts. He felt very guilty just thinking about it.
He felt guilty that he hadn't been able to face this moment with her, leaving her to bear the pressure alone: "Sorry, I didn't know."
Ruan Yan said calmly: "It's okay."
He was concerned: "What was Wen Ying's reaction? Did she say anything?"
"It was definitely hard to accept at first. She was so nice to me, but I cheated on her. But she eventually forgave me," Ruan Yan said. "We talked a lot tonight, and she just fell asleep."
Knowing that the two sisters had no hurt feelings, Lu Peishi also breathed a sigh of relief: "Wen Ying is a very sensible person. She will definitely understand your difficulties. This is good. In the future, your psychological pressure will not be so great."
"Yeah." The night when the conversation was spoken out was indeed the most relaxing and comfortable day for Ruan Yan since she came to this place.
"You must have been very busy on your business trip today. Are you tired?"
Hearing Ruan Yan ask this, Lu Peishi said: "It's okay."
Actually, I was a little tired at first, but as soon as I received her call, all the tiredness disappeared instantly.
Lu Peishi heard a slight noise over there and asked, "What are you doing now?"
"I'm a little hungry, let's go downstairs to eat something." Ruan Yan said.
Lu Peishi paused and asked, "Have you moved the things to my place?"
Ruan Yan replied: "Oh, I haven't taken care of it yet."
Lu Peishi felt a little disappointed, and then he heard her say, "I plan to move over there little by little in the next two days."
My mood suddenly improved.
He hummed, "The layout of the house is based on your preferences. If you want to change anything, you can make the decision yourself."
Are you really going to listen to me?
Ruan Yan asked, "Can I plant all my favorite flowers in the garden?"
Lu Peishi said without hesitation: "Okay."
"Change the style of the sofa in the living room and put my favorite doll on it?"
Still without hesitation: "Okay."
Oh? You're so easy to talk to.
Ruan Yan joked, "What if I want to decorate our room in a pink girly style?"
When he heard her say "our room", Lu Peishi's ears suddenly felt hot. He coughed lightly and pretended to be calm: "Okay."
Ruan Yan laughed: "Why do you say 'yes' to everything? Excuse me, my former boss, are you a henpecked husband?"
Lu Peishi replied calmly: "I am."
Ruan Yan laughed softly. Why didn't she realize before that he was quite capable? It turned out that he always pretended to be serious and stern in the past.
For people who are in love, even the most meaningless conversations can be made sweet, spicy and interesting.
We talked about this and that for almost two hours, and before we knew it, it was almost twelve o'clock.
Ruan Yan glanced at the time: "It's too late. You still have work to do tomorrow. Go to bed early."
Lu Peishi: "Okay, you too."
After saying that, he was reluctant to hang up the phone. I don’t know where his usually strong self-control went.
Ruan Yan didn't seem to have any intention of staying. He heard her say while slurping noodles, "Good night then."
"Okay, good night."
Before he could feel disappointed, he heard her say in a half-joking, half-teasing tone before she hung up the phone: "Don't forget to think of me."
Before he could react, the call was quickly cut off.
Holding the phone that was getting hot, he still maintained the same expression. From the beginning until now, the corners of his mouth had been raised high and had never lowered.
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The author has something to say: I was midway through writing tonight when I suddenly learned that my uncle had passed away. He was a very close uncle who had watched me grow up. I'm very sad. I don't know if I'll have time to update in the next couple of days, but I'll try to write as much as I can. If I do, the word count may be relatively small, so please forgive me.
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