CFRFGC Chapter 47

⌈Lu Ran could never truly come back.⌋

At that moment, Madam Shen was nearly in a daze.

Even though she had anticipated the outcome many times, seeing it for real still made it hard to accept.

With one hand covering the tear in the paper bag and the other pressed against her chest, she thought, could it be…

Had all her efforts over the past ten years been in vain?

Madam Shen’s heart turned to ashes in an instant.

She silently packed the paper bag away.

That evening.

When Lu Ran returned, he found Madam Shen sitting in the living room with a heavy expression.

Something was clearly off about her.

Normally, she would have her makeup perfectly done, but today, she hadn’t applied any cosmetics at all.

Without the embellishment of lipstick, her lips appeared extremely pale, exuding a strong aura of illness.

Across from Madam Shen sat Shen Hongyuan and Shen Xingzhuo.

Shen Hongyuan looked impatient as he tapped the table: “What do you want to do? If you’re not feeling well, just go to the hospital. Why did you call me over at this late hour?”

Shen Xingran quietly sat on the other side.

He didn’t say anything, merely watching Madam Shen with concern.

However, Madam Shen avoided his gaze and gave a cold smile to Shen Hongyuan: “You’ll find out soon enough.”

As she spoke, she turned her attention to Lu Ran.

For the first time, Madam Shen waved gently at him: “Good child, come over to Mama.”

She patted the seat beside her.

Upon seeing Lu Ran, Shen Hongyuan’s expression immediately darkened, and he looked at Madam Shen suspiciously.

Shen Xingran lowered his head, appearing somewhat dejected.

Lu Ran observed the family, confused about what was happening.

He didn’t approach them immediately; instead, he first took Da Huang back to his room before returning to the living room.

However, he didn’t sit beside Madam Shen but chose a single chair on the side.

In an instant, the family members occupied the four corners of the room.

The atmosphere felt oddly humorous in its coldness.

Madam Shen looked at Lu Ran, her eyelid twitching slightly, but she didn’t lose her composure.

She still remembered why she was here.

Taking a deep breath, she fixed her gaze on Shen Hongyuan across from her and said, “I know all about the things you’ve hidden from me for fifteen years.”

At that moment, Shen Hongyuan froze, his pupils trembling slightly.

Lu Ran observed the two of them, silently calculating the timeline.

Fifteen years must refer to the year he got lost.

But soon, Madam Shen paused again.

Furrowing her brows, she recalculated and corrected herself: “No, it should be nineteen years! Or even earlier!”

The astonishment on Shen Hongyuan’s face vanished, replaced by a hint of confusion: “Huh?”

“Are you still playing dumb?” Tears began to stream down Madam Shen’s face.

She could no longer hold back, pointing at Shen Hongyuan and Shen Xingran, she shouted, “How long do you intend to keep this from me!”

The outburst sent Lu Ran’s mind into a frenzy.

He had read the original text of this Mary Sue pampering story, but he didn’t remember the details clearly.

He only knew that the protagonist was Shen Xingran and that there were attackers¹tops everywhere.

So when he heard Madam Shen’s roar, his mind instinctively went off track for a moment.

He thought Shen Hongyuan and Shen Xingran had gotten together.

His pupils trembled in response.

Fortunately, the next second, Madam Shen sternly declared, “Shen Hongyuan, are you going to hide the fact that Ran Ran is your illegitimate child from me for the rest of your life!”

Lu Ran: “?”

Perhaps it was because his mind had just exploded with wild assumptions.

Hearing Madam Shen’s words now, all he could think was: is that it?

Meanwhile, Shen Hongyuan was completely dumbfounded.

However, at first, the tension in Shen Hongyuan began to gradually dissipate, and his mind was filled with disbelief. “What nonsense are you talking about!”

Shen Xingran also spoke up at the right moment, his expression downcast: “Mom… I’m an orphan abandoned by my biological parents.”

Lu Ran silently watched from the side, trying to recall whether this part was in the original text.

“Stop pretending! Keep it up, and I’ll—”

Madam Shen’s voice was almost cracking. She raised her hand and slammed the paper bag onto the table. “The paternity test results are out! What more do you have to say!”

Lu Ran suddenly perked up, leaning in with interest.

Shen Hongyuan was utterly stunned.

Even Shen Xingran, upon seeing that dark red paper bag, momentarily broke his usual calm, revealing a hint of astonishment.

“This is impossible!” Shen Hongyuan reached for the paper bag.

He violently tore open the document bag and pulled out several pages of test results.

His eyes scanned the text rapidly and Shen Hongyuan’s anger surged.

With a loud “thud”, he threw the documents at Madam Shen. “You read the results yourself!”

Madam Shen was taken aback.

Shen Hongyuan didn’t seem like someone whose secret had just been exposed, acting out of shame and anger.

Madam Shen picked up the pale documents and glanced at them.

To her shock, the results stated that there was no blood relation.

Madam Shen was dumbfounded. “This… this bag is red!”

Seeing the color of the bag made her heart sink.

She hadn’t even opened the document bag and had already initiated this “family meeting”.

Who would have thought…

Could it be that the staff had put the wrong bag?

Seeing the results, Shen Xingran finally regained his composure. He returned to the sofa while lowering his head, his face displaying a mix of disappointment and grievance.

“What are you doing every day? Sneaking around doing a paternity test? If you’re so idle, go find some work! Always acting so paranoid!”

Shen Hongyuan left in a rage.

He wore an expression of fury, but his steps as he left carried a hint of relief.

Lu Ran hadn’t expected this revelation to turn out to be empty.

He sighed, feeling it was rather pointless. He patted his backside as he left.

Before departing, he made sure to grab a handful of the fruit platter on the table.

Only Shen Xingran remained sitting in place.

Madam Shen held the documents and the fallen dark red paper bag beside her.

Her mood was hard to define; it was neither good nor bad.

Shen Xingran not being a bastard child was, in theory, a good thing.

Yet Shen Hongyuan’s attitude made Madam Shen desperately want to prove she was right.

In a fit of anger, she called the testing agency.

The operator on the other end apologized profusely, explaining that they had run out of white bags and that all recent orders had been in red, with everything based on the test results.

Madam Shen sat there, her emotions fluctuating like a rollercoaster, up and down.

She yelled at the operator. After hanging up the phone, she finally regained a bit of her composure.

At that moment, she finally noticed Shen Xingran on the sofa across from her.

This child she had raised to nineteen years old was now sitting quietly with his head down.

He looked as if he had been abandoned by the whole world.

“Ranran…” A mix of embarrassment and concession surged in Madam Shen’s heart. “I’ve made you see me… like this, Mom…”

“I know,” Shen Xingran murmured. “Mom, you don’t need to say anything. I’m fine.”

Hearing this, Madam Shen felt even more guilty, her heart aching terribly.

“Mom, you have every right to be angry with me, after all, I said some bad things outside.” Shen Xingran spoke softly.

At that moment, Madam Shen didn’t remember the rumors Shen Xingran had spread outside. She immediately replied, “There’s no overnight feud between mother and son. I forgave you a long time ago.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Xingran slowly stood up.

He walked over to Madam Shen, sitting on the floor as he used to, resting his head on her lap.

Madam Shen’s heart softened completely. She reached out to gently hold the ends of Shen Xingran’s hair.

“Mom,” Shen Xingran choked out, “I don’t have biological parents and I don’t have any other relatives. If you don’t want me, I’ll have nothing left.”

“It’s because I’m afraid you won’t want me that I said those things outside…”

“Good child, don’t say anymore, don’t say anymore,” Madam Shen comforted him softly, hugging him tightly.

Shen Xingran’s words struck deeply into Madam Shen’s heart.

For a moment, the living room was warm and moving.

The distance between them vanished.

With his head buried in Madam Shen’s embrace, Shen Xingran felt her gentle caress on his hair, yet a glimmer of satisfaction flashed in his eyes.

Madam Shen probably didn’t remember that at all.

The Madam Li who told her the stories about the illegitimate child and the adopted son wasn’t even in the same social circle as her.

It was because Shen Xingran knew Young Master Li that Madam Li had built a good relationship with Madam Shen.

During this time, Shen Xingran had already noticed that Madam Shen’s thoughts were still tangled up with the words “illegitimate child”.

So, he decided to play along.

He had Young Master Li tell Madam Li a ridiculous story.

Given Madam Li’s tendency to embellish a story to make it more vivid, she would surely attribute the events to some imaginary relative.

He also knew that Madam Shen had gone to the third floor to get some of his hair.

Even the institution Madam Shen contacted was one that Shen Xingran had connections with, which he “passed” on to her.

The only unexpected part was that Shen Xingran hadn’t anticipated that this institution would use red bags.

The moment he saw the red document bag, Shen Xingran was not just shocked.

In fact, he felt a bit pleased.

If he were indeed Shen Hongyuan’s biological son…

But for Madam Shen, it was clear that he was a helpless orphan, which suited her better.

Shen Xingran closed his eyes, hiding the sarcasm beneath.

The next morning, Lu Ran got up early as usual.

After washing up and taking his dog out, he unexpectedly found Madam Shen and Shen Xingran downstairs.

Shen Xingran was waiting by the table.

Madam Shen personally brought out a steaming bowl of sweet porridge from the kitchen and set it in front of Shen Xingran.

“Try it quickly; I simmered this porridge for two hours!”

Shen Xingran immediately stood up to take it, playfully scolding, “Mom! Be careful; don’t burn yourself.”

The mother and son sat close together, drinking porridge intimately.

Lu Ran turned to glance at the dining room.

Upon seeing Lu Ran come over, a smile broke across Shen Xingran’s face.

He seemed to remember something and asked Madam Shen, “Mom, didn’t you say you wanted to bring my brother home? Shouldn’t we discuss the schedule?”

“And who do we need to invite? The upper echelons of the capital’s social circle all need to be notified.”

Shen Xingran innocently arranged things, “It would be more formal if Dad wrote the invitations himself, right?”

Upon hearing this, Madam Shen frowned.

At that time, she had genuinely wanted to bring Lu Ran back.

But now, bringing him back seemed pointless. She had such a thoughtful child in Ranran and didn’t need another son.

Moreover, if Lu Ran were to come back, she would inevitably have to explain the circumstances of his disappearance.

There would surely be many people surrounding her, asking questions, looking at her with that gaze Madam Shen despised…

“Let’s talk about it later,” Madam Shen said, taking a sip of porridge to deflect.

“Ah? Is that so?”

Shen Xingran turned to Lu Ran in the living room and flashed a smile.

He had no desire at all to have Lu Ran re-enter the household registry or the family tree of the Shen family.

But when Madam Shen had mentioned it before, he had shown no reaction.

It was because he already knew back then…

That Lu Ran could never truly come back.

He just didn’t know… what it felt like for Lu Ran to be given hope only to have it suddenly snatched away.

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