Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Going Home After taking the photos, Jiang Shixu handed the phone back to Chu Tang. His gaze was calm, his tone indifferent. "It looks like your friend sent you a message." "Hmm? Let me take a look." Ruan Chutang opened the message, and her expression stiffened when she saw it. She knew that incoming text messages would automatically display their content as a banner notification, so Jiang Shixu must have seen it. She turned back to him with a hint of guilt and explained, "That's my ex-boyfriend. We've already broken up." "Mm." Jiang Shixu's expression was faint, with no discernible emotion in his eyes. "I've already blocked him on WeChat, but I forgot to block his phone number." Chu Tang felt a bit flustered. She didn't know why she was feeling guilty—she was twenty-five years old, so having an ex-boyfriend was perfectly normal, wasn't it? Besides, she had been in that relationship before agreeing to the marriage alliance. She hadn't done anything to wrong Jiang Shixu, so why should she feel guilty? Once she sorted out her thoughts, Ruan Chutang calmed down. "I'll block him right now." Then, right in front of Jiang Shixu, she added Gu Zechuan's phone number to her blocklist. Finally, she added, "Don't worry. Since I agreed to this marriage alliance with you, my ex-boyfriend will only ever be a thing of the past." Jiang Shixu gave a slight nod, his dark, deep eyes still revealing nothing. But the moment Chu Tang turned around, a faint, barely perceptible smile curved at the corner of his lips. ... After spending a few days together, Ruan Chutang and Jiang Shixu returned to Jiangcheng. She hadn't told her family in advance that she was coming back today, so no one from the Ruan family was at the airport to pick her up. Instead, it was Jiang Shixu's assistant who came to receive her. A black Rolls-Royce Cullinan pulled up at the entrance of the Ruan family villa. "Do you want me to go in with you?" Jiang Shixu asked. Ruan Chutang shook her head. "No need." "Alright." Chu Tang stood by the gate, feeling a touch of apprehension about returning home. Jiang Shixu noticed her hesitation and didn't linger. After the car drove away, Ruan Chutang finally rang the doorbell. She hadn't brought her keys when she'd run away from home back then, and now, three years later, she had to ring the doorbell to get into her own house. The thought left her feeling somewhat conflicted. The door was opened by Nanny Chen, the housekeeper, who froze the moment she saw her. "Miss... Miss, you're back?" Nanny Chen's voice was slightly choked with emotion. Ruan Chutang felt a pang in her heart and softly replied, "Mm." "You're finally back. Good, good... I'll call the master right away to let him know." "He's not at home?" "No, the master is at the company. The madam has gone to the second young miss's school for a parent-child activity." Neither of them was home. Ruan Chutang breathed a sigh of relief. She had just returned and wanted some breathing room—she didn't want to face that family of theirs just yet. Her stepmother, her half-sister, and her father, who had been at odds with her for years—every single one of them gave her a headache. Chu Tang went to her bedroom. The furnishings and decor inside were exactly as she'd left them before she went away. The room was clean and tidy, spotless—clearly someone had been dusting and cleaning it every day. She took her things out of her suitcase and put them away, then went to the bathroom to take a shower. When she came out of the bathroom, Nanny Chen knocked on the door and called from outside, "Miss, what would you like for dinner? I'll go buy groceries now." Chu Tang opened the door and gave a slight smile. "The same as before." "Alright!" Nanny Chen beamed with joy, genuinely happy from the bottom of her heart. She had served the Ruan family for over a decade and had watched Chu Tang grow up. In her heart, Chu Tang was like her own daughter. On the night Su Qingyun passed away, it was Nanny Chen who had carried little Chu Tang back from where she'd fallen in the snow. After Su Qingyun's death, Ruan Shaodong had been despondent for a long time and had no energy to spare for his daughter. During the days when Chu Tang's fever wouldn't break, it was Nanny Chen who stayed by her side in the hospital, caring for her day and night. When Chu Tang, devastated by her mother's death, refused to eat or drink day after day, it was Nanny Chen who stayed with her, comforted her, and patiently coaxed her to eat. If it hadn't been for Nanny Chen, Chu Tang probably wouldn't have made it through. In Chu Tang's heart, Nanny Chen was as dear as family. Over the past three years, she hadn't contacted Ruan Shaodong, but she still called Nanny Chen on holidays to check in on her. Remembering something, Ruan Chutang took out a gift box and handed it to Nanny Chen. "This is the most famous specialty from Haicheng—bird's nest. You can stew it and have it." Nanny Chen took it with a smile. "I'll stew it for you tonight, miss." "No." Chu Tang shook her head. "This is specially for you. I've already had it many times—I brought this back for you to try." "Oh, I couldn't possibly—" Nanny Chen quickly waved her hands in refusal. Chu Tang pressed the bird's nest into Nanny Chen's arms. "Please, just take it. You've worried over me so much all these years. This is just a small token of my gratitude." Nanny Chen's eyes welled up with tears. "Miss..." "Sister! Sister, you're back!" A clear, childish voice rang out. The moment the words fell, a little girl rushed over and hugged Chu Tang tightly. "Jiaojiao missed you so much! You're finally back!" The little girl clung to Chu Tang's leg, looking up at her with sparkling eyes and a face full of joy. This girl was her half-sister from her father's second marriage, Ruan Jiaojiao, who was eight years old. Ruan Jiaojiao had always loved to cling to her since she was little, but Chu Tang's attitude toward her had always been rather cold. Chu Tang didn't like Ruan Jiaojiao's mother, and so by extension, she didn't particularly like her either. But children are innocent after all, and Ruan Jiaojiao was simple and adorable, with her heart set solely on getting close to her older sister. So while Chu Tang didn't particularly like her, she didn't dislike her either. Chu Tang looked down at Ruan Jiaojiao and asked, "You're home from school this early?" "Jiaojiao heard from Nanny Chen that you were back, and she couldn't wait to come home and see you, so we came back early." Yang Xuelian walked over with a smile. Ruan Chutang's expression stiffened slightly. Before she had run away from home, she had practically worn the words "I don't like my stepmother" on her face, and throughout the year, she barely exchanged more than a few words with this stepmother. Chu Tang hated Yang Xuelian, not just because Ruan Shaodong had betrayed her mother and married her, but mainly because Yang Xuelian had been her mother Su Qingyun's best friend. In Chu Tang's heart, Yang Xuelian was a scheming woman who would even go after her best friend's husband. And Ruan Shaodong was a scumbag who was so desperate he hooked up with his ex-wife's best friend. Based on all this, after her mother passed away, Chu Tang gradually transformed from the well-behaved girl everyone praised in her childhood into a rebellious teenager full of defiance. Seeing that Chu Tang wasn't speaking, Yang Xuelian smiled again and said, "Chu Tang, you must be tired. Get some rest, and I'll call you when dinner is ready." Ruan Jiaojiao shook Chu Tang's hand, acting cute. "Sister, come play in my room for a bit. I drew a picture—do you want to come see it?" Chu Tang pulled her hand away, her expression cold. "No, I want to rest." "Oh, alright then." The little girl withdrew her hand dejectedly, lowered her head, and pouted, looking unhappy. Yang Xuelian took Ruan Jiaojiao's hand. "Don't disturb your sister's rest." Nanny Chen stood off to the side, looking somewhat awkward. She said, "Ma'am, Miss, I'll go ahead and buy the groceries then." After Nanny Chen left, Yang Xuelian took Ruan Jiaojiao and left as well. Chu Tang closed the door, and the world fell silent. ... That evening, Ruan Shaodong came home, and the family sat around the dining table, ready to eat. Ruan Shaodong glanced at Chu Tang and spoke up. "Why didn't you let us know in advance that you were coming home today?" Chu Tang replied, "What difference does it make if I did, and what difference does it make if I didn't?" The moment she opened her mouth, it was thick with gunpowder. Ruan Shaodong's brows knitted tightly. "Three years, and you still haven't changed your temper?" Chu Tang smiled, a hint of mockery in her expression. "Three years, and you still haven't divorced Auntie Yang?"