Chapter 444: Your Iron-Hearted Attitude Has Made Your Son Feel Bitterly Disappointed

Initially, the meat was piled up like a small hill in Qi Youxuan's bowl, but now he was left with an almost empty bowl. Trying to weep but failing to shed tears, he shifted his gaze to Qi Chenglin who was munching the meat he snatched.

He pouted and said pathetically, "Dad, today's a good day for celebration because mom finally found her family, so please let me have some meat. I have grandparents and great-grandparents now which brings joy to me as well, and I want to eat meat whenever I feel happy."

Qi Chenglin peeked at Qi Youxuan from the corner of his eye, looking askance. Qi Youxuan figured that anyone would act compassionately toward him when he started making these piteous but cute expressions, but his father remained unconcerned, making him feel bitterly disappointed.

"That's why I left a few pieces of meat in your bowl. Usually, there wouldn't even be any." Qi Chenglin's tone was calm and flat as he ignored his son's desperate act of cuteness.

It would be abnormal and weird if Qi Chenglin fell prey to his act of cuteness after seven years.

"Dad, your iron-hearted attitude has made your son feel bitterly disappointed." The chubby kid took a huge bite out of the chicken drumstick indignantly. Tears even started welling up in his eyes as he blinked.

"..." Qi Chenglin kept quiet and responded by picking up a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs from the kid's bowl silently and putting it in his mouth gracefully.

The kid was feeling aggrieved and indignant now. Despite being a grown-up, his father was snatching meat from his own son! What a shameful father!

How could his father snatch meat from him? Looked at how thin he was now!

Qi Youxuan quickly pulled his bowl closer to him and protected it with his chubby hands which were now covered in oil. Then, he stared vigilantly at Qi Chenglin, determined not to let his cunning father snatch meat directly from his bowl again.

There was a fair amount of meat left in those plates, why did he have to snatch meat from him?

Qi Chenglin transferred a few vegetables into his bowl in a leisurely manner and soon enough, his bowl was piled up high with food again, but this time, they were all vegetables instead of meat.

"Do you really think that you can eat a lot of meat at school every afternoon without me realizing it? Every healthy lunch set in your school has meat in it, not to mention the afternoon tea too," Qi Chenglin said as he raised his eyebrows and continued under the kid's surprised gaze, "You went to the canteen again in the evening to buy fried patty and grilled chicken skin, right?"

"Dad, how do you know about this?" Qi Youxuan felt all hope was lost now. Perhaps his father knew how many bowls of rice he consumed in school every day too.

Qi Chenglin's lips curled up in a way that radiated contempt at his son's intelligence. Such malevolence was so strong that even the kid could sense it with direct eye contact.

"Don't you remember that the school is ours? Your principal is a responsible man." Qi Chenglin's smile appeared gentle and elegant.

Sh*t!

Why did the principal even bother about such trivial matters?

"Dad, the principal has time to burden himself on such small issues, does it mean that he isn't really that busy at all?" Qi Youxuan had decided to take revenge on the principal who meddled in his affairs.

The principal, who was now on his way back home, had no idea that he had offended the Qi family's eldest grandson in order to ingratiate the second Young Master of the Qi family.

"You can think of it as the principal has to spare his time for your trivial matters despite his busy schedule, so there's no need to burden your principal further," Qi Chenglin answered while placing a piece of broccoli into the kid's bowl without batting an eyelid.

Grandmother Ruan and Ruan Keshan were amused by the kid's intelligence and cheekiness. Qi Chenglin's job remained a mystery until now since they had not gotten the chance to question him after their reunion with Ruan Danchen.

Judging by Qi Chenglin's refined apparel and extraordinary temperament, they knew that he was not a commoner and would not let Ruan Danchen bear any hardships.

Ruan Danchen's current outfit, the rosiness on her cheeks, and her vitality were the best indications that she was living a wonderful life.

Moreover, it was obvious that the kid was molded by good upbringing based on his mannerisms and intelligence, and he was not as introverted and timid as the other children of similar age. His enthusiasm and outgoing personality made him appear as if he was involved in social affairs for a period of time.

Furthermore, Grandmother Ruan gave Qi Youxuan a thick red packet of eight thousand Yuan just now. Normally, this would excite other children who received such red packet. Even though Qi Youxuan was happy and enthusiastic upon receiving it, his expression appeared far too normal like he was used to receiving such an amount of money before passing the red packet to Ruan Danchen afterward.

Grandmother Ruan was born in a musical family, and normally she would follow her orchestra to every country for musical performances. Inevitably, she was acquainted with various people and even the members of the European nobility.

Qi Chenglin and the kid's temperaments were no less than those from the European nobility, so perhaps they were not commoners either.

Now that Qi Chenglin mentioned that he owned an elementary school, Grandmother Ruan figured that he was not an ordinary man at all, but the feeling that he was more than that persisted in her mind. However, Grandmother Ruan fought the urge to question him any further out of courtesy and had decided to ask her son privately afterward.

Then, she shifted her gaze to Qi Youxuan who was gnawing at the vegetable in agony. He appeared exactly like a little piglet gnawing the vegetable—he looked especially pathetic and incongruous—and her heart almost broke for the fats in Qi Youxuan.

"It'll be the best if your grandpa is here with us, then it'll be a true family reunion today," Grandmother Ruan said.

"Mom, don't you worry. I've set an alarm to call him as soon as he turns on his phone after his plane lands," Ruan Keshan assured.

Ruan Danchen offered her assistance when Chen Minxia went to clean up the kitchen after dinner. Grandmother Ruan managed to locate her granddaughter and thus was reluctant for her to help with cleaning up, but Ruan Danchen could not let Chen Minxia work alone in the kitchen too.

Chen Minxia prepared dinner all by herself, and if she was going to clean up alone without any assistance after dinner too, it would be extremely ungrateful, right?

Grandmother Ruan did not want her actions to seem biased and unfair by her daughter-in-law after reuniting with her granddaughter. Thus, she gave a few pieces of advice to Ruan Danchen before accompanying the chubby kid happily.

Chen Minxia asked Ruan Danchen to chitchat outside since they must have a lot to talk about after the long-awaited reunion.

"We're finally reunited today and there are more days of reunions ahead of us too, so just a few minutes won't be much different," Ruan Danchen replied with a smile.

Chen Minxia figured that Ruan Danchen had a point, so she started tidying up together with her niece while experiencing a whole new different sensation of cleaning up.

In the old days, Chen Minxia and Grandmother Ruan were the only women in the Ruan family. Grandmother Ruan was aging, so it was inappropriate to ask an old lady to assist in household chores. Even though the housekeeper would assist occasionally, she was still an outsider and the most Chen Minxia could do was just having a polite conversation with her, unlike now where the distance between her and Ruan Danchen was far but their hearts were closely connected.

Even though Chen Minxia was not closely associated with Ruan Danchen yet, she felt that Ruan Danchen was an intimate niece who had the potential to be her daughter. Chen Minxia figured that the future would be glorious and beautiful once they became closely associated with each other and could perform household chores while having intimate conversations together.

The cleaning process ended in the blink of an eye when the two of them worked together.

Then, they saw a few photo albums, which were clean despite looking old, laying on the coffee table upon returning to the living room.

Chen Minxia realized that all of these photo albums consisted of photographs of Ruan Keshan and Ruan Keyu. Grandmother Ruan would go through them from time to time since Ruan Keyu's death, so the albums were wiped clean and free of dust.

"Danchen, come quickly. These are photographs of your dad and uncle in their youths," Grandmother Ruan urged.

Ruan Danchen hurried forward with excitement after listening to Grandmother Ruan.

Ruan Danchen was curious about his father whom she had never met before since Ruan Keshan and Grandmother Ruan claimed that she looked just like Ruan Keyu.

Ruan Keshan and Grandmother Ruan were telling stories about Ruan Keyu, and naturally, all the stories were about him in his youth since he passed away at a young age. Thus, when Ruan Danchen was listening to the stories, an image of a handsome and elegant gentleman formed in her mind.

Sitting beside Grandmother Ruan and staring at the young Ruan Keyu, Ruan Danchen finally had a sense of realism, feeling at ease at the similarities between her and Ruan Keyu.

Grandmother Ruan's half-empty heart for all these years was now full of joy as she shifted her gaze between the photographs and Ruan Danchen.

Then, Qi Chenglin spoke slowly after they were done going through the photo albums. "There's something you should know."

Qi Chenglin appeared calm and steady at normal times, and he remained expressionless when talking to his son too. Thus, the Ruan family realized the solemnity in his tone and shifted their gaze on him despite the unfamiliarity.

Qi Chenglin then voiced out everything about Chang Jingqiu.

Ruan Keshan was rooted to the spot due to shock. Even though the Chinese language remained broad and profound, he failed to find a suitable word to describe Liu Ronghua's shameless acts despite racking his brain.

Not only did Liu Ronghua stole their niece and interfered with her life, she even changed the life Ruan Danchen was supposed to have!

Originally, Ruan Danchen could become a lady from a notable family even without the Ruan family, but Liu Ronghua's mind was wicked and nefarious. She actually replaced Ruan Danchen's spot with a totally unrelated girl and let her enjoy the fortunes which supposedly belonged to Ruan Danchen.

"I'm going to find Liu Ronghua and beat her to death!" Ruan Keshan gritted his teeth in anger but Chen Minxia stopped his attempt to stand up.

"You're wounded now, so where do you think you're going? I'll go with you once you've recovered. That woman did too many immoral things. She'll go to hell for this!" Chen Minxia hissed through gritted teeth.

Grandmother Ruan's eyes were flushed red due to exasperation. "Keyu was acquainted with the wrong company. He considered that wicked lady as a friend and ruined his own daughter's life."

"The reason why I'm telling you this is to ask for your opinions. Do you want to acknowledge the Chang family?" Qi Chenglin asked.

Even though Qi Chenglin asked Ruan Danchen previously, he should respect the Ruan family's opinion too.

Naturally, Ruan Keshan left the decision making to Grandmother Ruan since Grandfather Ruan was absent.

"I didn't expect that Yuehuan is the daughter of the Chang family," Grandmother Ruan sighed as she did not expect Yuehuan to elope with her son to Shuo City too.

Grandmother Ruan was an intelligent woman, thus she figured out the reason why Keyu seldom returned to B City for the past few years.

"That disobedient son! Disobedient son!" Grandmother Ruan wailed involuntarily at the thought of her own son refusing to return home because of a woman.

However, she realized that Ruan Keyu did not dare to return home in fear that his family would get hurt.

That silly kid ran away without informing anybody. Did he ever wonder if his family was willing to let him suffer in such a way?

If Ruan Keyu informed them about this, they were still a family even if the consequences would be disastrous. What was wrong with them getting their share of woe and weal in life?

At least they would support and take care of him when he was facing the most difficult times instead of losing him for the rest of their lives.

The sniffling Grandmother Ruan remained uncomfortable for a moment and accepted a tissue paper handed by Ruan Keshan to wipe her tears.

"Danchen, what're your thoughts? After all, that's your mom's house, and your grandma and uncles are there too. It's human nature to acknowledge your mom's family. If that's your thoughts, then we'll accompany you to visit the Chang family once your grandpa returns," Grandmother Ruan said.

That was Ruan Danchen's grandmother's house after all, so Grandmother Ruan figured that there was nothing wrong if she wanted to acknowledge the Chang family. However, Grandmother Ruan firmly believed that Ruan Danchen would not acknowledge the Chang family just for their money.

Qi Chenglin appeared to be rich, judging by his outfit and temperament, and perhaps he may be superior to the Chang family too.

To be honest, the Ruan family was unwilling to associate themselves with the Chang family.

They did not belong in the same social circle so naturally, they were not acquainted with the Chang family, which was why they had not heard of Chang Yuehuan's name before this.

However, the fact that the Chang family disowned Chang Yuehuan just because of their dissatisfaction toward Ruan Keyu's identity and even forced them to run away without any courage to return home induced hatred in the Ruan family toward the Chang family.

The Chang family may assume that the Ruan family wanted to use this opportunity to claim social connections with the Chang family if they visited the Chang family together with Ruan Danchen.

Moreover, if it was not for the Chang family's coercion, Ruan Keyu and Chang Yuehuan would not run off to Shuo City. Ever since the pair eloped, they could not even see their son once every year. The Chang family's persecution had led to Ruan Keyu's accidental death in Shuo City and deprived the Ruan family of any chances to see him again.

Even though the members of the Ruan family were reasonable, they were not saints either. It would be a lie if they did not loathe the Chang family.

However, that was Ruan Danchen's mother's home after all.

Grandmother Ruan felt guilty for her granddaughter whom she acknowledged not long ago. Since she owed her granddaughter so much, the Ruan family would not mind suffering losses or receiving unjust treatment if Ruan Danchen wished to acknowledge the Chang family. What could possibly go wrong by granting her granddaughter's small wish? They would not lose any meat after all.

Ruan Danchen shook her head. "It's more than enough to remember my own mom. She traded her life for mine due to obstructed labor, so I'll only miss her and remember all the efforts she put in for me. To be honest, I have absolutely no feelings toward the Chang family if blood relations are disregarded. In fact, I know the Chang family but we aren't close to each other, and the person I have the most association with is Grandmother Chang, who's also my mom's mother."

"She's a very unreasonable old lady who hates and despises me a lot, and she had been criticizing me repeatedly for my identity," Ruan Danchen was unconcerned at all, so she was able to explain the situation in a relaxed manner.

Then, she noticed Grandmother Ruan's exasperated expression and merely grabbed her hand gently. "I supposed Grandmother Chang put in the most effort on the opposition of my dad and mom's relationship at that time. She loathed my dad at that time, so she may loathe you if we visit the Chang family. You are different from Grandmother Chang, so I won't let you receive any unjust treatment from the Chang family."

Grandmother Ruan was so touched at her granddaughter's consideration for her own family and she was willing to pour her heart out to Ruan Danchen for her kindness.

"If I really want to acknowledge the Chang family, I'll visit them personally and won't let them humiliate you. Besides, I don't want to acknowledge them just yet. Disregarding the trust issue, even if she believes me and starts to treat me well, do you think that's because of my identity or me? How should I believe her when she belittled me like I was nothing previously but treats me well and kind after realizing my true identity?

"Besides, Grandmother Chang is very unreasonable. I'm worried that she'll use this opportunity to demand unreasonable requests and ask the Qi family to give benefits to the Chang family. The Qi family treats me very well and I can't let them endure the Chang family's irrationality and suffer quietly," Ruan Danchen frowned.

"The Qi family? Chenglin's family?" Grandmother Ruan understood what Ruan Danchen was trying to say. She meant that Grandmother Chang would fawn over the Qi family once she acknowledged the Chang family.

Grandmother Chang would fawn over the Qi family urgently when she had the habit of belittling every family that was inferior to hers. How superior could the Qi family be?

Since Grandmother Ruan did not have a daughter and her youngest son passed away at a young age, Ruan Keshan became the apple of Grandmother Ruan's eye and immediately started explaining the Qi family's status in the society.

Grandmother Ruan was taken by surprise as she did not expect her granddaughter to find such an outstanding man and live a good life after all those sufferings, and the in-laws were reasonable too which was quite rare.

Nevertheless, Grandmother Ruan's gaze on Qi Chenglin remained honest and pure like she was merely looking at her son-in-law, and this pleased Qi Chenglin.

"Chenglin said Uncle Zhiyuan was quite close with my mom and he truly loves my mom's daughter. That's why he loves Jingqiu despite her atrocious personality just because of my mom. Even though Jingqiu gained benefits because of my mom, I haven't thought this through and only want to observe in the time being. If he stays true to his heart, I don't mind acknowledging him alone. To be honest, I'm kind of selfish too," Ruan Danchen squeezed Grandmother Ruan's hand gently.

Ruan Danchen figured that if Chang Zhiyuan would not allow the Chang family to disgrace her, or even used her to claim social connection with the Qi family, he really cared about his sister.

However, Ruan Danchen was worried about the fact that Chang Zhiyuan was a businessman after all. What if he considered benefits as his top priority?

Thus, Ruan Danchen wanted to observe first. Perhaps Chang Zhiyuan was willing to keep this a secret from the Chang family just for her sake.

"Not at all, who won't think of themselves first? Besides, judging from the current situation, it's best to stay away from the Chang family as of now. Your mom was willing to break off relations with her family and ran away at that time, let alone you."

"Besides, I don't want to visit them abruptly without solid evidence. Since I don't feel any intimacy with the Chang family, why should I reason and convince them on this identity issue?" Ruan Danchen pouted as the very thought of Grandmother Chang disgusted her.

"That's right," Grandmother Ruan gave her support to Ruan Danchen's decision without question since she disliked the Chang family too.

However, Grandmother Ruan realized that Ruan Danchen had a soft heart and did not want matters to reach an impasse, thus she refrained from commenting further on this issue.

Ruan Danchen smiled. "To be honest, it's fortunate that I wasn't raised in the Chang family. Look at Chang Jingqiu and the grandchild, Chang Jianan. Chang Jianan is at the same age as Youxuan but he's a spoiled brat, and as for Chang Jingqiu..."

Ruan Danchen shook her head before continuing. "Just thinking about her attitude makes me not want to even talk about her. It's obvious that they were raised under the Chang family's excessive and unreasonable pampering which led to the people they are today. Chang Jianan is still young so there's still time to correct him, but Chang Jingqiu obviously thinks that she's flawless. Even though there were tough times in my life previously, it wasn't that bad overall. At least I was self-reliant and didn't starve or suffered much, and the agony at work isn't really considered suffering at all.

"I'm lucky that at least my mindset hasn't changed despite that kind of life I had. In my opinion, I think that kind of life is way better than life with the Chang family."

Grandmother Ruan nodded with a smile but remained silent. Thinking logically, Ruan Danchen would not necessarily end up like Chang Jingqiu if she lived with the Chang family since birth.

At the beginning of life, man was innately good. It was education that could alter a human's nature. However, Grandmother Ruan figured that human nature was related to his own foundation too. If there was something wrong with Chang Jingqiu's foundation, and she was born with an evil personality, how good could she possibly be when she grew up?

Grandmother Ruan had immense faith in Ruan Danchen despite meeting her for the first time. She believed Ruan Danchen's nature would not change no matter how the Chang family pampered her.

Moreover, how could a child, whose nature remained unaltered despite hardships or intense resentment, be led astray by mere pampering?

Even though Grandmother Ruan had not met Chang Jingqiu before this, she firmly believed Ruan Danchen's comment on Chang Jingqiu without misunderstanding it as an act of slander.

Grandmother Ruan and Grandmother Chang shared the same intention to protect their own dear children, but Grandmother Ruan was more reasonable in her protection.