Chapter 113 Xiao Rongyu Leaves First

"Alright, everyone's had enough to eat by now, I suppose."

Time passed minute by minute. Watching the food on the table being finished off bite by bite, Liu Ruyan, estimating the timing was about right, finally spoke.

Hearing this, Chen Yan and the two women put down their utensils almost simultaneously and focused their attention on Liu Ruyan.

"Miss Xiao, and Sister Youchu. I suspect you still don't fully understand what happened in the hospital ward tonight, so I'll take this opportunity to let Chen Yan explain it to you himself."

With everyone's eyes on him, Liu Ruyan cleared her throat and handed the floor over to Chen Yan.

Seeing this, Chen Yan could only nod helplessly and briefly explain the situation before the three women had arrived.

The three women listened quietly, their expressions looking a bit strange.

As for the reason, it was simple: the whole thing was just too... what's the word... bizarre.

No wonder people who have been through too much suffering always say not to think too much or care too much; otherwise, you might end up doing something even you find unbelievable.

To put it simply, it was a case of having too much time on one's hands after being well-fed. When people are starving, they only have one thing on their minds: getting a full meal. They wouldn't have such complicated troubles.

Clap, clap, clap.

Just then, as one of the witnesses to this bizarre event, Liu Ruyan clapped her hands first, drawing everyone's attention.

"Now, let me summarize."

"First, Chen Yan has family now. The director of the Orphanage is his mother, and that eccentric Chen Yan is his twin brother."

"Second, Chen Yan wasted years of his life because of those two."

"Third, and most importantly. Legally, Chen Yan and I are now husband and wife. So... I plan to..."

As she spoke, before Liu Ruyan could even finish, Xiao Rongyu, sitting opposite her, couldn't take it anymore and interrupted her.

"Stop, stop, stop, CEO Liu. I have no issue with the first and second points. But for the third point, let me correct you right here."

"A-Yan and you becoming husband and wife is only in the legal sense. The culprit behind all this is his twin brother, Chen Yan—Yan as in rock. He's the one who set this up; you two are purely a false win."

As Xiao Rongyu's voice fell, the air in the dining room felt as if most of it had been sucked out.

The light from the crystal chandelier spilled onto the cream-colored tablecloth. The leftovers in the dishes were still emitting faint wisps of steam; the lively atmosphere from just a moment ago had vanished, leaving only a quiet, lingering warmth.

Liu Ruyan's hand, holding a teacup, paused in mid-air. Her fingers gently rubbed the blue-and-white porcelain pattern on the cup's side, and she was in no hurry to speak.

Shen Youchu sat between Chen Yan and Liu Ruyan, her hands placed neatly on her knees. Her gaze shifted between Xiao Rongyu and Liu Ruyan like a wary little animal judging if there was danger nearby. Her lips were slightly pursed as if she wanted to say something, but she ultimately held back.

Chen Yan leaned against the back of his chair, his fingers unconsciously tapping twice on the table, producing a dull thud-thud sound.

He glanced at Xiao Rongyu.

Xiao Rongyu's expression wasn't exactly agitated; in fact, she could be described as very calm. She sat there with her back straight, hands clasped on the table, chin slightly raised, and a perfectly measured curve at the corners of her mouth.

It wasn't a smile, but more of a posture that said, 'I have something to say, and I don't intend to back down.'

She was also looking at Chen Yan.

The moment their eyes met, Chen Yan saw something in her eyes that he was very familiar with. It was Xiao Rongyu's characteristic stubbornness.

She had been like this ever since they first met.

Only this time, she wasn't arguing with a person; she was arguing with the law.

"A false win."

Liu Ruyan finally spoke, rolling those two words on the tip of her tongue before gently spitting them out, as if tasting a vintage wine that wasn't quite aged enough—finding the flavor lacking, yet too lazy to return it.

"Miss Xiao, you're right, it is indeed a false win." She set down her teacup with a crisp clink. The sound wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the quiet dining room. "But you've forgotten one thing about the Mahjong table."

She leaned forward slightly, bracing her arms on the edge of the table, and looked directly at Xiao Rongyu.

"The person who calls a false win has to pay up."

Xiao Rongyu's brow furrowed slightly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," the corners of Liu Ruyan's mouth slowly curled up—not by much, but with an indescribable sense of pressure—"no matter how this marriage certificate came to be, it currently has mine and Chen Yan's names printed on it in black and white. The Civil Affairs Bureau stamped it, and the law recognizes it. If you want to overturn it, then follow legal procedures."

She paused and leaned back against her chair, crossing her arms.

"But before you follow legal procedures, you should first ask Chen Yan if he's willing."

Everyone's eyes swiveled toward Chen Yan.

Chen Yan sat there, becoming the focal point of the entire dining room.

Great, it's coming at me again.

The light from the crystal chandelier spilled down from above, casting his shadow onto the wall behind him—solitary, like a portrait nailed into a frame.

He remained silent for a few seconds, then picked up the water glass on the table and took a sip.

The water had already gone cold, chilling him from his throat down to his stomach, which actually cleared his head a bit.

"Rongyu," he called out. His voice wasn't loud, but it was heavy, like a stone dropped into deep water—not much of a splash, but the 'thud' could be heard.

"Go on," Xiao Rongyu's tone was stiff, but if one listened closely, an imperceptible trace of tension could be heard beneath it.

"You said just now that Ruyan and I are a false win."

"Let me correct you."

Chen Yan put down the water glass and looked up at Xiao Rongyu.

"This isn't a false win."

Xiao Rongyu's pupils contracted slightly.

"Chen Yan, what are you saying?"

"I said this isn't a false win," Chen Yan repeated. He didn't speak fast, and every word was clear, as if he were reading an important statement. "The marriage certificate Chen Yan obtained—he didn't treat it as fake. All the procedures he went through were real: the ID card, the household register, the marriage certificate—every stamp is real. I didn't impersonate anyone to register with Ruyan, because legally, I am Chen Yan, and Chen Yan is me."

"You—" Xiao Rongyu opened her mouth to argue, but for a moment, she couldn't find the words.

"Of course, you're not wrong either," Chen Yan continued, giving her no time to react. "Chen Yan caused this from start to finish. He's the instigator, the culprit—I admit all of that. But the instigator and the culprit are one thing; the facts are another."

"What are the facts?" Xiao Rongyu's voice rose half a pitch. Something different began to appear in those beautiful eyes—not anger, but more like the resentment of being backed into a corner. "The fact is that your brother pulled a switcheroo, and as soon as you come back, you're a married man? You call that a fact?"

"Yes," Chen Yan nodded. "That is also a fact."

"Chen Yan, you..."

"Rongyu," Chen Yan interrupted her. His voice wasn't high, but it possessed a power that forced one to listen. "When you were abroad, were there times when you were alone, with no one else around, just by yourself?"

Xiao Rongyu was stunned, not knowing why he would suddenly ask this.

"Yes."

"In those moments, what did you think about most?"

Xiao Rongyu opened her mouth but didn't speak.

She certainly knew the answer.

During those years abroad, living alone in an apartment with an unfamiliar city outside the window and an unfamiliar language in her ears, what she thought about most during those sleepless nights was Chen Yan.

She thought about where he was, what he was doing, and if he was eating well.

She wondered if he was still like he was in university—not saying a word when something was on his mind, sitting alone in a corner like a cat abandoned by the whole world.

She wondered if he would occasionally think of her too.

But she didn't say these things out loud.

Because she knew that at Liu Ruyan's dining table, in front of Shen Youchu, and in this current atmosphere, once these words were spoken, they would become weapons.

Not weapons pointed at others, but weapons pointed at herself.

Because it was she, Xiao Rongyu, who had played a winning hand so poorly.

"I'm not asking for an answer," Chen Yan said to himself when he saw she wasn't speaking. "I want to tell you that I thought about a lot that year. I thought about what happened between us, about Youchu, and about who I really am, where I came from, and where I'm going."

"Later, I realized the answers to those questions don't matter."

"What matters is that I'm alive now."

He glanced at Liu Ruyan, then at Shen Youchu, and finally fixed his gaze on Xiao Rongyu.

"Being alive used to just be a state for me—as long as I wasn't dead, I was alive. But it's different now. Now, when I wake up every morning, I think about what I'm going to do today, what I'm going to eat, and who I'm going to talk to. These things are tiny—so tiny it's embarrassing to even say them—but they make me feel like I'm truly alive."

"Not because I owe someone, not because I have to repay someone, but simply because—I want to live."

The dining room was extremely quiet.

Most of the dishes had been cleared away; only a few cold plates and half a pot of chilled tea remained on the table. The aunties had left the room at some point. The heavy wooden door was slightly ajar, letting in a sliver of light from the hallway.

Shen Youchu's eyes turned red again, but this time she didn't cry. She just blinked hard, forcing the moisture back.

Liu Ruyan's expression didn't change, but she uncrossed her arms, her fingers gently and unconsciously drawing circles on the tabletop.

Xiao Rongyu sat there, motionless.

Her expression shifted from her previous stubbornness to something hard to describe. It wasn't like anger or grievance, but more like a wall that had been struck by something; it looked intact on the surface, but cracks had already spread from the inside to every corner.

"Chen Yan," she spoke, her voice somewhat hoarse.

"Yes."

"Are those words you just said meant to tell me that you've already made a choice?"

Chen Yan looked at her and remained silent for a moment.

"I didn't make a choice," he said. "Because no one ever gave me the room to choose. A choice is when two paths are laid out before you, and you can go left or right. But in my case, I was pushed onto a car, the car has already started, and I can't even find the door."

"Then now that you're in the car, how do you feel?" When Xiao Rongyu asked this, her voice was very soft, as if she were afraid to hear the answer.

Chen Yan didn't answer immediately.

He turned to look at Liu Ruyan.

Liu Ruyan wasn't looking at him; she was looking down at the teacup in front of her, as if that cup of cold tea held some great secret.

He turned again to look at Shen Youchu.

Shen Youchu was looking at him, the light in her eyes like a lamp flickering in the wind—bright when it was lit, but making one worry it might just go out when it dimmed.

"I think it's not bad," Chen Yan finally said.

A complex expression flashed across Xiao Rongyu's face.

It wasn't surprise or disappointment, but more of a 'just as I thought' kind of relief.

"Not bad," she repeated the words as if tasting them, then nodded gently. "As long as it's not bad."

She stood up.

This time, her movements were much slower than when she said she was leaving earlier. She slowly pushed back her chair, slowly picked up her coat from the back of the chair, and slowly slung her bag over her shoulder. Every movement was like a slow-motion shot in a movie, as if she were leaving time for someone.

No one stopped her.

Not because they didn't want to, but because they didn't know what reason to use.

"Sister Rongyu," Shen Youchu suddenly spoke.

Xiao Rongyu's movements paused.

"Yes?"

"Would you like to take some ribs back with you? You can eat them if you get hungry tonight."

Looking at Shen Youchu's earnest face, Xiao Rongyu suddenly laughed.

It wasn't a laugh of joy, nor was it a bitter smile; it was a complex laugh that even she couldn't explain.

"Okay," she said.

Upon hearing this, Liu Ruyan immediately stood up and ran into the kitchen. A moment later, she brought out a food container filled with Sweet and Sour Ribs, still warm. She carefully wrapped it in a plastic bag, tied it tight, and handed it to Xiao Rongyu with both hands.

"The ribs are delicious. Remember to heat them up before eating, Rongyu; cold food is bad for your stomach."

Xiao Rongyu took the bag, looked down at it, and then looked up at Liu Ruyan.

"Liu Ruyan."

"Yes," Liu Ruyan raised her eyelids.

"You made a whole table of food, and it tasted great. Thank you." Xiao Rongyu's tone was softer than before, but that innate pride was still there, like a sword tucked into its scabbard—though the blade was invisible, you'd know its weight just by holding it. "But as for business matters, I won't be polite with you because of this."

"I didn't plan on you being polite with me either." Liu Ruyan took a sip of tea, her posture as leisurely as if she were sunbathing. "Bring on whatever you've got."

Xiao Rongyu gave a snort—it was unclear if she was laughing or being mocking—then turned and walked toward the door.

The sound of her high heels tapped out a crisp rhythm on the floor, moving from near to far, gradually disappearing at the end of the hallway.

The main door opened, then closed.

The night wind drifted in through the crack in the door, carrying the characteristic chill of early autumn, causing the dining room door to sway slightly with a soft creak.

Shen Youchu stood by the dining table, looking at Chen Yan, hesitating to speak...