Return to the City: The Strongest King
Chapter 724 - 725

Chapter 724: 725

Shen Ruoqing didn’t answer the phone, but it kept ringing insistently. Lin Su’er said hastily, "Reporter Shen, maybe it’s an emergency. Don’t delay, you should answer it first."

Shen Ruoqing initially wanted to turn off her phone, but she was afraid that her daughter at home might be scared and calling her, so she dared not turn it off. Being constantly harassed this way clearly showed disrespect towards Song Xiaodong and the others.

After hesitating for a moment, she picked up her phone and said, "I’m really sorry, then I’ll step out to take this call."

"Go ahead."

After Shen Ruoqing left, Lin Su’er immediately whispered, "She seems to be in some kind of trouble, right?"

Song Xiaodong nodded and said, "At the very least, she doesn’t seem eager to answer this call."

Lin Su’er quickly said, "Should we help her then?"

Song Xiaodong said, "We don’t know what she’s dealing with. How can we help? And some things aren’t as simple as wanting to help. Just like certain family problems, even a fair official would find it hard to settle domestic issues. We don’t even know who’s in the right or wrong. If we intervene, it’s very likely we might make things worse."

Lin Su’er nodded and said, "Oh, I see, you’re right. Maybe they’re just a couple arguing and they’re just in the heat of the moment. Sometimes people cannot stand each other, but they reconcile right after fighting."

Song Xiaodong leaned in close to Lin Su’er’s face, smiling, and said, "Then, might we also fight in bed and make up at the end of it?"

Lin Su’er immediately blushed and said, "I won’t fight with you. I listen to everything you say."

"Having a little argument occasionally isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If there’s something you’re not happy about, you really need to talk about it. If you keep it to yourself, that might actually hurt our relationship."

Lin Su’er smiled sweetly and said, "Mm, I will. But honestly, I’m not dissatisfied at all. Brother Dongzi, you’re so good to me, all I feel now is happiness."

Song Xiaodong blinked and said, "Since that’s the case, let’s pick a fight tonight then."

"A fight?" Lin Su’er was startled at first but quickly realized what Song Xiaodong meant by ’fighting’, her cheeks turning crimson as she chided, "Brother Dongzi, you’re so naughty, teasing me like this even when we’re out."

While the two were flirting inside, a sudden raised voice came from the door—Shen Ruoqing’s voice was not only loud but shrill and filled with intense anger.

"No way! Don’t even think about it! Initially, you said you didn’t want us, mother and daughter. Now you want to take my daughter away, absolutely not!"

Song Xiaodong and Lin Su’er looked at each other, deciphering quite a few things from Shen Ruoqing’s statement.

It seemed like Shen Ruoqing had been raising her daughter alone. Her daughter’s father, or rather his family, had initially not approved of them being together, and Shen had ended up raising her child alone. Now, for some reason, they wanted to take the child back.

Shen Ruoqing pushed the door open, walked in, and with an apologetic look said, "Vice Director Lin, Doctor Song, I’m terribly sorry, I... have to leave now due to some important matters, this is really..."

Lin Su’er said, "Reporter Shen, do you need any help?"

Shen Ruoqing quickly replied, "No need, no need. I owe you a meal, and I have to leave first. This is already too rude, I don’t even know how to explain to you."

Lin Su’er hurriedly said, "Everyone encounters some unexpected situations; it’s normal. After all, it’s not like we won’t meet again."

"Alright, next time I will invite you again."

Shen Ruoqing hurriedly left with an apologetic look, and Song Xiaodong along with Lin Su’er didn’t feel like staying to eat either, and they too got up to leave.

As they left the restaurant and were about to get into the car, they saw a group of people not far off, talking. Listening to the voices, it seemed Shen Ruoqing was there.

Though they had just recently met Shen Ruoqing, they were likely to collaborate in the future, and both had a good impression of her; naturally, they couldn’t just leave without concerning themselves and walked straight over.

There stood four people, one of whom was Shen Ruoqing. Facing Shen Ruoqing was a woman in her fifties or sixties and another young couple.

At this moment, the man said, "Ruoqing, why must you do this? It’s hard enough you raising your daughter by yourself, besides your job, you also have to take care of her. It’s really hard."

Shen Ruoqing, with a stern face, said, "I’m happy to bear the hardship; after all, she is my daughter. No matter how tough it is, I can raise her."

The man said, "But you don’t have that much energy, and your income is limited. The child needs to receive a good education, needs to have a good life. How can you provide for that? Besides, I’m the father of the child, would I ever mistreat her? I will certainly treat her well, like a little princess."

Shen Ruoqing coldly said, "What’s most important for the child isn’t your money or sending her to whatever good school. What she needs is companionship. My daughter, I know how to care for her, you don’t need to worry about this."

At this, the elderly woman angrily said, "I’m asking you, what will make you give the child to us? She is the Wang Family’s root, she carries my son’s seed, she must belong to our Wang Family."

"Ha..." Shen Ruoqing suddenly laughed and said, "Now you admit she carries your son’s seed? When I was pregnant with this child, what did you say? You said this child was from some unknown wild man. When I gave birth, you were absolutely against it. Now you want the child? No such luck."

The elderly woman snorted coldly and said, "Let me tell you, you can make your terms now; as long as they’re reasonable, I’ll agree. That way you wouldn’t have raised the child for nothing. But if you continue to be unreasonable, we’ll simply go to court. With the Wang Family’s ability, gaining custody of the child will be easy, and you shouldn’t force us to take this step."

Upon hearing this, Shen Ruoqing turned pale with anger and exclaimed, "Are you even being reasonable? The child was the one you didn’t want; I raised her by myself. What right do you have to take away my daughter? Have you ever cared for my daughter at all? As she has grown, has she ever spent a penny of the Wang Family’s money or eaten a single grain of your rice? You think you can just take her because you want to? No way!"

"I’m not going to argue with you. Just tell me how much money you want; a hundred thousand a year, she’s six years old, I’ll give you six hundred thousand. That would be the Wang Family having done all it could, so don’t keep going on about it, or it won’t end well for you."

The old lady, with a haughty and patronizing attitude, not only made Shen Ruoqing shudder with anger, but also made Song Xiaodong and Lin Su’er frown as they listened.