"Fengru, when you suddenly went abroad all those years ago, was it because you got pregnant?" Ren Suya was like an innocent fool, poking at her lung tube right in front of her.
Ruan Fengru's face betrayed no anger, only an embarrassed smile.
"Who is the father of the child? Is it your ex-boyfriend from before?" Ren Suya eagerly pressed on, face full of concern. "Are you married to him now? Does he treat you well? If he doesn't treat you well, I'll stand up for you."
Ren Ran listened to her mother's incessant prying and wanted to laugh, but could only restrain herself.
Seeing her mother being insulted, Kong Lian was furious, but didn't dare take any action.
"Suya, this is not the place to talk. Let's go to the club next door and have a good catch up." Ruan Fengru didn't want to discuss her private affairs in front of strangers, so she changed the subject directly.
"Alright." Ren Suya nodded repeatedly.
The two sides went to the neighboring club with their daughters in tow. As soon as they entered the club, the manager came up to greet them right away.
"Mrs. Ren, you've arrived. Would you like your usual private room?"
"Mm."
The manager led them to the private room.
After everyone was seated in the room, Ren Suya handed the menu to Ruan Fengru and her daughter. "Order whatever you'd like."
Ruan Fengru simply ordered a pot of tea, while Kong Lian wanted a glass of milk.
Seeing what the mother and daughter ordered, Ren Suya laughed and said, "Fengru, you're still the same, always trying to save me money. Manager Wang, bring the usual spread, and get them two bowls of bird's nest soup."
Once the servers had brought everything, it was just the two mother-daughter pairs left in the room, each harboring their own thoughts.
"Fengru, is your husband Qin Xiao?" Ren Suya persisted with her previous line of questioning.
Before Ruan Fengru could respond, Ren Ran jabbed her with her elbow. "Mom!"
Ren Suya looked at her daughter puzzledly. "What is it?"
Ren Ran was about to applaud her mother's acting. "Mom, that's my classmate, Kong Lian."
She pointed at the person sitting next to Ruan Fengru.
Ren Suya looked at the mother and daughter in shock. "Fengru, you, you..."
The word 'mistress' almost slipped out, but she swallowed it back down. Still, her expression of shock and hesitation was even more hurtful than uttering those two syllables outright.
Although Ruan Fengru's face was still embarrassed, she managed to keep it together. But Kong Lian couldn't stand it, her expression dark as she glared coldly at Ren Suya.
Oblivious to their reactions, Ren Suya enthusiastically moved forward and grasped Ruan Fengru's hands, pained and regretful. "Fengru, what exactly happened back then? How did you end up with Kong Mingcheng? He's a whole generation older than us, and his wife is not someone to be trifled with. All these years...ai, you've suffered."
"I know you're not that kind of person. What on earth happened back then?"
Seeing her relentless questioning, Ruan Fengru lowered her head despondently, her voice mournful. "Back then I was working to support myself through school. One time I met him when he was drunk, and then he, he..."
"Afterwards when he sobered up, he apologized to me and gave me some money."
"Two months later, I discovered I was pregnant. At that time my mind went completely blank, I only had one thought - to find him and figure something out. He told me to give birth...My relationship with him is not what you imagine. At best I'm just the woman who bore his child."
