Rebirth: My Childhood Sweetheart Came into My Arms

A few seconds later, the call was connected.

"Hello Mr. Jiang, this is Xiao Tian from the property management department. What's up with calling me so late?"

Jiang Guosheng pondered for a moment and said, "I heard that electricity prices have recently increased nationwide. I'd like to know how much the monthly electricity bill is for Mr. Jiang's apartment. Could you help me check?"

"Of course," the property management staff said, unaware of anything amiss. "I'll check and send it to you via WeChat later."

"Thanks."

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Guosheng sat on the edge of the bed, lost in thought.

Although he really wanted to know what was going on between Jiang Chengyu and He Ziyu, he couldn't wash his dirty linen in public, so using the electricity price increase as a roundabout way to get information was a last resort.

Ten minutes later, a WeChat message arrived.

Jiang Guosheng quickly opened the screenshot.

As he looked at it, his brows furrowed.

For the past two months, the electricity bill for Jiang Chengyu's apartment has been almost zero.

In other words, he didn't live there at all.

Property Management: [It seems Mr. Jiang hasn't been staying here for the past two months. Should we investigate further?]

Jiang Guosheng replied with trembling fingers: "Send over all the expenses for the past two years."

Property Management: [Okay, just a moment.]

Next, several more screenshots were sent over.

Two years, twenty-four months.

Except for a few months, the cost is low most of the time, which is enough to prove that Jiang Chengyu has another place to stay.

Jiang Guosheng felt a tightness in his chest.

Property Management: [Does Mr. Jiang need any further assistance?]

Jiang Guosheng: [No need, thank you.]

Jiang Guosheng put down his phone, took a deep breath, and looked extremely pale.

Now that he has irrefutable evidence in front of him, he doesn't know what to do.

Should we go and question Jiang Chengyu?

But what can a few screenshots of electricity bills prove?

Given Jiang Chengyu's personality, he must have thought of a way to deal with this before daring to be so blatant.

……

That night, Jiang Guosheng, who was tossing and turning, couldn't help but wake up Shen Murou, who was sleeping soundly next to him.

Shen Murou was sound asleep when she was suddenly woken up, which annoyed her. She frowned and asked, "What's going on in the middle of the night?"

Jiang Guosheng turned on the bedside lamp. "Wake up, I have something to ask you."

Shen Murou sat up, looking annoyed. "Didn't we already talk about that tonight? What else is there to say?"

This time, Jiang Guosheng didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point: "Cheng Yu hasn't lived in Green City for the past two years, were you aware of that?"

"Chengyu, Chengyu, why is it Chengyu again? I've already said I don't know, what's the point of keeping asking?" Shen Murou's tone was full of impatience. "He's your son, not your pet. Does he need to report to you where he lives?"

Jiang Guosheng was stunned when he heard Shen Murou say this, and felt that the woman in front of him was becoming more and more unfamiliar.

Although the couple had both retired from the front lines in recent years, Jiang Guosheng still devoted most of his energy to the company in order to ensure Jiang Chengyu's stability, frequently helping him to smooth relationships and offer advice.

He originally thought that since his focus was still on the company, Shen Murou should do more to take care of their son's daily life.

In retrospect, this was merely wishful thinking on his part.

Shen Murou hasn't really cared about Jiang Chengyu at all in the past two years, and she didn't even know that he wasn't living in Green City.

"To tell you the truth, Chengyu is living with He Ziyu now." Jiang Guosheng, in a fit of anger, didn't care about saving face anymore. "I don't know when they started living together, but it must have been quite a while. Haven't you considered that the relationship between these two might have changed?"

Shen Murou wasn't surprised as expected. Instead, she raised an eyebrow and asked, "So what if they live together? They've known each other for so many years, they have a good relationship, isn't it normal for them to want to live together?"

One sentence completely enraged Jiang Guosheng.

He threw back the covers and got out of bed, looking directly at Shen Murou, his eyes filled with anger mixed with a hint of fear.

When did the person who always shared your life change?

Why did she become a completely different person after just a few years?

"Shen Murou, do you even know what you're saying?" Jiang Guosheng's brows furrowed, his voice trembling with anger. "Chengyu is our only son, and now he's the CEO of the Jiang Group, a prodigy in the eyes of outsiders. If... I mean if, he really does get involved with He Ziyu, where will that leave the Jiang family's reputation?!"

Shen Murou stared at Jiang Guosheng without saying a word.

After a long pause, he chuckled softly and said, "In the end, isn't what you care about most just your own pride?"

His nonchalant tone, coupled with a faint sneer on his lips, completely shattered Jiang Guosheng's last shred of psychological defense.

In the dim light, he lowered his voice and questioned:

"Did you already know?"

From her initial lack of enthusiasm in introducing potential partners to Jiang Chengyu, to her indifferent reaction upon learning that Jiang Chengyu no longer lived in Lvdu, everything she did was proving to Jiang Guosheng that she already knew everything.

Shen Murou: "So what if I know?"

really……

Jiang Guosheng's mind went blank for a few seconds. He struggled to steady his unsteady feet and continued to ask, "When did you find out?"

Shen Murou tossed her hair. "Does it matter?"

"Of course it's important!" Jiang Guosheng roared. "We've been married for almost thirty years. After all these years of being together day and night, we haven't even had the most basic honesty. How am I supposed to think about you? How am I supposed to think about our marriage?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Murou couldn't help but laugh even harder.

"Yes, thirty years..."

"I thought that after so many years, you should have understood me by now."

"It turns out I was overthinking it."

Jiang Guosheng: "Shen Murou, what do you mean? Explain yourself!"

Under Jiang Guosheng's questioning, Shen Murou suppressed her cold smile, got out of bed, and walked up to him.

"Since you want me to explain clearly, then I will grant your wish."

"I do know that Cheng Yu and He Ziyu are living together, and I've known it from the very beginning."

"Most of the wealthy heiresses you've introduced to Chengyu over the years have met their end with me."

"Some of the sensible ones backed down after a couple of hints from me, while those who persisted relentlessly were basically driven away by me using some equivalent resources."

"You must be wondering why I did this, right?"

"The answer is actually very simple: I want Chengyu and Ayu to be together."

"It's not that I like He Ziyu that much, but that Cheng Yu likes him."

"For the rest of my life, I'm going to make sure Chengyu lives a happy and fulfilling life, and make up for all the suffering he endured over the past ten years!"

Shen Murou glared at Jiang Guosheng, her gaze as fierce as a lioness protecting her cubs.

"Impossible, this is impossible..." Jiang Guosheng's eyes were filled with disbelief. "Shen Murou, tell me the truth, what kind of bewitching potion did the He family give you to make you like this? You weren't like this before!"

When Jiang Chengyu was still young, he and Shen Murou always played the roles of good cop and bad cop. Whenever Shen Murou was strict with Jiang Chengyu, he would smooth things over from the sidelines.

The two worked together seamlessly.

Jiang Guosheng firmly believed that Shen Murou shared the same idea as him and strictly adhered to the strategy of "spare the rod and spoil the child" in education.

But now, she's saying that Jiang Chengyu suffered for the past ten years or so?

"You're wrong. I've always been like this." Shen Murou looked coldly at Jiang Guosheng. "It's just that you don't understand me well enough, and you don't want to understand me."

"Jiang Guosheng, I've been your puppet for the past thirty years. To be honest, I'm tired."

"When we were still colleagues, a problem arose with the project, and you asked me to take the lead and negotiate with the client."

"Later we had Chengyu."

"He wanted to go out and play, but you wouldn't let him. Instead, you signed him up for ten extracurricular classes and then asked me to persuade him to leave."

"Chengyu wanted to play basketball, but you wouldn't allow it. You spent two whole hours explaining the pros and cons to me, and then you made me persuade him to work out at home."

"And then there was the student council, the studio, and the marriage alliance with Lao Han's family..."

"At first, I kept catering to you because I loved you. I did everything you didn't want to do, to the point that I eventually got used to being the knife in your hand, stabbing our son's heart again and again, and I even felt that I had given so much, completely losing myself."

"Now, in Cheng Yu's eyes, I have finally become the image of a wicked stepmother, but what about you? You still wear the mask of elegance, and your image as a loving father has never collapsed from beginning to end."

"Now that I've merely cut the strings in your hands and regained my free will, you've started nagging and berating me endlessly. Don't you find that ridiculous?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Guosheng's mind went blank.

He never imagined that his wife, with whom he had maintained a respectful and harmonious relationship for decades, would harbor such hostility towards him.

But why did everything only really erupt today?

"You're crazy, completely crazy. I think you've been around that mentally unstable woman, Jingran's mother, for too long and have been brainwashed." Jiang Guosheng kept shaking his head. "It's her business if she allows her son to be gay, but our son can't be like that. Chengyu is clearly outstanding, better than others in every way. I've always considered him my pride..."

"The one who's out of her mind isn't Fang Jie, it's you," Shen Murou said hoarsely. "Nothing is more vicious than building your own happiness on the suffering of others!"

In his dazed state, Jiang Guosheng could no longer hear what Shen Murou was saying, only repeating repeatedly, "Cheng Yu wouldn't be like that, he might just be acting on impulse, maybe he'll be normal after a while..."

"Jiang Guosheng, wake up! Chengyu and Ayu have known each other for twenty years and have been together for ten."

"Ten...ten years?" Upon hearing this shocking number, Jiang Guosheng finally raised his head.

"Yes, ten years."

"..."

"Do you know why it took you so long to find out the truth?"

"..."

"Because you only ever look at what you want to see," Shen Murou said, emphasizing each word. "Your ideal image of your wife and children may seem perfect, but don't forget, it's all fake, it's a bubble, a bubble that will turn to dust and vanish at the slightest touch."

After saying that, Shen Murou remembered something and went straight to the drawer next to her, taking something out of it.

"This is something I've always treasured. I originally kept it in the drawer hoping you would find it yourself, but it seems I'll have to hand it to you personally."