Volume One, Chapter 14: Shen Ruzhi Is Also the Daughter of a Capitalist Family

Shen Jinlin stared in terror, his eyes wide and hands trembling uncontrollably.

“No! Impossible! How could this happen? Why won’t it open? No, it was working just the other night, Dad, listen to me, ah—!”

Before Shen Jinlin could finish, Shen Zhongguo dealt him a heavy slap.

“You fool! You wretched brat! Look at what you’ve done. You deserve to die.”

Shen Zhongguo was beside himself with rage, nearly bursting from anger.

Who was it, who could dare tamper with his possessions right under his nose?

“Speak. Who else handled the key?”

Shen Jinlin clutched his face, shaking his head in confusion. “No one, Dad. I never gave it to anyone. It’s always been with me, always.”

He knew how important the key was, so he guarded it more closely than anything else.

He would never dare to flaunt or play with it carelessly.

Shen Zhongguo roared, “Think! Remember! Where could you have lost it?”

“Lost... lost...” Shen Jinlin murmured, desperately trying to recall, but nothing came to mind. Just then—

A shriek echoed from inside the house, from Wang Yaoyao.

“Who are you? Who are you? What are you doing in my home? Get out! Mom, Dad, Brother, come quickly!”

At her words, Shen Zhongguo’s eyelids twitched rapidly, a sense of dread rising within him.

“Quick, hurry outside!”

“Dad, help me, Mom! Let go of me, why are you grabbing me?”

Wang Yaoyao’s voice was laced with terror. Wang Cuilian rushed outside.

She saw a large group of police officers swarming into the house.

Wang Cuilian was so frightened she nearly fainted.

Shen Zhongguo and Shen Jinlin were struggling to close the basement door, but hadn’t managed to lock it yet; the storeroom door was kicked open.

“Don’t move, stop what you’re doing!”

“Stand still, all of you!”

“What are you doing? Do you know who I am? How dare you barge into my home? Do you have a search warrant?”

Despite his panic, Shen Zhongguo tried to maintain his composure, adjusting his glasses and appearing calm on the surface.

“Mr. Shen, forgive us. I gave the order. I am Deputy Minister Song Cheng from the Inspection Department. We received reports from the public that your family is harboring property meant for the state. Please cooperate with our investigation.”

Seeing Song Cheng walk in, Shen Zhongguo’s eyes nearly popped out from anger—it was that dog Song Cheng again.

He couldn’t stand even the hint of scandal.

“Song Tian, what proof do you have that I’m hiding property? Where is your search warrant? Even if you’re from the Inspection Department, without proper procedures, how dare you search my home? Who knows if you’re trying to frame me?”

Shen Zhongguo had held his position for years; if he couldn’t remain calm under pressure, he wouldn’t be Shen Zhongguo.

Song Tian had expected this reaction.

He calmly produced papers from his pocket.

“Here is the search warrant. This investigation is a joint operation with the Public Security Bureau. Mr. Shen, please cooperate. We must inspect inside.”

Shen Zhongguo clenched his fists, refusing to budge.

Cold sweat drenched his back.

Shen Jinlin braced himself against the door; everything inside belonged to the Shen family, and no one else had the right to touch it.

“Don’t move! Don’t move, everything here is ours, it’s our money, all of you get out!”

At this point, no matter how skilled or eloquent Shen Zhongguo was, he could no longer turn the tide.

He released his fists and lowered his head in resignation.

“We will cooperate fully and request lenient treatment.”

Shen Zhongguo conceded.

Shen Jinlin continued to resist, but was soon subdued by the police and pinned to the ground, crying out in despair.

His eyes were bloodshot as he watched them open the basement, which hadn’t been locked in time.

It was all gone!

All gone!

Everything he should have inherited was lost.

Song Cheng had suspected the Shen family for some time, lacking only concrete evidence.

That evening, a young girl came expressly to find him, saying she wanted to report the Shen family. He thought she was joking—what could a girl like her possibly know? Until she produced a gold brick.

She also claimed the Shen family would flee to Hong Kong that night.

Song Cheng immediately investigated their movements, discovered they had indeed bought tickets, realized the gravity of the situation, and quickly contacted the Public Security Bureau to launch the joint operation.

Song Cheng watched box after box of gold being loaded onto cars, knowing that evidence was still lacking in many ways—these items merely proved they were capitalists.

Their final fate would be re-education through labor.

“Another great achievement for someone,” Song Qi Tian remarked, gaze fixed on the gold and silver before him.

The Shen family had hidden their wealth deeply enough.

Song Cheng sighed, “Thanks to that young girl—I didn’t even have time to ask her name. She truly deserves recognition for this.”

Song Qi Tian turned to him, “I know who she is.”

Song Cheng clapped his hands, “That’s excellent! If you know her name and address, I’ll report it and the organization will honor her.”

Song Qi Tian sneered, eyes filled with disdain for the breathless, alluring girl.

First she severed ties with the Shen family, even erasing her household registration.

Then she ran to report them. Though she was the model of a good citizen, such a woman had neither conscience nor morals.

Had she not schemed against her adoptive parents, perhaps he’d have seen her as a selfless comrade.

But her so-called selflessness was too tainted with personal motives.

She even used the Tian family.

“No need to look. When the Shen family is sent down tomorrow, she’ll show up naturally.” Song Qi Tian’s mysterious, cold words irritated Song Cheng.

“Song Qi Tian! Who taught you to talk like this? You sound older than me, and I’m your uncle. Speak properly.”

Song Cheng patted his nephew’s shoulder, but he’d already promised the young girl never to reveal she was the one who reported the Shen family.

Song Qi Tian brushed his hand aside, dropped a dismissive comment, and got into the car. “Uncle Zhou, drive.”

“Yes, young master.”

After eating and drinking her fill, Shen Ruzhi lay on the hotel’s large bed, gazing across at the Shen house surrounded by police.

Shen family, this lifetime, I will make you taste the bitter fruit you sowed.

The next day

News of the Shen family spread throughout the city—they were capitalists, all to be sent down for reform.

Tian Xiaoxia, worried for Shen Ruzhi, arrived early at the Shen house. Her parents held her back, not letting her enter.

“Xiaoxia, I know you’re worried about Ruzhi. Let your father and me find out what’s happening first, then you can go in.”

Tian Xiaoxia was frantic. “Mom, Dad, you have to help Ruzhi. You saw it yourselves yesterday—she’s not the Shen family’s biological daughter. She shouldn’t be sent to the countryside.”

Song Cheng led the Shen family of four outside.

Wang Yaoyao had suffered enormous humiliation and bitterness, biting her lip pitifully, her eyes full of resentment—how could this happen?

Just yesterday she had dreamed of her new life as a pampered heiress in Hong Kong.

Now, overnight, she had nothing, and had become a despised capitalist, destined for re-education.

“Let’s go. You’re not allowed to bring anything.” Song Cheng’s tone was strictly official.

The onlookers kept a wide berth, afraid to get involved.

Just as everyone was trying to avoid trouble, a girl rushed out, “Dad, Mom, Brother, where are you going? Where are you taking my parents?”

Song Cheng was momentarily stunned—wasn’t this the girl who reported them yesterday?

Parents? Was she also a daughter of the Shen family?

No, her name wasn’t on their household registration, only Shen Jinlin and Wang Yaoyao.

“Shen Ruzhi!”

Wang Yaoyao glared at her viciously—why! Why was she so lucky?

Wang Cuilian seemed to think of something, pointed at Shen Ruzhi and shouted, “Her! She’s my daughter too, take her, take her with us!”

The one who should go to the farm for reform was Shen Ruzhi.

It was her!

Shen Zhongguo’s sharp gaze locked onto Shen Ruzhi, suspicion rising—such coincidence was impossible.

It must have been Shen Ruzhi’s doing.

She must have discovered the basement and learned her true identity, then engineered her escape yesterday.

Shen Zhongguo said, “Song Cheng, Shen Ruzhi is my daughter. She enjoyed eighteen years of my family’s nurture, she must go with us.”

Shen Jinlin wouldn’t miss the chance—why should they suffer in the countryside while Shen Ruzhi stayed in the city?

Let her come along, let her do all the dirty, exhausting work.

“Shen Ruzhi is my sister, my sister. Shen Ruzhi, you should come with us.”

Song Cheng looked at Shen Ruzhi, who pretended not to know him.

“Officer, leaders, what did my family do wrong? Though I’m not their biological daughter, I’m willing to go with them.”

Shen Ruzhi’s display of filial piety at that moment astonished everyone.

Such capitalists, yet they had a daughter so kind and dutiful.

Loyal and selfless.

“You’re not their biological daughter, so you’re not part of the Shen family. You don’t need to go.” said Song Cheng, now guessing she was their adopted child.

Shen Zhongguo adjusted his glasses, about to speak, when Tian Xiaoxia burst out.

“Nonsense! How dare you call Ruzhi your daughter? Yesterday you kicked her out and told her to leave, why didn’t you call her your daughter then? When you schemed to send her to the countryside in Wang Yaoyao’s place, why didn’t you claim to be her parents?”

Tian Xiaoxia’s words reminded everyone of yesterday’s events.

The Shen family’s cruelty and heartlessness—they had witnessed it firsthand.

Neighbors advised, “Ruzhi, we all know you’re a dutiful child, but the Shen family isn’t your home. You should go.”

“Yes, yes, they drove you out yesterday and said those awful things. If I were you, I’d run as far away as possible.”

“That’s right, Ruzhi isn’t part of the Shen family. You can’t take such a good child away.”

“She has no blood ties to them. We all can testify.”

“Yes, yes, we all can vouch for that.”

Everyone was warm-hearted, fair, and moral, speaking the truth.

Shen Zhongguo’s gaze was venomous, fixed on Shen Ruzhi—the household registration was no longer with the Shen family, and a paternity test had confirmed it.

Shen Ruzhi was already unrelated to them.

A glimmer flashed in Shen Zhongguo’s eyes, and his attitude shifted. “Ruzhi, I know you’re dutiful. I was wrong before, but now I want to mend my ways. The gold and jewelry I gave you, those belong to the state—we can’t keep them. Quickly hand them over.”

His words made Song Cheng and the others turn to Shen Ruzhi.

Wang Cuilian shouted, “Shen Ruzhi, hand over the goods! Are you still trying to hide them?”

Shen Jinlin declared, “I want to report her—Shen Ruzhi is a capitalist heiress! She has all those things on her, why haven’t you arrested her for questioning?”

Song Cheng watched Shen Ruzhi, “Do you have anything to say? Are the items with you?”

Wang Cuilian’s venomous gaze was sharp as a knife. “They’re all with her—she must have hidden them. That wretched girl is cunning, you have to interrogate her harshly, torture her, then she’ll confess.”