Seven years ago.

Ruan Danchen was 19 years old. She was a sophomore at A University.

On Fridays, she usually headed straight home after her afternoon classes were over. It was a place that she called home. However, it was also a place she barely considered as her home.

Even though the area that they lived in was not a particularly upper-class area, they were pretty satisfied with the environment and the facilities there. Anyone who could purchase a house in B City was considered as quite well-off. The houses were expensive there.

Ruan Danchen stepped out of the elevator. As she took her keys to open the door, she saw a pair of lavish and exquisite men's leather shoes at the doorstep

Her heart sank. She contemplated leaving, but before she could, someone called out, "Danchen, you're back! Come on in."

Ruan Danchen took a deep breath. She turned to see Liu Ronghua as she walked toward her with a warm and genial smile spread across her face. Evidently, she was in an exuberant mood.

Liu Ronghua was always in a bright mood whenever Shen Jialiang came to their house. However, Shen Jialiang did not come over often. He only visited about three or four times a month, but it was never at a fixed date.

Ruan Danchen did not have any recollection of her biological father. As she got older, she asked Liu Ronghua about him, but her expression always changed whenever the topic came up. She always looked grief-stricken whenever she delved into the memories of Ruan Danchen's father. Finally, she revealed that he had passed away a long time ago.

The mother-daughter duo could only depend on each other for survival after her father's passing.

However, they did not strictly have only each other. Liu Ronghua had never stopped looking for a companion. She was even married once, but the man divorced her as he could not tolerate Liu Ronghua's laziness.

One could say that Liu Ronghua had only the necessary skills to take care of herself. She had to depend on a man for everything else. Her ex-husband was a good man, and he treated her well. Nonetheless, he could not take the stress when he lived with Liu Ronghua, and it overwhelmed him. He had no choice but to divorce her.

Even though Liu Ronghua was already forty years old, she still looked gorgeous. She took care of her appearance well and had a great foundation. She still looked like a thirty-year old, and her skin was smooth and fair. Even though she had given birth before, she had a teenager's figure. That was why men fell in love with her at first sight.

After the divorce, Liu Ronghua had a few more boyfriends, but none of them would marry her. The men were usually overwhelmed when they got to understand her more, and so they would break things off with her.

Liu Ronghua met Shen Jialiang when Ruan Danchen was in the ninth grade. The Shen family was quite notable in B City, and they had close ties with other distinguished families too. Their status was the same as the status of the Li family and the Guan family.

Shen Jialiang was also a widower. He started to date Liu Ronghua after they met by chance. Then they ended up in a relationship with each other.

Since he was from the upper-class, he was not troubled by Liu Ronghua's inabilities. Shen Jialiang simply got his subordinates to run his errands for him. He did not have to deal with it himself, and so he did not find Liu Ronghua troublesome.

Even since then, they dated until Song Yu1 entered university. Nevertheless, Shen Jialiang never proposed to her. Even after all those years, Liu Ronghua had not yet stepped one foot into the Shen family's home.

Shen Jialiang was also a ladies' man. In fact, he was quite the playboy. Even so, he still needed a fixed female companion to tend to his needs and sometimes to chat with him. There were also events where he needed to bring a date. He did not need his companion to be well educated or accomplished as he only needed her to stand there quietly like a vase, and to smile and nod when it was appropriate.

Liu Ronghua met these criteria perfectly. Therefore, Shen Jialiang never broke up with her. He even bought an apartment with two rooms and two halls to accommodate Liu Ronghua.

However, after so many years, it seemed like Shen Jialing finally lost interest in her as he was no longer as tolerant with Liu Ronghua as before. His visits also became less frequent.

In the beginning, he would visit her four or five times a week. Then it became four or five times fortnightly, and eventually, he would only appear two or three times a month. That was why Liu Ronghua was exhilarated every time he visited her.

Due to the situation, Liu Ronghua became extremely anxious. She feared that one day, another woman would bait him, and then he would ignore her entirely. She had spent many carefree years under Shen Jialiang's wings, and so she had become adapted to that comfortable lifestyle.

Liu Ronghua was terrified for her future as there was no marriage to bond their relationship. Ruan Danchen had no choice but to listen to Liu Ronghua's rants and sighs whenever she returned home from school. Ruan Danchen was always afraid to go home because she did not want to deal with her mother.

Furthermore, Ruan Danchen had never regarded the apartment as her home.

"Mom. Uncle Shen." Ruan Danchen greeted them coolly as she changed into her room slippers at the doorway.

Shen Jialiang gave her a curt nod. While Shen Jialiang liked Liu Ronghua passionately, he had always been cold with Ruan Danchen. To him, she was like an unwanted stepchild.

Especially since he had to pay for Ruan Danchen's school fees after he met Liu Ronghua, and it was obvious that he thought that Ruan Danchen owed him for that.

"I'll go and put my bag in the room first," Ruan Danchen muttered. She did not look at Shen Jialiang.

"Come, sit down first," Shen Jialiang instructed hastily in a distant tone.

"Danchen, please come and sit down with us first. Uncle Shen has some matters to discuss with you," Liu Ronghua said in a gentle voice as she dragged Ruan Danchen by the arm. She even put on an apple-polished smile. It was all too unusual.

Liu Ronghua sat between Shen Jialiang and Ruan Danchen. She chuckled. "Uncle Shen is here to see you today because he needs your help."

Ruan Danchen was puzzled. She did not know how she could be of help to Shen Jialiang since she was only the daughter of an ordinary woman with no notable status.

"THere's this thing," Liu Ronghua began to explain. She paused momentarily as if the words were too hard to utter. "You already know that Uncle Shen has a daughter, Shen Zhijing."

Ruan Danchen did not comment on that, nor did she react either. She merely sat as she listened to her mother.

Liu Ronghua felt like she was talking to herself. Even though she felt a little awkward, she could only resume her words. "Uncle Shen wanted to form an alliance with the Qi family through Zhijing's marriage to the second son of the Qi family. The Qi family is still contemplating it. However… Zhijing accidentally got pregnant while she was studying overseas. After she had an abortion, she became infertile. If they do get married, this matter will surely destroy their marriage."

Ruan Danchen frowned. She tried to guess Shen Jialiang's objective, but she thought it was too inconceivable. What was more unbelievable was the fact that Liu Ronghua was the one who told her all that. She was her mother!

"What does that have to do with me? I can't magically make Shen Zhijing pregnant again," Ruan Danchen stated coldly.

Suddenly, Shen Jialiang banged his teacup violently on the coffee table, and that frightened Liu Ronghua. Ruan Danchen was also startled, and her expression changed slightly.

"It does have something to do with you because they need your help. After this, Zhijing would become your half-sister after all," Liu Ronghua replied in a peculiarly flattering manner, "You see, Qi Chenglin will be going to the Shen family's home for dinner next Saturday. They will find a way to make him stay the night. Uncle Shen hopes that you would…"

Liu Ronghua bit her lips. The words were stuck in her throat. Finally, she revealed, "He hopes that you would take Zhijing's place and… with Qi Chenglin… and find a way to get pregnant with his child. Of course, you will be attending the dinner as Zhijing. When the child is born, we will pretend that it's hers. After that, you won't have anything to do with this matter anymore. It won't affect you. As for Zhijing, she will get engaged with Qi Chenglin first. Then she will find an excuse to delay the wedding until the child is born. This way, the Qi family will never find out about it."

Ruan Danchen was so shocked that she was speechless. There were no words to describe the immense sorrow that she felt. Her eyes stung, and her pupils trembled as she stared at Liu Ronghua in disbelief.

"Mom, I'm your daughter! This is not a typical surrogacy. You're asking me to get into bed with a complete stranger! How is this any different than me selling my body! What did the Shen family offer you that made you agree to this ridiculous demand?!" Ruan Danchen's voice broke. Her eyes stung even more as tears began to well up. In the end, she could not hold her tears back, and they fell from her eyes like raindrops.

Liu Rongshu looked down with guilt. She glanced at Shen Jialiang, and then she pulled Ruan Danchen up from the sofa. "Let's discuss this in the room."

Ruan Danchen sobbed silently, but her tears flowed faster and faster. She pulled away from Liu Ronghua's arms and entered the bedroom before her. Liu Ronghua looked downward as if she was in shame.

Liu Ronghua locked the door. Her eyes had also turned red. "Danchen, I know that this is unjust toward you, but… but I'm getting old now, and I needed a guarantee. Uncle Shen's visits are getting less frequent now. Who knows if he will just cut me off without a word and abandon me entirely? You had always known that my biggest dream is to be married into the Shen family, to get a status in the family, a guarantee — so that I won't need to live in fear that one day, he would leave me for someone else."

Likely to be a mistake on the author's end - should be referring to Ruan Danchen instead.