Grandmother was somewhat helpless, feeling that Rong Ci wasn't assertive enough, being too compliant and indulgent towards Feng Ting Shen. She had missed many opportunities, which had led to the lack of progress in their relationship over the years.
But since Rong Ci had said it, she didn't press further.
The meal officially began, and everyone chatted while eating. The atmosphere was quite pleasant.
Rong Ci rarely spoke, quietly lowering her head to eat.
It had been more than ten minutes since Feng Ting Shen entered the room, and during this time, the couple hadn't said a word to each other.
In fact, there was no communication at all throughout the meal.
This was the usual state of their marriage.
Everyone had gotten used to it, so no one noticed anything unusual.
When Feng Jingxin wanted something, in the past, it was always Rong Ci who took care of her. Now, she was used to speaking up and asking Feng Ting Shen to serve her.
However, when she wanted to eat prawns, she looked at Rong Ci.
In the past, when they had prawns, Rong Ci would always peel them for both her and Feng Ting Shen.
"Mom, I want to eat prawns."
Rong Ci had decided to divorce and no longer wanted to fight Feng Ting Shen for the custody of Feng Jingxin.
Even so, Feng Jingxin was still her daughter, and she had the duty and responsibility to care for her and fulfill her needs as much as possible.
So, now that Feng Jingxin asked her to peel the prawns, Rong Ci responded, "Okay."
She put down her chopsticks and began peeling the prawns. Grandmother, seeing her hands, suddenly paused. "Xiao Ci, where's your ring?"
As soon as she said this, everyone—including Feng Ting Shen—looked at Rong Ci's hands.
Even though their marriage had been as cold as ice, Rong Ci had always worn the wedding ring that Grandmother had given them.
On the other hand, Feng Ting Shen had never worn his.
The wedding ring that belonged to Feng Ting Shen, she didn't know where he had thrown it.
Over the years, Rong Ci had worn her ring everywhere, unwilling to take it off.
Everyone had gotten used to it.
Feng Ting Lin had often mocked her for this over the years.
Today, she wasn't wearing her wedding ring, but at first, no one noticed. After all, no one would usually pay special attention to her hands.
So, if Grandmother hadn't mentioned it, no one would have noticed.
Rong Ci's hand paused briefly as she was peeling the prawns. Then, she composed herself and calmly said, "I rushed out this morning and left it at home."
In fact, she had taken the ring off when she prepared the divorce agreement.
She had placed it in the envelope with the divorce papers.
However, she and Feng Ting Shen hadn't officially divorced yet, and she knew Grandmother would never agree to their divorce. If she brought up the topic of divorcing Feng Ting Shen now, it would probably delay their divorce for some time.
So, Rong Ci didn't tell Grandmother the truth.
Grandmother listened and smiled. "I see."
After that, everyone continued eating as usual.
After the meal, they moved to the living room to eat fruit and dessert while chatting.
Grandmother still wanted to matchmake Rong Ci and Feng Ting Shen.
She even asked them to sit together.
Feng Ting Shen still didn't even spare her a glance.
Rong Ci didn't want to sit next to him, but she didn't want to keep refusing Grandmother, so she sat beside him.
This was the first time in the past few months they had sat so close.
Rong Ci could clearly smell the familiar, faint scent of cologne on Feng Ting Shen.
But now, her heart was like still water. She just quietly ate her fruit pudding in front of her and had no intention of initiating a conversation with Feng Ting Shen.
Grandmother, however, was very pleased. Looking at her and Feng Ting Shen, she smiled and said, "You two really make a perfect match."
One was handsome and elegant, and the other was quiet, gentle, and extremely beautiful. On the surface, they indeed made a good match.
But it was only a match in appearance.
When it came to other qualities, Rong Ci was far from enough.
However, seeing Grandmother so happy, Feng Ting Lin and Sang Qian didn't think much of it but didn't want to ruin Grandmother's mood in front of her.
That night, according to Grandmother's wishes, they stayed the night at the old house.
Around 8 PM, Feng Ting Shen and Grandmother went to the study to discuss business matters. Feng Jingxin pulled Rong Ci's hand and said she wanted to take a bath and go to bed.
So, Rong Ci went upstairs with her to help her bathe.
Sitting in the small bathtub, Feng Jingxin looked at Rong Ci and asked hesitantly, "Mom, are you busy tomorrow morning?"
Although she could make a compromise and let her mom accompany her to school in the morning, deep down, she still hoped that it would be Aunt Wu who would accompany her instead.
So, she secretly wished her mom wouldn't be busy tomorrow morning.
Rong Ci shook her head. "I'm not busy, why?"
Feng Jingxin, hearing this, pursed her little lips in disappointment and said, "It's nothing."
Since she didn't say anything, Rong Ci didn't ask further.
After finishing her bath, Feng Jingxin sat still while Rong Ci gently dried her hair.
As soon as her hair was dry, Feng Jingxin said she was ready to sleep.
Rong Ci knew she was staring at her phone and still wanted to play on it. She said, "You're going to sleep soon, don't watch too much, okay?"
"Okay."
Since Mom was available tomorrow morning, Feng Jingxin decided she had to tell Aunt Wu about it.
She worried that Lin Wu would be sad and disappointed if she knew, and she had been thinking about how to tell her.
Already feeling frustrated, and after hearing Rong Ci talk so much, she became even more impatient. She pushed Rong Ci out of the room. "Mom, you can go out now. I'll turn off my phone and go to sleep after 9:30."
Feng Jingxin was indeed self-disciplined in this regard.
Rong Ci heard this, wished her good night, and left the room.
Feng Jingxin immediately closed the door and locked it.
Rong Ci had just taken a step when she naturally heard the sound of the door being locked.
Rong Ci didn't think she was locking the door to keep others out.
She was locking it to keep her out.
She must have locked the door because she wanted to discuss something with Lin Wu.
And indeed, that was the case.
As soon as Feng Jingxin locked the door, she ran back to grab her phone, found Lin Wu's WeChat, and sent her a message: [Aunt Wu...]
What they talked about, Rong Ci couldn't find out.
She didn't dwell on it, nor did she care to.
She turned around and went back to her room.
Grandmother liked her and would often invite her back for meals.
Over the years, she had left quite a few personal items here.
She found a set of pajamas and went into the bathroom to shower.
After finishing her shower, she sat down on the side of the bed where she usually slept. Since it was still early, she picked up the book she had left in her bag earlier and began to read quietly.
She didn't know how much time passed, but after a while, her eyes started to hurt. She closed the book, checked the time, and realized it was already 11:30.
But Feng Ting Shen still hadn't returned.
Actually, even though Feng Ting Shen initially thought she had set him up, by the third year of their marriage, Feng Ting Shen, though still not very close to her, had shown some improvement in their relationship compared to before.
But shortly after, Lin Wu appeared.
He fell in love with Lin Wu and began to distance himself from her again.
Since then, he had hardly touched her at all.
So, she didn't know whether Feng Ting Shen wasn't returning to the room because he didn't plan to, or if he was busy with something.
While thinking about this, Rong Ci unknowingly left the bedroom and went downstairs.
At that moment, a voice came from not far away.
"Everyone is already asleep. It's so late, yet still not back in your room. Is it Rong Ci? Don't you want to return to your room?"