CH 2

Before getting married, Ruan Su had also specifically learned how to take care of a vegetative patient. Before going out to buy groceries, she took out the saline solution she had prepared in advance, intending to clean Ji Mingchong’s mouth. Taking care of a vegetative patient was not an easy task. On the contrary, it required more attention and effort to make the patient appear no different from an ordinary person. It wasn’t convenient for Ruan Su to wash Ji Mingchong’s body, and Mother Ji knew that. They usually asked their neighbors for help. Yesterday, after their neighbor had helped clean Ji Mingchong’s body, Ruan Su started to “brush” Ji Mingchong’s teeth.

Mother Ji took good care of Ji Mingchong. He had been lying in bed for five years, but apart from his pale complexion, he looked like he was just sleeping briefly in the sunshine.

Ruan Su carefully cleaned Ji Mingchong’s teeth, and she couldn’t help but be stunned. Before Ji Mingchong had his accident, she had never met him in real life. Now, she couldn’t help but imagine what he used to look like.

He probably didn’t smoke, and he should have regularly had his teeth cleaned. He should have paid attention to oral hygiene in general, as evidenced by the condition of his teeth.

She looked at his hands and lifted them up, wiping them with a warm towel.

At that time, his signature was also printed in a financial magazine. Although it was only three words, she could tell that he had a good handwriting, with a sharp and imposing style.

After staying in the room for a while, Ruan Su prepared to go out. Today was the second day of her marriage. Even if it was for her own stomach’s sake, she was going to cook for herself. There were no vegetables in the refrigerator, so she had to go to the supermarket to buy some.

In Ruan Su’s classmates’ notes, the most common evaluation she received was “loving life and being positive.”

She didn’t like to appear gloomy, so she put on a pretty dress, tied her long black hair into a cute bun, and applied a light makeup. Looking at the clean and tidy girl in the mirror, she smiled.

“Mom, I’m going out to buy some groceries,” Ruan Su said to Mother Ji, who was sitting on the sofa, while changing her shoes.

Mother Ji responded with an “Hmm” and then stood up, taking out a hundred yuan bill from her wallet and handing it to Ruan Su. Her expression and tone were still cold as she said, “Take this money to buy groceries. You don’t need to worry about the household expenses. If you run out of money, you can tell me, but I need to see the receipt. With you in the family now, you can manage our food expenses, and you don’t need to be too thrifty. After all, Maodou is still young, and you are also young. But don’t waste money. You should know the situation at home. It’s not like the past.”

Ruan Su felt embarrassed to take the money. It’s not like she didn’t have money, so she quickly waved her hand and said, “No need, Mom. I have my own money.”

“Your money is also the Ruan family’s money,” Mother Ji said. “You can take it if you want. But my Ji family doesn’t have the habit of taking advantage of others.”

Ruan Su took the money from Mother Ji.

Mother Ji’s expression softened a bit. “In addition, I will put the living expenses in the cookie jar. If you use it up, I will add more. Let me make it clear that if you don’t want to cook, I won’t force you. But besides the basic daily expenses, I don’t have any other money to give you. You need to be clear about this.”

Ruan Su smiled, “I have hands, feet, and a job. I don’t need any pocket money from you for my living expenses.”

“That’s good.” Initially, Mother Ji wanted to ask what kind of job Ruan Su had, but the words died in her throat.

She didn’t know much about Ruan Su, at least not as much as her former prospective daughter-in-law, Ruan Man.

Ruan Man was originally not the child Ruan family; she was switched at birth. The real Miss Ruan was Ruan Su, but she was only recognized four years ago when she was already studying in college in another city. After returning to her biological family, she was not very close to them. On the contrary, Ruan Man was recognized as the Ruan family’s adopted daughter and was more like a family member.

After Ruan Su was recognized, Ruan Man returned her identity to her and, incidentally, withdrew from the engagement with the Ji family.

Mother Ji was particularly angry. Even if Ruan Man was not the Ruan family’s biological daughter, she had been carefully raised and had a higher education and knowledge than Ruan Su, an ordinary person. When the engagement was made between the Ji and Ruan families, Mother Ji did not think highly of Ruan Man. Later, when the Ruan family switched to someone who was not as good as Ruan Man, it was easy to imagine how angry she was. Therefore, now seeing Ruan Su, she was neither warm nor cold, and very unfamiliar.

However, Ruan Su had one thing that far surpassed Ruan Man, and that was her face.

Ruan Su had extremely delicate features, and her slender figure was charming and elegant. Even in a simple dress, she was dazzling, standing in the sunlight, reminding people of words like beautiful and gentle.

As she looked at her like this, Mother Ji’s mood improved somewhat.

Maodou came in from outside the door and saw Ruan Su was going out, and immediately said, “Aunt, are you going to the supermarket? I want to go too!”

Mother Ji asked, “Have you finished your homework and practiced your calligraphy?”

Maodou scratched his neck and shouted, “I’ve already finished it!”

Mother Ji didn’t say anything, and she also felt that she had treated her grandson not well enough. As a result, he now thinks that going to the supermarket is a very happy thing.

When Ruan Su saw that her mother-in-law didn’t speak, she knew that it was agreed, and said to Maodou, “Then we will go early and come back early. Maodou, I’m not very familiar with this place, can you show me the way?”

When he heard this, Maodou immediately agreed!

He felt very proud, but also felt a great pressure. His Aunt didn’t even know the way around here, so he had to take charge from now on.

Under the watchful eye of Mother Ji, Ruan Su took Maodou downstairs and left.

Although this neighborhood was a bit old, its location was excellent. There were bus stops and subway stations nearby, as well as large supermarkets and shopping malls. Maodou chattered all the way, but that’s how children talk. Ruan Su liked children like that, they made her feel alive. Maodou had been taught well by Mother Ji, not spoiled or wilful, but lively and polite. Looking at Maodou, Ruan Su no longer thought of Mother Ji as the infamous evil mother-in-law.

After walking for a while, they arrived at the supermarket. Ruan Su pushed the cart while Maodou followed her.

Ruan Su asked him, “Maodou, what kind of food do you like?”

Maodou frowned and said, “I used to like shrimp, but not anymore. I also used to like chicken wings, but not anymore.”

“Why not?” Ruan Su asked.

“Don’t you know?” Maodou turned around and asked her.

His face looked like it said, “I’m too troubled.”

Ruan Su reacted and burst into laughter, he was probably complaining about the poor taste of the food that Mother Ji had cooked. In Ruan Su’s heart, she felt some admiration for this mother-in-law. Under the same circumstances, if she had experienced her mother-in-law’s life, she might not have been able to be so strong.

“Well then,” Ruan Su said with a serious tone, “let’s go buy some shrimp and chicken wings. Then I’ll test you. If you get it right, you’ll get a reward.”

Maodou was excited. “What are you going to test me on?”

“I’ll test you on whether you know what your Grandma likes to eat,” Ruan Su said. “A truly filial child must know, right?”

“Of course, I know. Grandma likes to eat fish!”

Ruan Su felt that taking Maodou out was a very good decision.

They went to buy chicken wings and picked up some live shrimp and a sea bass at the fresh seafood area.

The supermarket was very lively, and Maodou was still thinking about his reward. Ruan Su asked him what he wanted, and he hesitated a bit before asking, “It might be a bit expensive, is that okay?”

“Of course, you can,” said Ruan Su. “I promised you earlier, didn’t I?”

As Maodou counted on his fingers, he said, “I want to eat cheese sticks, and I also want a remote control car… Can I have them?”

But when he got to the end, he looked up at her pitifully and said, “Actually, I don’t need the remote control car. Our neighbor has one, and I can borrow it to play. It’s too expensive.”

Without hesitation, Ruan Su took Maodou to pick out a remote control car. Maodou didn’t want anything too expensive; he knew all the numbers and how to look at prices. He picked out the cheapest one, which was 119 yuan.

He was so happy that his face turned red. He held onto the box tightly and wouldn’t let go. When the cashier tried to scan the barcode, he still didn’t want to let go and kept staring at the remote control car. This scene made Ruan Su feel sad. Ji Mingchong was the proud son of heaven, and Maodou was also born with a golden spoon in his mouth. But now, Maodou is so happy for this cheapest remote-controlled car. Ruan Su really wants to hug him in her arms and rub his little curls.

But it was just a thought. Maodou cared very much about his hairstyle and didn’t let anyone touch it.

After leaving the supermarket, Maodou pulled Ruan Su to the side, seeing that no one was watching, he pulled out a necklace with a ring from his shirt collar.

Maodou looked at her and said, “This is the ring my dad gave to my mom. It seems to be used for proposing. Now I’m giving it to you.”

The ring is inlaid with fine diamonds, and the diamonds on the ring setting are even more shiny.

Ruan Su was very surprised and asked, “Give it to me?”

Why would he give it to her?

Maodou nodded, “I saw it yesterday.”

“What did you see?”

Maodou looked unhappy, “It’s that vine[1], you know.”

He doesn’t like Ruan Man and always calls her that way.

Ruan Su understood.

Yesterday, she got married. All of Ruan’s family members were there, and Ruan Man also attended her wedding with her fiancé. The so-called wedding was just a meal with family and friends. After all, the groom did not attend, so there was no need for a ceremony. Of course, there was no diamond ring either. Ruan Man looked at Ruan Su’s bare fingers and deliberately pointed it out. On the one hand, she said that the Ji family was so poor that they couldn’t even afford a diamond ring, and on the other hand, she was also mocking Ruan Su.

She even made a show of feeling sorry for her sister and wanted to give her own ring to Ruan Su, but Ruan Su naturally refused to take it.

Maodou also saw this.

Seeing that Ruan Su was not speaking now, he pursed his lips and was about to take off his necklace. “I didn’t know I needed a ring for the wedding yesterday, otherwise I would have given you this one. Aunt, this is for you.”

He also lied. He didn’t like Aunt very much yesterday, so he was reluctant to give her the ring. But today, Aunt made him breakfast and bought him a remote control car and cheese sticks, so of course he had to be generous, right?