CH 4

With Ruan Su there, Mother Ji is much more relaxed than before. In order to avoid being suspected by others, Mother Ji didn’t dare to hire a caregiver, so the responsibility of taking care of her son fell on her. Apart from asking neighbors to help wash her son’s body, she did everything herself. She is almost sixty years old now, and her body sometimes couldn’t handle it. In order to prevent her son from getting bedsores, she had to turn him over every two hours. To prevent muscle atrophy, she had to hold him up every day, either sitting on the bed or fixed on a standing platform. Therefore, Mother Ji had to stay at home all day to take good care of her son Ji Mingchong. It is the heartfelt love of a mother that supported her all this time.

Although Ruan Su has only been here for two days, Mother Ji can finally rest for a while.

Although Ruan Su is not very skilled in doing these things, she is very patient. Although Ji Mingchong is now in a vegetative state, it does not mean that he does not need to eat. He can only be fed through a gastric tube. Mother Ji bought a baby food processor and mixed the rice, vegetables, and soup into a paste. Then, she slowly injected it into the gastric tube using a syringe. Today, Ruan Su specially stewed fish soup for Ji Mingchong. Maodou said that this fish soup is particularly delicious, but unfortunately, Ji Mingchong doesn’t know what it tastes like.

At night, Ruan Su has to sleep with Ji Mingchong. She gets up every two hours to turn him over.

Right now, no one believes that she willingly takes care of Ji Mingchong.

However, she does not do all this to show off to others. She just wants to repay her deceased father-in-law. Father Ji was kind and generous and a great person. When he was lying in bed in the end, he was already emaciated, and even when he was well, he could not recognize her. But that is not important, right? If it were not for Father Ji, there might not be a person named Ruan Su in this world anymore. Therefore, when she learned about Ji family’s situation and how Father Ji was most worried about Ji Mingchong, she chose to accept this marriage agreement.

Outsiders think she did it for the Ruan family, but only she knows that it is not true.

When she returned to the Ruan family, she was already an adult. Just as Father and Mother Ruan did not unconditionally love and care for her because of blood ties, she also felt the same. To her, they were only blood relatives, and in fact, they had no emotional foundation between them. Such a family was not worth her doing this.

Her life was saved by Father Ji, so now she felt obligated to repay the debt. She didn’t have much money, only herself, so she wanted to do everything in her power to help Ji family.

It was almost 10 o’clock by the time she finished what she was doing. She washed up and lay down next to Ji Mingchong. She turned her head and glanced at him. There was still a light on in the room. She had been afraid last night, but whenever she was scared, she would reach out to feel Ji Mingchong’s breath.

It was warm.

Since agreeing to marry Ji Mingchong, she had heard about his past from various sources.

He used to be the most dazzling youth, so smart that Ji’s father regarded him as the most valued successor. Father Ruan also said that if Ji Mingchong had not had that accident, the Ji family would have been even more glorious than before, and he was the hope of so many people.

He was good-looking, and even after lying there for five years, one could still see how outstanding his appearance was. It was said that when he appeared on magazine covers, they sold like hotcakes. On the cover, he looked imposing, wearing a well-tailored suit. At that time, he was only 21 years old. Many people said he was a business genius, while others said he was still too young and inexperienced. Perhaps to make himself appear more mature, he wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. She still remembered that her roommate had quietly told her while flipping through the magazine at the newsstand that he was a sophisticated scumbag that made people weak in the knees.

Now, he lay next to her like this, and those who used to say he was a genius had forgotten about him.

As Ruan Su was staring at him absentmindedly, there was a sound at the door, and the next second, a little boy in pajamas holding a pillow came in.

Ruan Su was surprised. “Maodou, why aren’t you asleep yet?”

Maodou’s pajamas seemed to be a bit too small, especially the top, and his belly looked even more round.

He quickly climbed onto the bed and sat beside Ruan Su with an expression of “affection,” saying, “Aunt, I know you’re scared. I’ll come in to accompany you after Grandma falls asleep!”

Ruan Su chuckled, “Thank you then.”

Maodou hurriedly lay down beside Ruan Su, pulled the quilt over his belly, and glanced at the sleeping Ji Mingchong on the side. He whispered, “I dare not stay in the room with Uncle alone.”

“Why?”

“Uncle has been sleeping!”

Ruan Su knew she was a bit scared yesterday, let alone Maodou who was still a child.

Maodou was afraid, but he still came in to accompany her, which touched her a little.

The child was soft, fragrant, and warm. Ruan Su and Maodou snuggled together and neither of them slept. After a while, Ruan Su asked, “Do you still remember your Uncle?”

Maodou was a little excited. It was his first time sleeping with someone other than his Grandma. Aunt smelled nice and had a pair of adorable dimples when she smiled. “I don’t remember, but I heard Grandma say that my Uncle likes me very much. When I was born, my Uncle bought me a lot of toys.”

Maodou was born before Ji Mingchong had an accident.

Ruan Su was lost in thought, as if imagining the way Ji Mingchong would hold a child.

“Grandma said that Uncle thought I was a girl at first, and everyone else thought so too. When he was on a business trip abroad, Uncle even bought me a Barbie doll.” Maodou said with some regret, “Unfortunately, those things are all gone. Otherwise, I could have given that Barbie doll to Xiao Min. Do you know Xiao Min?”

“I don’t know her. Is she your friend?”

“She’s my friend from kindergarten. She’s always nice to me and often gives me jelly to eat. On Xiao Min’s birthday, her parents bought a big cake and we all ate it together. Everyone gave her gifts, but I didn’t have one, so I folded a paper airplane for her.” Maodou whispered, “Grandma said that my Uncle is the most powerful person in the world, and when he wakes up, he’ll buy me everything. So I told Xiao Min that she can exchange the paper airplane for a real one with me in the future, but that has to wait until Uncle wakes up!”

“That’s very smart. Xiao Min must be very happy?”

“Of course, she said she would keep the paper airplane safe. Aunt, do you think my Uncle will wake up?”

Ruan Su hesitated for a moment. In fact, one cannot be blindly optimistic in such situations.

She had heard that the probability of Ji Mingchong waking up was not very high.

“…I don’t know,” said Ruan Su, “but I think he must want to wake up very much.”

Maodou yawned and rubbed his eyes with his chubby paws. “I’m sleepy.”

“Go to sleep~”

After Maodou fell asleep, Ruan Su got up and carried him.

She struggled a bit to pick him up. Maodou was over five years old. Although he had lost some weight recently, he was still considered slightly chubby.

The bed wasn’t very big, and Ruan Su knew she would have to get up every two hours to check on Ji Mingchong, so she carried Maodou back to his room to avoid waking him up.

Unexpectedly, as she walked out of the room carrying Maodou, she saw Mother Ji coming out of her room.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law exchanged a glance, but neither said anything. Mother Ji took Maodou from Ruan Su’s arms and went back inside.[1]

The next morning, Ruan Su received a call from Mother Ruan, asking when she would be coming back. Ruan Su and Mother Ruan were polite to each other, but were not as close as one might expect. Her mother didn’t act like a typical “affectionate” mother in TV dramas, nor was she as bad as Ruan Su’s friend had imagined. Instead, her role in Ruan Su’s life was more like that of a relative.

Initially, Mother Ruan also hesitated letting her biological daughter marry Ji Ming Chong, but she couldn’t resist Ruan Man’s persistence. On one hand, she had a biological daughter without an emotional connection, and on the other, she had a foster daughter with a strong bond. She hesitated but ultimately Ruan Su took the initiative and accepted the marriage proposal. Mother Ruan breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, she felt a twinge of pain for her biological daughter and some distance from her adoptive daugher Ruan Man.

Ruan Su didn’t want to go back, but it was customary, so she had to agree.

On the wedding day, it was the first day. Today is the third day, and it’s the day for the bride to return to her natal home.

Not only the Ruan family but also their relatives will come to have a meal.

After hanging up the phone, Ruan Su told Mother Ji about it, “My Mom wants me to go back and have a meal. Our relatives will be there too.”

Mother Ji responded calmly, “Go ahead.”

Ruan Su went back to her room to change clothes.

Maodou listened to what Ruan Su said just now and became nervous. He pulled Mother Ji and anxiously asked, “Why is Aunt going back?”

Mother Ji glanced at him and said, “What, can’t bear to see her go? She must go back today.”

Today is the day for the bride to return to her natal home. If Ruan Su doesn’t go back, the Ruan family will definitely have some opinions, and it will also be impolite. Although Ruan Su and the Ruan family are not close, they also didn’t have any grudges.

Maodou became anxious and clenched his little fists, “If she goes back, that vine will definitely bully her!”

Mother Ji said calmly, “That’s something she has to endure. Who asked her to be weak.”

Originally, Ruan Man was an adopted daughter. Now, an adopted daughter can bully and mock the biological daughter of the Ruan family. In other words, the elders in the Ruan family are biased.

She never liked the Ruan family before.

“But, but…” Maodou muttered, “What if she goes back and never comes back here? I really like her.”

Mother Ji frowned, “She bought you a remote control car, made you delicious food, so you like her now?”

“Who said that! I’m not that materialistic!” Maodou protested, “I like her because not because of those!”

Maodou couldn’t really say why he liked Ruan Su, but he just felt that his Aunt was great!

Mother Ji knew, though. In the past, there were three people in this household who breathed, but only she and her grandson really talked and interacted with each other. She was getting old and her grandson craved someone to accompany him, but she gradually couldn’t fulfill that role anymore.

Mother Ji’s tone softened, “So what do you want to do?”

She knew her grandson well and he must have had an idea already.

Sure enough, Maodou’s eyes lit up when he heard this and he raised his hand and said crisply, “We’ll go with her and not let that vine bully her!”