CH 5

On the other side, after hanging up the phone, Mother Ruan immediately began instructing the housekeeper to make arrangements. Mother Ruan was a very contradictory person. Every time before seeing Ruan Su, she would plan to be affectionate towards her daughter, show her daughter more care, but when she actually saw her daughter, she would be polite rather than close, as she used to be. It’s not that she doesn’t like Ruan Su, after all, no matter how weak the emotional bond, Ruan Su is still her own flesh and blood. But she is afraid of seeing Ruan Su, afraid of looking at Ruan Su’s eyes. She always feels that her daughter’s eyes are too clear, as if her daughter can see through everything, making her attempts to remedy the situation seem ridiculous.

Father Ruan came downstairs from upstairs, still carrying his briefcase, looking like he was about to go out.

Mother Ruan hurriedly said, “Today is the day when Susu returns home, and some relatives will come over for dinner later.”

Compared to Mother Ruan’s tangled and meager motherly love, Father Ruan’s affection for his daughter Ruan Su is even more pitiful. In this man’s heart, the interests of the company and the family come before everything else. He just glanced at his watch and said in a deep voice, “I have an appointment with Manager Chen, I can’t cancel.”

“But…” Mother Ruan wanted to say something.

Ruan Father interrupted her, “Susu is coming back alone today, she will understand.”

If Ji Mingchong, who is currently in a vegetative state, is still the highly regarded CEO he used to be, wherever he goes he is surrounded by a lot of people, then for Father Ruan, his daughter’s return home would naturally be a top priority. But now the situation is different, after all, only his daughter is coming back, there is no need to be so concerned.

In the Ruan family, Father Ruan holds all the power, his word is law, and now that he has decided to go out, Mother Ruan has no choice but to sigh and accept it.

After Father Ruan left, the atmosphere at home changed.

Now the Ruan family is even quieter than before. Ruan Su hasn’t lived here since she got married. Ruan Shuyang, the eldest son of the Ruan family, holds an important position in the company and is often busy, so he prefers to live in an apartment near the company and rarely comes back. Ruan Man, on the other hand, used to come back frequently, but after she confirmed her relationship with Lin Xiangdong, the youngest son of the Lin family, she also moved out to live elsewhere.

Lin Xiangdong was driving and noticed that the road conditions were not good, so he asked, “You and your sister don’t get along well, why are you going back today?”

Ruan Man was wearing a high-end suit today, and she looked very suitable in this style. With her elegant dress, her appearance was enhanced.

She sighed lightly after hearing her fiancé’s question, “Even if she doesn’t like me, she is still my mother’s daughter. You know, without my parents, I wouldn’t be who I am today.”

After her rebirth, Ruan Man did two things that she was most satisfied with.

The first thing was naturally pushing back her engagement with Ji Mingchong. Although she was no longer the legitimate young lady of the Ruan family, she considered the gains and losses, and it was still worth it.

The second thing was getting to know and have a relationship with Lin Xiangdong, and becoming his fiancée.

In her past life, she had also heard of Lin Xiangdong’s story. He was an illegitimate child, but his abilities were outstanding. He successfully seized power from the original heir of the Lin family and became the one in control. As they say, for a hero, their background doesn’t matter, and there are probably many people like Lin Xiangdong in the wealthy circles, where even the illegitimate children of some CEOs’ mistresses can inherit power. She knew that Lin Xiangdong was the one who laughed last. After her rebirth, she approached Lin Xiangdong, who was still in a pitiful state, and gradually entered his heart, becoming his girlfriend and fiancée. Calculating the time, it wouldn’t be long before Lin Xiangdong would completely take control of Lin family.

Although the Lin family still had some distance from the former Ji family, it would still be happier for her to become Mrs. Lin.

Most importantly, Lin Xiangdong loved her wholeheartedly, even his recent proposal was extravagant and romantic.

Before Lin Xiangdong could say anything, Ruan Man said with a worried expression, “I was the one who got engaged to Ji Mingchong. Now that she has married into that family, I am grateful to her. Actually, I am not someone who is afraid of difficulties. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have agreed to cancel the engagement when Ji Mingchong got into trouble. Ji family has been kind to my family, and if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have pushed this marriage arrangement to Susu. So, Xiangdong, can you understand? No matter how much she resents me in her heart, no matter how she treats me, I can accept it, because without her, I wouldn’t have the happiness I have now. I feel sorry for her.”

Lin Xiangdong said, “You’re just too soft-hearted. If anyone dares to mistreat you, just tell me. She can’t keep bullying and hurting you just because of such a thing.”

Ruan Man lowered her head and responded gloomily, “… Okay.”

When Ruan Man and Lin Xiangdong arrived at the Ruan family, other relatives were also present, but Ruan Su hadn’t arrived yet. Lin Xiangdong was different from a few years ago; he had already become a manager in the company, and everyone could see that he had stronger abilities than his elder brother. It was also evident that Chairman Lin had been grooming Lin Xiangdong. As for who would ultimately control the Lin family in the future, it was hard to say. Therefore, Lin Xiangdong received warm welcomes from Ruan’s relatives, including Mother Ruan.

An aunt from Ruan’s relatives held Ruan Man’s hand affectionately and said, “I still don’t know when I can drink the your wedding wine. Ruan Su’s wedding a few days ago… it was really disappointing. We didn’t have a good time.”

The relatives frowned as they remembered Ruan Su’s wedding a few days ago.

Such a big family like the Ji’s, but their wedding was so simple. But then again, without a groom, the wedding couldn’t be lively.

It used to be that the Ji family was beyond their reach, but now it has come to this. They all felt a subtle sense of satisfaction.

“Exactly, what kind of restaurant was that? Even when we went out to eat ten years ago, we’ve never been to such a low-class place. It’s a joke to even mention it. Fortunately, not many guests were invited, otherwise where would Ruan family’s face be?”

“In the future, Ruan family’s face still depends on Manman, Susu’s just not capable. Even if Ji Mingchong wakes up now, it won’t change anything. The Ji family has already fallen.” Aunt Ruan tactfully praised Lin Xiangdong, “I have to say, in the past, everyone praised Ji Mingchong for being capable, but that was because he had the Ji family as a backing. He would succeed in whatever he did. It’s actually Xiangdong who is the most capable. Xiangdong’s current achievements are solid and rely on himself. It’s not easy.”

Lin Xiangdong was actually quite annoyed with this family.

But out of respect for his fiancée, he had to go along with it. Thinking that if he wasted his time on their family matters today, it wouldn’t be worth it. After chatting for a while, he stood up and said to Ruan Man, “My dad asked me to accompany him to a dinner tonight. I have to leave now.”

Ruan Man knew that it was also because she had been too forceful in creating a pitiable and helpless image of herself in the past, which led to Lin Xiangdong not being very fond of Ruan family now.

However, this didn’t really cause her much loss. Anyway, whatever happens to the Ruan family, it doesn’t have much to do with her.

She nodded, “You go about your business. Official matters are important.”

Mother Ruan and other relatives got up to see Lin Xiangdong off outside.

In the past, Mother Ruan might not have looked up to Lin Xiangdong, an illegitimate child with an uncertain future. But now things were different. With the fall of the Ji family, Ruan’s family was also declining day by day, losing its former glory. If Lin Xiangdong really inherited the Lin family, then there was a possibility of Ruan family returning to its former glory. Therefore, Mother Ruan and even Father Ruan were trying to curry favor with Lin Xiangdong as much as possible, and they were particularly accommodating towards Ruan Man.

After Lin Xiangdong left, it was almost noon.

Aunt Ruan said, “This Ruan Su is too unreasonable. Does she still have any filial piety in her heart? On such an important day of returning home, which daughter doesn’t come back early? But she, instead, made the whole family wait for her alone! Who does she think she is, some distinguished guest?”

Mother Ruan was also getting angry as she waited. She thought her daughter was dissatisfied with the marriage, so her daughter deliberately came back late to embarrass the family.

…

Ruan Su didn’t expect that Mother Ji and Maodou would accompany her back to the Ruan family.

Mother Ji naturally couldn’t say that Maodou was afraid of Ruan Su being bullied, so she just glanced at Ruan Su casually and said, “According to reason, Mingchong should have accompanied you back. But he can’t go now, and my Ji family also has people. It’s only right for someone to accompany you on this trip.”

Maodou pestered Mother Ji for a long time before she agreed.

This surprised Ruan Su, but she couldn’t refuse. The three of them asked their neighbors to take care of Ji Mingchong, and then they left. When a bride returns to her natal home, she usually buys gifts for her family. When they finished buying the gifts and were ready to find a taxi, a small mishap occurred.

The taxi drivers refused to go to the address as soon as they heard it.

Ruan’s family’s old villa was still located in the villa area on the hillside, not far from the city, but it took a while from the urban village area where they lived. And then they encountered traffic congestion. By the time they reached Ruan’s villa, it was already 11 o’clock.

Maodou looked at the villa from a distance and couldn’t help but show a jealous look. He pulled Mother Ji’s sleeve and said, “Aunt’s house is so big, much bigger than our house! Xiao Min said only rich people live in villas!”

Mother Ji wasn’t pleased and said, “Our house used to be better than this. What are you jealous of?”

Maodou didn’t care at all. “Granny, you said it yourself, it’s in the past. Don’t talk about the past anymore.”

Mother Ji : “…”

Ruan Su was originally feeling a bit sentimental about the drastic changes in Ji’s family, but when she heard Maodou’s words, she almost couldn’t help but laugh.

Despite Maodou’s young age, he sometimes speaks quite harshly and can really choke people.

Maodou asked Ruan Su again, “Your house is so big, do you find our house too small?”

Children are like this, they won’t hide what they’re thinking in their hearts.

Ruan Su thought for a moment and said seriously, “Actually, the living room of my previous house wasn’t as big as the one in your house now.”

Mother Ji glanced at her.

Curious, Maodou pointed at the villa and said, “Isn’t that your house? Don’t lie to kids, lying to kids will make you fat.”

Ruan Su smiled, “I didn’t lie to you.”

The three of them got out of the car and walked towards the entrance. The housekeeper quickly opened the door to welcome them, but was surprised to see Ruan Su bringing two more people…

The housekeeper’s expression changed, and he quickly went into the house and whispered, “Madam, Madam Ji is here too!”

As soon as these words came out, the relatives who were just stepping on Ji Mingchong and praising Lin Xiangdong were all stunned.

Then, Aunt Ruan and Mother Ruan instinctively stood up to greet Mother Ji. These people only dared to talk about Ji family behind their backs, but no one dared to speak in front of Mother Ji. The fear of Mother Ji had been ingrained in their bones for years, and it wasn’t something that could be changed in a short time.

Aunt Ruan even wondered, “I hope she didn’t hear the nonsense I just said! She must not have heard it!“