CH 7

Ruan Su knows Ruan Man very well. She absolutely does not believe that Ruan Man has any good intentions towards her. Perhaps in this world, the person who least wants Ji Mingchong to wake up is Ruan Man. The reason why Ruan Man brought up this matter at the dinner table was just to show off Lin Xiangdong’s financial power and to make trouble for her, Mother Ji, and Maodou.

It’s strange that Ruan Man has used these tactics more than once, but in the past, Ruan Su could ignore it. Now, she is getting angry.

Just when everyone thought Ruan Su wouldn’t say anything, she calmly said while peeling shrimp for Maodou, “Let’s not worry about the Ji family’s affairs. Everyone should just focus on living their own lives. It’s not interesting to always watch what others are doing, right?”

What Maodou had just said to Mother Ji had already made Ruan Man almost explode with anger. Now, seeing Ruan Su, who is usually gentle, dare to confront her like this at the dinner table, she immediately put down her chopsticks and said with an ugly expression, “I care about you because you are my sister. If you are doing well, it’s not just because you are full. If you are not doing well, it will make our parents and older brother sad too!”

Actually, Ruan Su is quite annoyed with Ruan Man. If Ruan Man expressed her dislike and disgust towards her clearly, it would be a bit more genuine. Now Ruan Man is always doing things that make people uncomfortable, all while claiming to be doing it for her own good. Ruan Man really thinks people are idiots. But maybe Ruan Man enjoys it herself.

Ruan Man has said these kinds of things more than once, but Ruan Su doesn’t want to hear them anymore, not now and not in the future. She wants to make sure that Ruan Man won’t be able to use this as an excuse again.

Ruan Su chuckled, “When did I become your sister? Sorry, I only recognize my blood relatives as family. For mom and dad, you are their daughter, but for me, you are not my relative, not my sister. So, please keep some things to yourself.”

After saying this, Ruan Su looked at the pale Mother RUan again, “If we can’t reach a consensus on this matter, I won’t come back to bother you again. Mom, you and Dad can treat her as your daughter, and I won’t object. But I don’t consider her my sister. I’m grown up now, and I don’t like it when unrelated people try to lecture me. Is that okay?”

This is the first time Ruan Su has clearly expressed her desire to draw a clear boundary with Ruan Man.

She is expressing her position, stating that she does not recognize Ruan Man as family.

Since they are no longer family, there is no need to put on the airs of being an older sister in front of her.

Ruan Su’s behavior surprised her relatives and even Mother Ji and Maodou. Ruan Su appeared to be a gentle and peaceful person, always smiling and clean, with a gentle personality. Suddenly showing this side, who wouldn’t be shocked?

But in this world, even the most peaceful and non-confrontational person has people they want to protect and things they will not tolerate.

For Ruan Su, her late father-in-law, Father Ji, was her savior, the person who gave her a future, and the person she wanted to repay. Now that Father Ji was no longer there, his wife and family became the people she wanted to protect.

Mother Ruan was very upset after hearing this. She looked at Ruan Man’s extremely unpleasant expression and quickly tried to persuade Ruan Su: “Susu, we are all family. Blood ties do not matter. Although you are married, this is still your home. If you say you won’t come back, does that mean you don’t want these relatives from your mother’s side anymore? Won’t you need help from us someday?” Her tone softened, and even carried some unnoticed pleading. “Look, things are going well. Why turn it into this? Manman cares about you. That’s why she suggested asking Xiangdong to help see a doctor. Why cause unnecessary conflict? Xiangdong knows more people and has more resources…”

In fact, Mother Ruan was reminding Ruan Su not to start unnecessary conflicts with Ruan Man.

Ruan Man’s current fiancé was Lin Xiangdong. If one day he became the head of the Lin family, this whole family would have to rely on him. They couldn’t afford to make their relationship too tense. Would they not need to ask Lin Xiangdong for help in the future?

Properly bowing one’s head and enduring hardships can make one’s life better. Why doesn’t her daughter understand this? As a mother, how could she harm her daughter?

After a brief silence, just when Mother Ruan thought Ruan Su was going to apologize, she spoke softly instead, “I am not that kind of person, I cannot do such things, and I cannot accept such care.”

Mother Ruan was taken aback.

Ruan Su felt she couldn’t eat anymore and even Maodou barely touched the shrimp in his bowl. She wiped her hands with a handkerchief and said to Ji Mu, “Mom, let’s go back. It’s not good to trouble the neighbors.”

Mother Ji nodded, “It’s time to go back.”

Maodou didn’t show any reluctance and followed his Grandma and Ruan Su to stand up.

The other relatives of the Ruan family were all dumbfounded. No one expected this dinner to turn out like this.

Although they came to watch the show, now they didn’t even want to watch it anymore!

It was Mother Ruan who first realized that keeping them there would only make the situation more awkward. She apologized to Mother Ji at the door, “In-law’s Mother[1], I’m really sorry that you didn’t have a good meal today.”

Mother Ji didn’t care and didn’t say anything.

She had no interest in the Ruan family and didn’t think much of them. If Ruan Man didn’t mention her son, she wouldn’t even bother to speak.

Mother Ji and Maodou got on the car first. When Ruan Su was preparing to get on the car, Ruan Man came out of the house and asked Mother Ruan to go in first. She had a few words to say to Ruan Su.

Ruan Su closed the car door and quietly waited for Ruan Man to speak.

Seeing Ruan Su’s calm demeanor made Ruan Man angry. She coldly said, “Do you really think that offending me will lead to a good outcome?”

Today was supposed to make Ruan Su unhappy, but now it seemed that the unhappy person had become her?

Ruan Su shook her head. In the sunlight, her pupils seemed to be amber-colored, her eyes were very clean, and her expression and tone were very calm. If someone didn’t know better, they would have thought that she and Ruan Man were just chatting.

“You’re wrong. Those who have nothing to lose aren’t afraid of those who do. I’m not a pushover. I didn’t pay attention to the things you said before because I didn’t think it was necessary and it had nothing to do with me. If you dare to do something to me, I will publicize it and everyone will say that you’re repaying kindness with enmity.

“Do you know what the difference between you and me is? In everyone’s hearts, I don’t have to be kind, but you have to be kind. You stole my life. You’ve been the young miss of the Ruan family for so many years, and Mom and Dad have no blood ties with you. They have devoted themselves to raising you, and your life has undergone a huge change because of them. The Ruan family is your benefactor, and you cannot deny that I am also a member of the Ruan family. Everyone knows that you pushed this marriage proposal onto me for your so-called love. You owe me. Whatever I do, you have to put up with it. How about it? Can’t handle me saying these things?

“Today, you can go cry to Lin Xiangdong and tell him that I’m bullying you. Maybe he’ll try to get back at me for you and make me suffer. But how can you be sure you can silence everyone else? How can you be sure that when they think back on these things in the future, they won’t think that you’re a little heartless, just like those other people?”

This was the first time Ruan Su had spoken such a long dialogue to Ruan Man.

She had always known that Ruan Man wasn’t very smart and could only use some small tricks. So she had to remind her not to do anything stupid. Of course, this wasn’t for Ruan Man’s benefit, but because the Ji family should be quiet for a while now and shouldn’t be disturbed by these things and people.

Ruan Man heard the words and felt a chill in her feet.

It was a feeling of falling into an abyss.

Yes, Ruan Su was right. Ruan Man had to be very concerned about the Ruan family in public. That was why Lin Xiangdong wouldn’t go too far, and she wasn’t sure if he would really harm Ruan Su. From what she knew about him, Lin Xiangdong was not the type of person to go too far with women, especially not with a woman who was supposed to be his sister-in-law. She could tell him about today’s matters. But even if he actually did something to Ruan Su and made Ruan Su pay the price, If this matter got out, it would not be good for his reputation or hers.

Everyone knew that she had pushed off the engagement. Everyone knew that the Ruan family had taken care of her for so many years. From now on, she would have to be tied to the Ruan family.

If her reputation was damaged and it even reached the ears of Chairman Lin, how could he let his heir marry her? The most important thing for the wealthy was their reputation, so the matter with the Ruan family had to be kept internal. If Lin Xiangdong did something for her, it would be impossible to keep it quiet.

As expected, the barefoot were not afraid of those who wore shoes.

Ruan Man trembled all over and sneered. She had underestimated Ruan Su!

Ruan Su glanced at her and confirmed that she wouldn’t do anything annoying before getting on the car, leaving Ruan Man alone.

In fact, Ruan Man had treated everyone as fools, so much so that she couldn’t see the current situation clearly. Everyone’s expectations of Ruan Su were not so high, including Father and Mother Ruan, who felt indebted to this daughter. Even if Ruan Su said something excessive, they would be understanding and tolerant. But Ruan Man was different. She had taken this position and had pushed off the engagement. As long as she retaliated against Ruan Su, Father Ruan, Mother Ruan, and even the relatives watching the show would think that she did not know how to be thankful.

In the end, it was Ruan Su who had the moral high ground. She had not used this before because she did not want to, but if Ruan Man dared to provoke her repeatedly, she would no longer tolerate it.

On the car, Mother Ji was still educating Maodou about the matters on the dinner table today.

Maodou also realized that his behavior today was not very polite, but he couldn’t help saying, “But I don’t regret it. That vine is too annoying, and so are Aunt’s relatives. They don’t help Aunt.”

The more he thought about it, the more he felt sorry for his Aunt.

Mother Ji’s gaze swept over Ruan Su, but she quickly withdrew it after a few seconds.

She continued, “There is a saying that you may not understand now, but you will understand later. When the world is bustling, it is all for self-interest, and when the world is peaceful, it is all for mutual benefit. If she is beneficial to others today, those people will support her. If she loses her value to others tomorrow, they will distance themselves from her. However, what she has done and what she has said is like a nail. Even if it is pulled out, there will be marks and it will be bitten back.”

This is how Mother Ji teaches her children. She does not teach shallow things just because her children are still young. She always believes that these words will be remembered by her children, and when they learn this lesson someday, they will remember.

“However, Grandma hopes that you will not become either of these two types of people. You need to have a balance in your heart, not driven by self-interest. You need to know what is right and wrong for yourself. Of course, don’t be the kind of person who only gains others’ respect because you have benefits. You need something other than self-interest that truly makes others trust you.”

Ruan Su also smiled at Mother Ji’s words.

Ruan Su is now really curious and wants to know what kind of person Ji Mingchong is.

Footnote(s)