CH 8

The Ruan family prepared a homecoming banquet, but now that the main guests have already left, there’s no point in the others staying.

Aunt Ruan originally wanted to comfort Ruan Man, but after thinking about everything that happened at the dinner table today, the words she was about to say were swallowed back. As an Aunt, she didn’t come to the Ruan family often, so she didn’t have deep feelings for her niece Ruan Man. After Ruan Su was recognized as a true member of the family, she knew that her feelings towards Ruan Man had diminished a lot, since they weren’t related by blood. Anyway, Ruan Su was still a true member of the family.

Now that Ruan Man wants to embarrass Ruan Su, it’s clear to everyone, and they can’t help but grumble about it. Who does Ruan Man think she is, acting like a legitimate young lady of the Ruan family when she’s just an adopted daughter?

Aunt Ruan is also upset and can’t help but think, “If Ji Mingchong was doing well and woke up, why would I bother to appease this outsider, Ruan Man?“

Actually, they’re just doing lip service. If they have to pay for something, like money, they wouldn’t be willing to do so.

Everyone is afraid of empty promises. Lin Xiangdong might have some skills, but Ruan Man isn’t a true member of the Ruan family. Can she really work towards the Ruan family’s interests? Perhaps she has some feelings towards Father and Mother Ruan, but how deep is her affection for other relatives?

At this point, the relatives couldn’t say any comforting words anymore, so everyone picked up their bags and went back to their own homes.

Aunt Ruan sat in the car with her daughter and couldn’t help but remind her, “Don’t get too close to Ruan Man in the future. She’s just not a good person, and she’s not your real cousin either.”

Aunt Ruan’s daughter nodded, “I think so too. Actually, I think Sister Susu is better…”

“Don’t get too close to either of them!” Aunt Ruan sighed, “We can’t get on Lin’s boat, and the Ji family is already declining. Forget it. Your cousin Susu was right, everyone should just live their own lives!”

After the relatives of the Ruan family left, apart from the housekeeper aunties, only Mother Ruan and Ruan Man were left in the house.

Although Mother Ruan felt some resentment towards Ruan Su’s ignorance in her heart, her mood became subtle when she thought of what Ruan Man had said today.

A good homecoming banquet, in plain terms, was ruined by what Ruan Man had said.

Mother Ruan looked at Ruan Man and couldn’t help but say, “We had such a happy day today, why did you have to bring up something that shouldn’t have been mentioned? I know In-law’s Mother well. She can’t stand it when others talk about her family. You shouldn’t have brought up Ji Mingchong.”

Ruan Man was still thinking about what Ruan Su had said. When she heard Mother Ruan also talking about her, she felt wronged and her eyes quickly turned red. “Mom, how could you say that too? Wasn’t I doing it for Susu’s sake? She’s the one who’s not sensible. What’s the benefit of drawing a clear boundary with us? I even thought about waiting until she’s had enough of the Ji family, until no one can point out anything wrong with the Ruan family, and then get her divorced. I’ll have Xiangdong introduce her to a good person. Look, she doesn’t even consider me a family member. What she said is what hurt my feelings!”

In this family, the easiest person to fool was Mother Ruan.

Mother Ruan also had feelings for Ruan Man. After all, she had raised Ruan Man for so many years. Whenever she saw Ruan Man almost crying, she didn’t know what to do and quickly apologized, “Mom didn’t mean it that way. I was just confused by Susu’s anger. But, Manman, you’re the elder sister. Su Su doesn’t know any better, so you shouldn’t be bothered by her. Don’t hold a grudge against her…”

To Mother Ruan, both Ruan Su and Ruan Man were important. Although she knew that Ruan Su was closer to her, she had real feelings for Ruan Man after so many years. Moreover, now that there were also interests involved in their relationship, she had to comfort Ruan Man and take good care of her.

Ruan Man knew that in her past life, she returned home alone looking miserable, and Mother Ruan secretly gave her some money. That was Mother Ruan’s private savings, and in this life, Mother Ruan would definitely do the same for Ruan Su. If it weren’t for what happened today, Ruan Man wouldn’t have bothered to interfere. However, Ruan Su had made her unhappy today, so Ruan Su shouldn’t expect to be happy either.

With these thoughts in mind, Ruan Man cried and then took Mother Ruan’s hand, saying, “After all this talking, we still don’t have enough money. If Susu had some money, and if our family had money, wouldn’t our lives be better? Mom, I came back today with an important matter. I met someone named Xiangdong at a dinner party before. She does business in the south and now wants to invest in a project. She asked if I’m interested. It’s a surefire investment. I don’t have any money, but do you, Mom?”

Mother Ruan was taken aback, not knowing whether to nod or shake her head. She had indeed saved some money over the years and had planned to secretly give half of it to Susu so that her life could be better.

But Manman couldn’t have known about this.

Ruan Man kept talking about how good the project was and how capable the person was until Mother Ruan was also interested. In the end, she absent-mindedly took out the card that she had originally intended to give to Ruan Su. Mother Ruan thought that Susu still had some money, so she might as well invest this money first. When she earned more money, she could give some to Susu.

Ruan Man walked away contentedly with the card in her hand.

She no longer cared about the money. Now that she was engaged to Lin Xiangdong, would she need this amount in a few years? She didn’t really intend to invest Mother Ruan’s money. The project was all made up by her. She just couldn’t stand the thought of Ruan Su living a comfortable life. If they had no money, how could their lives be good? Ruan Man knew that the Ji family was now very poor, and Ruan Su didn’t have much money either. Only when she thought of Ruan Su living in poverty did she feel somewhat satisfied.

As she checked the account balance, she tightly clenched her hand in disbelief.

To her surprise, there was a whopping extra 200,000 yuan compared to her previous life!

At that moment, Ruan Man’s jealousy towards Ruan Su almost reached its peak. She couldn’t believe that Mother Ruan would show such favoritism despite claiming to treat both daughters equally. She had thought that Mother Ruan was closer to her, but reality had cruelly slapped her in the face. Biological child truly is different from a non-biological one.

Although she had already seen through Father and Mother Ruan, Ruan Man still regarded them as her parents. In her past life, she had concealed the secret, not only because she didn’t want to lose her status as the Ruan family’s young lady, but also because she didn’t want to lose her parents’ love. She didn’t understand why Mother Ruan would favor Ruan Su despite the fact that her future was much brighter. It was true that where the money goes, so does the affection. It was clear that Ruan Su was much more important to Ruǎn Mother than she was.

Ruan Su didn’t care about what Ruan Man was thinking. After going back home with Mother Ji and Maodou, Mother Ji’s expression was not very good. She seemed to have remembered everything that had happened at the Ruan’s house today and her face was not pleasant. Maodou was afraid when his Grandma would show this kind of expression, so he quickly left without waiting for Mother Ji to say anything, saying that he wanted to go downstairs and play with his friends.

Although Maodou was smart, he was still young and couldn’t quite understand what was happening at home.

He only knew that he shouldn’t get involved. After all, he had done something wrong today and his Grandma was already unhappy. It would be safer for him to stay away.

Maodou quickly found his friends and they went to play with sand at the old flower bed. He used to love playing with sand, but today he was distracted and didn’t hear his friends talking to him.

He was thinking about how he had just run away and whether he was being irresponsible. He felt like he was not a real man. What if his Grandma bullied his Aunt? Or what if his Aunt bullied his Grandma? The more he thought about it, the more scared he became, especially of the possibility of them fighting at home.

He couldn’t stop worrying about what was happening at home, so he gave up playing with sand and stood up resignedly, clapping his hands.

As his little friend saw him walking towards the residential building, he loudly asked, “What are you doing, Ji Junting?”

Maodou turned his head with a helpless expression and replied, “Resolving the people’s conflicts.”

His little friend didn’t understand, but it sounded very impressive to him.

Maodou walked home while sighing towards the sky. He was just a child in kindergarten, yet he had to deal with such difficult matters.

—Uncle, wake up soon and handle these things! As it should be his Uncle’s responsibility.

Now, he was taking on the burden that his Uncle should have shouldered.

Maodou climbed the stairs and let out a long sigh, “When Uncle wakes up, he should buy me a remote-controlled airplane.”