Ruan Jiu Jiu opened the door
Qu Wei’s face had a nervous and harried expression. She was just about to knock again when she bumped into Ruan Jiu Jiu’s gaze.
Ruan Jiu Jiu calmly stood there with her arms crossed, one leg stepping out into the doorway to block Qu Wei’s path. “So sorry but we just mopped the house and the floor hasn’t dried yet. If you have anything to discuss, the two of us can just talk at the door. Plus the wind feels nice and helps keep our heads cool.”
Her cold sarcasm and mocking attitude stung, and Qu Wei’s face darkened.
After finding out that Cheng Jun was Jiachen’s big boss, Qu Wei couldn’t sit still. She didn’t have a good next move and only wanted to feign civilities with Mr. Cheng for the time being. Who could have predicted that after waiting and waiting came a day with such good news?
The windfall that came falling from the sky practically stunned her stupid. The market cap of Mr. Cheng’s company had shrunk by a half and it was on the verge of being in the situation where it was barely clinging to life. How could its value compare to the position of Cheng Jun’s stepmother?
She happily changed into a set of brand new clothes, planning to come decked out in all her glory to beg for forgiveness. She knew that Cheng Jun was softhearted and cowardly, so he would definitely help them out since they were such a pitiful couple. That child didn’t have much experience with maternal love, so she only needed to show him some care and that should be good enough.
With those thoughts in mind, Qu Wei squeezed some tears out of her eyes and plastered a pitiful, desperate look on her face.
“Cheng Jun ah, your father’s lying in the hospital. He had a sudden stroke, you need to quickly go see him!”
Mr. Cheng did indeed go to the hospital, not too long ago.
The cause? Being angered by Cheng Jun.
He didn’t expect that his son, who he typically berated as being useless garbage, was actually the head of Jiacheng. It was like he had tossed a piece of rock to some corner, having abandoned it with loathing, only to suddenly be told that it was actually a priceless piece of jade?
This degree of mental shock something like this gave was simply too big.
Mr Cheng was both arrogant and valued his face. When he thought back to every time he scolded Cheng Jun, he didn’t know with what kind of cold detachment the other watched him jump and hop around, like some crazy clown that couldn’t read the room. And then when he thought about how his friends and family would judge him as being a useless father, his blood pressure shot through the roof and he promptly fainted on the spot.
As early as immediately after Mr Cheng was hospitalized, it was reported to Cheng Jun. He didn’t for a single moment have any intention of going over to be filial.
Ruan Jiu Jiu watched Qu Wei’s act and suddenly couldn’t endure it anymore. “You’re truly such a thoughtful person, even remembering to put on false eyelashes when you did your makeup before coming over to tell us.”
“What gives you the right to talk down to me about morals? Just because he’s lying in the sickbed, I have to punish myself by bitterly accompanying him at his side? I’m not a nanny.” Under Ruan Jiu Jiu’s stare, Qu Wei subconsciously looked away with some embarrassment.
Ruan Jiu Jiu was so angered she laughed. “Has he regained consciousness?”
Qu Wei blanked. “Not yet.”
“Running over to deliver a message in person that could simply be said over the phone, we’ve really wasted your efforts.”
Qui Wei was derided by Ruan Jiu Jiu’s sarcasm to the point where she couldn’t open her mouth to speak anymore. She lifted her eyes, her falsies fluttering, and she looked like she was about to burst into tears from being wronged. But in the next second, her gaze collided with that of Cheng Jun, who was standing behind Ruan Jiu Jiu.
That pair of long and slender, sleepy phoenix eyes typically drooped down half-lidded. He had been listening to them speaking with his head turned away. But at this time he looked straight at her. There wasn’t a single trace of emotion in his eyes, yet in the depths of Qu Wei’s heart burst a wave of fear and she didn’t dare meet his gaze.
Qu Wei continued. “The treatment will be very expensive. I know that at this time it isn’t proper…but seeing as he’s your father, you should still provide some support.”
Cheng Jun’s response was very flat. “Sell off the company to pay for treatment.”
“You! How can you be so cruel? He’s your father. I know I’ve been unfair to you, so I’ll beg you for forgiveness, but right now I’m asking you not to let our personal grievances get in the way of your father-son relationship…”
At this, Ruan Jiu Jiu understood.
So Qu Wei had actually come to ask for money.
“It’s my fault for not fulfilling my proper duties as a stepmother . Don’t worry, from now on I’ll definitely treat you…and Jiu Jiu very well. I’ll promise!”
Hearing that “Jiu Jiu” caused Ruan Jiu Jiu to break out in goosebumps all over, and her entire body felt unwell.
She put on a fake smile and sweetly called out, “Auntie Qu, relax. There’s me here to take care of our Jun Jun, so you don’t need to worry. You should go back to take care of your husband.”
Qu Wei’s expression turned a bit stiff.
“Little girl, why are you speaking out of turn!”
If it wasn’t for her, would Ruan Jiu Jiu be able to savor such a rich and honorable lifestyle? She simply didn’t know how to appreciate others’ good intentions!
“Cheng Jun, you say something too ah. How can you allow your wife to have such bad manners?”
Ruan Jiu Jiu cut in. “Sorry for the inconvenience, he listens to me.”
Cheng Jun: “En.”
Qu Wei was so pissed off her face was becoming twisted. “I’m your Mother-in-Law…”
“Shut your mouth.”
That gave Ruan Jiu Jiu a huge scare.
This was probably the first time she saw Cheng Jun showing any signs of getting angry. Even though his expression on his face was very calm, and his tone of voice was as dull and monotonous as usual, his eyes stared fixedly at Qu Wei with a frigidity that would make your scalp go numb.
His slow pace of speech, at this time, was akin to an admonishment. “That isn’t your place.”
Qu Wei was terrified by his expression.
Cheng Jun couldn’t be bothered to spare a single extra second on her. He pulled Ruan Jiu Jiu’s arm, dragging her behind him, and slammed the door closed with a bang.
Ruan Jiu Jiu realized that Cheng Jun was truly angry. She cautiously tugged on his clothes and asked, “Are…you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
When Cheng Jun looked towards her he had already returned to normal.
Ruan Jiu Jiu let out a sigh of relief. “Really though, Qu Wei’s as sticky as molasses. It’s possible she’ll attempt a different method after this…”
“She won’t.” He would take care of it. He had promised her, so she didn’t need to worry about it.
Cheng Jun suddenly reached out his hand and rubbed the soft hair on her head. It was like he was consoling a baby animal, and his movements were very light. Even the tone of his voice had a rarely-seen intimacy and gentleness. Ruan Jiu Jiu turned her head away with some unease, dodging his hand.
“Don’t take advantage of me, okay?”
Cheng Jun had a look of total innocence on his face. “Advantage?” He looked remarkably like he was saying, Ruan Jiu Jiu had something like that?
Ruan Jiu Jiu: “…”
Seeing as Cheng Jun was injured, she would let this one go!
Since Cheng Jun expressed that he wasn’t going to let Ruan Jiu Jiu worry about it, Ruan Jiu Jiu decided not to pay it any more attention. Cheng Jun would have his own way of resolving the issue.
Qu Wei suppressed the fury in her heart and returned to the hospital. Mr. Cheng had regained consciousness ages ago, and his state of mind wasn’t too bad. But when he saw Qu Wei walk into his room looking dressed up to the nines, his temper immediately started to rise. “Where’d you go?”
“Wasn’t it for our sake that I endured such injustice! That boy Cheng Jun simply doesn’t know how to tell good from bad, I…”
Pa!
Mr Cheng placed high importance on his face. When he found out that while he was unconscious, Qu Wei went to ask Cheng Jun for money, he immediately blew his top and stretched out his hand to slap her.
Qu Wei was dumbfounded by his strike. “You dare hit me?”
“You! You simply don’t want any face! I’ve never met a woman like you who doesn’t care about anything except money!”
The more Mr. Cheng spoke the more worked up he got, until he was so angry his head felt faint. Suddenly, he seemed to lose control and his entire body shook, and then his head fell back onto the bed.
At this, he ended up actually being hospitalized.
Cheng Ju sent someone over to pay for the treatment, and the assistant indeed followed instructions to the letter. However much the treatment cost was, he paid off, and not a single cent more. This caused Qu Wei to get so anxious her eyes reddened, but she didn’t have any other options and could only wait impatiently as she bitterly guarded Mr. Cheng’s bedside.
When she thickened her skin to ask the assistant for money, the refined-looking assistant pushed up his glasses. Then, the bodyguard following behind him stepped forward to coldly stare at Qu Wei, scaring her to the point that her legs shook.
The assistant smiled briefly. “Madam, if you lack money I do have a solution for you. You can sell off your luxury bags and jewelry. I guarantee I can get you the highest possible prices.”
Qu Wei awkwardly responded, “No need, No need.”
After keeping her bitter vigil for so long, she actually wasn’t able to get a single cent out of Cheng Jun! On the contrary, she ended up wasting quite a lot of money attempting to butter up the assistant. He, on the other hand, didn’t have any qualms about accepting money yet acted like he never heard of the concept of “using bribes to get things done”.
Qu Wei wanted to cry but couldn’t squeeze out any tears.
……
On the other side, Ruan Jiu Jiu went on the internet. Only then did she discover that in only a few hours’ effort spent on Anipop, the number of fans she had had multiplied a few times. The discussion was all either wishing her well or expressing envy of her. After sitting blankly for a minute, she finally figured out what was going on through the netizens’ comments.
When she went to the company, all the employees behaved politely and courteously to her. They waited on her like she was the father of the emperor, making Ruan Jiu Jiu feel a bit uncomfortable.
Did this count as getting a genuine taste of what it was like to be the chairman’s wife?
Thinking of how the netizens called her “Domineering CEO’s spoiled wifey” in almost every other sentence, Ruan Jiu Jiu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Unexpectedly, she was speechless.
Cheng Jun’s injury had recovered a lot and tomorrow they were supposed to go over to take a look at it. Looking at him, you could tell he was very happy about that. Ruan Jiu Jiu sat on the sofa, ordering Cheng Jun to peel a pomelo for her as she lazily watched TV. She flipped through the channels but there were only a handful of things to watch. Feeling a strange sense of boredom, Ruan Jiu Jiu watched and watched until she began to feel drowsy.
She yawned, squinting her eyes. By the time Cheng Jun had finished peeling the pomelo, she had unexpectedly fallen asleep.
Lately, she was swamped with work. When she closed her eyes, the eyebags under them looked as heavy as bruises, clearly the result of frequent overtime.
The living room was very still, with not a peep of sound.
Cheng Jun stared at Ruan Jiu Jiu. She slept very deeply, but her brow was still furrowed in her sleep, as if even in her dreams she couldn’t relax. He didn’t know what she was dreaming about. When Cheng Jun lightly pushed her, Ruan Jiu Jiu fell against him in a daze, muttering that she didn’t want to get up.
Cheng Jun got up to allow Ruan Jiu Jiu to sleep more comfortably on the sofa. He found a blanket and covered her with it, tucking it in for her. At this time, Ruan Jiu Jiu was already in the deep phase of the sleep cycle. Her entire body was motionless except for her steady breathing.
He originally was going to leave, but he paused in his steps and turned back around to squat halfway down in front of Ruan Jiu Jiu.
Thinking back to her words, Cheng Jun let out a sigh. After a long pause, he softly said, “I’m afraid, it really will be disastrous.” Trying to conceal his feelings was truly too difficult, he couldn’t do it.
After saying those words, he got up and left the living room.
The lights in the room turned off.
In the pitch-black living room, it was totally silent. Ruan Jiu Jiu, who was supposed to be deeply asleep, suddenly opened her eyes.
Wrapped in a warm and soft blanket, she stared blankly up at the ceiling as if she was lost in thought.
Author’s Note:
Jiu Jiu: I’m supposed to be asleep.
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