Chapter 28 Strike the Snake at Its Seven Inch: Disintegrate the Enemy from Within

With things having developed to this point, Zhang Yan's forces were truly in complete disarray.

Even though she went all out and tried to hang herself in front of the Ruan family, she still couldn't get what she wanted.

After all, soft-hearted people are usually honest people. Are Ruan Rui's parents just ordinary people?

In the book, these two are the ones who manipulate the original owner of the PUA (Pick-Up Artist) system, making him voluntarily undergo sterilization surgery to prove that he can truly treat his stepdaughter as his own.

Are you, Zhang Yan, going to hang yourself? Okay, do you need a rope or a stool? We'll help you carry it.

When everyone in the courtyard rushed over to see what was going on, the Ruan family remained unmoved. Finally, Zhang Yan couldn't continue her solo performance, so her parents, who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion, slapped her and dragged her home.

Her parents never thought highly of Ruan Rui. He was just a librarian in high school, and his income was less than that of their daughter, a kindergarten teacher in the factory area.

After a busy day, causing chaos and confusion, all that was left was loneliness.

Wang Xiao couldn't help but cover his forehead.

She admitted that she bore an unshirkable responsibility for how things had developed to this point.

She underestimated her enemy. Strategically, it was fine to despise Ruan Rui, that conman—he was utter trash. But tactically, she shouldn't have underestimated the enemy.

She overlooked the fact that Ruan Rui's intelligence was definitely not low. Even if she was a villain, she was a villain with a brain.

One Zhang Yan was indeed not enough for him.

But she's not a god; isn't it normal to make mistakes? It's never too late to mend the fence after the sheep are lost.

There was a problem, but it's been fixed now.

As the saying goes, "strike the snake at its seven-inch mark," meaning that if you want Ruan Rui to obediently divorce you, you must find his Achilles' heel.

What is Ruan Rui's character setting? Aside from his evil towards the original owner and her family, he has a pretty good image in front of others. He is a deeply affectionate first love who never forgets the female lead, and a doting father who cares for his daughter immensely.

Now, the female lead has gone abroad to continue her legendary life, and Wang Xiao can't reach her.

But that short, chubby girl, Jiaojiao, lives in the provincial capital.

Wang Xiao touched his nose, desperately trying to recall the details of the book in his mind, extracting useful information from it.

Right, let's start with the identity of a "doting father".

Ruan Rui is willing to be content with having a daughter for the sake of true love. But that doesn't mean his parents are happy about it.

Parents who don't nag about their grandchildren are definitely a minority, if not rare animals.

For example, Wang Xiao herself was raised by her grandmother before she transmigrated into the book. They had been together for more than ten years, and their relationship was undoubtedly deep.

But this doesn't change the fact that in Grandma's heart, her cousin, who rarely calls to check on her and has never spent a penny on her, and her half-brother, who refuses to even enter Grandma's house, are the old lady's true loves.

Wherever the money is, that's where the love is; the old lady left most of her savings to them.

If it were Ruan Rui's parents, the situation would be similar.

In that novel, after these two manipulated the original owner into voluntarily undergoing sterilization to prove their noble character, they then cried and lamented that their Ruan family line had ended, and cursed the original owner as a barren hen.

Since they are so eager to have a grandson, we can't let their imperial succession be disrupted.

Wang Xiao quickly explained her thoughts, startling Dr. Chen. The mother turned pale and immediately scolded her daughter, "Don't be ridiculous! How will you find a partner if you ruin your reputation? What eligible man would choose a woman who can't have children?"

Wang Xiao was both amused and exasperated.

She didn't intend to tarnish her own reputation.

Although she is not interested in marriage and having children, biological evolution has not eliminated the uterus from women, so she has no reason to believe that having a uterus is a sin.

It was part of her body, and she could use it however she wanted. There was no need for her to give it up for anyone, not even in name only.

She shook her head: "I don't intend to say that I am infertile; I want the Ruan family to give up on themselves."

What should we do?

Let's start with family planning.

Before the relaxation of the two-child and three-child policy, family planning was implemented very smoothly across the country due to the existence of fines for having more children than allowed, and local law enforcement officers were very proactive.

She recalled a 100-day childless plan, during which a county did not have a single child born for 100 days, demonstrating the extent of the family planning policy's enforcement at that time.

Chen Yanqiu was completely confused, though she certainly knew about family planning.

As the factory doctor, she knew all too well how much they would stop at nothing to have more children than allowed.

If you ask her, is family planning good or bad? Of course it is. Otherwise, it would be like that skit "The Overpopulation Guerrilla" shown on the Spring Festival Gala, where women are either giving birth or on their way to give birth. What career would they have left?

But the idea of ​​"no children for 100 days" is sensationalist. It doesn't make sense either. Under normal circumstances, with strict family planning, a county would certainly have children being born every day.

How can you be childless? Did you strangle the newborn or abort the healthy child? That's murder!

Wang Xiao got stuck. Well, it was only 1990, so this matter probably hadn't happened yet.

But it doesn't matter, she just needs to focus on one point: "Isn't it supposed to be one child per couple? The Ruan family already has a granddaughter, and they want a grandson. Will the family planning office agree to that?"

Chen Yanqiu was very skeptical: "No way, you haven't given birth yet, so it shouldn't count. We don't have that kind of thing here."

Wang Xiao was speechless.

No wonder the original owner's family was completely controlled by the Ruan family. Besides the fact that the parents were too soft-hearted and wanted to sink into depravity with their daughter, the main reason was that they were too honest.

What does it mean to not count? The standards for implementing family planning are inherently flexible.

So what if the provincial capital doesn't do this? Other places do. How can you be so sure the provincial capital won't do it either?

Dr. Chen was just too kind, not lacking in intelligence. As soon as her daughter said that, she immediately understood: "That's right, that's right, there can only be one child."

She suddenly realized, "Is his family really that easy to talk to? Even if they really get rid of that child, they still won't be able to get a divorce, right?"

Was she unhappy that her daughter became a stepmother?

She simply looked down on that family.

If they would abandon their own children to ensure they profit from the family's wealth, it only shows that they are utterly depraved and even more terrifying!

Wang Xiao shook his head, quite certain: "No, the reason Ruan Rui is holding me back is to find someone to take care of her daughter. His goal is to find a free nanny."

"Free?" Chen Yanqiu couldn't help but sneer. "Free? You're practically paying to get it for you."

Now that her daughter's salary has increased by two levels, the Ruan family will only leech off her even more.

Wang Xiao quickly demanded a ceasefire.

Let's get this straight, Ms. Chen. We're comrades in arms now, so this isn't a personal attack.

Chen Yanqiu had no choice but to swallow her anger and say, "Tell me, what else can you do?"

"Stop making trouble. We just need to get this concept to Ruan Rui's parents and let their family fall into chaos. Right now, they're united against outsiders, putting too much pressure on us. Once they're fighting amongst themselves, everything will be easier to handle. Ruan Rui will never give up on his daughter, and his parents can't make that decision for him."

Although not explicitly described in the book, it is already evident between the lines that Ruan Rui looked down on his family of origin and always resented his parents' incompetence, which is why he was mistreated for so many years.

Wang Xiao asked expectantly, "Mom, you have a wide network of connections, you must know people who can speak up for the Ruan family."

Chen Yanqiu finally straightened up: "What do you need to find? There are plenty of people available. Alright, alright, your mother knows what to do. Go to sleep now, don't you even know what time it is?"

Without a word, Wang Xiao quickly retreated. She still had to go to the market tomorrow; her business of ten specialty products was waiting for her to build from scratch.

Ugh, another day of driving the original owner crazy.

If she hadn't dug such a big hole for herself, she would have been wholeheartedly pursuing her first small goal long ago.

Dr. Chen didn't rest either; after a good night's sleep, he immediately got to work.

As the sun was about to set, two streets away from the steel factory, Ruan's younger sister, who had just finished get off work, and her husband rushed to her parents' home and finally saw her older brother who had been discharged from the hospital.

The men went out to smoke and brag, leaving Ruan Xiaomei and her mother cooking in the corridor.

Her family home is really small; they don't even have their own kitchen. It's nowhere near as big as her sister-in-law's home, which she almost married into.

Such a new and beautiful two-bedroom apartment, only lived in by their family, with a complete kitchen and bathroom, it stood out prominently in the entire steel plant.

Ruan Xiaomei sighed inwardly, remembering the purpose of her trip back to her parents' home, and quickly steered the conversation: "Mom, if you ask me, Zhang Yan's situation is actually quite good. Her parents are both permanent employees at the steel factory, and she herself, though not a college graduate, went to a vocational school. Besides, she's now a kindergarten teacher at the factory, so she's not short of money. Moreover, as a teacher, she can take good care of Jiao Jiao."

"You don't know anything!" Mother Ruan's triangular eyes twitched. "No matter how good the Zhang family's conditions are, it's still their son's. Zhang Yan has a younger brother. How can they compare to the Wang family? The Wang family has an eighth-level fitter and a doctor, and only one daughter. All the money the family earns will be hers in the future. And what's hers will also be ours."

She raised an eyelid and stared at her daughter like a venomous snake, "Don't betray your own family, you are surnamed Ruan."

Ruan Xiaomei spat inwardly, "Bullshit! Why don't you think of her as a member of the Ruan family when there's something good happening?"

Putting aside the fact that her grades weren't actually bad, she could have easily repeated a year and maybe even gotten into university, but her parents said they wanted to subsidize her brother's living expenses and refused to pay for her tuition anymore.

Take her father, for example. A couple of years ago, he retired early from his heavy industry job, and she could have taken over as a permanent employee. But because her brother wanted to stay at the university after graduation and needed to bribe someone, her father sold his succession spot and used all the family's savings to bribe her brother.

Okay, what happened next?

After working for less than two years, probably without even earning back the money he would have spent on gifts, her brother had him kicked out of Beijing. His family then used their money and resources to send him to a high school to work in the library.

What about her? Her parents squeeze money out of her all the time, but they never spend a single penny on her.

Dr. Chen is right. Once a daughter leaves home, she should think about herself and her family. Her brothers live with her, but that may not be her home anymore.

She went home to act as an intermediary because Dr. Chen promised that the steel factory had openings and Uncle Wang could speak on his behalf. Even if it didn't work out, she would still receive a 500 yuan reward.

She worked as a temporary worker at a street printing factory, earning only 42 yuan a month. Five hundred yuan was equivalent to a year's work for her.

If she doesn't earn the money herself, her parents won't just hand it to her.

Ruan Xiaomei forced herself to calm down and scolded, "Mom, what are you saying? I'm doing this for the good of the family. As the saying goes, harmony in the family brings prosperity. The Wang family is so unhappy, and it's making a scene. It's better to let Zhang Yan go."

"Nonsense!"

If it weren't for the love letters and the incident of sleeping naked in the same bed, Ruan's mother might have reluctantly considered Zhang Yan.

But she was a young girl who was practically throwing herself at him, even more shameless than Wang Xiao, who was willing to give herself away. How could Ruan's mother possibly be interested in her?

Unless she's the factory director's daughter, that's more likely.

But she doesn't have that kind of family background.

Mother Ruan warned her daughter again: "Don't be reckless. If your brother marries Wang Xiao, the Wang family will be our in-laws. When we need their help, do you think they won't help us? Ha, they won't. Wang Xiao is now in the Ruan family. We can do whatever we want with her. Even if we just want their daughter to have a couple of days of comfort, they can't pretend to be dead! They'll be the ones begging us."

Ruan Xiaomei's scalp tingled from her mother's glare, and she dared not say another word. She could only say awkwardly, "But now that things have turned out like this, it's not good for my brother either. The Wang family is adamant that their daughter will never be a stepmother."

"What a joke! We've already got the marriage certificate; it's protected by national law. We have no choice but to get married!"

“But,” Ruan Xiaomei looked around and lowered her voice, “I heard that the family planning policy is being tightened again, one child per couple, and even if the woman has never given birth, she is not allowed to have any more. If Wang Xiao doesn’t have a child for our Ruan family, she will never be on our side. She can divorce us and leave at any time.”

Mother Ruan came to her senses and realized that made sense.

Families who buy wives also have to wait until the woman has given birth before they dare to let her go out.

As a woman herself, she knew all too well how much a child could capture a woman's heart.

Bah! There's not one in a hundred shameless sluts like her son's ex-wife.

She actually abandoned her husband and children and ran away abroad.

She waited for over a year but that slut never came back to take her family abroad to enjoy a life of luxury. Who knows which wild man she's having an affair with.

People like this deserve to be paraded through the streets with their worn-out shoes hanging on them; they should be drowned in a pig cage!

Seeing her mother's expression soften, Ruan Xiaomei quickly pressed on: "Mom, I'm telling you the truth, you have to be prepared. Don't let Wang Xiao get pregnant with our Ruan family's eldest grandson and have the family planning officials drag her away for an abortion."

"He wouldn't dare!" Mother Ruan slammed her knife on the chopping board, fuming with anger.

Ruan Xiaomei was startled and said irritably, "What is there for others not to dare to do? This is national policy, and everyone must abide by it."

Just then, Jiaojiao got tired of playing outside and ran into the hallway, pestering her grandma for something delicious.

Ruan's mother, who usually doted on her granddaughter, suddenly became impatient: "Alright, alright, stop thinking about food. It's almost time to eat, so hurry up and wash your hands."

Jiaojiao muttered to herself and ran off.

Seeing her mother's annoyed look, Ruan Xiaomei secretly rejoiced.

No doubt about it, her mother's deep-seated preference for sons over daughters. Even if she only gives Jiaojiao a second glance because she's her brother's child, compared to her long-desired grandson, she's nothing.

Ha, she doesn't like this little brat at all. Just like her biological mother, he's arrogant and thinks he's a princess, expecting her to serve him.

Get as far away from her as possible.

Ruan's mother gritted her teeth and made up her mind: "If it doesn't work, your father and I will take her back to our hometown to lay low for two years. At worst, we can register her household there. We'll talk about it again after your brother's son is born."

What else could she do? He was a member of the Ruan family, after all, and he'd grown up so much. It wasn't like she could just strangle him right after he was born.

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Okay, see you tomorrow.