Looking at his mother's pale face, Jiang Jianguo felt as if he had swallowed three pounds of bitter herbs. He could only grit his teeth and swallow it down. He had elderly parents and young children to support, and he couldn't afford to have anything happen to him. Even if the sky were to fall, he would be the first to be hit.
"Mom, I'm fine, don't worry. It's probably just that I was on the bus for too long and my blood pressure was a little high. It's nothing serious." No one believed him. He was a perfectly healthy person, and he suddenly fainted. But Grandma Jiang didn't say anything, since there were other people present.
Zheng Yang helped Jiang Jianguo into the old lady's room and lay him down on the bed. Jiang Ruyu pulled him out, leaving the nanny and uncle alone: "You've been driving for so long. I'll make you a bowl of noodles, then you can wash up and go to sleep. You need to get some rest."
"Okay, I'll start the fire for you." They came to the kitchen, and when Grandma Jiang saw that no one was there, she asked directly.
"Tell me, what made you so angry?"
Jiang Jianguo, who was almost fifty years old, couldn't help but cover his face and cry in front of his mother: "Mother, how could I have given birth to a daughter like Jiang Ruyi? She's so stubborn! She actually married that Gu Changzheng without telling any of us. She's three months pregnant now and sent a telegram to her mother asking her to visit her during the New Year. Tell me, how can I not be angry?"
Grandma Jiang wasn't that angry when she heard this: "Your children are grown up now. As their parents, you can't control what they do. Besides, she lives so far away. Anyway, they've already registered their marriage. It's not something shameful. Why are you so angry?"
Jiang Jianguo found it hard to say, but then he thought, "This is my own mother, what can't I say?" He continued, "Last month, Shuhua was in a correspondence with her, saying that Gu Changzheng was going to be transferred back. Jiang Ruyi wanted Shuhua to give her the job, but Wang Shuhua didn't agree. Now she's getting married and is three months pregnant. Tell me, isn't this shameful?"
Grandma Jiang then showed a shocked expression. Her lips trembled as she looked at Jiang Jianguo. After a long while, she closed her eyes and opened them again, revealing a serious and indifferent expression.
“Jianguo, I’ll only say this once. The child is your child. You can listen to what I’m saying or not. It doesn’t matter if you don’t. One generation shouldn’t concern itself with the next. I don’t know how many more years I have left to live, and I can’t worry about so much.”
"Mom, what are you saying? Do you think I don't know you're doing this for me?"
Grandma Jiang sighed deeply: "Ruyi has completely gone astray. She can do such a shameful thing. It's fortunate that she's not home, otherwise, our family would be like the Sun family two years ago, with our backs broken."
As Jiang Ruyi's father, Jiang Jianguo felt utterly humiliated.
"She even dared to send a telegram! She has absolutely no shame. Is she trying to provoke you? She's showing that she's found a backer. Let me tell you, ask Wang Shuhua about this whole thing—getting someone pregnant first. I don't believe that Jiang Ruyi, that brainless idiot, would have the guts to do something like this without her guidance." Old Mrs. Jiang was utterly fed up with her eldest daughter-in-law.
Jiang Jianguo's eyes widened: "No way, Ruyi is her child, how could she not know how shameful this is?"
"No matter how shameful it is, it shouldn't be brought to her family. Wang Shuhua has been scheming her whole life, all she wants is to use her prettiest daughter to marry a well-off man. Do you think she'll let Jiang Ruyi off the hook now that she knows her boyfriend is the son of a division commander?"
Jiang Jianguo fell silent. No one understood Wang Shuhua's thoughts better than him; what his mother said was probably true.
"Oh, this is so embarrassing! I must have been blind to marry such a wife."
Grandma Jiang glared at him: "You deserve it. Back then, you only liked her because she was pretty, and didn't care about anything else. You wouldn't even let me inquire about her. You'll have to swallow this bitter pill yourself. But I'm telling you, this matter with Jiang Ruyi ends here. No one is allowed to go looking for her, and she shouldn't come back. It's better for everyone this way."
Given that this granddaughter always throws a tantrum whenever she comes back, and with such a family to marry into, no matter how well or badly she ends up, she'll definitely act all high and mighty in front of Ruyu. To avoid causing trouble again, it's better if this granddaughter doesn't come back.
Jiang Jianguo knew what his mother meant. Five fingers are not all the same length. For the sake of his other three children and his family's reputation, he could only ignore his daughter, Jiang Ruyi.
No one knows what Jiang Jianguo said to Wang Shuhua when he got back. All that is known is that there was crying and commotion next door that night, and Wang Shuhua went out the next day with a red and swollen face.
Even if Wang Shuhua was tempted, she became obedient after being severely punished by her husband. For her, her husband and son were still the most important, and everything else had to take a backseat.
If she still wants this family and wants her children to take care of her in her old age, she shouldn't interfere in Jiang Ruyi's affairs.
Finally, Jiang Jianguo wrote a letter to Jiang Ruyi, which basically said that since she has no regard for her family and dares to make such decisions on her own, they are all people who care about their reputation. They will no longer interfere in her affairs and she should take care of herself.
Jiang Ruyi, far away in Heilongjiang Province, smiled smugly before even opening the letter: "Hmph, now they know what I'm capable of. Let's see who dares to look down on me."
Clearly, she was very proud of herself for being able to keep Gu Changzheng with her. She was very satisfied with her ability to make a man give up a promising future in the army and stay with her to suffer in the countryside. She had Gu Changzheng completely under her control and made him obedient to her.
She naturally assumed that Gu Changzheng's father was a division commander, a high-ranking official's son whom families like theirs could never hope to marry. She assumed that his family would have to fawn over her and flatter her, and that she could then boss them around and order them to fulfill her wishes, such as sending her money and tickets every month, and preparing clothes and formula for her unborn child. After all, the unborn child was her weapon to control her in-laws.
The Gu family knew that their son had dared to overstep boundaries before marriage, even getting pregnant by a female educated youth. Although they later obtained a marriage certificate, their promiscuous premarital behavior made the Gu family increasingly disappointed in their youngest son. They were even more disgusted with Jiang Ruyi, the audacious woman who had seduced and schemed against their son.
"Gu Changzheng, since you think we're the ones breaking up your relationship, then we'll grant your wish. You can go live your life in the countryside with your wife, children, and a warm bed. Don't complain about how good we are to your older brother and how bad we are to you. We gave you the opportunity, but you didn't want it. So let's do it your way."
The Gu family simply wanted to let Gu Changzheng know by completely letting go that his current comfortable life was all thanks to them. Without their financial support, they wouldn't even be able to afford enough to eat in the countryside, relying solely on the work points they earned.
Jiang Ruyi wasn't stupid; she knew her in-laws were trying to discourage Gu Changzheng. If she weren't pregnant, she might have worried that Gu Changzheng would regret not abandoning her and returning to the city alone. Now, Gu Changzheng was waiting for her to give birth to a son so his family would look at him with new respect. She believed that when she visited next year with her grandson, her in-laws would definitely change their attitude.
Jiang Ruyi sent a telegram back home in a grand manner in order to make her life more comfortable after losing her in-laws' financial support. However, when she read the reply from her family, she did not get the result she expected. Instead, it contained the message of severing ties. The huge gap between her expectations and her family's complete abandonment of her left her powerless and furious.
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