RGL – Chapter 132

When Gao Hong saw that her parents-in-law were both venting their anger solely at her, she was instantly furious.

Life hadn’t been easy for her lately either. Wenwen had been coming home late every couple of days, her son’s health was poor and he would fuss at night, and Wang Mingsong, ever since the incident where Wenwen falsely accused him, now harbored deep resentment toward her and treated her coldly. Life had become even harder than before.

With new and old grievances piling up, Gao Hong felt like her heart was on fire. She stood up holding her child. “Whatever is going on between me and Mingsong, it’s between the two of us. If he doesn’t want to stay married to me, I’ll just go back to my mother’s house.”

Mother Wang sneered, “What mother’s house? Isn’t that still the Wang family’s house?”

Back when they moved to the city, they hadn’t sold their old home or rented it out. Instead, Gao Hong had let her mother live there.

Marrying a divorced woman, and having to support both an elderly and a young one—this was one of the reasons why Mother Wang never liked Gao Hong.

Her son was capable, came from a good family, and was good-looking—what kind of outstanding woman couldn’t he find? It was as if he’d been possessed to insist on marrying someone like Gao Hong.

Seeing the mockery and disdain on her mother-in-law’s face, Gao Hong felt her cheeks burn with humiliation. She bit her lip, held her son, and went back to her room, where she sat on the bed and burst into tears.

She just couldn’t understand why her fate was so bitter. How had she ended up with in-laws like this—one more unbearable than the other?

After a while, Wang Mingsong came home. When he saw Gao Hong crying again, he became even more impatient.

“Cry, cry, that’s all you ever do. My luck this year has all been ruined by your crying.” He had originally planned to go after Su Changrong, but not only did he fail, he got caught instead and didn’t even get to spend the New Year at home. Because of that incident, business at the company had also been delayed, and now not a single deal had been closed since the start of the year. If this kept up, he’d have to dip into his savings again this month.

He had always had things go his way, and suddenly being hit with all this left him feeling very disgruntled.

With red eyes, Gao Hong said, “Your mother criticizes me all day. If that’s the case, then why did you even marry me in the first place?”

“Alright, alright, so what if Mom says a few things about you? What daughter-in-law doesn’t get talked about by her in-laws? Besides, our family is nothing like the Su family. Do we need to walk on eggshells around you or something?”

“Why are you bringing up the Su family again?”

Gao Hong flushed with anger and yelled. She never wanted to remember the past, but the Wang family always kept bringing it up, clearly just to humiliate her.

Seeing the contempt in Wang Mingsong’s eyes, she blurted out, “Say what you want about the Su family, at least they produced someone rich! That Su Changrong opened supermarkets in the county and in the city. His net worth now isn’t any less than yours.”

Slap!

Wang Mingsong gave her a hard slap, his face dark with rage.

Gao Hong clutched her face, shocked. “Wang Mingsong, you hit me?”

“So what if I hit you? I’m telling you, if you dare bring up that stuff again, get out. If you look down on me so much, then from now on, earn your own money. Don’t take a penny from me. And that house your mom’s living in—vacate it. I’d rather let a dog live there than freeloaders like you.”

Wang Mingsong was upset and lashed out with cruel words.

Gao Hong wanted to talk back, but after hearing all that, she swallowed her words.

Seeing that Gao Hong had been shut down, Wang Mingsong felt smug. “Just watch. That Su Changrong will fall into my hands sooner or later.”

That evening, when Su Changrong returned home, he told Su Min about Wang Mingsong coming to see him.

When Su Min heard that Wang Mingsong had been released, her brows furrowed, and she said seriously, “Dad, stall him for a couple more days. I already have a plan. Once he falls for it, he won’t be able to mess with us anymore.”

Hearing that his daughter had come up with another idea, Sun Qiufang and Su Changrong exchanged a glance, then both looked at Su Min.

Sun Qiufang said, “Minzi, what kind of plan? Go ahead and tell us.”

Su Min was just about to explain, when she suddenly realized—how would she explain how she knew there was a problem with the construction project?

She quickly adjusted her thoughts and smiled. “I just want to distract him. I heard there’s a construction project in the city that’s opening for bids. It’s the first time they’re allowing outside construction companies to compete. I figure once he gets busy with that, he won’t have time to bother us, and this situation will be easier to deal with.”

“Oh, I see.” Sun Qiufang nodded, though a bit unwilling. “That plan is fine, but it feels like we’re letting him off too easy.”

Su Min smiled and brushed it off. “It’s just temporary. We’ll stabilize things first, then find another way later.”

Su Changrong said, “Dealing with Wang Mingsong won’t be resolved in a day or two. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Like I said before, your mom and I will handle it. You just focus on your studies.”

“I understand, Dad.” Su Min nodded and smiled.

After dinner, Su Min was about to head to her room when the phone rang. She quickly went to answer it. Hearing the voice on the other end, she happily said, “Sister Wan, you’re back?”

During the New Year, Ke Wan had gone to B City with Wu Zhe, so she hadn’t been home. Now that she was back, she was inviting Su Min’s family over for a gathering.

“Okay, I’ll talk to my parents. We’ll definitely come.”

“Who was that?” As soon as Su Min hung up, Sun Qiufang came out of the kitchen, drying her hands.

Su Min stood up with a smile. “It was Sister Wan. She invited our whole family over for dinner—to celebrate the New Year and get together.”

Hearing that they were going to the Wu family’s place for dinner, Sun Qiufang looked a little uneasy. “Aiya, you young people go. Your dad and I are getting old. We’d just feel out of place.”

Su Min knew her parents wouldn’t feel comfortable going, but now that the two families had acknowledged their relationship, future visits were unavoidable. She smiled and said, “Then let’s just go for the meal, and afterward I’ll stay and chat with Sister Wan, and you and Dad can come back early.”

Sun Qiufang nodded. “Alright, we should at least go for one meal—otherwise it would seem disrespectful.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Su Min gave her a quick hug and hurried off to prepare a gift for Ke Wan.

Watching her daughter, Sun Qiufang couldn’t help but smile and shake her head.

On the ninth day of the lunar New Year, Su Changrong and Sun Qiufang went to their supermarket to check on things, took some gifts from the store, and then took Su Min with them to visit the Wu family.

There were no elders in the Wu family. Wu Zhe personally accompanied Su Changrong and Sun Qiufang in the living room, while Su Min went upstairs with Ke Wan to chat.

Seeing Ke Wan hand her a stack of business documents, Su Min couldn’t help but laugh. “Sister Wan, this looks like I’m your business manager now. I should be giving you a commission!”

As Ke Wan coaxed the child in her arms, she smiled and said, “If anyone deserves a gift, it should be the one who helped them find these clothes. I introduced them to a great shop. This time, everyone said Ruirui’s clothes were beautiful, like those of a New Year’s doll. The older folks were envious, so they all placed orders. I’ve noticed that elders back home aren’t keen on buying clothes for themselves, but when it comes to the kids, they scramble to be the first. If one family buys something, the others follow like it’s a competition. Oh, by the way, Shu Jing and Zhang Ning also ordered two sets each for their kids. Make theirs first, or Jingjing will come nagging me again.”

Su Min smiled and said, “These days, everyone dotes on their children. Don’t worry, I’ll sketch the designs during the holidays and then rush the shop to get started. It’s lucky they like my work. I can’t afford to disappoint them—or let you lose face, Sister Wan.”

Ke Wan laughed, “Look at you, getting all polite with me now.”

After exchanging a few more lighthearted remarks, Ke Wan brought up the matter of the supermarket again.

“Wu Zhe told me you’ve been planning something recently. How’s that going?”

Su Min nodded with pursed lips. “Sister Wan, can I ask you for a favor? Your husband should know some people in the city’s construction scene, right? Could you help connect us? I want to introduce a friend to some business opportunities.”

“I asked you about the supermarket, and you go talking about this instead,” Ke Wan chuckled. “Fine, since it’s rare for you to ask me for help, of course I won’t say no. Just let your brother-in-law know when you have time—he’s got plenty of contacts in this city. Even some of the buildings our family’s been involved with were built by local construction companies.”

“Thank you, Sister Wan,” Su Min said gratefully.

“Brother Su, why weren’t you around yesterday? I came by looking for you specially.”

The next day, just as Su Changrong’s supermarket opened, Wang Mingsong showed up.

Though Su Changrong found it odd how frequently Wang Mingsong had been showing up lately, he still smiled and replied, “I went to a relative’s house for dinner yesterday. Only came back in the afternoon.”

“Oh? You have relatives around here?”

“Yeah, my wife’s younger brother lives nearby. But I didn’t go to his place—I visited a family my daughter acknowledged as godparents.”

Hearing this mention of “god-relatives,” Wang Mingsong perked up.

He chuckled, “Ah, I see. Manager Song mentioned that your family is related to that Wu boss who owns this mall.”

“Just god-relatives, but they’re good people and take care of us. We visited them yesterday, and my daughter heard the city is inviting bids for some construction projects. Boss Wu knows a few construction firms who are all getting involved. He asked if we were interested. You know me—I’ve never done anything in construction, so I’d have a hard time joining. But my daughter seemed really interested and said she wanted to get a contractor involved. After all, opportunities like this are rare. You know how lucrative government bids can be.”

Hearing it was a government contract, Wang Mingsong’s eyes lit up.

He owned a construction company that usually took on small private jobs—not many, but each one could sustain him for half a year. Unfortunately, he had been detained earlier this year and missed out on the bigger projects. He never expected to stumble upon such a great opportunity now.

He laughed, “Well, I do have a construction company—but no connections, unfortunately.” Then, jokingly, he added, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could swap places?”

Su Changrong, however, responded seriously, “Hey, if you’re interested, I can help connect you. I’m too busy with the supermarket now and don’t really want to get involved. But my daughter is pushing me. She’s the one calling the shots in the house these days—me and her mom both have to listen to her.”

Wang Mingsong already knew that Su Min was a shrewd and capable woman. He’d also heard that the whole “god-family” connection with the Wu family was orchestrated by her alone.

Someone with that kind of mind and ability setting her sights on a construction project? The benefits must be considerable. And with the Wu family backing it, it seemed pretty secure too.

He smiled and said, “It’s good for a girl to have such capabilities. Brother Su, we’re on such good terms—I won’t stand on ceremony. If you can help make this happen, I’ll make sure to thank you properly.”

“Alright,” Su Changrong agreed readily and sincerely.

Having secured Su Changrong’s support, Wang Mingsong started rethinking his plans.

Originally, he had intended to deal with the Su family quickly. But now, it seemed more profitable to first make use of their connections—and then figure out how to ruin their supermarket later.

Didn’t Gao Hong say he couldn’t match Su Changrong’s abilities? Well, he’d prove to her who was more capable.

A couple of days later, through Ke Wan’s connections, Su Changrong arranged meetings with several construction companies.

Thanks to Wu Zhe’s name, they reluctantly agreed to let Su Changrong join. But instead, Su Changrong brought Wang Mingsong to the meeting and handed everything off to him.

He told them frankly that he didn’t understand construction and wouldn’t participate.

Initially, those companies were giving face to Wu Zhe and didn’t want to make things difficult. But when they saw that the person had suddenly changed, they weren’t happy—though they didn’t say anything directly to Su Changrong. Their dissatisfaction was now directed at Wang Mingsong.

Everyone was a savvy businessman, so they stayed cordial on the surface. But when it came time to offer bribes and smooth things over, the group agreed to make Wang Mingsong pay heavily.

Perhaps due to being busy with the project, Wang Mingsong didn’t come by again for several days. Even when Su Min went back to school, he hadn’t returned.

“That Wang Mingsong really got lucky.” Sun Qiufang was still unhappy about giving the project to him.

To keep him in line, they had given him such a big benefit. The more she thought about it, the less worth it it seemed. But her daughter insisted on doing it, so she couldn’t say much—especially since Su Min had been the one planning it all along.

Su Changrong, however, was more at ease. Without Wang Mingsong constantly around, things had become much more relaxed. Pretending to be friendly with him every day had worn out his face from all the fake smiling.

Su Min took a sip of soup, wiped her mouth, and said with a smile, “Mom, don’t worry. We won’t lose out. What goes around comes around. Wang Mingsong won’t have a good ending.”

“Who knows if that’s really true,” Sun Qiufang sighed.

Seeing his wife’s gloom, Su Changrong smiled and said, “Alright, I think Minzi makes sense. What goes around comes around. We’ve always been honest and upright, and now things are getting better. We’re living well—better than most people. Be content.”

“I am content. I just can’t figure it out,” Sun Qiufang muttered. But seeing her husband and daughter so calm about it, she felt embarrassed to dwell on it. “Forget it—let that scoundrel enjoy his little win. Hope he chokes on it someday.”

Lately, Wang Mingsong had been quite pleased with himself.

Though he’d had to spend more money than the others, he’d finally gotten into this lucrative circle. And this project wasn’t just for the farmers’ market—there were factories nearby that needed construction too. If he could secure all of that, his company would be busy for the next two years. Plus, government projects had looser oversight compared to private ones, meaning higher profits.

He no longer had time to worry about Su Changrong. He figured he could deal with them later. What mattered was, he was gaining momentum—and lately, that little girl at home had been acting especially affectionate toward him.

On the way home that evening, Wang Mingsong even stopped to buy an outfit for Su Wenwen.

When he got home, the family was eating dinner. Seeing him home for a meal for once, his mother was overjoyed and hurriedly told Gao Hong to get him a bowl of rice.

When she noticed the shopping bag in her son’s hand, she smiled and asked, “What did you buy this time?”

Carrying the bag over, Wang Mingsong handed it to Su Wenwen. “Saw this on the way back—thought it would suit you. Try it on later.”

Su Wenwen had already noticed how refined and handsome Wang Mingsong looked in his suit and glasses. Her mind was still full of romantic scenes from the books she’d been reading. Now, seeing that he’d bought something just for her, she felt flattered and delighted. She quickly reached out to accept it. “Thank you, Uncle.”