Ruan Shujin’s words left Zheng Shuya completely stunned.
And so, Zheng Shuya brushed Ruan Shujin off with a few perfunctory replies and hurried away.
Watching Zheng Shuya’s retreating figure fade into the distance, Ruan Shujin remained utterly calm.
In her previous life, she, Zheng Shuya, and that man, An Minhua, had been locked in a complicated love triangle.
She loved him, he loved her, and because her heart and eyes were filled entirely with An Minhua, she never cared about her own fate.
As for Zheng Shuya, though sweet words poured easily from her mouth, she was absolutely unwilling to go down to the countryside for labor reform.
So she buried her head and fled straight to Hong Kong.
No one had expected that, after both of them rejected that childhood engagement, Zheng Shuya would end up becoming the unlucky one.
At this point in time, the An family wouldn’t be able to escape either—and they would suffer even more miserably.
After all, the An family’s background was even more complicated.
The reason she had deliberately guided Zheng Shuya to ask about An Minhua was simply to make An Minhua remember Zheng Shuya, and in doing so, forget the fact that Ruan Shujin—his former little tagalong—had already stopped paying him much attention.
Turning around, Ruan Shujin ran straight into her phoenix-man father.
“Ruan Shujin, marriage is no longer an option for you now. The only one left is that boy from the An family. If you like him, then go with him. The Cui family has already said there’s no place for you anymore. But before that, you must hand over what your maternal grandfather left you. Keeping it by your side would only bring trouble.”
Ruan Shujin carefully restrained her emotions.
“Dad, An Minhua doesn’t even like me. If you don’t help me, I’ll really be finished.”
Her humble, pitiful demeanor made Zheng Yousai feel inexplicably satisfied.
“That’s true. Hurry up and take those things out. I’ll think of a solution for you afterward. We’re family—if we move, we move together.”
Ruan Shujin didn’t believe a single word of that.
The only reason things hadn’t blown up yet was because Zheng Yousai was coveting the dowry her maternal grandfather had left her.
Unable to stay at home any longer, Ruan Shujin went to the textile factory again.
By coincidence, Ruan Dong had already contacted the relevant department leaders and was just about to look for Ruan Shujin to settle the follow-up matters.
Ruan Dong glanced at Ruan Shujin.
“This is Minister Li from the Shanghai Municipal Textile Bureau. Minister Li, this is our—”
Minister Li waved his hand and looked directly at Ruan Shujin.
“I’ve heard of Miss Ruan before. I simply didn’t expect Miss Ruan to be smarter than most. We don’t intend to make things difficult for you. If you can’t bear to part with it, we won’t force you.”
Ruan Shujin smiled faintly.
“No, no, Minister Li. I’m just a weak woman—I can’t manage such a large business. Voluntarily turning over assets is the most correct decision I’ve made. I don’t need any compensation; this is a completely voluntary donation. I won’t take part in the factory’s future operations. I only wish, as the factory’s owner, to ask one favor of you, Minister Li—our employees have it very hard just trying to survive.”
Some things didn’t need to be spelled out too clearly; everyone understood them in their hearts.
Married in the morning, donated a factory in the afternoon.
Everything felt like a movie playing at high speed—so fast that Ruan Shujin felt a little dizzy.
Looking at Ruan Dong and her younger siblings,
Ruan Shujin asked Ruan Dong to take them to the address Xie Zheng had left behind and wait for her there.
Ruan Dong naturally knew what kind of place the compound was, and seeing Ruan Shujin like this filled his heart with pain.
He felt that the girl had sacrificed far too much for their sake.
“Uncle, I told you—I made the right choice this time. That man is far better than An Minhua.”
“With you living in the compound, I’ll be much more at ease than if you stayed here. Once I finish dealing with my affairs, I’ll naturally come find you all.”
Seeing Minister Li about to leave, Ruan Shujin hurriedly chased after him.
“Minister Li, may I trouble you with one more matter?”
Minister Li looked at her.
“Miss Ruan, please go ahead.”
“My father, Zheng Yousai, used the connections my maternal grandfather left behind to set up a subsidiary factory. I’m not entirely sure what it produces, but if you have the time, Minister Li, could you send someone to investigate it? It’s in Longquan Town, under Shanghai. He is my father, after all—I don’t want him to keep walking down the wrong path.”
Minister Li stared at Ruan Shujin for a moment, then nodded.
Watching the car drive away into the distance, Ruan Shujin wiped the corner of her eye.
Longquan Town was Zheng Yousai’s hometown.
In the past, he had been nothing more than a penniless nobody.
If he hadn’t clung to the marriage connection with the Ruan family, how could he be living such a comfortable life now?
Yet he still wasn’t satisfied.
In that case, he had no one to blame but himself—even if it was his own daughter doing it.
Ruan Shujin dawdled for a long time before finally returning to the ancestral home.
After a few days of relative peace, something suddenly happened one day—the house was thrown into chaos, and the Cui family arrived as well.
When Zheng Yousai saw Ruan Shujin, it was as though he had found a savior.
“Ajin, you have to save me! I didn’t do anything!”
Old Master Cui glared at Zheng Yousai.
“Didn’t you say that factory’s location was well hidden? Then why did someone find out about it? You knew there would be a transaction last night, yet you still brought people over there. If my grandson doesn’t get out, you won’t be leaving Shanghai either.”
Ruan Shujin looked at Zheng Yousai, then turned to the others.
“What exactly are you talking about?”
The moment Ruan Shujin spoke, everyone seemed to snap back to their senses.
Zheng Shuya stayed close by Ruan Shujin’s side.
“My cousin went to resell goods. Who knew there’d be government people lying in wait at that small textile factory? He’s already been arrested. We’ve always done things that way and never had problems before. I don’t know which bastard sold us out—those people had been guarding the place, just waiting for me to open the black market.”
Ruan Shujin frowned as she looked at Zheng Yousai and the Cui family members.
“What exactly were you doing in there? Wasn’t it legitimate textile production?”
Her biological younger brother, Zheng Chaojie, blurted out, “How could it be legitimate textile production!”
Zheng Yousai shouted his brother’s name, and only then did that idiot shut his mouth.
The scene fell silent for a few seconds, before erupting into a jumble of arguments.
In the end, it was Old Master Cui who stabilized the situation.
“I don’t care whether you spend money or pull connections—you must get my grandson out. Otherwise, don’t think you can escape. None of us will be leaving.”
Cui Yingxue snorted coldly.
“Grandpa, that’s not right. You’ve dragged all of us down for the sake of a few people. You may have lived long enough, but we’re still young!”
“If it doesn’t work, then forget about him. If he goes in, he goes in. We should leave quickly—if we don’t go now, it’ll be too late. They’ll trace it back to us soon. As for the mess Uncle-in-law caused, just let him compensate with money. If our whole family goes to Hong Kong, how are we supposed to survive?”
“Besides, Xie Zheng has already cut us off, and the Xie family even sent a telegram. If we still pin our hopes on them, then we’re the idiots.”
Cui Yingxue’s words spoke exactly what everyone was thinking.
Sacrificing everyone else for the sake of one grandson was truly not a wise decision.
A few people tried to persuade Old Master Cui, and in the end, he came around.
Old Master Cui glanced at Ruan Shujin, then fixed his gaze on Zheng Yousai.
“Then it’s settled. He can’t keep his mouth shut anyway. We’re leaving tonight. Zheng Yousai, you’d better bring the things on time—we’ll meet at the docks tonight.”
After the Cui family left, the Ruan ancestral home finally felt a little more empty.
Zheng Yousai suddenly grabbed Ruan Shujin’s hand.
“Good daughter, hurry and tell me where the things your maternal grandfather left you are. Let’s leave together tonight.”
Ruan Shujin stared at Zheng Yousai and pointed at the floor.
Zheng Yousai’s eyes instantly turned vicious, though he still retained enough sense to swallow his crude curses.
Ruan Humei cried nonstop.
“Ajin, what should we do? I’m not ready yet!”
“Your father really doesn’t know what he’s thinking. How could we possibly support all those people from the Cui family?”
Ruan Shujin stared at Ruan Humei.
“Mom, you still haven’t told me—what exactly is going on with that textile factory in Longquan Town? When did it start doing such dirty business? Did you know about it all along?”
Ruan Humei guiltily glanced at her daughter, wiping her tears without answering directly.
“I didn’t mean to hide it from you. You’re much richer than I am. Your father doesn’t have it easy supporting all of us—his heart was bound to tilt a little. But we didn’t do anything major, just resold some goods. Other people do the same thing, don’t they? We were just unlucky enough to get caught.”
Ruan Shujin looked at Ruan Humei.
There was no heartache, no other emotion—perhaps even hatred had disappeared.
She had remembered that place only by piecing things together from her memories.
Now that she finally knew what was really happening inside, she felt nothing but lingering fear.
No wonder Zheng Yousai had kept urging her to go handle matters there in her previous life.
He had wanted her to become the one who got caught.
If she hadn’t been so utterly obsessed with An Minhua back then, perhaps she would have been the one sitting in prison.
So it turned out that she was the truly unnecessary existence in this family.