Ruan Tang agreed to the marriage, and Ruan Mu was overjoyed.
Fearing further complications with the wedding, she went to work early the next day to inform Wu Mengzhi.
But before she could seek her out, a colleague approached her for a chat.
“Hey, Sister Wang, have you heard? Director Wu has landed in serious trouble.”
Ruan Mu’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly asked, “What happened?”
The colleague glanced around before whispering, “I heard she used her position to buy and sell jobs. Yesterday after work, she was called in for a talk with the leadership.”
“Sister Wang, since you’re close with her, you should keep your distance from now on. Be careful not to get implicated.”
“If you end up involved, writing a self-criticism would be the least of your worries—losing your job would be disastrous!”
Ruan Mu broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this.
She had only focused on Wu Mengzhi helping them secure jobs, never considering how those positions were obtained.
If they were from her allocated quotas, that would be one thing. But if she had abused her power for personal gain, she could face public criticism or even arrest. In that case, their entire family might suffer collateral damage.
Thankfully, she hadn’t immediately agreed to the marriage proposal last time.
Ruan Mu patted her chest and let out a soft sigh of relief.
She decided to wait and observe further.
After all, Tangtang and Su Jincheng’s marriage wasn’t that urgent.
Two days later, rumors about Wu Mengzhi’s job trading spread even wider.
Wherever Ruan Mu went in the factory, she overheard people discussing it.
Ruan Fu from the transport department had heard about it too.
When Ruan Mu first told him, he didn’t believe it. But with so many people talking, he now thought there was an 80% chance it was true.
After all, there’s no smoke without fire.
After discussing it, the couple changed their minds.
Though they regretted it, this steady-minded pair felt marrying Su Jincheng was too risky. What good would money and jobs be if they might not live to enjoy them?
But Ruan Mu never expected Wu Mengzhi to seek her out proactively.
As soon as they met, Wu Mengzhi grabbed Ruan Mu’s hands, affectionately calling her “sister” repeatedly—com shedding her usual air of superiority.
“Sister, how are you considering the children’s marriage?”
“Don’t delay too long. If the Youth Office comes pressing again, Tangtang’s only option will be going to the countryside.”
Having made her decision, Ruan Mu refused directly.
“The child doesn’t agree, and we can’t force her.”
Wu Mengzhi felt like cursing upon hearing this.
That day, Ruan Mu had explicitly said children’s marriages followed parental orders and matchmakers’ words—that everything depended on parental arrangements. Now she was shifting responsibility to the child.
Hmph. It was only because she saw Wu Mengzhi was currently being targeted.
If not for the fact that Ruan Tang could bring good luck to her family, she would never lower herself to approach Ruan Mu like this.
“Sister, you must be influenced by those rumors. Let me tell you—they’re completely baseless! I was framed by villains. Don’t believe their nonsense!”
“We’ve known each other for years. You understand me best. The job positions I arranged all came from my own quotas—nothing like what’s being spread outside.”
Ruan Mu had no great talents and loved money, but she had a strong sense of risk avoidance.
Thinking it over carefully, she no longer dared to endorse Wu Mengzhi’s character.
So from beginning to end, she stuck to the same line: the children didn’t agree, and there was nothing she could do.
Wu Mengzhi’s persuasion proved futile. Returning to her office, the more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
She had already humbled herself to beg her, yet that woman didn’t know what was good for her and had rejected her without any regard for her feelings.
Since that was the case, then don’t blame her for taking this to the extreme.
If she couldn’t have it, then she would destroy it.
No one would get to have it easy.
Thinking this, Wu Mengzhi dialed a number.
“Brother Li, have you been busy lately? I heard your task quota hasn’t been completed yet.”
Sure enough, complaints came from the other end of the line. “Don’t even mention it. Every year during the graduation season, the number of unemployed youths in the city increases, supplies become tight, and our workload at the Youth Office gets heavier.”
“But now they’ve all become smarter and are trying to avoid going to the countryside, which invisibly increases the difficulty of our work.”
Wu Mengzhi sighed. “That’s true, Brother Li, you’ve worked hard. I still have a few bottles of Maotai left; I’ll bring them over to you another day. Having a drink now and then can help you relax.”
A hearty laugh came through the phone. “Little sister, you really understand me!”
“Did you run into some trouble? Just say it, if your brother can help, he definitely will.”
Wu Mengzhi explained her intentions.
She didn’t spare Ruan Tang, and similarly, she didn’t spare Cai Xiaolan either.
………
In the dilapidated courtyard, Hou Lin was also reporting on Cai Xiaolan’s situation.
“These past two days, she’s been going to the neighborhood committee in the morning to read her self-criticism, and in the afternoon, she goes to Su Jincheng’s house. I sneaked in over the wall to take a look, and as soon as they met, it was like thunder striking a fire—the sounds they made…”
Hou Lin scratched his head, thinking for a moment but unable to come up with the right words to describe it.
Jiang Ye glanced at him. “Get to the point.”
“Brother Ye, should we go catch them in the act?”
Jiang Ye dismissed the idea without a second thought.
Catching them before was to help the young girl break off the engagement, but now, catching them held little meaning for him.
In fact, the more entangled they were, the better.
Hou Lin continued, “Brother Ye, there’s another strange thing. This morning, Sister-in-law Cai went to the Youth Office. I couldn’t find out exactly what she was doing there.”
When he went in to ask the staff, he was almost arrested as a spy.
The Youth Office?
Jiang Ye tapped his fingers on the table, lost in thought.
So, what Wu Mengzhi meant by a complete separation was to send Cai Xiaolan to the countryside!
Cai Xiaolan wouldn’t sign up voluntarily, so someone needed to help her register.
And Sister-in-law Cai was the person Wu Mengzhi had chosen.
As for why Sister-in-law Cai would side with an outsider, the answer was obvious—Wu Mengzhi had given her what she wanted.
Money? A job?
It was likely related to one of those.
Now that Wu Mengzhi could barely protect herself, it remained to be seen whether she would have the energy to deal with Cai Xiaolan’s family once things blew up.
“Monkey, just keep watching. Don’t do anything, and don’t alert the enemy. Let’s wait and watch the dogs bite each other.”
Hmph!
Greed knows no bounds, and in the end, the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
Hou Lin was utterly confused. If they did nothing, how would the dogs start biting each other?
But he didn’t dare ask Jiang Ye for details, so he could only follow orders.
However, after just one day of surveillance, a major incident occurred.
That afternoon, staff from the Youth Office went to the tenement courtyard and actually tried to force Sister-in-law Ye to go to the countryside!?
He didn’t bother watching Cai Xiaolan anymore and hurried off to pass on the news.
Ruan Tang stared blankly at the Youth Office staff.
“I’m about to get married. Why do I still have to go to the countryside?”
The young male comrade sneered, “Getting married soon means you’re not married yet. Don’t use marriage as an excuse to avoid going to the countryside. We’ve seen plenty of such excuses—they don’t work.”
Another young woman urged impatiently, “Why waste words on her? Make her fill out the form quickly.”
“Hurry up and bring out your household registration booklet.”
They were adamant, and Ruan Tang had never encountered such a situation before.