My Villain Is Super Sweet (GL) - CHAPTER 83

Gu Qingci thought to herself.

If she weren’t so clear about the mess she had caused, knowing that it’s better left unsaid, and that if it were to be made public, she’d be drowned in a wave of spit—her calculating father, who believes everything can be exchanged for profit, wouldn’t have stayed silent during the divorce battle with her mother and let her mother take 60% of the assets.

If her grandparents from the Ruan family really planned to go on some program and publicize this disgrace, it would be like shooting themselves in the foot. The Ruan family’s patriarch would suffer nationwide social death.

Moreover, Mr. Ruan wasn’t even at the age where he needed to be supported yet. Asking for alimony would be too early, right?

As for her father’s parents, the Ruan grandparents? Sorry, but they wouldn’t be getting any support from her.

So, for a little bit of money, was Mr. Ruan really willing to throw away his face?

Was he planning to completely give up and stop dreaming of a comeback?

Lin Lang, with far more experience dealing with eccentric people, knew well not to think like a normal person when dealing with them. She understood that trying to predict how such people would act based on logic was impossible.

To control them, you had to be even more eccentric. Only by surpassing them in absurdity could you make them feel pain and teach them a lesson.

As long as you were more absurd than they were, they could never control you or win.

Lin Lang clearly understood this principle.

After thinking for a moment, she said, “This situation doesn’t seem right. You should test it and see who’s behind all this.”

If Ruan Mingjie could control his parents, this matter could be settled and forgotten.

But if not?

She couldn’t just stand there and take the blows, waiting for them to make more trouble, could she?

After hanging up with Lin Lang, Gu Qingci felt much better.

She then called her mother to act cute.

Gu Minglan wasn’t surprised at all by what the Ruan grandparents had done.

Before, when they lived far apart and barely interacted, she only saw them once a year at most. Ruan Mingjie was a good actor, and his parents weren’t any better at hiding their true nature. Although they were a bit biased toward sons over daughters, at least in front of her, they acted warm and kind.

When their business took off and they started making money, Ruan Mingjie immediately bought property and brought his entire family to Rong City. She didn’t mind much—honoring parents was only right.

Even when Ruan Mingjie’s younger siblings and their families came along, it didn’t bother her, so she just turned a blind eye.

But over time, probably because they felt that their son was successful and no longer under the control of his wife’s family, Ruan’s parents started acting up, occasionally finding trouble, showing off their status, and making sarcastic remarks.

That was when she realized the true nature of the Ruan family.

She wasn’t some pushover. She didn’t rely on Ruan Mingjie to make a living, and she wasn’t about to tolerate everything. It was all a dream if they thought she would.

She decisively stepped in, putting them in their place a few times. When she turned around and took care of Ruan Mingjie, he quickly stopped making excuses. No longer saying things like, “You need to understand” or “What can I do, they’re my parents?” He learned to manage them better.

She and Gu Qingci were different. Gu Qingci still had some bl00d ties to the Ruan family, making it hard for her to sever ties completely or go too far.

But after the divorce, Ruan Mingjie’s family was nothing to her. They were just a group of scum she didn’t even want to look at, and she had no qualms about being cruel.

She said to her beloved daughter, “Ah, it’s my fault, darling. They say when buying pigs, look at the pen; when choosing a husband, look at the family. I didn’t have experience back then and ended up picking a mess.”

Gu Qingci was immediately amused: “Mom, you never wronged me!”

From childhood to now, it was always her mother and her grandparents who cared for and raised her. What did the Ruan family have to do with it?

Moreover, her mother had it tough too, dealing with a whole scummy family. If she had been a bit softer or more easily swayed, Ruan Mingjie might have tricked her into transferring stock rights, giving away power, and slowly moving assets. If that had happened, they would have really lived a miserable life.

Gu Qingci tilted her head, playfully selling a cute smile: “Mom, you’re already amazing!”

Gu Minglan gave her daughter an appreciative look and analyzed the situation: “This probably isn’t Ruan Mingjie’s idea.”

Ruan Mingjie might be breaking records with his shamelessness, but if there was even a slight chance for him to make a comeback, he wouldn’t use a strategy that hurt both sides, risking everything.

Thinking of this, Gu Minglan had a subtle look on her face: “He might not know about it, or maybe he knows but can’t control them. Or maybe he doesn’t want to.”

After all, during their divorce and asset division, Ruan Mingjie had forced his parents to sell most of the real estate he had bought to secure his share in the company. His parents and siblings cried and begged, but it was all in vain.

That property, was it a gift from Ruan Mingjie to his family, or was it a way to hide marital assets? It was hard to say.

She had forced him to give it back, which made her feel better, but the Ruan family was furious.

Back then, when they worked together to deceive her and tried to bully her, they were all united. But when it came time to give things back, all that unity and harmony disappeared. It got really ugly.

They knew they had no choice but to return the assets, but they still hoped that once the older brother got through this, he’d compensate them for the loss.

In the end, they returned it reluctantly.

Who knew that Ruan Mingjie would continue to decline?

Not only had he been forced out of the company by shareholders, but his big project, which he had hoped would be his second chance, dragged on for months and ended up losing billions.

Now, Ruan Mingjie was living off a mere 2% share of dividends. He couldn’t afford to be generous anymore, let alone use his connections to get them side jobs that could earn them millions.

A son/brother who couldn’t provide any benefits was no better than a worthless dog! Of course, they didn’t respect or care about him.

Ruan Mingjie either didn’t know what his parents were doing, or he couldn’t control them. It was more likely that he just didn’t care.

“He might be waiting for you to approach him so he can negotiate and make demands,” Gu Minglan said.

Gu Qingci listened to the three possibilities and felt a pang of frustration.
She finally understood how exhausting it was when so many people, even your so-called family, couldn’t stand to see you succeed and were always dragging you down.

Afterward, Gu Minglan gave her daughter, who looked so tired, a little advice: “You were really clever with how you controlled the situation by negotiating the installment payments for the new project, using the He family’s influence to put pressure on him. As long as he still had hope, he wouldn’t have dared to escalate things like this.”

Gu Qingci responded absently, her face full of frustration.

She had planned ahead, taking precautions in case the worst happened.

But who could be happy when the worst-case scenario actually occurred?

She was frustrated, but she had a plan, and it was time to put it into action.

The pointless emotions had long been cast aside.

There should be no more illusions about her father or his family.

Next, Gu Qingci made several calls, issuing her instructions.

She wasn’t going to give Ruan Mingjie the chance to negotiate or make demands.

Some things always started from the top and trickled down. All it took was one directive from above, and those below would understand, passing the message down, even amplifying it, making it worse than it initially was.

Before the New Year, the always frustrated and irritated Ruan Mingjie, who couldn’t stand anyone, was about to get a call from He Zhiyuan.

“Ruan Dong.” He Zhiyuan’s tone was polite, but his words were anything but. “We’re all in the same boat here, so I’ll get straight to the point. Don’t let your family issues affect the payment for the New Rui project, or else if they drag us down, we’ll all sink together!”

Ruan Mingjie was taken aback, unhappy, furrowing his brows: “What do you mean?”

He didn’t know what had happened or why He Zhiyuan was suddenly so angry.

But He Zhiyuan exploded immediately.

“What do I mean? What else could I mean?! I’m begging you, Ruan Dong, for mercy. Please don’t make things harder for me.”

“Who doesn’t know that your daughter was willing to pay for the New Rui project partly to show respect to you? Your parents are coming to her asking for the company now. Isn’t that causing trouble?!”

“If your parents hadn’t been pushed by someone behind the scenes, they wouldn’t even know where your daughter’s company is, let alone show up at her door in the capital and say all this nonsense.”

“I don’t know if you’re aware, but I’m telling you now—if the project falls through, the He family is no push-over either. You better think carefully about how you handle this!”

After the call ended, Ruan Mingjie glared at the phone, his face twisted with rage. He slammed the phone against the wall with a crash!
“Bang!” The phone shattered on impact.

He panted heavily, his eyes full of malice.

What the hell!

Now even idiots like He Zhiyuan were giving him a hard time!

His so-called dutiful daughter—she really was “dutiful” to him!

It was partly to calm him down, to stop him from always scheming against her, dragging her down, and hoping to get some old-age money back.

And another big reason? To put pressure on him like this, with the He family joining in.

After venting his anger, Ruan Mingjie calmed down and thought about what He Zhiyuan had said.

It seemed his family had completely given up on him, scheming behind his back without his knowledge!

Ha! Idiots!

Did they really think Gu Qingci was so easily fooled?