Chapter 408: Everything She Did Was Wrong Since You Disliked Her Anyway (Update Two)
“Danchen mentioned that she had a good boyfriend and even had a child too at the gathering last time. She even said that their relationship was stable and they were planning on marriage too. Do you think she should tell you that her husband is actually Qi Chenglin? Who do you think you are to ask her to report to you on every single matter? You saw it with your own eyes when Qi Chenglin drove Mercedes-Benz to fetch Danchen, right? Even so, you had doubts that he was actually a chauffeur and he probably rented the car from somewhere. Will you believe even if she tells you the truth? Will you think that she’s just bluffing and pretending?”
“I had no idea what happened at Shengyue since I wasn’t there so I have no comment on it, but you were criticizing her for no absolute reasons tonight. What did she say? Was she wrong when she said all her family members were here? You were the one who assumed that she was pitiful. Normally, you would start to figure out her true identity when she said so, right? Her whole family members were here, which means they were one of the families here, then you should have realized that she most probably belonged to one of those families.”
“Besides, you insisted that she was showing off even though she was merely telling the truth. You speculated in a negative way and assumed that she was in a pitiful state when she acted low profile, then you insisted that she was showing off when she acted high profile. Now you were saying that she pretended to stay low profile and framed you on purpose when she told you the truth. Everything she did was wrong since you disliked her anyway. Have you ever thought of your own behavior? Would you feel scared right now if you socialize honestly?”
Gao Xiaoyang pouted disdainfully. “To be honest, you feel happier when she’s in a more pitiful state! You merely felt angry when she had achieved so much instead and you were unable to achieve the same goal in your lifetime.”
Xia Zishan’s expression paled with anger as Gao Xiaoyang’s every words meant exactly what she was thinking right now.
Chen Libai remained silent. He knew Gao Xiaoyang was right even though he was unwilling to admit it. He assumed that Ruan Danchen’s husband was nowhere as good as him and categorized her husband as useless initially as a form of self-comfort. This way, Ruan Danchen would feel regret for missing out such an awesome man like him.
“Gao Xiaoyang!” Xia Zishan roared through suppressed voice. She did not want to embarrass herself among the crowd disregarding the facts whether they were strangers or acquaintances.
“Why are you condemning justly and righteous now instead of mentioning all these before? You just want to ingratiate Ruan Danchen after knowing her true identity now, right?” Xia Zishan scoffed.
Gao Xiaoyang remained calm and smirked. “I don’t care what do you think about me, but now you have no chance to ingratiate her again.”
Then, Gao Xiaoyang turned around and left.
She did not search for Ruan Danchen to avoid arousing suspicions as Ruan Danchen and the Qi family would think that she was seizing the opportunity to fawn over them.
However, she did not have any other acquaintances in the banquet hall and it would be unwise to introduce herself to the business mogul rashly. Thus, she had no choice but to enter the washroom.
Then, she saw Ruan Danchen washing her hands upon entering the washroom.
Gao Xiaoyang felt awkward now that she realized Ruan Danchen’s true identity, but she gave Ruan Danchen a smile nonetheless.
Ruan Danchen pulled out a piece of tissue paper to wipe her hands and threw it into the wastepaper bin. Then, she smiled at Gao Xiaoyang and said, “I wasn’t keeping it a secret from you on purpose. In fact, I wanted to tell you just now but then Xia Zishan came over.”
Gao Xiaoyang felt at ease after hearing Ruan Danchen.
Then, she washed her hands and touched up her makeup since she was not here to answer nature’s call. “Xia Zishan was beaten up after you left. Do you know that they assumed you’re living a poverty-stricken life now?”
Ruan Danchen nodded. “I can see that from their expressions and tones.”
Then, she looked at Gao Xiaoyang and asked, “You’re not here to answer nature’s call?”
Gao Xiaoyang snorted. “I came here to relax myself since it was out of my elements out there.”
She recalled that perhaps Ruan Danchen would worry about his son, so she said, “Don’t need to care about me, you can leave first.”
Ruan Danchen then said after giving this a little thought, “Why don’t you come with me?”
“Hey, there’s no need for that. All of them are from the Qi family, I’ll feel more stressed if I go with you,” Gao Xiaoyang rejected immediately.
Ruan Danchen grinned. “Your boss sent you to familiarize yourself with the business mogul, right? I’ll introduce you to The Great Eight Families then.”
Gao Xiaoyang panicked since this was a rare opportunity but she was reluctant to seize it due to extreme nervousness.
Ruan Danchen laughed upon noticing her expression and said, “They’re quite fun, so don’t need to feel nervous.”
“Only for a close friend like you,” Gao Xiaoyang stared at Ruan Danchen plaintively.
Ruan Danchen grinned. “Well, I can’t help you with anything about interviews but I can introduce you to them. I cannot guarantee that you’ll be able to interview them since it’s all up to you now, but at least you have connections, right? So, do you want to go or not?”
Gao Xiaoyang grabbed Ruan Danchen’s arm, summoned up her courage and nodded through gritted teeth. “Go!”
The duo then exited the washroom, and before they walked further, Ruan Danchen noticed Chang Jingqiu and a granny walking towards them. Coincidentally, she recognized the granny—she was the one who brought her grandson and bickered with Ruan Danchen at the amusement arcade last time.
Ruan Danchen was taken by surprise at the unfortunate coincidence. Looking at the intimacy between Chang Jingqiu and the granny, she figured out the granny’s identity too.
Grandmother Chang was stunned too as she did not expect to meet the ill-mannered young lady who quarreled with her before.
Chang Jingqiu pretended as if nothing had happened and introduced Ruan Danchen with a polite smile. “Grandma, these two are my high school classmates—Ruan Danchen and Gao Xiaoyang.”
Grandmother Chang was not bothered about Gao Xiaoyang and ignored her straight away. Instead, she fixed her slightly cloudy eyes on Ruan Danchen and pursed her wrinkled lips tightly before walking with Chang Jingqiu and stood right in front of Ruan Danchen closely.
“Humph!” Grandmother Chang smirked. “Young lady, didn’t expect to see me so soon, right?”
“Hello,” Ruan Danchen greeted lightly with a flat expression.
There were no signs of nervousness, fear or regret, which further irritated Grandmother Chang.
She clung to the mistake instead of correcting it!
“Why are you here? Since when did the Chang family acquainted with such ill-mannered young lady? Why did we allow any random ill-bred to attend my birthday banquet?” Grandmother Chang pretended to have known nothing and asked Chang Jingqiu.
“Grandma, I think there’s a misunderstanding here. She’s Qi Chenglin’s wife,” Chang Jingqiu replied but her gaze on Ruan Danchen was full of disdain.
“Qi Chenglin’s wife? She was worthy for him? How did Qi Chenglin believe her? She must have acted well in front of him but ill-mannered behind his back! She brought her son and bullied me and Nannan in the mall that day! What kind of attitude was that? Did she think everything will be fine when the Qi family knew nothing about this? Well, she didn’t expect to meet me here!”
Grandmother Chang gave Ruan Danchen a disdainful stare. “The Qi family must have felt ashamed to have such an ill-mannered person like you! Young lady, you must improve your manners and don’t push your luck. The Qi family will know the truth one day if you continue damaging the Qi family’s reputation. You encountered me today and you’ll encounter another person in the same social circle tomorrow. You’re still young, so best to perform your duty well and improve your personality and behaviour.”
Gao Xiaoyang was exasperated before Ruan Danchen could make a statement.
Grandmother Chang took advantage of her seniority and made such a derogatory criticism.
Every statement she made was meant to criticize Ruan Danchen’s ill mannerism, but she did not realize that she was the actual one who behaved rudely now!
Then, Ruan Danchen pinched Gao Xiaoyang’s wrist stealthily as a hint to prevent her from acting rashly.
Grandmother Chang continued when Gao Xiaoyang managed to contain her anger. “It is understandable when I recalled your family background. A crooked stick casts a crooked shadow. How good can a daughter be with such mother? I really don’t know why the Qi family accepted you.”
“It’s fortunate that the Chang family doesn’t have such worry. There’s no need to trouble you as to why the Qi family accepted me and about my attitudes, my family will be the judges. Besides, don’t assume that you were absolutely right regarding what happened in the mall that day, there were witnesses who were able to judge what was right or wrong. If you think that your grandson’s lies and shameless acts at such a young age was considered well-mannered with proper attitudes, then I am truly doubtful about your standard and criterion. At the same time, I’m truly happy and relieved that my attitudes and behaviors are not up to your standard.”
Gao Xiaoyang made no attempt to hide her laughter. She did not expect Ruan Danchen to speak ferociously and criticized Grandmother Chang tactfully.
Gao Xiaoyang was considered at the bottom of the social hierarchy since she did not have any strong backgrounds, thus it was unwise for her to speak rashly. It would be fine if the other party felt unworthy to argue with her, but Grandmother Chang would take her sweet revenge and inevitably, her only outcome would be disastrous.
Grandmother Chang was indeed this type of person based on her behaviour just now.
Which was exactly why Ruan Danchen reminded Gao Xiaoyang to keep quiet and let her do all the talking. Ruan Danchen had the Qi family’s support and thus there was no need for her to worry too much if the Chang family was offended.
The Qi family was quite protective in this sort of matter.
“So rude and disrespectful towards elders! Look at where you stand and whose birthday banquet is today before you start speaking rudely! The Qi family must have been cursed to have a daughter-in-law like you! You will never get up to standard when you don’t have a good mother to educate you properly.
A chicken will always be a chicken even if it stays in a phoenix’s nest
!”
It broadened Gao Xiaoyang’s mind to hear Grandmother Chang’s criticism getting harsher. Each of them was born in a silver spoon but their behaviors were incompatible with their supposed temperament.
Grandmother Chang was criticizing Ruan Danchen since the beginning without realizing something. What did Ruan Danchen mentioned so far, and what did she said up to this point?
What sort of double standard was this?
Ruan Danchen inhaled deeply as she was on the brink of losing her cool. “I don’t know who is my biological mother or how does she look like, so I won’t judge her simply, and none will have the right to judge her without any evidence.”
It was obvious that Grandmother Chang was taken by surprise at her statement. Initially, Gao Xiaoyang thought that her conscience had gotten the better of her.
However, Grandmother Chang ignored Ruan Danchen straight away and patted gently on Chang Jingqiu’s hand before saying sincerely, “I think I overestimated her. The problem wasn’t with her mother giving an improper education to her, she didn’t even have a mother to begin with.”
Grandmother Chang went a little too far now!
Even Gao Xiaoyang felt indignant as an onlooker, so one could imagine how exasperated Ruan Danchen was right now.
Gao Xiaoyang met with all kinds of people as a reporter, but she had never seen such detestable individual before.
They could potentially retaliate recklessly if their opponent was younger, but Grandmother Chang acted without the slightest scruple just because she was an elder. All Grandmother Chang had to say was that they were disrespectful towards elders if they argued a little too much, so they felt especially helpless towards this elderly individual.
“Grandma, don’t say that. I was born without a mother too, but luckily I had grandma and uncles to educate me,” Chang Jingqiu said softly and appeared especially lovely right now.
Grandmother Chang felt extremely satisfied after hearing Chang Jingqiu and patted the back of her hand softly in response.
Before Grandmother Chang could continue her criticism on Ruan Danchen, another voice interrupted. “Old Madam Chang,”
Grandmother Chang turned towards the voice and saw Mu Huaisheng walking towards them from the back.
Grandmother Chang was criticizing Ruan Danchen unscrupulously since they were alone in the corridor, thus she was unsure if any of her words travelled to Mu Huaisheng’s ears.
She knew her statements were too harsh in the first place.
Mu Huaisheng gave quite a good impression on Grandmother Chang. The Mu family would be perfect if it was not for his dumb sister.
Even so, Grandmother Chang shifted her target and intended to introduce Chang Jingqiu to Mu Huaisheng since Qi Chenglin was married now. She just needed to know if Mu Huaisheng was interested or not.
Grandmother Chang was worried if Mu Huaisheng overheard her criticism towards Ruan Danchen just now and resulted in a bad impression on Chang Jingqiu.
Grandmother Chang calmed herself down before putting on a natural smile. “Huaisheng, ha ha, why did you appear behind us out of nowhere?”
“I went to the washroom just now,” Mu Huaisheng replied calmly with a flat expression.
Grandmother Chang sighed in relief. Then, there was a sudden racket coming from the banquet hall.
They could hear the commotion clearly since they were quite close to the banquet hall.
“Old Madam! Old Madam!” A woman in her forties rushed forward anxiously and her nervousness increased upon seeing Grandmother Chang.
“What’s going on? Why the rush?” Grandmother Chang asked annoyingly.
“It’s Little Young Master, he is fighting with a child,” The babysitter who was hired by the Chang family to take care of Chang Jianan said.
Grandmother Chang did not bother about Ruan Danchen anymore and hurried towards the scene with Chang Jingqiu.
Ruan Danchen thought of Qi Youxuan all of a sudden since there were not many children who attended the banquet and they had an argument with Grandmother Chang and her grandson not long ago. Thus, she ran pass Grandmother Chang whose pace was much slower than hers and arrived at the scene before Grandmother Chang did.
There was an area in the centre of the banquet hall which was more hectic than the rest. She could even hear a loud cry from a child faintly but it did not belong to Qi Youxuan.
Ruan Danchen rushed into the crowd and saw Guan Liya carrying Qi Youxuan up.
The kid’s face was flushed red due to anger and when he saw Ruan Danchen, he yelled, “Mom!”
Ruan Danchen then hurried forward and saw Guan Liya’s angry expression. “Mom, what happened?”
“I don’t know whose child is this but he is very rude!” Guan Liya frowned.
Qi Chenglin came and took Qi Youxuan over from Guan Liya into his embosom.
Then, Qi Chenglin put him down since the kid was struggling in his embosom.
It was expected that the other kid was indeed Nannan, who was Grandmother Chang’s grandson from the amusement arcade that day.
Chang Jianan was soaking wet and there was ice falling from within his shirt while he was jumping around repeatedly on the same spot. Judging from the scattered ice on the floor, it was obvious that his wet clothes were a result of melted ice.
The freezing Chang Jianan was crying while hopping around repeatedly. It was winter now and even though the environment of the banquet hall was warm, he could not withstand the cold from the pile of ice in his shirt.
Chang Jianan saw his parents first before Grandmother Chang and immediately felt that his support was finally here. He wailed and threw himself straight into Liu Xiangwen’s embosom.
This is a proverb in chinese “野鸡就算是混进凤凰窝里也还是野鸡” which means one cannot alter his character by joining the upper social classes.
