She glared at him fiercely and raised her hand, wanting to hit him first, but considering the purpose of her visit today, she forcibly restrained her anger and withdrew her hand, then asked, "These past days you’ve been at home, has your dad talked about me at all?"
"No." Ruan Wei replied very succinctly.
Liao Zhaoji gritted her teeth in hatred.
"Then do you want your mom and dad to get divorced? Do you want a stepmom? A stepmom will mistreat you!"
Ruan Wei’s expression dimmed, he didn’t want his parents to get divorced, and he definitely didn’t want a stepmom.
Seeing Ruan Wei’s expression, Liao Zhaoji knew she was getting somewhere. Her own expression brightened as she pulled him a bit closer and whispered, "Xiaowei, if you don’t want a stepmom, go back and cry to your dad, tell him you want mom to come back, understand?"
"When mom comes back, she’ll make you delicious food every day and make you new clothes to wear, something a stepmom won’t do for you!"
"Better than what Grandma makes?" Ruan Wei asked, his eyes filled with some expectation.
"Of course, the food your grandma gives you is all leftovers from Ruan Jiaojiao. What kind of good stuff is that?" Liao Zhaoji said indignantly. However, now wasn’t the time to focus on Ruan Jiaojiao; she repeated her instructions seriously, "Remember? You must cry to your dad and insist on having your mom back! Say you don’t want any other mom, only your own, got it?"
Liao Zhaoji was satisfied and patted his little head, "Alright, mom will come to see you again next time. Don’t forget what mom asked you to do." As she said this, she paused momentarily, "And don’t tell anyone about mom seeing you today, even your brother."
Especially that little brat Ruan Chi. Thinking of what Ruan Chi had said that day, Liao Zhaoji was still so angry her liver hurt, partly because her son was not close to her, and partly because she resented the Ruanlin Family’s clever tactics in winning over her son right under her nose!
Ruan Wei and Ruan Chi ate dinner at the Ruanlin Family’s side and played with Ruan Jiaojiao for a while before heading back to their room. Ruan Chi was preparing hot water for Ruan Jiandang, carrying it over when Ruan Wei sidled up.
"Brother, let me carry it." He took the iron basin from his hands. Country kids are strong, and even though the iron basin was quite heavy, it was no strain for him to carry it.
Ruan Chi didn’t suspect anything and simply told him to be careful, then went about washing his face and feet.
Ruan Wei delivered the water to Ruan Jiandang, who was hunched over studying blueprints under the kerosene lamp. These days, due to a leg injury, he wasn’t able to work outside, so he spent his days helping out at Ruan Jianguo’s place at the village entrance.
He was skilled in this type of work since he did odd jobs on the outside, so he handled it with ease.
Ruan Jianguo also treated him fairly, paying him daily wages comparable to what he earned outside. He initially didn’t want to accept it, but Ruan Jianguo was right; he was in need of money at the moment, with no solid plans for the younger boys’ school fees for the latter half of the year. He could only accept the money guiltily while also putting forth his best effort to accomplish the tasks perfectly.
When Ruan Wei walked in, Ruan Jiandang raised his head and glanced at him, pointing at the ground in front of him, "Just put it here, you guys should head to bed early too, you still have school tomorrow."
After he said that, he continued to focus on the blueprints in his hands.
After a while, sensing something was off, he looked up to see Ruan Wei still standing in front of him.
"What’s wrong?" he asked.
Ruan Wei looked at him, inexplicably feeling nervous.
"Dad, are you really going to divorce Mom?" he asked.