The next day.

Ruan Jiujiu stretched and was still a long time reluctant to wake up.

She had been a leech recently, so almost forgot being a 9-5 office worker before transmigration. At that time, she had to stay late at office sometimes but no overtime pay. Her only hobby was painting. She could sit on a chair and draw for a long time.

Speaking of painting, her hands were just itching. Buying a drawing board sounded great.

"Ding."

A text message came in, Ruan Jiujiu rubbed her eyes sleepily, turned over on the pillow and checked the phone. The contact's note was Qu Wei, and the text content was also very simple.

【Ask Cheng Jun for dinner together. Send you the location later. 】

Ruan Jiujiu shuddered and sat up. The note is Qu Wei, and no other information. Ruan Jiujiu never heard the name... So, who was she? WeChat didn't have Qu Wei, and the text  record was probably deleted, so there was nothing left.

The only call record was about half a month ago before Ruan Jiujiu got into the book. That was to say, the woman used to call the original host before the divorce.

Who was Qu Wei? ?

Ruan Jiujiu sat up immediately and sent a WeChat message to Cheng Jun: "Where are you? I have something to ask you."

He replied quickly.

"Kitchen."

Ruan Jiujiu: "... Ok."

Cheng Jun took out a box of milk from the fridge.

Ruan Jiujiu had never seen a man at his age still loved drinking milk. The fridge at home was always filled with rows of milk, and c.o.ke which now was replaced by Yakult and Wow haha.

Ruan Jiujiu went into the kitchen, with her long hair down and the slippers  rattled. Cheng Jun didn't look back but was patiently removing the plastic wrap on the straw.

"Er…"

Cheng Jun said slowly: "Need money?"

Ruan Jiujiu: "... No."

She was not some spendthrift, how could she be out of money in just a few days!

Ruan Jiujiu cleared her throat: "Um, you free this afternoon?"

"Yes."

"There's a dinner, you know." She used words vaguely, "It's Qu Wei." She thought that Qu Wei might be friends, relatives or something like that. Ruan Jiujiu was worried about spilling the beans.

Hearing this, Cheng Jun looked up at her for the first time, with eyes lost in thought, which made her nervous.

"Wh-, what?"

"Nothing."

Till the afternoon, suiting up, they arrived at a luxury hotel. She tipped her chin and pretended to be cool, which endowed her with powerful vibes that were not lost to Cheng Jun. In fact she quite marvelled at the lavish decoration all the way.

A waiter led them to the reserved seat. Ruan Jiujiu turned to a seat next to a window—

Then, she was dumbfounded.

There was a man and a woman sat on that side. They, about 40 years old, behaved quite gently. And the important thing was, obviously, they looked senior to Cheng Jun whose elders...

"You unfilial son, how dare you don't call me father?" His father was very angry. The bushy eyebrow and big eyes made him even more scaring. 

Ruan Jiujiu: "..."

This was his father, so, Qu Wei was the mother? Then no wonder Cheng Jun had stared at her strangely. His not getting angry saved her face enough for she had called her mother-in-law's full name. 

But, Cheng Jun didn't look like them. Moreover, if she was his mother, and the original host used her full name as a note, then it was too rude!  

Luckily, they identified themselves soon.

"Although Weiwei is your stepmother, the care she gives to you is no less than others do. She heard you two don't get along well, so gets you out for dinner. You'd better be good!" 

There words made Ruan Jiujiu frown.

Sounded too cruel. Cheng Jun may be forgiven for not accepting a stepmother. He forced his son, in a brutal manner, to admit Qu Wei was the mother, which even more alienated their father-son relations.h.i.+p.

Cheng Jun seemed to be made of stone, with no response to those words, making his father don't know how to get rid of the angry but have to change the subject.

"Jiujiu, how are things going with you?"

"Um," Ruan Jiujiu didn't want to call them daddy and mommy, so just smiled, "good, we'll good. You might be mistaken about us."

These words made Qu Wei take a glance at her. The facial expression was confusing.

"Great. This boy just sits around but does nothing useful. You're too good for such a loser." He grunted.

Ruan Jiujiu cast a glance at Cheng Jun.

Compared with other people who sit straight, he was the only one who showed over relaxation. He curved the back a little and sat in the seat in a lazy look, letting the abusive words wash over him.

His slender fingers was twiddling with the tissue below his plate. He lowered eyelids, looked like careless and didn't give a d.a.m.n. 

Didn't know why, Ruan Jiujiu felt a little bit upset.

Why should a father talk to his son in that way? Was it fair for Cheng Jun?

Did he actually treat his son as an adult who had dignity and family? 

Ruan Jiujiu took a breath and decided to say something: "I..." 

"I'm hungry." Cheng Jun interrupted her with head still down. He said in a slow and quiet voice: "Menu." 

Ruan Jiujiu closed her lips.

Didn't know whether it was an illusion or not. It seemed that Cheng jun found her intention so interrupted her just in time. She sighed slightly because she understood it was weird to express your opinions now. No matter what she said. May be it was better to bear it and figure out what was going on. 

Because of the hurt left hand, Cheng Jun got a little trouble in using knife and fork. It was hard to avoid the dinnerware making a sound. This made his father feel even more sullen.

The dinner really made Ruan Jiujiu feel in a cage with a tiger. Just too embarra.s.sing to talk and she was also afraid of being exposed—she was not the original host after all.

The dish here, tasted not bad, but it was light filled. Eating a bowl of noodles at home was even more happy.   

Suddenly, her tiptoe was kicked.

She stopped for a while and then look at the lady Qu Wei who sat opposite her. Qu Wei had taken good care of herself for she still looked graceful. Faced with Ruan Jiujiu's opened eyes, she said: "Make up, shall we?"

Ruan Jiujiu held tight the ware and realized things were more complicated than she thought.

But she still nodded and took her bag: "Ok."

In the restroom, Qu Wei acted quite different as expected. She was sneering and staring at Ruan Jiujiu indifferently.

"What the h.e.l.l? No divorce? You wanna more money?"  

Ruan Jiujiu was numbed for a while, but then got it at once.

So, the stepmother made contributions to the original host's divorce. 

"You want his house again? Haven't I told you that I'll send you two houses after you get the share and transfer it to me. The house location, you decide it. Be careful you might get nothing if you too greedy."

Ruan Jiujiu gasped but behaved quite normal without any astonishment.

She looked away, said: "I need time to think." 

Qu Wei was a little anxious, hurriedly grabbed her. Ruan Jiujiu felt a pain in the wrist for Qu's matcha nails plunged into her porcelain skin. 

Qu Wei's facial expressions now were ugly: "Don't play with me! Remember, you have no father, no mother or anyone to rely on. Without my help, how could you marry Cheng Jun? Idiot, you don't think he likes you? Listen, he said 'yes' because of the house!"   

"It's the only legacy left by his mother. Never think of it!"

She explained what happened very clearly, and now Ruan Jiujiu finally figured it out why Cheng Jun agreed to marry the original host.

"Anyway, get your head out of your a.s.s!"

Ruan Jiujiu hummed.

Qu Wei glared at her. she had a plot to get Cheng Jun's shares. She kept waiting the day to come these years. How could she let Ruan Jiujiu destroy her dream? 

The wrist still was painful which made Ruan Jiujiu felt very tired.

Because she realized it seemed that being a well-behaved female supporting character was not easy. 

She was faced with double-p.r.o.nged attack. To enjoy a happy normal life, she had to fix them all.

After ending the awkward meal, Ruan Jiujiu and Cheng Jun, as usual, called a taxi home. The cold wind stirred her hair and they kept silent until walked into the neighborhood. When Ruan Jiujiu stepped on the stair, she suddenly turned around and had a direct level eye contact with Cheng Jun.

They all stopped.

She didn't want to mention his father. So gazed by his puzzled eyes, Ruan Jiujiu scratched her hair impatiently. She knew Cheng Jun won't scramble for the family property, but what about his stepmother? That woman may frame him and completely make him become a poor guy.  

All of sudden, Ruan Jiujiu felt stressful. It was time for her get the family burden and save this poor man!

Cheng Jun was not bad to her and she was not some ungrateful person.

"Don't worry. I'm rich... even not very rich. So fight back as you want and don't swallow your rage!" 

Right.

In Ruan Jiujiu's imagination, Cheng Jiu showed his indifference because he worried about being cut off sources of income from his father. 

His mother pa.s.sed away while his father didn't care for him, and the stepmother always got her eyes on the money. It was strange if he wasn't in depression. Ruan Jiujiu can totally understand why he hid from the reality.    

Cheng Jun: "..."

With hands in the pockets, he stared at her seriously. In the obscure light, his cheek outline looked soft and his long, narrow eyes were charming. Because of the light, his eyes were filled with warmth.

Being stared in this way, Ruan Jiujiu felt some uncomfortable: "I know you're very grateful, but..." 

"Wait." 

He slightly leaned forward which made them more closer.

Ruan Jiujiu asked warily: "What are you doing? I know I'm pretty and nice!" But it was a big mistake if the man wanted to kiss her! She just got some feeling of protecting chicks! 

No romantic thought, tks! 

"Your..."

"Um?"

"Your eye gunk, why's s.h.i.+ning?" Cheng Jun's eyes revealed serious curiosity.

Ruan Jiujiu: "..."

A long time dead silence.

Angry voices came from her grinding back teeth.

"This, we call it PUFFY EYES."

The author had something to say:

Ruan Jiujiu: Everyday I had to control myself to not strangle the b.a.s.t.a.r.d to death.