Seeing Jian Rou stomping off in a huff, Jian Ran felt much better.
Cheng Jun also breathed a sigh of relief; that ancestor had finally left.
Then he said to Jian Ran, "Sorry, Designer Jian."
"It's okay, it's not related to you. Alright, go ahead with your work, we're heading up too," Jian Ran said with easy grace.
"Okay," Cheng Jun nodded, the drama had finally come to an end; he really broke out in a sweat over it.
Tang Yuanyuan nodded at Cheng Jun and quickly followed Jian Ran.
"Sister Ran, you were so cool just now... You made Jian Rou so mad she was fuming! It was damn satisfying to watch!" Tang Yuanyuan said with an admiring face; Sister Ran was her new idol for sure.
"It's no big deal. People like her need to be fought fire with fire, or she'll think you're easy to bully," Jian Ran said indifferently.
She knew Jian Rou's Achilles' heel now; it was that President Gu. But that was normal, Jian Rou was a woman who was always covetous of vanity.
"Mm-hmm, but still, you should be careful next time. She doesn't seem like someone who'll let things slide," Tang Yuanyuan cautioned.
"It's fine, I know. Thank you," Jian Ran had already started getting busy with work, putting the incident behind her.
Finally, when it was time to knock off, Jian Ran drove her newly purchased second-hand car towards the kindergarten.
As soon as she arrived at the entrance, she saw three little treasures waiting there.
Jian Ran felt guilty; she was caught in a traffic jam and wasn't familiar with the route, thus she arrived late.
"My treasures, I'm sorry, Mommy is late," Jian Ran apologized.
Lele was unhappy, "Mommy, you lied. You said this morning that you would be the first to pick us up."
His pouting lips could almost be measured in meters.
Pingping and An'an also looked helpless; kindergarten was indeed boring as hell, a total waste of time.
But since Mommy insisted, there was nothing they could do.
"Yeah, Mommy promises it won't happen again," Jian Ran said firmly.
After they got home, Jian Ran immediately started preparing dinner, then the kids took their baths and studied.
By the time she finished, it was already nine o'clock.
She had just sat down when the phone rang—it was a long-distance call.
She laughed, then pressed the answer button, "Haven't gone to sleep yet?"
"Not yet, I timed it well, knowing you'd be free now. How's it going, is everything sorted out back there?" A gentle voice came from the other end of the phone.
"Yeah, everything is arranged, don't worry," Jian Ran replied with a smile, "And don't you worry about me, I'm doing very well."
The man on the other end of the line was Su Yi'an. He had given Jian Ran a lot of help when she was abroad and was also the godfather of the kids.
"That's good to hear. You guys have abandoned me just like that; I'm really quite pitiful," Su Yi'an said, pretending to be woebegone.
"You're welcome to come back anytime," Jian Ran replied with a smile, feeling toward him as she would a family member.
"Mhm, I'll come back once I've sorted out my work," Su Yi'an responded. It was time for him to pursue his own happiness; maybe it was time to give her a surprise!
After exchanging pleasantries for a while, they finally ended the call.
...
Jian Rou left Haoting Group and headed straight home.
As she entered, she threw her handbag viciously onto the couch, then heavily seated herself down on it as well.
"Baby, what's wrong? Did you eat gunpowder? Weren't you going to deliver soup to Tingjue?" Hearing the commotion, Song Wenli came out and, seeing Jian Rou's gloomy face, quickly asked with concern.
"I'm so angry, Mommy, what should I do? That bitch Jian Ran is now working at Tingjue's company, and today I ran into her. What if Tingjue finds out about the past? Then I'll never have a chance to marry into the Gu Family," Jian Rou said frantically, grabbing hold of Song Wenli's hands, her heart filled with immense fear.
"What? She's working at Haoting Group? Tingjue's company is a multinational corporation! How did she manage to get a job there?" Upon hearing this, Song Wenli turned green with anger.
"Yes, it's true; Cheng's assistant said she was specially hired by Tingjue himself," Jian Rou said, her anxiety causing her to be very irritable.
"Let me think of a way to deal with her," Song Wenli's face darkened with loathing, as if she wanted to tear Jian Ran to pieces with her own hands.
"Mommy, we need to come up with a scheme that will ruin her reputation and then drive her out of Jiangcheng City," Jian Rou suggested vehemently.
"Mommy knows. By the way, will Tingjue be coming over this weekend?" Song Wenli suddenly remembered this important matter.
"Hmm, he said he'd make time," Jian Rou replied, her mood visibly improving.
"That's good. We need to deal with that bitch, but you can't let your guard down with Tingjue either, do you understand?" Song Wenli took the opportunity to instruct her.
"But... what if Tingjue finds out? Will he take it out on me?" Thinking of the plan for the weekend banquet, Jian Rou's heart was still uneasy; after all, they were dealing with Tingjue, who was exceedingly smart and utterly ruthless. If he found out it was her who had manipulated him, he would surely explode in anger.
"Silly child, only you and I know about this. If we don't tell, who will? Besides, he's the one who benefits from this; what has he got to complain about?" Song Wenli said irritably, "Don't be timid when it comes to taking action."
Finally, Jian Rou nodded her head resolutely. Yes, she couldn't hesitate any longer; this was an excellent opportunity to get closer to him.
Time really flew by, and the weekend arrived.
Jian Ran wasn't working and planned to spend the day at home with the kids.
Around noon, Lan Lan called with a mysterious air.
"Darling, guess where I am?"
Jian Ran replied with a laugh, "Are you at home? It's the weekend; are you still going to the store?"
"NO, NO, today my old man dragged me to a friend's birthday party. Guess who it is?" Lan Lan continued to maintain the mystery.
Jian Ran paused for a moment, then with a surge of suspicion, said, "It wouldn't be the Jian Family, would it?"
She remembered that today was Jian Jianguo's birthday, the birthday of the man who was officially her father.
"You got it right. What's even funnier is, they all very tacitly responded by saying you're unfilial for not attending your own father's birthday, leading some unsuspecting people there to misunderstand you, calling you an ungrateful child and the likes. So, interested in dropping by to give them a surprise?" Lan Lan knew the whole story, so she was infuriated by what she heard.
Jian Ran furrowed her brows; she knew they had no integrity, but she didn't expect them to be this shameless!
"Before, didn't you say that your mom owns half of the company's shares but they refused to hand them over? Take this chance to make a scene; let's see if he still cares about his face," Lan Lan said, growing more angry as she spoke.
The whole family was just too shameless.
Jian Ran nodded. Indeed, this was one of the reasons she had returned to the country: what belonged to her shouldn't be squandered on them.
With so many people present today, let's see how Jian Jianguo will act. He's always been one to care about face.
"Okay, send me the address, and I'll be right over." After hanging up, Jian Ran changed into a decent dress and applied a light makeup.
She gently patted the little heads of her darlings, gave them a soft rundown, and then left the house.
"Mommy, be careful out there," An'an's tender voice called out, sounding incredibly heartwarming.
"Mm, Mommy knows," Jian Ran nodded.
Hopefully, her "surprise" wouldn't scare them too much.