As for Li Minghui, there was no news for many years. Whether his business succeeded or failed, as long as it didn't affect the mother and daughter's life, it didn't matter.
He reappeared only when Jiang Ruoqi was preparing for the college entrance exam.
That year marked the third year the mother and daughter had settled in Hangxiang. Jiang Ruoqi was busy preparing for the exams, while Jiang Yun met a new romantic interest.
For nearly ten years, it had been just the two of them. Jiang Yun almost didn't know how to tell Jiang Ruoqi about this new person in her life.
Luckily, the college entrance exams were a convenient excuse. Jiang Yun delayed things with her boyfriend, planning to keep it from Jiang Ruoqi until after the exams.
But unfortunately, Jiang Yun wore her heart on her sleeve, and Jiang Ruoqi was always sensitive. So it naturally became that Jiang Ruoqi, knowing full well, pretended not to know, to make things easier for her mother.
It was also around this time that Li Minghui suddenly found them.
He said he had made it in Gangcheng business, had a new family, and was very well-off. He hoped Jiang Ruoqi would apply to universities in Gangcheng, so he could take care of her and it would be good for her future.
So Gangcheng or the mainland became Jiang Ruoqi's first major choice.
Jiang Yun gave her no input, coolly and fairly saying she would let her decide, so she could choose without any pressure.
But that was the first time Jiang Ruoqi desperately craved control—wishing her mother had possessively told her that staying on the mainland would be fine and that she needed her daughter by her side.
But Jiang Yun didn't.
Later, Jiang Ruoqi couldn't help but imagine: if that other person hadn't appeared, would Jiang Yun have eagerly wanted her to stay?
But that other person did appear. He divided Jiang Yun's expectations for life in half, and from then on, she no longer clung solely to her only daughter.
That should be a good thing.
So when she gave Jiang Ruoqi the choice, she had already made her own choice.
Giving the child freedom also allowed her to possibly gain a new life. Under the facade of a win-win situation, only Jiang Ruoqi felt the hidden sense of abandonment.
Jiang Ruoqi understood: besides being a mother, Jiang Yun was also herself. Finding someone who loved her was definitely a good thing. She just... found it a bit hard to adjust.
In the end, she went to Gangcheng for school, becoming an unwitting pawn for her father and stepmother, only returning to the mainland for holidays.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yun started a new life without constraints—working, going out, or traveling—just as busy as before.
Jiang Ruoqi met that man for the first time during winter break of her freshman year when she returned to Hangxiang. As Jiang Yun had envisioned, they had a reunion dinner together.
Jiang Ruoqi felt nothing much; she just went along to make Jiang Yun happy.
"Ruoqi, is this how we father and daughter have to speak?" Unable to use force, Li Minghui switched tactics, trying to appeal to family bonds.
"I missed the most important years of your growth. Emotionally, I can't compare to your biological mother—I admit that. But I've been trying my best to make up for it. I want you to stay by my side and give you better conditions in Gangcheng. Am I wrong?"
"Do you think I don't know why you want me to stay in Gangcheng?" Jiang Ruoqi's face turned cold as she tore off the hypocritical mask.
"Is it Shengyue? Or Fangyuan? You and Aunt Chen have already decided to set me up with a spouse from one of those two families, haven't you?"
Li Minghui paused awkwardly: "You..."
"Me? How do I know?"
Jiang Ruoqi's other hand began to pick at the skin around her fingernails, searching for rough spots to generate pain and calm herself down.
Her tone carried a smile, unhurried, suppressing all irritability under a flat delivery, as if stating facts—very similar to Li Minghui himself at the start: "I've been in Gangcheng for over a decade, and it hasn't been for nothing. I have my own friends and connections."
Since Jiang Ruoqi knew, Li Minghui stopped hiding and admitted it: "Yes, your Aunt Chen and I have been concerned about your life. Those two families are both prominent in Gangcheng. Marrying into either would mean no need to work—you could be a wealthy lady enjoying life. Isn't that good?"
Pfft!
How ridiculous! When emotional appeals failed, he switched to gaslighting.
Jiang Ruoqi rolled her eyes so hard they nearly got stuck. She kept silent, thinking about how to get her father to shut up quickly and effectively, saving him the trouble of useless efforts.
Growing up as she had, she learned that no one but herself could be relied upon. Her biological parents, Li Minghui and Jiang Yun—one had run away when she needed a father, the other had let her go under the guise of letting go.
They had forced her to be independent, yet on the cusp of marriageable age, they told her she should learn to rely on someone else.
Isn't that contradictory?
So how could Jiang Ruoqi believe that selling herself off for a good price would bring a happy future?
From what she had seen, mountains may fall and men may leave. She knew that if she married according to their wishes, becoming a puppet to maintain business cooperation and pave the way for her stepmother's biological son, that would be the end.
She hadn't fallen for it because she understood clearly.
But these vested interests, after exploiting her to the fullest, now wanted to brainwash her hypocritically, claiming it was all for her well-being.
It was... utterly disgusting.
"Of course it's not good. Dad, I have a sweetheart on the mainland. We've known each other since high school. We reunited here in Xinhai and are going to get married. To be honest, I'm at the Civil Affairs Bureau right now. If it weren't for your call, I might have already gotten the certificate."
Jiang Ruoqi went all out, burning bridges. She had planned to wait until after getting the certificate to tell Li Minghui, but now she just blurted it out. She hoped he'd get so angry he'd have a heart attack—then no one would scheme against her again.
"Qiqi, don't talk back to your father." Li Minghui actually laughed calmly after hearing this.
He thought Jiang Ruoqi was like his friends' occasionally spoiled daughters—when they encountered something unpleasant, they half-jokingly, half-threatingly appealed to their fathers for help.
"Buy a ticket back first. Your Aunt Chen and I will work out your work situation together."
Jiang Ruoqi smiled: "You really don't understand me at all. I never make idle threats out of spite. If I say it, I mean it."
"What do you mean?"
"I've told you. Next time, I'll bring your son-in-law to see you." With that, Jiang Ruoqi hung up.