The Rich Man's Life Begins with a Comeback

Chapter 275 The Lie That Was Exposed (5k)

The narrow, old staircase was unusually clean and tidy.

"Hey!"

"It's Ruan Ruan, isn't it!"

"You're back from your vacation!"

Just as Jiang Ruan reached the third floor, she happened to see a family opening their door. Inside, an old woman was holding a string of firecrackers, seemingly preparing to set them off before dinner. When she saw Jiang Ruan, she was initially taken aback, but then her face lit up with a hint of surprise.

"Aunt Huang, I'm back."

Happy New Year! How have you been these past two years?

Jiang Ruan was no stranger to the old woman in front of her, because she lived upstairs from the old woman. They had been neighbors for decades, and the old woman had even watched her grow up.

"It's okay."

The old woman looked Jiang Ruan up and down and couldn't help but nod repeatedly: "Big cities like Yanjing really do nurture people. Ruan Ruan is becoming more and more beautiful and elegant."

When Jiang Ruan heard the old woman mention her eyes, her eyes flickered slightly.

"very nice!"

"Ruan Ruan has been promising since she was a child!"

“Unlike my son, who didn’t study hard when he was young, now he can only work as a salesman in Beichun, bowing and scraping to others every day, and his income is unstable.”

The old woman sighed twice, and seeing Jiang Ruan's travel-worn appearance, she belatedly said, "Ruan Ruan, you just got back, right? Hurry up and go home. You can come visit Aunt Huang's house anytime you have time."

"Ok."

"Then I'll go up first."

Wishing you a Happy New Year and good health.

Jiang Ruan wished the old woman a Happy New Year again, then stepped aside to let the old woman go out and downstairs first, before walking home herself up the stairs.

During this time, as the old woman went downstairs, she kept muttering things like "Jiang Ruan is really promising" and "Old Jiang is really lucky."

After the old woman disappeared at the top of the stairs, the smile that had been on Jiang Ruan's face gradually disappeared, and she couldn't help but sigh softly.

One lie is bound to be covered up with more lies.

Over the years, she has always used lies to respond to her parents' concern and inquiries. Her parents, who are always proud of her, naturally do not hesitate to share her recent situation with neighbors, relatives and friends.

Over time, the lie grew bigger and bigger, like a bubble.

Good thing...

Jiang Ruan reached into her pocket and touched the employee badge with the leather card holder, instantly feeling at ease.

When I got home, I took out my keys and opened the door.

In an instant, the rich aroma of the food wafted over.

"Mom and Dad..."

"Grandpa and Grandma..."

"I'm back!"

Jiang Ruan stepped into the house and called out to the family inside.

"Ruan Ruan is back!"

Jiang Ruan's mother, Liu Ting, was the first to respond and quickly walked out of the kitchen.

"mom!"

When Jiang Ruan saw her mother, she instantly felt a lump in her throat.

To give birth to such a stunning beauty as Jiang Ruan, Jiang Ruan's mother must have been an absolute beauty in her youth. However, with the passage of time and the ravages of life, many wrinkles have appeared around her eyes.

"Just come back!"

"Nothing else matters!"

Liu Ting held Jiang Ruan's small hands tightly, her eyes slightly red.

Soon, Jiang Ruan's father, Jiang Dong, also came over.

His brows were furrowed, a cigarette dangling from his fingers. He looked at his poised and beautiful daughter, seemingly hesitant to speak, but finally let out a soft sigh: "Wash your hands and get ready for dinner."

"what happened?"

Seeing her father's expression and demeanor, Jiang Ruan frowned slightly and asked.

"it's okay no problem."

"Let's eat first, let's eat first."

Liu Ting put her arm around Jiang Ruan and entered the house, her brows inexplicably showing a hint of panic.

Jiang Ruan followed her mother out of the entrance hall and saw many people sitting in the living room. Her grandparents were sitting in the center of the sofa, and her second aunt and third uncle's families were sitting on the left and right sides.

Because Jiang Ruan's father, Jiang Dong, is the eldest son of the Jiang family, Jiang Dong brought Jiang Ruan's grandparents from the county town to live with them after Jiang Ruan went to university. Since then, every year during the Spring Festival, the two families of Jiang Ruan's second aunt and third uncle would come to Jiang Ruan's house to celebrate the Spring Festival together.

Jiang Ruan's second aunt's family and third uncle's family also all had only one child.

My second aunt's family has a daughter, who is Jiang Ruan's cousin, named Zhou Ruoyu. She is only a few months younger than Jiang Ruan and also graduated last year.

The third uncle's family has a son, Jiang Ruan's cousin, whose name is Jiang Xinjie. He is 17 years old this year and is currently a high school sophomore.

Jiang Ruan's gaze swept across the room, finding only familiar relatives among them.

There was only one person who was a complete stranger to Jiang Ruan.

The other person sat next to his cousin Zhou Ruoyu, wearing a clean white shirt and silver-rimmed glasses. He looked very refined, and his right hand was intertwined with his cousin's.

At this moment, Jiang Ruan glanced over and saw that the other person and her cousin were both looking away, their expressions somewhat embarrassed. When Jiang Ruan looked at her aunt, uncle, third uncle, and third aunt again, she found that they all had similar expressions.

It was New Year's Eve, but a very strange atmosphere enveloped her living room. Recalling the emotions her parents had tried so hard to hide when they first saw her, Jiang Ruan's beautiful eyebrows furrowed completely.

"What exactly happened at home?"

Jiang Ruan spoke slowly, her gaze finally settling back on her mother's face.

"Ruan Ruan, it's nothing."

Liu Ting panicked for a moment: "Wash your hands first, let's eat first, okay?"

"Yes, yes, eat first!"

"Ruan Ruan, are you hungry? Your third aunt just cooked your favorite sweet and sour pork ribs from when you were little!"

"Ruan Ruan, that's your cousin's boyfriend, Zheng Weiyi. They've been dating for four years, and this is his first visit this year!"

……

As soon as Liu Ting finished speaking, everyone else immediately stood up and echoed her.

"Will you tell me?"

"If you don't tell me, I'm leaving now."

Jiang Ruan looked at everyone calmly.

1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds...

The crowd exchanged glances, but no one spoke.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Ruan turned and left without the slightest hesitation.

"Ruan Ruan!"

"Tell Dad, do you not work for China Southern Airlines at all?"

"Have you been lying to me and your mother from the very beginning?"

As Jiang Dong finished speaking, Jiang Ruan, who had only taken two steps, suddenly froze and slowly stopped.

“Ruan Ruan, your cousin’s boyfriend works in the General Affairs Department of the Civil Aviation Administration. When we were chatting just now, Xiao Zheng said that his current work in the General Affairs Department often requires him to deal with many leaders in China Southern Airlines Group.”

“Your grandma meant well. She thought you always said you were working overtime and were very busy, so she wondered if Xiao Zheng could put in a good word with a leader at China Southern Airlines and ask if he could help you with your work so you wouldn’t have to work so hard.”

"result……"

As Liu Ting spoke, her eyes became a little red.

"After Xiao Zheng made the call, the leader from China Southern Airlines said that he had searched the internal system of China Southern Airlines several times, and even searched the list of flight attendants who had resigned, but he could not find any flight attendant named Jiang Ruan in China Southern Airlines."

Liu Ting held Jiang Ruan's hands tightly, afraid that Jiang Ruan would leave if she wasn't careful: "So what exactly happened, Ruan Ruan? Where did you work after graduation?"

Jiang Ruan stood there, her expression somewhat dazed.

That bubble called a lie was eventually burst.

However, she was lucky that before the bubble burst, she already had enough confidence to deal with everything.

Facing the worried and anxious looks from her family members, Jiang Ruan took a deep breath and then turned to her parents: "I'm sorry, I did lie to you. Ruoyu's boyfriend's boss was right. There has never been a flight attendant named Jiang Ruan working at China Southern Airlines."

When Liu Ting and Jiang Dong heard Jiang Ruan admit it herself, the last glimmer of hope they had was completely extinguished.

Jiang Ruan looked at her parents' eyes, which had dimmed slightly, and at the bitter expressions on their faces. Her heart ached as if it were being stabbed with needles.

The previously hesitant mind instantly made a decision.

"because……"

"I have been working for Ruyi Airlines from beginning to end." Jiang Ruan couldn't bear to see her parents, who were always proud of her, lose face in front of so many relatives and friends, so she decided to selectively conceal her experiences from the past two years.

"Ruyi Airlines?"

"Is that an airline too?"

"How come I've never heard of it?"

No one expected that things would take such a dramatic turn for the better. However, Jiang Dong, Liu Ting, and the others were just ordinary people from a small border town, and they had only flown a handful of times in their lives, so it was normal that they had never heard of Ruyi Airlines.

When Jiang Ruan was asked by her mother, she did not choose to answer. Instead, she turned her cold gaze to her cousin Zhou Ruoyu's boyfriend.

"Uncle and Aunt, Ruyi Airlines is one of the top private airlines in China, with a current market value of over 20 billion yuan."

When Zheng Weiyi saw the look in his girlfriend's cousin's eyes, he immediately understood what she meant. Thinking of the "trouble" he had just caused, he could only smile wryly and take on the task of explaining.

Does "private aviation sector" mean that the airline is a private enterprise?

Jiang Dong pressed Zheng Weiyi for an answer.

"Yes."

Zheng Weiyi nodded.

"Ruan Ruan, why did you end up working for a private airline?"

Jiang Dong frowned slightly: "When you graduated, didn't you say you were guaranteed a job at China Southern Airlines? Later, you wanted to try your luck at China Southern's Pearl Blue program. You said you had a senior classmate who had connections at the Civil Aviation Administration and that you even took 10 yuan from your family."

In the North, the concept of officialdom is extremely prevalent.

People of Jiang Ruan's parents' generation have an unimaginable obsession with government-affiliated positions.

China Southern Airlines and Ruyi Airlines are both airlines, but because the former is a state-owned enterprise and the latter is a private enterprise, in the eyes of Jiang Ruan's parents, there is a world of difference between them.

In their eyes, private enterprises are synonymous with insecurity, far less secure and reliable than state-owned enterprises.

"I've been scammed."

Jiang Ruan, with a calm expression, truthfully recounted to her parents and relatives how she had been swindled out of 25 yuan two years ago after graduating.

At the end, she changed her story of missing all the recruitment windows of airlines to the fact that only Ruyi Airlines had a recruitment window at that time, and changed her experience of working in a Mercedes-Benz 4S store during her graduation year to working in Ruyi Airlines all the time.

"you……"

Why didn't you tell your family you were scammed?

"Even if you miss the recruitment window, you can apply again next year. It's not like your family can't support you. Why do you have to go to Ruyi Airlines on a whim?"

When Jiang Dong heard about Jiang Ruan's experiences over the past two years, he felt both heartache and anger.

He wasn't heartbroken about the 25 yuan he'd been scammed out of; he was heartbroken that Jiang Ruan was just a child who had others to rely on, yet she'd stubbornly endured this for two years.

"uncle……"

"Ruyi Airlines is really not bad."

"In terms of salary and benefits, it is even better than China Southern Airlines."

Zheng Weiyi felt like his hand was about to be pinched purple by his girlfriend, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and say a few more objective and fair words in support of Jiang Ruan.

"But……"

Jiang Dong still couldn't quite shake off the feeling that his daughter, with such excellent qualities, could have easily gone to a state-owned enterprise, but ended up working for a private company, which he found incredibly regrettable.

“Dad, I’m doing very well at Ruyi Airlines.”

At this point, Jiang Ruan took out the employee badge and ID that Gu Heng had prepared for her in advance from her pocket: "Look if you don't believe me."

Jiang Dong saw what Jiang Ruan handed him and took it.

"Ruyi Airlines Cabin Service Department..."

"Deputy Director?"

Jiang Dong slowly read out the information recorded on the employee badge, and when he read out Jiang Ruan's position, his voice was clearly filled with surprise and doubt.

"Deputy Director? Isn't that the boss?"

"I just said there must be some misunderstanding!"

"She's already the deputy director after working for less than two years! You can imagine how outstanding our Ruan Ruan is in her daily work!"

……

Everyone chimed in, their words full of praise.

"Ruan Ruan, you've really become a leader?"

Liu Ting linked arms with Jiang Ruan, her eyes fixed on Jiang Ruan as if trying to discern something.

"Mom, you can log in to Ruyi Airlines' official website."

"You can see my employment information there. Surely Ruyi Airlines, with a market value of over 20 billion, can also play along with my act."

After saying this, Jiang Ruan silently added a sentence in her mind.

'I really can't...'

'But he can.'

Liu Ting looked at Jiang Ruan's unwavering gaze, hesitated for a moment, then turned her gaze to Zheng Weiyi. As soon as she did, everyone else followed suit.

There was nothing they could do; Zheng Weiyi worked for the Civil Aviation Administration.

For ordinary people like Liu Ting from this remote town, Zheng Weiyi's discussions on matters related to civil aviation are authoritative.

When Zheng Weiyi saw everyone looking at him, he took out his tablet computer, which he used for daily work, and logged into the official website of Ruyi Airlines without saying a word.

In fact, he was also skeptical about the matter.

Even if Ruyi Airlines is a private company and there aren't as many rules for promoting leaders as there are for state-owned enterprises, a 23-year-old deputy general manager still sounds a bit too much.

However, after carefully examining and touching the work badge and certificate that Jiang Ruan had just taken out, he found no trace of forgery.

However, what Jiang Ruan just said is very true. Even if employee badges and certificates can be forged, Ruyi Airlines, with a market value of over 20 billion, will not play along with her act. Whether it is true or false, you can find out by logging into the official website.

"found it……"

In just a few minutes, Zheng Weiyi actually found Jiang Ruan's employment information on Ruyi Airlines' official website, just as Jiang Ruan had said.

From the ID photo to the personal information, everything matches Jiang Ruan!

23 years old!
Deputy General Manager of Ruyi Aviation Division!
Zheng Weiyi was truly shocked. Even though his work platform was at the core of the civil aviation industry, this was something he had never heard of before.

"have a look!"

"It really is our Ruan Ruan!"

Uncle Jiang Ruan took the tablet computer from Zheng Weiyi, his voice tinged with excitement, and the reactions of the others were basically the same.

In an instant, the dark clouds that seemed to hang over everyone's heads quietly dissipated, and the whole family regained the festive atmosphere that should have been present on New Year's Eve.

"My cousin became the deputy general manager of Ruyi Airlines at such a young age. If she continues to develop like this, she could become the department director with an annual salary of one million before she turns thirty."

Zheng Weiyi sighed at the opportune moment.

Upon hearing this, everyone was immediately startled.

The people didn't actually know what kind of power or status Jiang Ruan held in her position at Ruyi Airlines; they only knew that Jiang Ruan had become a leader at a young age.

But after Zheng Weiyi's exclamation, and after the position was linked to the annual salary, everyone truly understood how valuable Jiang Ruan's current position was.

If a department director earns a million a year, even if we cut that in half, a deputy department director should at least earn 500,000 a year, right?
Keep in mind that in Baicheng, a small border town, 500,000 yuan is enough to buy a small three-bedroom apartment in a very good location.

"Our Ruan Ruan is so accomplished!"

Jiang Ruan's second aunt patted Jiang Dong on the shoulder: "Big brother, don't worry about the job position. Gold shines wherever it is. Everything happens for a reason. If our Ruan Ruan really got into China Southern Airlines, she might not have developed as well as Ruyi Airlines."

"I'm not going to dwell on it anymore."

"A daughter is no longer under her father's control once she grows up."

"As long as Ruan Ruan is doing well and developing well, I'm at ease."

After experiencing a rollercoaster of emotions, Jiang Dong appeared somewhat magnanimous.

Compared to the negative thoughts he had before Jiang Ruan returned home, this outcome is the best possible result for him now.

What a scare!

"The children go to set off firecrackers, and the adults serve the dishes and prepare for dinner!"

The ever-steady old man spoke up at the opportune moment.

"Sis, you just got back, so you should rest at home."

Jiang Ruan's cousin, Jiang Xinjie, volunteered to set off the firecrackers, saying to Jiang Ruan, "It's cold outside, I'll go set them off."

"Let's go down together."

"I brought a lot of New Year's goods home but haven't brought them up yet."

After Jiang Ruan finished speaking, she looked at Zhou Ruoyu and Zheng Weiyi: "Ruoyu and brother-in-law, why don't you come along too? Let's try to bring them all up in one trip."

"it is good……"

(End of this chapter)