Chapter 562: Cannon Fodder Daughter and Her Cannon Fodder Dad (2)

The only one in the entire family who really cares for Jiang Lai is Jiang Hai, the cook.

But one ironclad rule of this novel is that anyone who doesn’t hold the female lead in the palm of their hand is either an antagonist or cannon fodder.

So Jiang Hai, like Jiang Lai, both father and daughter are the ultimate cannon fodder, doomed by fate.

Shen Yaoyao’s younger brother was brought over in the third year after she came to the Jiang family.

The siblings settled permanently in the Jiang household. In an era where everyone struggled to get enough to eat, raising their own four children was already hard enough, and now there were two more.

Jiang Hai wasn’t particularly generous, so he hoped the good food and drink he brought home could first go to his own children.

But each time, his three sons would all save the rare treats for Shen Yaoyao.

Especially Shen Yan, who hoarded everything Jiang Hai brought back. Most of it ended up in the stomachs of the Shen siblings.

Jiang Hai had his grievances, but being timid by nature, he didn’t dare to say much to his wife. He also worried that if the whole courtyard found out, he’d gain a reputation for being stingy and mistreating guests.

So every time he secretly brought something back, he’d split it into two portions: one for Shen Yan to distribute, and the other he secretly kept to treat his daughter Jiang Lai.

But it wasn’t long before Shen Yaoyao saw it, leading to the female lead’s inner monologue.

The general content being how she lived under someone else’s roof, constantly watched people’s expressions, was bullied by Jiang Lai every day, and now even the little good her uncle provided was kept for his own children.

This matter naturally reached Shen Yan’s ears as well.

In those days, eating alone was the most unforgivable thing; Jiang Lai got beaten and was also shunned by the disapproving glances of her three brothers.

The original protagonist, having wandered outside for several years and fearing hardship, became very sensitive and thus more envious and jealous of Shen Yaoyao, who was cherished by family.

Not long after, the director of the city steel mill hosted a banquet and invited Jiang Hai to be the head chef.

Jiang Hai, intending to train his daughter as his successor, planned to bring Jiang Lai along to assist. But when Shen Yan found out, she strongly opposed it, saying the director was an important person and fetching someone to work required finding someone beautiful, while Jiang Lai was thin, sallow, and average-looking, not to mention messy and unkempt. So she directly let Shen Yaoyao go with Jiang Hai instead.

Jiang Hai understood Shen Yan’s intention; she wanted Shen Yaoyao to gain some experience and looked down on his own daughter, so he disagreed.

However, unable to resist Shen Yan’s crying and fussing and the persuasion of their three sons, Jiang Hai had no choice but to take both girls along in the end.

At the director’s house, Jiang Hai instructed the two girls to stay in the kitchen and not run around or look around.

When Jiang Hai went to the front yard to discuss the evening’s menu with the director’s wife, a curious Shen Yaoyao actively invited Jiang Lai to sneak out and have a look, saying they’d regret not seeing what a wealthy family’s place was like.

Jiang Lai, though timid, was curious too and got dragged to the backyard by Shen Yaoyao.

And it was there that the male and female leads met.

The male lead, Zhang Shuci, the only son of the director, was raised in affluence, inheriting his mother’s looks—fair, handsome, and highly intelligent, with excellent grades in the factory-affiliated high school.

In the book, it describes the two having love at first sight. Shen Yaoyao didn’t know the male lead’s identity, and the male lead intentionally concealed it. They spent a whole afternoon chatting and laughing in the backyard garden.

Jiang Lai couldn’t find Shen Yaoyao and went back alone to help her father.

After the banquet, trouble arose again; the director’s wife’s gold bracelet went missing.

The finger pointed straight at the kitchen. The gold bracelet was finally found on Jiang Lai, caught red-handed. Jiang Lai cried, claiming it wasn’t her but Shen Yaoyao who gave it to her.

Shen Yaoyao, looking innocent, cried along, claiming she knew nothing.

Consequently, Jiang Lai was firmly labeled a thief for stealing the director’s wife’s gold bracelet. Although the director graciously overlooked the matter, word got out, and Jiang Lai’s reputation was ruined.

Jiang Hai had already arranged for Jiang Lai to work at a major restaurant, but this incident forced him to give that opportunity to Shen Yaoyao instead.

Eventually, unable to endure both her family’s contempt and the outside world’s pointing fingers, Jiang Lai committed suicide by jumping into a well during that cold winter.

As for Jiang Hai, his end wasn’t much better. Slaving away for his family his whole life, his three-room courtyard was eventually vacated by Shen Yan for her nephew’s wedding.

The niece and nephew worked at state-owned hotels, while the three sons ended up as laborers at the docks.

In the end, Jiang Hai died, never understanding the meaning of all his lifelong struggles.

His daughter was gone, he failed to educate his sons properly, yet others’ children soared to success, living easier lives each day. Finally, even his niece married the director’s son at the steel plant.

"And that sums up the entire plot of the book."

Little Buding, having read it too, felt a heavy stone lodged in his chest, unable to breathe easy.

"So, is Shen Yan at odds with her own kids? Not treating her daughter well can be understood as favoring sons over daughters, but treating her sons like that too, I can’t understand."

Jiang Lai slowly opened her eyes, looked at the courtyard in front of her, took a deep breath, and finally summed it up in five words.

"The ultimate family martyr."

"Family martyr? That’s one reason, but it shouldn’t go this far."

The text didn’t elaborate much on Shen Yan’s relationship with the family, only mentioning she adored her brother and treated her niece and nephew well because they were sensible and had suffered hardship in their youth, making them endearing.

Jiang Lai sneered.

"Shen Yan must have been born into a family that heavily favored males over females, ingraining the idea since childhood to always protect her brother, which extended to always protecting her brother’s children.

In her eyes, no one in the world is more important than her brother. If her brother died of illness, then her brother’s children became the most important.

She loves her own children too, but priorities are clear.

Treating her brother as precious and favoring males over females, she inevitably cherishes nephews most, then nieces, then sons, and finally daughters. She never liked Jiang Lai from the start. Even after being lost for so many years, she never seemed anxious, nor did she seem particularly happy to have her back, as it just meant another mouth to feed, depriving her niece and nephew of food."

Jiang Lai’s explanation practically shattered every value Little Buding had ever learned.

"I’m surprised there are mothers like this in the world."

"You’ve yet to see so much more."

"Surprising as you live and learn with you, it sure broadens the horizons."

Jiang Lai chuckled.

Little Buding asked again.

"So, what was the deal with the gold bracelet? Did the original protagonist really steal it? It doesn’t feel right. The original protagonist was so timid; would she dare steal the director’s wife’s gold bracelet?"

"Why rush? You’ll know in due time."