Chapter 568 - 8: The Cannon Fodder Daughter and Her Cannon Fodder Dad (Part 8)

Looking back at Jiang Lai, what kind of days did she live through those years?

It seems no one ever asked, and no one ever cared.

This is the strangest part.

Clearly, they were family, but everyone seemed to assume that Jiang Lai didn’t need much care. While she bore the Jiang surname, the family already had a girl they cherished dearly.

She was the extra one.

She was here to steal her cousin’s spotlight.

This idea somehow took root in her mind, more deeply ingrained than the thoughts of the older generation.

But just now, these thoughts suddenly collapsed.

Looking at Jiang Lai again, Jiang Li suddenly realized.

The person in front of him was his real sister.

When others bullied him, Shen Yaoyao would run away, but she didn’t.

"If you don’t eat the noodles, they’ll get soggy. You’re not eating?"

Jiang Lai suddenly looked over, her dark eyes bright and spirited.

Jiang Li instinctively responded.

"I’m not hungry; you can eat it."

"Alright, definitely can’t waste this."

Jiang Lai said, then took the bowl of noodles in front of him and started eating.

People from the early ’60s were simple and honest, and a bowl could hold over six liang of noodles, quite substantial.

After finishing two bowls, the hunger deep within Jiang Lai finally subsided a bit, but she was still craving, craving deeply.

There was no helping it, it was the original owner’s body’s leftover symptom.

Life had been too hard before, and even after finally returning home, she was guarded against by the family as if she were a thief, causing this body to crave a feeling of fullness intensely.

Two bowls of noodles were definitely more than enough, yet Jiang Lai comfortably squinted her eyes and sighed.

"Ah, the first time I’ve eaten this full."

Jiang Li listened, unable to lift his head.

Just after finishing, in the afternoon the two of them went to dig coal cinders again, and this time Jiang Li changed places to sell.

Though he was young, he had no less shrewdness than an adult.

After switching to sell in the residential area behind the steel plant, the price was a bit lower, but they quickly sold out.

That afternoon, they earned another sixteen yuan.

"In one day we earned as much as half of Dad’s monthly salary."

Jiang Hai was a Level 6 chef at a state-run restaurant, with a salary of more than fifty yuan, quite decent at the time.

Just think how much Jiang Lai earned in one day.

Anyhow, Jiang Li was quite envious, couldn’t help but touch his own ten yuan that he’d saved with great effort, suddenly realizing that following Jiang Lai might lead to a better life.

On the way home, the siblings walked one after another.

The sky was darkening; in each of their baskets was only a thin layer of coal cinders, each about the size of a thumbnail, barely enough to burn.

Shen Yan frowned coldly staring at Jiang Lai.

"You dug this little all day?"

Jiang Lai nodded.

"Useless thing."

Recently, Shen Yan had quarreled with Jiang Hai. Although they had reconciled, the relationship was still tense, so while she despised Jiang Lai, she wouldn’t show too much disdain.

Looking at Jiang Li again, his face dirty and dusty, eyes bruised, nose broken, lips swollen.

Clearly, he’d been beaten.

"Mom, I fell while digging coal cinders."

"Your Sister Yao Yao told me you got into a fight, didn’t you?"

Jiang Li instinctively glanced at Jiang Lai.

"Just a little scuffle, nothing much."

"Yao Yao was worried sick, and I thought, what’s there to worry about kids fighting.

Alright then, if you’re okay, go reassure your Sister Yao Yao so she doesn’t worry."

Jiang Li’s eyes shifted uneasily, feeling a bit uncomfortable, reluctantly went under Shen Yan’s insistence.

Before leaving, he couldn’t help but remind.

"Today my sister even helped me fight, Mom, don’t scold my sister."

Shen Yan frowned and disdainfully said.

"Are you as bewitched as your father?"

Jiang Li mumbled.

"Anyway, scold my sister less next time."

"You little brat, why don’t you care for me like that!"

As he left, Jiang Li still reminded Jiang Lai.

"Alright, sis, I’m leaving then."

Jiang Lai waved her hand.

Shen Yan then looked sternly at Jiang Lai.

"What did you do to your brother?"

"Didn’t do anything, Mom, what are you talking about?"

Jiang Lai looked bewildered.

Shen Yan suspiciously and discontentedly retorted.

"Don’t bring those messy things you learned outside into this house! Both of them acting like they’re under some spell, yet you say you did nothing!"

With her tone and expression, Shen Yan could hardly be associated with the word "mother."

Jiang Lai smiled at her.

"Mom, if my brother calls me sister and you think I put him under a spell, what do you want? You want him to mock and belittle me like he did before, and then you’ll think he’s normal?"

Shen Yan had her reasoning; whether arguing or reasoning, she had never lost.

But facing Jiang Lai, she suddenly felt a bit powerless.

"What’s the use of sharp words? With all the family’s food and clothing being so tight now, ever since you came back, it’s been even harder to make ends meet. I feed you, clothe you, keep you warm; what more do you want? Do you even see me as your mother?"

"Mom, we were just talking about me and my brother, and you brought up family expenses. Fine, since you brought it up, I also want to ask you.

Dad earns over forty yuan a month; all the food and things I use in a day can’t be more than a dime, right? Then where did all the family money go? Where did the vegetables and meat Dad brings home every day go?

Sometimes I suspect there’s a thief at home; otherwise, how does the meat in the cupboard disappear overnight? How can my brothers and I drink porridge all day long, and the forty plus a month still isn’t enough?

It’s really strange, where did all the food, drink, and money go?

Mom, aren’t you at all anxious?"

Listening to this, Shen Yan’s chest heaved violently, her face flushed, breathing rapid.

"Alright, Jiang Lai! Are you blaming me for the accounts now?! This family isn’t yours to meddle with! If you think there’s something wrong with this family, go tell your dad directly, see which family is better and go there!"

Jiang Lai looked at her, still with a calm expression.

"I’m my dad’s daughter, his only daughter, and he makes so much a month, he’s also a chef at a national state-run restaurant, why should I go live with someone else?

If I leave, who will my dad’s lifelong savings for my dowry be left for?

Furthermore, Mom, I am your biological daughter, a member of the Jiang Family, why do you treat me like an enemy, where have you ever seen a mother treat her daughter like this?"

Jiang Lai’s words nearly made Shen Yan explode on the spot.

The audacity of this girl, daring to covet the family’s money! Even thinking about a dowry!

Yao Yao, such a pretty girl, hasn’t even thought about marriage yet, but this deadbeat girl is in such a hurry.

"It’d be a joke, looking like you crawled out of a coal pile, looking dead like your dad, and you still think about getting married?"

"Looking dead like me? Shen Yan, what do you mean?"

No sooner had these words fallen, when Jiang Hai, unbeknownst to Shen Yan, stood behind her, caught her off guard.