Chapter 28: Chapter 28
In fact, did Jiang Yuhua dare? Naturally, she did not.
This was undoubtedly an era where personal conduct issues were taken extremely seriously. When the movement first began, there was even a case in the neighboring tube-style apartment building where a young couple, because of their affectionate relationship, were reported by jealous neighbors for being intimate during the day and were ultimately taken away by the Red Guards and publicly labeled.
Just thinking about the fate of that bright and beautiful young wife back then made Jiang Yuhua shudder all over.
Even if she could explain that the medicine was bought because Old Lu was unwell, that it was Old Lu himself who taught her to get the medicine, and that Lu Huaimin was willing to take it, what use was it?
She was the one who went to the doctor to get the prescription and brewed the medicine. Lu Huaimin even had the incident right in her own bed. Once confirmed, it would only make her already difficult situation even more unbearable.
Given the temperament of this stubborn girl in front of her, if Jiang Yuhua was ruthless enough, it wasn’t impossible that she could be accused of poisoning her own husband and sent away.
Taking a deep breath, looking at the girl in front of her who was no longer timid like before, Jiang Yuhua had no choice but to accept defeat.
“Fine, I can transfer my job to you. But Huai Min’s job must be left to your younger brother!”
Lu Qing beside her looked at her own mother in disbelief. Clearly, she was the one who needed this job the most in the family. Her younger brother was only in middle school, and at worst, he could still attend two more years of high school.
But if she lost her job, her only option would be to go to the countryside.
Originally, there might have been support from the Jiang family, but now that the family was in this mess, Lu Qing was not stupid. She knew exactly how the Jiang family was reacting.
Jiang Yuhua only looked away, ignoring the pleading look from her daughter.
At this moment, overwhelmed by anger and disappointment, Lu Qing even started to hate Lu Xu, who stood beside her.
“Stop!” Just as it was about to turn into a family melodrama, An Ning, sitting on a small stool, watched with great interest, almost wanting to bring a pack of sunflower seeds. Pretending to be impatient, she interrupted their performance:
“I don’t care about your family’s damn mess.”
“I’ll say it one more time: My dad only has me as a daughter. What younger brother do I have?”
“If you want to inherit my dad’s job, it’s simple—bring the money.” An Ning directly reached out her hand:
“Flat price, eight hundred yuan.”
“Eight hundred? Lu Anning, you’re robbing people! A full-time worker in the workshop only makes twenty-six yuan a month now.”
Involved with his own interests, Lu Xu, who had been especially silent from the start, finally couldn’t hold back:
“Oh, so little brother, you can talk too.” An Ning raised an eyebrow:
“I thought you, little brother, would always just sit there with a high and mighty look, waiting for all the benefits to drop into your lap?”
To be honest, at this moment, Lu Qing found herself agreeing a little.
She looked on with satisfaction as the cheap little brother’s face flushed red. An Ning snorted disdainfully:
“Eight hundred? So what about eight hundred? Don’t you see what time it is now, Lu Xu? If you don’t want it, there are plenty who do.”
What a joke—high school graduation was approaching, and the next wave of countryside assignments was about to start. Jobs were still easy to sell.
“But hasn’t mom’s job already been given to you?” Lu Xu’s eyes were red with anger. An Ning was unusually calm beside him:
“That’s your compensation, isn’t it? You should know my dad is still bedridden because of you!”
“Besides, if I remember correctly, when Aunt Jiang married in, she was penniless, and it was my dad who found her a job.”
“Now it’s just returning things to their rightful owner. Don’t forget, even the house you’re standing on belongs to my family.”
“Can’t help it, my dad only has me as his biological daughter!”
In short, no matter how you look at it, everything that belonged to Cheap Dad now belongs to me, Lu Anning. I won’t let anyone take even a penny of it.
Seeing An Ning’s smug expression, Lu Xu looked excited as if wanting to say something, but Jiang Yuhua quickly grabbed her cheap son’s hand with a sharp move.
“Alright, eight hundred it is. I agree.”
See? This is what a smart person looks like!
An Ning nodded in satisfaction:
“Aunt Jiang, since you’re so reasonable, I’ll give you one more free piece of news. I wasn’t the only one who saw you brewing medicine that day.”
Ignoring the ugly expression of her cheap stepmother behind her, which scared the child into tears, An Ning pocketed her “huge sum” and leisurely returned to her room, not forgetting to lock the door from the inside.
Only then did she happily sit on the small bed and start counting the money.
Though Cheap Dad was a director, the house the Lu family got was generally bigger than others—it was a rare three-bedroom, one-living-room layout, though the total area was only fifty square meters and the rooms were pitifully small.
The original owner had been able to monopolize a small room thanks to throwing tantrums as a child. When Jiang Yuhua first married in, she was busy managing her reputation. Even if she hated it with gritted teeth, in the end, she had no choice but to build a wall in the other small bedroom for the siblings.
These days, it was a blessing for An Ning. Once the door was closed, no one could see inside.
She put the entire 4,600 yuan cash she had “found,” along with various scattered industrial vouchers and a stack of grain coupons, into her storage space. Since coming through the time travel, An Ning finally felt a bit safe.
As for the original owner’s mother’s dowry box, An Ning, with her years of experience in the Wang mansion, could tell that although the wood wasn’t top grade, it was still quite exquisite.
It was fine rosewood.
Just as An Ning had suspected earlier, the original owner’s mother’s identity might not be pure. Although she was said to be the daughter of a maid who lost her family during the war, An Ning still had some memories of how the original owner’s grandmother looked when alive. In demeanor and everything else, she was worlds apart from the original owner’s biological mother.
Especially the jade pendant in An Ning’s hand—whether in quality of the stone or carving technique, it was quite rare. It was obviously the same type as the jade pendant the little girl had carried for so many years.
After only a brief glance, An Ning also put these into her storage without hesitation.
Her swift action even made the system twitch at the corner of its mouth: “Host, aren’t you curious about the original owner’s background? Maybe this body has some impressive relatives later on?”
The system was almost blatantly hinting, and An Ning naturally responded, though she wasn’t particularly concerned: “So what if there are?”
“How many years have passed without even seeing those relatives? How much affection could there be?”
Besides, if the original owner’s biological mother were really that important, there wouldn’t have been decades of silence.
In those days, a young unmarried girl and a sickly maid traveling alone was obviously risky—anyone could see that.
“Host, don’t be so pessimistic!”
Seeing the system acting as if it knew something, An Ning squinted: “Is it related to the future plot, the female lead?”
“Could it be that this jade pendant, like a token, eventually becomes the female lead’s possession and she gains some benefits in the future?”
As expected, having such a sharp host wasn’t always a good thing.
“In short, don’t worry, host. The original owner’s relatives are actually quite good because the female lead helped this body out quite a bit in the countryside, so she took fewer detours in her future career!”
“Don’t tell me the female lead’s so-called help was just using twenty yuan and a few grain coupons to exchange for this piece of ancient jade that might be worth tens of thousands or even millions later on.”