Chapter 47: Taking Us Zhao Family for Suckers

Chapter 47: Taking Us Zhao Family for Suckers

Zhao Long carefully washed his hands, keeping in mind what Su An had instructed him to do. He scooped three cups of rice from the bin, washed it three times, added half a ladle of water, and placed it on the stove.

Once he was done, he approached Su An with an uneasy expression, his tone overly polite as he tried to please her.

"I, I've cooked the rice."

Su An's eyes remained on her book, and she didn't lift her head. "Oh, use some common sense. If the rice is cooked, wash the bowls. Do I really need to tell you that?"

The sudden rise in her voice startled Zhao Long, and he lowered his eyes, hiding the fierce look within.

"Yes, I'll do that right away."

Zhao Hu, who was sweeping the floor, and Zhao Feng, who was picking vegetables, shrank back upon hearing their brother being scolded.

After about twenty minutes, feeling the time was right, Su An put down her book.

She walked into the kitchen and saw that the ventilation lid of the coal stove had been covered, with the rice pot sitting next to it. She lifted the lid and saw that the rice was perfectly cooked.

Su An sneered. In her past life, she'd been treated like a pampered young master, never having to serve herself. Yet here she was, managing just fine on her own.

She searched through a jar and took out three salted duck eggs, cutting them open. She also stir-fried the vegetables that Zhao Feng had washed and folded.

Su An filled a big bowl of rice for herself and sat in the kitchen eating.

In the corner of the living room, the three Zhao children huddled together, listening to Su An eating. They nudged each other.

"Zhao Hu, she's eating. Didn't she call us?"

"She's such a witch, why would she invite us? Should we ask if we can eat?"

Zhao Long shook his head. "I'm not going. If you want to go, go."

Zhao Hu refused. "I don't dare. Looking for a beating?"

The two brothers pushed each other, then simultaneously looked at Zhao Feng behind them.

"Send that good-for-nothing in there."

Zhao Feng looked at her brothers, her eyes wide with fear. "Brothers, I'm scared."

Zhao Long bared his teeth, shoved her roughly, and pinched her arm. "Go quickly, or I'll strangle you."

Zhao Feng shrank back and slowly moved towards the kitchen door.

Behind her, Zhao Long and Zhao Hu glared fiercely. "What are you waiting for? She'll finish all the food if you don't hurry!"

"Exactly, we worked too. Why aren't we allowed to eat?"

The two brothers were too scared to face Su An and risk another scolding, so they forced their sister to go instead.

Su An quickly finished her rice and refilled her bowl halfway. She glanced at Zhao Feng, who was hesitating at the door, without lifting her eyelids.

The salted duck eggs were perfectly preserved, with rich, oily yolks that complemented the fresh greens beautifully.

Her eating speed was very fast, a habit developed from her previous life.

Zhao Feng hesitated, unsure how to start, occasionally glancing back at her brothers behind her.

Su An finished eating, tossed the bowl aside, and headed outside.

She grabbed the book from the table and glared at Zhao Long and Zhao Hu. "Don't you dare disturb me while I'm reading. If you make a sound and distract me, I'll beat you senseless!"

Without waiting for a response, she took the book back to her room.

Hearing the door slam shut, the kids relaxed and bolted for the kitchen.

There was half a salted duck egg on the stove, a few leftover veggies, and just the crispy rice at the bottom of the pot.

Zhao Feng, quick as a flash, snatched the half-eaten salted duck egg.

Before her brothers could react, she grabbed a piece of burnt rice crust that Su An had thrown back into the pot and quickly stuffed it into her mouth.

Zhao Long and Zhao Hu, seeing their usually timid sister daring to grab the egg, pulled her hair.

Fiercely, they pried the half salted duck egg from her hand.

The children wrestled in the kitchen but didn’t dare make a sound.

Xiao Jiliang couldn’t get any money from Su An. Fortunately, Zhao Daxing was a steel factory employee, so the medical fees could be put on account.

"Mom, she tricked you. Over two thousand yuan—how could it all be spent in just one afternoon?"

Zhao Daxing, supported by Xiao Jiliang, hopped off the bed on one foot.

He had been holding it in, almost peeing the bed, and the humiliation was too much to bear.

Struggling under her son’s weight, Xiao Jiliang hauled him to the washroom, drenched in sweat.

After helping Zhao Daxing back onto the hospital bed, Xiao Jiliang continued the previous conversation.

"But we searched that day and found nothing at home. When she took things out of her bag, she just tossed it carelessly onto the sofa, and it didn’t look like there was much money inside."

A fierce look flashed in Zhao Daxing’s eyes. "She must have sent it back to the Su family."

"The Su family is a bunch of frauds. They cheated us into marriage. Now, together with that b*tch Su An, they’re trying to ruin our family. Before marriage, we met a few times. Didn’t you notice she changed completely after marrying in?"

"She’s pretending well, almost killed me."

"You think I’m scared of them? Hell no, I won’t let them get away with this!"

Xiao Jiliang was also filled with anger, her face twisted. "With your condition, someone needs to stay here. We also need to take care of the kids at home. Last night, the boys went hungry—that heartless woman didn’t care at all. I’m running between home and the hospital; where do I have the time to go to the Su family?"

"I’ll go to Huai Town tomorrow to bring your elder sister here to take care of you for a while. We’ll have an extra hand."

Thinking of his elder sister, who married a burly butcher in Huai Town, Zhao Daxing nodded hurriedly.

"The round trip will take two hours. I’ll leave early tomorrow, so I won’t bring you breakfast. I’ll ask the nurse to pick up some porridge for you tomorrow."

Su An had run around three scrapyards in City A that day. Although she got herself covered in dust and looked quite a mess, the haul was worth it, bringing back many books, including a complete set of first-year high school textbooks and two used class notes.

When Xiao Jiliang returned, hearing the sound of water from the washroom, she knew Su An was bathing.

Thinking about the missing money, she quietly pushed open Su An’s door.

She turned the bag inside out but found nothing except for over twenty yuan in change, though she did see a neatly arranged stack of books on the table.

She had seen Su An fondling these things several times.

She leaned over and flipped through them. Xiao Jiliang, who had attended a basic education class, could easily tell they were high school textbooks.

Wasn't Su An supposed to have failed to get into high school?

She had heard people in the compound talk about it before; if you missed the cutoff by just a few points, you'd have to pay at least 600 yuan to enroll.

If you missed by a lot, top schools could charge several thousand yuan.

Remembering what Su An had said yesterday about the money being spent for her education, she stared at the books.

Xiao Jiliang's hand trembled as she touched the books. "Whore, went back to school? Is she trying to make fools out of us Zhao family members?"