Chapter 3

It was Liu Meili who had returned. She went straight into the room next door without coming this way. Zhong Mumu immediately shuddered in fear. The moment he heard that their food might be taken away, he shook his head like a rattle. “I won’t tell! I won’t tell! I promise!” The sky gradually darkened. After eating their fill, the siblings used a wooden stick to brace the door shut before climbing onto the kang to sleep. There was no denying it—the room was tiny, dark, and terribly run-down. It was so small that it could barely fit the earthen kang where the siblings slept, leaving less than two square meters of space around it. It was so dark that even during the day, the only part of the room that could be seen was the area illuminated by the tiny north-facing window. And it was so dilapidated that at night, they could actually see the stars overhead through the gaps in the roof… This place had originally been a livestock shed made of packed earth. The Zhong family had never divided the household. Zhong Xixi and her brother had originally lived with their parents in the eastern room. After their parents died, however, Aunt Liu Meili claimed that the children didn’t need such a spacious room. It would be better to give it to their second brother for his marriage. So they built a kang in this old shed and moved the siblings in. The broken wooden door had only been added later. Zhong Xixi had eventually learned that giving the eastern room to the second brother had actually been a condition specifically demanded by his wife before she married into the family. This whole family… Every single one of them knew how to scheme. The original owner had been weak and easy to bully. But now that Zhong Xixi was here, bullying her would no longer be so easy. With the ruthless determination she had developed while fighting her way through her career in her previous life, no one would be able to take advantage of her. And now she also had that mysterious warehouse containing billions’ worth of goods. She would definitely work hard and make sure that she and her little brother lived better and better in this era! Thinking about all this… She slowly drifted off to sleep. The next morning, when Zhong Xixi woke up, she heard her aunt talking to her two daughters-in-law while preparing breakfast. She leaned over and peeked through the crack in the door. Liu Meili was pursing her lips and gesturing toward their room. “Tell her to stay inside. Don’t let her eat. Let those two little brats starve!” “And don’t give her anything even if she comes out. She actually wants to take away our little girl’s things. What right does she have to eat?” The second daughter-in-law was leisurely picking wild vegetables. Hearing this, her eyes shifted, and she immediately smiled ingratiatingly. “Exactly. She deserves it for refusing to listen to you, Mom. That wild girl is nowhere near as good as Chuchu, yet she still has the nerve to compete with her.” After all, her mother-in-law had given birth to three sons before finally having a daughter. The youngest daughter was the most pampered person in the family, the apple of Liu Meili’s eye. Praising her was always a safe bet. Sure enough, Liu Meili was delighted by the words and immediately assigned her the easiest task. “You go over there and peel the garlic.” The eldest daughter-in-law was more straightforward by nature and still possessed at least a tiny bit of conscience. She simply kept working silently without saying anything. As for Liu Meili’s three sons and one daughter, none of them ever lifted a finger to help. They had already settled themselves in the northern room, waiting to be served like lords. “Mom, don’t give all the eggs to me. Let my sisters-in-law have some, too!” Zhong Chuchu called out sweetly, putting on an innocent, coquettish act. She had always been good at pretending. In modern terms, she was the classic two-faced “green tea” type. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to seduce the original owner’s fiancé, Bai Shuheng, so quickly or manipulate Liu Meili so completely. Liu Meili immediately smiled affectionately. “Oh, my daughter is such a kind-hearted girl! But there’s only one egg, so you should have it first.” “You know, we’re all daughters of the family, yet some people get to eat eggs while others can’t even get a mouthful of water. People only get what they earn for themselves!” Zhong Xixi rolled her eyes. She hadn’t even opened the door, yet the woman was obviously saying all this for her to hear. Fine. If they weren’t going to give her food, so be it. She had plenty of food of her own! An egg? She didn’t want it anyway. Once she was certain everyone outside had gone into the northern room to eat, she tested her ability. She took a huge basket of steamed meat buns out of the warehouse. Nine in total. Enough for her and her brother to eat for an entire day. She had discovered something interesting. Although the warehouse limited the number of times she could retrieve things each day, the quantity of an item didn’t seem to matter as long as the unit was considered “one.” For example, one basket, one barrel, or even one truckload could apparently be retrieved as a single item. The problem was that taking too much would leave her nowhere to hide it. And if she were discovered, she would be the one suffering. So she only took one basket of buns. These were also from the first section of the warehouse. That section contained ordinary everyday foods such as steamed buns, mantou, roast chicken, roast duck, noodles, and other common staples. She picked out a few buns and ate them with her little brother. As expected of food from a warehouse worth billions, everything had been made with the finest ingredients. They tasted amazing! Zhong Mumu was eating until his mouth was covered in grease, his face filled with both satisfaction and disbelief. Zhong Xixi once again reminded him never to tell anyone about their parents sending them food in their dreams. Zhong Mumu nodded repeatedly. Zhong Xixi couldn’t help thinking that children really were easy to fool. After reassuring the little boy, she hid the remaining buns in the corner at the head of the kang. She then retrieved a first-aid kit for treating external injuries from the warehouse. She had completely forgotten to treat her wound. She couldn’t risk it becoming infected. She had her brother help remove the messy bandages from her wrist. Then she carefully disinfected the wound, applied medicine, and wrapped it properly with gauze. After pulling her sleeve down over it, there was no way anyone could notice unless they looked closely. Fortunately, the original owner had been timid and hadn’t cut very deeply. It should heal soon. Zhong Xixi patted her little brother on the head. Then she glanced toward the door and narrowed her eyes slightly. Now that she had eaten her fill, gotten enough sleep, and regained her strength… It was time to settle some old scores. Even if she found the jade bracelet, there was no way she would hand it over. And although she didn’t care about the breakfast they had deliberately withheld from her, she certainly wasn’t going to let them have things their way. With that thought, she pushed open the door and walked outside. The eldest daughter-in-law was carrying bowls and chopsticks out of the northern room. It seemed everyone had already finished eating. When she saw Zhong Xixi, an awkward expression flashed across her face. “Little sister, you… Why did you get up so late? Look, we’ve already finished breakfast.” Before Zhong Xixi could answer, the second daughter-in-law came over, twisted her waist, and tugged at the eldest daughter-in-law. “Why bother with her? Mom told you to hurry up and wash the dishes!” She then shot Zhong Xixi a sideways glance. “In this family, not everyone deserves to eat.” Zhong Xixi wasn’t angry. She simply snorted and headed toward the northern room. “That’s right. People who don’t work don’t deserve to eat. Fortunately, I do the most work in this family, so I definitely deserve a meal.” “As for certain people… well, that’s another matter.” “You!” The second daughter-in-law immediately looked down at her own empty hands and realized that Zhong Xixi was clearly taking a jab at her. “You wild girl! All you know how to do is spout nonsense. I was talking about you! You have no parents, yet you freeload off our family. You even want to take Chuchu’s things. Have you no shame? What right do you have to eat?” As she spoke, she noticed that Zhong Xixi was actually heading straight toward the northern room. She hurried forward to block her, shouting at the top of her lungs. “Mom! This wretched girl is trying to steal food!” She wasn’t entirely doing this because she hated Zhong Xixi. She was simply very good at reading the situation. Her mother-in-law hated Zhong Xixi now, so naturally, she had to attack her as hard as possible. That way, her mother-in-law would see how useful she was and give their branch of the family more benefits. Her shout brought Liu Meili and the others rushing out of the room. They immediately blocked the doorway. Since the matter involved her, Zhong Chuchu instantly put on her hypocritical, innocent expression. “Cousin, why are you in such a hurry? Are you angry because Mom didn’t call you for breakfast? She only did it for your own good.” “I’m about to marry Shuheng, after all. You’re refusing to return the jade bracelet that belongs to his family, and everyone will laugh at you.” “Why don’t you just hand it over? Then Mom won’t have to withhold a meal from you.” Liu Meili immediately chimed in. “Exactly! You’re already this old, yet you still don’t understand even the most basic things. What right do you have to eat?”