Chapter 5: Wages Given to Mom for Safekeeping

That night, an air of stagnation hung over the Shen family home.

“Are you tired? Dinner’s almost ready…”

Liu Cailan entered carrying dishes.

Their house was small, lacking a kitchen; the entire floor shared a single one.

By the time she brought the dishes in, most of the food had gone cold.

Shen Dacai picked up his chopsticks and took a couple of bites of rice.

He sighed.

“The boss said he wants to talk to me tomorrow. I don’t know what it’s about.”

His eyebrows were tightly furrowed, a deep crease etched between them.

Upon hearing this, Liu Cailan froze.

“What?”

Her heart skipped a beat.

Her husband was just a lowly temporary worker; what could possibly require the boss to personally talk to him?

Could it be that he was going to be fired?

She was so flustered she almost fell to the ground.

“What if you lose your job? Yaozu still needs to go to school. Where will we get the money for living expenses?”

Liu Cailan’s face drained of color.

She had previously worked as a temporary worker in a garment factory, but her health wasn’t good, and the factory was fully staffed, so she couldn’t continue working there.

Now, the entire family depended on Shen Dacai’s income!

“Stop fussing! We don’t even know what’s going on yet!”

Shen Dacai slammed his chopsticks on the table.

His eyes were filled with a murky anger.

But in reality, his thoughts were similar to Liu Cailan’s.

This job was most likely going to be lost.

He had previously thought that temporary work paid little, but now he realized that even a temporary job was about to disappear!

“But… I’m just afraid we won’t have any money later. You know how expensive everything is.”

Liu Cailan’s face was a picture of misery.

After dinner, Liu Cailan asked Shen Xiuxiu to help wash the dishes, but she immediately refused, claiming her hand was injured.

Frightened, Liu Cailan wanted to check what happened.

Shen Xiuxiu dodged her.

She simply didn’t want to wash dishes.

She hadn’t washed dishes in the village. She came to be a young lady, not a servant!

Liu Cailan saw right through her.

She clutched her chest.

“My chest feels tight. Your dad might lose his job, Xiuxiu. Be a good girl and help Mom wash the dishes…”

Shen Xiuxiu rolled her eyes.

She glanced at Shen Yaozu, who was lying on the bed after finishing his meal.

“Why don’t you ask him to do it? I worked all day, what did he do? He just eats and lies in bed!”

She was annoyed!

Hearing this, Liu Cailan sighed.

“Xiuxiu, what are you saying? He’s your brother. Men don’t do housework, do they?

Just pity your mother, okay? Mom is really uncomfortable!”

Liu Cailan sat down.

“I won’t wash them. I have to work and wash dishes, and you always make me wash clothes. If I had known this, I shouldn’t have recognized you!”

Shen Xiuxiu was truly angry.

Why?

Was Shen Yaozu the prince?

He didn’t have to do anything? Everything fell on Shen Xiuxiu?

Crazy!

Liu Cailan was stunned.

Why didn’t she want to do it?

When Shen Anan was around, she didn’t need to say much; Shen Anan was always eager to help with chores.

Her biological daughter was less considerate than the adopted one?

Just as she was about to say something, she remembered something.

While Shen Dacai went out drinking, she grabbed Shen Xiuxiu’s hand.

“Xiuxiu, it’s okay if you don’t wash the dishes. Mom will do it. There’s something I want to discuss with you…”

“What is it?”

Shen Xiuxiu didn’t give her a good look.

If it weren’t for her rebirth and knowledge of the Shen family’s future prosperity, she wouldn’t bother being so polite to them!

She couldn’t understand how the Shen family had the luck to get rich!

Liu Cailan forced a smile.

“You now have Shen Anan’s job at the supply and marketing cooperative, right? I heard it pays around 27 or 28 yuan a month.

Now that your dad’s job is in jeopardy, and Mom hasn’t found a suitable job, you can give your salary to Mom. That way, you won’t waste your money, right?”

She tried to sound like she was negotiating.

If it were Shen Anan, there wouldn’t be any negotiation; the salary would belong to her mother!

But Liu Cailan could see that this biological daughter wasn’t easy to talk to, so she had to be tactful.

Even if she didn’t hand over all the twenty-odd yuan, keeping a few yuan for herself was acceptable.

However, she didn’t expect Shen Xiuxiu to shake off her hand.

“I don’t earn that much! It’s only about ten or twenty yuan a month, and the payment is irregular!

If you need money, then go get a job. You and Dad are not disabled. What do you mean by eyeing my money?!”

After saying this, Shen Xiuxiu left.

She didn’t want to face her mother’s face.

All day long, she didn’t show any affection for her daughter, only calculation!

Yes, she got this job from Shen Anan.

But she worked for it herself! Wasn’t she the one who was tired?

She had found out the salary quite clearly, it was indeed twenty-seven yuan a month.

But why should she hand it over?

If she gave it to them, would the money be spent on her?

Wouldn’t it all go to Shen Yaozu?

That night, at the Huo family’s house.

Shen Anan was standing in Huo Rufeng’s room as usual.

After washing the dishes and clothes, she usually had nothing to do.

Aunt Yang had instructed her to keep an eye on Huo Rufeng.

After all, it was inconvenient for him to be in a wheelchair.

It was… a little awkward.

She didn’t know why, but she wasn’t as nervous around Uncle Huo and Aunt Yang. But when facing Huo Rufeng, she felt every hair on her body stand on end.

“If you have nothing to do, you can sit down and read a book.”

Huo Rufeng glanced at Shen Anan.

He had initially thought she wasn’t stupid, but it seemed he had misjudged her.

She was indeed stupid.

Otherwise, why would she be afraid of him?

Would he eat her?

If it weren’t for his parents insisting on having Shen Anan watch him, they would have to come and accompany him personally; otherwise, he wouldn’t have kept her there.

“Oh, okay…”

Shen Anan sat down stiffly, then scanned the bookshelves.

She unexpectedly found a book on traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions, picked it up, and started reading.

She was so engrossed that she didn’t change her position for a long time.

Huo Rufeng looked over curiously.

There was a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

Medical books, were they interesting?

Until the clock struck eleven at night.

Shen Anan finally came to her senses.

She hurriedly put down the book.

“Then I’ll go to bed?”

Usually after eleven o’clock, Huo Rufeng would prepare to rest. He didn’t like anyone watching him after that time.

Including his parents.

Shen Anan naturally didn’t dare to disobey him.

She was afraid of him.

Her body was ready to leave.

But the next moment, she heard him ask in a low voice, “Do you like reading medical books?”

Shen Anan froze.

She nodded.

“During summer vacations, my parents… my adoptive parents would send me back to my grandmother’s in the countryside. She was a barefoot doctor, and villagers would go to her for treatment.

Every summer vacation, I helped her cultivate and dry medicinal herbs, and I would watch her treat people.

Maybe because of that, I became interested in medicine.”

Shen Anan didn’t mention that when she was in junior high school, she had always been the top student in her grade and planned to go to a technical secondary school to study medicine.

But who knew…