Chapter 54: The Pitiful Female Supporting Character from a Patriarchal Family in the 2000s (1)

“Where is everyone? Is no one running this shop?”

Ai Xiaoling had just left the counter for a short while when someone suddenly shouted from inside. The voice was rough and filled with impatience.

“Coming, coming.” She responded while running over. Her fair and rosy face was full of smiles, and her attitude was extremely enthusiastic. She quickly apologized as she spoke. “Brother, I’m really sorry. What would you like to buy?”

The man saw Ai Xiaoling’s good attitude and his expression eased a little. He pulled out a piece of paper. “I came to buy some materials.”

“Let me take a look.” Ai Xiaoling took the paper and lowered her head to read it carefully. “Glass straight tube, five-hole socket, single bottom box…”

“Do you have these?” the man asked again.

Ai Xiaoling smiled. “We have everything. We carry all kinds of renovation materials here. Please wait a moment. I’ll go get them for you now.”

After speaking, she took the paper and walked inside. Her thin figure moved nimbly through the small store packed with all kinds of materials and metal pipes. She bent down at times and climbed the ladder at others, quickly gathering a pile of materials.

Then she recorded everything one by one on the delivery slip. As she checked the items, she quickly tapped on the calculator. In no time, the total amount was calculated. She handed it to the man with both hands. “Brother, the total is one hundred and four.”

The man took it and looked. She added, “Four doesn’t sound good. I’ll just charge you one hundred yuan. How about that?”

“Alright then.” The man didn’t look much and took out the money to pay the bill.

Ai Xiaoling took the money. “This is the delivery slip. If there’s any issue, you can just bring it back. If it doesn’t fit, it can be returned or exchanged. If it’s not convenient for you to come, we can come and collect it.”

“Mm.”

“Take care. Come again if you need anything.”

……

Ai Xiaoling saw the customer off and sat back at the counter again.

The place where she worked was a hardware and electrical construction materials shop in Shan’an County. It mainly sold various pipes and wire conduits, as well as stainless steel switches and other hardware needed for renovations.

This store was only about one hundred square meters. Because the range of items sold was diverse, it was packed to the brim. Only a very narrow aisle was left for her to fetch goods. A second floor had been separated out, where various plastic flexible pipes were stored.

Having just run back and forth to fetch a pile of goods, Ai Xiaoling’s back was already soaked in sweat. Her clothes were a bit damp.

The weather was really hot.

It was summer, and the temperature outside was over thirty degrees. The store was located by the main road. The road was baked hot by the sun, and whenever the wind blew, the dry heat swept in, making it stuffy and uncomfortable.

The good thing was that because it was so hot, not many people came to shop, so she could rest for a while.

Ai Xiaoling pulled the fan closer, wishing it could blow directly at her.

She really wanted to be in an air-conditioned room, but it was now 2003. Many families in the county couldn’t afford air conditioning. Everyone just used fans.

Ai Xiaoling had suddenly woken up in the middle of the night last night and found herself in a strange environment. Immediately after, a flood of memories that did not belong to her rushed into her mind.

Only then did she understand everything.

In her previous life, she had died of illness at the age of twenty-five. But that was just one cycle in her countless lifetimes. She was destined to be a cannon-fodder supporting female character, and a blood bank for her original family.

Because she had too many unresolved regrets and a deep accumulation of resentment, she was dragged back to her first life.

This world was one written by a certain creator. Ai Xiaoling was also one of the creations. Her life trajectory was too familiar to her.

She was born in a rural family in the south. After graduating from junior high school, she went out to work.

During that time, all the money she earned was handed over to her family to repay the so-called upbringing they had given her.

Ai Xiaoling worked as a waitress for a few years. The job was hard, and the pay was low. But she was smart. After moving between a few stores and seeing that this shop was hiring, she immediately came to apply.

As a waitress, she had free meals and lodging, but the monthly salary was only five hundred yuan, with no future. At this store, the monthly wage was one thousand yuan. She could sleep alone in a room on the second floor. After deducting food expenses, it was quite worthwhile. It was considered a high salary at the time.

Other than the proprietress, Ai Xiaoling was the only salesperson in the shop. She had no days off, and constantly moving building materials around was physically exhausting.

Having done farm work since childhood, Ai Xiaoling was used to it and thought it was okay. If she occasionally complained, Mother Ai would always tell her not to be picky. Digging in the fields all day might not even earn a few yuan.

She thought that made sense, so she endured the hardship without complaint. In the blink of an eye, she had already worked in this store for over a year. In her heart, she often felt grateful and fortunate.

Ai Xiaoling looked at the stack of delivery slips she had carefully organized. Her eyes looked a bit desolate.

She had a very good memory and learned things very quickly. Back in school, her grades were always among the top. But for a rural family, educating a girl was expensive. Every time a new term began, paying the tuition was a struggle. They had to scrape the money together.

After graduating from junior high school, her family naturally did not plan for her to attend high school.

In Mother Ai’s words, finishing junior high school was already a blessing. Many people only completed primary school before starting to earn money to support their families.

Ai Xiaoling was never willing to accept her fate. While working, she also learned how to run a hardware store. She thought that if she had money in the future, she would open one too because it was very profitable.

The goods in a hardware store not only had high profit margins but also did not spoil. Even if they were not sold for ten years, they could still be kept. Moreover, when people ran short of materials during renovations, they would come quickly to buy what was needed for the workers. Few people haggled over the price.

This was a viable business, but the cost of opening a store was very high. At the very least, you had to stock goods worth a hundred thousand or several hundred thousand yuan.

But fate never let Ai Xiaoling go.

Just when she had a clear vision for her future, Mother Ai had someone introduce her to a marriage and sent her off to marry far away in another province. That was the start of her tragic life.

“Ding—”

A small cargo truck pulled up at the entrance of the store. After the vehicle stopped, a man with a buzz cut got down. Because he frequently delivered goods outdoors, his skin had been tanned to a wheat-like color. The vest he was wearing was already soaked through with sweat, and beads of perspiration dotted his sharp-featured face.

Ai Xiaoling stood up, raised her hand to block the sun, walked out under the blazing sunlight, pointed at the materials she had already sorted, then handed a piece of paper to Ye Zhou. “This is the delivery slip. After delivering, you need to collect the payment.”

This store was operated by only three people. Besides Ai Xiaoling, the other two were Ye family members. Mother Ye was the boss, and Ye Zhou was her son. He was two years older than Ai Xiaoling and was responsible for deliveries and payment collection.

Mother Ye was a strong woman who could endure hardship. After divorcing, she started from scratch with Ye Zhou and established this construction materials store through her own hard work. Later, she made money and, a couple of years ago, used all her savings to buy this three-story building.

Because it faced the main road and had decent foot traffic, the building cost nearly six hundred thousand yuan.

Ai Xiaoling’s monthly salary was only one thousand yuan. What did six hundred thousand mean? She would have to work her entire life to earn that much. In her hometown, you could build a nice single-story house for twenty or thirty thousand yuan. That used to be her dream.

Of course, Mother Ye didn’t lose money by buying this building. A dozen years later, housing prices and land value skyrocketed. This building would be worth more than eight million. But by then, the Ye family no longer cared about a few million.

Ye Zhou took the delivery slip and casually put it in the truck, then began loading the goods onto the vehicle.

Ai Xiaoling went to help.

“I can do it myself. There’s not much anyway.” Ye Zhou glanced at her and spoke.

“Alright then. I won’t get in your way.” Ai Xiaoling stopped moving and stood back a little, watching Ye Zhou work with some guilt.

The sun was scorching hot. As soon as she stepped outside, she started sweating.

If it weren’t for the fact that Mother Ye had gone to attend a wedding banquet, she definitely wouldn’t dare act like this and would have already helped load the goods.

But Ai Xiaoling kept persuading herself that she was only responsible for watching the shop. Delivering goods was Ye Zhou’s task, so of course, he should load the goods himself. It was understandable that she did not help.

Ye Zhou kept moving back and forth under the blazing sun, carrying goods. His arms were covered in sweat, and the sweat on his forehead dripped down his cheeks, but his movements were not the least bit sluggish. He finished loading quickly.

Before getting in the vehicle and closing the door, Ye Zhou said to her, “I’m heading out to make the delivery.”

“Okay. Drive safe.” Ai Xiaoling smiled and reminded him.

Ye Zhou nodded.

After he drove away, Ai Xiaoling did not rush back inside but instead stood there staring in the direction the truck had gone, a little lost in thought.

Who would have thought that the male lead of this world was Ye Zhou, the one who delivered goods at this small store every day?

Because Ai Xiaoling was capable and quick-witted, clearly a talent in business, Mother Ye had actually once considered making her her daughter-in-law. However, Mother Ai had already arranged for her to marry far away in Province A through a matchmaker. Later, Ye Zhou also ended up in Province A.

He succeeded in starting a business, opening several large companies, all in the building materials industry.

But Ai Xiaoling lived an extremely miserable life during those years. She divorced and had no place to stay. To be precise, she was abandoned.

With nowhere to turn, Ai Xiaoling ran into the now-successful Ye Zhou in Province A. Her days after marriage had been so bitter that they had worn away all her edges.

She recalled that Mother Ye had once wanted her as a daughter-in-law, and Ye Zhou did not seem to have opposed it. So, she tried to get closer to him, hoping to find a safe harbor because everyone looked down on her and bullied her over the years.

Ai Xiaoling was drawn to Ye Zhou’s ability. She hoped to rise from the ashes.

But Ye Zhou already had a fiancée.

What followed were a series of vicious actions from the female supporting character. Ai Xiaoling not only hurt herself but also caused Ye Zhou to lose the last bit of good impression he had of her.

Thinking of the pitiful ending of her role as the vicious supporting character, Ai Xiaoling sighed and couldn’t help but feel sorry for herself. But then she thought again, in her last life, she died at the age of twenty-five. At least in this life, she was living longer, which meant there were endless possibilities.This start wasn’t too tragic.