Chapter 21: Mother Zhao Comes Clean—Actually, I’m Super Rich!

Back then, the agreement was clear.

As long as her two sons had no money to build a house, they could always live there.

Even if they were to be kicked out, it would have to wait until they found a partner or got married.

But now, neither of the two sons even had a girlfriend.

What they were doing now was simply trying to cut them off completely!

Mother Zhao faintly felt that something wasn’t right.

Ever since Zhao Qianqian stole Qian Sanya’s fiancé, she felt less and less able to handle the old Qian family.

Could it be that she had exposed her true face as a not-so-good stepmother?

Or was it really possible that just Qian Sanya alone could turn the entire old Qian family against her?

Whatever the reason, Mother Zhao thought she needed to leave a backup plan for her children.

“Qianqian, now that you’re working, do you know where there are still jobs for sale?” Mother Zhao laid her cards on the table. “Don’t worry, money is not a problem.”

“You plan to buy a job for Brother?”

“Mm!”

Actually, what Zhao Qianqian wanted to say was: “I originally planned to give my job to my brother, but if I give it to him, I won’t be able to make any money from the transfer. For example, when I gave it to Second Cousin, I could openly take a 25-yuan cut, but if I gave it to my brother, I’d feel embarrassed to even take 15 yuan.”

After all, this job was bought by Mother Zhao.

How could she ask for commission when giving it to her own brother?

Besides, her brother was especially hardworking. With the Qian family village’s work points being worth more, he earned ten work points a month, and occasionally took carpentry jobs, bringing in more than ten yuan a month.

If she deducted fifteen yuan in commission, the 28-yuan salary would only leave thirteen yuan.

That was even worse than letting her brother keep working in the village!

Because living in Qian family village meant they could justifiably occupy a room in the old Qian family’s house.

Even if it were taken back, they would still have to give them half a room.

Anyway, if it’s free, why not take advantage?

“Mom, why are you suddenly so eager to buy Brother a job?” Zhao Qianqian asked.

Madam Zhao sighed. “Qian Ertian has always been scheming, and his not-yet-married wife is even more cunning. Nowadays, Old Qian’s feelings for me aren’t what they used to be… there’s trouble ahead!”

“Just divorce him already~!” Zhao Qianqian advised on the side.

Because she knew the plot.

Later, Qian Sanya wouldn’t only target her and stir up trouble between her and Zeng Cheng.

She would also go after Mother Zhao and her two sons.

Sooner or later, things would turn ugly.

So why not take this chance to escape, and suffer less from Qian Sanya’s schemes?

“Even if I divorce,” a flash of ruthlessness appeared in Madam Zhao’s eyes, “I have to draw blood. These years, although they’ve been harsh to us, from daily living expenses and our earned work points, I’ve saved nearly 2,000 yuan.”

At that moment, Mother Zhao came clean.

Not only did she have money, she had a lot of it.

Two thousand yuan—even in the wealthy Qian family village, that was a huge sum.

Not to mention in other villages!

Even the worldly Zhao Qianqian gasped when she heard that amount.

As for Mother Zhao’s two sons, they were dumbfounded.

Two thousand?

Even Zeng Cheng couldn’t produce that much money.

No wonder Mother Zhao could afford to buy Qianqian a 600-yuan job as a dowry and still have money to buy her elder son a job!

Before, the book described her mother and brothers as total scumbags.

Zhao Qianqian hadn’t really believed it.

She thought it was just the heroine Qian Sanya smearing her mother and brothers.

But who would have thought…

Her mother really was a super white lotus!

Two thousand yuan wasn’t something you could save just by being kind-hearted and hardworking.

Zhao Qianqian was sure: “For that money, my mother must have worked some other angles too!”

Hehe.

A super white lotus was great.

The stronger her mother’s combat power, the more comfortable Zhao Qianqian’s life would be.

If she ever had to face off against the reborn heroine, she’d have backup!

In the heroine’s eyes, this “super scumbag stepmother” …

Zhao Qianqian had already noticed something.

That so-called gentle, kind, stepmother who treated her stepchildren well probably took plenty of advantage of the old Qian family in private.

And likely wasn’t very kind to the Qian children either.

But her mother’s cleverness lay in this: “Back in Zhao family village, I couldn’t even feed three kids, we went hungry, and owed 50 yuan in debt. But once we moved to Qian family village, my three kids were well-fed, well-clothed, and even went to school. I even netted nearly 200 yuan profit each year.”

In other words.

Mother Zhao and her three children got all the benefits.

And in the end, outsiders still believed they were mistreated by the Qian family, and praised Mother Zhao as the best stepmother for miles around.

But that 2,000 yuan all came from daily living expenses!

And you expect people to believe she never mistreated the stepchildren?

Zhao Qianqian was the first not to believe it.

Mother Zhao’s white-lotus nature was already showing.

She just didn’t know in what way her elder and younger brothers were supposed to be scumbags.

After all, this book centered on the reborn heroine’s perspective. If the heroine said they were trash, then they had to be bizarre in some way.

The whole book had to highlight the heroine’s righteous worldview.

That meant everyone else had to be oddballs!

Later, the heroine would harm Mother Zhao and her children—dead or injured, it didn’t matter—but the story had to give her a reason, right?

Zhao Qianqian was suddenly a little curious.

Those two brothers who treated her so well and seemed decent enough—how exactly would they later turn into scumbags?

As for Mother Zhao’s talk of buying a job.

Well.

Zhao Qianqian really did know of one.

Yesterday, while eating at the food factory, she overheard a colleague at the next table saying:

“Our family wanted to buy my younger brother a job. We agreed on 800, but because railway jobs are so popular, someone offered 1,000, so the job was gone. After all, even we had to borrow to get 800.”

If Mother Zhao was willing to pay 1,200, Zhao Qianqian believed there was hope.

So she told her mother about it.

“Buy it. Don’t say 1,200, even 1,500, I’ll buy it,” Mother Zhao said firmly. “All these years of enduring in the Qian family were just for the day when you kids could live well.”

Now that Qianqian had married a decent man and had a proper job, Mother Zhao felt very gratified.

Just thinking of her daughter’s husband—snatched from Qian Sanya no less—made her even happier!

As for the railway job her daughter mentioned…

Even someone as inexperienced as Mother Zhao knew how desirable that was!

If she could really buy it for her eldest son, she’d have no worries about old age.

Her younger son was still in school, and the money to buy him a job could be saved slowly.

As long as the eldest got that railway job, her life’s mission was half complete.

Since the old Qian family had already pushed things this far, she saw no need to keep pretending.

She would just let everyone know.

The truth was—she was very, very rich.