The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

After dinner, Xiao Lu went back to her room.

She took out her books and put them on the desk, but she wasn’t in the mood to study.

Leaning over the desk, Xiao Lu propped up her chin and muttered, ”Good thing I came back.”

Yes, it was a good thing that in this life she’d thought it through and, when Zhang Yilin returned to the Zhang Family, she rushed back to her own home.

Xiao Lu knew very clearly in her heart that the tragedy of her previous life was all caused by twisted human nature.

In her last life, she didn’t go back to the Xiao Family, but stayed at the Zhang Family.

After Zhang Yilin went back to the Zhang Family, because Xiao Lu was there, Mrs. Zhang was actually a bit biased at first. After all, Mrs. Zhang had raised Xiao Lu for more than ten years, but she was very unfamiliar with Zhang Yilin.

On top of that, Xiao Lu really had received a good education at the Zhang Family, learned a lot, and expanded her network. That was something Zhang Yilin, who had just returned to the Zhang Family, simply couldn’t compare with.

Xiao Lu didn’t harbor any ill intentions; she only wanted to build a good relationship with Zhang Yilin, only wanted to keep the Madam at home peaceful.

But the more she tried to get close to Zhang Yilin, the more it highlighted how unmotivated and unaccomplished Zhang Yilin was. Whether in looks, manners, or talents, Xiao Lu completely outshone Zhang Yilin. At the very beginning, even the love of their parents and brother all belonged to Xiao Lu, which made Zhang Yilin increasingly unbalanced.

In her previous life, Xiao Lu didn’t really understand why Zhang Yilin couldn’t stand her.

But having lived through one lifetime, now when she thinks back on those years, she suddenly understands.

Who could bear being compared like that, being called a country bumpkin behind their back, hearing things like ”the real daughter isn’t as good as the fake daughter”? Over time, anyone would break.

Even if Xiao Lu hadn’t done anything wrong, to Zhang Yilin, Xiao Lu’s very existence was a mistake, something she simply couldn’t tolerate.

In that kind of twisted environment, Zhang Yilin’s mind gradually became twisted too.

And Xiao Lu’s mindset started to change as well.

Zhang Yilin began to see people as extremely malicious. She thought Xiao Lu was a White Lotus, deliberately getting close to her, deliberately acting pitiful just to set off how lousy she was.

She even became so warped later that she started digging into the truth of the baby switch back then. She said more than once that the Xiao Family had probably switched the babies on purpose back then, and that Xiao Lu had stolen her life, stolen her parents and relatives. Anyway, Zhang Yilin got more and more deranged.

And after all, Zhang Yilin was the Zhang Family’s biological daughter. Don’t underestimate the bond of blood.

One day or two is fine, but over the long run, the people of the Zhang Family began to side with Zhang Yilin.

And in their eyes, Xiao Lu became a thorn in the flesh, because Xiao Lu’s existence made Zhang Yilin unhappy.

Later, Mrs. Zhang began to pressure Xiao Lu, forbidding her from showing her talents in front of others. When she applied for university, Mrs. Zhang even forced Xiao Lu to choose a not-so-ideal school. After that, little by little, the Zhang Family started taking control of her life.

Thinking of those irritating, suffocating years, Xiao Lu clenched her fists, her nails almost digging into her flesh.

Luckily, luckily in this life she had escaped that quagmire and no longer had to sink deeper in the mud.

Thinking of this, Xiao Lu couldn’t help but laugh.

Meanwhile, after dinner, Xiao Yuan and Anning went back to their room. Xiao Yuan lay on the bed while Anning applied medicated makeup to her face.

As she dabbed it on, she talked to Xiao Yuan: ”The Zhang Family people are pretty selfish.”

”Hm?” Xiao Yuan raised an eyebrow.

Anning smiled. ”I heard LuLu say that Mrs. Zhang wants to keep her at the Zhang Family, saying she loves both daughters and wants to raise them both.”

”That really is pretty selfish.”

Xiao Yuan reached his hand out toward Anning.

Anning took his hand and lay down. ”Two girls right in the middle of puberty, one biological and one adopted, and they’ve even been occupying each other’s lives. How could the two of them possibly have a normal mindset? Plus, the environments they grew up in and the education they received are completely different, which makes conflict even easier. Their minds are still very immature right now. All those little conflicts piling up bit by bit are bad for both girls’ development. In the end, I’m afraid neither child will turn out well. The worst result would be mutual destruction.”

Xiao Yuan sighed. ”The Zhang Family only thinks about how they can’t bear to part with the children, but they don’t think about what’s actually best for the children—especially that Mrs. Zhang. She wants to keep LuLu partly because she can’t bear to let go, but even more because taking LuLu out with her gives her more face. Hmph. My daughter, how could I possibly let her be trampled on like that. She’s my own flesh and blood, not some tool for that Zhang Family to show off their status.”

Anning knew Xiao Yuan had a lot of resentment toward the Zhang Family.

She lay there, holding Xiao Yuan’s hand. ”Anyway, we won’t have many chances to deal with them in the future. Just ignore them.”

The next day at noon, just as Anning was about to go to the cafeteria to get lunch, she received a call from Mr. Qin, asking her to come over.

Anning rode her e-bike over.

The compound where the Qin Family lived wasn’t very close to First Middle School; it took more than twenty minutes by e-bike.

When Anning got there, Mrs. Qin had just finished making lunch and was waiting for her.

Seeing Anning come in, Mrs. Qin smiled and said, ”Have you eaten yet? If not, hurry and eat.”

Anning happened to be hungry. After washing her hands, she sat down and started eating.

Mrs. Qin kept picking food for her while sizing her up. ”How come you’ve lost so much weight lately? Looks to me like you’ve lost at least twenty jin.”

Yes, Anning had indeed slimmed down a lot recently. Her old clothes didn’t fit anymore. She packed them all up and donated them, and the clothes she was wearing now were all newly bought.

Anning’s figure now could already be considered normal. She was also very good at matching clothes, and all the outfits she wore were the kind that hide flesh and make you look slimmer, which made her look even thinner.

”I’ve been losing weight lately.”

Eating as she spoke, Anning said, ”I used to be way too fat, which wasn’t good for my health, so I decided to lose weight. I haven’t really eaten that much less; I’ve just been exercising more.”

”You’re not allowed to copy those people who starve themselves all day long.”

Mrs. Qin reminded her.

After they finished eating, Mr. Qin picked up a passbook and handed it to Anning. ”This is the money your mother and I saved. Now that you’ve remarried and your household has more people, you can’t all keep squeezing into that tiny place. Take this money, and together with the savings you two already have, make a down payment and buy a bigger home first.”

Anning took the passbook and glanced at it. ”Dad, you and Mom have socked away quite a bit of retirement money.”

”It’s not much.”

Mr. Qin’s face was expressionless, but in reality he was very worried about Anning. ”When your brother got married, we put up money, and after that we kept saving, planning to buy you a small place. We have two children, we can’t favor one over the other. We didn’t expect you to divorce Zhao Dahai, and then... Anyway, take this money, buy the house first, then sell the places both your families are living in now. The money should pretty much be enough.”

Anning pushed the passbook back. ”Dad, keep it. I can’t take this money.”

Mrs. Qin grabbed the passbook and tried to stuff it into Anning’s hand. ”Take it. How can you say you can’t take what your parents give you?”

Anning still refused. ”I’ve already bought a place. I’m not short of money now. This money is what you two worked hard to save; it’s your retirement money. I really can’t touch it.”

While pushing the passbook back to Mrs. Qin, Anning said, ”We just moved into the new home; we haven’t had a chance to tell you yet. Oh, see when you can come over to check the place out. We’ll have a family meal—it’ll count as a housewarming for me.”

”You really bought one?”

Mr. Qin still couldn’t quite believe it. ”How big is it? Where did you get the money?”

Anning smiled. ”It’s not my money, it’s your son-in-law’s. You two saw A Yuan living in that old neighborhood and just assumed he was poor, but he’s not poor at all. Oh, the place we bought is in Longhu District, it’s that building king unit.”

Now it was Mr. and Mrs. Qin’s turn to be shocked. ”Longhu District? The homes there aren’t cheap.”

Mr. Qin worked in construction, so of course he knew about the building king of Longhu District. ”Wasn’t that place owned by Bao Bufen? That building is really well built, the area is huge, and the interior is great. How come he was willing to sell?”

After finishing her meal, Anning went to the fridge, poured herself a glass of juice, and drank it. ”We didn’t buy it. Bao Bufen gave it to us.”

Anning then told Mr. and Mrs. Qin about Xiao Yuan being a Feng Shui Master. ”So, the issues at Bao Bufen’s home were solved by him, and Bao Bufen gave him two apartments—one is that building king unit in Longhu District, and the other is in the city, a 200-plus square meter large flat.”