The Adopted Cannon Fodder Made a Comeback

That evening, Gu’er went home and told her adoptive father, Zhou Mazi, about the matter.

But she didn’t specify what she would be doing. She just said a family was having a wedding and needed some help, so they had asked her to lend a hand.

Zhou Mazi didn’t say anything after hearing this.

He knew in his heart that the wild vegetables weren’t selling anymore. The money Gu’er had been giving him these past few days was getting smaller and smaller; today, she had only brought back twenty cents. Zhou Mazi wasn’t satisfied, but he understood it couldn’t be helped. Fresh vegetables were coming into season, so no one would be eating wild ones anymore. Besides, there wasn’t much variety left to pick. They really couldn’t be sold.

’It’s good that Gu’er found a job helping someone out. Even though it’s not as much as the several dozen cents she usually brings me, fifty cents for two days is still pretty good. Too bad it’s not a long-term thing.’

"Go, then. But you bring the money back to me when you’re done. And don’t you dare cause any trouble for me out there."

Zhou Mazi finished with a grunt, as if warning Gu’er.

Gu’er nodded. She hadn’t lied about the money; she told Zhou Mazi the truth. It was something she couldn’t hide. If he found out she’d lied, he would definitely cause a scene and suspect her of hiding money in the past. She couldn’t afford to be penny-wise and pound-foolish.

"Gu’er, they said they need your help, but what for? Can you even do it?"

Li Hua was worried. Her daughter had been working since she was little, but this was for city folk getting married. Could her daughter really be of any help? ’What if she doesn’t do a good job?’

"It’s fine, Mom. They’re just too busy with the wedding and need someone to help mix and knead dough. The bride’s family is from Guanli, and they all love noodles. Kneading dough takes a lot of strength, so Aunt Wang thought of me."

Gu’er wasn’t telling the whole truth. She had no way of explaining how she knew how to steam jujube cakes. Others might not know, but Li Hua certainly did—she had never learned how to do that.

"Oh, that should be fine then. We don’t have much else, but we’ve got strength. Still, making dough for dozens of people is going to be tough. Gu’er, don’t wear yourself out."

Li Hua relaxed, but her heart still ached for her daughter.

"You old woman, why are you chattering so much? You think you can eat without working? There’s no such free lunch in this world! I’ve raised her for so many years, shouldn’t she repay me?"

Zhou Mazi cursed impatiently. He stared at Gu’er again and said, "Gu’er, has that family hired enough people? If not, take your mom and your sister with you. They know how to work, too. They don’t have to pay much, even twenty cents a day would be fine."

Everyone in the room froze at Zhou Mazi’s words, even Gu’er. ’I can’t believe he’s trying to get Mom and Zhou Feng’er in on this. Even if they were short on people—which they aren’t—I wouldn’t bring my family along. That would blow my cover!’

Zhou Feng’er bit her lip, not daring to object. ’He wants me to walk all that way just to do manual labor, kneading dough no less? He’s trying to work me to death! And I wouldn’t even get to keep the money. I’m not doing something that stupid.’ But she didn’t dare refuse, or her father would chew her out.

Li Hua, on the other hand, was quite tempted. ’If the three of us go, we can help each other out. I could work a little harder so my two daughters don’t have to, and we could still earn money. Wouldn’t that be great?’

"Gu’er, your father’s right. Do they need more people?"

Li Hua asked her daughter hopefully.

"Dad, I’d love for Mom and Feng’er to come too, but they’ve already hired enough people. They even got some of their own relatives from the city to help. Aunt Wang only asked me because she thinks I’m a hard worker and she also wanted the green onions from our house. Otherwise, they had enough people from the city, why bother hiring one more? If I go and ask her, I’m afraid she’ll get annoyed and won’t even want me anymore."

Gu’er wore a troubled expression.

"Then forget it. Your sister and I won’t go. We can’t have you losing your job over this."

The moment Li Hua heard this, she quickly backed down.

Zhou Feng’er also breathed a sigh of relief. ’Good, I don’t have to go.’

"Alright, all of you scram. Stop bothering me."

Seeing it was a lost cause, Zhou Mazi tapped out his pipe and dismissed them.

Lying on her wooden plank bed, Gu’er stared into the darkness, her mind racing. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

In the past few days, she had saved a total of 6.58 yuan. She had given Zhou Mazi 7.12 yuan.

’It’s not thirty yuan yet, but it’s still a lot.’

’Zhou Mazi may not be cursing me out as much these days, but that’s not necessarily a good thing. He’s only being this way because I can make money now. The moment I can’t give him any, he’ll definitely go back to his old ways.’

’I can’t keep giving him money forever. I know the Zhou family are all ungrateful wretches.’

’But escaping the Zhou family won’t be that easy. I have to take it one step at a time.’

’And then there’s the money I’ve hidden.’

At this thought, Gu’er’s eyes turned cold. The day before yesterday, she had come home to find that things in her room had been moved.

She hadn’t noticed at first, but when she went to bed, she saw that her quilt wasn’t how she’d left it, and the bedsheet wasn’t smooth. Gu’er knew someone had been in her room.

’Who could have come into my room?’

’I don’t even have to think about it. It must have been someone from the Zhou family.’

’But who in the Zhou family would do it? My adoptive father probably wouldn’t. My adoptive mother comes into my room, but she wouldn’t rummage through my things because she trusts me.’

’That only leaves Zhou Feng’er, Zhou Duo’er, and Zhou Cai.’

’Zhou Cai is too young to do something like this. Besides, if it were him, my room would be a complete mess.’

’So it’s down to Zhou Feng’er and Zhou Duo’er. It could be either of them, but I think it was Zhou Feng’er.’

’She must suspect that I’ve hidden money, so she came to search my room in secret.’

A corner of Gu’er’s mouth lifted in a cold smirk. ’Does she think I’m an idiot? Hiding money in my room? I’m not a child anymore.’

’Still, it’s not safe to keep the money hidden at home. Even though I found a good spot, it’s still in the Zhou family’s house. I should move the money when I get the chance. If it gets discovered, there will be another huge blowup.’

’But where can I move it to?’

Gu’er couldn’t think of a suitable place.

’Maybe have someone hold it for me? But who can I trust?’

’Liu Yuan?’

’No, he’s from the city, and we’re not that close. Besides, his aunt lives in the village. If anyone found out, it would cause a lot of trouble.’

’Sun Jiaming?’

’Sun Jiaming seems like a decent person, but I don’t know him well either. Is it right to ask for such a favor?’

Gu’er found it pathetic. The only trustworthy people she could even think of were these two men. She didn’t have a single person she could truly rely on.

In her previous life, she had no one to trust. Not even her daughter...

The thought of her daughter brought a piercing pain, as if someone had carved a piece out of her heart with a knife. She didn’t dare to think about it any further.

In her last life, her world had been too small, so she had no friends. This life was just beginning. Aside from Sun Jiaming and Liu Yuan, the only others she’d really interacted with were Zhou Mei and her group.

’Zhou Mei is out of the question. She hates my guts. There’s no way she’d ever help me.’

’I have no trustworthy female friends. As for Liu Yuan and Sun Jiaming, I don’t want to bother them unless it’s an absolute last resort.’

’I’ll just have to see how things go.’

With that thought, Gu’er slowly drifted off to sleep.