The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

Chapter 546 - 537: The Stepmother Who Refuses to Be a Stepping Stone 25 (Bonus for 100 Monthly Tickets)

The house was bought, and next up was the matter of renovation.

However, there was no urgent need for that just yet.

Anning bought the house just to trap Li Zhifang’s money.

Now, the two of them had borrowed a buttload of debts, and just paying those off would take quite a while. Once they had saved up some money again, Anning still wanted to renovate six houses.

The difference in house renovations can be significant; good renovations can be quite costly.

Anning had long planned to invest all the money she earned into the houses while Wang Baozhu was not back.

She had inherited the memories of her original self and also understood her original self’s emotions.

The original self hated no one more than Li Zhifang and Wang Baozhu.

The tragedy of her and her son was single-handedly caused by these two people.

As for the children of Li Zhifang, the original self did not bear much resentment towards them.

Even though she was ultimately lured to a secluded spot at the foot of the mountain by Li Jinghan and died there, she did not hate Li Jinghan.

Speaking of which, among the three children of the Li family, it was Li Jinghan who was the closest to the original self. After separating from Li Zhifang, Li Jinghan went to see the original self more than once; he actually longed for the original self to care for him as before.

Later, deceiving the original self to the foot of the mountain was also because Wang Baozhu lied to Li Jinghan.

Li Jinghan thought Wang Baozhu had something to say to the original self and never imagined Wang Baozhu could be so cruel as to use a child to calculate against the original self.

As for Li Jingyu and Li Jingyan, the original self was somewhat resentful in her heart, but had no hate.

So naturally, Anning treated the children with a different attitude from that dog couple.

Moreover, Anning had some ideas about driving a wedge between the children and Wang Baozhu when buying the house.

All the houses were put in the names of the children, and Wang Baozhu, that selfish woman, would definitely not be willing.

It’s fine for Li Jinghan since he’s a son; Wang Baozhu wouldn’t possibly think about taking back the house.

But Li Jingyu and Li Jingyan are daughters and will have to marry someday; Wang Baozhu would never be content with her daughters taking such big houses with them to someone else’s family, and she would definitely plan to make Li Jingyu and Li Jingyan sell the houses in the future and hand the money over to her.

But Li Jingyu and Li Jingyan aren’t fools either.

Although the original self truly cared for and took good care of these two daughters, she didn’t teach them much about worldly wisdom.

Anning’s approach since her arrival was very different from the original self’s.

Anning taught her two daughters to be exceptionally astute.

Even the honest Li Jingyu was now quite cunning, let alone the naturally clever Li Jingyan.

If Wang Baozhu dared to covet the house, those two daughters would be more than she could handle.

The most important point is that by doing this, Anning could really earn a good reputation.

After all, while she was around, she settled the children well, bought them houses, finished the renovations, and even raised their academic performance to be so good. Yet as soon as Wang Baozhu returned, she started scheming against the children and neglected them. When comparing the birth mother to the stepmother, who wouldn’t praise the stepmother?

Anning put away the six property deeds, and in the following period, she started working with Li Zhifang on the autumn harvest, busy selling fish, eggs, chickens, ducks, and later even hiring people to pick and sell fruit.

They were so busy that it led into winter.

Nowadays, more people in the village have started growing greenhouse vegetables, so Anning and Qian Du stopped doing that.

They had been so busy from spring till winter and were exhausted. It’s so cold in winter, the two of them wanted to hibernate and not tire themselves out.

This year’s autumn harvest was good, the fruits were both big and sweet, naturally they sold well and made a fair amount of money. They also converted the fish and chickens into cash, and Anning didn’t save the money, but instead paid back some of it to Li Zhiping and Li Zhikang’s families. She planned to pay back the rest next year.

Over there, Zhang Fengfeng also got to know about Li Zhifang buying houses for the kids.

She was very supportive of this matter.

Even though Li Zhifang had to borrow money for it, she seemed especially happy.

But this happiness didn’t last long, as Zhang Erfeng came visiting.

Xiao Yuan had been busy outside for years, and basically didn’t come home. However, he didn’t neglect Zhang Erfeng and her husband, frequently sending money home, and the amount increased each year.

Zhang Erfeng’s life became much easier now. She didn’t lack food or clothes, so she started scheming.

Wang Chunliu had been dead for several years, and Zhang Erfeng had always wanted to find another wife for Xiao Yuan.

But Xiao Yuan wouldn’t come back, and even though she had the intention, she couldn’t do anything about it.

After much thought, Zhang Erfeng decided to talk to Zhang Fengfeng, hoping she could persuade Xiao Yuan to come back and take a wife, to bear her a chubby grandson sooner.

But when Zhang Erfeng arrived at the village entrance and chatted with people, she heard about Anning buying a house.

Upon hearing the news, she hurriedly sought out Zhang Fengfeng.

As soon as she entered the door, Zhang Erfeng said, "Sis, how can you be so silly? Do you know how much it costs to buy a house? It’d be fine if it’s for your own grandson, but why let the Fourth Family buy houses for the Liu Family’s kids too? Buying for the boy I can understand, but those three girls, why should each get a house?"

Zhang Erfeng didn’t come often, but when she did, she spoke these words, infuriating Zhang Fengfeng.

"You really come with no good news. My son and daughter-in-law are willing to buy houses, and it’s their business how many they buy. It’s none of your concern. You’re really worried over nothing."

Zhang Erfeng sat down on the kang: "Aren’t I thinking of your best interest? In my opinion, you should promptly get those three girls to transfer their houses to Jing Han. That’s the sensible thing to do."

Zhang Fengfeng was so angry she wanted to hit Zhang Erfeng.

"What do you know? Our family’s life has improved thanks to Anning. If it weren’t for her ideas and hard work, raising vegetables and fish with Lao Si, Lao Si would still be living a hard life right now. Most of the money was earned by Anning. How she wants to spend it is her business. The children are all the same, why shouldn’t they buy houses for the Liu Family’s kids? Our family has three children, they have three. One house per child, I say it’s perfectly fair."

This was what Zhang Fengfeng said and what she believed.

Liu Qi and his siblings had been with the Li family for several years and often stayed with her for a few days. They were good kids, filial towards her, and having lost their father with no one left at the Liu Family, they were just like her own children.

Moreover, Zhang Fengfeng was clear in her heart that without Anning, Li Zhifang’s life would not be sustainable.

Anning was very efficient at work and put in great efforts to earn money. Whether it was farming or raising fish and chickens, she worked no less than Li Zhifang, a grown man. The money was earned together by the couple, so why should there be a distinction of "yours" and "mine" when spending it?

Zhang Fengfeng understood this very well, and had discussed it with her son and daughter-in-law. The Li brothers were reasonable and never considered treating Liu Qi and his siblings unfairly, nor would they nitpick over such matters.

Besides, after Li Zhicheng returned, he mentioned what Liu Qi said to Zhang Fengfeng, and it was this conversation that deeply moved and satisfied her.

Liu Qi himself said that he would take care of Li Zhifang in his old age, so it was only right and proper for Li Zhifang to buy houses and find wives for the children.

Zhang Fengfeng was open-minded, but Zhang Erfeng always felt that Li Zhifang had gotten the short end of the stick.

"Sis, don’t be foolish, the Fourth Family came with kids in tow just hoping to latch onto our family’s good fortune..."

Zhang Erfeng hadn’t finished speaking when Zhang Fengfeng, glaring, grabbed a pillow and threw it at her, "What nonsense are you spouting? I think you have nothing better to do and just came over to my house to stir trouble. How is the Fourth Family taking advantage of anything? Ever since they came over, they’ve been sincere about living their lives, raising Jingyu and the others so well, treating them even better than a real mother. When your brother-in-law and I fell ill, it was the Fourth Family’s wife who took care of us. Last year, when your brother-in-law was sick, all five daughters-in-law weren’t home. I stayed at Eldest’s house, and it was the Fourth Family’s wife who came bringing food, seeing your brother-in-law unable to get off the kang, desperately seeking help to get a tractor to take your brother-in-law to the hospital. At that time, she was the only one at home, a woman alone at the hospital, taking care of your brother-in-law, registering, finding doctors, attending to him carefully and meticulously – it was she who saved your brother-in-law’s life. Even the doctors said, if it wasn’t for the Fourth Family’s wife, your brother-in-law might have been in danger that time."

Zhang Fengfeng recalled the incident with both fear and gratitude for Anning: "The Fourth Family’s wife is wholeheartedly living her life, treating us elderly better than her own children, if we still harbor thoughts of being short-changed or taking advantage, then are we even human? If you dare talk like that to me again, I will beat you to death."