Chapter 403: An Siyao: I Refuse to Work

“…”

After being discovered by Youxue, Xia Yu and An Siyao lost interest in continuing. They changed their clothes and walked out.

It was a little past seven in the morning. At the washbasin, Youxue and Xia Kekao were brushing their teeth.

Seeing Xia Yu and An Siyao, Xia Kekao immediately gave up her spot.

Xia Yu waved his hand, indicating it wasn’t needed. He took his toiletries and went with An Siyao to the small sink on the balcony to wash up.

After the four finished washing up, Xia Nianhong and Xia Ye brought noodles upstairs from the store downstairs.

“Happy New Year,” the six of them greeted each other.

Seeing their family growing, Xia Nianhong and Xia Ye felt very happy. Xia Nianhong took out four red envelopes and gave them to Xia Yu, An Siyao, Youxue, and Xia Kekao.

An Siyao looked at the red envelope in surprise. Neither the An family nor the Yu family actually used red envelopes.

“This is for your New Year’s money,” Xia Nianhong explained to An Siyao.

“Thank you, Grandma,” An Siyao happily accepted the red envelope.

She wasn’t particularly interested in the money inside; what truly interested her was the red wrapping outside.

Xia Kekao, watching her, assumed An Siyao was happy because she had received some pocket money.

Xia Kekao sighed inwardly. It seemed this new sister-in-law was also from a poor family, just like herself.

“Alright, eat your noodles quickly!” said Xia Nianhong.

Everyone sat at the table and ate the noodles. Compared to cooking dishes, Xia Ye was much better at making noodles, and the four of them were very satisfied with the meal.

After finishing breakfast, Xia Ye and Xia Nianhong called Xia Yu to accompany them to visit relatives.

Xia Yu didn’t take An Siyao along. Country folks often had bad intentions too, and their jealousy and rivalry were no less than that of city people. The quality of those relatives varied greatly, and they might say some unpleasant things.

He mentioned Youxue, who was pretending to be asleep on the sofa, and then they left together.

Only An Siyao and Xia Kekao remained at home.

Xia Kekao felt somewhat disappointed. She wanted to go along too. Although it was tiring to please the relatives, it was also an excellent opportunity to build up her support network. In the future, if she was treated unfairly, she could just make a phone call and have all the aunts and uncles come to her defense. Who would dare to provoke her then?

She felt anxious again, unsure whether the reason Xia Nianhong didn’t let her go was because she was still young, or to leave someone to accompany An Siyao, or whether they felt she wasn’t qualified to meet the relatives together with them.

Life was truly difficult.

Sighing, Xia Kekao went to the TV and connected the Xiao’ao King gaming console.

She handed the other game controller to An Siyao and started playing games with her.

During the game, she intentionally played worse, pretending to be worse than she actually was, so that her gaming skills appeared to be on par with An Siyao’s.

This was to please An Siyao. Pleasing An Siyao was to please Xia Yu. And pleasing Xia Yu was to please Xia Nianhong and Xia Ye.

Only by gaining the favor of the two elders could she get money.

From her investigation, Xia Nianhong and Xia Ye had at least a million in assets. If she could get a third, half, or even all of it, she could live the happy life she desired.

She hoped that Xia Yu and Youxue would be more capable, not be greedy for their grandparents’ inheritance, and instead take care of themselves by giving up their inheritance rights entirely.

Thinking about this, Xia Kekao realized she needed to pay attention to Xia Yu’s studies. That way, she could develop a targeted plan to help Xia Yu become self-reliant.

Leaning on the family elders for support was enough for her alone.

“Sister-in-law, what major is Brother studying?” she asked An Siyao.

“Modern literature,” An Siyao replied.

Xia Kekao inwardly thought, “This major sounds unreliable.”

“Which school is that?” she wondered. If Xia Yu attended a good school, maybe there was still hope.

An Siyao thought for a moment. She saw an opportunity to make a joke and mentioned the nickname of the university: “East Gate Vocational School.”

Upon hearing the grassroots-sounding name “East Gate,” Xia Kekao’s heart sank.

She cautiously asked again, “After you graduate, will you be assigned jobs?”

“No,” An Siyao answered.

“Then have you prepared where to work after graduation?” Xia Kekao clenched her hands; this was related to her future.

“Why work?” An Siyao looked at Xia Kekao in confusion.

Xia Kekao hugged her head, hoping she had misheard. She asked, trembling, “You won’t work at all?”

“No,” An Siyao replied.

“Neither of you will work?” Xia Kekao felt the world spinning.

“Yes,” An Siyao looked at her firmly.

Xia Kekao’s body weakened, barely managing to support herself from collapsing.

Her brother and sister-in-law were shamelessly planning to rely on their parents for support!

No, my dream is ruined. The two elders will already be struggling to support their son and daughter-in-law, where would they have money for me?

Wait, could it be like what happens in TV dramas, that they would force me to work to support my brother and sister-in-law?

I don’t want to be a supportive sister at the expense of my own future!

Xia Kekao started considering the possibility of running away. However, she already had nowhere to go.

She wished she hadn’t left Xia Dongyang earlier. At least Xia Dongyang didn’t expect her to work to support him!

Feeling like the world had lost its color, Xia Kekao lay on the sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Why does life treat me, a little girl, like this?

“Aren’t we playing anymore?” An Siyao looked at Xia Kekao.

“I feel a bit unwell. Let me rest for a while,” Xia Kekao replied, then asked another question, lifting her head: “After you graduate, where do you plan to live?”

“Zilan or Yaoguang?” An Siyao wasn’t sure exactly which one, but it would probably be one of the two.

“Renting a place?” Xia Kekao’s eyes were filled with expectation.

Seeing An Siyao shake her head, Xia Kekao raised her foot and kicked the sofa hard.

The housing prices in Zilan and Yaoguang weren’t cheap, especially Yaoguang, which was almost the most expensive in the country!

Could it be that this family plans to raise me and then sell me?

Dad, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have secretly run away!

Because of her intense movements, Xia Kekao rolled off the sofa and fell to the ground. The physical pain she felt couldn’t compare to the pain in her heart.

“What’s wrong?” An Siyao poked Xia Kekao’s face.

Xia Kekao, lying on the ground, lifted her head. For the sake of her future, she made up her mind to help Xia Yu and An Siyao establish a correct outlook on life.

“I think working is still necessary,” Xia Kekao said.

“Why?” An Siyao asked.

“You see, everyone else works, right?” Xia Kekao tried to awaken An Siyao’s herd mentality.

“My dad doesn’t work. He plays around all day,” An Siyao gave an example from her surroundings.

Xia Kekao slapped her own face. Another uncle had emerged who needed to be supported, besides An Siyao and Xia Yu!

This must be corrected!

“Grandpa and Grandma are already old. In a few years, they won’t be able to work anymore. What will we do then? Without work, where will the money come from?” Xia Kekao seriously told An Siyao.

An Siyao didn’t understand exactly what Xia Kekao was trying to say, so she could only interpret it literally.

“Money will be transferred to the card every month,” An Siyao referred to the monthly dividends.

Xia Kekao’s eyes widened. She thought An Siyao meant that money would automatically appear on the card.

The girl hit her head against the floor, giving up on persuading An Siyao, and decided to wait for Xia Yu to return and start working on him instead.