Chapter 56: The Cannon Fodder Sister of the Female Lead (Part 8)

Jiang Lai let out a cold laugh.

“This independent and strong heroine rose up by stepping over the blood and flesh of her younger sister.”

In the early 1980s, after every household had paid their public grain dues, the little grain left in their hands was barely enough to fill the stomachs of the whole family. So, it was already tough to stay alive, let alone send both children of the family to school.

Even the captain’s family couldn’t avoid such circumstances.

Moreover, Hetao Village was terribly poor. Girls from other villages did not want to marry there, and the girls from their own village were desperately trying to escape, which only made the village poorer and more backward, leaving a large group of unmarried men to loaf around all day.

Jiang Lai was smarter than Jiang Qu; the teachers who taught them all said so.

However, Jiang Sheng’s ability was limited. It was already impressive that he managed to let both daughters finish junior high school. Now, with both of them wanting to attend high school, the family situation became increasingly strained.

In the original story, even after her rebirth, Jiang Qu still did not perform as well as Jiang Lai, so during the three years Jiang Lai was in junior high, Jiang Qu started borrowing novels from classmates—ones by Jin Yong, Eileen Chang, and a pile of other non-academic books that she lent to Jiang Lai one by one.

From the second year of junior high, Jiang Lai’s grades plummeted.

By the third year, she was so hopelessly addicted to novels that Jiang Sheng, frustrated beyond belief, said something harsh, telling her if she couldn’t study properly, she might as well quit.

So the already heartbroken Jiang Lai chose to drop out on her own accord.

Now, the only one who could continue studying steadily was Jiang Qu.

In the next one or two years, Jiang Qiuhe improved the family’s living conditions significantly through small businesses, but the drop-out Jiang Lai had already lost interest in studying, staying at home all day reading novels and fantasizing about meeting a man like the heroes in Jin Yong’s martial arts novels.

He Xing’s poverty scared her away.

Jiang Qu got into college and then introduced her senior high dropout classmate Zhang Wei, who hadn’t managed to get into college, to Jiang Lai.

The boy was fair-skinned and delicate, the village accountant, articulate and good at coaxing people, and Jiang Lai quickly fell for him, eagerly asking Jiang Sheng to arrange their marriage.

The coming end, needless to say, was unfavorable.

Beneath Zhang Wei’s fair exterior was a violent and cruel nature, something Jiang Lai only discovered after marrying him. This man had once pursued her elder sister Jiang Qu in high school and, when rejected, spread bad words about her throughout the school.

But Jiang Qu, being generous and gentle, forgave Zhang Wei for all the despicable deeds he had done after she got into college and even went as far as introducing her own younger sister to him.

Since Jiang Lai resembled Jiang Qu somewhat, Zhang Wei treated her decently during the first couple of months after marriage. But soon after, his true colors showed. He would vent his frustrations from work and life on Jiang Lai. Until finally, after his death, just when Jiang Lai thought she could start anew, she found herself facing a life that truly was worse than death.

From the original story’s perspective, everything Jiang Qu did was perfectly logical.

Lending Jiang Lai novels was meant to improve her literary knowledge and increase her grades in Chinese; if Jiang Lai lacked self-control, that was on her.

As for introducing Jiang Lai to a male classmate, matching a middle school diploma with a high school education, and the guy was also a salary-earning accountant, that could be considered quite a good match.

All the suffering Jiang Lai went through seemed to be her comeuppance, but if one looked carefully, they would see the chilling truth hidden behind it all.

The protagonist, until her death, envied her sister.

She never understood why she ended up this way, even though she used to excel in academics, and her teachers liked her so much.

She couldn’t comprehend why, despite her interaction with He Xing, he pretended to be poor and pitiful when in fact, he was wealthy.

She couldn’t understand why, after marrying the supposedly promising young man her sister recommended, he turned into a monster.

With her own child and closest kin, she didn’t understand why she ended up with nothing but death.

She couldn’t figure it out.

After all, she was just an insignificant character in the book, no one cared about her outcome, all people needed to know was that she deserved her fate.

The things she couldn’t understand, Jiang Lai finally did.

Realizing the situation, they had already reached the grain collection station.

Everyone was carrying their own grain, standing in line, waiting for it to be collected. Jiang Lai followed behind Jiang Qiuhe, holding a small notebook.

After getting off the bus, Jiang Qu went to buy guidebooks, and the dollar for buying books was given to her by Jiang Qiuhe.

Jiang Qiuhe also gave Jiang Lai a dollar, telling her to go have some fun and come back when it was their turn.

Jiang Lai shook her head.

“I won’t go. What if I get myself lost again?”

Jiang Qiuhe couldn’t help but laugh, ruffling Jiang Lai’s head with his rough large hand, content only when she, bristling with annoyance, began hitting him relentlessly.

Jiang Lai finally figured it out, Jiang Qiuhe, the future entrepreneur, was a hidden masochist who needed to be hit to be happy.

Of course, Jiang Qu knew what her brother would achieve in the future, so she was particularly attentive to Jiang Qiuhe at home. After buying books, she even stopped by a restaurant to buy two big buns, one with meat and one with vegetables, and then shared a good meal with He Xing at the restaurant, spending five or six bucks, equivalent to a day’s salary for a competent laborer.

He Xing spent it without even batting an eye.

Upon leaving the restaurant, He Xing went off to do his own tasks, and Jiang Qu told him to be careful, but He Xing said nothing and only gave her a thoughtful look.

“What’s wrong? Is there something on my face?”

“Nothing, I’m going now.”

Jiang Qu found it odd; the look He Xing gave her was different from before, no longer passionate but rather full of suspicion and scrutiny.

This made her uneasy, but she quickly calmed down.

After all, there was plenty of time. Once she got into college, she’d have the qualifications to stand beside He Xing.

Back at the grain station, Jiang Qu immediately spotted Jiang Qiuhe and Jiang Lai at the front of the queue, laughing and teasing each other.

Jiang Qiuhe was teasing Jiang Lai’s pigtails, and Jiang Lai was retaliating with punches and kicks, strong enough, but Jiang Qiuhe just smiled widely, revealing a row of white teeth, looking at Jiang Lai with nothing but gentleness in his eyes.

Jiang Qu paused for a moment, then quickly stepped forward to interrupt the two.

“Xiaolai, stop bullying brother. Big brother has been tired all day and hasn’t even had a sip of water.”

Saying this, Jiang Qu handed over the bun.

“Here, brother, have a bun to stave off hunger, I also have some water for you to drink.”

Jiang Qiuhe took the bun with a smile, but before Jiang Qu could offer the water, he broke the bun in half and handed a large piece to Jiang Lai.

“I just had some fried dough brought by Sanya, I’m not that hungry now, you and Sanya can share this.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep