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Join the ServerCheng Yiyi didn’t stand on ceremony when she entered Shen Anyue’s boudoir. She flung herself straight at the lump in the middle of the bed.
“What is that?!”
It was soft. Hugging it felt lovely even through the quilt.
“That’s my body pillow.” Shen Anyue blushed. She sat on the edge of the bed, pressing the quilt down as if she were hiding some unspeakable secret.
“Anyway, Sis, let’s talk about the real stuff.”
“Back then, did Mom and Dad always come home from work very late?”
“Yeah, most of the time.” Cheng Yiyi put her index finger to her lips, putting on a recalling look. “During that time, they were both doing odd jobs at a construction site.”
“Whenever the site was behind schedule, they’d be asked to stay and work overtime. Overtime pays one and a half times the normal rate.”
“Isn’t that illegal?” Shen Anyue wasn’t a pretty vase who lived a happy family life and knew nothing of the world. “Forced overtime and all that…”
She knew something about the law. Of course she knew it was against the law to force workers into overtime.
“Hmm… I wouldn’t call it forced, exactly.”
Cheng Yiyi lay down on the bed, stretching out her graceful limbs, and said casually, “Odd jobs at a site aren’t stable work. Work one day, get paid one day.”
“If you refuse overtime, the contractor might not call you next time.”
“I did that kind of work during summer break too.”
“It was tiring, dirty, and miserable, but at least the pay was decent. People were easy to find for the job.”
“So refusing overtime means losing the job.”
Out of habit, Cheng Yiyi laid a hand over her eyes and admired the room through the cracks between her fingers.
“And besides…”
“For the uncles and aunties working there, overtime was exactly what they wanted.”
“You’re the eldest miss of the Shen family. You probably can’t understand poor people like us.”
“Tiring work doesn’t hurt us that much. It’s just daily life. What’s really scary is having no money.”
Cheng Yiyi pressed her hands together, completely covering her eyes, as if she’d made up her mind to pour out her heart.
“So annoying!”
“The school’s extra class fees are outrageously expensive, and they force students to pay!”
“If you don’t pay, you can’t even go to school normally!”
“Rent is expensive too! Averaged out per day, it’s still a few yuan!”
“Then water, electricity, and gas on top of that!”
“Without doing anything all day, a good chunk of your wages is already gone!”
“Why is this world so unfair to poor people?!”
“It makes me so mad!…”
When Cheng Yiyi was little, her grandparents were still around. As older folks, they always poured out their life’s grievances to little Cheng Yiyi.
Cheng Yiyi had no choice but to listen.
She learned that they used to go hungry and wear tattered clothes.
But those grievances were exactly what left Cheng Yiyi in such a bad state of mind back then.
She carried a vague sense of guilt with her. She couldn’t even focus in class, and her grades went downhill fast.
Yet the more she struggled, the more her grandparents poured out to her. They even guilt-tripped her, saying poor grades meant she was letting everyone down.
Not long after, her parents found out what they were doing.
As her parents, they didn’t hesitate. They took Cheng Yiyi and left far behind. Once they were in the city, they cut all ties with the grandparents.
After that, Cheng Yiyi’s condition slowly got better.
Since then, she had understood one thing.
Complaining to other people is not a good thing.
Her mom and dad surely had no fewer troubles in life than she did. Yet they never once used Cheng Yiyi as a vent.
Cheng Yiyi had also kept her own feelings pent up all these years.
She was a very considerate girl.
Of course, she wouldn’t do what her grandparents had done.
She wouldn’t complain to Shen Anyue…
“So you see!” Cheng Yiyi changed the topic. When she took her hand away, her face showed no trace of gloom, only cheerfulness.
She smiled and said, “You just have to live well as a daughter of the Shen family!”
“If you can be rich, stay rich for the rest of your life!”
“You don’t need to be afraid of me, and you don’t need to worry that I’ll kick you out or covet your inheritance or anything.”
“A little money that slips through the Shen family’s fingers is enough to make me happy for life. Take this 50,000 yuan!”
Cheng Yiyi took out her phone, pointing at the balance, and said, “Given food, clothing, housing, transport, and daily expenses, my family would need at least a year to save up this much!”
Cheng Yiyi was even being conservative in saying so. Back when the mortgage was still unpaid, saving 1,000 yuan a month was already a stretch.
“Besides…” Cheng Yiyi lay on her stomach, her face propped in her hand, and stared at Shen Anyue’s dazed face with bright, clear eyes. “Hehe, you’re so pretty. As your older sister, I can’t bear to let you go out and suffer either.”
“Mm~” Shen Anyue seemed embarrassed by the stare. Her cheeks flared red, and her eyes drifted somewhere else.
“By the way, now that you’re rich, do you have any troubles?”
“These? No…” Shen Anyue shook her head, but guilt spread across her face unintentionally.
Because in her mind, she had taken over Cheng Yiyi’s life.
She was the bad person, the outsider, the unreasonable jerk.
‘I’ve wronged her so badly…’
Shen Anyue didn’t raise her head. From the bottom of her heart, she didn’t dare to face Cheng Yiyi’s gaze.
No matter how little hostility or resentment Cheng Yiyi showed, Shen Anyue couldn’t look at her.
The guilt in her heart kept stinging.
‘I’ve been carefully taken care of by the Shen family since I was little. Even a little illness means troubling so many people…’
‘I’ve grown up with a silver spoon in my mouth, and the people I’ve met have all been from rich and powerful families.’
‘Everyone always revolved around me…’
‘But all of this… it was clearly supposed to be…’
The more she thought about it, the guiltier she felt. The hand holding the quilt tightened, and a thin layer of mist covered her eyes.
She looked at Cheng Yiyi’s hands without realizing.
A girl’s hands should be slender.
But Cheng Yiyi’s were not.
Her hands had a good shape, but there was a layer of thin calluses, and there were even wounds that had not completely healed.
That was proof of a long period of hard work.
‘All this was supposed to be hers…’
If Cheng Yiyi had been a domineering person who made no sense, Shen Anyue would have felt relief.
But Cheng Yiyi was so understanding, which only pushed Shen Anyue’s guilt deeper.
“Mm…” Mixed feelings made tears gather in the corners of Shen Anyue’s eyes. Right now, she truly didn’t know how to face this sister of hers.
The other girl had helped her endure the hardships that would have been hers in life, while she was the one enjoying that girl’s wealth and honor.
A teardrop slipped down her cheek. Shen Anyue, who was already so charming and delicate, suddenly looked beautiful in a sad, fragile way.
Cheng Yiyi naturally saw it.
In Shen Anyue’s eyes, that hand slowly approached.
Until it came to her cheek.
The touch wasn’t as rough as she had imagined. It was warm and gentle.
At the same time, a gentle, caring voice reached her ears.
“What are you thinking about?”
Cheng Yiyi had already sat up, face to face with Shen Anyue, cheeks almost touching.
The adventure continues! If you loved this chapter, How To Survive Without Dying at The Hands of The Emperor is a must-read. Click here to start!
Read : How To Survive Without Dying at The Hands of The Emperor
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