Back to the 1980s: Transmigrated as the Bigshot's Pampered Wife-Chapter 38: Gambling with Life for Sympathy

Overwhelmed by disappointment and insecurity, the original owner of this body had easily fallen for Sheng Xinglian’s trap.

She had walked further and further down the path of self-destruction, only realizing her mistakes at the moment of her death.

Gu Jiaojiao stared at the braised pig’s trotter Third Sheng had placed in her bowl, a lump forming in her throat.

’I really don’t need this young man’s affection. I really don’t.’

When Sheng Shiwu saw Gu Jiaojiao’s eyes welling up with tears as if she were deeply moved, he wanted to slap himself.

’My adopted sister is still so easy to please,’ he thought. ’She hasn’t changed at all. We were the ones who suddenly shifted all our affection to our biological sister and neglected her.’

"You all take your time eating. I’ll go scramble some eggs," Su’s mother said, getting up and heading to the kitchen when she noticed there wasn’t enough food.

Seeing Third Sheng’s self-reproachful expression, Gu Jiaojiao wanted to step away for a moment, but she was afraid the young man would read too much into it.

So, she quietly ate the pig’s trotter in her bowl and then used the serving chopsticks to place a piece in everyone else’s bowl.

Everyone began chatting cheerfully again. Before he knew it, Sheng Shiwu had already eaten two bowls of rice.

"Did I eat too much?" he asked sheepishly.

His adorable look made Gu Jiaojiao want to laugh. "Didn’t you just bring over several pounds of rice?"

"I thought you were still unconscious after jumping in the water to save Mom yesterday. Then I heard Grandpa Gu and his family were all at your house, so I was worried you might not have enough rice to cook."

"Third Brother, we appreciate the thought. Although Shu Ci is disabled, he’s still quite capable of earning money.

We set up a stall selling liangpi today and made over twenty yuan after costs and labor.

Besides, he gets a fifty-yuan salary every month, plus a pension. It’s more than enough for our family to live on."

"What? You were the ones selling liangpi today? My friends told me that liangpi stand was doing incredibly well."

"Heh heh... it was just okay, nothing too crazy. We only sold a little over two hundred bowls in one afternoon."

Second Brother Gu couldn’t help but show off. ’Mr. Sheng’s salary is eighty yuan a month at most, right?’

"Over two hundred bowls? They said you sell it for three mao a bowl. Doesn’t that mean you earned more than sixty yuan in one afternoon?!"

"You have to subtract the cost of ingredients and labor. Everyone gets paid a five-yuan wage for the afternoon,"

Gu Jiaojiao said nonchalantly. She had known since she was young that you have to feed the horse well if you want it to run fast.

’The cost of selling snacks is low, but the work is exhausting. That’s why you have to pay a bit more to keep people motivated.’

"Five yuan for one afternoon?" Sheng Shiwu asked, his eyes wide.

His face clearly screamed, ’I really want to go help you sell snacks.’

Second Brother Gu was also startled, but he didn’t pay it much mind, assuming his sister was saying it deliberately for Third Sheng’s benefit.

After dinner, Sheng Shiwu reluctantly went home. There wasn’t much entertainment at night in those days, so everyone went to bed early.

Gu Jiaojiao took a few packs of honey-glazed chicken legs and some spicy strips from Su Shuochi’s backpack and handed them to Sheng Shiwu.

"Third Brother, Shu Ci bought the chicken legs at the Overseas Chinese Store, and we made the spicy strips ourselves. Have a taste. Here’s eight yuan, too. You won’t sleep well with no money on you."

Sheng Shiwu was about to refuse, but when he saw Su Shuochi, he obediently accepted everything and ran off, tears streaming down his face.

Gu Jiaojiao glanced at Su Shuochi. "What’s wrong with him?"

"He was so moved, he cried."

The two exchanged a smile, a sweet understanding passing between them without a word.

Gu Jiaojiao’s smile was beautiful. Su Shuochi was captivated, and a feeling he had never experienced before began to sprout in his heart.

Sometimes, feelings are like lotus seeds. You can toss them into a pond, and for two years, there might be no sign of life.

But once they sprout, they become unstoppable, quickly taking over the entire pond...

But at this moment, Su Shuochi didn’t yet understand love. He only thought of Gu Jiaojiao as his hope. Without her, his leg would never heal...

Meanwhile, Gu Jiaojiao’s mind was completely focused on earning money to provide a better life for herself and her family in this era.

As for love, she had considered having a romantic relationship with Su Shuochi, but she hadn’t figured out how or when to start.

The most important thing was to build a good life first. Since childhood, she had been used to shouldering everything herself.

She wasn’t the type of person to have her head in the clouds, unaware that her feet were stuck in the mud.

Two people who didn’t understand love, unaware that feelings were already quietly sprouting between them.

The Gu Family and Su Qinchun were gleefully counting money, while Mr. Su and Su’s mother kneaded dough together.

Su Shuochi and Gu Jiaojiao were in charge of chopping meat. Gu Jiaojiao had a meat grinder in her spatial inventory, so Su Shuochi deliberately chopped the ginger and garlic with loud, thudding sounds.

At the Sheng Family’s home, however, dinner was a rushed affair. Sheng Shiwu ate especially quickly, anxious to go see Gu Jiaojiao.

Mr. Sheng went to his study to work right after eating, and Mrs. Sheng had been busy with rehearsals for a large-scale performance for the July 1st celebration.

Sheng Xinglian, at the dinner table, looked like she wanted to say something several times but held her tongue. No one noticed, and no one asked.

This was the first time she had been given the cold shoulder by her family since returning to the Sheng Family, which made her resent Gu Jiaojiao even more.

’If Gu Jiaojiao were here,’ she thought, ’all I’d have to do is provoke her a little, and she’d explode like a firecracker, earning everyone’s disgust.’

The Sheng Family had a household assistant to clear the dishes after meals, so everyone just put down their chopsticks and went their separate ways.

Sheng Xinglian didn’t go back to her own room. Instead, she went to her second brother Sheng Shiwen’s room.

"Xingxing, is there a homework problem you can’t solve?" Sheng Shiwen asked when he saw his sister, assuming that’s why she had come to him.

Sheng Xinglian lowered her head and quickly squeezed out a few tears, which clung to her eyelashes, looking as if they were about to fall. "Second Brother... I feel awful..."

"Xingxing, what’s wrong? Are you not feeling well? Second Brother will take you to the hospital," Sheng Shiwen asked, flustered.

"Second Brother, I’m not physically sick, I just feel terrible inside. I never knew Gu Jiaojiao could be so malicious.

She... isn’t she doing this just to spite me? She wasn’t even the one who saved Mom yesterday.

She deliberately jumped into the water just to get sympathy. Look, now Mom and Dad are ignoring me, and Third Brother is nowhere to be seen!"

Sheng Shiwen: ...

’Who would risk their life just for sympathy! How can Xingxing say something like that?’

"Mom and Dad are just busy. They aren’t ignoring you. We really aren’t ignoring you."

"Second Brother, Gu Jiaojiao is doing it on purpose! Even though she’s married, she’s still making trouble for me. It’s like she wants me dead!"

Sheng Xinglian looked up at Sheng Shiwen, her eyes glistening with tears. Seeing that he wasn’t angry yet, she continued.

"Gu Jiaojiao was selling liangpi from a stall in front of the textile factory today. I saw her, and she looked perfectly fine. Her constitution is so frail; if she had really jumped into the water, how could she be so full of energy, bouncing around and selling liangpi?"

In reality, Sheng Xinglian hadn’t seen Gu Jiaojiao at all; she was deliberately making it all up.

Sheng Shiwen had also heard people talking about a liangpi stall whose business was booming.

He had even wanted to go buy a bowl to try, but he had no money on him, and he certainly had no idea that it was Gu Jiaojiao selling it.

Now, seeing his own sister’s pitiful, tear-stained face, the last shreds of his rationality vanished.

"That damn Gu Jiaojiao is nothing but a troublemaker! Don’t worry, Xingxing. Second Brother will go settle the score with her tomorrow."

Sheng Shiwen roared, unable to contain his fury. He would not let anyone who hurt his biological sister get away with it.