Time-Travel: The Tragic Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character Makes a Comeback
CHAPTER 100: The Eldest Sister of the 90s Quits Sacrificing Herself (12)
Those gangsters did not dare charge forward and get beaten again, but being humiliated by a young girl in front of everyone still left them furious.
Brother Ma cursed loudly, “A bunch of useless trash!”
He shot Zhao Fuyao a venomous glare and ground his teeth. “You’ve got guts, huh? Just you wait.”
He had always acted arrogantly around this area. Getting slapped in the face by a woman in public had already planted a grudge deep in his heart.
Zhao Fuyao raised her middle finger at him. “I’ll be waiting. Next time I see you idiots, I’ll beat you again.”
Brother Ma’s face turned dark with rage, but with four or five grown men unable to win against her, there was nothing he could do. In the end, he could only curse under his breath and leave with the group.
A lot of people nearby had been watching the excitement unfold. Seeing Zhao Fuyao’s side win, the crowd immediately burst into cheers.
One of the dance hall managers even came out to speak with them. Mostly because they looked young, he gave them a serious warning.
“Those guys are local thugs. That Ma Fei guy just got out of prison after serving two years. You kids should stay home for a while and avoid going out if you can.”
The three of them thanked him before leaving together.
After seeing Zhao Fuyao take on five people by herself, Yang Jiale and Liu Kai practically looked at her like she was some kind of idol now.
The two of them crowded around her as they walked home, bombarding her with questions about whether she had trained before.
Zhao Fuyao casually came up with an excuse, saying that she had always been naturally strong and had learned martial arts for a while when she was younger.
The pair instantly looked at her with even more admiration and started noisily begging her to take them in as disciples.
Because of the whole incident, they ended up getting back pretty late.
The moment Yang Jiale reached her building entrance, she ran straight into her worried parents who had come out looking for her. Her mother immediately grabbed her by the ear and dragged her back upstairs.
Liu Kai, meanwhile, relaxed after noticing his own parents had not come downstairs.
Since they lived in the same building, one upstairs and one downstairs, the two walked back together.
At that hour, there were not many people around. Possessed by a sudden burst of courage, Liu Kai could not stop himself from asking, “Fuyao… after you start university, will you date anyone?”
“No.”
“I see… that’s good then. We really should focus on our studies first. There’s no rush to think about relationships until after graduation and work.”
Liu Kai quietly let out a sigh of relief, but at the same time, a trace of disappointment lingered in his chest.
After all, four years of university could change far too many things.
Zhao Fuyao first and second university choices were both in Shanghai.
As for him, he had listened to his parents and chosen a local university instead.
The two cities were only six hours apart by train. It did not sound that far, but after enough time passed… would they eventually become strangers?
Thinking of that, Liu Kai felt a little downcast. After hesitating for a moment, he could not help asking another question.
“Then… after graduation, will you come back to Haishi to work?”
Zhao Fuyao stopped walking and looked at him seriously.
“Liu Kai, nobody’s future is set in stone. Right now, the only thing I can do is hold firmly onto the steering wheel of my own life. I value myself above everything else, and nothing is worth making me stop moving forward.”
She knew he probably liked her a little.
But talking about things like this now was far too early, so she chose to be clear instead of giving him false hope.
It was normal for teenage boys to experience the stirrings of first love, but to her, she was only a passing figure in his life.
She had ambitions.
Liu Kai had been protected too well by his parents, and from the start, they were destined to walk different paths.
Zhao Fuyao was meant to soar upward. How could she ever be willing to stay confined in a small city like this? Her life belonged to a much bigger stage.
After hearing her words, Liu Kai lowered his head slightly. A faint sense of helplessness settled over him, but he still managed a quiet blessing.
“Then I hope your future is bright. Everything you want will come true someday.”
Zhao Fuyao nodded. “Thank you. You’ll definitely become the person you want to be too. One day, you’ll realize that becoming your best self is more fulfilling than anything else.”
“Alright. Then let’s both work hard.”
The two of them chatted as they walked into the building. Just as they reached the second floor, Liu Kai’s mother stepped out of her apartment wearing a thin outer coat.
Her son had spent so much time getting dressed up tonight, and from her point of view, Zhao Fuyao’s outfit was a bit too revealing. On top of that, the two of them were coming back together so late.
Her face immediately darkened.
“Liu Kai! Get back in here with me.”
“Mom, I just went out dancing with my classmates. Something came up and we got held up. Don’t be mad.”
Liu Kai explained while waving at Zhao Fuyao, signaling for her to go upstairs. He was fine.
Zhao Fuyao gave a casual nod and went upstairs without hesitation.
When she reached the third floor, she could still hear the argument echoing from below.
That split-second look Liu Kai’s mother had given her, full of obvious dislike, had not escaped her notice.
But she did not dwell on it. She did not take it to heart.
Ever since the trouble caused by the Zhang family, people had started looking at her differently because she was an orphan.
Liu Kai’s mother used to be very warm toward her. After that, she had become polite but distant, just a normal neighbor greeting from time to time.
Now she did not even bother to greet her and looked at her with open disgust. She probably already assumed she was some girl trying to lead her son astray.
Zhao Fuyao had long seen through how fickle people could be, which was exactly why she had rejected Liu Kai without hesitation.
To her, everyone was just a passing figure at a certain stage of life. Not worth her sadness, not worth the effort of explaining, and even less worth her stopping her steps for.
Two days later, the admission letter arrived.
Zhao Fuyao successfully received her acceptance letter from Shanghai University.
Yang Jiale got into a normal university, while Liu Kai, as his parents had hoped, was admitted to a local university.
The Yang family invited Zhao Fuyao out for a meal to celebrate.
As for Liu Kai, he had been kept at home these past two days by his mother, who did not allow him to go out and see Zhao Fuyao.
The Yang couple treated Zhao Fuyao just as warmly as before. If anything, they even felt a little sorry for her living alone, and would occasionally bring her snacks.
Zhao Fuyao would accept their kindness and, in return, find chances to send them fruit or small gifts.
After the gathering, everyone would be heading off in different directions. The two girls could not help feeling a bit emotional.
Yang Jiale shamelessly packed up a blanket and even stayed over at Zhao Fuyao’s place for two days.
Zhao Fuyao was preparing to head to Shanghai to tidy up her house and pack her things.
Only Yang Jiale came to see her off. As they walked, she kept turning back to look and muttered in annoyance, “Liu Kai is really something. Now that we’re all leaving, our trio is going to be apart for so long, and he just has to be missing at a time like this.”
Zhao Fuyao did not bother explaining. She simply smiled, patted her head, and handed her a crystal bracelet.
“It’s fine. Since he didn’t show up, he doesn’t get a gift. You came to send me off, so of course you deserve a reward.”
“Wow, these beads are so pretty, I love them so much!”
Yang Jiale’s sadness over parting faded quite a bit. She happily put the bracelet on her wrist, turning it this way and that to admire it, grinning from ear to ear.
Parting did not mean forever. In high spirits, the two of them said their goodbyes.
Zhao Fuyao boarded the train to Shanghai.
On the other side, the four siblings of the Zhao family were in a miserable state.
The moment Zhao Handi and Zhao Pandi got the money, they deposited it straight into their own bank accounts. They were planning to move their younger brothers’ household registration back home, and once that was done, they would split the money between the two of them.
But the Zhang family refused to let that happen. Zhao Long and Zhao Hu were directly hidden away by them, and now that the money was in their hands, there was no way they were giving it back out.
The two Zhao sisters were even beaten and locked up. The Zhang family kept pressuring them to hand over all the money they still had.
In the end, they were taken to the county town to withdraw cash. If not for Zhao Handi being quick-witted and managing to escape to find help in time, not only would the money have been gone, but they would have been dragged back and locked up again, with no way out and no one to turn to.
But because their household registration was still tied to the Zhang family, even after reporting it to the police, the Zhangs twisted the story into a family dispute and brushed it off that way.
In the end, the two Zhao sisters ran back in a sorry state, only to find that the house had already been reclaimed, and their household registration could no longer be transferred back at all.
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