Time-Travel: The Tragic Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character Makes a Comeback

CHAPTER 96: The Eldest Sister of the 90s Quits Sacrificing Herself (8)

　　The property, close to 500 square meters, was priced by the owner at 1.4 million yuan.

　　The moment Zhao Fuyao heard it, she was already interested. After all, in twenty or thirty years, properties in this area would easily be worth tens of millions, even hundreds of millions.

　　She now had over 4 million yuan in liquid cash in her account. Spending around 1 million on a house didn’t hurt at all.

　　Still, there was no such thing as buying a second-hand property without bargaining. She asked the housing agent how much the price could still be lowered.

　　The agent hesitated for a moment before replying carefully, “It’s hard to say, but there’s room for negotiation. It really depends on what both sides agree on.”

　　Zhao Fuyao smiled and immediately countered with 1.1 million.

　　After all, people in this era rarely paid full cash like she did. It was worth a try, and if it didn’t work, she could always raise the offer later.

　　Seeing that she was serious about buying, the agent quickly contacted the owner and relayed the price.

　　The owner hesitated. It was, after all, their old family home, and the shop units attached to it still brought in rental income. In the end, they lowered it slightly to 1.3 million.

　　The agent, worried the deal would fall through, spent quite a bit of effort explaining the pros and cons.

　　The house was big, but not easy to sell. Plenty of people had come to view it, but most were scared off as soon as they heard the price.

　　Now, after finally finding someone interested, and someone paying in full cash at that, it was rare to come across a buyer like this.

　　The owner fell silent after hearing the offer, then finally gritted their teeth and lowered the price to 1.2 million, making it clear this was their absolute bottom line. The furniture left inside alone was worth around 100,000 yuan.

　　The housing agent relayed the message to Zhao Fuyao, and she felt it was acceptable, so the deal was settled.

　　The other party was clearly in a hurry. That same afternoon, they rushed over to sign the contract and complete the transfer. Once they handed over the keys and received the money, they immediately hurried off to book plane tickets.

　　After getting the property deed, Zhao Fuyao was quite satisfied. She tossed it together with the keys into her space.

　　She then changed the locks on the main gate. The five shopfront units had all already been rented out, but just in case, she renegotiated and signed new contracts with the tenants.

　　Starting next year, rent would be paid directly to her, once a year in a lump sum.

　　After finishing everything, she set off back to Haishi.

　　Meanwhile, news spread from person to person, and everyone was still caught up in whether or not to buy the subscription certificates, especially since the price kept climbing.

　　Many people who had entered later had already made decent money.

　　Some cautious ones were still observing, while others who weren’t so careful were already planning trips to Shanghai to line up and buy more.

　　After all, with prices rising 100 yuan a day, even holding one certificate for a couple of days could match a month’s salary.

　　Zhao Fuyao calmly returned to school and continued studying, living her days as usual.

　　Then, very soon, things took a sharp turn. A week later, the Shanghai stock market collapsed.

　　The continuous speculation around the subscription certificates eventually triggered a full market collapse. Once the bubble burst, the stock market fell sharply, and anyone still holding them lost heavily.

　　Some people cried over their losses, while others quietly celebrated. For example, the Yang couple quickly shut their doors and kept a low profile, no longer daring to show off at all.

　　Even Yang Jiale’s parents warned her not to talk about it, and she kept a very low profile at school too.

　　Some were overjoyed, others devastated. Meanwhile, Zhao Fuyao remained completely unaffected, as if nothing had changed at all.

　　Before long, the New Year arrived and school went on break.

　　Zhao Fuyao made it a habit to return to the Zhao family once a month, always maintaining a good public image in front of others.

　　Aside from Zhao Handi still harboring her own little schemes, the other three had completely fallen in line with Zhao Fuyao.

　　Selfish and shameless, they often snuck off to the neighborhood office to withdraw money, living lazily and expecting more and more from their eldest sister, like spoiled dependents who would follow whoever fed them.

　　When the New Year came, Zhao Fuyao returned carrying a large batch of specialties from Haishi, distributing them to neighbors and street office staff.

　　With favors given and received, everyone once again spoke highly of her.

　　But the neighborhood office leader pulled her aside with a worried expression and said, “Your younger siblings have gone too far. They come every few days asking for money, and if they don’t get it, they make a scene. Out of the 5,000 yuan in your account, only a little over a thousand is left after just two or three months.”

　　These results were actually exactly what Zhao Fuyao had already expected.

　　That 5,000 yuan was never meant to last. It was just a stepping stone, something for show to outsiders.

　　Zhao Fuyao took the passbook from the neighborhood office and, once she got home, immediately called a family meeting.

　　“Zhao Hu, is this how you’re managing things?”

　　Zhao Hu shrank back a little and said nervously, “Big sister, I’m at school most of the time. I really didn’t know they were withdrawing money.”

　　Zhao Long quickly jumped in with a lie of his own. “Big sister! It wasn’t me, it must’ve been them. Don’t blame me.”

　　Zhao Pandi curled her lips and complained, “Big sister, I heard the compensation is over 100,000 yuan. It’s only a few thousand spent anyway. We can just save a bit more later.”

　　Zhao Handi stayed silent. Unlike her siblings, she didn’t waste money recklessly. In fact, she had already saved up 1,300 yuan in her own little stash.

　　Once she turned eighteen next year, she planned to get a lawyer and claim the compensation money back.

　　Zhao Fuyao let out a cold laugh and slammed her hand on the table.

　　“A bunch of spendthrift brats! You don’t get disciplined for a day and you climb all over the roof! Over 3,000 yuan gone! That’s more than what our parents used to earn in a whole year, and you blew it in two or three months. If I don’t teach you a lesson, you’ll never remember!”

　　She grabbed a broom and started swinging it at each of them in turn.

　　Immediately, the Zhao household filled with chaotic crying and shouting.

　　“Shut up! All of you cover your mouths. Whoever cries the loudest gets another hit!”

　　She struck hard without holding back. The younger two were crying and begging for mercy, and even the older two were now visibly frightened, eyes full of fear.

　　Finally, she tossed the broom aside and asked coldly, “So, are you still going to do it again?”

　　The four of them shook their heads in panic.

　　“We won’t do it again!”

　　“And the money? Hand over whatever’s left!”

　　The two younger ones immediately ran back into the room to search.

　　Zhao Pandi and Zhao Handi were reluctant, but after getting beaten badly earlier, they were too scared to resist and reluctantly handed over what they had.

　　In total, the four of them only managed to scrape together 1,000 yuan.

　　Zhao Fuyao didn’t bother arguing with them. She went straight into the rooms herself and searched again, finding over another 1,000 yuan.

　　“Given your performance, from now on, aside from tuition and basic living expenses, you don’t get a single extra cent!”

　　All four of them immediately burst into tears.

　　“Cry all you want. Now go cook if you’re supposed to cook, clean if you’re supposed to clean.”

　　None of them dared to talk back or even stay in their rooms. They quickly scattered to find chores to do.

　　Zhao Fuyao sat on the sofa like she owned the place, legs crossed, watching TV.

　　The two younger ones served her tea and water. Zhao Long even tried to flatter her by massaging her legs, and Zhao Hu quickly followed suit, switching to the other side.

　　The two older ones were in the kitchen cooking, whispering complaints under their breath.

　　——

　　After the New Year, Zhao Fuyao stayed a few days to deal with things on this side before heading straight back to Haishi.

　　Once the eldest sister left, the four Zhao siblings finally breathed a sigh of relief. At last, they didn’t have to deal with the broom anymore.

　　Zhao Handi and Zhao Pandi both had birthdays in March, meaning they were about to come of age.

　　After getting beaten this time, the two of them quickly formed a united front, deciding that once they turned eighteen, they would immediately split the money and no longer live under their eldest sister’s control.

　　Unfortunately for them, that plan was never going to work out.

　　On their birthday, both of them, now technically adults, started putting on a show in front of neighbors and the local community. They cried about how their eldest sister mistreated them and all sorts of complaints.

　　They even went so far as to cause a scene at the neighborhood women’s federation office, demanding a lawyer to divide the money, making a huge fuss out of it.

　　Zhao Fuyao said nothing. Instead, she quietly spent a large sum of money hiring a lawyer.

　　The final outcome was clear: the compensation could only be split equally after the two younger brothers came of age.

　　The compensation itself was meant to support the basic living needs of the children. Since the two boys were still minors, their rights had to be protected, meaning the three sisters were not allowed to divide the money on their own.

　　The youngest, Zhao Long, was only twelve years old. He still had six years before adulthood.

　　The compensation was meant to cover living expenses for all five siblings. By the time six years passed, there would likely be nothing much left to divide anyway.

　　The two sisters were completely devastated. They were so angry they fell ill for several days, but there was nothing they could do.

　　The neighbors and the neighborhood office were not on their side either.

　　Everyone criticized them for being ungrateful, calling them heartless and saying they were trying to fly away once their wings got strong, while praising the eldest sister for being sensible and kind. 

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