Chapter 2276 - 2277: The Cousin Is a Capitalist Heiress 94

Chapter 2276: Chapter 2277: The Cousin Is a Capitalist Heiress 94

The Zhang Gui couple is watching Zhang Yu’s interview program, and Zhang Gui is also at home watching the program. He hears the door open but doesn’t lift his eyelids.

Zhang Hui comes out of her bedroom and sees Zhang Gui watching Zhang Yu’s interview program, and she can’t help but stop.

"Zhang Tao has already bought the groceries. You go cook; Zhang Li and the others are coming over for dinner today." In the past, Zhang Gui never thought he’d one day ask Zhang Hui to do housework.

Zhang Hui responds with an "okay" and obediently goes to the kitchen to work. The person who cherished her most, Xue Lei, passed away years ago. If Xue Lei hadn’t left a will saying half of her property would go to Zhang Hui, she might no longer have a place in the family.

Because of this, when Xue Lei was sick and hospitalized, neither Zhang Li nor Zhang Qiang’s families cared about her. Their reasoning was that since the old lady favored Zhang Hui, she might as well take care of herself.

After the old lady passed away, although Zhang Hui could continue living at home, she had to take on all the household chores because her board and lodging were paid for by Zhang Gui.

Entering the kitchen and seeing the dishes in the sink, yesterday she felt unwell and asked Zhang Qiang to look after the old man, but none of the dishes were cleaned.

In the past, she would have complained long ago, but now she knows that even if she complains, Zhang Gui will just blame her, saying it’s her problem in the first place.

She really doesn’t understand how everything turned out this way. It shouldn’t have been like this. Recalling the dream she had yesterday, in which she outsmarted Zhang Yu, she reluctantly married a thug, and even with a big belly, she had to work in the fields. If she was careless, she faced beatings, and at thirty, she looked like a woman in her fifties or sixties, dying at thirty-something.

As for her, she took Zhang Yu’s place, went to university in the Capital City, and married her college classmate, who was a Courtyard Child, successful in his career, and their marriage was loving.

Most importantly, only a few years after the reform and opening up, the Ge Family returned to the Mainland to invest. Upon learning about her, they quickly came to recognize her. With the Ge Family’s backing, their careers thrived.

As for the Zhang Family, they also relied on the Ge Family and their couple to advance their careers rapidly, and whether at her in-laws’ or the Zhang Family or the Ge Family, she walked with confidence.

But when she woke up from the dream, the reality was she was a fifty-something woman, without any pension, without a husband, without children—a lonely widow.

Even when she saw the news that the Ge Family returned to the Mainland to invest, and Xue Lei wrote to them bringing her along, the Ge Family didn’t respond, saying they hadn’t heard the elders mention her.

Hahaha, thinking of that reason, Zhang Hui feels it’s a big joke now. She can’t help but remember what Zhang Yu said in the Northeast, that if she were just an ordinary person with such a sordid past, would the Ge Family still acknowledge her.

She remembers that at that time, she confidently declared they would definitely recognize her because she was their child, as long as they were alive. And back then, Zhang Yu just smiled at her.

She remembers being very angry at the time, yelling at Zhang Yu, accusing her of not wanting her to do well, insisting they were her biological parents, and it was impossible for them not to recognize her.

The truth was as she anticipated; her biological parents had no intention of recognizing her. Even when she reached out to them, they ignored her.

Indeed, in her dream, the Ge Family proactively came to acknowledge her because of her husband’s status. After all, capitalists prioritize money, and the Ge Family wasn’t short of daughters.

Now Zhang Hui deeply regrets not looking for work back then when she returned to the city, knowing she was a high school graduate, surely she could have found a job.

If she couldn’t find a job, she could have started a business. Back then, selling tea eggs could earn a decent amount, and with money, she could have bought a house, avoiding having to face the Zhang Family.

Right, she wasn’t Zhang Gui’s daughter, plus before Xue Lei died, she gave Zhang Hui the house under her name, offending Zhang Li and the others.

But she doesn’t want to face the Zhang Family, what else can she do at her age, having never had a real job in her life.

After dinner, having settled Zhang Gui, Zhang Hui wanders around the neighborhood, feeling so out of place among the people around.

Zhang Juan, supporting Zhang Fu, is walking in the neighborhood. Occasionally, after her retirement, she’d come back to visit her parents. When she sees Zhang Hui, she freezes for a moment, initially wanting to avoid her, but recalling what she heard about her at the dinner table and thinking back to when they were intellectual youths, at least she had helped take care of her.

Upon hearing someone calling her, Zhang Hui looks up blankly and sees it’s Zhang Juan, "You’re back?" Oh, with the old uncles in poor health, Zhang Juan returns when she has time.

As for Zhang Hui, she contributes money, giving two thousand a month as a fee for not returning to care for the old couple.

Zhang Juan responds with an "mm," "I come back to take care of them when I have time because hiring a maid isn’t cheap." Her parents’ pensions add up to six or seven thousand, but hiring a maid would use up almost all of it.

The siblings aren’t doing great financially either, unable to supplement their parents by much, so they save when they can.

Upon hearing Zhang Juan say hiring a maid is expensive now, Zhang Hui starts having ideas.

An idea she never thought of before, but she knows if she doesn’t change something soon, if she continues stuck in this house, she’ll be totally done for. "Yes, hiring a maid is very expensive now."

Zhang Juan responds with an "mm," "Just for cooking, it’s at least three or four thousand, let alone caring for the elderly," she babbles about the full-time costs for taking care of a semi-paralyzed elderly person.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Hui can’t help but consider she can indeed do it. Before Xue Lei’s death, she lay bedridden for years, cared for by Zhang Hui, so she feels deserving of the house Xue Lei left her.

Now hearing Zhang Juan say full-time maid costs are that high, she’s tempted, "Do you think I could do it?"

Zhang Juan looks at Zhang Hui in surprise, "If you leave, who will take care of Second Uncle?" Since she knows Zhang Li and Zhang Qiang won’t help with Zhang Gui.

"I took care of Mom alone, so her house was left to me. As for Dad, let them take care of him, his house is theirs." Zhang Hui wears an expression of disgust.

"That way they can’t keep claiming I’m taking advantage of them," Zhang Hui isn’t concerned who will care for Zhang Gui in the future, "Anyway, he has his good sons."

"They keep calling me a freeloader, with snide remarks all the time. I’m sick of it."

"I’m worried one day they may force me into a mental hospital," Zhang Hui anxiously recalls what she heard Zhang Gui and the others say.

Zhang Juan thinks, "I won’t recommend a job to you, or they’ll find me when Second Uncle lacks care. You should go to a big city, where they need maids and the pay is higher. I heard from a neighbor that the income there is even higher."

"Since you have no attachments here, if you stay nearby, they’ll just find you and make a scene," Zhang Juan doesn’t care anyway. Among the siblings, she’s just less successful than Zhang Yu.

Thinking of Zhang Yu, Zhang Juan feels an urge to thank her. If not for the materials Zhang Yu left behind, she wouldn’t have gotten into college.

Back then, when she was struggling, Zhang Yu helped her, so now when Zhang Hui seems down, she resolves to help her a bit as well.