Chapter 222: The Hapless Eldest Sister 37
"Comrade, I’m looking for my daughter, her name is Zhong Yuanchun, she studies at this school. I’m begging you, can you help me call her out? I have something important to discuss."
Ma Xiaolan was pestering a young security guard, almost on the verge of kneeling in front of him.
The security guard, seeing her pitiful state, couldn’t bring himself to chase her away, so he asked, "Aunt, do you know which class your daughter is in?"
"Well, I don’t know, she never mentioned it."
"Then, what is her major?"
"This... I’m not sure either."
The security guard felt troubled, "Aunt, if you don’t even know your daughter’s major, it’s difficult to find her. There are thousands of students in this school, I can’t ask each one individually."
Ma Xiaolan’s eyes filled with tears as she sobbed, "Young comrade, please help me, I beg of you, I really have something important..."
"What important matter do you have with me?" Yuan Chun suddenly appeared behind Ma Xiaolan and asked coldly.
Ma Xiaolan turned her head and saw a strikingly beautiful girl looking at her. She studied the girl for a long time before recognizing some familiarity in her face.
"Are you Yuan Chun?" Ma Xiaolan was surprised.
Since Yuan Chun moved out of the Zhong Family, she had never deprived herself, eating whatever she wanted and often supplementing her diet with meat, milk, and cakes from her space. Wang Ziteng occasionally treated her to a meal, providing a steady supply of snacks, which caused Yuan Chun to rapidly gain weight.
The current Yuan Chun was a stark contrast to how she was when she first came to Zhong’s home, emaciated and bony.
No wonder Ma Xiaolan didn’t recognize her.
Yuan Chun smiled faintly, "What, can’t recognize me? Well, back then in the Zhong Family, I never had a full meal, no, not even half a meal. I was as thin as a skeleton, so weak that a puff of wind could blow me over. Now I’ve gained some flesh and look as solid as any other person, so it’s understandable you wouldn’t recognize me."
Ma Xiaolan felt embarrassed, "In the past, it was your aunt’s fault, Yuan Chun, can you forgive your aunt?"
"You came to me just for this?"
"No... not just for this... Yuan Chun, um, could you please speak with the steel factory not to deduct half of your father’s, no, your uncle’s salary? You know, your three younger siblings need to go to school, and your father... your uncle was demoted, his salary was already reduced by over ten yuan. If he sends you half, the remaining salary isn’t enough to cover expenses. This time, your three siblings’ tuition fees were borrowed by your uncle from his friends."
Yuan Chun scoffed coldly, "Not enough money? Then find ways to earn some. Back when my father handed over all his wealth to be kept by you, it’s not possible that just because you claimed it was stolen, I’d end up with nothing, right? That was all my parents left for me to inherit."
"And moreover, if you’re short on money, let Zhong Guoqiang and the others go earn it. When I was just seven or eight years old, you forced me to go to the factory to pick up coal cinders and garbage to make money. Zhong Guoqiang is already sixteen, Zhong Yuanfen is ten, they’re old enough now. The jobs I did back then, they can do now too. If they want to fill their stomachs and have money to spend, they need to earn it themselves. Don’t dream of pies falling from the sky, and don’t scheme to get money from someone else’s pocket. What’s theirs is theirs, you can’t scheme it away."
"Yuan Chun, you..." Ma Xiaolan stared at her in disbelief, "How can you heartlessly let Guoqiang and the others pick up coal cinders and garbage?"