CHAPTER 259: CHAPTER 257: CINDERELLA’S COMEBACK (PART 2)

As a time-space stowaway, Anning can always covertly enjoy some privileges, no matter which time and space she’s in.

Of course, under normal circumstances, she doesn’t need them.

However, if she wants to use them, she can.

After all, she carries a great deal of Merit on her now, and the Heavenly Dao in any timespace would favor those with significant Merit.

It’s like how a big company would turn a blind eye to certain actions of an employee with exceptionally good performance.

Sitting on the toilet, Anning was probing the Heavenly Dao Laws.

Then, she placed her right hand on the door, and quickly, the lock outside was unlocked.

Anning opened the door, found a set of storage lockers in the hallway of the classroom, opened one of them, took out a set of school uniforms stored inside, went back to the toilet to change into the clean uniform, and then strutted out of the gate of Shengzhe School with her backpack.

The locker she had opened was not her own, but belonged to one of the students who had locked her in the toilet.

This student loved looking good and thought the uniform was ugly, so she usually kept a new set in her locker, changed into it when she got to school, and switched back to her own clothes in the lounge when school ended.

Anning knew about her habit, which is why she took her uniform.

Anyway, Anning’s own uniform had been soaked by those girls, so it was only fair to take one of hers.

While walking home, Anning began sorting through some memories.

At that time, Gu Anning was also locked in the toilet, she couldn’t get out as the door was locked from the outside, and after being drenched and staying there all night, she fell ill.

She had no choice but to go to the school infirmary, get some medicine, and bring it home.

However, not having returned home all night, Mr. Gu and Mrs. Gu were very worried and bombarded her with questions about where she had been.

At that time, Gu Anning didn’t want her parents to know she had been bullied, and didn’t say anything. It got to the point where Mr. Gu, who usually adored his daughter, got so angry he slapped Gu Anning.

Gu Anning was truly heartbroken and hopeless at the time and was ill for a long time, which even affected her studies.

But now that Anning had come, she would never let history repeat itself.

Anning took the bus home, and by the time she got there, Mr. and Mrs. Gu had not yet returned.

So Anning started cooking.

She changed her clothes, washed her hands, then chopped the vegetables, prepared the sauce, and made some dough to roll out noodles.

The sauce was ready and the noodles were rolled out, but Mr. and Mrs. Gu were still not back. Anning didn’t cook the noodles, setting them aside first, and took her backpack back to her room to do homework.

After finishing her math homework, Mr. and Mrs. Gu came home.

When Anning saw Mr. and Mrs. Gu return, she went to cook the noodles.

Mrs. Gu hurriedly told her to go back to her room to continue her homework and took over cooking the noodles herself.

Anning just smiled and continued practicing problems in her room.

After dinner, Anning discussed with Mr. and Mrs. Gu: "Dad, Mom, I don’t want to stay in Shengzhe anymore. I want to transfer to First Middle School."

Mr. Gu was startled and then laughed: "Okay, Dad will ask around for you tomorrow."

But Mrs. Gu seemed troubled: "The money... Never mind, Mom will find a way."

Anning knew she was referring to the difficulty with the money; after all, it was one hundred thousand yuan. If Anning were to transfer, that money would certainly have to be returned to Shengzhe Middle School.

"Mom, don’t worry about the money, I’ll think of something," Anning softly comforted Mrs. Gu.

Mrs. Gu sighed: "What can you do as a student... Let your parents handle it. If we have to, Mom will borrow some more, and we’ll find ways to earn it back slowly once Dad’s health is better."

Anning hummed in acknowledgment and was sent back to her room by Mrs. Gu to study.

Mr. and Mrs. Gu were very loving parents, but they were not very worldly and didn’t know the best ways to express their love.

Their way of loving their child was to make sure she ate well, did less housework, and didn’t have to worry about anything apart from her studies.

So when Mr. Gu got sick, and Gu Anning went to Shengzhe for the money, Mr. and Mrs. Gu were actually very heartbroken.

Though Shengzhe Middle School was good, it couldn’t compare to First Middle School and Sixth Middle School.

First Middle School and Sixth Middle School had the highest college entrance rates in Qing City; Shengzhe was just financially robust.

Mr. and Mrs. Gu felt they had let Anning down. Now that Anning wanted to go to First Middle School, they would sell blood if they had to, just to pay her debts.

Anning understood their thoughts.

Actually, Anning could find a way to earn one hundred thousand yuan to pay off Shengzhe Middle School and then process the transfer to First Middle School without letting Mr. and Mrs. Gu know.

But Anning chose to do it this way, chose to let them worry a bit.

She did this just to have a reason to cut ties with those terrible relatives.

Mr. Gu’s family came from the countryside. As the second child with an older brother and a younger sister, he wasn’t favored, especially after Mrs. Gu gave birth to Anning; that only made matters worse.

Uncle Gu and Aunt Gu had sons, while Mr. Gu had a daughter. This displeased Grandpa Gu and Grandma Gu.

They originally wanted Mrs. Gu to have a second child, but she had been injured during a difficult birth with Ningning and couldn’t have more children, which only intensified their disapproval of Mrs. Gu.

They never held Anning’s family in high regard.

Uncle Gu was honest, but Aunt Gu was mean, often bullying Mrs. Gu because she had sons.

Aunt Gu’s family was slightly better off and also looked down on Mrs. Gu.

Mrs. Gu’s side wasn’t any better off either.

She was the eldest in her family, and she also had a younger sister. Anning’s Auntie was snobbish, not unlike Aunt Gu. Owing to Anning’s family being poor, Auntie generally didn’t associate with them. During festive gatherings, she would mock and jeer, making Mr. and Mrs. Gu feel humiliated.

Even so, Mr. and Mrs. Gu were still kind to those ungrateful relatives.

One could say they were somewhat too soft-hearted.

Now, Anning spoke of transferring to First Middle School because she wanted her parents to try borrowing money from these relatives, to expose their true faces.

If those relatives were unwilling to lend the money, Mr. and Mrs. Gu would certainly be heartbroken and disappointed, giving Anning a reason to keep her distance from them in the future.

When Anning made money in the future and these relatives came leeching, she would have a reason to push them away for not lending her money at this critical time.

Anning went into her room but didn’t do her homework; instead, she eavesdropped carefully on Mrs. Gu’s phone conversation.

Mrs. Gu called her sister, initially asking if she had eaten, but Auntie’s response on the phone was cruel: "Yes, I’ve eaten a long time ago. Not like your house, always hustling over small amounts of money. I say, you and your husband should take a rest, chasing after so little money, it’s not even enough to buy me a handbag."

Mrs. Gu forced a laugh: "I want to tell you something. Anning wants to transfer to First Middle School, and I wanted to borrow some money from you. We will pay you back later."

"Oh my."

Auntie laughed on the other end but her words were quite unpleasant: "You really spoil the child too much. Isn’t Shengzhe Middle School quite good? They offer so much money, and the scholarships are especially generous. Why transfer to First Middle School? In my opinion, with your family’s circumstances, you should stay at Shengzhe. At least Anning can earn some money there. If she goes to First Middle School and loses those scholarships, will you still be able to afford meals?"

Mrs. Gu froze, holding the phone.

She never expected her own sister to say such things.

In an instant, Mrs. Gu felt a sting in her nose and tears began to fall uncontrollably.

She quickly wiped them away: "This relates to the child’s future. We..."

"Sister, are you joking with me?" Auntie’s mockery intensified: "With your family’s situation, you still talk about a future? Does Anning have a future? In today’s society, no matter how good your studies are, without family resources, it’s no use. Even if Anning goes to a prestigious university in the future, what then? At best, she’ll find a slightly better job. But then, she’ll also have more expenses, won’t she? She’ll have to eat and dress better, buy a house. She’ll be living paycheck to paycheck. Sister, be more realistic; don’t trust everything the child says. With your family situation, it’s better to be content. If you don’t have to borrow money, then don’t."

Anger made Mrs. Gu’s hands tremble, nearly dropping her phone.

"Just tell me if you will lend it or not."

She had her own pride, and her tone grew sharp out of sheer rage when talking with Auntie.

"Where do I have money? Didn’t we just renovate our house? And we still need to sign up Tongtong for so many classes, registration fees aren’t cheap. All the money my spouse and I earn is spent on her, nothing’s left over."

Auntie found every excuse not to lend money, pleading poverty.

Mrs. Gu said nothing and hung up the phone.

Mr. Gu sat beside her, looking just as dispirited.

"Let’s forget it. I’ll try asking my brother."

Mr. Gu sighed and dialed Uncle Gu’s number.

Uncle Gu had initially agreed, but shortly after, he called back saying that there was no money left at home, that Aunt Gu had taken it for investment.

Mrs. Gu sat on the sofa, listening and wiping away tears.

"Back then, when each of them came asking to borrow money for their children’s education or buying a house, we always tried our best to lend, even if it wasn’t much. We never hesitated."

Mrs. Gu couldn’t help feeling aggrieved: "But when it comes to us, every one of them..."

Mr. Gu’s eyes reddened too.

Over the years, he wasn’t unaware of Uncle Gu and Aunt Gu’s disdain for him, but he thought that being family meant small disputes didn’t matter and that they’d help in serious matters.

Now, when it came to borrowing money, the pettiness and ugliness of those he considered family were all exposed.

"Forget it, first check how much money we have at home."

Mr. Gu seemed utterly defeated: "My medication will be stopped for now. Ningning’s transfer is more important."

"How can we?"

Mrs. Gu was alarmed: "That’s impossible, you can’t stop taking your medicine. I, I’ll think of something else."

But what could she do? That was one hundred thousand yuan. Where could she possibly find that sum?