Chapter 554: Why Is Her Life So Hard
Chapter 554: Why Is Her Life So Hard
Zhou Chengsen hadn't even reached the residential compound when he noticed someone following him.
He turned a corner and saw it was Li Xiuxian. He guessed why she was tailing him.
It looked like he needed to rent out the house as soon as possible.
Zhou Chengsen decided not to go home. Instead, he took the next turn, went back to his workplace, and caught some sleep in his office.
Li Xiuxian returned to her old house and knocked on the door for a long time, but no one answered. She didn't want to shout, considering this was the staff welfare building, and the neighbors all knew each other.
She had already been humiliated at school by Liao Ruixiang's wife, who had reported her to the parents, costing her her job.
She didn't want to lose face in the residential compound, so she decided to wait until everyone was at work.
She waited until 6:45, when the people in the opposite apartment finally came out. They were Li Xiuxian's former colleagues, who were surprised to see her. "Xian? It's been a while. Where are you working now?"
Li Xiuxian felt a bit embarrassed. "I'm taking a break for a while."
Her colleague laughed. "Oh, right, I forgot you're on maternity leave. No rush to find a new job."
Li Xiuxian's face darkened.
She wasn't deaf to the sarcasm.
Seeing her darkened expression, the colleague felt a sense of satisfaction and continued, "You're looking for Comrade Zhou Chengsen? He probably hasn't come back. He doesn't stay here much these days. If you see him, remind him that I have a nice girl to introduce him to. She's a new teacher at our school."
Li Xiuxian's face turned sour, and she forced a smile, gritting her teeth. "Really? I'll make sure to pass the message. You're so thoughtful!"
Satisfied with making Li Xiuxian as uncomfortable as a worm, the colleague laughed. "Thanks! You know I'm always so keen on helping others", she said with a hint of sarcasm. "I love matchmaking, don't take it personally. Oh, I'm going to be late, I haven't even had breakfast yet. I'll see you later!"
With that, she laughed and went downstairs.
In the past, Li Xiuxian had never hesitated to throw barbs at others, relying on Zhou Chengsen's position as her husband's superior. Today, she finally got a taste of her own medicine!
Spit! How shameless, she had even cheated on Zhou Chengsen, and still had the nerve to show up!
What a good man Zhou Chengsen was! Everyone in the residential compound envied Li Xiuxian.
He was the most educated among the town's staff, with outstanding work abilities. He had been promoted twice since transferring to the town. With such high qualifications, he was sure to rise even further.
Zhou Chengsen was capable, earned well, and was a good family man. He helped with all the household chores and took care of the children. They didn't have any elderly living with them, so there were no mother-in-law issues.
It was said that Zhou Chengsen's brothers were also successful, with no poor relatives to drag them down.
Most importantly, Zhou Chengsen was handsome, tall, and had a good character. When they all came home together and saw elderly people or women carrying heavy loads, he always offered to help.
The stairs they used to walk were always clean because he took care of the cleaning.
Everyone in the residential compound envied Li Xiuxian for having such a good husband.
How could she not cherish such a good man, and even cheat on him?
Even if Zhou Chengsen got divorced, her husband said that many women in the unit had already offered to introduce him to potential matches.
But Zhou Chengsen had turned them all down.
If she were Zhou Chengsen, she would have immediately found a young and beautiful wife!
It infuriated Li Xiuxian!
Seeing her colleague's smug expression, Li Xiuxian was about to burst with anger!
Lately, this had been happening all the time. People would mock her openly or behind her back, and she was on the verge of depression!
Then, she heard footsteps coming from the stairs above.
During working hours, more and more people would be going up and down the stairs. Li Xiuxian couldn't stay, so she hurriedly went downstairs.
She decided to wait somewhere else!
As she walked out of the alley of the residential compound, she saw Zhou Chengsen holding a lunch box, buying a fried dough stick from a street vendor, and then joining a long queue in front of the grain station.
In the long queue, Li Xiuxian saw Zhou Chengxin, Zhou Chenglei, and Zhou Father each holding a child, while Jiang Xia was taking photos of them with a camera, smiling.
Tian Caihua was there too!
Knowing she wouldn’t get a chance today, Li Xiuxian returned to her father’s side.
Li Qingmin scolded her, "What took you so long? Your father and I are going to be late!"
Li Father and Li Qingmin worked for people building houses in town. The homeowner was miserly and would deduct a dime for every ten minutes they were late.
They earned one and a half yuan a day, and if they were late, they’d lose a dime. What a heartless person!
The two hurried to the steamed bun shop, bought two buns each, and rushed off to work.
On the other side, Zhou Chengsen approached the three of them, handing over the fried dough sticks and buns. "Big Sister, Xia, here are the fried dough sticks and buns."
He had bought six buns and four fried dough sticks.
Tian Caihua immediately grabbed a fried dough stick.
Jiang Xia put down her camera and reached for a fried dough stick as well. "Thank you, Second Brother."
The triplets were used to going out in the morning and evening to enjoy the sun. After waking up and having breakfast, they would play for a while, and then the little sister would start crying. Once she was carried outside, she would stop, but as soon as they returned inside, she would cry again.
So, she decided to bring the triplets to town with Zhao Chenglei to deliver breakfast to Zhou Chengxin and to watch the public grain delivery. She also brought her camera to capture some precious moments.
When Zhou Father saw Jiang Xia with her camera and the triplets, he decided to join them.
Just as they were about to leave, they ran into Tian Caihua, who also decided to come along.
Zhou Chengxin took a bun. "Why did you buy so much? Lei also brought breakfast. Have you eaten?"
Zhou Chengsen replied, "No, I’ll go back to the cafeteria."
When he bought the food, Zhou Father and the others hadn’t arrived yet, so he had the buns packed and couldn’t refuse them.
"You don’t need to go back to the cafeteria. I can’t finish this. Father and the others had breakfast before coming." Zhou Chengxin handed him a half-insulated thermos of congee. He had already poured half into a lunch box and was eating it.
Jiang Xia tore off a small piece of fried dough stick and fed it to Zhao Chenglei, who was holding the children and couldn’t eat with his hands. "Second Brother, there’s also an egg and some corn in the lunch box, made by Big Sister."
Everyone in the queue was having breakfast. Some were eating steamed buns, others were eating buns, some were eating sweet potatoes, and a few were munching on cucumbers.
No one was eating as well as the Zhou family.
The aroma of the congee with lean meat and clams was so enticing that it made everyone around them hungry.
Li Xiuxian caught the smell too, and her stomach growled. She hadn’t had breakfast, and her father and older brother didn’t buy her any. She had also forgotten to bring money.
During her time back at her parents’ house, the food had drastically worsened. The Li family didn’t have a boat like the Zhou family, so they didn’t have fresh seafood every day.
The Li family only ate cheap, dried fish, and they only steamed a few pieces per meal. Li Xiuxian was pregnant and had nothing to eat, nearly starving.
Thinking about how Zhou Mother and Zhao Chenglei had gone out of their way to make delicious meals for Jiang Xia when she was pregnant, Li Xiuxian felt a pang of sorrow.
It was all Zhou Chengsen’s fault for not touching her for so long. If she had been pregnant with Zhou Chengsen’s child, she wouldn’t be in this situation now, with no food and no one to take care of her.
Pregnant and hungry, with no one to look after her, and still having to take care of the entire household, Li Xiuxian felt more and more wronged. She started to cry, her eyes red and puffy.
Li Xiuxian knew that if she were carrying Zhou Chengsen’s child, he and Zhou Mother would definitely take good care of her, and they would try their best to satisfy her cravings.
She felt truly unfortunate. When she first married Zhou Chengsen, the family was poor, and they lived in a dilapidated house, always being bullied by Tian Caihua. She hadn’t enjoyed a good life for long before Zhou Chengsen started making some money, and then they divorced!
Why was she so unlucky?
(End of Chapter)
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