TYH-DCI | Chapter 2 : Taking Back What Belongs to Jiang Lai

Jiang Lai said nothing.

The moment she stepped into the house and saw there were no bowls or chopsticks set out for her, she already knew dinner didn’t include her.

Fortunately, she had eaten at the state-run restaurant earlier, so she wasn’t hungry.

Wang Cuihua truly disliked Jiang Lai.

When Jiang Rou had only gone hungry for a single day, she fainted and was sent to the hospital.

But Jiang Lai had gone hungry for three full days before collapsing—and even then, Wang Cuihua didn’t care. Instead, she assumed Jiang Lai was just putting on an act.

That worked out fine.

When she started taking everything from the Jiang family, she wouldn’t feel even a trace of guilt.

Instead of waiting at home to wash dishes after the meal, Jiang Lai turned and left the house again.

She was heading to the recycling station to look for high school senior-year textbooks.

She should have had them. She had just graduated this year.

But on graduation day, Wang Cuihua had already taken her books and sold them off as scrap along with other household junk.

Once she went to Heilongjiang, she might not have another chance to enter the city, so she needed to prepare early.

As soon as she left, Wang Cuihua’s temper flared even more.

Her curses filled the entire dormitory building, rising from floor to floor without pause.

Since Jiang Rou was still sick and Jiang Tianshi was the only son, Jiang Fuhai would never do housework.

So in the end, Jiang Ya was forced to wash the dishes.

With Jiang Lai acting as a convenient punching bag, all the Jiang children had grown up like pampered young masters and ladies who never touched chores.

It was Jiang Ya’s first time washing dishes—and even she began to resent Jiang Lai.

“Useless Jiang Lai, probably out meeting some wild man. She doesn’t even come home. She deserves to be caught by the Red Guards!”

At such a young age, Jiang Ya already harbored ugly thoughts, scrubbing the dishes harder and harder as if she were taking it out on Jiang Lai.

It was clear just how low Jiang Lai’s status was in the household—even her own twin sister didn’t wish her well.

Meanwhile, Jiang Lai hurried all the way and finally reached the recycling station just before the old man was about to close up.

After explaining her purpose, the old man didn’t make things difficult and simply pointed her to a corner to search.

She thanked him repeatedly and immediately began rummaging through the pile.

After some time, she finally found a few relatively well-preserved textbooks.

Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly remembered the cold in Heilongjiang and turned back to ask if they had any newer coal stoves.

“What do you need that for? It’s still warm weather,” the old man asked.

From her pocket, Jiang Lai pulled out a few White Rabbit milk candies that a neighbor had given her a few days ago and handed them over.

“I’m going to be sent down to the countryside in Heilongjiang soon. I heard winters there are extremely cold, so I want to prepare a stove just in case.”

The old man didn’t refuse the candy and slipped it into his pocket.

“We don’t have new ones, but there are some slightly used ones. They’re not cheap. Do you still want it?”

“I’ll take it,” Jiang Lai replied without hesitation. “As long as it works.”

The old man nodded and went off to retrieve it.

Thinking of the novels she had read in her previous life, she remembered the golden rule of era-set stories: the first step to making a fortune is always the junkyard treasure hunt.

So she didn’t want to miss the opportunity.

She wandered around casually, but unfortunately, she didn’t recognize valuable items.

After a while, she did find a small wooden table that could be placed on a bed.

It was dark, rough in workmanship, and looked like a trainee’s practice piece.

When the old man brought out the coal stove and saw the table, he asked, “That table came in with a couple of small chairs and a half-height cabinet. Do you want those too?”

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Lai agreed.

The cabinet could be used to store personal items, and the chairs wouldn’t take up much space.

Soon, the old man brought everything out.

The chairs were small and delicate, slightly better made than the table but likely only able to support around 100 jin at most—probably designed for children.

The cabinet was decent enough, though it had no lock and would need to be fitted later.

Altogether, she spent 5 yuan and 8 jiao.

After payment, the old man even helped her carry everything to the corner of the alley entrance.

She told him someone would come to pick it up. He didn’t think much of it and returned to lock up.

Once he left and confirmed no one was around, Jiang Lai stored everything directly into her spatial space.

Then she quickly left the alley.

By the time she returned home, night had already fallen—and no one had left the door open for her.

So she knocked loudly on the door without hesitation.

Bang, bang, bang.

“Mom! Open the door! I don’t have the key!”

At first, the Jiang family pretended not to hear her.

But her knocking grew louder and louder, accompanied by her shouting.

Soon, neighbors couldn’t take it anymore.

“Are you calling ghosts or what? Can’t you let people sleep? If you want to die, go die outside!”

Jiang Lai ignored them and kept knocking.

Finally, Wang Cuihua stormed over and opened the door, cursing.

“What are you shouting for? If you don’t have a key, then don’t come back! Why don’t you just die outside? I must have owed the Jiang family in my past life to end up with a creature like you!”

She even tried to pinch Jiang Lai’s arm.

But Jiang Lai slipped past her smoothly and entered the house instead, avoiding her hand.

Wang Cuihua slammed the door shut, drawing more complaints from neighbors.

Inside, Jiang Lai calmly laid out her bedding in the living room.

The two-bedroom apartment had been divided unevenly.

The smaller room belonged to Wang Cuihua and her husband.

The larger room was split into two smaller sections—one for Jiang Rou and Jiang Ya, and one for Jiang Tianshi.

So the living room was the only place left for Jiang Lai.

Wang Cuihua was so angry she felt like her chest would burst, but the neighbors’ shouting continued outside, so she could only swallow her rage and drink a large gulp of cold water before going back to her room.

Out of sight, out of mind.

After laying down her bedding, Jiang Lai lay down fully clothed.

She thought about the day after tomorrow when she would leave.

That meant she only had two days left to stock up on supplies.

She silently organized everything she would need in her mind—and before long, she fell asleep.

The next morning, Jiang Lai woke up before the rest of the family, driven by habit.

The Jiang family never ate breakfast at home.

Wang Cuihua and Jiang Fuhai ate at their factory.

The three children were given money to buy food outside.

As for Jiang Lai—she got nothing.

After the adults left, the others gradually got up.

Jiang Rou carefully combed her hair, secretly applied some of Wang Cuihua’s face cream, dabbed red pigment on her lips, and happily went out.

Jiang Ya and Jiang Tianshi went to school.

The entire family treated Jiang Lai as if she were invisible.

Fortunately, she was no longer the original owner.

She wouldn’t feel hurt over these things.

Thinking of the 100 yuan resettlement fee mentioned by Aunt Zhang, Jiang Lai narrowed her eyes slightly.

In the original owner’s memories, she had done all the housework since childhood.

When Jiang Rou played outside, she cooked.

When Jiang Ya and Jiang Tianshi went to extracurricular activities, she washed clothes.

When the family went boating or to the park, she stayed home making matchboxes.

From age five to sixteen, she had lived entirely for the Jiang family.

A tireless, invisible workhorse.

She ate the least, slept the least, and worked the most.

So now—

She decided it was time to take back everything that truly belonged to Jiang Lai.