TEDWR: Chapter 37

Glossary

· Liang Zheng (梁征): Liang Yingying's nephew from her hometown.

· Liang Yingying (梁莹莹): Zhang Yansheng's stepmother.

· Zhang Huan (张寰): Zhang Yansheng's father.

· Zhang Yansheng (张雁声): The female protagonist, the reborn eldest daughter.

· Zhang Heling (张鹤翎): Zhang Yansheng's nine-year-old half-sister. Nicknames: Hehe.

· Zhang Shuocheng (张硕成): Zhang Yansheng's seven-year-old half-brother. Nicknames: Shuoshuo.

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Chapter 37

Liang Zheng lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, feeling that if he didn’t groan a few times, he would simply expire from rage.

He was truly about to be angered to death by the Zhang family. They were both outrageously extravagant and miserly!

He was also a junior member of the family, yet his uncle was so distant with him. Not only did he not consider giving him any spending money to help him out, but he also said things like "earning money is meant to be spent on one’s own children."

It was blatantly obvious he didn’t see Liang Zheng as one of his own.

The more Liang Zheng thought about it, the angrier he became.

He also remembered all those insightful suggestions he had prepared for Zhang Huan to improve the company’s management. He wasn’t giving him a single one now!

Served the Zhang family right if their company performed worse and worse, destined for bankruptcy sooner or later!

Fantasizing about the Zhangs going bankrupt and having no money in the future, Liang Zheng finally felt his anger subside a little.

He took out his phone and started scrolling. In his university class group chat, a bunch of fresh-faced corporate slaves were venting their woes, reminiscing about their student days and childhood. Having been brutally beaten down by society, they now felt how wonderful the days were when they could still ask their parents for pocket money.

Seeing the words "pocket money" made Liang Zheng feel a pang of discomfort.

He typed in the group: "Do you guys know how much pocket money my little sister gets a month?"

Because Liang Zheng was so good at bragging at school, everyone jokingly called him "Young Master Liang." Seeing his message, they first asked: "How old is your sister?"

Liang Zheng said: "Elementary school, maybe third or fourth grade?"

Someone ventured a guess: "A thousand?"

"That’s exaggerated. My monthly allowance in university was only two thousand."

"Can you compare yourself to Young Master Liang's family?" "True that."

"Young Master Liang, Young Master Liang, come on, unveil the mystery for us poor folks. Let us see just how much it is?"

Everything is about comparison.

When Liang Zheng compared himself to the Zhangs, he felt like rolling his eyes, kicking his legs, and breathing his last—wishing he could drop dead on the spot. But when he compared himself to these ordinary people, his sense of superiority surged back.

He scoffed inwardly at their lack of worldly knowledge and typed disdainfully in the group: "Ten thousand."

"...Damn!"

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

"An elementary school student?"

"That’s too much..."

Liang Zheng deliberately waited for everyone to express their shock before adding: "And that’s only because she’s young, and they’re afraid she’ll waste money. That’s why they only give her ten thousand."

Sure enough, the group exploded again.

Someone questioned: "Old Liang, aren’t you an only child?"

"You idiot, he must be talking about his cousin! The one who lives in the big mansion in K City!"

"Old Liang, Old Liang, do you need a future brother-in-law?"

"Get lost! Their little sister is just an elementary school kid!"

Liang Zheng said: "And that’s just the little one. Her pocket money is given by my older sister. I don’t even know how much pocket money my older sister has."

Someone else asked: "How old is your older sister?"

Liang Zheng said: "She’ll be starting high school soon. Her grades are terrible, just that kind of spoiled rich second-generation kid, good for nothing like a lump of mud. And she still managed to get into what’s supposedly K City’s best high school. My aunt paid to get her in."

All of Zhang Huan’s money, in Liang Zheng’s mind, belonged to his aunt; Zhang Huan’s company was his aunt’s company; Zhang Huan’s home was his aunt’s home.

In Liang Zheng’s heart, he and his aunt were blood relatives, nephew and aunt connected by bone. Rounding it up, all this could basically be considered his family’s money, his family’s company, his family’s… home?

In short, Liang Zheng never considered himself an outsider to the Zhang family.

It’s just that while he saw the Zhangs as close family, they treated him like an outsider. The more he thought about it, the more indignant he felt.

The person who earlier mentioned he was an only child hadn’t been looking at the group chat much lately due to being busy. When they inquired in detail, others pulled up all the photos of luxurious mansions and sports cars Liang Zheng had previously posted in the group and shared them again.

That person was astounded, exclaiming in admiration, and then asked: "So you’re working for your aunt now? How much do you make a month?"

This was like stabbing a knife into Liang Zheng’s wound and sprinkling salt on it.

Furious, Liang Zheng wanted to say: "Don’t even mention it. So rich yet so damn stingy, they only give me six thousand a mon…"

His salary was six thousand a month. Now, during the probation period, he only got half: three thousand.

Typing in the heat of anger, Liang Zheng suddenly came to his senses halfway through—how could he tell his classmates such an embarrassing truth?

They all thought he lived in a mansion with a Ferrari. If they knew the truth, what would happen to his "Young Master Liang" face?

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Liang Zheng deleted the words he had just typed and rewrote: "My own aunt, it’s not about working or not working. It’s the family company, I’m just helping manage it. I’m too embarrassed to ask for much, just… a month..."

He originally wanted to write twenty thousand a month, but then he thought: Zhang Heling, an elementary school kid, got ten thousand in pocket money. Twenty thousand just didn’t seem right.

So what amount was appropriate? He had no idea.

Finally, he thought, as an adult’s salary, it should be at least four or five… no, six or seven times his cousin’s pocket money, right?

Gritting his teeth, Liang Zheng typed: "...just seventy thousand a month."

The group exploded once more, with everyone expressing envy, asking if his aunt needed another nephew, or a son, or even a pet?

Some immediately sent him private messages, hoping he could help them get a job.

More were asking what his current position was.

Feeling elated, Liang Zheng replied: "I’m holding a director title for now. We’ll see if anything else is needed later. My cousin is so young, the company needs family to look after it for him. I’m my aunt’s only nephew, it’s a responsibility I can’t shirk."

The group chat was once again filled with sounds of admiration, envy flying alongside flattery.

The resentment that had been clogging Liang Zheng’s chest finally dissipated. After it was gone, he felt empty.

Although he was (temporarily) living in a huge mansion, his monthly salary was only six thousand, and the BMW he drove was the shabbiest car in this household.

When his two cousins went out, they rode in luxury cars worth five or six million, with a chauffeur and a nanny in tow.

The disparity was too great. The more he thought about it, the emptier he felt. He hated his own poor skill at reincarnation—he was reborn as Liang Yingying’s nephew, not her son.

Feeling hollow, he took out his laptop, opened an adult website, found a pornographic video, and started watching while pleasuring himself.

After finishing, he washed his hands. Having lost bodily fluids, he felt thirsty. He pushed open his door to go downstairs for some water. Coincidentally, Zhang Yansheng also came out of her room to go downstairs. The two met in the hallway.

Liang Zheng stared intently.

Tonight, it was precisely because she had been so ill-mannered, leaving with a cold face without even letting others finish their sentences, that his suggestions for the company hadn’t been conveyed to Zhang Huan.

Liang Zheng thought he shouldn’t give this ill-bred girl a pleasant look.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

But before he could decide just how frosty a face to put on, Zhang Yansheng had already drifted past him, not sparing him even a glance from the corner of her eye.

She treated him completely as air.

Liang Zheng: "..."

Liang Zheng was livid.

In this life, Zhang Yansheng had learned not to let herself be angered by people she disliked. Why stare at a piece of excrement and let yourself be disgusted? Just act like the excrement doesn’t exist.

Listening to the footsteps, that Liang Zheng was following her downstairs, probably also looking for something to eat or drink.

Zhang Huan had made it clear early on that he should go rent his own place. He probably wouldn’t be staying here much longer, a month at most.

Just a passing guest.

Zhang Yansheng had died and been reborn, and she cherished her youth immensely. She would rather spend more time memorizing formulas and doing practice problems than waste time with someone surnamed Liang.

She opened the refrigerator to look.

The kitchen fridge stored vegetables, meat, and eggs. The refrigerator in the dining room was filled with ready-to-eat items like snacks and drinks.

Zhang Yansheng casually grabbed some snacks and a drink, then turned and brushed past Liang Zheng. The two mutually detested the sight of each other, neither speaking a word.

Zhang Yansheng hugged her drink, tore open the snack bag, and ate as she walked, thinking to herself... would this person still steal that watch in this life?

If he was going to steal it, he should do it quickly. Steal it early, report it to the police early, get locked up early, and save everyone the trouble. He shouldn’t keep hanging around in her sight.

Liang Zheng took a few cans of soda and beer from the fridge, planning to take them upstairs.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Zhang Yansheng walking towards the stairs with her snacks, not looking back at all, so he boldly looked over.

Little brat, hasn’t even developed properly yet, but her legs are quite nice, he thought resentfully.

Carrying the chilled drinks back to his room, he continued browsing the adult website.

This site had many voyeur videos. Perverted men would sneak in, install hidden cameras, secretly film couples having sex, or film girls changing clothes, using the toilet, or showering.

Liang Zheng watched with great interest.

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

A bunch of perverts in the comment section were discussing and critiquing the bodies of the victimized women.

Suddenly, someone asked: "I filmed something too, how do I upload it?"

Someone immediately replied: "The 'Upload' button in the navigation bar at the top."

Another comment floated by: "Bro, how did you film it?"

That person answered: "Heh heh heh, shared apartment. Installed a camera in the bathroom."

Including Liang Zheng, a group of perverted men who saw this comment all emitted knowing laughs in front of their screens.

Meanwhile, in the third-floor bedroom, Zhang Huan directly showed his displeasure to Liang Yingying: "At the latest, next week, have your nephew move out."

Liang Yingying smiled apologetically: "He’s just a kid who doesn’t understand things. If he said something wrong, don’t take it to heart."

Zhang Huan gave a derisive laugh: "He didn’t just say the wrong thing. He looks down on our family."

Liang Yingying refused to admit it: "How could that be!"

Zhang Huan couldn’t be bothered to explain to her. Liang Zheng’s kind of "looking down" was, to put it bluntly, resentment towards the wealthy.

He had seen many relatives who were envious and jealous of his and his family’s lifestyle, but Liang Zheng was the first who attempted to control how his family spent their money. The face that practically screamed "You might as well give that money to me to spend" was indescribably off-putting.

Zhang Huan didn’t know why, but he had suddenly lost his patience and tolerance towards "relatives." Maybe he and this nephew of his wife’s were just fundamentally incompatible.

In any case, he said: "Anyway, I’ve made myself clear. I won’t say it a second time." He glanced at Liang Yingying and went in to take a shower.

Liang Yingying was furious.

Thinking it over carefully, it must all be that dead girl Zhang Yansheng’s fault, who knows what kind of malicious gossip she had been feeding her father again!

She habitually got up late. The next day, Thursday, when she finally got up and saw her own son and daughter actually hovering around Zhang Yansheng, she became instantly furious.

She yanked Zhang Shuocheng over and scolded Zhang Heling: "Don’t you have anything to do? If you have that much free time, go study!"

Before Zhang Heling could explain, Zhang Shuocheng broke free from her and said: "We already finished our homework!"

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Zhang Heling hurriedly added: "It’s true, we’ve both finished our homework. I even checked Shuoshuo’s." Even though there were quite a lot of mistakes, they had been corrected. But there was no need to tell the already angry Liang Yingying that, since she never cared about their studies anyway.

What she often said was—"It doesn’t matter, you’ll have more money than you can spend in a lifetime anyway."

She genuinely believed that. Since they were already this rich, there was no need to strive anymore.

She had already found them such a rich father. She had done right by them.

(End of Chapter)

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