Chapter 72 New Year's Gift Jiang Xiliu is such a powerful person, only...

Jin Zhao remained silent.

He himself didn't know; he just felt that his life was meaningless.

Jin Zhao thought in a daze: He was clearly someone who wanted to live well no matter how hard things got, so why could he so easily turn on himself now?

But I'm so tired.

Staying at home is so tiring.

He was all alone.

He used to have his grandmother who cared about him, but now he has no one left. Whether he lives on or dies peacefully, no one will care.

It wasn't even as clean as the bathroom.

Jin Zhao was envious of the bathroom; even though it was dirty, Jiang Xiliu still cared about it.

But he's almost broken, and nobody cares about him.

So, in a life where no one cares, what reason could he possibly have to stay here and suffer?

"I'm asking you a question." Jiang Xiliu roughly made him look at her. "Why don't you want to live? Do you want to die in my house to get revenge on me?"

Of course not.

Jin Zhao thought that if he had to choose, he would prefer to lie in his grandmother's rocking chair and go to her.

He then realized, a beat late, that the home where he grew up also belonged to Jiang Xiliu.

He really has nothing left now.

Jin Zhao blinked. He knew he had to give Jiang Xiliu an answer, otherwise she wouldn't let him off easily.

But he didn't want to tell her the truth, yet he didn't dare to lie to her.

"I...I have no relatives left." He had no family either.

Jin Zhao once thought Jiang Xiliu was his family, but in recent years he has come to realize that his status is not even as high as that of a pet in the house.

Xiao Da could occasionally be taken out for a stroll by her, but he was confined to the house, watching her radiant outside.

Jiang Xiliu frowned and said in a nonchalant tone, "Just because of this?"

Jin Zhao was stunned, even a little nervous.

Isn't this reason enough to convince her?

Jiang Xiliu raised her hand, and Jin Zhao subconsciously closed his eyes.

She hugged him.

Jin Zhao opened his eyes again in a daze and looked at her. He had said something wrong. Wasn't he going to be punished?

Jiang Xiliu's face was unpleasant; she was clearly very unhappy, yet she gently placed her hand on his back.

"Family is something you'll have sooner or later," she said.

After lying in bed for two days, Jin Zhao was sent to the Jiang family's old residence.

Before leaving, Jiang Xiliu told him, "You've made the bathroom so unlucky that the whole house is uninhabitable. We need to hire someone to clean it. It's expensive, so you'll need to work here to pay for it, understand?"

Jin Zhao nodded; he had no other choice: "Understood."

"Then do a good job," Jiang Xiliu said. "And be more clever."

But Jiang Xiliu went to the company after saying those words. Jin Zhao didn't know what to do. After thinking for a while, he could only walk the little dog sitting next to him.

Jin Zhao is still unable to leave the old house.

However, compared to the square, boxy layout of large apartments, the space here is much more open. Even children can stroll around here without leaving the house.

In the afternoon, he was caught by Jiang Fuhuai and forced to learn tennis, becoming Jiang Fuhuai's tennis partner and ball retriever.

Jiang Fuhuai, covered in sweat, sat on the ground and complained, "Your stamina is even worse than mine, how dare Xiliu look down on me?"

Jin Zhao looked down at his trembling wrist, behind which was a wound that had not yet healed.

He thought about what Jiang Xiliu meant by "be more clever" and replied seriously to Jiang Fuhuai: "Maybe that's not what she meant."

"It might be a lie to say you have poor physical strength."

Jiang Fuhuai chuckled: "Then what is the truth?"

Jin Zhao's eyes were full of sincerity: "It's true that I'm old."

Jiang Fuhuai and Xi Zhen were late bloomers, but in their time, people generally had children quite early. So when they held parent-teacher conferences for Jiang Xiliu from a young age, he was four, five, six, seven, or eight years older than the other parents.

The things he had held a grudge about in the past were now exposed by his son-in-law, which made Jiang Fuhuai so angry that he slammed his fist on the table in front of the whole family that night, and then angrily ate two bowls of rice to prove that he was still young.

Jin Zhao knew he had said the wrong thing. When Jiang Xiliu looked over, he didn't dare to look up at all. He just kept his head down and ate his rice. But the more he ate, the more food appeared in his bowl. In the end, he felt nauseous and wanted to vomit, but the food in his bowl didn't seem to have decreased.

He had no choice but to apologize to Jiang Xiliu in a low voice: "I was wrong, please stop, I really can't eat anymore."

Perhaps because his apology was sincere, Jiang Xiliu didn't hold it against him or force him to finish the food. Instead, she changed the method of punishment.

—Make him and Xiao Da walk around the old house again.

In the following days, Jiang Fuhuai stopped asking Jin Zhao to play tennis with him and went fishing with his friends.

Seeing Jin Zhao wandering around aimlessly, looking lost and unsure of what to do, Xi Zhen kindly led him to the flower room.

In her spare time, Xi Zhen loves to grow flowers and plants. Deep inside the greenhouse are some rather delicate orchids, all of which she takes care of herself.

She patiently explained it to Jin Zhao over several days as she worked.

Jin Zhao listened attentively and took careful notes.

His demeanor intimidated Xi Zhen, who, for some reason, believed that he could take good care of the flowers after learning for a few days.

During one of her outings, she entrusted these flowers to Jin Zhao.

When Xi Zhen returned, one potted plant was completely dead, another was half-dead, and Jin Zhao didn't dare touch the other potted plants, though they looked rather listless.

Xi Zhen's blood pressure was unusually high, but she was soft-hearted. Looking at the wilted person who seemed to wish she could die in place of the flowers, she only said, "I know you can't afford to pay for it, so when Jiang Xiliu comes home, you have to ask your wife to buy me a few new ones, okay?"

Xi Zhen's "Do you know?" is just as terrifying as Jiang Xiliu's "Do you understand?"

Jin Zhao had already found out the prices of these small items. He thought that he probably couldn't earn that much money even if he worked for the Jiang family his whole life.

Asking him to tell Jiang Xiliu this matter would be even more terrifying than risking his life for the Jiang family.

So, when it was time for dinner that evening, Jin Zhao disappeared somewhere.

Jiang Xiliu was confident in the security of the old house and was not worried that he would run away.

Xi Zhen told her daughter about what happened that day with a headache. Jiang Xiliu smiled, knowing why Jin Zhao had disappeared during the meal, but she said to Xi Zhen, "He's sick."

Jin Zhao, who was hiding nearby, ran away as soon as he heard those three words.

As he ran, Jin Zhao thought of when he was very young, when he fought with other children. Even though the other child had insulted him first, he ended up apologizing to them.

The other parent wouldn't let it go, so the teacher said, "He doesn't have parents..."

It seems that he was in a worse situation, which is why he was more easily forgiven.

But Jin Zhao doesn't want to be forgiven like this. He didn't want to admit he didn't have parents before, and he doesn't want to admit he's sick now.

“…You shouldn’t have let him touch those things. With the injury on his hand, it will take him ten days to half a month to recover. He can do some rough work, but if he does this kind of delicate work, his hands will probably shake non-stop.” Jiang Xiliu picked up some food, trying to deny the responsibility with a straight face, “Your judgment was wrong, and you have to accept the consequences.”

Xi Zhen said speechlessly, "Didn't they remove all the gauze from his hands? Even the scabs on them have fallen off."

“It’s only that the outside has healed.” Jiang Xiliu had her own reasoning. “The inside hasn’t healed yet.”

Finally, the debts of the children are repaid by the parents.

Jiang Fuhuai, who returned home late from fishing and missed dinner, inexplicably found himself in debt for two pots of orchids.

Oh, to please Xi Zhen, he even bought an extra pot.

Jiang Xiliu stayed in the study until after 11 p.m. When she returned to her room, it was still empty.

She frowned and made the call.

The other end answered immediately after one ring, but remained silent without speaking first.

Jiang Xiliu asked him, "Where did you go to play?"

This might sound like she was coaxing a child, but Jin Zhao knew it wasn't. She was indirectly scolding him for not working and only knowing how to hide away and be lazy. He said in a muffled voice, "I'm walking the dog."

Poor, innocent little Da's daily activity level depends on Jin Zhao's mood. It's so tired that it's already sticking its tongue out, but Jin Zhao is still full of energy and dragging it all over the yard.

"Then stop running away and get back here right now," Jiang Xiliu said. "I'm going to sleep. If you come back late and wake me up, I'll get my salary docked."

He hasn't finished paying back the money for cleaning the bathroom yet, and he hasn't received a single penny; instead, his debt is only increasing.

Jin Zhao thought of the dead orchid again. Now he didn't know how to face Jiang Xiliu, nor how to face Xi Zhen.

He realized with absolute certainty that he was finished, that he would have to work for the Jiang family for the rest of his life.

Not wanting his wages to be docked, Jin Zhao hesitated and said, "You can just go to sleep. I won't wake you up."

Jiang Xiliu snorted coldly, exposing his little scheme: "What? Not coming back tonight? Planning to sleep under the open sky? Dream on! Get back here right now, it's your job, understand?"

"Understand……"

After Jiang Xiliu said that, Jin Zhao had no choice but to run back, afraid that even a second's delay would disturb Jiang Xiliu's sleep.

He went to take a shower, panting, and washed himself clean before quietly lying down on the edge of the bed.

Jiang Xiliu didn't ask him about the flowers. Jin Zhao was worried and wondered what she meant, but he didn't dare to ask, as if asking would mean selling himself to her.

Although now it's no different from selling myself to her.

"Are you going to sleep or not?" Jiang Xiliu's voice came from the side. "If you're not going to sleep, you have to work."

Jin Zhao thought to himself, "I haven't moved, and my eyes are closed. How did Jiang Xiliu know I wasn't asleep?" After thinking for a while, he still couldn't figure it out.

However, Jiang Xiliu is such a capable person that she will always find out what she wants to know, sooner or later.

Jin Zhao moved slowly closer to her.

He obediently kissed her.

Jiang Xiliu didn't ask him why he was being so proactive today. Apart from occasionally issuing a few commands, she calmly enjoyed the moment.

Jin Zhao, panting, raised his head and carefully observed Jiang Xiliu's expression, feeling that his performance was not bad.

"The New Year is almost here." Since being locked up, he had become vague about dates and hadn't bothered to check them carefully.

But he roughly knew that the Lunar New Year was in February this year, and now that winter was almost over, his family had not yet started preparing for the New Year atmosphere.

Jiang Xiliu glanced at him, unsure whether he was genuinely stupid or pretending, and went along with his words: "So what if it's almost New Year's?"

"I want a..." Jin Zhao found it difficult to say, but this was the only way he could subtly ask Jiang Xiliu to buy two pots of orchids to compensate Xi Zhen as a "New Year's gift."

"What do you want?" Jiang Xiliu sat up straight, her face showing no annoyance, her eyes slightly wide, looking somewhat curious.

"Two...a pot of flowers."

"Oh," Jiang Xiliu responded indifferently, then refused under Jin Zhao's expectant gaze, "I won't buy it for you."

She added, "I can give you something else as a New Year's gift."

But Jin Zhao only wanted a pot of flowers.

However, Jin Zhao's opinion was never important to Jiang Xiliu. She pulled him closer on her own and said, "You're welcome."

At the end of March, the Jiang family inexplicably invited those distant relatives over, and everyone gathered together to celebrate a strange "Spring Festival".

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Author's Note: Jin Zhao: Hehehehe... [cat paw]

Debt: [+1][+1][+1]