Her henchman laughed loudly: "Ji Baishu has gotten bolder again! She eats at Sister Cheng's house, lives at Sister Cheng's house, and still dares to go against Sister Cheng? I think she deserves a beating again."

"Why are you glaring at Sister Cheng? If you're so capable, get out of here and stop shamelessly staying at Sister Cheng's house!"

“How could she dare to leave? If it weren’t for Sister Cheng’s family taking her in, she would have been out on the streets by now! She’d be kidnapped by human traffickers and sold to some mountain village to be someone’s wife, then she’d know who really treated her well.”

"If you splash her with water again and lock her in the toilet overnight, she might finally learn something!"

"I'll teach her a lesson after school starts—"

Bai Shu couldn't hear what was said after that. The bus drove away from the street corner, away from the crowded students. The surrounding students and parents watched everything indifferently. They disliked Cheng Yuxuan and her gang of hooligans, and they also kept their distance from Bai Shu.

Bai Shu almost burst into tears of grievance, but she gritted her teeth and forced the tears back.

Arguing was useless. It wasn't that she hadn't tried to argue, but it was precisely because she had tried that she realized those people didn't actually care where she was going; they just wanted to find a reason to humiliate her!

Just bear with it a little longer, it'll only be a year—

Once she turns eighteen, her aunt's family and her guardianship will be automatically terminated. She needs to collect as much evidence as possible of her aunt's family embezzling her parents' inheritance, and once she has saved enough money, she will hire a lawyer and sue them in court!

Sooner or later.

Sooner or later.

She will absolutely not let them get away with this!

Bai Zhu closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

She was deliberately feigning weakness to lull them into a false sense of security. Only by making them increasingly arrogant could she gather more evidence...

As the bus traveled further and further towards the edge of the county town, fewer and fewer people were on board. Before dusk, Tongsu finally arrived at her destination.

Small tables lined the sidewalk, and shirtless people were drinking, playing drinking games, and eating barbecue. The unique aroma of barbecue filled the air, and chefs fanned the grills, sending up plumes of hot white smoke.

She ran quickly into the food stall, where the proprietress was already enthusiastically greeting customers. Hearing the noise, she looked up, glanced over, and waved her hand impatiently.

"Why are you so late? Didn't you say it was a holiday today? Alright, hurry up and get to work. There are a lot of people today, so you can help serve the dishes first, and then wash the dishes when there are fewer people. Same as always, eight yuan an hour, until eleven o'clock. Don't break any dishes or chopsticks, or you'll have to pay for them!"

Bai Shu obediently responded, took her schoolbag, and walked to the counter. The young lady in charge of collecting money smiled reassuringly at her and helped her store the schoolbag at the back.

"You haven't had dinner yet, have you? I asked Chef Zhang to bake you a steamed bun. When someone ordered stir-fry earlier, I also saved some for you. You can eat it first in the back, then you can go back to work without rushing."

Bai Zhu sincerely thanked her, wolfed down his meal, and then began serving the dishes.

She was quick and efficient, serving dishes and washing dishes fast and well. Even the notoriously mean-spirited landlady couldn't find any fault with her and could only say sullenly, "You're quite capable..."

Bai Shu was so busy that she barely had time to breathe. When she finally had a moment to spare, she wiped the sweat from her forehead, stood aside, and drank a couple of sips of water. Before she could rest for long, she suddenly heard a familiar mocking laugh. Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly turned around.

—At the two tables near the edge, sitting were Cheng Yuxuan and her group!

Damn it, why are they here!