The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

Chapter 550: Chapter 541: The Stepmother Who Refuses to Be a Stepping Stone 29

During dinner, only the two oblivious kids ate a lot.

Anning had been lying down and didn’t come out. She didn’t eat anything at all.

Liu Qi and Liu Ming were worried about Anning and did not eat either.

Li Jingyu and Li Jingyan were even less able to eat.

Li Zhifang felt so corroded with guilt that he was extremely upset and couldn’t think about eating at all.

Anning waited until late at night when everyone had gone to bed before getting up.

She quietly entered Liu Qi’s room.

Liu Qi was not asleep, and when he saw Anning come in, he turned over and sat up: ”Mom, what’s the matter?”

Anning gestured for Liu Qi to put on his clothes and follow her out.

The two of them left the Li family and quickly went to the Liu Family’s house.

Anning opened the door, found two shovels inside, and measured the ground with her steps under a jujube tree for a while, then motioned for Liu Qi to start digging with her.

Without asking any questions, Liu Qi vigorously dug alongside Anning, and after a while, the two of them uncovered a chest.

Anning and Liu Qi worked together to lift the chest out.

When the chest was opened, Liu Qi was terrified.

Inside the chest were many gold bars, gemstones, and some antiques.

”Mom, what is this...”

Anning gestured for Liu Qi to keep his voice down: ”I found these in a cave on the mountain when I was gathering herbs a long time ago. They must have been left there by bandits. I moved them here slowly and secretly and have been hiding them for years without saying anything.”

Liu Qi looked at the gold bars: ”So, what do we do now?”

Anning went into the house to grab a bag, filled it with quite a few gold bars and gemstones, and then covered the chest again and buried it back.

After making the spot look as if it had never been dug up, she put the shovels away and pulled Liu Qi out of the yard.

When the iron gate was locked again, Anning whispered to Liu Qi: ”Our home isn’t the only place where treasures are buried. There are several other spots inside and outside the house, but now isn’t the time to dig them out. Since the house belongs to us and nobody knows about our treasures, keeping them buried here is very safe.”

Liu Qi nodded.

Anning pulled Liu Qi and they hurried back to the Li family home.

She placed the bag in Liu Qi’s room: ”Tomorrow morning, take this bag and leave the house, say that your teacher asked you to go to the school for something. Once you leave, don’t come back. Head straight to the house we bought in the city and wait there.”

After instructing him, she handed over the keys to Liu Qi: ”The three apartments in the city have not been rented out since last year. You can stay there for the time being. Tomorrow or the day after, I’ll bring your younger brother and sister there too.”

Liu Qi knew that the matter Anning mentioned was of great importance, so without any hesitation, he agreed.

That night, Liu Qi slept with the treasures.

Holding a big bag of gold bars and jewelry, he truly could not sleep.

Early the next morning, Liu Qi packed up his things.

He packed a few books and several sets of clean clothes, all of which were put into a big bag, and the gold bars and jewelry were hidden among those items.

Anning also got up early to make some food for Liu Qi, and she packed some snacks and eggs for him, as well as a thermos filled with water for him to take along.

When Li Zhifang got up, he saw that Liu Qi was about to leave.

”Where is Aqi going?”

Anning smiled: ”Their teacher called him and said he needed to go to the school.”

”Then you better hurry.”

Li Zhifang thought for a moment: ”Shall I take him there?”

Liu Qi quickly said: ”No need, I can go by myself.”

He rode his bicycle and headed out.

Li Zhifang thought about the divorce and didn’t insist on sending Liu Qi off.

After breakfast, Anning and Li Zhifang took their household registration book and marriage certificate to the Civil Affairs Bureau.

The couple quickly completed the divorce procedures.

After returning, Li Zhifang said to Anning, ”There’s some money left at home, you, you take it. You and the kids need to be careful in the future... If there’s any difficulty, just tell me.”

Anning was silent for a moment: ”No need, I don’t want to stay in the village anymore. I want to take the kids and leave.”

She started to pack up when she got back, and also packed for Liu Ming and Liu Yuzhen.

After everything was packed, Anning changed her clothes and went to Li Baolai’s place.

It was just time for lunch, Li Baolai and Zhang Fengfeng had just finished cooking. When they saw Anning coming, Zhang Fengfeng smiled and said, ”Did you come because you smelled the food? Your dad and I just stewed a chicken and you arrived.”

As Anning approached, Zhang Fengfeng saw that Anning looked especially unwell, her face was a bit pale, and there were tears in her eyes.

She was startled.

”Ningning.”

Zhang Fengfeng hurriedly got up to pull Anning: ”What happened to you? Who has bullied you? Or did you have a fight with Lao Si?”

Anning shook her head, tears started rolling down uncontrollably as she did.

Anning took two steps back and bowed deeply to Zhang Fengfeng and Li Baolai.

She remained bowed for a long time without straightening up.

”Dad, Mom, I... I’ve divorced Zhifang. I came to say goodbye to you today. The kindness and protection you’ve shown me since I married into the Li family, as well as the love and care, it’s all engraved in my heart. I originally wanted us to live together forever, and when you got old and couldn’t move, I would take care of you, but it turns out we don’t have that fate.”

When Anning stood up, her face was covered in tears.

Her eyes were filled with pain and reluctance: ”I, I’m leaving now. Please take good care of yourselves, the two of you.”

After she spoke, Anning ran out crying.

Zhang Fengfeng panicked: ”What’s going on? Husband, let’s go see what happened. Why divorce all of a sudden?”

Li Baolai also lost his appetite and quickly ran with Zhang Fengfeng to Li Zhifang’s place.

Anning returned home, called Liu Ming and Liu Yuzhen, picked up the bags, and walked outside with the children.

”Mom.”

Li Jingyu ran out of the kitchen with a spoon in her hand and tears rimming her eyes: ”Mom, don’t you want us anymore?”

Li Jingyan also ran out of the house.

She stretched out her hand to pull Anning: ”Mom, please don’t go, okay? I... I don’t need my birth mother, I just want you, I just want you... and the brother and sister, I can’t bear to part with them.”

The youngest Li Jinghan also ran out of the house. Seeing Anning packing up to leave, he asked loudly, ”Mom, what are you doing? Take me with you.”

It was okay until Li Jinghan spoke, but as he did, Anning couldn’t control herself and cried again.

Li Jingyu threw away the spoon and hugged Anning, sobbing loudly.

While Li Jingyan was crying as she hugged Liu Yuzhen.

Liu Ming knew what was happening but he couldn’t bear to leave his two sisters, tears also filled his eyes.

Liu Yuzhen looked at Li Jingyan timidly, then glanced at Li Jinghan, still not understanding the situation.

”Sis, why are you crying? Please don’t cry. Mom and I are just going out to play for two days, we will come back.”

The commotion of the crying children was a bit loud, and the nearby neighbors heard and came to see.

Zhang Fengfeng and Li Baolai also ran over.

When Zhang Fengfeng saw Anning and the children crying, her heart felt unbearably sad.

”Ningning, what exactly is going on? You... you need to make it clear. If Lao Si has wronged you, your dad and I will stand up for you, we’ll break his legs.”

Several neighbors also came to inquire.

Two elder sisters-in-law, who usually had a good relationship with Anning, were also confused: ”We didn’t hear any arguments from your house, what happened? Li Lao Si is usually quite honest, he wouldn’t have done something to wrong you, would he?”