The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

”Coming right up.”

Xiao Qin replied with a smile.

She went to wash her hands and then came back to chat with Anning.

”Second sister-in-law, how is university? Are the classmates easy to get along with?”

Anning nodded with a smile: ”The classmates are all great, and the school is pretty nice. But we haven’t started classes yet, so I don’t know how the teachers are.”

Xiao Qin linked arms with Anning: ”That’s wonderful, being able to go to university.”

Anning glanced at Xiao Yuan with a smile: ”Once you save up some money, you can study too. You can attend night school now or take the entrance exams for adult education.”

Xiao Qin waved her hands in fear: ”No, no, I can’t study. I get a headache whenever I read. Probably none of us at home have the knack for it; no one really wants to study anyway.”

Xiao Yuan came over at this moment: ”I’ll get some textbooks and learn from the beginning, so in two years I can take the adult exam.”

”What?”

Xiao Qin almost screamed in shock: ”Seriously? Second brother, you’re going all out, you...”

Then she saw Anning nodding with a smile and instantly understood.

Her second brother was afraid his lack of education wouldn’t match up to Anning. Not only did he want to find ways to earn money, but he also wanted to get a college degree or something.

Thinking about everything her second brother did for Anning, Xiao Qin was quite touched. She thought, if there were a man who would give everything for her, she’d definitely marry him right away.

”Come on, let’s go eat.”

Xiao Yuan held Anning’s hand and led her forward, leaving Xiao Qin behind.

Xiao Qin stomped her foot and quickly caught up.

The three of them found a restaurant to have a meal. After eating, Anning and Xiao Yuan went shopping, while Xiao Qin went back to the shop to continue tidying up.

Anning and Xiao Yuan went to the mall, and she bought a few sets of clothes for Xiao Yuan.

Xiao Yuan wanted to give Anning some money, but she refused.

She still had money and enough to spend, while Xiao Yuan was in the early stages of starting his business, with many things that cost money. They should save wherever they could, so they wouldn’t worry about money when it was needed.

Xiao Yuan understood Anning’s thoughts.

He carried the bags and walked out of the mall with Anning, holding her hand and saying, ”In a couple of years, all my money will be yours.”

Anning rolled her eyes: ”Who else would you give it to? Let me tell you, keeping secret stashes is unacceptable.”

”Yes, Lady says so.”

Xiao Yuan chuckled: ”Lady must supervise me well, not allowing me to keep secret stashes.”

Anning thought of the various worlds where Xiao Yuan was constantly hiding money.

In the life where Xiao Yuan was an Emperor, even the keys to his private treasury were in Anning’s hands. Anything he wanted to do needed Anning’s approval. It’s doubtful that their descendants could imagine Emperor Zhaowu, a generation of wise and mighty ruler, sneaking around hiding things everywhere in the Imperial Study—inside vases, on beams, wherever one could hide money, he would stash a bit there.

If future generations knew these stories, it would definitely shatter the heroic image of Emperor Zhaowu.

Thinking of this, Anning couldn’t help but laugh: ”In a couple of years, all your income will have to be turned over. You’d better save whatever you can now while you can.”

Xiao Yuan quickly appeased Anning: ”Not at all, no such thing, I wouldn’t keep stashes, I’ve never hidden any...”

Anning waved with a smile: ”Alright, enough of that, you’d better take me back to school.”

Xiao Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and immediately called a car to go to the school with Anning.

He took Anning to the school gate and left.

Anning knew he was really busy these days, so she didn’t keep him, watched him leave, and then returned to the dormitory.

By this time, the dorm was fully occupied with six people, and everyone had gotten acquainted.

Anning waited for a day before the military training started, and after two weeks of training, classes officially began.

After that, Anning was busy with classes, participating in various school activities.

Xiao Yuan was also very busy.

His renovation company opened, and he printed many leaflets and hired people to distribute them in newly built communities. He also connected with property management companies, offering them benefits to promote in the communities.

Quickly, Xiao Yuan secured some jobs.

With jobs in hand, Xiao Yuan became even busier.

He needed to meet with clients, draw plans according to their demands, oversee construction progress, and manage the renovation workers—a lot of tasks awaited him.

He barely slept four or five hours a day, spending the rest of the time handling various matters.

Even Xiao Qin had to help serve customers in the shop.

There were simply too few people now; Xiao Yuan and Xiao Qin often had to do the work of two people.

After a busy few months, the company turned a profit.

Furthermore, due to the excellent results of some houses they renovated for clients before, their reputation spread. Clients brought more business to them without Xiao Yuan needing to seek it out.

By winter, the renovation company’s business was even busier.

Xiao Yuan had no choice but to hire more personnel to handle the workload.

By this time, the two houses he bought were already renovated for living.

The house had long been renovated, and Anning took on furniture shopping and setting up the rooms, adding household items—nearly everything was handled by her.

Once everything was ready, Anning went over every day to open the windows to let in fresh air.

Since they used environmentally friendly materials, by winter, the house was liveable.

So, Xiao Yuan chose an auspicious day to move in.

Xiao Qin also moved into the other house.

Anning brought many of her things over, staying there on Sundays while keeping busy at school during the week. As per Anning’s plan, she intended to move in with Xiao Yuan after her sophomore year and no longer live in the school dorm.

Xiao Qin was happy with such developments.

In her view, once Anning and Xiao Yuan lived together, she would definitely be her second sister-in-law and part of their family. She thought her second brother marrying such a wife was indeed a dream come true.

Of course, she just quietly enjoyed the thought and didn’t tell their family.

She feared if she told them, her parents might reveal something to the Yangs, potentially messing things up.

After moving into the new house, Xiao Qin expressed to Xiao Yuan that she didn’t want to work in renovations anymore.

Xiao Qin couldn’t handle it, and she couldn’t learn about renovation materials or understand design blueprints, which she found useless.

Xiao Qin genuinely loved making food and wanted to continue making and selling buns, believing it also made good money.

But Xiao Yuan felt making buns was too hard and the earnings were low.

It happened to be a weekend, and Anning, who stayed over on Saturday, prepared breakfast and called Xiao Qin to eat together.

Xiao Qin brought up the idea of opening a bun shop again.

”Second brother, I know you’re looking out for me, worried about me being overworked, but honestly, I can’t do the renovation work. I don’t understand it, and taking money when I can’t contribute doesn’t sit well with me.”

While eating, Xiao Qin discussed it with Xiao Yuan.

Xiao Yuan responded: ”Don’t rush. When I’m less busy in the spring, I’ll look into the market for you and find something suitable.”

Anning glanced at both Xiao Yuan and Xiao Qin, then put down her fried dough stick: ”Qinzi doesn’t want to work in renovations and likes making food. How about this, instead of selling buns, we make pastries, what do you think?”

”Pastries?”

Xiao Qin was puzzled.

Anning smiled and explained: ”You know, things like cakes, bread, milk tea—on the surface, it looks more sophisticated than steamed buns, and a girl opening a pastry shop looks good too. Let’s do this. I’ll find out where you can learn this stuff, you sign up to study for a bit, and once you’re good at it, we’ll open a pastry shop. People’s living standards are rising, and every household with kids buys cakes and bread. Birthday cakes and such have much bigger margins than buns. And a beautifully decorated pastry shop with you dressed nicely standing there will look classier.”

With Anning’s explanation, Xiao Qin was immediately excited: ”Really? I’ll finish eating and then go check the market. If it’s really promising, I’ll do it.”

Xiao Yuan considered and agreed it was a good venture for Xiao Qin, and if done well, it would be profitable.

And since pastries could be paired with milk tea, Xiao Yuan saw an opportunity to draw in customers with a milk tea recipe he had.

”Alright then, go ahead and see. If it looks good, find a school to learn, and once you’re skilled, I’ll invest in your shop.”

The decision made, Xiao Qin felt a lot better.

She quickly finished breakfast and left, humming a tune.