The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

Zhang Hao had already bid on and secured that plot of land in the east of the city.

Now he was riding high, pulling together a construction team, thinking about breaking ground as soon as possible.

And Zhang Hao had also heard that the city was planning a subway line, very likely to pass right through the eastern side; the plot he bought was right next to a future subway station.

This news made him even more excited, like he’d just been shot up with adrenaline.

But once he got the permits, finished all the paperwork, and started construction, the smile on his face grew less and less.

No one knew what was going on—every time they started work, accidents seemed to happen easily. First, an excavator broke down for no reason while digging the foundation, and then someone was almost killed by the machine.

In short, nothing had gone smoothly since the project started.

Zhang Yilin watched coldly from the sidelines. She had also asked Xiao Yuan about the depth of the tomb, and she knew Zhang Hao’s side was about to dig into it.

Zhang Yilin hurried to con a bit more money out of Zhang Linfeng, and besides that, she asked Mrs. Zhang for a few limited-edition handbags and quickly stashed all of it at the Xiao Family’s place.

Just as Zhang Yilin finished storing everything, something really did happen at the construction site.

That day, while digging the foundation, they unearthed some human bones—there was a skull, tibias, and so on.

The news spread quickly; the police immediately came to collect evidence and investigate. The bones were taken out and examined, and it was found they were over a thousand years old.

Once the test results came out, the cultural relics department intervened without delay.

A few archaeology experts came to inspect the site. Digging deeper, they discovered a burial pit, and the area where the bones were found was clearly an outer burial chamber for grave goods; those bones should all have been the remains of people sacrificed for burial back then.

Around the burial pit, the archaeologists found several large tombs.

With this, the Zhang Family’s project was bound to be halted and postponed indefinitely.

The government had originally intended to build the subway line here, but because of the discovery of the large tombs, they directly rerouted it to the west of the city.

The eastern side couldn’t be developed in the short term, so the government held a meeting and decided to develop the western side first.

By this time, Bao Bufen and his people had quietly secured a large piece of land in the west of the city.

When they bid on it, everyone was thinking the focus would be on developing the east, and that the west would definitely be desolate; because of that, Bao Bufen really didn’t spend much money on the land.

But now that the news of developing the west had gone out, and with the subway line passing through the west, the piece of land Bao Bufen had acquired shot up in value immediately.

And back when Bao Bufen was bidding for the land, Xiao Yuan had already put in all the money his home had and given it to Bao Bufen, effectively buying into a share.

In fact, those few million from Xiao Yuan were nothing in Bao Bufen’s eyes, but both he and Boss Wu happily accepted Xiao Yuan’s investment.

What they valued wasn’t the money, but Xiao Yuan’s skills.

If Xiao Yuan was investing alongside them, he would definitely put his heart into everything involving that piece of land, and on top of that, they could ask Xiao Yuan for help with all sorts of things in the future. For Bao Bufen, using that small share to win over a powerful Feng Shui Master was an extremely cost-effective deal.

With a major development in the west of the city, naturally no one cared about the east anymore.

When the Zhang Family bid for the land, they had taken out bank loans; now the bank was hounding them daily for repayment, and all kinds of problems were landing on their doorstep, leaving Zhang Hao and Zhang Linfeng father and son in utter chaos.

They wanted to transfer the land to someone else, but at a time like this, who would take that plot off their hands?

Yet if that plot just sat there and couldn’t be developed, every day it sat idle meant bigger losses for the Zhang Family—they really couldn’t afford to let it sit.

With no other option, Zhang Hao could only sell off several branch companies, hoping to scrape together enough money to pay back the bank loans first.

The city was full of rich tycoons, and those people only had eyes for profit. When the Zhang Family ran into trouble, they were like sharks smelling blood, lunging in to take a huge bite out of the Zhang Family.

Zhang Hao was desperate to sell his companies, and those people joined forces, trying to ensnare the Zhang Family’s assets; naturally, the prices they offered were rock-bottom.

Zhang Hao approached several people, but the offers were all low; not one was willing to pay a normal price, which made Zhang Hao even more frantic.

After Zhang Hao and his father struggled and flailed for a while, the Zhang Family was swallowed up by several companies acting in concert.

Fortunately, over the years the father and son of the Zhang Family had accumulated quite a few assets. They sold the house they lived in and many other properties to repay the loans, and eventually managed to pay everything off.

Not being in debt was good, at least in theory.

But the Zhang Family’s company was gone, their real estate and shops were gone, a lot of their stocks and funds had all been sold. Now they were left with only a small three-bedroom apartment in the city, and the Zhang Family had to move there. After moving in, they still had to look for jobs and think of ways to make money. Basically, the Zhang Family had plunged straight from great wealth down to ordinary citizens.

This was bound to leave a huge sense of loss for Zhang Hao and his father; that helplessness and sense of comedown gradually made the two of them increasingly bad-tempered. They didn’t go out to find work; they just stayed home drinking every day to vent.

Because of this, Zhang Yilin was unwilling to go home.

But she couldn’t just not go back.

That day, when Zhang Yilin came home from school and stepped through the door, she felt how cold and desolate the home was.

She put down her schoolbag and turned into the kitchen to cook.

The past few days, Zhang Hao and his father hadn’t done anything at all; expecting them to cook was impossible. Madam came from a good family and had been pampered since childhood; all these years, not only had she never cooked, she’d never even boiled Water, so she was even less reliable.

So ever since they moved here, the breakfast and dinner every day had been cooked by Zhang Yilin.

She had just put the rice on and was in the kitchen picking vegetables when Zhang Hao and Zhang Linfeng came out of their room.

The father and son saw Zhang Yilin busy in the kitchen, their eyes full of complicated emotions.

Then Zhang Hao’s eyes gradually turned red.

He pointed at Zhang Yilin and cursed, ”Ungrateful thing. Ever since you came back, which one of us has treated you badly? Whatever you wanted, we bought it for you. And how did you repay us? You clearly knew there was a problem with that land, and you only mentioned it once, then never said another word. Why didn’t you tell us there was a big tomb there?”

Zhang Yilin kept her head down cooking, ignoring Zhang Hao.

Zhang Hao got even more worked up. ”How did I end up with a daughter like you? Even LuLu called home several times, but you... What face do you have to stay in this home?”

Zhang Linfeng also blamed her: ”Xiao Yuan dotes on you. You obviously got first-hand information from him, so why didn’t you make things clear to us?”

Zhang Yilin was truly furious now. She threw the vegetables onto the table. ”I didn’t say anything? I told both of you, and more than once. Did you listen? You thought Mr. Xiao was teaming up with others to set you up. Hah, don’t I know what kind of person my Mr. Xiao is? How could he do something like that? I defended him, and you were unhappy. What else was I supposed to say? If I kept talking, I’d be the bad guy too.”

”So it’s true, you’re just dissatisfied with this home.”

Zhang Hao was still blaming her.

In a low voice, Zhang Linfeng said, ”How long have you even been back? Our home went bankrupt just like that. When LuLu was here, nothing ever happened to the family, and business kept getting better. But as soon as you came back, it all turned out like this. You’re definitely a jinx.”

Zhang Hao jumped in too. ”Of course she is. Otherwise, when she was at the Xiao Family, the Xiao Family kept getting poorer and poorer. But once she left the Xiao Family, just look how well they’re doing now. She’s definitely a jinx, a walking curse.”

”We can’t let her stay in this home anymore.”

Standing up, Zhang Linfeng shouted, ”If she keeps staying here, we might end up even more unlucky.”

Then Madam rushed out of the bedroom. As soon as she came out, she started hitting Zhang Yilin. ”It’s all your fault, all because of you. Back then I said it didn’t matter whether LuLu was my biological daughter or not, I was going to keep her. But you just had to come back, and then LuLu left. You must have made things hard for her. How can you be so vicious?”

”Get out.”

Zhang Hao pointed at the door and shouted.