Cannon Fodder in an Era Drama — I Survive with Acting-Chapter 118: The Center of Attention

They exchanged a look, but neither spoke. Their gazes crossed silently in the air.

"What... what’s this all about?"

Outside, they stared at the closed door, completely bewildered.

’If she took the money, why isn’t she saying anything about Zhenhai’s enlistment?’

Sun Zhenhai could no longer suppress the anger boiling inside him.

The sliver of hope he’d been holding onto had completely soured into resentment.

He didn’t actually care where the money went.

After all, when it came time for him to get married, his parents would have to cough up the money even if it meant selling everything they owned.

Sun Zhenhai was sure of that.

His family had doted on him since he was a child, so he wasn’t worried about that.

But the money in the passbook was different. That was money for his future.

It was the crucial fund set aside specifically to pull some strings and get him into the military.

If it all fell through for no reason, years of his effort would go down the drain.

As he saw it, Song Qingya’s actions were a classic case of taking the money and not doing the job.

’What is she playing at? I’m going to get a straight answer.’

At that thought, he couldn’t take it anymore.

The thought had barely crossed his mind before his feet were already moving toward the door.

With that, he rushed forward and started pounding on the door—BAM! BAM! BAM!—his blows merciless.

The pounding grew faster and louder with every strike.

"Song Qingya, get out here! What’s the big idea, taking the money and then just leaving? You promised you’d handle things. Are you trying to back out of the deal now?"

He yelled, hammering on the door with all his might.

The response from inside the room shut him up instantly.

The voice came from inside.

"Still knocking? Do you want me to tell your brother-in-law you’re causing trouble on purpose? You’re being so loud I can’t sleep, and it’s affecting the baby."

"You..."

His hand, which had been pounding with such fervor, froze in mid-air, unsure whether to drop it or strike again.

His face went red, then pale.

’Hmph. Of course she’d use my brother-in-law to shut me down.’

He muttered under his breath but didn’t dare say anything else.

"Alright, alright. Your sister has had the money for a while now. Do you really think she’s going to ignore you?"

"Let’s just wait for your brother-in-law to come back."

"You’re going to need your brother-in-law’s help to get into the military. You have to learn to control that temper of yours, understand?"

"Yeah."

Sun Zhenhai grunted in sullen agreement and lowered his head.

But a question he’d never considered before surfaced in his mind.

’Could it be... that Dad really did something to Song Qingya?’

He had always taken his parents at their word.

Song Qingya was an ungrateful brat. They’d raised her all these years, but she couldn’t even be bothered to call him "Dad," always calling him "Uncle Sun" instead.

These words had long been ingrained in his mind.

But looking back now, the way his parents constantly repeated it was actually starting to make him suspicious.

’Is that really how things were?’

As the days passed, he grew increasingly cold toward his sister in name.

Growing up, he had always been the center of the universe at home.

Everyone treated him like a precious treasure, never letting him suffer the slightest wrong.

As for whether the original "Song Qingya" had a good life or a bad one, he never had any interest in finding out, nor did he intend to.

Even though they lived under the same roof and saw each other every day.

He knew very little about her past and had no idea what she had been through.

...

Inside, the room was silent.

Song Qingya sat at the wooden table, the passbook now in her hands. She calmly flipped through it, checking the balance.

After a long moment, she looked away from it and leaned back in her chair. She rested her chin on one hand, her other hand draped on the table, as she stared blankly at the wood grain.

Just then, the system couldn’t help but pipe up excitedly, "Host, you’re rich! You’re rich! Your account just went up by another 1,000! You’re almost at ten thousand. You’re about to become a ’ten-thousandaire’!"

The system’s voice was bright and clear.

"Yes, almost there."

Song Qingya replied softly, her tone even.

She knew that in this era, many people couldn’t even dream of saving ten thousand yuan in their entire lifetime.

But for her, this ten thousand was just the beginning.

She knew that the people who truly seized the opportunities of the era and rode the wave to make a fortune had wealth far greater than this. She understood she needed a more long-term perspective.

This small victory wouldn’t be enough to satisfy her true ambitions.

"But Host," the system asked, "weren’t you planning on taking the bride price from the Sun Family and leaving? Why haven’t you made a move yet?"

"The plan’s changed,"

she said simply, her gaze slowly turning cold.

’Just leaving like this would be letting the Sun Family off too easily.’

She remembered the suffocating feeling she’d had when she first accessed the original owner’s memories.

The helplessness and oppression of that life were almost heart-shattering.

The thought of Sun Qiang’s sanctimonious old face made her blood boil.

He had abused the original owner time and again. He’d talk about "taking care of family," but in secret, he did all sorts of despicable things.

Although he never dared to do anything truly heinous...

...he would always take advantage of moments when no one was around to support her, getting handsy with the original owner.

Since heaven had given her a second chance at life, she had to make those wrongdoers pay.

With this newfound resolve, she rested for a moment to collect her thoughts, then stood up, opened her door, and walked into the main room.

She walked into the living room and saw Sun Qiang and Yang Yunhua, idly chatting and cracking sunflower seeds.

She watched them calmly.

"Mom, you two should go out for groceries. I need to talk to Zhenhai alone."

"Just leaving Zhenhai here with you? Is that a good idea?"

Yang Yunhua hesitated at the door, her hand on the frame and a worried expression on her face.

She was worried about leaving her son at home alone.

Especially alone with Song Qingya.

After all, she knew Zhenhai was impulsive and didn’t always think before he spoke. She was afraid he’d say the wrong thing and cause trouble.

"What’s there to be afraid of? Mom, I’m going to talk to him about joining the military. It would be better if you two weren’t here for it."

Song Qingya’s tone was calm, but her eyes held a certain conviction.

"This needs to be discussed privately. It’ll be harder to talk if other people are around."

"Right, right, we understand!"

The pair happily agreed at once.

Yang Yunhua, in particular, was ecstatic. The moment she heard her daughter could help her son enlist, she was so thrilled she almost clapped her hands and cheered.

They both knew that this connection was a rare and valuable opportunity.

Who had time to worry about the details?

Before heading out, she made a point of telling Sun Zhenhai to speak nicely to his sister.

Only then did they leave the house, overjoyed.

Yang Yunhua glanced back a few times as she left, calling out, "Behave, Zhenhai! Talk things over properly with your sister. Don’t start arguing right away."

Sun Zhenhai gave a dismissive wave to show he’d heard.

But she clearly missed the smug look that flashed in her son’s eyes.

Sun Zhenhai was still gloating, thinking he had finally gotten through to Song Qingya.

’This time, he’d definitely be able to pull strings and get into the army.’

"Song Qingya, so you do have some sense after all. You took the money, so you’d better do the work."

"Once I’m a soldier in Liuchang Town, you’ll have someone to look out for you there too."

"So just stop bringing up all that old crap in front of me."