Back to the 1980s: Transmigrated as the Bigshot's Pampered Wife-Chapter 44: Worse Off Cannon Fodder

The second son of the Song Family started as the manager of a state-run restaurant. He later went on to take over all the department stores, restaurants, and hotels in Qing City.

A few years later, he built a national supermarket chain and expanded to become a leader in various industries, making him the undisputed richest man.

What Gu Jiaojiao didn’t understand was why Song Zijie, the eldest grandson of the Song Family, hadn’t taken over the family business and wasn’t even mentioned in the book.

’Could he be cannon fodder too? An even more tragic cannon fodder than my husband and me, one who doesn’t even get a name?’

’So, should I give him a helping hand?’

The "cannon fodder" Song Zijie, whom Gu Jiaojiao had just been thinking about, was also having dinner. At the table, he listened to his mother and sister gossiping about Gu Jiaojiao, as they usually did.

Normally, Song Zijie would have scoffed at such talk, but today, he broke his silence.

"Qianqian, did you say Su Shuochi’s family is running a stall selling cold noodles?"

’What a sharp business mind!’

’No wonder, from someone who has so much rice and flour. They sell cold noodles all day and still have flour to sell to me.’

Song Zijie felt a growing interest in befriending Su Shuochi, so he decided to ask his mother and sister for more details about him.

"Bro, did you forget your meds today? Why are you suddenly so interested in other people’s affairs?" Song Qianqian asked in surprise.

Aunt Song looked at her son with concern. "Your brother takes his medicine every day, but it’s not working. I have no idea when Divine Doctor Jiang will be back."

"Mom, life and death are ruled by fate. Don’t worry about me. I can eat and sleep just fine, so there’s nothing wrong."

"That Su Tuan has it so rough. He was already a cripple when he married a sickly girl, and now a few more sick people have shown up from Gu Jiaojiao’s side of the family."

"The Su Family can only resort to speculative profiteering, selling those cold noodles. They’re lucky the people in our residential compound are easygoing. Anywhere else, they would’ve been arrested long ago."

Seeing her mother looking at her brother with such worry, Song Qianqian quickly changed the subject.

She was the same age as Gu Jiaojiao and also a classmate. Her older brother was Song Zijie, and she had two older sisters who were already married.

"Gu Jiaojiao is sickly?" Song Zijie asked. ’Impossible. I just saw her today, and she couldn’t have looked healthier.’

"She is. I’m her classmate. She’s constantly taking time off from school, one day it’s a headache, the next it’s a stomachache." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"That doesn’t necessarily make her sickly. Maybe she’s just smart and doesn’t need to attend every class."

Song Zijie simply couldn’t believe Gu Jiaojiao was in poor health, so he tried to make excuses for her.

"Her? Smart? Big brother, you think Gu Jiaojiao is smart? Do you even know what the word ’smart’ means?"

Song Qianqian’s eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at her brother. "Bro, you’ve never met Gu Jiaojiao, so you wouldn’t know. She’s dumb as a doorknob..."

And so, Song Qianqian rattled on and on about everything related to Gu Jiaojiao. It was only then that Song Zijie learned Gu Jiaojiao had been his cousin Song Zijin’s fiancée.

’To be honest,’ Song Zijie thought, ’my cousin really doesn’t deserve Gu Jiaojiao. Only someone like Su Shuochi is worthy of her.’

Although Song Zijie had only met Gu Jiaojiao once, he felt her insight and judgment were equal to, if not greater than, his own.

Su Shuochi’s heroic deeds were legendary to Song Zijie; he was the very model of an inspirational young man in their residential compound.

’Marrying Su Shuochi was the best choice for her.’ But Song Zijie wouldn’t say that to his mother and sister.

He didn’t want them spreading it around as gossip. So, Song Zijie just lowered his head and focused on eating. He had congenital heart disease.

The doctors had predicted he wouldn’t live past twenty-five. He was twenty-five this year. Aside from occasional chest tightness and shortness of breath, he had no other symptoms.

Since he was old enough to understand, he had known he wouldn’t live long, so Song Zijie had come to terms with his own mortality.

After the Su Family finished counting the money together, they all went for an afternoon nap. Second Brother Gu, however, was too excited to sleep.

His sister had paid him a wage of fifteen yuan and told him she’d pay him in cash every day.

Mr. Su and Su’s mother also got fifteen yuan each. His own father, Mr. Gu, hadn’t gone yesterday afternoon, so he only received ten yuan.

His sister also set aside ten yuan from their earnings as a food allowance for everyone, so it wouldn’t feel like they were freeloading off the Su family.

All the remaining money was given to Aunt Su to hold onto for now. ’My sister is amazing,’ he thought. ’She’s making sure we don’t feel like we’re mooching off of them.’

His grandfather said they would return to the Imperial City once they were healthy again. In that case, he could set up a stall on a street in the Imperial City to sell cold noodles and savory crepes.

Gu Jingtai had already planned it all out—how he would hire people in the future and how many. As for what his grandfather had said about attending university...

He knew he wasn’t the academic type, so he decided to forget about it.

Second Brother Gu, who had once been so lost about his future, now had a goal and something to look forward to under his sister’s guidance. He was filled with a new sense of strength.

Gu Jiaojiao and Su Shuochi skipped their afternoon nap. Instead, they went back to their room so she could give him his acupuncture treatment.

Although Su Shuochi was paralyzed, he had recently started having... reactions. This was something that hadn’t happened since his injury.

He had accidentally learned from his wife that the time he had given her air underwater had been her first kiss.

’But I was in such a hurry back then, I didn’t even get to properly savor the taste of a first kiss!’

Every night, after his IV drip was done, his wife would already be sound asleep. Gazing at her beautiful face, he couldn’t help but steal a kiss.

She never resisted, just lay there sleeping soundly. ’She’s probably so at ease because she thinks I’m incapable!’

At first, he only gave her shallow pecks, gently kissing her lips. His wife must have thought she was dreaming of gnawing on a pig’s trotter, because she would occasionally smack her lips and nibble back a little.

And so, he grew bolder, greedily taking in her scent...

Getting a response from his dreaming wife reminded him of the dirty jokes the married old-timers used to tell back in the army...

Now, his wife was casually stripping him bare to insert the silver needles. Everywhere her fingers touched felt like a feather brushing against his heart.

It made his heart flutter violently, and his body trembled in response.

"The silver needles might hurt a little, but you have to bear with it."

His wife’s hand brushed across his thigh—he didn’t know if it was intentional or not.

Su Shuochi couldn’t stop himself from trembling again.

"Huh? Su Shuochi, you can feel your legs?" Gu Jiaojiao’s voice was filled with excitement.

"...I don’t know. I never feel anything when I massage them myself."

Gu Jiaojiao didn’t say or do anything in response, which left Su Shuochi feeling a little disappointed.

What caught him off guard was that after his wife removed the silver needles, just like she always did, she helped him roll over onto his stomach.

"Su Shuochi! You pervert!"

Su Shuochi: "..."

The rest of the Su family had woken from their naps. Mr. and Mrs. Gu were also sitting in the living room when they heard their daughter’s shriek.

Instead of being worried, they exchanged a smile. ’It’s a good thing our son-in-law is capable of being a pervert now.’

Su Shuochi’s voice was tinged with grievance. "Honey, you shouted so loudly. Mom and Dad are going to hear you."

Gu Jiaojiao: "..."

’Holy crap!’

’How can you blame me for screaming when you’re like... that?’

"Jiaojiao, are you two heading to the stall this afternoon?" Second Brother Gu asked, having just come downstairs.

He hadn’t heard his sister’s shout, so he had no idea why his parents, along with Uncle and Aunt Su, were so pleased.

"You all go on ahead. We’ll catch up with you later."

Su Shuochi’s voice rang out, causing the two sets of parents to misunderstand even further...