Chapter 14: Demanding the Salary

Although the others didn’t say anything, they shared his sentiment.

The torment they had endured over the past three years had become a shadow burned into their hearts for a lifetime.

Even if Chen Liyang really had changed for the better, so what? Did that mean they were obligated to forgive him?

Humming a little tune, Chen Liyang had no idea that just a few words from Zhou Chengxi had completely nipped in the bud the tiny bit of goodwill the other children had just begun to feel for him.

He planned to visit the original owner’s former workplace to get this month’s salary, but taking Zhou Wanning along wouldn’t be very convenient.

Yet he couldn’t bring himself to leave her home alone either.

After mulling it over, he decided to entrust Zhou Wanning to their next-door neighbor, Aunt Zhao.

Although she and the original owner often had unpleasant spats over her dog, she herself was a genuinely kindhearted person.

Most of the clothes worn by Zhou Chengdong and his brothers were hand-me-downs her own children had outgrown, which she had specifically brought over for them.

She also frequently snuck food to the children while the original owner was out of the house. It was fair to say that if not for her, all five kids would have starved to death long ago.

That was why, when they grew up, even after becoming notorious villains in everyone else’s eyes, they never forgot to repay Aunt Zhao.

They bought her not only a house but also a shop, enabling her entire family to make a fortune through business.

This showed that there were no purely good people in the world, nor were there purely evil ones; human nature was always dual-sided.

With that in mind, he carried Zhou Wanning over to the house next door. Seeing the courtyard gate unlocked, he walked right in.

Then he saw the black dog locked inside a cage, baring its teeth and barking wildly at him.

This dog really had a feud with him…

Hearing her dog barking so frantically, Aunt Zhao rushed outside.

Her steps faltered when she saw Chen Liyang holding a little girl and beaming warmly at her.

She then walked over nervously. “I… I didn’t let my dog out!”

“Sister Zhao, don’t be nervous. It was all my fault in the past. I apologize for my impulsive behavior back then. I hope someone as generous as you can forgive a foolish guy like me.” His apology sounded sincere and heartfelt, delivered with complete humility.

Aunt Zhao’s mouth parted slightly in surprise. Yesterday, him not flying into a rage when the dog barked at him had already been an unprecedented first.

To think he would actually come over on his own initiative to admit his wrongdoing today! Was this truly the notorious Chen Liyang?

“What’s gotten into you?” She found it hard to believe this was the Chen Liyang she knew.

Could a person really change this drastically?

Knowing it was no easy feat to turn around the attitude of someone who had harbored deep resentment against him for so long, Chen Liyang explained his purpose. “Aunt Zhao, I have to go out on an errand this afternoon, but I don’t feel safe leaving my youngest daughter home alone. Could you help me keep an eye on her?”

In the past, Aunt Zhao had never seen him care whether these children lived or died.

On normal days when he went to work and the four boys went to school, she had never seen him show such concern for his stepdaughter staying home alone.

Instead, it was an outsider like her who would pop over to check on the girl whenever she had free time, worried the little child might run into danger.

Today, he had not only apologized of his own accord but also asked her to look after the child. Had he truly had a change of heart?

Although she remained skeptical of his character, the child was innocent after all. Losing her mother was pitiful enough, let alone being abused by a stepfather every day.

If her own family’s financial situation had allowed it, she would have done whatever it took to adopt all five children into her household.

Even if she couldn’t raise them to be successful adults, at least she wouldn’t let them suffer from hunger or cold.

Thinking of this, she nodded. “I’ll take care of Zhou Wanning. Go attend to your business.” Her tone was lukewarm; she truly felt no goodwill toward Chen Liyang.

Chen Liyang bowed gratefully. “Thank you, Sister Zhao. I’ll hurry back as soon as I’m done.”

Having said that, he looked down at the little girl beside him. “Zhou Wanning, make sure you listen to Aunt Zhao, okay? Daddy will pick you up as soon as I’m finished.” He reached out and gently patted the back of Zhou Wanning’s head.

Her hair had been tied into two neat little pigtails and her face washed spotless, making her look like a delicate porcelain doll, as adorable as could be.

No wonder she would grow up to be a lethal femme fatale; the foundation was clearly already there in her childhood.

After saying goodbye to Aunt Zhao, Chen Liyang finally left.

As he walked out, he glanced at the black dog in the cage. Seeing its owner nearby, it didn’t bark at him this time, though its bared teeth made it look as if it wanted nothing more than to devour him whole.

He gave a friendly smile and called out, “Good boy!” But that frightened the black dog so badly that it whined softly and tucked its tail between its legs, looking as though it had just seen a ghost.

Chen Liyang’s smile instantly froze on his face. Was his smile really that scary?

This dog was such a coward. If it was so terrified of him, how did it dare bark at him earlier?

Paying the black dog no further mind, Chen Liyang briskly left Aunt Zhao’s house.

Aunt Zhao watched him leave, unable to wrap her head around why Chen Liyang had suddenly become so easy to talk to. If not for his unchanged voice, she would have suspected he had been replaced by someone else.

If she hadn’t misheard just now, Chen Liyang had called her “Sister Zhao.” In the past, he had always called her “old hag.”

Truth be told, hearing “Sister Zhao” come out of his mouth actually sounded quite pleasant.

Only when Chen Liyang was completely out of sight did Aunt Zhao gently take Zhou Wanning’s hand and lead her into the house.

Feeling the tiny hand in her palm, Aunt Zhao felt a deep ache of sympathy for her.

She had never seen a child this skinny. Though already five years old, she looked as if she barely weighed twenty jin.

Chen Liyang was really something else. If he couldn’t accept a woman having children, he simply shouldn’t have gotten married.

Since he had chosen to marry her, he ought to have treated these children well.

Instead, in just a few short years, the children had been tormented past recognition. If their mother ever came back and saw this, wouldn’t her heart break into pieces?

With a sigh, Aunt Zhao picked up a banana from the coffee table and fed it to the child bite by bite.

This child was so gorgeous at such a young age; imagine how stunning she would be when she grew up.

She couldn’t understand what went through Chen Liyang’s head. Every single child in his household was exceptionally good-looking, so why did he dislike them so much?

If her own children were this pretty and handsome, she would jump at the chance to show them off every day. Yet he avoided them like the plague, terrified of having anything to do with the five of them.

On the way, Chen Liyang sneezed several times in a row, wondering who was cursing him.

The original host’s workplace was located in a skyscraper in the city’s premier central business district.

The building before him, covering over five thousand square meters, was the headquarters of the female lead’s company, Shengxia Group, and it looked remarkably grand.

Just as Chen Liyang was about to step inside, a security guard stopped him.

“What are you doing here? Don’t forget, you’ve been fired. No one is allowed inside except company clients and employees.”

Clearly, the guard recognized him. Lacking the original host’s memories, Chen Liyang could only understand this world through the text stored in his mind.

For a minor NPC who barely featured in the novel, he didn’t even know what the man’s name was.