"Hello? Dad, why are you calling me all of a sudden?"

Zhen Lei trembled with anger upon hearing his daughter's heartless words: "You don't know how to call your parents, so I have to call you. The old saying is true, a married daughter is like water spilled from a bowl..."

Zhen Tian bit her lip shyly: "Dad..."

"Alright, why are you talking about this with Tian Tian? Let's get down to business."

Zhen Tian could hear the sound of Lu Ti slapping Zhen Lei hard through the microphone.

"Hey, baby."

"Mother."

Lu Ti's voice carried a hint of worry: "Are you and Xiao Yuzhi doing alright in S City?"

"It's fine."

"That's good, that's good. It's nothing. It's just that someone suddenly came to check the accounts at your dad's supermarket a while ago, and they even openly investigated our family. I was wondering if you've offended someone outside..."

Zhen Tian's heart skipped a beat. Could the lack of news be related to this?

"How could that be, Mom and Dad? Don't worry." Zhen Tian deliberately raised her voice: "It's nothing, it's probably just a surprise inspection. Dad has been inspected before, but we are law-abiding citizens, so it's fine."

It's okay, it's okay. She comforted herself with this thought.

"That's good."

It's no wonder Lu Ti suspected them; mainly because they'd been running a supermarket in H City for so many years, they were familiar with officials and business people of all levels in H City. No one would suddenly target them.

Moreover, the people who came were quite different from the local officials who had come before.

She thought she vaguely heard the name Xiaoyuzhi, but she wasn't sure.

"We're fine. Don't overthink it."

"Okay." Lu Ti put the matter aside and then started scolding Zhen Tian just like Zhen Lei: "Look at you, Mom hasn't seen you for almost a year, and you didn't even come back for summer vacation. I'm going to teach Xiao Yu a lesson when I get back."

Zhen Tian coaxed her parents all the way to her dormitory before they finally let her go.

She glanced at the call duration.

It lasted for a full 40 minutes.

Her earlobes, pressed against the phone, were burning hot.

Zhen Tian rubbed it.

I didn't expect so many people to be looking for her today.

"Sweet baby."

"Aunt Liu." It was Ji Yuzhi's mother on the phone, and she called out happily.

"Oh, my baby, do you miss your mom?"

"think."

"Your dad and I are in an autonomous county near X city, so we can't go back for a while. Mom bought you a lot of little things, I'll give them to you next time we meet."

"Okay, you and Dad Ji should be careful."

"Don't worry. See? I told you my daughter is thoughtful." Zhen Tian overheard Liu Ye and Ji Quanzhou's conversation.

"Baby is Daddy."

"Dad Ji, I miss you so much."

After chatting with Ji Quanzhou for a while, Ji Quanzhou finally revealed the main purpose of the call: "You probably can't get in touch with that kid Ji Yuzhi either, right?"

Zhen Tian was silent for a while before saying, "Mm."

"Don't worry, he won't have any serious problems. Dad has also contacted acquaintances to inquire. Just focus on your studies."

"knew."

"When the kid gets back, you'll give him a good beating. He's such a worry."

"No, Dad Ji."

"You're so sweet, you don't understand how annoying this kid is." Ji Quanzhou was disgusted with his son who was always causing him trouble: "Do you have enough allowance? Mom and Dad will give you some money later. Little girls need to spend money to dress up at this age."

"It's enough, it's enough," Zhen Tian quickly refused.

"Okay, Mom and Dad have things to do here. Take care of yourself."

"Yes, Mom and Dad too."

Ji Quanzhou paused for a moment, winked at Liu Ye, and smiled, "I understand, good boy."

Zhen Tian hung up the phone. She didn't know what happened to her, but she just naturally called out "Dad" and "Mom".

Over the years, they must have treated her even better than their own children.

"【China Merchants Bank】Your debit card ending in 2052 received a deposit of ¥.00 at 14:21 on the 18th, leaving a balance of ¥.00."

Not long after the phone call ended, Ji Quanzhou transferred the money to Zhen Tian's card.

She sighed. This card was issued to her by Mr. Ji and Mrs. Liu, and all the money in it was deposited into it by them.

She rarely spends money since she grew up. Over time, she's saved up this much.

However, this is the first time so much money has been transferred.

She was just about to call when she realized she'd said too much. Then a message came in.

[Dad Ji: A change-of-address fee, my good daughter.]

Zhen Tian frowned slightly, then relaxed.

Sweetie: Thank you, Mom and Dad.

Since she'd already called him that, she didn't want to be coy.

Her relationship with Zhizhi is not yet a done deal.

"What are you doing over there?" Yang Tao asked curiously as she watched Zhen Tian's face scrunch up and then relax.

"fine."

Zhen Tian put her phone away.

Another week passed, and there was still no news from Ji Yuzhi.

Zhen Tian couldn't even sit still on a stool in the dormitory. Yang Tao saw that she couldn't stay still, so she pulled her to make a support board for Ye Qingyan.

"Tonight's competition is 60 to 30. We need to eliminate half of the people, so we must give Qingyan a huge amount of support to intimidate the judges."

Yang Tao had already spoken with people from various colleges she knew, asking them to call out Ye Qingyan's name during the competition to create the impression that she was very popular.

Zhen Tian knew that worrying was useless, so she might as well do something to distract herself.

night.

The competition at the Arts University wasn't held in the main auditorium. Instead, an outdoor stage was set up on the basketball court.

After all, it's an art college, so the set up was just something casually put together, but the stage was anything but casual.

At night, with the lighting and stage design, it almost rivals the Spring Festival Gala of a city.

The lighting and sound effects were handled by students from the school, since the university has various majors that are responsible for organizing each part of a gala.

They can also be self-sufficient in everything, including director's costumes and props.

The party was quite a spectacle.

While preparations were still in full swing.

Backstage.

Zhen Tian held up the custom-made dress for Ye Qingyan: "Isn't wearing this a bit too extravagant?"

"What's the big deal? Can't you see everyone else is wearing little black dresses? Mine is just a bit more expensive."

"Yours is more than just a bit expensive. I saw on the news that Bei Huan, that popular young actress, wanted to buy this but couldn't."

"Oh, then it'll probably be delivered directly to me."

Compared to a minor celebrity, brands may prefer these socialites.

Ye Qingyan came with her own stylist and had her makeup touched up before she took the dress from Zhen Tian and put it on.

What's on tonight's performance?

"Piano solo".

"Hmm, it seems like we've covered most of the earlier parts. Which performance are you in?"

"I don't remember, it was somewhere in the middle. I forgot, I was supposed to get into bed when they called me."

Ye Qingyan was absolutely confident in this area.