Chapter 65 65 Ten minutes is enough to convince her

Lu Jiaze subconsciously wanted to deny it; he wasn't that petty. But deep down, a voice told him, "That's right. He was bothered by the growing gap between them, and by her being better than him." Even before this exam, he'd wondered if he could surpass her just once.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Lu Hongzhe patted his shoulder and said gently, "You should think about what you want to do, not what you should do after seeing her success. Everyone has their own choices and must be responsible for them. When you choose between arts and science in your second year of high school, you will face your first choice. You don't need to compromise with others. Just choose what you think is right."

"Let's go. They'll be worried if they can't see us." Lu Hongzhe said as he took Jiang Qitong's hand and went inside. Looking at their backs, confusion flashed across Lu Jiaze's eyes.

After walking a few steps and making sure Lu Jiaze couldn't hear her, Jiang Qitong couldn't help but look up and ask, "Brother Hongzhe, were you saying that Brother Lu was jealous of Sister Lili?"

"It's not jealousy, it's envy, just like you envy the top student in your class." Lu Hongzhe gently rubbed her head.

Jiang Qitong thought about it and felt that it made sense. It was indeed true. She always envied the top student in the class because in addition to being praised, the top student would also receive gifts.

Seeing her nod, Lu Hongzhe squatted down to look her in the eye and said softly, "Tongtong, what I just said is a secret. You can't tell anyone else."

Tongtong quickly covered her mouth and nodded, indicating that she understood.

"That's great! Smart kids will get rewards. What reward do you want?" Lu Hongzhe asked her with a smile.

"Is anything okay?" Jiang Qitong asked quickly.

"Of course, anything is fine." Lu Hongzhe nodded.

"Then I want a dress-up doll too." Her aunt bought her a set, and she wanted other fairies, but her mother was unwilling to buy her any more.

If I remember correctly, this should also be designed by Jiang Lili. Lu Hongzhe couldn't help but raise his eyebrows: "Don't you have any at home?"

"There are only two dolls, and I want to collect all seven." Jiang Qitong stuck out her tongue after saying this. Her mother said that she was too greedy. Would brother Hongzhe also think she was too greedy?

"Okay, then I'll help you buy the other five today, okay?"

"No, I just want the set with two dolls." Jiang Qitong quickly shook her head.

"Don't you want to collect them all?" Lu Hongzhe was a little surprised?

"Yes, but this is a gift you gave me, Brother Hongzhe. I can't be too greedy." Jiang Qitong hurriedly explained.

Lu Hongzhe thought about it and realized that this was indeed the family tradition of the Jiang family, so he nodded and said, "Okay, two then." He would buy the remaining three for her before he returned to school.

"Thank you, Brother Hongzhe." Tongtong felt happy when she thought that she would soon have two more cross-dressing dolls.

Over here, Jiang Lili and Jiang Yulan were buying dried fruits and candies. Although Zhou Qingfen said they had prepared everything, they couldn't really prepare nothing for the New Year. Jiang Lili carried the dried fruits and whispered to Jiang Yulan, "Mom, don't forget the red envelope."

In the past few years, everyone would use the leftover red paper from writing couplets to make red envelopes, but now people are becoming more particular and will buy red envelopes separately.

"Okay, I'll buy them later." Originally, she had only prepared two, but now that the Lu family is also celebrating the New Year in Yuncheng, she has to prepare at least four.

Li Shuhua and Qiu Shaoli were talking when they glanced back, wondering, "Where did Hongzhe and Jiaze go?"

"They're probably out shopping. Let's go shopping first." Qiu Shaoli wasn't worried. They were both so old, they couldn't possibly get lost.

"Okay." Li Shuhua thought about it and agreed.

When Lu Jiaze came over, they had already picked out most of their things. Qiu Shaoli casually asked, "Where did you go just now?"

"It's outside." Lu Jiaze pointed to where he had been just now. He had just calmed down after Lu Hongzhe pointed out the thing in his heart that he was most reluctant to admit. As for Lu Hongzhe's last suggestion, it was not that urgent, as there was still half a year before the division of subjects.

"Jia Ze, where is your brother?" Li Shuhua asked.

"I'm taking Tongtong to buy gifts." Lu Jiaze said as he picked up a bag of biscuits.

"Hongzhe is now patient with other children. He didn't have such good patience when you and Lili were pestering him before." Qiu Shaoli was a little surprised to hear this.

"That's right. He used to dislike you when you were little." Li Shuhua still remembered that one day when she came home, she found Lu Hongzhe home alone, so she asked him why he didn't play with Jiaze and Lili in the yard. Lu Hongzhe told her with a tone full of disgust that the two of them were too childish, and he would rather stay home than play with them. Now that he has grown up, he has more patience with children.

"Who said it wasn't?" The scene from his childhood was still vivid in his mind, and a smile appeared on Lu Jiaze's lips.

"Shao Li, how are your shopping going? Lili and I are almost done." While Jiang Yulan was speaking, she was still looking for Lu Hong around them. Lili was following him.

"Aunt Jiang, my brother took Tongtong to buy toys. They should be here soon." Glancing at her eyes looking around, Lu Jiaze roughly knew what she was looking for and quickly told her the whereabouts of Jiang Qitong.

"This girl." Jiang Yulan scolded helplessly. She was just wondering why she was so well-behaved today.

At this time, the little girl came running towards them, holding the costume doll and skipping, "Auntie, Sister Lili, look, this is what Brother Hongzhe gave me."

"Have you said thank you?" It was naturally not suitable to educate the child outside at this time, so Jiang Lili just pinched her face.

"Of course I did." Jiang Qitong hugged the doll tightly in her arms, fearing that they would ask her to return it.

Jiang Lili glanced at her, then nodded to Lu Hongzhe: "I'm sorry for the expense."

"It's not expensive, Sister Lili, we can play this together when we get back." Jiang Qitong said quickly.

Jiang Lili obviously didn't expect that she had anything to do with this. She reached out and grabbed her arm, gritting her teeth and saying, "I didn't say I wanted to play this."

"But didn't we play that together at home?" Jiang Qitong was a little confused.

Forget it, even if I win the argument with her, what difference does it make? She nodded to Lu Hongzhe again to express her gratitude.

"Don't be so polite." Lu Hongzhe thought, perhaps because she was getting older, she was becoming more and more distant from them.

When they separated from the department store, everyone invited each other to their homes. After the Lu family left, Jiang Lili looked down at Jiang Qitong and asked, "Why are you suddenly accepting gifts from others?"

"This is a secret, I can't tell you." Jiang Qitong shook her head. She still remembered the agreement between her and Lu Hongzhe.

"Okay, but next time don't accept such expensive gifts from others, okay?" Jiang Lili warned.

"I understand, Sister Lili. When I go back and my mother asks me about this, can you help me?" Jiang Qitong said, looking up at her.

"Are you afraid of her stir-fried pork with bamboo shoots now? Why weren't you afraid just now?" Jiang Lili gave her a testy look.

"Oh, Sister Lili, please help me. I promise there won't be a next time." Tongtong pulled her arm and acted coquettishly.

"Alright, remember what you said, just this once." Since the gift had already been accepted, there was no point in making a big deal about it. It would be better to think about how to return the favor. The thought of returning the favor gave Jiang Lili a headache. She should have given them some gifts the last time she went to Jincheng to bother them, but she still had no idea. Yuncheng specialties? They could buy them themselves. Jiang Lili pondered for a long time but couldn't come up with any useful information. She couldn't possibly give them toys from the factory, could she?

At the Lu family's side, the two sisters-in-law bought a lot of things, and now they are all carried by the two brothers. Seeing this, Qiu Shaoli couldn't help but chuckled: "You two are also a little useful at this time."

The two brothers were already used to hearing this, and they didn't refute anything, just raised their lips. Li Shuhua remembered Qiu Shaoli's words about Lu Jiaze's improved grades, and couldn't help asking, "Jia Ze, how did you do on your final exam this time?"

"It's still the same." Speaking of grades, Lu Jiaze felt a little powerless. He'd tried hard, but the mountain ahead, Jiang Lili, was still insurmountable. He didn't know when his mindset changed. Perhaps it was when the gap between them narrowed. Before, the gap was so wide that he didn't think much of it. But as he caught up, the gap between their scores slowly narrowed, and he began to feel dissatisfied with the status quo. He wanted to surpass her, but so far, he hadn't succeeded.

"Dissatisfaction is the wheel of progress, and it is good to have such an attitude." Li Shuhua encouraged him with a smile.

"Mom, the New Year is almost here, so let's not talk about grades. Let's just have a good New Year first." Lu Hongzhe suggested.

"You're right. Let's have a good New Year first, and then we'll discuss the menu when we get back." These words were said to Qiu Shaoli. Lu Jiaze cast a grateful look at Lu Hongzhe. He didn't want to discuss anything related to grades at this moment.

When Jiang Lili and the others returned home, she kept her promise and shielded Tongtong from punishment from her aunt. The little girl insisted on going home with them to sleep that night. Jiang Lili saw through her plan and asked, "Are you worried that your aunt will beat you again when we get home?"

"Sister Lili, just tell me whether you are willing or not?" Jiang Qitong held her arm and shook it continuously.

"I do, I do. Let me go quickly." Jiang Lili surrendered quickly. The adults on the other side of the sofa couldn't help but smile knowingly when they saw this. Now that they were all only children, they naturally hoped that the two sisters could have a better relationship and support each other in the future.

The next day was the 29th. Thinking that tomorrow was New Year's Eve and she might have to stay up all night, Jiang Lili didn't want to move. But then Cheng Yuntian came home. She was a little surprised and quickly put on her clothes and went to the living room: "Sister Cheng, is there something urgent?"

"It's an urgent matter. I plan to go to Quan City on the fifth day of the New Year. Do you want to come with me?" Cheng Yuntian made an invitation. She thought that going there to check on the situation of the dental gum, taking Jiang Lili with her might be more effective.

"Quan City?" To be honest, Jiang Lili was tempted. She had been here for almost seventeen years, but she had never been to such a far place. Although the trains nowadays were very slow, they also had scenery unique to this era.

"Well, I'll go buy the tickets later. You have to make a decision quickly." After Cheng Yuntian said that, he looked at her and saw that she was moved.

"Sister Cheng, please wait for me for ten minutes." Jiang Lili thought that ten minutes should be enough to convince Jiang Yulan.