At this point, Xiao Jincheng's eyes reddened. He tried to lift his head to prevent the tears welling up in his eyes from falling.

"Little Pear, lately I feel like I often see your father's shadow in you. Your ideas always surpass those of many people."

"Just consider yourself Uncle Xiao being mercenary. I plan to spin off the company's renovation business into a separate company. You'll get 30% of the shares, and you'll be responsible for providing design plans. Do you agree?"

After a moment of silence, Jiang Xiaoli spoke up, "Uncle Xiao, no matter what the reason is, my dad has been gone for so many years, and my mom and I have seen how much you have taken care of our family. My dad wouldn't want your company's shares, and I certainly won't."

Xiao Jincheng grew anxious. He wanted to say something, but Jiang Xiaoli just smiled at him.

"Uncle Xiao, don't worry. I said I don't want shares in your company, but I didn't say I didn't want the design fee. You won't treat me unfairly, right?"

After a few seconds of pause, Xiao Jincheng sighed, smiled, and patted her shoulder, "Little Pear, you really look just like your dad. Don't worry, with your Uncle Xiao here, no one will dare to mistreat you!"

Jiang Xiaoli laughed too, "But it's a deal, you can't give me any more money for the design of our two houses this time!"

"Haha, okay, okay, I'll do whatever you say! If we keep going back and forth like this, people will be shocked!" Xiao Jincheng said helplessly.

Jiang Xiaoli rested her chin on her hands. "No one else has a closer relationship with Uncle Xiao than me, right?"

These words struck a chord with Xiao Jincheng, and he burst into laughter.

Hearing the noise, Li Guizhi came into the room. "What are you two talking about? Why are you laughing so happily?"

To everyone's surprise, the two exchanged a glance, and Jiang Xiaoli smiled slightly, "Mom, this is a secret between Uncle Xiao and me!"

Seeing that Xiao Jincheng was also smiling but not speaking, Li Guizhi smiled too, "Alright, alright, you two are close, I won't ask about your little secrets!"

The three of them burst into laughter.

After finishing her studies in the evening, Jiang Xiaoli washed up and lay down on the bed.

She couldn't fall asleep immediately today; her mind was filled with their conversation that day.

She tried hard to recall what her father looked like, but she couldn't remember him no matter what she tried.

She simply got out of bed, went to the opposite room, and knocked on the door. "Mom, are you asleep?"

Li Guizhi was still half asleep when she opened her eyes. "What's wrong with Xiaoli?"

Jiang Xiaoli took off her shoes and got onto her bed. "Mom, tell me about Dad."

Li Guizhi was a little surprised, "Why do you suddenly want to hear about your dad? What did your Uncle Xiao say to you today?"

"Uncle Xiao said Dad is very smart and that I look a lot like him, but I can't remember what he looks like. Mom, can you tell me a story?" She sat cross-legged on the bed, wanting to hear a story.

Li Guizhi smiled, got out of bed and looked for something in the cabinet while answering her daughter, "Your Uncle Xiao was your dad's little follower when he was in school. He was always talking about Brother Min this and Brother Min that. He practically idolized your dad!"

She pulled out a photo album from a small box in the corner of the cabinet.

Back on the bed, sitting beside her daughter, she said, "I haven't looked at these photos in a long time. Look, this is from when you were a month old, this one, and this one is from when you were 100 days old. Your dad took a day off to come back and see you."

She flipped through the photos, telling her daughter about her husband's past.

Jiang Xiaoli noticed that before she was born, her father's return home was not always on the same date each year.

Since she was born, she has returned home to visit her family almost every year in March, which happens to be her birthday month.

The last page of the album is a commemorative photo of her eighth birthday. She still clearly remembers that her father brought her a necklace made of bullets that day.

In the photo, she is wearing that necklace and standing with her parents; the three of them are smiling sweetly.

Li Guizhi closed the photo album, her eyes slightly red.

She hugged her daughter, "Xiaoli, your father was the best husband and the best father. We can't forget him, okay?"

Jiang Xiaoli hugged her tightly, "Mom, don't worry, I won't forget. I will study hard and grow up healthy. I will definitely strive to become your pride."

Li Guizhi chuckled, "I know, my little pear is the best."

After the mother and daughter finished chatting, Jiang Xiaoli returned to her room and lay on the bed, staring intently at the ceiling.

In her previous life, her mother died young, and she ridiculously avoided the kindness of Uncle Xiao's family.

Fortunately, she was reborn, and everything started anew...

Her thoughts drifted away, and she slowly drifted off to sleep.

The next day, Jiang Xiaoli stayed at school all day. When she got home, she saw Zong Jiayu eating pancakes.

She happily threw down her schoolbag, washed her hands, and sat down at the table. "Mom, I love you to death!"

Pancake rolls with vegetables are one of her favorites; her mom's pancakes are thin and fragrant!

Li Guizhi smiled and pushed the dishes towards her, "Eat slowly, Xiao Zong and I have already eaten, no one will take them from you."

With her mouth full of food, she mumbled, "So delicious, so delicious."

Li Guizhi said helplessly, "Swallow your food before you speak, I won't listen to what you're saying."

Zong Jiayu laughed from the side, "Godmother, Little Pear Sister said it's delicious."

Jiang Xiaoli nodded quickly. She managed to swallow the food and took a sip of water before saying, "It's so delicious!"

The pancakes were thin and small, and she ate 10 of them before stopping.

Zong Jia couldn't help but look her up and down. "Little Pear, with your appetite, where did all that food go? You're not gaining any weight at all."

Jiang Xiaoli was about to retort when she suddenly thought of her own flat chest, and her momentum instantly weakened by three points. "What do you know!"

However, her mood was quickly cheered up by an envelope containing spicy strips from the 14th, 15th, and 16th!

The thick envelope was bulging, and it said on the outside that it was 2.5 times the original size!

For the first time, she couldn't help but start counting money in front of Zong Jiayu. It felt so good to have those blue 100-yuan bills in her hand!

After she finished counting the money and put it back in the envelope, Zong Jiayu finally spoke, "I've picked out three shops. Want to come take a look?"

Jiang Xiaoli understood now. She wondered why he hadn't come to the house these past two days. It turned out he had been looking for a shop.

"Okay, let's go."

She got up to ride her bike, but he stopped her. "Little Pear, I don't have a bike. I'll give you a ride."

"You can just ride my mom's bike."

As soon as she finished speaking, Li Guizhi poked her head out from the kitchen, "Your Aunt Yang Hui borrowed my car, so let Xiao Zong take you!"

Since she didn't know how to bring anyone along, she had no choice but to sit sideways in the back seat.

She glanced at him sideways; Zong Jiayu's long legs looked incredibly cramped as he rode her bike.

She kept laughing behind me, "Are you comfortable riding?"

Zong Jiayu's voice drifted in on the warm breeze, "It's barely acceptable."