Chapter 243 The Lingering Ghost
Upon hearing Li Simin's words, Jiang Zhizhi exclaimed, "Who did you just mention? What Researcher Tan?"
Li Simin then explained in a low voice, "Tan Songlin is a researcher in our group. He used to be our teacher's star student."
Jiang Zhizhi asked in confusion, "How does Sun Xiaoyue know him? He's also from our compound."
Li Simin shook his head: "No, my home is in Dongsi."
Jiang Zhizhi leaned on the railing, propping her chin up as she looked down at a corner of the building. Sun Xiaoyue sat down next to Song Wanying, her head bowed. She couldn't see Song Wanying's face, but she could see her hands on her knees, gripping the seams of her pants tightly.
Later, Zhou Chengzhi and Li Chengzhang entered together. They met at the door, as they didn't usually work in the same unit and rarely had the chance to meet.
We bumped into each other at the door, chatted for a bit, and then went inside.
When Shang Shiying saw the two enter, she called to the nanny to prepare dinner.
Jiang Zhenhua had a good relationship with Zhou Chengzhi and Li Chengzhang. The three of them talked about some simple work matters, and none of them said anything carelessly about the current situation.
Sun Xiaoyue was also wary of Zhou Chengzhi, who had an imposing presence and never dared to speak in his presence.
The atmosphere was quite good until we started eating.
During the meal, Zhou Chengzhi glanced at Sun Xiaoyue sitting next to Song Wanying, then looked at Jiang Zhenhua and asked, "When do you plan to move back?"
Jiang Zhenhua also wants to come back soon: "I plan to move back in the next few days. It's more comfortable living in our compound. However, I heard that once the retirement home is completed, we retirees will have to move there."
Li Chengzhang knew this, as he was in charge of this area: "The facilities in the retirement home will be more complete, providing a proper arrangement for us retired old folks in our later years."
Jiang Zhenhua didn't mind: "As long as I have a place to stay, that's fine. By the way, speaking of houses, I wanted to ask you something, about my family's yard..."
Li Chengzhang knew about the courtyard Jiang Zhenhua was referring to: "The policy is unclear right now, so it's best not to inquire."
Sun Xiaoyue's ears immediately perked up. She knew about the courtyard house Jiang Zhenhua was talking about. She had voluntarily taken the property deed to register it as "confiscated" and it had now been divided among several households and was managed by the Housing Management Bureau.
Shortly after Jiang Zhenhua's death, the policy changed, and the house was returned to her. The courtyard house near Houhai eventually belonged to her.
As for this house, Jiang Zhenhua has never mentioned it, and she has never seen the deed after the registration.
She's not Jiang Zhenhua and Song Wanying's biological daughter, so does that mean she won't get the house in the future?
Jiang Zhenhua didn't ask any more questions, and Zhou Chengzhi changed the subject, asking Li Simin, "How's work at the research institute?"
Li Simin immediately put down his chopsticks and politely replied, "It's pretty good. The seniors have been very kind to me. They've entrusted me with several sets of data and let me complete them independently."
Zhou Chengzhi turned to look at Li Chengzhang: "Your son is remarkable; he's the pride of our compound."
Li Chengzhang humbly replied, "Not at all. He is still far behind Zhou Xiye and needs to guard against arrogance and impetuosity and continue to work hard."
Zhou Chengzhi waved his hand: "Xiye is nothing in front of Simin. If we're talking about the past, Xiye can only be considered a brute. Simin is different. He uses his brain. And a good brain is more powerful than a thousand troops."
Jiang Zhizhi was a little unhappy. Zhou Chengzhi couldn't belittle his own son just to praise someone else's child.
Li Chengzhang quickly poured wine for Zhou Chengzhi: "You can't say that. Xiye is not a mere warrior. He is good at both literary and military affairs. He will definitely be more powerful than all of us in the future."
Li Simin quickly added, "That's right, Uncle Zhou, you can't say that about Brother Zhou. In my heart, Brother Zhou will always be a hero. It was Brother Zhou who inspired me to do some of the data in my experiments."
Zhou Chengzhi didn't care at all: "You're just being modest..."
Fang Hua was afraid that he would say something derogatory about her son again, so she picked up a piece of pork skin jelly and gave it to him: "Shi Ying, your aunt makes this pork skin jelly, it tastes very good, I'll learn how to make it sometime."
Shang Shiying readily agreed: "Sure, I'm free at home anyway, so you can bring Zhizhi over for a visit."
Fang Hua shook his head: "That won't do. Zhizhi has a lot of study to do and doesn't get enough sleep every day. I'm worried that she'll ruin her health by studying so much, so I'm always thinking of ways to make her some nourishing food at home."
Upon hearing this, Shang Shiying immediately looked at Jiang Zhizhi with concern: "Zhizhi, just do your best in your studies. But make sure you get enough sleep every day, and don't ruin your health because of studying."
Jiang Zhizhi smiled, a little flattered: "It's okay, I'll sleep when I'm sleepy, I didn't stay up all night."
Song Wanying glanced at Jiang Zhizhi, then at Sun Xiaoyue, her brows furrowed in displeasure.
Even after the dinner ended, on the way back, Song Wanying was in a low mood.
Jiang Zhenhua knew what was bothering Song Wanying, and disregarding Sun Xiaoyue in the passenger seat, he comforted her: "Don't think so much. It's a good thing that Zhizhi is doing well now. I've said before that Zhizhi is pure-hearted and a good child."
Song Wanying sighed: "I can understand Fang Hua praising Zhizhi all the time. After all, Fang Hua is a very proud person, and outsiders shouldn't even think about watching her family's drama. But why is Shang Shiying so good to Zhizhi too?"
Jiang Zhenhua didn't notice anything unusual: "She's always been very good to Zhizhi. Didn't she used to say that she wished Zhizhi were her daughter?"
Song Wanying shook her head: "It's different. Before, she was very polite, but today I feel like she wants to give Zhizhi all the good things. Did you see that just now when we were eating, she kept putting food on Zhizhi's plate, but didn't put any on Xiaoyue's plate?"
"Logically speaking, we are all guests today. Even if she is not familiar with Xiaoyue or has a problem with her, she shouldn't only care about Zhizhi and not even look at Xiaoyue. Isn't that slapping you and me in the face?"
Jiang Zhenhua chuckled twice and patted the back of her hand: "You women are just prone to overthinking. How long have Shang Shiying and Zhizhi known each other? When Zhizhi was little, she even fed her. How can that be the same?"
Sun Xiaoyue sat down in front without saying a word; her heart had been aching ever since.
Jiang Zhizhi was the star of the show tonight, and everyone praised her.
After finishing her anger, Song Wanying looked at Sun Xiaoyue and said, "Xiaoyue, you should try to be more ambitious. Your dad and I went to great lengths to get you into school. If your grades are too bad, we'll lose face too."
Sun Xiaoyue turned around and forced a smile: "Mom and Dad, don't worry, I've been working really hard lately. You know I grew up in the countryside and didn't have the opportunity to go to school, so it's very difficult for me to study now."
"However, I will definitely get good grades and not embarrass you and Dad."
Suddenly, she felt restless. She wanted to go to school first and make a name for herself, but Jiang Zhizhi was like a persistent ghost, so she shouldn't blame her for being impolite...
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