Ji Ke's face turned pale and he waved his hands in panic, "No, I really didn't mean that. My home phone is in the store, and my parents are here. I was afraid they would see me making the call."

"Then go to the phone booth."

"I don't have any money." Ji Ke lowered his head. "Since I repeated my grade, I haven't asked my family for pocket money. I have selfishly made my family spend more money for a year. I want to save a little for them."

"You need to be strong." Old Mrs. Zhu scolded her grandson, "Apologize to Xiaoke."

Zhu Yaowu glanced at his grandmother and apologized immediately, "I'm sorry."

But there is no sincerity at all.

He left the words and strode into the house.

Ji Ke also stood up and said, "Grandma Zhu, I have something else to do at home. I'll go back first."

"Xiao Ke, being a martial artist means you can't talk too much. Boys are naughty, so don't take it to heart." Old Lady Zhu walked him to the door. "You are right to do this. When parents are upset, children should try their best to help them reconcile. Don't worry, I will call home now and ask them to pass on this message."

"Grandma Zhu, I'm sorry to trouble you."

"Silly child, what's the trouble with a family?"

After watching Ji Ke leave, Old Lady Zhu turned around and went back to the yard.

She entered the house and saw her grandson sitting on a chair playing with nine linked rings. She frowned and said, "What did I usually tell you? A man should be tolerant. If you argue with a girl, you have achieved success?"

"Grandma, I just don't like the way she looks. Who is she doing this for? It's like she's saying something bad about Ji Ling."

"She is still young and doesn't understand these things. She has some tricks, but that is her nature. Besides, it is not up to us to say whether she is good or not. It has nothing to do with us. You just need to do what a relative should do."

Zhu Yaowu was always very obedient and pious when facing his elders. Old Mrs. Zhu said, "We don't talk about people behind their backs. What you did today was wrong. Apologize to Xiaoke next time you see someone."

"knew."

Mrs. Zhu then said, "Call your family and ask someone to take a message to your sister-in-law and ask her to call home."

Zhu Yaowu opened his mouth to retort, but finally obeyed and made the call.

Ji Ling was found by Zhu Heping at noon. Zhu Heping didn't say much. He just told her to call home on her way to the cafeteria and then left.

At first, Ji Ling was wondering what her mother-in-law wanted to talk to her about, but then she realized that this family was referring to the Ji family.

In fact, it is not difficult to guess what happened. She has been pregnant for three days. Everyone in the Zhu family knows about it, but her parents don't know yet. It should be this matter, right? After lunch, Ji Ling asked Miao Man and the others to go back first. She went to the telephone booth outside the school and called Ji Yong's store. It was Ji Yong who answered the phone. He was very happy to hear that his daughter had taken the time to call home.

"Weidong came over yesterday and asked for photos, saying that you were pregnant. I guessed you were busy and didn't have time to call home."

Ji Ling was really busy, so she simply told him what she did during the two days off. "My mother-in-law is at home, so it's not easy for me to call her. I thought I'd call you next week when I'm off."

"Dad understands everything." After getting married, how can you be so casual?

Thinking that his wife still blamed their daughter for this, Ji Yong felt even more distressed for his daughter.

"Take care of yourself over there and don't do any heavy work."

Ji Yong smiled, "Dad is good for nothing. He can't even be by your side to take care of you when you're pregnant."

"It's different. I'm in school. Don't blame dad." Ji Ling talked about going back at the end of December.

Ji Yong smiled and said, "Don't worry, Weidong is here, and we are here too. You don't have to worry about the family matters, just take care of yourself."

The father and daughter ended the call in a happy atmosphere.

Ji Yong looked up and saw his little daughter coming in, so he said, "If you had come a minute earlier, you could have talked to your sister. Your sister called just now."

Ji Ke was holding the food in her hands, "Really? Did Grandma Zhu tell my sister?"

"Grandma Zhu? You went to the Zhu family?" Ji Yong's smile slowly faded, staring at his daughter, "You told the Zhu family that your sister didn't tell our family that I had a fight with your mother?"

Ji Ke pursed her lips and said, "I just thought that if my sister took the initiative to call, mom wouldn't think that my sister is no longer close to the family. Dad, it's just a phone call, you won't be angry, right?"

"This is not a matter of a phone call." Seeing his little daughter's innocent face, Ji Yong took a deep breath and waved to her. After his daughter came over and sat down, he said, "Xiao Ke, I know you did this for the good of me and your mother, but have you ever thought about what the Zhu family would think? If you are not close to your own relatives, how about them? Will they think your sister is too heartless?"

Ji Kewei opened her mouth and said, "No way? The Zhu family is so good to my sister, and Grandma Zhu always praises my sister, how could she think that?"

"Of course not. You should understand the principle that water dripping wears away a stone. Everything accumulates little by little. You may not have any prejudice at the beginning, but when there are too many such things, it will be different."

"Dad, I'm sorry. I thought my sister couldn't solve the problem with just one phone call, so I went to see Grandma Zhu privately. I knew my sister wouldn't be at home, so I thought Grandma Zhu would have a way to tell my sister as soon as possible."

"Okay, this is the first time. Dad won't blame you, but this kind of thing must not happen again. And the quarrel between your mom and I has nothing to do with your sister. It is a problem accumulated in daily life. Do you understand?"

Ji Ke nodded vigorously.

Ji Yong originally thought that the matter was over, but that night Zhu Weidong came over with a gift in his hand and apologized to them solemnly, "After Xiaoling had her physical examination, my mother took her back to the old house and let her rest. Xiaoling didn't have time to tell you, this is our family's fault."

Ji Yong was so embarrassed that he wanted to find a hole to crawl into, but he still had to socialize, "This is all a misunderstanding. I talked to your mother for a few words, but she was unhappy about something else and made you upset."

Zhu Weidong said, "Whether it's because of this or not, this is because our family didn't do it properly, and I didn't do it well enough."

Zhu Weidong apologized and left. Xu Fang still didn't understand what was going on.

Ji Yong then told the story of his youngest daughter going to Zhu's house during the day.

Xu Fang opened her mouth and turned to look at her daughter in disbelief.

Ji Ke's face turned pale. "Mom, I'm sorry. I didn't know it would be so serious. I just wanted my sister to call so that you and Dad wouldn't quarrel. I don't want you to quarrel all the time. You and Dad have been unhappy since Dad got sick. I can see it, but I don't know what to do."

With a cry, Ji Ke started crying.

Xu Fang's anger slowly dissipated as she listened to her daughter's crying.

She stared at one place blankly, her eyes unfocused.

(End of this chapter)