"No need to say more, I know everything." Ji Yong put the big backpack on the ground and pulled his daughter to sit on the small stool in the yard. "Just now at the train station, Zheng Shi and Qian Xiangqian picked me up. Everyone has made mistakes. It is a great thing to know one's mistakes and correct them. Isn't that what the ancients said?"

"Dad, what did they tell you?" Ji Ling felt it would be safer to go in pairs.

Those two guys are really worrying.

"Explain why you borrowed money from Liu Zilii to treat them to a meal. Is there anything else?" Ji Yong noticed that his daughter had something else in her words.

He didn't mention lending them money, which shows he was smart enough.

Ji Ling did not intend to hide the matter from Ji Yong. After Xu Fang revealed it, she hesitated for a moment, summarized what she had heard from Ji Ke, and told him the story.

"I have already paid back the money. I was foolish as to what happened to Chen Jingming before. I will never do that again." Ji Ling also told him about how she saw the criminal and received a 500 yuan reward.

"Don't do such dangerous things in the future." Ji Yong was not angry about his daughter borrowing money, but when he heard that she did this kind of thing to make money, his face darkened. "Nowadays, society is very chaotic. It's not as simple as you think. There are many people in gangs. If you catch one, what will others do if they target you?"

"Dad, I get it. I'm just an assistant. The person who actually reports the clues earns 4,500."

Ji Yong was not tempted when he heard that it was over four thousand, and he still told his daughter not to mess around anymore, "Even if this matter is over, I will talk to your mother. She has a bad temper, so don't take it to heart if she says something harsh. You see, even though she scolds you, she still helps you pay back the money, right?"

Ji Ling nodded.

Ji Yong turned around, grabbed the bag, rummaged through it, and took out a bag of vanilla. "I bought this from someone. I wonder if it's what you want."

The item was wrapped in newspaper, and before it was opened, Ji Ling could smell the scent of lavender.

"Why do you like these things?" Ji Yong asked, taking out a few large paper bags. "I don't know what flavor you like, so I brought back some of each."

Ji Ling held a bunch of dried flowers in her arms, and her mouth cracked as she thought about the spices she had for making soap.

"Take it back first and keep it well. If your mother sees it, she will nag you about buying useless things." Ji Yong urged his daughter to put the things back first.

Ji Ling returned to the north room briskly. Just as she put her things away, Xu Fang and Ji Ke came back from outside.

As soon as Xu Fang saw her husband, she started to complain, "You sent a telegram saying you would be back today, but you didn't say what time. Xiaoke said she would pick you up, but we waited for a whole day and didn't see anyone. We asked about the trains from Y City, but there were no trains today, so you just came back."

As she was talking to her husband, her eyes also glanced at the open bag. The bag was half deflated, and her brows furrowed.

When Ji Ke saw that Ji Yong was happy, he rushed over, hugged him, and started talking a lot.

Ji Yong just laughed.

Xu Fang walked over and looked through her bag, and found that it was indeed deflated. She stood up and asked her husband, "You didn't buy anything this time?"

"Didn't you tell me to spend less money because our child was going to college? How dare I disobey you?" Ji Yong replied with a smile, secretly winking at his eldest daughter.

Xu Fang: Ji Ling was trying not to laugh.

She found that Ji Yong, his father, was a wise man who appeared foolish.

It was a rare occasion for Xu's family to get together, and Xu Fang chose to play dumb and didn't ask any questions. In the evening, Ji Yong personally cooked braised pork, a large bowl full of it, and he kept using his chopsticks. He also took care of both his two daughters and his wife, leaving no room for criticism.

During this time, Xu Fang wanted to talk about Ji Ling several times, but was interrupted by Ji Yong.

After the meal, Ji Yong rarely acted like a father and joked, "You two are grown up now, and mom and dad need to enjoy themselves. You two sisters will clean the table tonight."

Xu Fang opened her mouth and said, "Xiao Ke doesn't know how to wash dishes, let me do it."

While trying to be quiet but in a voice that the whole family could hear, he said, "If you say anything more about my wife, I'll feel bad for her."

Xu Fang glared at him, blushed, and stopped pretending to get up.

Ji Ke smiled.

Ji Ling didn't want to affect Xu Fang's mood, so she carried the things in her hands and went to the outer room, saying to Ji Ke, "Pick it up and I'll wash it."

Ji Ke responded obediently.

The two sisters divided the work and squeezed into the outer room.

The door to the east room was closed. Xu Fang reached out and pinched her husband's waist. "It's no use trying to coax me."

Ji Yong smiled and moved closer, "Why should I coax you? Haven't I been like this all these years?"

Xu Fang snorted, "Tell me, what did you buy this time?"

Don’t think that because she wasn’t at home, you didn’t know that he secretly gave things to Ji Ling. The bag was so big, it was obvious that the things were taken out before they came back.

"We agreed when we left that we would treat both children equally and give them pens regardless of whether they passed the college entrance exam or not. Hero brand pens are hard to buy, so I used my connections with the manufacturer to buy one with a gold-plated nib."

Xu Fang almost jumped up, "That must be more than 500, right?"

"Keep your voice down. Didn't I explain it to you? We don't have ordinary ones. I bought this one through many connections."

Xu Fang gritted her teeth: "Okay, let's put this aside for now and talk about her borrowing money."

"I asked Xiaoling about this when I came back, and criticized her severely. She was still wiping away tears before you came in. She said she was deeply aware of the mistake she made and would never dare to do it again."

Xu Fang: Do you think I'm blind?

She snorted, "I remember that girl never shed a tear since she was a child, right?"

Ji Yong, "Just because it hasn't fallen before doesn't mean it won't fall today, am I right?"

Xu Fang: He whispered again, "Besides, didn't she pay it back herself? You also have to take back the 100 you helped pay back."

Xu Fang: Ji Yong put away the smile on his face and asked tentatively, "I'm not worried about Xiaoke's grades, but how did Xiaoling do in the exam? This girl has been very well behaved since she came back today. Last year, she didn't pass the exam and she kept making a fuss. As parents, we think of them as creditors when we see them making a fuss, and we feel angry and helpless, and we can't do anything about them. But when we really see them feeling uncomfortable and unhappy, we feel bad, so we might as well let them make a fuss. Our family conditions are not the best, but we can afford to support our children to study. My idea is that as long as the child wants to go to school, we will support her. We will support her for as many years as she repeats the grade."

"The child has grown up and has self-esteem. Don't yell at him all the time. He won't be close to you anymore."

Ji Ling was right. Zheng Shi and the other guy tried their best to show their brotherhood, but they forgot the most important thing. They didn't even mention the fact that Ji Ling was the top scorer in the college entrance examination.

Xu Fang sneered twice, "Ji Ling complained to you that I yelled at her?"

"No."

"Yeah, she got the top score in the liberal arts college entrance exam in H Province. How dare I yell at her?"

Ji Yong stared, "What? Who got the top score in the college entrance examination?"

(End of this chapter)