"I don't deny that he endures hardships and works hard, but I don't like the way he does it. As for how you get along with him, you don't have to consider me. Even if I meet him in the future, I have to keep it to myself."

Zhu Weidong smiled and said, "I know what I am doing, don't worry."

After the call ended, Ji Ling felt better because she had told Zhu Weidong her true feelings.

By the weekend, Ji Jianhua came back. He looked much darker, but still looked very energetic.

Wang Sanmei was cooking in the store. Ji Jianhua said on the phone that he had been away for so long and what he missed most was the eggplant stewed with potatoes at home. Wang Sanmei was diligent and arranged it right away.

Now that the weather is cold, in addition to ketchup, there are also pickled vegetables. Because Ji Ling can't eat food that is too salty or oily, she only mixes some rice with ketchup and doesn't dare to add more.

It was too late after dinner, Ji Ling didn't stay long, "Brother, let's talk tomorrow. It's too late and I'm afraid Niuniu will look for me."

"Go back. I'll go to the compound to see Niuniu tomorrow night. We can talk then."

On Monday night, when Ji Ling returned home from school, she saw her older brother was already there, with her grandmother holding Niu Niu in her arms to show him.

Ji Jianhua smiled, "Niuniu has grown up a lot and is becoming more and more adorable."

"Brother, you feel good about it because it's your own child." Ji Ling went upstairs to change clothes first, and when she came down, she took the child upstairs with her brother.

It's the end of October and the weather is cold.

Seeing that her elder brother was wearing thin clothes, Ji Ling said, "Brother, buy some thick clothes tomorrow. There are more styles here than at home."

"We still have a lot of clothes at home, so we don't need to buy more." Ji Jianhua didn't care about this, but he was still very happy when he said this. He pulled out the vest from inside his coat and said, "Sanmei knitted this for me. Isn't it nice?"

Ji Ling took a look and said, "Sanmei knitted it? No wonder I always saw her knitting things after school in the past few weeks. I thought she knitted it for herself."

"Haha, she knitted it for herself. After knitting, she found it was too big. Last night, it was cold and I was wearing too little, so Sanmei took it out and asked me to try it on. You know what, it fits me perfectly."

How could it be such a coincidence?

Ji Ling didn't expose it, "That's quite a coincidence."

"Brother, are you in touch with Luo Li now?" There was no point in delaying this matter, so Ji Ling simply asked directly.

"I can't get in touch with her. She's in the capital with her sister, and I don't know her contact information. She hasn't gone to the factory either. I called the factory to ask." Ji Jianhua's smile remained unchanged, but there was still a hint of disappointment in his tone.

Ji Ling, "Brother, what you said about Dad talking to Luo Li was a misunderstanding. Dad told me about it."

Ji Jianhua was slightly stunned.

Ji Ling smiled and said, "Luo Li took the initiative to find Dad, and then said that she knew Dad had a prejudice against her before, so she would not rush to get married, and would wait for Dad to accept her."

"I see."

"Yes, of course I have to persuade her if she says that. We are open-minded and would not do anything to make things difficult for others. But Luo Li herself does not want to marry you, so there is nothing I can do."

After running out to heal his wounds and convincing himself for so long, the truth turned out to be like this. Ji Jianhua was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

"It turns out that she doesn't want to get married. She could have just told me directly."

"She is very close to Wei Kun now, maybe they are dating."

"Who? Is she dating someone?" Ji Jianhua was completely stunned.

"Luo Li, Wei Kun, Zhu Weidong's friend, the one who helped last time." Seeing that he was still confused, Ji Ling explained in detail, "Last time Luo Weiwei got into trouble, after you called me, Weidong had a childhood friend who grew up with you. He came to help solve the problem, and it was because of him that Luo Weiwei got a role."

Ji Jianhua opened his mouth in slight surprise.

After Ji Ling said so much, Ji Jianhua finally came back to his senses from the news.

He smiled and said, "That's right."

And then nothing happened.

Ji Ling didn't force him, and asked, "Brother, when are you going to go home?"

"The factory is very busy. I bought a ticket for tomorrow."

"Okay, I don't have classes tomorrow afternoon, so I'll go down to your store."

"Okay."

Ji Ling found that her elder brother was absent-minded and knew that he might not listen to anything she said, so she simply stopped talking.

After dinner in the evening, the Zhu family invited Ji Jianhua to stay at their home, but Ji Jianhua declined and went back to the store. It was Zhu who asked him to go back.

As for Ji Ling's desire to learn how to drive, she could drive in her previous life. Asking Zhu Mowu to teach her was just an introduction so that she could transition from being able to drive to being a normal person.

My eldest brother is coming back this week, so I will postpone my driving lessons to next weekend.

As soon as she got out of school on Tuesday at noon, Ji Ling went to the store and unexpectedly found Sanmei there.

"Is your school on holiday?"

"No, Brother Ji is leaving tonight, so I asked for leave this afternoon." Wang Sanmei was kneading dough. "Dumplings for getting on the bus and noodles for getting off the bus. I was thinking of making some dumplings for Brother Ji."

"Okay, I also want to eat the dumplings you made." Ji Ling looked around the yard, "Where's my eldest brother?"

"In the house." Wang Sanmei raised her chin and motioned Ji Ling to come over and take a look.

The two of them understood each other tacitly. Ji Ling knocked on the door and heard someone say come in, so she went in.

"It's okay, I'm packing." Ji Jianhua smiled, but his smile was a bit perfunctory.

Ji Ling looked around again and saw only two books on the bed. Something had taken her the whole morning to pack.

She sighed, "Brother, I can't interfere in your own emotional affairs, but if you feel bad, then go and ask them in person. I'll take a leave of absence this afternoon and take you to where they live."

"I won't ask anymore." Ji Jianhua lowered his eyes, "It's good to know that she has a better destination."

"Okay, I'll listen to you." Ji Ling didn't say much.

It's also good to separate like this and give each other some dignity.

At noon, everyone ate dumplings. Wang Sanmei also bought beer for Ji Jianhua. She felt it was not good for him to drink alone, so she just accompanied him to drink.

Maybe because he was in a bad mood, Ji Jianhua drank only two bottles and it was too much. He had to catch a bus in the evening, so Ji Ling asked him to go back to his room and rest.

Wang Sanmei drank a bottle, her face turned red and her eyes were bright. She looked no different from usual, but it was obvious that she had consumed more.

Ji Ling also asked her to go and rest, "I'll clean up, Xuemei can go to the shop in front."

The shop in front needed people, so Lou Xuemei didn't hesitate and went to the front with a smile.

(End of this chapter)