ATCF Ch 32 Part 1 – Don’t Be Like Your Third Uncle (I)

Although Big Sleepyhead acted weirdly, Jiang Li decided to tolerate him unconditionally within a limit because of his other name: Tong Leifeng.

“It will get cold if you don’t eat it soon.” She pointed to the glutinous rice cake on the table.

Tong Yi picked up the cake and put it in his mouth, asking, “Are you really going to invite these guys?”

Hearing this, Jiang Li understood that he was referring to their classmates in the class. She pondered for a moment and replied truthfully, “I don’t really care, but if it can make Grandpa happy, why not?”

Anyway, Second Brother said that there would be many people in the banquet, so adding a few dozen more wouldn’t make a difference.

Tong Yi nodded thoughtfully and, after a while, said, “You should share your true thoughts with your grandpa. He will understand.”

Jiang Li shook her head, “I think Second Brother is right. He should know Grandpa better.”

Tong Yi: …

He really wanted to say that he actually knew Old Master Feng quite well.

However, if he were to say that, Jiang Xiao Li might ask for more details. On second thought, it’s better not to say anything!

…

In the subsequent days, everyone in the Jiang family was completely stressed out. Without the invisible support of the Feng family, Jiang Huai fully grasped the harsh reality of the business world. The resources that were easily accessible in the past now failed to yield satisfactory results, even if he swallowed his pride and went personally to take charge.

Since that brief fainting episode, he had been paying special attention to maintaining a balance between work and rest. However, insomnia was something he couldn’t control on his own.

As someone who shared the bed with Jiang Huai, Feng Yun naturally noticed his poor sleep and the increasing weariness in his spirit day by day. Following Feng Qi’s rejection, she made two additional visits to the Feng family. Her intention was to plead with her father, but because Feng Qi had instructed the servants in advance, she was unable to even pass through the entrance gate of the Feng residence, let alone have a face-to-face meeting with her father.

As for Jiang Zhou, he stayed at home after failing to seek an ‘apology’ from Jiang Li. He was a sophomore in high school and his studies were not particularly busy, so he simply took an extended leave under the pretext of recuperating from his injuries.

Jiang Ruo missed her time at school, but she also knew that if she were to return to attend classes, she would only be met with malicious gazes from her classmates. She used to enjoy browsing through Weibo, watching short videos, and seeing her fans shower her with flattery in the comments. It would lift her spirits. However, now she hardly had any fans left, and many had turned from being supporters to turning against her and leaving repugnant comments that were unbearable to read.

Some core members of her fan club, with whom she had personal interactions before, had practically blocked her, and a few even sent her private messages with insults.

Unable to bear the harassment, Jiang Ruo eventually disabled her private messages, and later on, she stopped logging into her social media accounts altogether.

Fortunately, her brother would tell jokes to make her laugh, encourage her to study, and patiently explain the difficult problems she encountered, helping her momentarily forget her troubles.

After the dispute outside the hospital room that day, Qin Zheng called her several times, but Jiang Ruo could clearly sense a growing distance between them. Every time she spoke to Qin Zheng on the phone, her mood would noticeably plummet. Eventually, her brother noticed this and forbade her from contacting Qin Zheng.

At first, Jiang Ruo was hesitant, but eventually, she decided to heed her brother’s advice. She thought that by not answering his calls, Qin Zheng would come looking for her.

Unfortunately, Qin Zheng never came to find her.

Perhaps because she didn’t reply to his messages multiple times, but the frequency of his messages gradually decreased.

At first, Jiang Ruo felt very sad, but under her brother’s persuasion and comforting words, she quickly let go and realized that the most important thing for her at the moment was the upcoming examination.

…

As the high school entrance examination drew closer, Jiang Li noticed that most of her classmates were becoming increasingly nervous. In contrast, she didn’t seem to be greatly affected by it and believed that as long as she performed normally, there shouldn’t be any major problems.

On the evening of June 8th, Jiang Li received a call from Jiang Tang using the orphanage’s landline, informing her that she had already finished taking the college entrance examination and now had nothing to do. She also mentioned that before the banquet at the Feng family residence, she would come to Minjiang City with the orphanage’s director and bring along the younger kids.

Jiang Li immediately expressed her 120% welcome. Although she only met Jiang Tang once, she knew from the memories of ‘Jiang Li’ that Jiang Tang had taken good care of both the original ‘Jiang Li’ and other younger siblings at the orphanage.

It had been some time since she transmigrated into the book, yet those memories belonging to ‘Jiang Li’ hadn’t faded away. As time went on, she sometimes felt that those memories were her own.

Jiang Li shook her head and ended the call with Jiang Tang. She started thinking about where to take the orphanage friends to play after they arrived.

Knowing her thoughts, Feng Bai immediately offered several suggestions.

Upon receiving three different itineraries that fully covered food, drink, and entertainment, Jiang Li no longer dwelled on the matter and dedicated her full attention to preparing for the high school entrance examination.

Compared with Jiang Li’s single focus, Qin Zheng seemed a bit absent-minded recently. It had been a long time since Ruoruo responded to his messages, and she didn’t answer his calls at all. He had visited the Jiang family’s home twice, but each time he was stopped by the household staff, who said that Ruoruo is busy preparing for the high school entrance examination and doesn’t want to see anyone.

Later, Jiang Zhou also messaged him, asking him not to disturb Ruoruo temporarily, and said that any matters should wait until the examination passed.

Since then, he stopped calling Ruoruo and only occasionally sent a text message, but without exception, his messages received no response.

As time passed, Qin Zheng felt tired, especially when he saw that his classmates were all focused on the entrance examination. He couldn’t help but find himself ridiculous.

Only a week before the entrance examination, he reluctantly gathered his spirits and reviewed the mock exams he had done before, actively joining the ranks of intensive preparation with other students.

…

Three days before the examination, the school granted a break for students to review at home, but they were required to familiarize themselves with the examination venue the day before the test to avoid any embarrassing situations.

As soon as she returned home, Jiang Li found herself at the center of attention. Her Grandpa seemed quite concerned about her performance and always tried different ways to alleviate her psychological pressure.

For example, when everyone was having a meal peacefully, Grandpa suddenly sighed, “The entrance examination, to be honest, isn’t that important. I believe attending a good high school is enough. Just look at your second brother, he wasn’t motivated during junior high, and his performance in the entrance examination was mediocre. But now, after entering a prestigious university, his academic performance is passable.”

Feng Bai gave the old man a resentful glare, “Grandpa, couldn’t you pick someone else to be your negative example?”

Perplexed, Old Master Feng looked at him and inquired, “Pick who?”

Feng Bai: …

That… was a good question.

When you considered everyone in this household, apart from him, who wasn’t the top scorer in the high school and college entrance examination?

In fact, his grades were not bad, but because there was always Feng Song above him, he had never tasted the first place.

And when Grandpa said that his academic performance was passable now, that was because they took different majors in university, so he finally didn’t have to be overshadowed by his twin anymore.

 

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