“Please wait a moment.” Jiang Li suddenly spoke up.
Feng Yun, who had already turned to leave, stopped in her tracks. She turned back with hopeful eyes fixed on her daughter.
But there was no particular emotion in Jiang Li’s eyes. With a calm look, she said politely, “Can you open your WeChat for me?”
Feng Yun was taken aback for a moment, but her puzzlement soon turned into a joy. Xiao Li wanted to add her contact! She hurriedly took out her phone and opened the WeChat.
However, before she could share her QR code, Jiang Li swiftly leaned over and expertly accessed Feng Yun’s WeChat payment code. She then took out her own phone and scanned it.
Feng Yun had no idea what she was doing, “Xiao Li, this is not a QR code to add friends.”
The next moment, she received a payment notification on her phone, totaling 1000 yuan.
Feng Yun was completely dumbfounded, stammering: “Xiao…Xiao Li…what are you…”
Jiang Li spoke calmly, “Back when your husband and you came to pick me up in Qingxi County, and when Assistant Bai drove me to school, there was the cost of gasoline. Additionally, I’ve also stayed at your house for one night. I believe 1000 yuan should cover everything.”
Feng Yun stared incredulously at Jiang Li, full of disbelief. Her lips quivered, but no words came out.
The 1000 yuan that her daughter transferred to her was like a harsh slap in the face, hitting her hard.
When Jiang Li asked Feng Yun’s WeChat, Feng Qi frowned, but the girl’s series of operations made him laugh out loud. Amused, he couldn’t resist adding fuel to the fire: “During the trip from Qingxi County to Minjiang City, she and her husband were in the car. Plus the driver, your share of the gasoline cost should be a just quarter. As for the accommodation provided by their family, it should be far from a five-star hotel. If you give her a thousand yuan, it is definitely a loss.”
Jiang Li: …
Tong Yi had always called herself a little moneygrubber, but now she suddenly felt that her uncle was even more obsessed with money than she was!
Seeing her little niece’s somewhat complicated expression, Feng Qi ruffled her hair and said, “However, if it weren’t for them arranging your transfer, you wouldn’t have been able to reunite with your third uncle so quickly. So, why don’t we let her keep the change?”
Jiang Li nodded slowly, “I think you are right, Uncle.”
Considering that the Jiang family had also handled her transfer procedure to her current school, one thousand yuan was indeed not too much.
As she watched the interaction between the niece and uncle, Feng Yun’s eyes slowly welled up with tears. She understood that her daughter wanted to draw a clear boundary between them.
Feng Qi and Jiang Li didn’t even stop to give her a glance as they entered the gate side by side.
Feng Yun stared blankly at their departing backs, and it took her a long time before she dazedly returned to her car.
She now understood… that she had lost her daughter.
Or perhaps, she had lost Xiao Li a long, long time ago.
…
When Jiang Li and Feng Qi returned home, Old Master Feng sniffed the air curiously and asked, “What did you two eat for lunch? Why is there such a strong smell?”
Feng Qi replied without batting an eyelid, “Today’s staff meal is Xiao Lizi’s favorite snow crab.”
Old Master Feng nodded and cautioned, “Snow crab is good, but you must not eat too much. They are cold in nature.”
Jiang Li immediately nodded vigorously, wearing the expression of an obedient and well-behaved little girl, “I know, Grandpa. I will only eat crabs in moderation.”
Old Master Feng patted her head affectionately, “Our Xiao Jiang Li is such a good girl.”
Jiang Li felt somewhat guilty and glanced at Feng Qi, only to find him looking at her with a half-smile.
Jiang Li: …
…
During dinner, Old Master Feng suddenly sighed heavily, “Xiao Jiang Li is this year’s top scorer, isn’t she? Why hasn’t any school come calling to recruit her? So strange!”
Jiang Li served a piece of ribs to her grandfather and replied, “The admission officer from Minjiang First has already contacted me. They offered a 500,000 yuan scholarship.”
Old Master Feng explained: “I mean other schools. I’ve seen news about those schools competing for top students, especially Minjiang Third. They’re offering scholarships of seven or eight hundred thousand. This is bordering on unfair competition!”
Professor Tan chuckled: “Those schools are competing for top students by offering high scholarships, but our family isn’t short on money. They know Xiao Jiang Li will definitely choose Minjiang First, so they won’t waste their efforts.”
Old Master Feng reluctantly accepted his daughter-in-law’s explanation. However, less than half a minute later, he raised another point, “Has any advertising agency approached our Xiao Jiang Li to endorse educational products or something?”
Jiang Li’s second uncle responded helplessly, “Endorsing educational products doesn’t pay much, and our family…”
Old Master Feng interrupted him, “Of course we would not do that. But shouldn’t the normal procedure be that they approach Xiao Jiang Li for endorsement, and then we politely decline?”
Professor Feng: …
To be honest, he didn’t understand his dad’s thought process, but he didn’t dare to refute him in the slightest.
Seeing her husband’s defeated look, Professor Tan chuckled in amusement. She then turned to Old Master Feng and explained, “In recent years, the country doesn’t encourage hype around top scorers in the college entrance and high school entrance exams. Schools aren’t allowed to display banners congratulating the top scorer, let alone advertising endorsements.”
Old Master Feng: …
Well, he had nothing to say to that.
…
Old Master Feng might have given up, but Director Li was not going to lie down in dormancy. Both the top and second highest scorers of this year’s high school entrance examination came from the junior high division of Minjiang International School. How could they not celebrate it? One or two banners wouldn’t be too excessive, would they?
What? The government did not allow using the term ‘top scorer’?
Alright, let’s just use “two students who did well in the exam” instead.
Director Li’s proposal was highly praised by the principal.
But as soon as the banner came out, other schools immediately grumbled.
The top scorer and second-highest scorer were merely described as “two students who did well in the exam”
Then what this made the third-highest scorer and below?
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Translator’s Note:
So…. the problem with the ads still continued. I’ve contacted my ads provider, but they claim to be unable to replicate the problem. I am still tweaking with the settings, but any change needs a few hours before going live so the progress are slow… it looks improving on my ends though, although the annoying page-covering ads are still there. I’ve just make another change an hour ago, please let me know the results….
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Thanks for the chapter!!!!
I do feel bad for the mother, but she brought it on herself. A real mother looks out for and takes care of her child no matter what. But she let that dirty grimy two-timing husband of hers lead her stray once again.
I slightly very very little pity for the mom. But hey no matter how naive & a lovestruck fool she is she can’t be so blinded to the point of not knowing that this was going to happened eventually. From the very moment that she agreed with her husband to keep Jiang Li identity as a secret she already failed as a mother in my book.