I Got Rich in Period Fiction-Chapter 543 - 537: The Wind Rises

Qiao Qingyu quickly expressed her agreement at the side. Actually, Jiao Jiao had been coming every day to report in, sometimes spending as much as two hours doing practice questions here. Since Zhou Hai and Liu Ying had to leave Tenghai Research Base, it was better to leave Jiao Jiao here where she could look after her.

Zhou Hai thanked them profusely as he left. When he got home, Liu Ying absent-mindedly packed their belongings, and he glanced at her, frowning, and said, "You don’t need to be scared, either. The responsibility for what happened back then lies mostly with me; it’s not your fault."

Liu Ying’s lips moved slightly, and deep down, she wanted to say, If it’s not my fault, then why must you insist on me going?

Perhaps Zhou Hai saw what she was thinking; he rubbed his forehead and let out a sigh, saying, "As husband and wife, we owe Xiao Ning an explanation."

Liu Ying didn’t say anything further and continued packing. Zhou Hai went to Zhou Pengcheng’s room to find his son and, seeing that he hadn’t started to pack, urged him, "Why haven’t you started packing? We’re leaving tomorrow."

Although their home in Beijing lacked nothing, the child still needed to bring his summer vacation homework.

Zhou Pengcheng stood up, the fifteen-year-old boy now standing a head taller than his father.

Zhou Hai had to lift his head slightly to look at his son.

But he didn’t feel uncomfortable, only proud.

Whatever discomfort had settled in his heart had dissipated, and his voice softened, "If you really hate packing, just tell me what you’re bringing, and I’ll help you."

Normally, Zhou Pengcheng was all laughs and jokes, but today, he was unusually serious. He clenched his hands, thought for a moment, and looking deep into his father’s eyes, he said solemnly, "Dad, I want to stay and be with my sister for her college entrance exam."

Zhou Hai felt a jolt in his heart. At that moment, he felt as if his son had grown up, but he also felt a pang of guilt.

Was his son blaming him for not fulfilling his responsibilities as a father?

"...I have no choice, things in Di are being pushed urgently. We have to leave tomorrow, otherwise, I would definitely stay for your sister’s exam."

"Dad, attend to your matters, none of us blame you. But my sister only gets one shot at the college entrance exam. I’ve been mischievous, often making her sad. This time I want to see her off for her exam, then pick her up afterwards. I will stay with her for these three days."

Zhou Hai and Zhou Pengcheng locked eyes for a moment, the room falling silent.

Zhou Hai felt a lump in his throat and waved his hand, "Alright, then you stay."

Zhou Zijiao, standing outside the door about to enter, felt her eyes turning red – she also felt warmth in her heart. She had always thought her younger brother didn’t like her, but the reality was quite the opposite.

In her eyes, her brother was worthless, and whenever others mentioned him, Jiao Jiao felt ashamed. But today, she felt as if there was a warm bundle nestled within her heart.

Zhou Zijiao turned and went to her room.

Zhou Ruoruo cried and made a scene, not knowing why, but she just didn’t want to go to Di with Zhou Hai and Liu Ying. Her reasoning was similar to Zhou Pengcheng’s – she also wanted to be there for her sister’s college entrance exam. Ruoruo was a troublemaker and not very likable, but she was very good to Zhou Zijiao.

Zhou Hai disagreed, and Liu Ying disagreed even more. Frankly, leaving Jiang Zhouzijiao and Zhou Pengcheng was not worrying to her at all.

Alive or dead, it was none of her concern. After all, they were left in the care of He Xiuyu and Qiao Qingyu. If there were any problems, they should look to them.

But Ruoruo was different. That was her own daughter, flesh of her flesh. If something happened to her, how could she ever live with herself?

Indeed, it must be said that for all of Liu Ying’s faults, her love for Ruoruo was genuine.

Zhou Ruoruo’s things were all packed, and after much coaxing, they managed to calm the stomping Ruoruo.

Zhou Hai wasn’t completely focused on his work now; his mind wasn’t even on his job slightly—all he could think about was Zhang Zening and the household matters. Although He XiuYu and his household were looking after things, he still felt uneasy.

Then, somehow, his gaze fell on Liu Ying, and suddenly he realized that she didn’t seem to care at all about Jiao Jiao’s high school exams happening in two days, which made him uncomfortable again.

Because she wasn’t her own child, was that it? If it were Ruoruo taking the exams in a few days, would Liu Ying still act this way?

He didn’t even have to think of the answer himself; it was obvious.

Zhou Hai turned over, closed his eyes, and decided not to look at Liu Ying any longer.

Zhou Hai had planned to leave the house keys with He XiuYu when he left.

However, He XiuYu didn’t take them, telling Zhou Hai, "Our base is very secure, there’s no thieving or looting, let the two kids keep the keys. If they want to stay at my place, I’ll prepare a room for them. If not, they’re welcome to have their meals at my house three times a day. You just go take care of your matters with peace of mind."

Zhou Hai felt truly embarrassed; he had asked Liu Ying to bring the keys to He XiuYu’s house in the morning, but he didn’t expect that the woman hadn’t followed his instructions at all.

Giving the keys to someone else at this time, after all the back and forth, really seemed like a waste of time and lacked sincerity. Zhou Hai gritted his teeth and managed a forced smile, saying, "It’s very kind of you and your wife to offer."

After that, he quickly left with Liu Ying and Zhou Ruoruo towards the jeep parked at the crossroads.

Zhou Zijiao and Zhou Pengcheng stood at the gates of the Zhou family’s house. Zhou Hai said if all went well, he would return in a week, so there wasn’t much for Zhou Pengcheng to miss. As for Zhou Zijiao, she was indifferent, having never relied on her father, and had never had any expectations of Liu Ying.

It was actually better this way; with that hypocritical woman out of sight, maybe she could perform even better. That’s what Zhou Zijiao told herself.

She didn’t go to stay at Aunt Qiao’s house.

Left with such a large house for just her and her brother, she felt very comfortable, and having meals three times a day at Aunt Qiao’s was simply wonderful.

School was already out for summer, giving the senior students some buffer time.

Qiao Qingyu also wasn’t working and spent the two days at home with Zhou Zijiao, cooking delicious meals and reviewing key points with her.

And then they put the books down the day before the exams.

This was also arranged by Qiao Qingyu.

So no one would sleep too much during the day and then be unable to sleep at night, which would definitely affect performance on the day of the exams.

Qiao Qingyu called Zhou Zijiao over to her house.

After finishing breakfast and cleaning up, a group of them put on hats and, taking advantage of the cooler morning air, they headed to the Poplar Forest to the east.

Deep in the forest, there was a waterhole, but over the past two years, the waterhole had turned into a small pond.

Qiao Qingyu had thrown some lotus roots in there, but unfortunately, they hadn’t grown.

However, there were quite a few aquatic plants, and He XiuYu brought a bucket of fish fry, which he had released the previous year, and they were now the size of palms.

Since this was also part of the family courtyard, they decided to put up a one-meter-high railing around the pond, with two areas set with concrete steps.

It was possible to fish or catch the fish there. freёnovelkiss.com