Chapter 28

“Hello, Dad.”

“Hey, my dear daughter, come down quickly; Dad is downstairs at your dormitory.”

“Do you have a lot of stuff? Do you need help carrying it?”

As Li An spoke, he suddenly became impatient on the phone, as if talking to someone nearby.

“You brat, get off the car quickly and help your sister carry her things!”

“All you do every day is play games on your phone. You stinky kid, if you fail your exams again and get called in by the parents, I’ll let your mom deal with you!”

Following that, a lazy male voice sounded a bit hoarse and impatient.

“I got it.”

Then, the sound of the car door opening followed, indicating that he got out of the car.

Following that, Li An’s expression quickly changed as he spoke gently to his daughter on the phone.

“Good girl, your brother is here to pick you up. Give him all the things to carry; don’t tire yourself out.”

After hearing everything, Li Jiao couldn’t help but suppress a smile, pursing her lips.

“Dad, is Li Hang here too?”

“Yeah, this brat has a parent-teacher meeting this afternoon. I rescheduled all my meetings just to attend, and guess what?”

“This brat, all his exam grades are failing, and the teacher scolded me. I have no face at all!”

“Dad…”

…

“Bos, Linlin, see you in a few days.”

“Bye.”

“Take care.”

“…”

There were four people in the dormitory.

Tang Yuran, like Li Jiao, was also from the local area.

After the morning military training ended, feeling relaxed, she grabbed a bag and left.

Li Jiao was dragging a small suitcase, this time going home to bring back some autumn and winter clothes to prepare for the sudden drop in temperature later.

As she descended from the dormitory building, she could already see a tall figure of about 1.8 meters standing at the entrance of the girls’ dormitory, wearing the blue uniform of the local No. 2 High School, a short-sleeved shirt, and long pants, with a black headband on his forehead, looking refreshing and neat with fair skin.

With his hands in his pockets, he stood casually at the door of the girls’ dormitory, casually glancing at passersby, looking indifferent.

Due to his outstanding appearance, passing girls couldn’t help but take a few more glances, then lowered their heads and discussed with the girls next to them.

“Wow, he’s so handsome.”

“He still looks like a high school student.”

“…”

Li Hang waited impatiently until he finally saw his sister dragging a bright yellow suitcase out of the dormitory building.

“Jiao Jiao.”

Taking a step forward, Li Hang’s long legs quickly covered the distance, taking the suitcase from her hands.

Feeling it, he raised an eyebrow, surprised.

“Did you throw away the weights inside?”

Li Jiao punched him lightly. “What weights? I didn’t bring much stuff this time.”

“Also, I’ve told you countless times, call me sister.”

“Don’t call me Jiao Jiao!”

Li Hang reached out, comparing Li Jiao’s height, which only reached his chest. He grinned mischievously.

“Jiao Jiao, you’re so petite. If not Jiao Jiao, then what?”

“Shorty, shorty, shorty?”

“Li Hang!”

“What’s wrong, Jiao Jiao?”

“Don’t call me Jiao Jiao!”

“I want to! I want to! Jiao Jiao, Jiao Jiao, Jiao Jiao!”

“…”

Li Hang is 17 this year, attending a prestigious high school in the city in his second year. Of course, his grades aren’t great, although he barely made it into the honors class.

But later, he got addicted to playing games, and his grades plummeted. Li’s parents were furious, almost getting hypertension.

This afternoon, there was a parent-teacher meeting in Li Hang’s class, and he failed all the entrance exams. So, just now, Dad Li looked like he wanted to kick him to death.

Nanjing University is in the west area, while Li Jiao’s home is in the east area. The journey back home literally crosses the entire southern part of the city.

The siblings played and joked along the way, and time passed quickly.

On the way, their dad specially took them to the supermarket.

However, since their dad only had eyes for his obedient and sensible daughter…

When Li Hang sneakily put a bag of chips into the shopping cart, their dad, with keen eyes and quick hands, slapped his hand away and put the chips back on the shelf.

“If you want to eat, buy it yourself!”

Li Hang rubbed his sore hand and pouted, feeling wronged.

“Dad, you’re biased.”

Their dad retorted, “If you pass one subject in the next exam, I’ll be biased towards you for one second!”

“One second?!”

Li Hang exclaimed, “Dad, am I even your biological son?”

“Where did you pick me up? Do you have any tokens? If not, I’ll arrange a ‘Stranger, Please Carry Me’ sign, and you can return me to whoever finds me.”

“Hey,” their dad said, raising his hand as if to hit him, and Li Hang quickly covered his mouth, looking frightened.

Their dad snorted, “You have no family; you’re an orphan. I found you in the trash can, next to nothing but a dog.”

“What? Am I that miserable?”

Li Hang suddenly looked utterly dejected.

“I’m finished. My biological father is actually a dog? Should I be called… ‘Stray Dog’?”

Their dad playfully slapped the back of his head and chuckled.

“You brat, stop talking nonsense!”

Saying that, he pretended to hit him again.

Li Hang dodged with a playful smile, taking a few long strides to reach Li Jiao, who was choosing snacks.

He nudged her shoulder with his arm. “Jiao Jiao, Jiao Jiao, get a bag of spicy chips.”

Li Jiao glanced in the direction he pointed, then turned back, uninterested.

“No, I don’t like them.”

“But I do. Can you get a bag for me?”

“No.”

“Jiao Jiao~”

“…”

“Sis~”

“…Treat me to bubble tea.”

“Then I’ll ask for another bag of chips.”

“Deal.”

“…”

The siblings sneakily negotiated, unaware that their dad had seen everything from behind.

However, he kept smiling.

After paying, it turned out they split the snacks evenly between them.

Back home, Mom Li had already prepared a table full of dishes. Seeing Dad Li buying snacks for the siblings, she started scolding.

“You bought junk food for them again. Eating too much of that stuff is bad for their health, don’t you know?”

Facing Mom Li’s nagging, Li An quickly waved his hands behind his back and walked quickly while listening.

The siblings got the message and quickly dashed back to their room, carrying their snack bags.

“Jiao Jiao, how’s living in the dorm? Are you getting used to it?”

At the dinner table, Mom Li asked while serving ribs into Li Jiao’s bowl, showing her concern.

Before she could reply, Li Hang beside her quickly spoke up.

“Just look at her fat face; you can tell she’s doing fine.”

Li Jiao nudged him with her elbow. “You’re the one who’s fat.”

Then she turned to her mother with a smile. “Mom, the school is good, and my roommates are nice. I’m getting used to it.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Mom Li nodded in relief but sighed afterward.

“Ah, I suggested your father and I take you to school on the first day, but you insisted on carrying your luggage alone and squeezing with others.”

“Look at you now; you’ve lost so much weight.”

“Mom…”

At this moment, Li Hang, while munching on ribs, couldn’t resist chiming in.

“Well, she lost weight because she fainted during military training; her body is too weak.”

Before he could finish, Li Jiao immediately stomped on his foot under the table.

“Ouch~”

Li Hang turned his head to look at her. “What are you doing?”

“What—do—you—mean?”

Li Hang finally realized and looked at their parents, and the Li’s parents immediately became anxious.

“Fainted?”

“What’s wrong with Jiao Jiao?”

“Yeah, why didn’t you tell us?”

Li Jiao hadn’t intended to tell her parents about this matter to avoid worrying them. When she fainted during military training, she only mentioned it briefly to Li Hang. But now he had brought it up, proving to be the epitome of the phrase “more harm than good.”

“It’s nothing, Mom, Dad. I was just too tired, and I fainted suddenly. But I’m fine now.”

“…”

Li Jiao briefly recounted what had happened, trying to downplay it as much as possible.

Of course, parents’ concerns are always spot on.

“You went to the hospital that night?!”

“Did they take you in an ambulance?!”

“And you needed oxygen?!”

“…”

Li Jiao nodded begrudgingly, explaining each question.

“Yeah, the instructor took me to the hospital.”

“I was taken in an ambulance.”

“When I woke up, my breathing was a bit uncomfortable, so I used oxygen for a while.”

“…”

After Li Jiao finished speaking, the table fell silent immediately, and the atmosphere became somewhat heavy. Even Li Hang’s action of gnawing on the ribs stopped.

With a pair of small eyes, glancing left and right.

“Mom, Dad…” Li Jiao tentatively called out.

“Bang!”

Suddenly, Dad Li slammed his hand on the table.

“No, daughter, we’re not letting you participate in this military training!”

“Jiao Jiao,” Mom Li chimed in, “Your dad and I are of the same opinion on this matter.”

“When you were young, your health wasn’t good at all. It took us years to improve it, and if you were to suffer because of military training… it would break my heart.”

Li Jiao hurriedly interjected, “Dad, Mom, I’m really fine. It’s just that I didn’t adjust myself properly for the military training at the time, which caused me to faint.”

“Now that I’ve adapted well, it’s okay.”

DaD Li was firm in protecting his daughter.

“No, daughter, listen to Dad. After the Mid-Autumn Festival break, I’ll go back to school with you.”

“For this military training, Dad will ask for leave for you.You won’t participate.”

“Dad,”

“Jiao Jiao, listen to your dad on this matter.”

“Mom,”

Li Jiao was getting desperate, sweating profusely.

She really was fine.

When she was pregnant with Li Jiao,Mom Li accidentally fell, leading to Li Jiao being born prematurely. Being a premature baby, she was weak, malnourished, and frail.

With a weaker constitution than others from birth, Mom Li felt incredibly guilty. Li Jiao had the best of everything growing up, with fresh milk and various vitamins until she was sixteen. Because of her frail health, she attended kindergarten nearby, and her mom would pick her up and drop her off every day.

As a child, Li Jiao was short, weak, and somewhat introverted, often spending time alone at home drawing.

It wasn’t until she started primary school that things got a little better. However, throughout her six years of primary school, Li Jiao never attended a single physical education class.

Her health gradually improved until high school, and she wanted to experience university military training fully this time. She had persuaded her parents for a long time to agree to it.

Though military training was tough, she had met many lovely classmates and experienced a lot of kindness. Besides, there was the instructor…

Hearing that her parents wanted to excuse her from military training, Li Jiao was absolutely unwilling.

“Dad, Mom, my health is fine now. Fainting was just an accident; please don’t ask for leave for me.”

“Jiao Jiao, listen to your parents; you must take leave. What if your health deteriorates again?”

“Dad, Mom…”

Li Jiao was in a state of panic. If she really took leave, she would miss the opportunity to see the instructor.

Perhaps feeling guilty for speaking out of turn, Li Hang spoke up for Li Jiao.

“Dad, Mom, to be honest, it’s because the instructor in Jiao Jiao’s class is too harsh; it’s not really about the military training.”

“We can just talk to the school and ask for a different instructor.”

As soon as this was said, Li Jiao immediately turned her head, glaring at him, her eyes practically shooting fire.

Li Hang shrunk his neck, thinking, Why did I say that? I was just trying to help.

Li Jiao: I don’t need your help!

“Yeah, military training is fine, but we can change the instructor.”

Surprisingly, Dad Li actually took it into consideration.

Li Jiao anxiously said, “Dad, my instructor is fine. I don’t want to change. Please don’t suggest it to the school.”

“Jiao Jiao,” Dad Li said with emphasis.

“Dad knows you want to experience military training like everyone else, but you also need to consider your health.”

“Dad…”

“Well, if you ask me,” Li Hang, grabbing Li Jiao’s neck from the side, interjected, “Jiao Jiao, just agree. It’s just changing an instructor, and you can still continue with the military training. It’s great.”

Li Jiao silently turned her head: Death stare…

“You brat!”

Without a word from Li Jiao, Li’s dad exploded first. He picked up a chopstick and aimed it at Li Hang, admonishing him sternly.

“You brat, do you even have a say? Focus on your studies! Look at your grades; even the stray dog downstairs could score better with random answers!”

“If you keep fooling around like this, after you graduate, choose between Nanxiang and Xindongfang for me!”

(T/N: Xindongfang is known as a comprehensive education group and training institution. The company’s business includes foreign language training, elementary and secondary education, preschool education, online education, overseas consulting, book publishing, and other fields.

Nanxiang is a vocational training center/school)

Li Hang opened his mouth and said, “No, Dad…”

Li’s mom glanced at him and snorted.

“I think we’ll start with Metamorphosis first.”

(T/N: This is a reality TV program in China in which, in each episode of the program, two groups of teenagers with completely different family backgrounds and growing environments are selected to swap identities, and their daily lives are followed 24 hours a day. Most of the teenagers who grew up in a poor environment are ethnic minority children who stay at home. On the contrary, because teenagers who grew up in a relatively good environment often have problems such as bullying, violence, alcoholism, anti-social behavior, etc., most production units need to break up the fight.)

Li Hang looked left and right.

In the end, he covered his mouth tightly, trying hard not to cry.

In the end, he alone bore it all.