Wu Mei took care of her.
Having come to this conclusion, Ji Yuning returned to the attic to change into her school uniform, quickly washed up, and went downstairs with her schoolbag. She then greeted the person busy in the kitchen, "Aunt Wu."
Wu Mei paused for a moment after hearing the shout, but quickly realized what was happening. She said to Ji Yuning, "The food is on the table. Eat before you go to school."
Ji Yuning glanced around the living room. Wu Mei guessed what she was thinking and said, "Miss is still resting, you can eat."
"Um."
Ji Yuning put her schoolbag on the chair, sat down, and began to eat breakfast.
Breakfast was simple: porridge and steamed buns.
Perhaps due to her high fever last night, Ji Yuning had no taste for food.
So she didn't know exactly what the steamed bun tasted like, and could only slowly eat it as if it were chewing wax.
Ji Yuning ate as if she were completing a task, rather than enjoying the food.
As Wu Mei watched Ji Yuning chew mechanically, she suddenly remembered what the young lady had told her last night. Wu Mei waited for Ji Yuning to finish eating, and before Ji Yuning got up to leave, she called her back, took out five hundred yuan from her pocket, and placed it in front of Ji Yuning.
"Xiao Ji, this is your living expenses. Take it and spend it."
Ji Yuning glanced down at it, her eyes showing no emotion whatsoever. "Aunt Wu, how much is your monthly salary?"
Wu Mei: "I..."
Her entire salary went to household expenses, so it was impossible for her to come up with so much money.
Ji Yuning grabbed her schoolbag. "I'm going to be late, I have to go."
Fang Bai slept until one o'clock in the afternoon.
I woke up naturally without any dreams; it was an extremely comfortable sleep.
After lazily stretching his arms, Fang Bai sat up from the bed.
She guessed that the sudden condition last night was because she hadn't fully adapted to her body. When she woke up this time, the discomfort from last night had completely disappeared, and she felt a sense of rebirth.
When Fang Bai came downstairs, Wu Mei was wiping the table. Seeing Fang Bai, she asked worriedly, "Miss, are you alright? How are you feeling?"
Wu Mei wanted to wake Fang Bai up since she had been sleeping for so long, but she was afraid that Fang Bai would get angry, so she postponed the idea of waking her up until now.
Fang Bai smiled faintly: "I'm fine, I slept very well."
Wu Mei was taken aback by Fang Bai's gentle demeanor. She tugged at the hem of her clothes and asked, "What would you like to eat, Miss? I'll make it."
Fang Bai had missed three meals, and his stomach was already growling in protest. He lowered his head and said, "Porridge, please."
Wu Mei smiled and said, "Okay."
Fang Bai walked to the sofa, sat down, turned on the TV, listened to the news for a while, and then turned it off because he was bored.
Fang Bai glanced intentionally at the piano in the distance, and remembering what had happened yesterday, asked, "Did Xiao Ning go to school?"
Upon hearing Fang Bai's unusual way of addressing Ji Yuning, Wu Mei paused in her work before replying, "Oh right, she left at seven in the morning."
"How is her health?" Fang Bai continued to ask.
Wu Mei: "I took her temperature this morning, it was 36 degrees Celsius, and her fever has subsided."
Fang Bai: "Mm."
“However…” Wu Mei paused, then said, “Xiao Ji guessed that it was you who gave him the money, so he didn’t take it.”
Wu Mei added, "I put the money on the coffee table."
Fang Bai looked at the money rolled up on the table, "...I understand."
Ji Yuning lives at school five days a week, so the only way to fatten her up is to make sure she eats well at school.
Remembering that the original text described Ji Yuning eating only steamed buns and pickled vegetables for every meal, Fang Bai thought that this would not make Ji Yuning gain weight at all.
Lu Xia gave the original owner a lot of money, but the original owner only gave Ji Yuning a few hundred yuan a month.
All Fang Bai can probably do is improve Ji Yuning's living expenses.
But if she were to give Ji Yuning the money, Ji Yuning might not accept it, probably thinking she had some ulterior motive. That's why she thought of having Wu Mei give the money.
I didn't expect it to be guessed.
A smart but rebellious child,
It's a bit tricky.
-
Hushi No.1 Middle School.
Class 3, Grade 11.
He Wei knocked on the classroom door, and instantly, the person who was writing passionately on the blackboard turned to look at her.
Upon seeing He Wei, the teacher frowned slightly. He Wei noticed and knew it was inappropriate to interrupt the teacher's class, but she could only give an awkward smile and say, "Teacher Li, I'm sorry, I need to find a student."
Li Jun adjusted his glasses, concealing his thoughts, and said with a smile, "Okay."
"Ji Yuning, come out for a moment."
He Wei's voice traveled through the classroom, her eyes fixed on the girl sitting by the window in the second row.
Before I called out the girl's name, she kept her head down, her slender fingers holding a pen, writing diligently in her notebook, indifferent to everything else, exuding a detached aura.
Ji Yuning only looked up when she heard He Wei calling her name.
She glanced at Li Jun, and after receiving his confirmation, Ji Yuning stood up under the watchful eyes of the entire class.
Ji Yuning thought the homeroom teacher had called her to talk about the program, but unexpectedly, just as she walked past the podium and was about to leave, she heard He Wei say softly, "Your parents are here."
Chapter 6
When Ji Yuning left the classroom, the previously quiet class erupted in chaos.
Lake No. 1 Middle School is the best school in the city, and most of the children of prominent and high-status people are sent there. The Fang family is considered to be in a high position in Lake City, and the fact that Fang Bai is raising a child was widely known back then. In recent years, many people are well aware of how Fang Bai has treated that child.
They didn't dare say it in front of Fang Bai, but when they gathered in private, they would always make sarcastic remarks. Some students even heard about Ji Yuning from their parents.
Not long after Ji Yuning started high school, the fact that she was Fang Bai's pet dog spread throughout the school.
Some students initially didn't believe it, after all, Ji Yuning entered the school with the highest grades in the entire school, and her life shouldn't be that difficult. But as they stayed longer and saw the bruises all over Ji Yuning's body, many people began to believe the rumor.
No one dared to offend the Fang family, and no one dared to get close to Ji Yuning, for fear of implicating their own families.
Now that everyone heard that Ji Yuning's parents had arrived, they were all puzzled: What parents? Wasn't Fang Bai supposed to never care about Ji Yuning? What are they doing at school today? Could it be that they're going to expel Ji Yuning? To stop her from studying?
Seeing the students whispering and talking below the podium, Li Jun slammed his fist on the table and said angrily in a deep voice, "What's it to you? Should I call your parents too?"
Hearing the hidden anger in Li Jun's voice, the crowd, who had been speaking enthusiastically, fell silent and all lowered their heads.
Only Ji Yuning's deskmate glanced down the corridor, and only lowered his head after not seeing Ji Yuning.
Ji Yuning followed He Wei to the classroom office, and He Wei kept talking along the way:
"Ji, I didn't expect your mother to be so young. How old is she this year?"
"Or are you saying she's not your mother? Is she your sister?"
He Wei asked a couple of questions, but seeing that Ji Yuning ignored her, she thought to herself that Ji Yuning was cold-hearted.
Normally, high schools don't change homeroom teachers, but the previous homeroom teacher of Class 3 suddenly had a health problem, and the school couldn't find a teacher to take over Class 3 at the last minute, so they had to arrange for He Wei, who had just been officially hired, to take over the position.
Having only been in office for half a month, He Wei knew nothing about Ji Yuning. Other teachers, in order to maintain their image, did not take the initiative to tell He Wei. They only knew that Ji Yuning was aloof and had no friends except for her deskmate Mu Xuerou.
Seeing that the person next to her had their head down and their expression was not visible, He Wei hesitated for a moment and said, "Student Ji, if you don't want to talk about it, the teacher won't ask."
Ji Yuning looked up and whispered, "Mm."
He Wei: "..."
There's no need to reply so quickly.
Ji Yuning could not answer He Wei's question.
Ji Yuning initially thought the person who came was Wu Mei, but after hearing He Wei mention the word "young"...
In a few steps, the two arrived at the office door.
The office door was open, and Ji Yuning immediately spotted the person sitting upright on the sofa, head down, playing with their fingers.
He Wei patted Ji Yuning on the shoulder, stepped into the office, and said to the person on the sofa, "Ji Yuning's parent, I've called Ji Yuning here."
Ji Yuning saw the person on the sofa instantly regain their serious and mature demeanor, as if they had just been pointing at someone else.
Fang Bai stood up and glanced at Ji Yuning, only to see that Ji Yuning was standing motionless at the door, showing no intention of coming in.
Fang Bai exchanged a brief glance with Ji Yuning, and seeing that she was expressionless, he looked away and smiled and nodded at He Wei: "Thank you, Teacher He. I'll just say a few words to Xiao Ning and then leave."
He Wei: "Please continue."
Fang Bai stopped being polite with He Wei, turned around to meet Ji Yuning's distant eyes, and softly called out, "Xiao Ning."
The voice was soft and the tone affectionate, as if the speaker were truly calling out to family.
Ji Yuning was only stunned for a moment. She looked at He Wei and the other teachers in the office behind Fang Bai, knowing that women had to put on an act in front of outsiders.
Ji Yuning nodded in agreement: "Mm."
On a summer afternoon, a cool breeze wafted in through the corridor windows, dispelling some of the stuffiness.
Ji Yuning looked straight at the person in front of her who was tossing her hair and called out, "Miss Fang."
Upon hearing Ji Yuning's address, Fang Bai raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you surprised I came?"
Fang Bai was somewhat disappointed. She thought Ji Yuning would be surprised to see her, but when she looked into Ji Yuning's eyes, she didn't see any of those emotions.
Ji Yuning's eyes darkened, but her voice was soft: "I guessed it."
Fang Bai noticed Ji Yuning's unusual behavior and knew that she was acting again.