In Beijing, a thousand miles away, Zhou Jiao was unaware of the uproar back home.
Since the new school term started, she and six others were recognized again in the school auditorium. For her, that was the end of it.
Zhou Jiao was very busy with her studies. Before the first snowfall, she still had the energy to take the small train and then bike back and forth between the two places every day.
But with the arrival of winter, Zhang Guoqing returned to the army for an internship, and school activities increased. Especially the ideological classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings, which prevented her from going home.
To ensure her son was not deprived of breast milk, Zhou Jiao had to hurry back and forth on those evenings. Fortunately, academics were very easy for her.
Zhou Xiaozheng caught his daughter again, "Sweetheart, the child isn’t lacking formula. Just listen to your dad and don’t tire yourself out. Otherwise, I’ll really have Xiao Wang pick you up every day."
Zhou Jiao giggled foolishly.
"If not, I won’t keep it a secret from Xiao Wu for you. Stay at school with peace of mind, he comes home at night to be with the child. You don’t trust your father, but you don’t trust him either?"
Zhou Jiao knew this time she couldn’t avoid it. She hugged her dad’s arm and played coy, "Dad, if I can’t trust you and myself, how can I trust him? I love my dad the most, there’s no comparison."
"You little rascal, keep fooling your dad!" Zhou Xiaozheng enjoyed his daughter’s coquettishness and tapped her forehead happily, "Stop deviating, choose one of the two."
"I’ll listen to you, I won’t come back on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, is that okay? Besides the child, I also miss you, dad. I’m not used to being alone at school."
Zhou Xiaozheng frowned painfully: "How about requesting sick leave?"
"Forget it, it’s almost vacation time, such a hassle!" Zhou Jiao wrinkled her nose, then smiled, "I asked my teacher, next term I’ll intern at the electric machinery factory for two months. Then I can go home every day."
Next to them, Lin Lishan handed her a cup of malted milk, "I’ve already talked it over with Aunt Chen. Starting tomorrow, after lunch, she will go to school every day, you give her the bottle."
"Huh?"
"I checked, and after these few months, Aunt Sun is decent. Without Aunt Chen, even if your aunt comes every day, she also dares not mess up."
Zhou Jiao had considered this issue too. But she worried if Aunt Chen was not home, the children might suffer grievances. At night she wasn’t worried, but during the day her parents go to work, and Old Mrs. Cheng couldn’t always be home either.
Is the person’s character trustworthy? She glanced at her dad.
Zhou Xiaozheng nodded: "When employing someone, we shouldn’t doubt them; if in doubt, don’t use them."
Thinking of how the person had been taking care of the children for almost five months, Zhou Jiao finally nodded as well, "Alright, let’s try it for a few days first."
With the matter settled in a sentence, Zhou Jiao looked at the time, hurriedly said goodbye to her parents, and rushed to school.
Lin Lishan looked at her husband, "You and Xiao Wu really won’t tell Jiao Jiao?"
"Who says so? We’ll tell her when she has some free time. Look at how she’s flying back and forth every day now; if she finds out she could pick up money just by carrying the twins around, wouldn’t she worry herself sick?"
Lin Lishan sighed a long sigh.
Zhou Xiaozheng gave her an unsatisfied glance, "Isn’t it good that our grandson has such great fortune? Look at how much good you’ve done during this period."
Lin Lishan chuckled and lightly slapped him.
"Not to mention anything else, any day you go out without money, just take them out, and you won’t have to worry about going hungry." Saying this, Zhou Xiaozheng also found it amusing.
"Brother Zheng, Aunt Sun is afraid of you. Remember to remind her not to take the children out on cold days. Even if they want to bask in the sun, they should stay in the courtyard and not go out."
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