Chapter 165: Volume 1 Chapter 165 Study Hard, Make Progress Every Day (9)

Ye Chuyi never expected to hit a wall against a child, gnashing her teeth, her fingers digging into her palm, furious beyond measure.

Jiang Zhi, having hastily finished breakfast at the restaurant, got up and walked out without waiting for Xi Ye to finish eating.

Xi Ye hurriedly put down the newspaper in his hand, swallowed the food in his mouth, grabbed his coat, and followed her.

The usually neat and solemn man didn't even have time to put on his coat now, looking especially disheveled.

"I'll take you to school." Xi Ye opened the car door for her, trying to soften his tone, but the effect was the opposite, very stiff: "Get in."

Jiang Zhi glanced at him, then immediately sat in the back seat.

During the drive, the man several times wanted to initiate conversation, but seeing her lower her head to read through the front mirror, he swallowed his words each time.

When the car stopped at the school gate, this was a well-known prestigious middle school in the city; students coming and going arrived in luxury cars, and their parents were prominent figures in the business world, with tuition being quite expensive.

Jiang Zhi only needed to study here for half a year, because she would soon be taking the middle school entrance exam.

This half year passed in the blink of an eye.

The female side character Ye Chuyi repeatedly set traps intending to frame Jiang Mu, but she easily defused them all.

Such amateurish tricks Jiang Zhi had seen too many times; having mingled in the Cannon Fodder Team for years, she knew all the routines like the back of her hand, so dealing with her required hardly any effort.

But considering her disabled legs, the Xi family elders turned a blind eye and did not drive her out.

Ye Chuyi's parents were both deceased; she lived as a dependent in the Xi household, making her practically a daughter to Madam Xi.

On the day before the middle school entrance exam, Jiang Zhi deliberately placed her admission ticket in a conspicuous spot and set up a surveillance camera nearby.

As she had expected, Ye Chuyi grew increasingly anxious and fearful over the half year; seizing the opportunity, she would not let it pass, sneaking into Jiang Zhi's room to steal the admission ticket.

That night.

Jiang Zhi projected the captured footage onto the projector, arms crossed, calmly waiting.

"Push her down." The first to react was Madam Xi, her expression grim as she told the steward.

Steward Xu quickly pushed Ye Chuyi down; the latter hadn't yet realized what was happening, asking in confusion, "Mom, what's going on?"

Father Xi directly hurled the cup in his hand toward the projector screen not far away.

"Clang!!" The cup shattered into pieces.

Upon seeing the projected footage clearly, Ye Chuyi immediately fell from her wheelchair, crawling to Madam Xi's feet, "I didn't mean to, Mom, don't you know who I am? I didn't mean it that way."

In such occasions, Xi Ye, who rarely spoke, suddenly asked in a low voice, "Then what do you mean?"

For his precious daughter's middle school entrance exam, he had barely slept two nights, fearing she might be cold, hungry, or upset by other factors.

He never imagined Ye Chuyi would steal his daughter's admission ticket; tomorrow is the exam, and without the ticket she cannot enter the testing hall, rendering three years of study wasted.

Ye Chuyi lifted her head, meeting the man's icy, dangerous gaze; her heart tightened, tears streaming down, she looked pitiful, trembling as she said, "I… I was just curious about Xiao Zhi's admission ticket, I took it… to have a look."

Xi Ye strode over, looking down at her, "Ye Chuyi, do you think I'd believe you?"

If it weren't for her leg, how could he have endured this long?

He endured to the point his wife ran away, and his daughter grew distant from him.

Just then, Jiang Mu returned and walked into the living room, seeing this scene; her expression froze, and she hurried to Jiang Zhi's side to check her condition.

"I'm fine, Mom." Jiang Zhi said.

Jiang Mu glanced at the projected image in her peripheral vision, incredulously looking at the woman sprawled on the floor, then swept her gaze over everyone in the living room.

After a moment, Jiang Mu spoke word by word:

"Uncle, Aunt, sorry, I can no longer let Xiao Zhi stay here; it would only make her despise interacting with people even more."

The deceit and malice she encountered this half year should not be borne by a child.

Having said that, she took Jiang Zhi's hand and headed upstairs.

Hearing the sound, Xi Ye rushed to block her path at top speed, a rare panic showing on his face, "Chi'er, don't, don't go!"

Mother Xi was even more panicked, staggering over to grab Jiang Zhi's other hand, her voice trembling, "No, Xiao Chi, I let her go, you don't leave."

Steward Xu, having received the order, directly dragged Ye Chuyi onto her wheelchair and pushed her out.

"Ye-gege!! Mom!! How could you drive me out for an outsider!! Please, please don't drive me out!"

Ye Chuyi's hoarse, exhausted cries grew fainter and faded away.

"Xiao Chi, she's gone and won't ever come back; please don't leave, okay?" Mother Xi, seeming to have aged over ten years, eyes red, pleaded.

She is the Xi family's sole heirloom, a granddaughter hard-won; obedient and sensible, the blessings cultivated in a past life earned her such a granddaughter, and she could not bear to let them leave.

Jiang Mu turned, seriously asking her daughter, "Xiao Zhi, are you willing to stay here?"

Everyone's eyes fell upon her.

The atmosphere stagnated into silence.

Jiang Zhi thought for a moment and said, "Wherever Mom goes, I go."

Hearing this, Jiang Mu could not hold back her tears, which fell as she covered her face and turned aside.

After a long while, she nodded and said, "I want to stay here."

Jiang Zhi held her finger and whispered, "Then stay here."

After this half year, under the relentless pestering of the overbearing CEO dad, Jiang Mu's feelings for him returned to how they were before; moreover, the Xi family elders being reasonable and understanding, she also couldn't bear to leave.

This farce ended with Ye Chuyi's departure.

Jiang Zhi's admission ticket was found in her room, and everything returned to its former harmonious beauty, except for the overbearing CEO dad who had been kicked out of the bedroom.

He clung to his pillow and blanket, guarding the doorway; standing nearly 1.9 meters tall, he lay sideways in the hallway like a corpse.

As Jiang Zhi came out of the room intending to pour a glass of water, she saw this scene and nearly died of fright.

Hearing the door open, Xi Ye lifted his head; his usually cold face showed a flicker, "What are you coming out for?"

Jiang Zhi said, "To get water."

Xi Ye suddenly rose from the floor, expressionless, saying, "I'll pour it for you."

He said, after leaving and coming back again, holding the whole kettle in his hand, he handed it to her and said, "Drink."

Jiang Zhi: "……"

This overbearing CEO dad's brain sometimes really has a bit of a problem.

There wasn't even a cup with the whole kettle; the meaning was clearly to have her drink straight from it.

"Thank you." Her brow twitched a little, and she turned and went back into the room.

Not long after she entered the house, Jiang Mu's room door suddenly opened from inside; seeing the man lying on the ground, she found it hard to bear looking, yet she still reached out and pulled him into the bedroom.

Xi Ye's paralyzed-like face showed uncontainable joy; he tightly embraced his wife and lay into the warm blanket.

The middle school entrance exam went smoothly; when the results were announced, the whole family was overjoyed, unable to stop smiling.

Scoring first in the province with full marks in all three subjects, she truly lives up to being his Xi Ye's daughter.