Chapter 29

"What kind of look is that? Do you think I would lie?"

Li Dong was unhappy. How could they doubt him? This was his own daughter and his sister-in-law.

"Nothing, Dad, I still trust your character."

Li Jingyi's words made Li Dong feel quite comforted. His daughter was still reliable. But the next words from Li Jingyi directly knocked him out. "It's just that I don't trust your ability to distinguish things. You even mistook a fat carp for a wild one."

As she spoke, Li Jingyi gestured at a carp with a belly as big as a panda's, sighed, and shook her head, her eyes looking at him as if he were an unambitious child.

Li Dong was stunned. This daughter was no good; she was born to make him angry.

"Brother-in-law, we can't lie, can we? The child is right. If you can't even tell the difference, how can you sell them for a thousand yuan each? Aren't you afraid the farm will be destroyed? We're worried you'll get beaten up."

"What do you mean?"

Li Dong was upset. You can doubt my character, but you can't question my turtles. I caught each one myself. For them, I endured so many mosquito bites, almost losing too much blood.

"If you don't believe me, fine, let's ask Dad for a fair judgment."

Li Dong was angry. Li Jingyi and Gao Jia exchanged glances, sighing. "Dad, let's not argue, okay? How about this: just say you bought them by the river, don't say they're wild. Otherwise, we won't even feel comfortable eating lunch at Grandma's."

"Our child is smart."

Gao Jia smiled and gave a thumbs up, praising Li Jingyi.

"Alright, alright, let's not talk about it. You'll see in a bit."

Li Dong felt this issue shouldn't be discussed. Women, they don't understand that a man should be judged by his actions, not his words.

"I'd rather not see. It's too embarrassing."

Li Jingyi sighed. What have I done to deserve such a father?

Gao Jia nodded in agreement. Li Dong felt he shouldn't have come to pick up his daughter from school. This was just to make him angry.

"Let's go, where's your car, Jia?"

Li Dong felt he shouldn't talk to these two anymore, or he'd definitely get angry. He needed to find his father-in-law.

"It's on the side of the road."

Gao Jia looked at Li Dong carrying a large bag. "Brother-in-law, are you moving?"

"These are some vegetables I grew for you to try, organic and green."

Li Dong was quite proud, but Gao Jia and Li Jingyi still had some doubt in their eyes.

"Dad, when did you learn to grow vegetables?"

"Dad has always known. Let's not talk about it, let's go."

Li Dong felt a bit guilty. These vegetables weren't really grown by him, but they were definitely organic and green.

In the car, Gao Jia suddenly remembered. "Brother-in-law, didn't you drive here?"

"Aunt, my dad crashed his car."

Li Jingyi covered her face, embarrassed to say that her father had installed all sorts of unnecessary safety features, claiming a 360-degree smart collision avoidance system, but still crashed.

He crashed, but the accident report said the car was only going twenty kilometers per hour, slow like an ant, and still hit an eighty-year-old grandmother.

"A minor accident, a minor accident."

Li Dong was a bit embarrassed, it was shameful.

"Oh."

Gao Jia smiled, her brother-in-law was actually quite amusing, a bit of a bookworm.

"Hey, Dad, did you come straight from the fields?"

In the car, Li Jingyi noticed her father was covered in dust, and she was getting dusty too.

"I just changed before coming, maybe the road was dusty."

"The road from the bus stop to the school isn't that dusty, is it?"

"No, I walked from Han Village to the city."

Gao Jia almost burst out laughing, "Brother-in-law, are you kidding me?"

"I really walked."

Li Dong had a sudden impulse, but now he thought it was quite amusing to have walked such a long distance.

"Really?"

Gao Jia was truly amazed. She knew how far Han Village was from the city. "Brother-in-law, you're amazing."

"It's not that far, just a few dozen kilometers, it didn't take long."

Li Jingyi didn't say anything, she was too embarrassed. A few dozen kilometers in no time at all, treating her like a three-year-old.

No, I have to talk to Mom. Dad is full of lies, this can't go on. This father is no good.

The car started, and they thought Gao Jia would head straight to Cuiwei Community, but she drove to the RT-Mart supermarket. "Do you need to buy anything?"

"Mom just called and said we're out of rice, so I need to buy a bag."

"Buying rice, okay, you wait here, I'll go buy it. We won't go to the parking garage."

Moving around would waste time, and Li Dong wasn't too confident in his sister-in-law's driving skills.

"Okay, I'll park on the side of the road, Brother-in-law, be quick."

Li Dong ran to the second floor of the supermarket and carried a fifty-kilogram bag of rice down.

"Open the trunk."

"How much is this?"

Gao Jia was stunned.

"Fifty kilograms, Northeast rice."

"Let's go."

Li Dong clapped his hands. Fifty kilograms was quite light. Gao Jia and Li Jingyi exchanged glances, wondering if this was really their father, not someone else.

On the way, the two were quite quiet. Li Dong carrying a fifty-kilogram bag of rice was too impressive.

"Dad, what's this?"

Li Jingyi kicked two bottles of Fenjiu, muttering why bring vinegar, they don't need it in the city.

"It's alcohol. Your grandfather likes to drink, so I brought him two bottles."

Li Dong put the bottles by his feet. This alcohol was precious, brought from another time.

You must be joking, Li Jingyi thought, looking at the two bottles of alcohol in the net. The packaging was too simple, almost no packaging at all. How could her grandfather like this?

"Dad, you're getting cocky."

Li Jingyi was sure her father was getting cocky. "Do you think you can ignore your father-in-law just because you and Mom are separated?"

"What are you talking about?"

Li Dong looked at his daughter, who seemed to be a little too smart for her age, and tapped her head. "What are you thinking all day? How did you do on the entrance exam?"

"Pretty good, average, first in the class."

"That's good."

"What about the grade?"

"First."

Li Dong was speechless. He was about to say something encouraging, but now he felt uncomfortable. "Just being good at studies isn't enough."

"I just got my black belt in Taekwondo, and the piano level eight is too easy, but Mom won't let me take the level ten exam."

Li Dong felt he shouldn't discuss studies with his daughter. This way, he would live longer. "Mom says it's a good thing I take after her, otherwise, I'd be in trouble if I took after you."

"What do you mean? Taking after me is bad? I was first in the school in the middle school entrance exam."

"But Dad, your middle school was a rural school with only two classes."

Li Dong felt this girl was determined to make him angry. "What are you hiding the alcohol for?"

While Gao Jia was looking for a parking spot, Li Jingyi had hidden the Fenjiu. "I'm afraid Grandpa will hit you with a broom."

"Ah, what have I done to deserve such a troublesome father?"

Li Jingyi sighed, and Li Dong was about to burst a lung. "With a daughter like you, I'll end up with a lung disease."

"Brother-in-law, don't get angry. What should we do? There are no parking spots up ahead, we have to park outside."

Gao Jia said, "We should have bought less rice."

Parking outside meant walking at least three or four hundred meters. How would they carry fifty kilograms of rice?

"No problem, a few hundred meters is nothing."

Li Dong said matter-of-factly. This was nothing. Carrying sweet potatoes and water up and down for hundreds of meters was a daily task, this was just a light load.

"Dad, there are no oxen in the city. If you keep bragging, people will think you're delirious."

Li Jingyi put on her backpack and stuffed the two bottles of Fenjiu inside. Li Dong's mouth twitched. This daughter was no good, born to make him angry.

"Bragging? I'll show you the wild side of your father."

He opened the trunk, put the fifty-kilogram bag of rice on his shoulder, and picked up the bags of sweet potatoes and vegetables, and the bag of turtles and fish. "Let's go."

Li Jingyi and Gao Jia were truly surprised. Li Dong's movements were so smooth and he looked so relaxed.

They arrived at Li Jingyi's grandmother's building, and Li Dong didn't even pant. "Brother-in-law, you don't have to pretend, we're here."

"What are you talking about?"

The women in the family were so annoying. "Let's go upstairs."

Li Dong went up to the fourth floor in one breath, leaving Gao Jia and Li Jingyi speechless. "Aunt, Dad is really amazing now."

"Indeed."

Gao Jia had to admit, his stamina was incredible, a complete transformation from six months ago.

"You're a bit slow."

Li Dong, carrying the rice and holding the bags, couldn't knock on the door.

Zhang Fengqin opened the door and was delighted to see Li Dong. "Xiaodong, you're here, come in. Old man, Xiaodong is here."

"Mom, should I put the rice in the usual place?"

"Give me the rice."

"Mom, let Brother-in-law put it. He bought fifty kilograms of rice."

Zhang Fengqin wanted to take the rice, but Gao Jia stopped her. This wasn't ten or twenty kilograms, it was fifty. "Fifty kilograms, why did he buy so much?"

"To save you the trouble of running back and forth."

Li Dong put down the rice and handed the turtles, black fish, and eels to Zhang Fengqin. "Mom, these are some wild fish I got through someone."

"Wild fish?"

Gao Guoliang came over, and Li Jingyi slapped her forehead, it was over.

Gao Guoliang knew Li Dong's judgment. The carp was almost a kilogram, fat and round, but he insisted it was wild. "Hmm, this turtle has a black belly and hard claws, it's really wild. This black fish and eel are also wild, and so big, that's rare."

Gao Guoliang worked at the agricultural technology station and had spent a lot of time in the countryside. He could almost identify wild fish and shrimp at a glance.

"Really wild?"

Gao Jia was drinking water and almost choked, coughing a few times and running over.

"It's been years since I've seen such a big wild eel."

"Grandpa, are you sure?"

Li Jingyi's words earned her a tap on the head from Li Dong. "Go, go, take out the good alcohol Dad brought for Grandpa."

"Good alcohol?"

Li Jingyi thought it was better not to, it wasn't good alcohol, it was unfair, and it had no packaging.

Gao Guoliang loved alcohol and perked up at the mention of good alcohol. "Quick, cook the eel and turtle, and let me see the good alcohol."

"Two bottles of Fenjiu."

"Fenjiu?"

Gao Guoliang was stunned for a moment, unable to recall this brand among the good alcohols.

Li Jingyi reluctantly took out the two bottles of Fenjiu, and Gao Guoliang examined them for a long time, getting more and more excited. It was genuine 1974 Fenjiu, and Li Jingyi and Gao Jia were on edge.