Chapter 109: Heart Rain (02)

  The dark sky, the night rain is continuous, pattering down.

  In the living room on the second floor of Li's house, a middle-aged man sat quietly on the sofa with his eyes closed in deep thought - this was Li Changhao, father of Li Donglin and Li Jia.

  Since he was young, Li Changhao's parents died early due to illness and didn't attend school for many days. So his biggest hope all along has been to let his two children read more books and have a good future. Of course, Li Donglin and Li Jia siblings did not disappoint their father either, especially the excellent student Li Jia, who made her father feel proud and relieved. However, recently, Li Jia's affairs have been puzzling Li Changhao.

  Li Jia took the college entrance examination in June, and soon after, news came that her score had entered the top 20 in the county. Naturally, she quickly received an admission notice from the only provincial key middle school in the county, Yannan Middle School. However, just two weeks ago, the leaders of Yannan Middle School came to visit and offered very good conditions: as long as Li Jia enrolled in Yannan Middle School, her tuition fees and living expenses for three years would be waived. This is a new initiative by Yannan Middle School in recent years, aiming to attract some outstanding students with excellent grades to lay a solid foundation for future enrollment rates. Faced with such favorable conditions, Li Jia was immediately moved, after all, this could save her family several thousand yuan over the next year. She quickly tried to persuade her parents and decided to attend Yannan Middle School near her home.

  As a father, Li Changhao hoped his daughter would attend Yanzhong High School, which was at least a provincial key school and better than S Middle School in all aspects. However, his daughter insisted on attending S Middle School, leaving him no choice but to agree reluctantly. Despite this, he still had some misgivings, as this decision was particularly important for his daughter's future. He feared that she would regret it later. So, over the past few days, Li Changhao had been thinking about having another good talk with his daughter, especially after a conversation with a friend tonight made him even more worried. As soon as he entered the house, he hastily asked his wife to call their daughter out.

  "Ah!" Li Changhao let out a soft sigh. Suddenly, his hand reached into his pants pocket and after a while, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter - he slowly lit one up. These were the ones he had just bought at the small store by the road, it had been a long time since he last smoked, but today he felt like having one.

  Before long, his wife Qiao Huiying came downstairs. She was surprised because her husband hadn't smoked in a long time, but she didn't say anything and silently walked to the sofa and sat down beside him quietly.

  "Dad, why are you smoking again?" This was Li Jia's first sentence as she came downstairs. Just now her mother had gone to call her, and she had hastily put on a piece of clothing before rushing down the stairs. But as soon as she got downstairs, she caught a whiff of thick smoke, and then she saw that her father still had half a cigarette in his hand. She knew that her father had quit smoking several years ago, and at the time he had quit, she, her mother, and brother had all put in a lot of effort to help him. But now, with her father holding half a cigarette and looking very serious, Li Jia couldn't help but feel some worry.

  "Come on, Jiajia, sit down first..." Li Changhao quickly extinguished the cigarette butt and hurriedly asked his daughter to sit beside him, as if he hadn't heard her question at all.

  "Dad, what's wrong?" Li Jia sat down beside her father and looked at his somewhat aged face, asking affectionately once again.

  "It's nothing, I just smoked one, it doesn't matter!" Li Changhao said with a smile. However, his smile seemed somewhat forced, and only the corners of his mouth moved slightly. Soon after, he continued to say: "Girl, I think you should go to Y Middle School to study - Dad is afraid that you will regret it in the future!"

  "Dad, didn't we already agree on this?!" Li Jia was getting anxious, but she still controlled her tone well. "Choosing S is my own decision, no matter what I won't regret it! Besides, in the past year, I can save several thousand yuan, so you and mom don't have to work so hard..." As she spoke, she glanced at her mother again.

  When his daughter said that, Li Changhao felt particularly relieved in his heart. He smiled and said: "You little girl, how can I say it? Don't just think about saving money for your dad and mom, this decision is a big deal for your future - although your dad doesn't have any great abilities, he can still afford to let you read some books!" Li Changhao gently stroked the back of his daughter's head and continued: "Earlier I was having drinks with a friend who teaches at Y Middle School. He told me that the education quality there is much better than S Middle School, and the county and city governments also pay special attention to it - my point is that you should think carefully about it again, or else you might regret it later!"

  Li Jia was getting a bit impatient with her father's nagging, but she also knew he was worried for her sake, afraid that she would make the wrong decision and regret it for the rest of her life - she understood his concerns. So Li Jia quickly smiled and said in a half-serious, half-joking tone: "Dad, you really don't have to worry about me, I've thought this through clearly and won't regret it! Didn't I tell you and mom before that I decided to attend S Middle School for several reasons? Firstly, of course, it saves us the tuition fees for these few years, so you and mom can rest more; secondly, S Middle School is just at our doorstep, I'm quite familiar with it, and besides, my brother and Haonan are there too, they'll take care of me; thirdly, I can come home every day, report to you and mom anytime, so you won't have to worry about me, and I can also eat the food mom cooks for me every day, no need to squeeze into the school cafeteria...". At this point, Li Jia couldn't help but laugh again. She stood up with a smile, sat back down next to her mother, leaned her head on her shoulder, and added with a grin: "Now I think that's all the reasons I can summarize - in short, who made you spoil me? I'm already inseparable from you guys!"

  "It's rare for this good girl to think so much!" At this time, Li Mu finally spoke up, stroking her daughter's head and holding her in her arms. Then she said to her husband: "Changhao, don't say anything more, our Jiajia is not young anymore, since she has made up her mind, let's just listen to her!... To be honest, if I let this girl go to the county to attend high school, I would miss her so much that I might run there every other day!"

  Mrs. Li's words made Mr. Li and Li Jia laugh even harder, with Li Jia holding her belly and laughing non-stop. Mr. Li jokingly said to his wife, "You've spoiled Jia so much that now she can make us two old folks stunned and speechless even before her wings are fully grown. If they really grow strong later on, I'm afraid we'll have no say at all!"

  "Dad, you're just over 40, why are people calling you 'old man' this and 'old man' that? You and mom are still young, even after another 30 years, you won't be considered old!" Li Jia jumped up and ran to her father's back, gently pounding his shoulders with both hands as she laughed.

  "Then why do you always follow your brother and call my dad and me 'old dad' and 'old mom' for no reason!" This was Mrs. Li's voice, and she said with a smile. Li Jia and her father couldn't stop laughing - it was a happy laugh, also a warm laugh.