A Little Trick, the Scumbag Dad Can’t Hold the Knife After Understanding Love

Memorial slept deeply that night.

When she woke up the next morning, Zhiliao hadn't called her, but instead phoned the school to take a half-day leave.

Chen Mo, who had set off for work at the school full of joy, changed expression when he learned that Memorial had taken leave.

Was it Ji Tingzhou who forbade her from coming?

That madman, for fear of him getting close to Memorial, had forcibly stopped the child from attending school.

The thought took hold and couldn’t be shaken off. It was exactly the kind of thing Ji Tingzhou would do.

Just as he was about to turn and ask the head teacher for leave, he heard Memorial's homeroom teacher continue, "She said she’ll come in the afternoon, just a half-day leave."

Chen Mo stopped in his tracks.

Everything had been too hasty yesterday; he hadn’t even gotten the child’s own contact information.

"Thank you, Teacher Liu."

Teacher Liu only thought he was being concerned about his student. Thinking that although Teacher Mo seemed aloof, he was actually a good teacher.

No longer considering taking leave, Chen Mo turned around and went to find Shen Qingtang.

Shen Qingtang had just finished explaining to Gu Xiuyuan the reason for Memorial's absence when the elementary school student council president left. Before she could sit down, Chen Mo arrived, asking specifically for her.

"Shen Qingtang, Teacher Mo is looking for you."

Shen Qingtang looked puzzled at Chen Mo standing at the door. Meeting his deep, enigmatic black eyes, she felt a bit uneasy.

Speaking frankly, Chen Mo was good-looking and outwardly seemed gentle. Although he exuded a bit of aloofness, it wasn’t a big deal, and everyone liked this Chinese teacher.

But Shen Qingtang was just a little afraid of him.

"Teacher Mo, what can I do for you?"

Although scared, out of politeness, Shen Qingtang still went out and asked proactively.

Chen Mo actually felt a bit guilty toward Shen Qingtang.

After all, he had once taken advantage of her.

"Do you know why Memorial took leave?"

Thinking of some clues he had accidentally discovered before, Chen Mo figured he might be able to help her reunite with her relatives.

Hearing Chen Mo ask about Memorial, Shen Qingtang recalled that Memorial and Teacher Mo had always been close.@@novelbin@@

"She didn’t sleep well last night, so she couldn’t get up this morning and didn’t come."

Chen Mo’s first reaction was to frown, "Why didn’t she sleep well? Did… her dad scold her, or is she sick?"

Shen Qingtang said, "No."

Just as she was about to say that Ji Tingzhou had been sick yesterday, she thought about how that was Ji family privacy, so she only vaguely said, "Something happened."

"Memorial was just a bit tired."

In fact, Shen Qingtang didn’t know exactly what had happened; she just assumed Memorial had been taking care of Ji Tingzhou all night.

She was a bit envious; Memorial still had a father to take care of, but she didn’t.

Knowing that Shen Qingtang was hiding something, Chen Mo didn’t ask further.

It was a good thing the child had some tact.

"I see, thank you."

Just then, a student from the next class, who was friendly with Shen Qingtang, poked their head out and asked, "Shen Qingtang, can I borrow your colored pencils? We have art class next period."

Shen Qingtang’s colored pencils were identical to Memorial’s, a sister set specially commissioned by Ji Tingzhou.

She treasured them so much that she didn’t even want to lend them out.

The girl who came to borrow the pencils was a good friend of hers.

But Shen Qingtang still refused.

"Sorry, I need to use them too."

The little girl wasn’t angry at being refused and simply nodded to show she understood, going to ask someone else.

Just as Memorial had said, saying no didn’t seem so hard after all.

Chen Mo watched all this with his eyes.

Thinking back to two years ago when the child was being ordered around by the servants, she had indeed grown up.

Meanwhile—

Upon waking to find it was already ten thirty, Memorial was in a daze.

"Uh-oh... I’m late."

That was her first thought.

Until Zhiliao, informed by the smart home system that Memorial was awake, walked in, seeing the frantic little girl rushing to get out of bed and look for her slippers.

"Sister Zhiliao! I’m going to be late!!"

Zhiliao quickly walked over and told her she had already taken the leave.

Memorial thought, well, that works too.

But then it dawned on her.

To the Ji family, the child’s health and mental state mattered far more than school attendance.

Relieved, Memorial relaxed her body and asked, "How’s Dad? Has his fever gone down?"

Zhiliao shook her head, "It’s still there."

People who rarely get sick tend to have a nasty one when they do.

Memorial rushed to wash up, barely having time to change out of her pajamas before rushing to see Ji Tingzhou.

He remained in the same position from the night before, lying on the bed with his eyes closed, a cooling patch on his forehead, tightly shut.

A servant was using a cotton swab to moisten his parched lips with water.

"Dad."

Memorial called out softly.

Ji Tingzhou stirred his fingers but didn’t respond.

"It’s okay, the doctor will come soon to administer the fever shots, and he’ll wake up."

Memorial nodded.

When Zuo Yi arrived, Memorial was having breakfast.

Upon learning from Zhiliao that Ji Tingzhou’s condition hadn’t improved, he looked disheartened for a moment.

But he still managed to rally his spirits.

Zhiliao exchanged a glance with him, understanding his intentions, and quickly had everyone around leave.

Wei Yang guarded the area.

Zuo Yi, carrying reports, walked over to Memorial.

"Miss Ji, there’s been a change in circumstances."

After a night, Zuo Yi, who had been skeptical of Memorial yesterday, was now completely convinced.

He thought that as the head of the family was ill these few days, some matters that needed his personal handling could be temporarily managed by Miss Ji to stabilize the situation.

He held out the last bite of noodles, and Memorial took a tissue to wipe her mouth.

"Give it to me."

Memorial lowered her head to read, her small face still bearing traces of childishness, but radiating sharpness as she concentrated.

Zhiliao stood beside her quietly watching, her eyes filled with pride for her charge.

It wasn’t until noon that Memorial went to check on Ji Tingzhou again, softly saying, "Dad, I’m going to school."

"I hope by tonight you’ll be awake."

"But don’t worry too much; I’m handling everything."

She squeezed Ji Tingzhou’s hand and added with a smile, "Don’t worry, I disinfected it."

Then she turned and left.

Wei Yang was by her side the entire time, following her as he said in a low voice, "Don’t worry, brother, I’ll protect her."

With Ji Tingzhou ill, Wei Yang took on half the responsibility of a father, personally escorting Memorial to school and stationing himself there, ensuring her safety.

Having learned from previous experiences, the principal was more than happy to have them around.

Back at school, Memorial hadn’t even reached the classroom when she saw Chen Mo standing downstairs.

She had been preoccupied with thoughts of the young royal prince’s situation.

With the situation serious, Memorial had instructed Zuo Yi to contact the prince under Ji Tingzhou’s name, stating they had a way to help.

But for some reason, there had been no response.

Without knowing the young prince’s specific condition or obtaining a poison test, Memorial couldn’t formulate an antidote, not even a general detoxifying agent to offer temporary relief.

Memorial wasn’t the type to sit idly by. She thought about taking the stuff herself and going to see what the situation was.

"What are you thinking about?"

Seeing the child’s vacant gaze, Chen Mo, after confirming she was fine, called out to her.

Memorial looked up to see Chen Mo and froze for a moment.

Seeing her just staring without speaking, Chen Mo’s heart sunk.

"…What’s wrong?"

Did Ji Tingzhou say something to make Memorial dislike him?

Chen Mo subconsciously pursed his lips.

But Memorial only blinked slowly, "I’m torn between calling you Uncle or Teacher Mo."

That minor panic just now, just like finally finding a restroom after urgent need, all drained away with a bit of relief.

Chen Mo’s lips curved as he took the chance to ruffle the child’s hair, saying softly, "Good girl, call me Uncle."