Back over in Luoping...
"Wuli, how’s Xiaoyun when you left Shenzhen?"
Leyan curiously asked as all nine of Xiaoyun’s wives sat at the glass round table, all looking just as curious as her.
"He’s doing fine. He’s going to head back to Luoping in a day or two. Everything is almost sorted out."
"That’s good to hear..."
A smile appeared on her face as she turned her attention back to the food, looking much happier than before.
However, both Yuqi and Yueyue held up a heavy face. Sothing was bothering them in their mind.
"What’s up with your guys’ faces? Why are you two looking so worried?" Leyan curiously asked, noticing the frown on their forehead.
"Nothing! Just so work-related stuff."
"Yeah, just so big cases that have been bothering ."
Seeing Yuqi and Yueyue reply right after each other with their faces returning to normal, Leyan didn’t think too much about it.
"Tianci, how’s the sample study in Shenzhen? Is the fog really as scary as the news puts it?" Anna curiously asked.
"It’s much worse than what the news——"
"Ahem ahem."
As Yuqi cleared her throat, Tianci’s brain quickly realized she was only creating more worries in the house.
"But it’s not that big of a deal. There’s a weakness and a solution to the gas mixture in the fog. It’s actually relatively simple to destroy."
"Hey Nami, where’s Lily?" Wuli asked, noticing the chair next to her was empty.
"She’s attending her high graduation party... Man, you should have co back a day earlier."
"Oh, really? Lily’s graduation was yesterday?"
"Mhm."
"It’s fine. Xiaoyun can always attend Lily’s graduation when she finishes college... Speaking of college."
As Shuli turned her attention over to Nami, she stared towards her in silence as if she was trying to see through sothing.
"Shuli, why are you looking at like that?" Nami nervously asked, her mind suddenly starting to have a weird feeling.
"Hey Nami, you’ve never been to college, right? Do you want to go to college? I can easily give you a student spot if you want."
"College?"
As Nami fell into silence to think for herself, everyone’s attention was instantly caught by Shuli’s question.
"Nami, you really should go back to college. Everyone in the house is going to have a college degree by the ti Lily graduates." Yuqi advised.
"Yeah, you’re still so young. You can’t be tied down to a desk job... Mom, say sothing. You can’t just let your daughter be illiterate."
Yueyue quickly shook Leyan’s arm, forcing her to stop eating and turn her attention over to Nami.
"Nami is already a mother. She can make the decision herself... Besides, my mother never went to college, and she raised perfectly fine."
"Mom!"
"Isn’t Nami already too old for college?" Kate questioned, interrupting Yueyue’s frustration.
"She would be a college sophomore right now if the outbreak had never happened. She’s not that old." Yuqi clarified.
"Ahem. Nami, it’s your decision... If you’re happy with your job, there’s no reason to pursue a piece of paper that’s not going to be useful to you."
Anna quickly chid in, feeling the conversation was way too one-sided. She could feel the mounting pressure Nami was facing.
"I... I don’t know. I-I like my job. B-But I don’t know if I really want to do this for my entire life."
The answer made the kitchen fall into dead silence until a sound of a baby running into the kitchen interrupted it.
"M-Mommy! I-I’m hungry!" Qiaolan yelled as she slowly stumbled several tis before stopping near Nami’s seat.
"You already ate earlier. Go back to the living room and play with your siblings."
As Nami gently waved her away, Qiaolan surprisingly didn’t argue back. She was just stumbling her way back to the living room.
"You know, now I think about it... Yueyue, you never finished your college degree either. Shouldn’t you be going back to college as well?"
Yuqi’s point quickly made Yueyue freeze for a second, but she instantly got an argunt to fire back.
"I-I would have already graduated at this point if it weren’t for the outbreak. Besides, my job is way too important for to quit."
"Sounds like a double standard..." Tianci quietly whispered.
Just as Yueyue was about to defend herself again, Shuli finally spoke up as she quickly realized everyone had misunderstood her.
"Wait, Nami, when I say going back to college, you don’t have to quit your job. I should have clarified that."
"Really?" Nami asked in a surprisingly tone.
Seeing Shuli nodding, the scale started to favor one side. Even Yueyue started to look interested in the offer.
"Shuli, what do you an by not needing to quit your job? Wouldn’t college take up your ti completely?" Yueyue questioned.
"Well, college and university aren’t the sa thing. We are planning to create more specialized colleges that accommodate people who want to learn more."
"Isn’t that just community colleges?" Kate murmured in English as the concept sounded extrely familiar inside her head.
"I guess you could say that. Anyway, you have the whole sumr to think about it. You can join and leave any ti."
Nami nodded. Although she didn’t say her answer outright, it had already beco clear what decision she was going to make.
"I-I want to do it too." Yueyue chid in.
"Um... For you, it might be a little harder." Shuli murmured.
"Why would it be harder for ? It’s for all adults, right?"
"Well, you’re the head of intelligence. I don’t think a professor would be brave enough to teach you."
"They wouldn’t dare——Ahem, I an, I’ll just hide my identity. I just want to get the paper to say I have a degree."
Seeing Yueyue’s change of heart, everyone at the table rolled their eyes before going back to eating the food on the table.
----
A few hours later...
"What’s taking Lily so long? She still hasn’t co back from her party yet."
Leyan murmured, sitting on the sofa, looking a little uneasy as the clock was already past midnight.
"Maybe she’s just staying at her friend’s place for the night. How about I just give her a phone call?"
"Go for it."
As Yuqi tried to dial Lily’s number, there was no one to pick up on the other side, causing even more frowns to appear on Leyan’s face.
"There aren’t any teachers at the party... This could end up so bad. I knew I should have kept her ho instead of letting her go."
"Mom, you can’t tell her what to do. She’s already an adult." Nami argued, trying to defend Lily’s choice, as she was one of the few who advised her to go.
"How about I call up a police officer to check——"
"That’s way too overkill. She’s only going to a party with her friends. You guys are way too overprotective... I’m going to sleep."
As Kate headed upstairs, Anna quickly followed her as well.
Neither of them looked worried a single bit as they had done it thousands of tis themsleve when they were young.
"What if I go over to her friend’s house to check? I’ll just go there to check up and see if she’s fine and all."
Nami tried to speak up against it, but Leyan instantly overrode it as she nodded in agreent to greenlight Yueyue’s offer.
"Yuqi, Yueyue, you both go check on her."
"Okay."
As the two of them changed their shoes and headed out of the house, Leyan instantly turned her attention over to Tianci.
"Can you follow them and protect them? I’m scared sothing bad might happen."
Tianci thought about it for a second before nodding in agreent as she headed out of the house as well.
"Mom, you’re way too paranoid. Lily is only at her friend’s party. You’re making it sound like she’s being kidnapped."
"Better safe than sorry... Lily promised she’s going to co back ho by 11. She’s already one hour late."
Nami fell back into silence, with no way of arguing back. But Wuli and Shuli finally decided to speak up.
"Leyan, I think you’re really overthinking it. They are still kids. They probably just play with each other for so long that they lost track of ti."
"Yeah, I rember when Wuli and I went out for our high school party. We didn’t even go back ho until the next morning."
Leyan only shook her head, remaining silent as the frown continued to remain on her forehead.
"We’re going back to sleep... Wake us up if sothing is wrong."
As Wuli and Shuli both headed upstairs, only Nami and Leyan remained in the living room as they both sat across from each other on the sofa.
"Lily is really fine. She’s not being kidnapped." Nami argued.
"How would you know? She didn’t even pick up her phone. She always has her phone on her no matter what."
"It probably just ran out of battery."
Leyan didn’t buy her reasoning a single bit as she stared dead into her eyes, building up pressure until Nami finally folded.
"Okay, fine... I-I might have put a chip on her phone. But she’s 100% at her friend’s place."
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