Chapter 126: Her Answer (4)

He accidentally pressed the screen, and it lit up, displaying three missed calls and a text message.

Qiao Yi, driven by curiosity, opened the message. It contained only two simple sentences: "You didn't answer when I called; call me back when you see this."

The Vice President?

Could it be the vice president of the school his sister had transferred to?

As Qiao Yi pondered this, he couldn't resist checking the call log. All three missed calls were indeed from the same vice president.

Why call so many times? Was it an emergency for his sister? But looking at the text, it didn't quite seem like it. Could it be that the guy was interested in his sister?

Just then, footsteps in the hallway interrupted Qiao Yi's thoughts. He turned to see Qiao Xi arriving at the door. He immediately cast his doubts aside and ran over happily. "Sister, you're finally back! I missed you so much."

Qiao Xi smiled faintly. "I missed you too."

"You're lying. If you really missed me, you wouldn't have waited so long to come back. Chou Chou comes back every week." Qiao Yi looked a bit sulky. Being three years younger than Qiao Xi and having had a frail constitution since childhood, he appeared particularly thin and childlike. "Sister, come back home. I know Mom doesn't like you, but I really do. Just ignore her."

"Stop it. Is Dad home?" Qiao Xi asked.

"I don't know. I just got back myself, but I didn't see his car. He probably hasn't returned yet; he's been working very late lately," Qiao Yi said.

Qiao Xi didn't press further, only saying, "It's very late, you should go to sleep."

"No way. I haven't seen you in so long, and you're chasing me off the moment you arrive," Qiao Yi said, looking unhappy.

"I'm not chasing you away," Qiao Xi explained. "It's just that if you don't go to sleep now, Auntie will be upset."

"I don't care about her. What year do you think it is? Who says you have to sleep by ten o'clock? If my classmates found out, they’d laugh at me."

"Auntie is doing it for your own good."

"How is it for my own good? My poor health has nothing to do with sleep. Mom doesn't care about how I feel at all. I hate—"

"Xiao Yi, don't say such things."

"Sister..."

"Be a good boy and go to sleep. We'll talk about everything else tomorrow," Qiao Xi said firmly.

Qiao Yi looked dejected, but he obeyed. "Fine, but it's a promise—you can't sneak away before I wake up."

"Okay," Qiao Xi nodded.

After Qiao Yi left, Qiao Xi took a shower. By the time she had dried her hair, her father still hadn't returned.

She walked over to check the time on her phone; it was twenty minutes to eleven.

She didn't feel very sleepy, so she decided to wait a little longer. Since she rarely came home, she wanted to see her father and talk to him.

She picked up a book, sat on the bed, and began to read, eventually drifting off to sleep without realizing it.

When she woke up, it was already bright outside. She checked the time—it was past nine.

She got up, washed her face, changed her clothes, and stepped out of her room, but there was no one in the living room.

Xiao Yi was definitely still asleep; on weekends, he never got up before noon. As for her father, even when he wasn't working, he was in the habit of rising early to read the newspaper on the sofa. Since he wasn't there, he must have gone in for overtime again.

The porridge was still warm. She served herself a bowl and sat at the dining table to eat.

The phone in her pocket buzzed—it was a text from Chou Chou: "I don't know if you're awake yet, so I'm just sending this. I've got the latest news: Gu Dieyan is in poor mental condition due to the shock and likely won't be able to return to school for a while. Also, just a heads-up: if we go back to Yingran next week, we're expected to be ostracized by more than a third of the student body."