Chapter 7 School Troubles
Ji Shijing brought me to age three while crying and complaining the whole way.
He finally relaxed when I started kindergarten and spent fewer hours tormenting him each day.
I caused trouble at school every single day. One day I broke the windows and Ji Shijing had to pay. The next day I pulled a boy's private parts and his parents chased Ji Shijing for medical fees.
In just one year he paid out hundreds of thousands. Even his sleep-talking consisted of "sorry" and "how much? I will pay."
One time, right after Ji Shijing finished paying at the kindergarten, he grabbed me before I could cause more trouble.
Panting and resentful, he said,
"You little brat! You are really wasting your dad's money."
"Do not fall again. My money is earned from six in the morning to ten at night with only two days off a month."
I pretended not to hear but stopped making him pay for damages.
I had experienced how hard it was to earn money.
Yet in the second month of elementary school, Ji Shijing pretended to go bankrupt.
To exploit a loophole and avoid spending on me, he transferred all his assets to Si Han.
He turned himself into a penniless phoenix man so he would not have to spend a single cent on me.
Si Han was restricted by the system and could not care for me either. Because I could not pay tuition, the school was about to expel me.
Do not ask why even a compulsory nine-year elementary school would expel a student.
Before transferring his assets, Ji Shijing had enrolled me in a private elementary school that cost two hundred thousand per semester, with ten thousand in monthly meal fees.
As expected, after I owed meal fees for a few days, the homeroom teacher found me.
She asked gently,
"Ji Lin Yi, all the other children have paid their meal fees today. Why has your father not paid yet?"
I had to take Ji Shijing's surname and suffer this humiliation. It was truly upsetting.
I lowered my head and muttered pitifully,
"Dad does not like me. Dad hates me... Dad would rather claim bankruptcy than pay my meal fees..."
The teacher froze.
She clearly had not expected that answer.
Ji Shijing was a famous businessman in City A. Who would believe he went bankrupt?
Still, the teacher did not rush.
She patted my head and comforted me.
"You are overthinking, little one. Your dad must be too busy and forgot. It is fine. I will call him later to remind him. All right?"
I nodded eagerly.
In my heart I thought,
Yes, hurry up and lecture him. Call him a blood-sucking capitalist who earns so much yet refuses to pay his daughter's tuition.
Unfortunately, the teacher still did not dare to chase Ji Shijing for the money.
Because I had not paid, the school stopped providing my lunch.
I nearly fainted from hunger at school and could only eat the cabbage and cucumber salad Ji Shijing made at home.
In one short week I lost six pounds.
I had already been thin and small. Now I looked like a monkey.
Meanwhile Si Han sat on the sofa eating fried chicken, fully embracing her role as the vicious mother.
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Lin Yi, I feel sorry for you too, but the system will not allow it."
"The system wants me to be a bad woman and make you drool with envy."
Ji Shijing looked at my resentful face and started acting shamelessly.
"Daughter, it is all because Dad is useless. Dad cannot earn money. If Dad had money, he would buy you good food..."
"Ah, Dad also wants to go out and work to support you, but Dad is a waste who can only be a boss and does not know how to be an employee."
"Dad is just a waste—"
It was the first time I saw someone claim to be a waste with a cheerful face.
Still, I had my own way to drive Ji Shijing crazy.