Getting back at them

Zhang Liling found it hard to believe that her father was back and when she asked for more details, she learned that he returned when she was still asleep, and it has been over 2 hours.

Doing to the dining room to see the man for herself, made her understand the reason her stepmother added sleeping drugs to her drip.

When everything made more sense was when her father told her to cut down on her study or stop it altogether to avoid embarrassing him.

Zhang Liling was confused about how her studying embarrassed him, hence she took a seat at the table and asked about it since he wouldn't even wait to receive her greeting.

"Didn't you faint in school because you were overstudying?" Zhang Renshu asked with a furious gaze.

He hated the fact that he had to go all over a topic he had overruled and put past him, but his daughter seemed to be confused.

Zhang Liling heard that and felt the annoyance in his tone, and knew that her stepmother must have fed him lies while she was sleeping, but she pretended not to know and went on to ask about it.

"Who told you that?" Zhang Liling asked with furrowed brows.

Shi Wenqian and Zhang Xiaoling saw that if she was not stopped, she was going to blow their covers, so one of them stopped her.

"Zhang Liling, the doctor who came to check up on you told me you were stressed and needed to cut down on your activities." Shi Wenqian said with a concerned gaze.

Zhang Liling was huffing mad because of her shamelessness.

Whose fault was it that she fainted?

Zhang Xiaoling saw that from her facial expression she was angry and was about to speak against her mother, so she quickly stopped her.

With a smile plastered on her face, she said, "Liling, you need to take it easy with studying even though you are in your finals. You can't get stressed again and faint in random places, or is there something else you are up to?"

Shi Wenqian heard this and chuckled to herself while giving a virtual thumbs up to her daughter.

As for Zhang Renshu, he stared at Zhang Liling angrily as if he believed what his stepdaughter said, and was already sure about it.

"What nonsense are you insinuating?!" Zhang Liling understood her tricks and asked with furrowed brows. It was just one thing that was stopping her from not losing it.

"I was just joking. Anyway, study less and don't overwork yourself." Zhang Xiaoling said with a smile. She really knew when to stop.

Zhang Liling could not take that lying down and immediately gave her a smackdown. "You shouldn't play expensive jokes like that. This is how people's reputations are tarnished. Take, for example, now, my father almost believed you."

As she pointed that out to all of them, Shi Wenqian and Zhang Zhang Xiaoling exchanged glances. They were dumbstruck that she would not let them off.

Zhang Renshu coughed out of guilt and changed the topic. "Anyway, don't overexert yourself, your finals are not until 2 months. If you need anything, we have anything, just meet your stepmother for it. Even as he said that he still bore Zhang Xiaoling's misleading words in mind."

Zhang Xiaoling was disappointed, while Shi Wenqian clenched her fists angrily. She was unhappy with how things unfolded and ended.

Before she could let go of her anger, Zhang Renshu asked an important question.

"I don't see Mingyu, where is he?"

Shi Wenqian did not fret because she knew that something like this would come up, so she quickly replied with a proud fake smile, "He is sleeping over at his friend's place to talk about future investments in tech."

Zhang Liling almost burst out in laughter as she wondered how the person lying uncomfortably on a bed in the biggest hospital in S City, was talking about future investments.

Although she managed to hold in her laughter, the three people in the dining area, caught sight of it.

It was at this point that Shi Wenqian felt like squeezing Zhang Liling's mouth, so she would see how she would be able to laugh at her in the future.

Zhang Renshu scoffed at his wife's response, "It would be good if he was serious with his studies like Liling, before talking about business and future investments."

Zhang Mingyu was the son Zhang Renshu and Shi Wenqian had together, and that makes him a half-brother to both Zhang Liling and Zhang Xiaoling.

He was Shi Wenqian's favorite, but to his father Zhang Renshu, a disappointment he was trying to shape.

Shi Wenqian felt so humiliated but refused to utter a word. She couldn't argue with him and cause unnecessary trouble that wouldn't bring any gain to her.

That night, Zhang Liling slept peacefully and the next morning, she felt far better than the previous day.

Today, she had Mr. Fang's lectures, but it would take place at noon. Still, she left for school around past 10 Am.

Although her stepmother wouldn't dare to cause trouble for her because of her father's presence, she refused to trust her having left a lot of lessons.

Once she left the house in a cab, she made a call to Tungmei.

Instead of first asking questions about how she dealt with her family after they published the news about her receiving treatment, she told her to get to school on time so they could grab good seats at the lecture theatre to wait for Mr. Fang's classes.

"…when we meet, you have a lot to talk to me about," Tungmei said at the end of their conversation and of course, Zhang Liling agreed to it.

In less than 30 minutes, Zhang Liling arrived at her college and met up with Tungmei at the agreed location.

Zhang Liling offered to get them chilled drinks to work on their body temperature because of the sunny weather and how easy it made them sweat.

"You know, if this wasn't Mr. Fang's lecture, I wouldn't even bother coming out here." Zhang Liling said after they grabbed their drinks and sat at a table next to the glass view.

"Isn't coming out better than staying in that house?" Tungmei asked after sucking a large quantity of her chilled orange juice with a straw.