After Being Forced to Become a Bigshot, I Only Want to be Normal

71 Lie to Her

Lu Ning returned home after the tutoring interview, and continued acting as if she did not know anything.

After helping Lu Jingzhi study a couple of questions and having her dinner, she went back to her room.

Lu Zhi kept observing his daughter’s behavior.

When Lu Ning had returned to her room, he whispered to Shen Yunci.

“Our daughter saw me at the construction site today.”

“What?!”

“I think it’s going to be even more impossible to explain our situation now. She must think that our family is extremely poor.”

Shen Yunci glanced in the direction of Lu Ning’s room.

“Did Ning’ning go to the construction site to look for you?”

Lu Zhi shook his head. “It doesn’t seem like it. She doesn’t even know where the construction site I work at is, how would she get there? She probably saw it while passing by. Didn’t she say she went for a tutoring interview? I heard the workers say she would pass by the construction site if she was going to that address; it should have been then. Her friend was also with her.”

Shen Yunci was astonished. “Huh, her friend was there as well? So did Ning’ning go and greet you? Was Ning’ning embarrassed?”

Lu Zhi shook his head. “Ning’ning isn’t someone who cares about that. When I picked her up that time, I came straight from the construction site and my clothes were tattered and covered in dirt. She didn’t care about it at all and openly introduced me to her friend.

“Now, all I’m worried about is that Ning’ning will think our family’s too poor and try to find work everywhere. It’ll tire her out. See, she’s even just gone to an interview for a tutor.”

Lu Zhi hung his head and sighed.

Shen Yunci was also a little concerned.

“Why don’t we tell Ning’ning directly? Ning’ning might have been joking last time when she said she’ll leave us if our family’s rich. She must’ve said that so as not to make us feel pressured.

“And she shouldn’t overwork herself either. She’s in her third year of high school, her grades are really important.”

Lu Zhi was still worried. “The main thing is that she might not believe us even if we say it now. She might even think that we colluded with the others to lie to her.”

The couple fretted together.

“Why don’t we stall her to stop her from being a tutor? In the first place, I didn’t even want her to work at the café.”

“Stall her? Using what means?”

Shen Yunci pondered for a moment. “Why don’t we say that I’m sick?”

Lu Zhi frowned at her. “Touch wood! Besides, a minor illness won’t hinder your movement. How will you keep our daughter home with that?”

“That’s true. What should we do then?”

“How about this! We’ll have Jingzhi pretend to be sick. Our son’s smart anyway, so it’ll be the same if he studies at home.”

“That’s a good idea…”

Lu Jingzhi, who happened to come out for a drink, was rendered speechless.

He silently turned his head around and glanced at his parents.

Is that how you intend to use my smarts?

Only then did Shen Yunci and Lu Zhi notice him.

“Ahem, although this method is good, it can’t be used. It can’t be used!”

Lu Jingzhi quietly took his glass of water and turned to leave.

“…”

——————

The next day, Lu Ning went to school as usual. After working part-time at the café in the afternoon, she went to the infirmary to take a break and think of a faster way to earn more money.

Gu Zi tried to hoodwink her into working at the infirmary, but Lu Ning simply rolled her eyes at him.

But before she could figure out a way to make money quickly, something had happened to Shen Yunci.

At around eight o’clock, while Lu Ning was still dealing with the sudden appearance of Huo Jinyan at the café, she received a call saying that Shen Yunci had suffered a fracture during work and been hospitalized.

She had wanted to rush over, but the electric scooter’s battery was flat. In the end, it was Huo Jinyan who drove her to the hospital.

Shen Yunci felt that it was uncanny—the previous day, she had told Lu Zhi that a small problem would not be enough, and the very next day a big problem arrived immediately.