"Your sister-in-law..." He Teng was about to say that He Zhilan was injured and hence sleeping a lot, but then he remembered that He Zhilan and He Da haven’t told their father about it. So, he quickly changed the subject, "Your sister-in-law didn’t wake up, so I stayed with her longer."
But with this explanation, He Teng only managed to make his father laugh heartily. "That’s right, you should spend time with her. You didn’t get to be with Zhilan much when you were in the army. Now that you’re back, the more time you can spend with her, the better!"
However, clearly, He Teng’s father meant more than just spending time with Zhilan. Because possibly thinking He Teng might not have gotten the hint, he added, "Go easy on her. Don’t let Zhilan get too tired. She’s a young girl and not like you, a soldier who spends all day in the military."
He Teng knew his father had misunderstood, but he didn’t bother to explain. He just hummed in agreement, then got up to wash up.
It was only then that He Zhilan wobbled out of the room. As she passed through the courtyard, she waved to the people there before following He Teng’s footsteps to brush her teeth and wash her face.
"Are you that tired?" He Teng looked at He Zhilan beside him and asked.
"Yes~" He Zhilan responded without hiding anything, "I don’t know if it’s because I slept a lot, but the more I sleep, the sleepier I get. I can’t even open my eyes."
"You’re injured inside?" He Teng suddenly remembered He Da mentioning that He Zhilan had some internal injuries.
He Zhilan nodded her head, "A little, which is why the doctor told me I should rest well when I came back."
"With injuries, you still took a flight?" He Teng’s expression turned cold.
"I was in a hurry to come back." He Zhilan looked silly with mouth rinse in her mouth. Not until then did she realize that she had been talking non-stop in a drowsy state.
"Neither He Da nor you understand? What if something had happened when you took a flight with your injury? What’s the rush? We were all waiting for you at home. We were not in a hurry, so why were you?" He Teng was both angry and heartbroken, utterly at a loss about how to scold He Zhilan, "If you don’t take good care of yourself now, you’ll suffer later. After eating breakfast, go back to your room and rest. As for your internal injury, you can only recover slowly."
"I understand!" This time, He Zhilan didn’t talk back. She wisely acted obediently.
But right after her breakfast, she dashed towards the courtyard, waving the bag in her hand, saying, "Dad, I have enough money for Dongxue’s and my tuition and living expenses now! We don’t have to slaughter the pig at our house! We can keep it till the New Year! It’s a pity we sold our chickens earlier; otherwise, we could have saved them to nourish my second brother."
"Let me see!" He Dongxue was surprised and took the money out of the bag. She was utterly astonished, "This much?"
Indeed, there was a lot of money. Besides the payment from Bono, He Zhilan also put in her own savings. Originally, the money from Bono would have been enough for her and He Dongxue to pay their tuition, so she didn’t need to put her money in. But now that He Da was back and in poor health, needing slow recuperation hence requiring money, He Zhilan thought, it was a good excuse to leave the money at home for him.
"You are really amazing, sister-in-law!" He Dongxue knew that some of the money was He Zhilan’s own, but she hadn’t expected it to be so much.
Although he felt a bit guilty, He Zhongguo was greatly relieved to know that the tuition for his two daughters was taken care of.
"Dad, our He family is bound to become prominent in the future. Look, my big brother is a promising military officer, and our two sisters are outstanding university students. Among the four of your children, I am the only one who’s a bit underachieving. Don’t disregard me in the future, Dad." Seeing his two sisters, He Da felt rather proud in his heart.