Late at night, all things lay silent.
After getting up to pee, Su Chen felt a little thirsty, so he went to the living room for a drink of water.
Passing his second daughter's room, he saw that the light was still on.
He paused.
It was already past three in the morning. Why was his second daughter's room still lit?
Was she still awake?
He was about to knock on the door and ask what was going on.
Then he noticed the door was already ajar.
Beside the desk, his second daughter, Su Yinuo, was muttering something about "the income statement starts with assets and liabilities, then you subtract..." to herself.
She was memorizing formulas!
Su Chen suddenly remembered that his second daughter had taken a phone call that evening and then said she would prove she was the top accounting student through her own abilities.
So behind his second daughter's cocky attitude was a night spent burning the midnight oil, poring over her books!
He gently closed the door.
Then he went to the living room and poured a glass of water, setting it on the coffee table. He didn't drink it right away.
After a moment's thought, he took a sip, then quietly returned to his bedroom.
He switched on the bedside lamp, picked up his phone, found his employee Xiao Tang's number, and called her.
"Boss, is something the matter?"
"Xiao Tang, you're still awake?"
"I just finished handling everything. Boss, our bookstore can start using the book-rental system tomorrow."
"I've entered all the books into the computer," the young woman said excitedly.
Su Chen nodded. "Mm. Don't stay up so late next time. It's fine if you finish a day later."
"Yes, boss!" Reassured by her handsome boss, Tang Yinyin felt like she could fight another five hundred rounds!
"Xiao Tang, over the next couple of days, put together the past years' final exam papers for every subject in the first semester of the first-year accounting program at UIBE." That was why Su Chen had called.
His daughter was staying up late to study, so of course he had to help her take the top spot in the accounting program!
"Got it, boss," Tang Yinyin replied briskly.
"Mm. Get to bed early. Don't stay up late." With that, Su Chen ended the call.
Early the next morning, when he went to open the bookstore, Tang Yinyin arrived excitedly with a document folder.
"Boss, this folder has all the final exam papers for every subject in the first semester of the first-year accounting program at UIBE for the past ten years."
Su Chen took the folder with a smile. "Great, thanks. Keep up the good work, and I'll give you a raise next month."
An employee who put so much care into her work at the bookstore deserved a raise.
Besides, his bookstore was about to make a fortune!
The moment Tang Yinyin heard she could get a raise, she said excitedly, "Thank you, boss! I'll keep working hard!"
"I'll get back to work, then. It's the first day we're using the book-rental system, but don't worry, boss. I won't make any mistakes!"
"I'll follow your instructions and register the phone numbers of everyone who rents a book."
"And I'll ask them to follow your WeChat public account."
She didn't know how Su Chen could make money by suddenly switching from selling books to renting them out, but she believed her boss would find a way!
She'd seen the videos on the UIBE BBS forum of Su Chen taking on Xiao Haoran and the Taekwondo club president, Xiao Yuxuan, both of whom had bowed and bent over to light his cigarette!
That was when she'd realized her boss was a hidden big shot!
So everything he did must be part of a plan!
As his employee, all she had to do was follow her boss's instructions.
A good, dependable employee~~
Next, Su Chen checked the book-rental system and the software for logging books, and made sure the public account's QR code worked, along with a few other little details.
Once he'd confirmed that everything was in order, Su Chen left the bookstore in Tang Yinyin's care.
He took the folder of past final exam papers home.
His eldest daughter was already up, reading English in her room.
Hearing his eldest daughter read aloud in such perfect English felt wonderful~
It felt like home~
His second daughter's door was still closed. She was probably catching up on sleep—the aftereffects of staying up all night...
"Dad, you're back!" His eldest daughter came running out of her room, beaming, and bounced over to Su Chen. "Dad, I saw some buns in the steamer in the kitchen. They smelled so good! I wonder if they're ready yet."
Su Chen affectionately tapped the tip of her pert little nose. "They should be. Dad will fry a batch of dough sticks, and then we can have breakfast. Go back to your room and study a little longer."
"Okay!" Su Zihan nodded obediently.
When she passed Su Yinuo's room, she gave a little "Huh?" "Why isn't Nuonuo up yet?"
"I'll go wake her."
"Hanhan, don't wake Nuonuo just yet. She was studying until three or four in the morning last night. We'll call her when it's time for breakfast," Su Chen called.
"Oh, okay." Su Zihan seemed to remember something. She lowered her hand, turned back to Su Chen, mischievously blinked her lovely eyes, stuck out her tongue, then bounced back to her room.
She continued reading English.
But once she knew Su Yinuo wasn't up yet, she lowered her voice.
Seeing his daughters look out for each other, Su Chen smiled with relief.
The girls' mom, Lin Wanxue, had done a wonderful job raising them.
He was really looking forward to meeting her.
Su Chen was frying dough sticks in the kitchen, while Su Zihan studied in her room.
"Ding..." A WeChat message came through on Su Zihan's phone.
She put down her textbook and picked up her phone. It was a message from her mom!
It said: "By my calculations, Hanhan, your period should start today."
"Mom sent me a message!"
"But she didn't mention coming to the Imperial Capital!"
"Does Mom really know that Nuonuo and I have moved in with Dad?"
"Should I come clean to Mom?"
"But if I tell her outright, will she be unable to accept it and have trouble focusing at work?"
"Mom's all alone in Central Sea. What if something happens to her?"
Su Zihan made up her mind: she would tell Mom the truth, but only after Mom came to the Imperial Capital.
For now...
She typed out a WeChat message: "Yeah, Mom, my period started this morning."
Lin Wanxue: "Does your stomach hurt?"
Su Zihan: "Not yet."
Lin Wanxue: "Remember to bring a heat pack when you go to class today."
Su Zihan: "Mm-hmm, Mom, I'll remember."
Lin Wanxue: "Remember to eat breakfast."
Su Zihan: "Okay."
Lin Wanxue: "Mom's going to work."
Su Zihan: "Okay, Mom. Be careful on the way."
After sending the messages, Su Zihan let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Mom didn't ask me anything about finding Dad."
"Maybe I'm overthinking it. Mom doesn't know that Nuonuo and I have found Dad. Maybe she's coming to the Imperial Capital simply because she misses the five of us, or maybe she just has some work to do there."
"That must be it."
"I have to look on the bright side~~
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