By the time he got home, it was already five in the afternoon.
As he reached the gate, he spotted his younger sister, who had also just returned from school.
"Hey, big brother!"
Jiang Wan'er saw her brother and waved to him from a distance.
The hostility around Jiang Tian had long since vanished, replaced by a gentle smile.
"Wan'er, finished school?"
Jiang Tian walked up to his sister and reached out to ruffle her hair.
"Yep! It's Friday, and lots of students who live far away have to catch a bus home, so we got out half an hour early."
Jiang Wan'er shook her head from side to side as she answered.
Jiang Tian chuckled. "Come on, let's go inside. I bought you two outfits today. Try them on and see if they fit!"
"Really?"
Delighted, Jiang Wan'er grabbed Jiang Tian's hand and pulled him toward the house. "Come on, come on! New clothes!"
Once inside, Jiang Wan'er hurried into her room to change.
Jiang Tian sat in the main room and chatted with his parents.
Before long, Jiang Wan'er came out wearing her new clothes.
"What do you think, big brother? Do I look good?"
Jiang Wan'er opened her bedroom door and skipped out.
Jiang Tian looked up, and his eyes immediately lit up.
The cream-colored down jacket and fitted light-blue jeans showed off Jiang Wan'er's slender figure to perfection.
Jiang Wan'er already had fair skin and pretty features, and this outfit made her look even more beautiful!
She looked like a delicate porcelain doll, youthful, lovely, and adorable!
"You look great! My little sister looks good in anything!"
Jiang Tian nodded eagerly.
Wu Xiuli smiled as well. "Your brother really does have good taste. When I was in the city, I saw plenty of young girls dressed like this. Wan'er looks like a little princess in these clothes, every bit as lovely as the city girls!"
Jiang Chenglin smiled and nodded. "That's right. It's our fault, really. We haven't bought Wan'er any pretty clothes all these years. What girl doesn't want to look her best as she grows up?"
Hearing this, Jiang Wan'er hurried over and linked her arms through her parents'. "Mom, Dad, what are you saying? As long as we're all safe and together, I'm happy."
Seeing how thoughtful their daughter was, the couple smiled with relief.
Watching this harmonious scene, Jiang Tian couldn't help grinning too.
"Oh, Tian, you brought back so many things today. They must have cost quite a bit. Where did you get all that money?"
Something suddenly occurred to Wu Xiuli, and she turned to ask her son.
While Jiang Tian was out, she had checked the supermarket receipt and discovered that the clothes alone started at a thousand yuan apiece. He didn't even have a job yet. Where had he gotten so much money?
Caught off guard, Jiang Tian didn't know how to explain. He coughed. "Uh, you might not believe this, but when I went out this morning, I met a kind person. He thought I was handsome, so he gave me some money."
"What?"
Wu Xiuli froze.
The corner of Jiang Wan'er's mouth twitched as she looked at her brother, struggling not to laugh.
"Tian, are you serious?"
Wu Xiuli sounded deeply skeptical.
"That's enough, Xiuli. Tian isn't a child anymore. Why ask so many questions?"
Jiang Chenglin interrupted Wu Xiuli.
From his son's actions over the past two days, he knew perfectly well that Jiang Tian was now a man of considerable ability, no longer the rash young lad he had once been. In fact, his influence already exceeded anything his father could comprehend.
Since he didn't want to talk about it, why force him?
When the time was right, he would tell them himself.
Seeing his father come to his rescue, Jiang Tian gave him a grateful look.
Sometimes, men really did understand other men better.
Wu Xiuli protested, "I'm just worried about him! Tian, listen to your mother. It's all right for us to be poor, but you must never break the law or do anything wrong. Understand?"
Jiang Tian nodded repeatedly. "Don't worry, Mom. Your son is as law-abiding as they come!"
He looked so earnest that anyone who didn't know him might almost have believed him.
If the members of the Motorcycle Gang had heard him, they would surely have said, "Oh, yes, absolutely. You're so law-abiding. You wiped out dozens of us at the slightest provocation. You're practically a living devil!"
After dinner, Jiang Tian's parents returned to their room to watch television.
There was only one television in the house, and it was in their bedroom. When the children were little, the whole family would gather on the bed to watch it together.
Now that they had grown up, his sister had a heavy school workload, and Jiang Tian had lost interest in television. He sat alone on the small sofa in the main room and played with his newly purchased phone.
"Have phones really come this far in just ten years?"
Looking at the large, all-screen phone in his hand, Jiang Tian didn't even know where to begin.
He still remembered how, back then, having a flip phone was already impressive! Even those were only for wealthy families. A family like Jiang Tian's could do nothing but look on with envy.
After fiddling with it for quite a while, Jiang Tian only grew more confused.
He might have been a cultivation prodigy, but he knew nothing about electronics.
"Big brother, did you buy a new phone?"
Just as Jiang Tian was feeling completely stumped, Jiang Wan'er came out. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the brand-new phone in his hand.
"Oh, it's even the latest Huawei Mate 1000! That must cost over ten thousand yuan, right?"
Jiang Wan'er's eyes shone.
Seeing how much his sister liked it, Jiang Tian handed her the phone. "Do you like it? You can have it."
"What about you?"
Jiang Wan'er took the phone, reluctant to put it down.
Her current phone was only a Redmi that had cost a little over a thousand yuan. Her parents had bought it for her because they worried about leaving her alone when they went to work in the city. She had used it for three years, and now it lagged terribly!
"Me? I don't need it. After fiddling with it for ages, I realized I don't know how to use all this high-tech stuff anymore. I'll buy a basic keypad phone later."
Jiang Tian shook his head.
Jiang Wan'er burst out laughing. "Big brother, where would you even find a basic keypad phone these days? Everyone uses smartphones now!"
"But I don't know how to use it. I spent ages trying to figure it out, and I couldn't even make a call."
Jiang Tian shook his head again.
Hearing this, Jiang Wan'er couldn't help laughing again. Then she said, "I'll teach you! It's really simple!"
Jiang Tian asked, "You don't want it?"
"Me? Of course I do! But I'm in my last year of high school now, so my studies have to come first. Buy me an even better one after I graduate from university!"
Jiang Wan'er knew the phone would distract her from her studies, so that was what she said.
Jiang Tian thought his sister had a point, so he nodded. "All right. When you get to university, I'll get you both a phone and a computer!"
"That's a promise, okay?"
Jiang Wan'er linked her arm through Jiang Tian's and blinked her big eyes at him.
Jiang Tian smiled. "When have I ever lied to you?"
"Yay! Love you! Mwah!"
Jiang Wan'er puckered her lips and blew Jiang Tian a kiss, then began teaching him how to use a smartphone.
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