Back to 1984: Let's Work Hard Together to Raise The Kids!-Chapter 219: Eye-Opening Experiences

The iron boat arrived at the opening.

Chen Ruiyu and Chen Xinyue were the first to get off and then helped the others ashore.

The group entered through the main gate and saw the grand buildings—it was clear without a doubt that the Chen family was wealthy.

When they saw Lin Qin dressed so glamorously, they had no further doubts.

Lin Qin led Zhou’s father and mother to the guest rooms on the first floor, "There are two rooms on the first floor, and there are vacant rooms upstairs as well. You can choose to stay either upstairs or downstairs."

"No, no need to go through all that trouble. We’ll just stay at a guesthouse. If we weren’t worried about the kids carrying a large sum of money, we wouldn’t have come along," Zhou’s mother quickly explained.

Lin Qin laughed heartily, "I understand, I’d feel the same way. Our island is different from other places; staying at a guesthouse would be inconvenient. It’s better to stay with us. We have plenty of activities, like a sports complex with various facilities, orchards, vegetable gardens, barbecue, and fishing. You can do whatever you like, even go sea fishing if you want.

From our place, it’s just a short iron boat ride to South Port. You can go back and forth on the same day without any issue."

Lin Qin eagerly talked about all the benefits of staying in Nanyu.

So Zhou’s father and mother had to stay.

Zhou Miaqing and Tang Jing listened with longing expressions.

So, in the following days, the children accompanied by the adults picked fruits and vegetables, barbecued, fished, and played various sports. Chen Wenjun took advantage of good weather to take the children and Zhou’s father and mother to South Port for a day, where they scoured the beach and collected shells.

Everyone had such a great time that they were reluctant to leave.

After playing for seven days, seeing that Zhou’s father and mother had to report back at work, Zhou Miaqing and Tang Jing reluctantly bid farewell to the Chen family.

Before leaving, the children gathered to settle the accounts.

The adults didn’t get involved in this matter.

Zhou’s father and mother admired how independent Chen family children were, regardless of age.

"You’re truly amazing. You’ve raised your children to be exceptional," Zhou’s father sincerely praised.

Chen Wenjun modestly replied, "Your Miaqing is also quite good. To join them in these adventures without prior experience in business shows great courage! Tang Jing is also impressive; despite any challenges in her upbringing, she is resilient and outstanding."

These words made both the adults and children happy.

Before parting, Lin Qin and Chen Wenjun packed plenty of fruits and seafood for them. The seafood was all frozen, stored in foam coolers with ice packs, suitable for the trip back to the provincial city.

The four of them bid farewell and boarded the bus. Zhou’s mother said to Zhou Miaqing and Tang Jing, "This trip was definitely worth it, seeing how a well-to-do family lives. Stay in touch with Xinyue. Her broader perspective can only benefit you."

"Got it, mom. We have so much fun in the dorm, except that we don’t get along with Ji Fang," Zhou Miaqing recounted all the conflicts with Ji Fang.

"She just acts superior because she’s a local girl from the capital! It’s nothing special, just a stuck-up attitude. She secretly used Xinyue’s skincare products and called her stingy when caught. She asked me to bring her meals without offering to pay, justifying that eating two meals from me was no big deal. She treated Tang Jing like a lackey and wanted to freeload off Tang Jing, who can’t afford to pamper her. After Tang Jing refused, Ji Fang started targeting her.

Ji Fang knew Tang Jing wanted to stay in the capital for a part-time job over the winter break, but she said nothing. Then she turned around and introduced a tutoring job to other girls in our dorm in front of us. Such a person is just a troublemaker in our dorm."

Zhou’s mother initially planned to advise her to endure it, but after hearing out, couldn’t hold back and joined in on the cursing.

Which made Tang Jing burst into laughter.

After returning to the provincial city, Tang Jing and Zhou Miaqing packed their luggage and returned to school.

The two left quite early, arriving at the capital by the thirteenth day of the lunar new year, leaving only them in the dorm.

Most of the dorms along the entire corridor had their doors tightly shut, with only a few occupied.

They hurried to clean the dorm, and only while working did they realize that all of Ji Fang’s stuff was gone. Her bed had entirely different items on it, and all the gaudy stuff on her desk was removed, replaced entirely with books.

They looked at each other, completely puzzled.

It wasn’t until the next afternoon, when Xu Jiahui appeared in the dorm and greeted Tang Jing and Zhou Miaqing, that they realized they had a new roommate.

"What’s going on?" Zhou Miaqing exclaimed in surprise.

Xu Jiahui shrugged innocently, "On the last day of the previous semester, the counselor suddenly told me I was switching dorms because someone thought I wasn’t fitting in, and my dorm was more suitable for her. I indeed didn’t get along with my former roommates, but they said it wasn’t their doing.

And since Chen Xinyue is also in this dorm, and we’re from the same hometown, I agreed."

The two suddenly understood, suspecting Ji Fang had used her local might, quickly putting on friendly smiles and coming down from their beds to chat with Xu Jiahui.

After just a few words, they discovered Xu Jiahui was much easier to get along with than Ji Fang. At least Xu Jiahui was warm and generous, typical of a southern girl’s personality; her first time in the north meant she had different living habits and, coupled with a strong sense of autonomy, didn’t want to fit in with roommates, leading to some conflicts with others.

But this didn’t mean Zhou Miaqing and Tang Jing couldn’t get along with her.

After all, Zhou Miaqing was also from the south, same province, little difference, and their family backgrounds were quite similar, giving them a lot to talk about. Tang Jing had a good temperament, was easy-going, and could get along with anyone as long as they were good.

The three soon hit it off.

Happily going to the cafeteria to eat together.

By some unfortunate coincidence, they ran into Su Wanwan and Ji Fang at the cafeteria.

Both sides rolled their eyes at each other, with no one planning to speak.

During the meal, they happened to sit close.

Ji Fang cleared her throat and deliberately raised her voice to ask Su Wanwan, "Was your tutoring this month tiring? Your schedule was so packed, I wanted to hang out with you but you had no time."

Su Wanwan smiled obsequiously, "You’re a young lady, you don’t need part-time jobs since your family supports you. I’m different, I have a little brother, and my parents’ allowance is limited, so I must work hard before I can buy what I want."

"My mom said you made over 200 just from tutoring this month, more than a salaried worker’s pay!" Ji Fang spoke loudly on purpose, outwardly praising Su Wanwan but secretly envious, though well-masked.

Su Wanwan felt smug but humbly responded, "Not at all! I worked tirelessly, using knowledge and time to earn it, and those students were all your referrals. Had you wanted, I wouldn’t have made the money, so I really must thank you!"

Hearing this, Ji Fang felt much more appeased and provocatively glanced at Tang Jing.