"Finally decided to answer the phone?"
"It was on silent. I didn't hear it. I didn't ignore you on purpose."
"Then what do you need this phone for? As a decoration? Jiang Ruoqi, you know in your heart whether you did it deliberately."
"Fine. You've become more capable over the years. You don't see me as your father anymore. I can't control you!"
Enough. He spoke as if he cared about her.
He had never bothered before, and now she didn't need him to. The only reason she could silently endure his lecturing was that, having worked for many years, she had learned to tolerate.
Jiang Ruoqi suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. Facing the wave of paternalistic condescension, she actually began to wander off in thought, wondering if, when Meng Shang got older, he would follow the same path as all middle-aged men.
Given his profession, she felt the risk was high.
She was getting sidetracked.
She raised her hand and pressed her ear, continuing to let the words go in one ear and out the other.
Unlike the men at work who tried to overpower her with words, this one was her biological father, the man who gave her half his blood.
So, based on blood ties and the general sense of filial piety, she couldn't fight back like she would with others. She had to endure.
Because he was her father. Simply because he was her father.
And on the other end of the line, there was no sign of restraint. He kept talking. Not fast—his deep, middle-aged voice and the perennial posture of someone accustomed to being revered gave even ordinary words a strong sense of pressure.
It didn't feel like father and daughter; it felt like a boss reprimanding a subordinate.
Li Minghui had long lost mainland language habits; he spoke Mandarin with a Cantonese accent. He didn't mention her leaving Gangcheng but instead nitpicked small things to correct her attitude.
Hearing this, Jiang Ruoqi wondered if this man had choked on his rice while eating soft rice, making him grumpy and looking for trouble with her.
Still, she didn't speak. She let her father finish enumerating those trivialities before opening her mouth: "Are you done? I have things to do. If you're done, hang up."
"Jiang Ruoqi!" Li Minghui suddenly raised his voice. "Even now, do you still have nothing to say to me?"
His urgent roar clearly indicated that "the jig was up."
Jiang Ruoqi lamented that her father's map of Yan was too short; he couldn't maintain the "harmonious" facade of a father earnestly educating his daughter for even a little longer.
Yes, she hadn't told Li Minghui about being transferred back to the mainland.
The company had dispatched her to Xinhai in a hurry—no time for goodbyes. Besides, this was her job; she didn't need to report every move to a father she wasn't close to, like a primary schooler taking the bus home for the first time.
What's more, if he had known in advance, she might not have been able to return to the mainland so smoothly.
Jiang Ruoqi paused and let out a deep breath.
She really didn't want to explain all this now. More than she worried about familial ties, she feared that her father's call might make her miss her place in the queue.
With Meng Shang's personality, if they couldn't seize the moment to get the certificate today, waiting a second or third time might mean never getting it.
Jiang Ruoqi had planned everything, worried that Meng Shang, having worked a night shift, would be too tired, or conversely, too alert and not easily fooled.
If the cooked duck flew away, who could she find to compensate her for such a suitable husband?
But obviously, Li Minghui wasn't letting her off. Jiang Ruoqi had to keep it brief: "The company transferred me to the mainland branch. I'm in Xinhai now."
"Such a big incident, and you didn't tell me!"
"What good would telling you do? This is my job. I'm willing to accept the company's arrangement."
"Dad, you should remember that I'm almost thirty, right? I think an adult nearing thirty doesn't need to report work issues to their parents."
Li Minghui's breathing grew heavier over the phone; he was silent for a long time, presumably furious.
"What do you know! If you had told me earlier, I could have helped you stay in Gangcheng. Your Aunt Chen has already looked at a few..." Li Minghui stopped mid-sentence, as if suddenly recalling something, and fell silent.
"But I don't want to stay in Gangcheng."
Jiang Ruoqi didn't dwell on his insinuations. She seized the chance to interrupt his wishful thinking.
"I was never a Gangcheng native, and I won't stay there for life. Having the chance to come back feels good to me."
"If you aren't a Gangcheng native, become one!" Li Minghui was furious. "You know you're almost thirty. You should hurry up, find a good family in Gangcheng to marry into, settle down. Why run back to the mainland..."
"Really? Like you did back then?" Jiang Ruoqi's voice was cold.
She knew Li Minghui's weak spot all too well. She knew that once those words were spoken, the person on the other end would go berserk. So she moved the phone away from her ear in advance.
"Jiang Ruoqi!"
Sure enough, even from half a foot away, his roar came through clearly. Jiang Ruoqi raised an eyebrow and brought the phone back.
"I didn't mean anything else. I just don't aspire to stay in Gangcheng. Besides, my mom is in the mainland. I'm her only child. I have to come back."
"But you're my only child too!"
"So you want me to choose between you and my mom?" Jiang Ruoqi was immovable. She directly answered, "Then don't expect anything. I choose my mom."
"Besides, you have a stepson. In Gangcheng, you don't need me." She could work hard to die before her stepmother, so there would be no shortage of people to give him a decent send-off.
Of course, she didn't say the second half—for fear Li Minghui would go even crazier. And it was indeed a bit rebellious.
After Jiang Ruoqi's parents divorced, her father Li Minghui went south to do business, while her mother Jiang Yun took her from city to city in the south.
Jiang Yun worked in construction engineering, moving with projects—sometimes for a month or two, sometimes for a year or two. There were no elderly relatives to help with the child, so she had to bring Jiang Ruoqi along. Wherever Jiang Yun worked, Jiang Ruoqi transferred schools.