CHAPTER 391: CHAPTER 300: FATHER AND DAUGHTER

The Zhou Family’s living room had a piece of embroidery on the coffee table, one foot wide and half a meter long.

It was a portrait full of vibrant colors, depicting the former president in front of Tianmen under the blazing sun, surrounded by children with bright and innocent smiles offering flowers.

The characters inside had lively and vivid expressions; the flowers layered and blooming, faint scents of floral fragrance could be sensed, showcasing the essence of Su Embroidery to the fullest.

Zhou Xiaozheng frowned as he looked at Zhou Jiao. Seeing this piece of Su Embroidery, he realized how much effort and energy his child must have put into it over the past couple of months. He understood his daughter’s good intentions, but at the cost of her health, how could he bear it?

"Dad, I really just took some time every day, you can ask my brother if I stayed up late. I’m pretty fast. I still had to review my lessons, so it really didn’t take much time," Zhou Jiao said, raising her hand.

Zhang Guoqing helplessly nodded. She didn’t stay up late, but she did spend quite a bit of time. He couldn’t do much about it; his wife was quite stubborn.

Zhou Xiaozheng, seeing things had come to this point, could only instruct her not to embroider things anymore. His dear Jiao Jiao always strived for perfection, and it’s best to let go of such painstaking and eye-straining tasks. He didn’t dare to tell her earlier about the possibility of meeting the president, worried it would cause her to overthink. Now, he truly didn’t know whether to admire his child’s foresight.

"Leave the framing to Dad. Don’t work on sweaters for no reason; Dad has enough sweaters for the next ten years. Tomorrow our family will go out to buy some items to send to your father-in-law and mother-in-law. Go to bed early tonight and get plenty of rest."

Zhou Jiao nodded. Her mother was acting a bit unusual tonight, and only her father could resolve it. She decided to give her dad some time and space to handle it.

At dawn, Zhou Jiao got up early. With Zhang Guoqing’s help with the Gu family’s matters, she felt much more at ease.

The bugle sounded, and Zhou Jiao and Zhang Guoqing ran two laps with the soldiers and then practiced boxing with the old men. Now, as she was preparing breakfast with Aunt Chen, Zhou Jiao’s face beamed with a smile.

Last night, she didn’t know how Zhou Xiaozheng persuaded Lin Lishan. But now, Lin Lishan, in a good mood, would occasionally pop into the kitchen while holding Ping’an, joking with Zhou Xiaozheng and his son-in-law.

After breakfast, the family arranged for the children. Zhou Jiao specifically changed into work pants and an old cotton jacket. Over the past two days, she realized this was the mainstream attire. Today, with the family going out, the men looked handsome, and the women appeared fashionable, which drew too much attention. She preferred to blend into the crowd.

Once she changed and returned to the living room, everyone couldn’t help but laugh. Dressed like this, she had a unique style, looking even younger with a rosy complexion like a porcelain doll, making even Aunt Chen holding Ping’an laugh heartily.

Lin Lishan teased, "Changing clothes still doesn’t affect your beauty? Only you like to play tricks. What’s wrong with looking pretty?"

"Really that eye-catching?" Zhou Jiao frowned, looking down at her clothes. She thought she looked plain.

Zhou Xiaozheng cleared his throat to hide his smile and said, "Very ordinary. Wear the military coat and cap, and no one would recognize you even if we’re familiar." With that, he left first. He had to leave, afraid his daughter would get embarrassed out of anger.

This morning’s priority was shopping; Lin Lishan drove, leading them around. By the time they shopped from Friendship Mall to the department store, it was almost noon.

Back home, after lunch, Zhou Xiaozheng took the opportunity, while his wife and son-in-law were packing parcels, to quickly whisk Zhou Jiao away. He had no interest in strolling around malls.

Father and daughter spent the afternoon driving around, looking for ancient books and old magazines, and buying four treasures of the study.

As dusk approached, Zhou Xiaozheng took her to a courtyard. Inside the courtyard, it had a classical charm. An elderly man carefully brought out a box, opened it, making Zhou Jiao overjoyed.

"Mutton fat white, obsidian black"—for Go enthusiasts, owning 181 obsidian stones and 180 mutton fat jade stones was a dream come true. "Mutton fat is easy to find, obsidian is hard to come by," for mutton fat jade and obsidian jade are top-grade nephrite jade, having both is exceedingly rare.

In her past life, she had encountered a set, but with ordinary materials. Zhou Jiao carefully picked up the two jars of stones, lifted the Go board, and indeed, it was inlaid with silver threads.

She heard from the side that it was the masterpiece of the master craftsman from middle age. Just one look, and she knew it would be costly. Seeing Zhou Xiaozheng take out several gold bars, she closed her eyes tightly in distress.

It’s easy to acquire thousands but hard to find what the heart desires. She could only repeatedly comfort herself.

Zhou Xiaozheng tapped her head, smiling and gently led her away.

Sitting in the car, Zhou Jiao tightly embraced the box, cherishing it dearly, "Dad, this is wonderful. I can’t bear to let anyone touch it. Oh, it’s worth several houses."