He had his own matters to attend to.
Though he wished he could sit by her bedside all day, his work couldn't be neglected.
He quickly took a shower in the bathroom, freshened up, and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast.
Just like the night before, he made a small amount and then woke them up one by one.
A few of the defiant ones still refused to eat out.
Peng Fei ignored them, ate his own meal, took three sensible ones for a workout in the yard, and then had them return to write their homework.
Under the watchful eye of such a stern and irritable instructor, they dared not slack off. The few of them diligently wrote for two hours. When the break time arrived, the internet was also restored.
Peng Fei grabbed his phone to check. With a signal, he walked to the utility room to call Chen Jiaojiao.
Chen Jiaojiao asked how things had gone the previous day, and Peng Fei told her truthfully.
Chen Jiaojiao was quite understanding and wasn't overly worried.
"Since you've made this firm decision, everything is up to you. I trust you have your judgment. Alright, I know everything now. If there's nothing else, you can hang up."
Peng Fei called out to her.
"Sister Chen, I have something else I want to tell you."
"Something else to say?" Chen Jiaojiao was taken aback. "What else is there?"
"...Could I get an advance on my salary?"
She hadn't expected him to ask for an advance on his salary on his first day on the job.
Could it be that after she praised his way of doing things, he was getting ahead of himself?
It was truly disheartening. Chen Jiaojiao's good impression of him instantly vanished.
"What do you mean by that?"
Peng Fei knew she had misunderstood and quickly explained.
"It doesn't mean anything. It's just that I don't have any money on me right now. I sent it all home, and it's a bit inconvenient to go out."
Chen Jiaojiao: "I'll have someone deliver your daily necessities on time. Since daily life isn't a problem, why do you need to go out?"
Peng Fei hadn't planned to go out. It was just that he had suddenly encountered Zhan Jingchun, and he had discovered with shame that he had too few clothes, and they were all ugly.
Although he didn't dare to see her, who knew if they might run into each other someday.
He hoped to look presentable when he saw her again, at least not be too looked down upon by her.
He had the idea of dressing himself up, but he only had a little over a hundred yuan.
Peng Fei didn't know how to lie, so he told Chen Jiaojiao the truth.
"I found my wife, and I might go to her any day now. We haven't seen each other in a long time, and I want to leave a good impression. I want to buy a couple of outfits."
So that was it.
Chen Jiaojiao sat up from the large bed and smiled.
"Don't tell me you found her in the villa area. That place isn't for ordinary people to live in. Are you sure it's your wife?"
Peng Fei didn't dare to tell her too much and remained silent for a while.
"I know this request is unreasonable and shameless. If Sister Chen doesn't trust me, then just pretend I didn't say anything."
After speaking, he was about to hang up. Chen Jiaojiao realized she had been a bit petty and stopped him.
"No, don't worry. I trust my own judgment. Since you could see something in me to have you manage the children, and entrust me with something so important, it means you have your own exceptional qualities."
She speculated if Peng Fei's wife was working as a nanny or childcare provider somewhere, and he happened to see her?
A young and handsome man like him, though perhaps lacking in ability, was still good for being steadfast for a woman. Wasn't that what she had liked about him initially?
"An advance of ten or twenty thousand yuan is not a problem. The money will be yours sooner or later anyway, as long as you do your job well. Wait, I'll transfer it to you now."
Chen Jiaojiao, being wealthy and generous, transferred him 20,000 yuan. Peng Fei thanked her on WeChat and then said,
"I won't be out for too long. I'll be back after buying the clothes. Nothing will happen here, Sister Chen, don't worry."
Chen Jiaojiao gave him an OK gesture. Peng Fei left the utility room and went to prepare lunch.
The same routine, calling them for lunch.
Xiang Siyuan and the others, the stubborn ones, still refused to eat. He called the other three, assigned them tasks, and then warned them.
"As long as you obediently do as I say, there will be a reward tonight. Don't follow the example of those who are uncooperative. You'll only harm yourselves physically and be punished later."
"I'm going out for a bit. You all behave yourselves. If you dare to cause any trouble, you'll regret it when I get back."
With that, he climbed over the wall, more than two meters high, under the furtive gazes of the three little ones.
Although he warned them verbally that there would be big trouble if they caused any mischief,
knowing he had left, those few couldn't suppress their restlessness and ran to inform their accomplices.
Upon hearing that he had climbed over the wall to leave, several of them cursed in the room.
"Damn it, what kind of person is he! He climbs over the wall to get out himself, but locks us in and doesn't give us food, that scoundrel! We must revolt and show him a thing or two!"
The young masters were utterly disgraced for being unable to deal with a brute from the mountains.
They instructed their three brothers outside to work together to remove the wooden planks from the door. Soon, all seven of them were reunited.
Xiang Siyuan had never experienced such intense hunger in his life; his eyes were practically seeing stars.
They first went to the refrigerator to find something to eat and drink, then instructed their brothers.
"Burn all the homework! We're not writing it! Let's see what he can do!"
"Smash all these wooden planks. Let's see how he locks us up in the future!"
"He climbed the wall, so we will too! If anyone at home asks, say he taught us! If all seven of us get caught, let's see how he explains it to them!"
Everyone shouted excitedly and did as Xiang Siyuan said.
Since there was no fire, they used the fire from the stove to burn the homework, then smashed the wooden planks with stools, making the room a mess. Afterward, they ran to the yard to climb the wall.
For Peng Fei, who had grown up climbing trees and walls in the countryside, a wall over two meters high was not a challenge; he could get over it in a few moves.
But for them, it was much more difficult.
It seemed less like a wall and more like a cliff, both dangerous and imposing, and they couldn't get over it no matter what.
They tried stacking themselves like a pyramid, attempting to step on their companions' shoulders to climb up.
But it was truly too high, and the wall was slippery, with no handholds or footholds. They had no strength. After trying several times, their shoulders were almost scraped raw, but they still couldn't get over.
Then they thought of another idea: pulling out tables and chairs to use as platforms.
But the dining table was too large to move.
The coffee table was very low, and the chaise lounge was high and unstable. At most, only one person could be placed on it, which was of little use.
They tried every possible method, making the house a complete mess. Xiang Siyuan was furious and truly didn't know what to do.
He gritted his teeth.
"Forget this house! Today, I'm going to destroy it! If we can't climb over, then we won't. You, go and set the house on fire!"
What?
Set the house on fire?
They were still a bit hesitant.
Seeing how cowardly his brothers were, Xiang Siyuan became even more enraged.
"We've come this far. If we can't get out, won't we just be at his mercy when we return?"
"If you're willing to be defeated by him again, I'm not! No one's going, is that it? Then I'll go myself!"