Chapter 245

After settling Big Brother Jia Dajun, Xiao Jia stayed home until his leave ended, then returned to the camp.

The day before he went back, he bought some candies and visited the newspaper office to thank them for their help.

Even though he had paid for the service, it had been more than a month, and they still informed him when they received letters. He was very grateful.

The editor-in-chief invited Xiao Jia to his office.

After making him a pot of tea, the editor-in-chief said, “Comrade Jia, congratulations on finding your family.”

Xiao Jia happily replied, “I have to thank the newspaper for helping me find my big brother so smoothly.”

The editor-in-chief waved his hand nonchalantly, “As a public media outlet, caring for people’s livelihoods and supporting the military is our duty.”

Xiao Jia, being a straightforward person who wasn’t good with words, mainly answered the questions asked by the editor-in-chief.

Of course, the editor-in-chief didn’t ask about military matters, and Xiao Jia didn’t say anything about them.

Just as Xiao Jia was thinking about whether he should take his leave, the editor-in-chief asked, “Comrade Jia, may I ask who drew the portrait you published in the newspaper?”

After a brief consideration, Xiao Jia replied, “The portrait was drawn by our battalion commander’s sister, who is a university teacher. I can’t say more.”

Although Shi Tingyu didn’t request confidentiality, Xiao Jia couldn’t just reveal the person’s identity and name.

He felt that the editor-in-chief wasn’t a bad person and thought that, since the newspaper was a large organization, it might help Shi Tingyu’s career by mentioning her connection to the battalion commander.

If anything good came of it, his battalion commander could assess and decide.

Knowing he wouldn’t get more information, the editor-in-chief didn’t insist on keeping Xiao Jia.

He planned to ask Xiao Jia’s battalion commander about this university teacher later, thinking of doing an exclusive interview. Such talent was worth exploring and reporting.

Without the portrait, it would have taken much longer to find him with just a childhood photo.

Nearly twenty years had passed, and even if someone had seen the child back then, how many would remember his appearance?

After all, they weren’t his parents.

Moreover, the photo in the publication might not have been noticed.

Comrade Jia was able to find his brother mainly because of the portrait’s significant contribution.

Shi Tingyu, unaware that the newspaper wanted to interview her, was watching a drama unfold in the principal’s office.

He Linghui from her class, suspected of taking her sister’s place in college, was crying her eyes out in the principal’s office.

“Principal, I really am He Linghui. The one at home is my sister, He Minhui. The photo in the files was switched by my sister without me knowing. We look alike, and I didn’t realize it wasn’t my photo.”

All the teachers from the oil painting class were present besides He Linghui.

Principal Sun, having seen all kinds of people, wasn’t going to believe her just because she cried.

“The photo may be fake, but the grades can’t be,” he said, asking the teachers about her classroom performance.

Each teacher said she was struggling with her coursework.

Shi Tingyu had a more direct perspective.

Comparing her college entrance exam work with her current work, even a blind person could see something was wrong.

The girl could only cry.

Shi Tingyu had reported this to Principal Sun back in March, and it took this long to handle for a reason.

The reason lay with He Linghui’s parents.

The twin sisters were so alike that even neighbors couldn’t tell them apart.

But only the He family parents knew the differences.

However, the real He Linghui was reserved and not as charming as her sweet-talking sister.

After He Minhui took her sister’s acceptance letter and left, the family found out.

The He family parents were angry but didn’t want to swap them back because it would ruin the younger sister’s reputation.

Even though both daughters were precious to them, they favored the younger one in this situation.

Despite He Linghui’s protests, her parents refused to bring her back.

He Linghui, unable to defy her parents, planned to swap back when her sister returned for the holidays since they looked alike.

But before her sister came back, her parents persuaded her otherwise.

It turned out that it was her sister who wrote a letter to the family.

In the letter, He Minhui pleaded sincerely, apologized to her, and said that since her grades were not as good, she had no choice but to take this desperate measure.

She also encouraged her sister to study hard and aim to take the college entrance exam next summer, assuring her that she would definitely get in. This way, both sisters could attend university.

He Linghui was infuriated by her sister’s audacious idea.

It seemed that her sister was taking all the benefits for herself.

What if she took the exam under her sister’s name and was exposed? What a disaster that would be.

She felt that if she later got into a better school, her sister would shamelessly switch places with her again.

Considering her sister had managed to steal her acceptance letter and go to university without anyone knowing, He Linghui believed her sister could do anything.

However, He Linghui was dismayed to find that her parents and brother actually agreed with her sister’s plan.

The He parents thought simply: having two daughters in college was better than just one, and it would also protect the younger daughter’s reputation.

Her brother had the same idea. Having two college-educated sisters would make it easier for him to find a girlfriend.

Fortunately, the school’s people came.

Upon hearing that university teachers were coming, He mother first intercepted her eldest daughter, who was on her way home from the fields, and sent He father home to entertain the visitors.

On the way, He mother nearly knelt before He Linghui.

With red eyes, He Linghui angrily questioned, “That’s the university I got into! It’s the university I worked hard to get into while my sister was fooling around! How can you do this?”

Thinking of her eldest daughter’s hard work, He mother felt a bit guilty, but she also thought of her younger daughter at school and stood firm.

Seeing her eldest daughter adamant, He mother dragged her to her grandmother’s house, preventing her from meeting the teachers.

It was only after the teachers left that they let her go home.

Seeing the empty house, He Linghui cried bitterly again.

That same day, He parents wrote to their younger daughter, informing her of the situation and telling her to be cautious.

This led to He Minhui showing up at the principal’s office.

He Minhui was not stupid. She knew that if the teachers had gone to her house, she must have been exposed.

So she made a last-ditch effort, refusing to admit she had taken her sister’s place at university.

She even managed to explain away the photo in the file.

But the truth cannot be hidden, and her poor grades betrayed everything.

University was not as she had imagined, a place where she could relax.

Universities could expel students too.