244: Dumplings

Dumplings

Mai Qi nodded. "Yes, he has the phobia of poverty because of his childhood. He is obsessed with money. He will only feel safe by touching actual money."0

I pointed at the file. "You just completed his file?"

"Yes." Mai Qi answered sullenly.

We were busy with our jobs. The only sound was the keyboards.

"I feel bad for him." Mai Qi suddenly stopped. She rested her head on the back of the chair. I assumed she was still talking about the man, so I didn't pay her much attention. I listened to her while I continued to work.

"He also came from a backward place. The place was poor, but the people there were very kind. I've only been there once. My mother said the place was too dirty, so she forbade me to go. Every year, my brother will still go back there with him." Mai Qi said slowly. 

I then realized Mai Qi was talking about 'him'.

"He came from the same background and married a girl from the city. In fact, he has married twice. Like this man, he also has one daughter and one son. However, he is not as rich as this man. He doesn't take anything that doesn't belong to him. A government salary is actually meager. When my grandfather was hospitalized, he had no money. It was my mother who had to borrow from her relatives.

"As a son and a husband, he has failed. As a father, he has failed too. But he is very good at his job. No matter where his office is, he will manage the place well. He has a sensitive touch on the pulse of the local economy. Everyone says that he is a good government official. 

"It must have been hard for him to resist those temptations." Mai Qi sighed.

"But he is still not good enough in your eyes?" I couldn't help but ask.

Mai Qi was silent. I thought it meant that she agreed with me. But then she said, "No one is perfect. His weakness is that he doesn't know how to be a good father, but Nanxing, it is my fate to be his daughter. However, I will decide what kind of Mai Qi I will become. After all, he did grow from an unknown mountain village child to a famous government official without a powerful father to help him, right?"

Mai Qi turned towards me with clarity in her eyes.

"Mai Qi, you should tell him these things. He would be so glad." I persuaded.

Mai Qi's face darkened. "Tch, like he has the time and patience to listen to me. Plus, why should I say these things to him when he hasn't said anything remotely similar to me? Hmph!" She rolled her eyes. 

I used the webcam on my computer to record Mai Qi's words. I believed this would be a precious gift for a father.

I didn't plan to use this to curry favor with him. I just wanted him to know that his daughter did love him, but like him, she also wasn't good at expressing herself. He had raised a good daughter.

As a good and fair official who devoted himself to the people, he deserved a good daughter. He should be enjoying this warmth of a family!

On the second day, the assistant, Brother Du Heng brought me 2 big boxes of dumplings. He said they were fennel dumplings, a certain girl's favorite. I was lucky to see a smile of Brother Du Heng's face before he left.

Such wonderful dumplings!

Mai Qi was very happy. She asked me where I got them. After all, it was not fennel season at M City. In fact, it was not fennel season anywhere in China!

I smiled. "It's been quite taxing to go through these cases, so I thought to bribe you with these, my dear princess!"

Mai Qi stuffed a dumpling in her mouth. She gave me a thumbs up. "Your bribe is accepted!"

I looked at the laughing Mai Qi. He is a qualified father. He knows that his daughter's favorite food is fennel dumplings. 

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