For a moment, the four-person family group chat was silent.

After more than ten minutes, the first reply finally appeared in the group.

Fang Mom: [👍][👍][👍]

The appearance of this reply broke the silence in the group.

It didn’t take long for the other two to reply as well.

Fang Sis: [👍][👍][👍]
Fang Dad: [👍][👍][👍]

And then, silence again.

Fang Lian was lying awake, and seeing the messages made it even harder to sleep.

He stared at the nine thumbs-ups, his mind racing.

Have Mom, Dad, and Sister already gone home and coaxed Xiao Ji?

No, that’s not right. The three of them should be even busier than me during this time. Even if they could squeeze out time like him, they shouldn’t be faster than me!

But they showed no reaction to his progress. If their progress wasn’t already a step ahead of his, how else could this be explained?

Fang Lian’s mind was racing with wild thoughts at a time when he should have been sleeping.

Could it be that his relationship with Fang Ji was not only inferior to that of a professional, but even to his own parents and sister?

No, how could that be!

Every time he prepared a gift for Xiao Ji, his was always the best in the family, the one that received the most approval from Xiao Ji.

His relationship with Xiao Ji should be the best in the family!

Just as he was lost in his wild thoughts for who knows how many minutes, a message suddenly popped up.

Fang Yecheng: [You went home to find Xiao Ji today? That was fast. Has the project in Africa been finalized?]

…

The time where Fang Yecheng was located happened to be in the evening.

He had just finished showering and was about to sit at his desk to read the latest industry progress report for twenty minutes before going to bed.

However, as soon as he sat down at his desk, his phone dinged.

He glanced at it and saw the photo Fang Lian had sent in the small group of four.

Fang Yecheng was stunned when he saw the photo.

Has Xiao Ji’s anger subsided?

He immediately exited the group chat, opened Fang Ji’s chat window, and made a voice call.

Before three seconds had passed, the call was familiarly hung up by the other side.

Oh, so Xiao Ji’s anger was directed at each of them individually.

Their progress in coaxing Ji was independent of and did not affect each other.

Fang Yecheng came to this disappointing conclusion.

He frowned and returned to the group chat, clicking on and enlarging Fang Lian’s photo.

In the photo, Xiao Ji had a smile on his face and showed no intention of refusing the photo. It seemed that Xiao Lian had completely coaxed Xiao Ji.

…Then what about himself?

Fang Yecheng’s head began to throb as he thought of the “preparation” homework he had been assigned.

The projects Lin Chen had asked him to prepare in advance were numerous, such as dozens of pieces of personal information about Xiao Ji’s hobbies, social circle, etc.

Normally, this information was not difficult to find.

The problem was that his “preparation” homework not only required him to obtain Xiao Ji’s current information, but also to recall information from his various stages of life, such as kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, and high school!

This was really a bit too difficult for Fang Yecheng.

So much so that his preparation work had been stuck for three whole days without any progress!

Originally, this matter wasn’t so frustrating.

If he couldn’t complete it, he could just discuss it with Lin Chen and see where this information was needed, and then find something else to replace it.

But who would have thought that Xiao Lian’s progress would be so smooth and so rapid.

How long has it been since Lin Chen notified them of the submission time? Xiao Lian had already completely coaxed Xiao Ji, and they had even taken a photo together?

For a moment, Fang Yecheng couldn’t sit still.

They were all family. Of course, he wasn’t trying to compete with his son over who was first.

He just felt that as a father, he should set an example in all matters. Even if he wasn’t faster than Xiao Lian, he at least couldn’t be too slow, right?

And Xiao Lian’s trip was clearly a success, without any mistakes.

If his preparation time was longer than Xiao Lian’s, and he still couldn’t coax Xiao Ji after a trip home, how embarrassing would that be??

Fang Yecheng stared at the photo with a serious and focused gaze.

Hand-decorated giant dolls.
A specially decorated first-floor living room.
At least dozens of new jewelry pieces.

Xiao Lian’s gift preparations for this trip home were truly abundant and thoughtful!

But this was not enough.

When it came to gifts, they had never been lacking for Xiao Ji.
When it came to living expenses, they had always given him more than enough.
From this, it could be seen that the anger Xiao Ji was feeling this time was definitely not a problem that could be solved with just gifts.
Otherwise, why would the four of them need to go to the trouble of creating a group to study this, setting aside so much time for preparation, and even returning to the country for this?

Fang Yecheng thought seriously for half a minute and quickly wrote down several high-probability scenarios on a draft paper.

He scribbled for a long time, but his brows remained tightly furrowed.

He felt that no matter which scenario he deduced, it was not enough to make Xiao Lian’s great cause of coaxing Ji so smooth.

After thinking for a moment, Fang Y_cheng couldn’t help but poke Fang Lian’s private chat window.

He used work as a pretext to ask about the project in Africa. After a few sentences, he casually got to the main point.

Fang Yecheng: [It’s good that the project progress is normal. If you need resource support, call me anytime. By the way, how was your trip home today? Is Xiao Ji’s anger all gone?]

Fang Lian: [Okay, yes.]

Fang Yecheng: [Good. The idea of decorating the living room is quite new. Who made this action plan? Send it to me for a look.]

Staring at the chat history, Fang Lian realized that Fang Yecheng’s progress was still a long way off.

He subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief—

Thank goodness. Although his relationship with Xiao Ji was still far from a single hair of the fake brother’s, compared to the rest of the family, his progress seemed to be quite good!

He hesitated for a brief three seconds before briefly summarizing what had happened after he got home to his father.

Under his father’s shocked and strong request, he kindly shared the PDF of the “Practical and Warm Family Communication Manual” (authored by Lin Chen) (de-highlighted version) in the group.

Anyway, he was already far ahead in terms of progress, so it was only right to help his parents and sister. The four of them were completely on a united front when it came to the problem of coaxing Ji.

If he could help his parents and sister coax Xiao Ji sooner…

Just then, a group message popped up.

[Family Work Group Six]

Liu (Sixth) Fang: [@Fang Bro, your score for this first round of action is 68 points (60% Xiao Ji satisfaction + 30% behavior score + 10% speed score). Please keep up the good work.]

Fang Lian: “…”

Fang Lian shot up from the bed!

Wait, what?

What 68 points? Who got 68 points? Him?

What’s the full score? It has to be 70, right?

What’s the meaning of Liu Fang publicly announcing his score in the group? Could-could it be that they are going to be ranked in the group?!

Fang Lian’s eyes widened, his mind a blank. He quickly retracted the PDF he had just sent in the group of four.

Then he bombarded Lin Chen with messages:

Fang Lian: [68? Why did you give me a 68? I followed all your instructions today! Xiao Ji is no longer angry with me, and I even agreed to two of Xiao Ji’s conditions!]

Fang Lian: [What are the scoring criteria? What are the deductions based on? Will there be a ranking in the group after the scoring? You only informed us that there would be scoring after I completed my action. Do you think this is fair? Their preparation time will be longer than mine, and their experience will also be richer than mine!]

From studying to working, Fang Lian had never received such a low score. For a moment, he was so angry that he couldn’t close his eyes in bed.

He stared at his phone screen. If Lin Chen didn’t reply to him in a second, he wouldn’t be willing to close his eyes for a second.

After waiting for a full five minutes, new messages finally slowly appeared in the chat box.

Liu Fang: [68 = 35 Xiao Ji satisfaction points + 23 behavior points + 10 speed points.]

Liu Fang: [Advance notice: After all family members in the group have completed the first round of action, the group will calculate everyone’s monthly Ji interaction score and rank them in the group on a monthly basis.]

Liu Fang: [The ranking has no actual impact and will only be posted on the group’s announcement board until the next month’s ranking comes out.]

Liu Fang: [If Xiao Lian is interested in the ranking, you can read more of the “Communication Manual” during this leading period and think about the action plan for May in advance. Finally, I wish you a good ranking, a good night’s sleep, and good night ^ ^]

Fang Lian: “…”

Fang Lian lay back on the bed, expressionless, completely sleepless.

At the same time.

In Fang Chengyu’s room.

The system chewed on the “Communication Manual” vigorously, then, based on the principles described in the manual, conducted a detailed analysis of Fang Lian’s actions today, working hard to create its homework for the night, “Fang Lian’s First Round Action Report and Behavior Optimization Analysis.”

While creating the homework, it observed the host’s speech.

The system asked curiously, “Host, Fang Lian was clearly spurred on by his competitive spirit today, looking like he wants to surpass you in Fang Ji’s heart. Why did you stimulate him further with a score?”

Lin Chen was currently working overtime, studying a report on the jewelry industry, constantly highlighting things on the report with his mouse.

Hearing this, his hand paused. “Does your database have a shelf life of less than two years?”

Over the past year and a half, the system had completely gotten used to the host’s blows and sarcasm.

It was not hurt at all, just shyly cried out, “Ho-host…!”

Lin Chen: “I’ve said it before. Humans find it difficult to develop a desire to chase something that is far beyond their reach.”

“Even if they initially develop a desire to challenge due to a misjudgment of the enemy’s strength, this desire will be worn away by repeated failures and the ever-present gap.”

The system suddenly understood. “Oh! So it’s because of that data! That’s right, you can’t possibly deliberately lower your ‘score’ when interacting with Fang Ji.”

Lin Chen added, “And also.”

The system was confused. “And also?”

Lin Chen’s gaze returned to the document.

He asked faintly, “If I use Fang Chengyu to dangle in front of them, what will they do after Fang Chengyu leaves? And what will Xiao Ji do?”

“Only by establishing a fully automatic, internal motivation system in the family group can we ensure that their system continues to operate after Fang Chengyu leaves.”

The system thought it made sense.

But it muttered, “Host, you charged the Qi family a full thirty million for transforming Qi Xiuyi alone. But in the Fang family, for transforming their family of five, you only charged sixty million. Host, you’ve made a loss!”

The host’s expression did not change as he continued to highlight the document.

The host asked it, “Do you know that in the old days of teaching, besides red envelopes, what was the most profitable part?”

The system was confused. “What else was there?”

Lin Chen pointed to his phone, which had suddenly been flooded with messages from the Fang parents and sister after he had announced a numerical score.

Some were asking him about the meaning of the score and whether there would be a ranking, some were asking him for the communication manual in advance, and some were even trying to ask him if they could buy some insider information with a red envelope.

The host said softly, “Also, tutoring fees.”