Chapter 14 (1/2)

Despite Mingxi’s absence, they couldn’t help but to make her the main topic of tonight’s dinner.

When Madam Zhao took a glance at Mingxi’s chair which had been empty for the past week and a half, she slammed her bowl and chopsticks on the table before frowning at Zhao Zhanhuai. “Didn’t you go to her school today?”

Zhao Yuning did not dare to step in. His eyes travelled carefully to his eldest brother.

Zhao Zhanhuai felt an oncoming headache. It was obvious that he couldn’t just tell his mother about Mingxi wanting to sever all ties with them right now, or else his house would immediately be turned upside down.

He paused. Then, as if nothing had happened, he picked up a dish and said, “I did.”

“Then where is she? Did you fail to coax her back?”

Zhao Zhanhuai said, “Mingxi said that she’s been preparing for the Hundred School Tournament recently. As the journey between school and home is rather time consuming, she decided to continue staying in school. She’ll be back on the day of your birthday party.”

“She wants to join the tournament as well?” Madam Zhao questioned.

Even Zhao Yuan was surprised. She didn’t know what was up with Zhao Mingxi recently. Not only did she stop chasing after Shen Liyao, she also placed her focus on her studies. Furthermore, she joined both the School Beauty Contest and the Hundred School Tournament.

Zhao Yuan did not dare to compete with Zhao Mingxi in terms of the former, but with regards to the latter, when it came to their results, Zhao Yuan was extremely confident.

She felt more assured now, hence she spoke with the tone of an experienced person, “If she manages to get into the finals, she can get a scholarship, and after the competition, those who got into the Top 10 can obtain extra marks for their college entrance examination. So it is only normal for Mingxi to want to try. However, the spaces are limited. It isn’t easy to be eligible for the competition to begin with… It might be a little hard with Mingxi’s results.”

“Mingxi is probably unhappy about the fact that I managed to get into the finals last year while she couldn’t even qualify for the competition itself. Do you think we should send Professor Gao a gift to help Mingxi out?”

Zhao Zhanhuai furrowed his brows and said, “I am familiar with Professor Gao. He won’t accept such gifts. The important part is her participation.”

Madam Zhao had nothing to add to this, but she couldn’t help but to nag, “What tournament, they are all excuses. It looks like she’s still angry. What is wrong with this child? And what happened to her phone? Why can’t any of us reach her?”

Zhao Yuning’s head was bent so low that it could be buried in his bowl.

Zhao Zhanhuai thought for a moment before replying, “Her phone was damaged because she dropped it in water.”

“Then give her money to buy another one!”

“I bought one for her already,” Zhao Zhanhuai said while holding his forehead. “But since she’s preparing for her upcoming exams, she’s closing herself off from the world as well. Let’s just allow her to focus on her studies. She will definitely be back on the day of the birthday party.”

Only then did Madam Zhao stop. She then changed the topic, “Oh right, I heard that the upstart Dong family are about to return to this country. Be careful, don’t let them do anything behind our backs.”

“Why did they decide to come back now?” Zhao Zhanhuai frowned. “Does Mingxi know?”

Madam Zhao said, “I don’t think so. They have yet to make a move. I heard this news from my friends when I went shopping the other day.”

The Dong family was Mingxi’s small town neighbor. They were originally poor, but right before the Zhao family found Mingxi, a miracle happened to that family that year and they became upstarts. There was also a boy from that family who was about the same age as Mingxi and they were good friends.

Back when they were still searching for Mingxi, this family was the biggest obstacle they had encountered.

They didn’t know what this family was thinking, but they refused to let Mingxi go. They even went to the extent of secretly bringing Mingxi with them when they moved.

Furthermore, the moment they met this family, there was a strong sense of hostility between them. Their family’s Dong Shen was also this close to making Zhao Yuan stagger.

At that moment, they almost wanted to sue them.

Fortunately, this family moved overseas.

The moment they mentioned this family, Madam Zhao’s gaze was full of distaste. “Even if they are rich now and have loads of money, they don’t have any manners. Thank goodness we didn’t allow them to keep Mingxi by their side.”

It was obvious that the atmosphere around the table was quite bad.

Zhao Yuan placed a vegetable in Madam Zhao’s bowl. She smiled and said, “Mom, don’t worry. I’m still here. Why don’t I massage your shoulders after dinner?”

“How could that be the same?” Madam Zhao rubbed her temples and said casually.

Although she favored Zhao Yuan more as Zhao Yuan looked obedient from every angle, she could not ignore the blood relations embedded in their genes. This was also the reason why they insisted on searching for Zhao Mingxi even though many years had passed.

Zhao Yuan’s facial expression went stiff.

She subconsciously looked at the other two around the table. However, today’s Zhao Zhanhuai and Zhao Yuning were acting out of the ordinary. They only bothered to lower their heads with heavy hearts instead of trying to reassure her.

Zhao Yuan felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, as if something bad was about to happen soon.

*

There weren’t a lot of people who stayed in school. In order to avoid fires during the weekend, the academic building was closed. Only one classroom at the fourth floor of the library would be open for students to self study.

For the whole of Fu Yangxi’s three years here, he had no idea what the library looked like. But after school today, his thoughts kept on floating to the library.

Ke Chengwen also took a glimpse at the library. Coincidentally, he saw a familiar figure carrying a bag as he walked toward that direction.

Shen Liyao?

He doesn’t stay in school, so what is he doing at the library after class? It can’t be that he’s there to look for the transfer student, right?

“What are you looking at?” Fu Yangxi was about to follow the direction of his gaze when Ke Chengwen immediately blocked him and said, “Your ride is here.”