Chapter 23.2 - (Part 2) (1/2)

Zhao Zhanhuai directly ignored his mother’s shock and disapproval. After firing Zhang Yufen, he planned to pay a proper visit to Zhao Mingxi again.

And this time, they will have a proper conversation.

As they were only a week away from the birthday banquet, he was hard-pressed on bringing her back.

When he heard that they were having their exams, Zhao Zhanhuai even purposely waited for another two days. Two days later, in the afternoon when they were done with their exams, he got his secretary to drive the car and come along with him to bring the clothes which the nanny brought home back to A High.

He didn’t look for Zhao Mingxi at the International Class this time. He knew the reality of what would happen. If he did the same thing he did previously, he might not even be able to get in a few words before Mingxi would turn and go back to class. He wouldn’t be able to make any progress then.

He wanted to look for Zhao Mingxi’s dean and homeroom teacher first so that they could ask Zhao Mingxi to come over. Then, he would ask them to give him and Zhao Mingxi some time to talk.

Zhao Zhanhuai was having a headache about this matter as well. This was the first time that he, as a 25-year-old man, had to deal with the issue of a rebellious teenager.

Furthermore, he had only attended Zhao Yuan’s Parent Teacher Meeting once when she was in her First Year. He had never done so for Mingxi— Thus, after parking the car outside and entering the school, he was like a blind man as he did not know where to find the dean and Mingxi’s homeroom teacher.

The exams have just ended so they can’t be in the office, right?

Just as Zhao Zhanhuai was tossing his car keys to the secretary so that he could park the car, he suddenly saw a familiar figure coming out from the convenience store.

That girl had some snacks in her arms. When she saw him, she exclaimed, “Zhanhuai ge!”

Zhao Zhanhuai replied, “You are?”

That girl walked over to him. “I am Pu Shuang. I’m Yuanyuan’s close friend. I’ve been to your house before, but you just got back from work and went straight to the study room that day so you might not have noticed me,”

Zhao Zhanhuai nodded. “I see. Nice to meet you.”

Not only was Zhao Zhanhuai handsome, he was also young. With his neat and chipper black and white suit, everyone in school who passed by them would spare him another glance.

And they would look at Pu Shuang as well.

Pu Shuang could feel the heat rushing to her face. She asked, “Did you come here to look for Yuanyuan?”

“No.” Zhao Zhanhuai shook his head. He then thought about how Pu Shuang and Zhao Yuan were from the same class, and since the Evergreen Class and International Class are in the same academic building, they should have the same dean. Thus, he asked, “I’m looking for your dean. Do you know where he might be right now?”

As Zhao Zhanhuai was extremely handsome, Pu Shuang couldn’t help but to ask again, “What’s your business with our dean?”

But Zhao Zhanhuai just said, “Just tell me where he is. If you don’t know, I’ll ask around.”

Pu Shuang looked behind him and saw his secretary carrying a bunch of things while standing afar by the car.

Those things looked like presents.

Could it be that he got these presents for their dean as well as their homeroom teacher, and that he plans to invite them for Zhao Yuan’s birthday banquet? That’s why he couldn’t say anything to her?

When Pu Shuang realized this, she was even more jealous of Zhao Yuan. Her elder brother was so handsome and absolutely spoiled her. He was even so detail-oriented to the point where he would give her teachers presents on her behalf.

No wonder the dean and their homeroom teacher would always pay more attention to Zhao Yuan.

Pu Shuang offered joyfully, “I’ll bring you there.”

Zhao Zhanhuai entered the dean’s office.

Then, Pu Shuang left.

When she left the dean’s office, she coincidentally bumped into Zhao Yuan who had just come out of the piano room. She went over and looped her arm around hers. “Guess who paid a visit to our school?”

Zhao Yuan asked, “Who?”

“Your eldest brother.” Pu Shuang smiled as she leaned in to whisper into Zhao Yuan’s ear. “His secretary was carrying a bunch of things while he went to visit the dean and our homeroom teacher. My guess is that he came here for your birthday banquet. After all, we’re already in Year 3. He would want the teachers to take extra care of you, hence he secretly came over to give them some gifts.”

Zhao Yuan looked towards the dean’s office. A blush formed on her cheeks.

Her whole family spoiled her, especially her second eldest brother Zhao Mo who was the most protective of her. But for some reason, she was always especially attracted to her eldest brother Zhao Zhanhuai.

Maybe it was because of how gentle he was in everything he did.

When she was young, she liked to stick around her eldest brother. But as she grew older and found out that she was not the biological daughter of the Zhao family, she was initially sad and nervous. Then when she looked at Zhao Zhanhuai, a sense of anticipation and happiness appeared in her heart.

There was a vague feeling of a crush forming in Zhao Yuan’s heart, but she could not put a finger on what that feeling was just yet.

Nonetheless, it was an undisputed fact that her eldest brother treated her very well.

The slight dissatisfaction she felt from when her eldest brother failed to console her when he came home that day disappeared instantly. She assumed that he must have been bothered by something in the company, hence he was in a bad mood.

“I’ll treat you to hotpot today.” Zhao Yuan said happily, “Then when we’re done, I’ll get my eldest brother to fetch us home.”

Pu Shuang was extremely jealous. “It feels like you’re a princess. You’re so lucky.”

While the two of them were chatting as they walked downstairs, they saw Zhao Mingxi who was walking upstairs.

They met right at the stairway.

When Pu Shuang saw Zhao Mingxi, she purposely raised her voice. “Yuanyuan, your eldest brother came looking for you in school again. He even got you so many gifts. He treats you so well!”

Zhao Mingxi, “…”

So what was she supposed to do? Cooperate and feign a look of envy?

Zhao Yuan hurriedly covered Pu Shuang’s mouth. She nodded at Mingxi, then ran away with Pu Shuang in laughter.

Mingxi continued upstairs, wondering what business the dean has with her.

*

Meanwhile, in the dean’s office.

Normal Class 6’s homeroom teacher was a little slow in collecting the exam papers, so when he sent the papers to the dean’s office, he coincidentally bumped into Zhao Zhanhuai who was waiting for the dean.

He unconsciously looked toward Zhao Zhanhuai. In that instant, the wheels in his mind started to run. He felt as if he was really familiar. He looked like someone he used to teach… Zhao Mingxi’s guardian?

When Zhao Zhanhuai saw this middle-aged man staring at him through his spectacles, he immediately got up and offered to shake his hand. “Hello. You are—?”

“I am Normal Class 6’s homeroom teacher, Li Yong.” The teacher did not accept his hand shake. He even tossed the test papers on the table before saying, “Have you come to school to pick up your other sister again?”

“Are you Mingxi’s ex-homeroom teacher?” Although Zhao Zhanhuai had no idea why this homeroom teacher was suddenly so hostile towards him, he still maintained a respectful attitude and explained, “I’m here for Mingxi today, not for Yuanyuan.”

“Humph,” The teacher snorted. “How rare of you to look for her. Last year when she got gastroenteritis in the middle of an exam, no one from her family came. I even had to get two students from my class to send her to the hospital.”

“She never told us about it!” Zhao Zhanhuai was exasperated. He had no idea that Zhao Mingxi had gastroenteritis. He went through his memories once more and affirmed himself, “She never told any of us!”

“Of course she would never tell you about it! What’s the point in telling you?” The teacher looked down at him. “No one from your family has ever attended her Parent Teacher Meeting! I even went out of my way to ask about this last year. Why was it that Zhao Yuan from the Evergreen Class had family members over but our Mingxi had no one? I wanted to ask what the hell were you guys thinking, but the next thing I saw was you leaving in the car with your other sister!”

Zhao Zhanhuai felt a sharp stab in his heart.

It was true that he attended Zhao Yuan’s Parent Teacher Meeting. Then he got their mother to attend Mingxi’s. However, their mother was so busy with playing with her friends that day that she forgot about it, hence her absence.

“My mother forgot about it.” Zhao Zhanhuai could only apologize. “I’m sorry. But this was just one occasion, you…”

“What do you mean ‘just one occasion’? Do you think it was just one occasion?” The teacher had to stop himself before he threw the papers in Zhao Zhanhuai’s face. “There was a period of time when such a hardworking student like Zhao Mingxi would fall asleep in class. I asked her about it a few times. I even gave her a good scolding before she confessed that it was because she was busy cooking all day that she didn’t have time to do her homework, hence she had to burn the midnight oil to complete them and ultimately caused her to fall asleep in class— Aren’t you guys from a wealthy family? Since you can drive cars worth a few hundred thousand yuan, why must you get Zhao Mingxi to cook for you everyday?! She has such a heavy workload as a Year 2 student. Do you not want her to get into university?”

Zhao Zhanhuai was shocked. “Mingxi gets sleepy in class…?”

He never thought of this.

He thought that Mingxi was happy whenever she made dinner for them. She was good at cooking, and she wanted to ingratiate herself with the family.

But he never thought about the impact of this matter on Mingxi.

While the first thing Zhao Yuning and Zhao Yuan did when they got home was to do their homework, she was in the kitchen dunking her hands in water with that nanny who treated her poorly.

She was human too. Of course she would be sleepy.

When she first arrived at their home, she was only 15 years old; still a skinny little girl who did not dare to even raise her head.

He did tell her back then that she did not need to make dinner for them.

But Zhao Yuning was an immature child. He only wanted to eat what Zhao Mingxi cooked.

Thus, Mingxi told him with her eyes gleaming, “It’s alright, da ge*. It won’t take me long anyway.”

*da ge = eldest brother

As Zhao Zhanhuai was still not that close to Mingxi and their relationship was still in an awkward phase, he could only let her be.

But if it was Zhao Yuan—

Zhao Zhanhuai could not imagine how their family would allow Zhao Yuan to use her hands which were used to play piano to wash vegetables instead.

Zhao Zhanhuai’s heart clenched painfully.

“She’s not made out of metal. How could she not be sleepy?” The teacher snorted coldly.

He always thought that Mingxi had a lot of natural talent. He could see through her answers that she was a bright student, but for some reason she would always be either sick or inconvenienced during her exams, hence she had never taken a proper exam before.

This made him wonder if it was because Mingxi lacked certain vitamins in her body— But the Zhao family was so rich, how could they raise a child who lacked vitamins?

He bought vitamins and supplements for Mingxi and insisted that she eat them everyday. After Mingxi gave him the money and thanked him, he couldn’t help but to look at the Evergreen Class’ Zhao Yuan to see how she was doing. In the end, all he saw was a completely different and confident child who was raised with love.

His heart ached even though he was just her homeroom teacher.

Therefore, he naturally held a grudge against the Zhao family.

“When she scraped her knee during Sports Day last year, no one from her family came either,” the teacher continued to complain. “Later on her face got injured and she fell back in her studies. When I heard that she was staying in school, I was happy on her behalf. Now that she didn’t have to make dinner anymore, can you imagine how much more time she would have to study?!”

“It is not enough to provide mere financial support when it comes to a child’s growth. Will you treat your other sister this poorly?”

Zhao Zhanhuai felt a sharp prick in his heart.