Lu Yanzhao called the homeroom teacher over to the fence and said quietly, “Teacher Zhou, your class has the most students preparing for the arts entrance exams. If you have time tonight, could you please let them know that there’ll be trial classes this weekend?”
“Teacher Shen Zhi and the others volunteered to hold them. I’m worried that if no one shows up, it’ll be a real blow to their confidence.”
“Right. It’s not mandatory. If the students aren’t interested, they don’t have to go.”
The homeroom teacher immediately replied, “Don’t worry.”
Everyone knew that the school’s board director treated them well.
After all, she had received overtime pay a few days ago, too.
After delivering the message, Lu Yanzhao left. The homeroom teacher turned back to the classroom.
She began, “Everyone knows that Shengde is opening an arts examination center, right?”
The students nodded one after another, whispering among themselves.
“Just because celebrities know how to perform doesn’t mean they know how to teach.”
“Exactly. For the arts entrance exams, you still need teachers with experience.”
“My mom said the same thing. Shengde is just using gimmicks and celebrity appeal.”
The homeroom teacher praised them. “A lot of training institutions rely on flashy names to charge people money. It’s good that you’re cautious about that.”
“But don’t look down on anyone. Just because people are saying something is bad, don’t blindly follow along and decide it’s bad without finding out for yourselves.”
“This weekend, the Shengde arts program will be holding trial classes. Anyone who’s interested can go and listen.”
The students discussed it among themselves.
Since it was only a trial class, there was nothing to lose by giving it a try.
Someone asked, “Can we bring our parents?”
The homeroom teacher nodded. “Of course.”
“Yay!”
Some of the students immediately signed up.
Others thought that if they didn’t go while their classmates did, and those classmates found the classes worthwhile and signed up, there might be no spots left by the time they wanted to enroll. Wouldn’t that be a huge loss?
So, seeing one another sign up, they all registered for the trial classes.
Tomorrow, they would see for themselves what these so-called “gimmick teachers” were really like!
—
It was evening rush hour. One streetlamp after another lit up outside the school gates.
Traffic was backed up along the main road, a continuous line of red taillights stretching into the distance.
Yu Xiaxing was stuck in traffic too, growing somewhat anxious as she looked around.
Suddenly, she spotted someone familiar standing beneath a bus stop sign with a backpack in his arms.
Wasn’t that Zheng Wenhao? Why was his face black and blue?
Oh, right. He’d said before that after dropping out, he planned to become a superstar. She had agreed to let him go.
He’d completed the withdrawal procedures today, which meant he was officially no longer a student.
He was the first student to drop out since Yu Xiaxing had taken up her position.
There was nothing else to do in the traffic jam, so Yu Xiaxing lowered the car window and called out to him, “Zheng Wenhao.”
Zheng Wenhao looked up blankly when he heard her voice.
When he recognized the person in the car, his expression stiffened. The arrogance he’d displayed at school was gone.
“B-Board Director Yu…”
At that age, people were often at their most arrogant, convinced they could trample the entire world beneath their feet.
But after life had slapped him around a few times, his pride had gradually subsided.
Yu Xiaxing was silent for a few seconds before saying, “Zheng Wenhao, I don’t think you’re beyond saving. When you get right down to it, your arrogance came from the warped ideas your parents drilled into you from childhood.”
“Your father was willing to use marriage as a bargaining chip, sacrificing his dignity to play the scapegoat for someone else in exchange for the resources and status he wanted. That taught you that twisting your principles to obtain resources was acceptable.”
“So, without even realizing it, you learned to imitate him. You thought showing off a cigar was impressive, bullying your classmates was powerful, and breaking the rules was a sign of ability.”
“You grew up in that kind of environment, so of course you became obsessed with privilege and enamored with vanity.”
Zheng Wenhao lowered his head, and Yu Xiaxing couldn’t see his expression.
The traffic ahead seemed to be moving again.
Yu Xiaxing was about to leave as well. “You’re only sixteen or seventeen, right? At your age, it’s absolutely not too late to change. Find yourself a new environment and relearn how to respect others. You still have a chance to live a good life.”
Yu Xiaxing took a small box from the car and tossed it onto his backpack.
Just then, the car behind her honked.
Yu Xiaxing looked away, placed both hands back on the steering wheel, and drove into the stream of traffic, disappearing at the intersection moments later.
Zheng Wenhao slowly lowered his head. On top of his backpack was a box of ointment for bruises and muscle soreness.
Tears began to fall despite himself.
Today had been the darkest day of his life.
Both of his “fathers” and his mother had beaten him, cursing him and blaming him for making the whole family suffer.
They said he was the one who had leaked the news about the arts program, causing everything to collapse.
Even the friends he used to play with had mocked him.
Only two people had shown him kindness after he’d fallen from grace.
One was Principal Wang.
When Principal Wang approved his withdrawal application, he had told him, “Our school is funded by the Yu family, and your family’s relationship with them is too complicated. Changing environments really may be better for you. But you still have a long life ahead of you. Don’t give up on yourself so easily.”
The other was Yu Xiaxing, who had just driven away.
She was the woman he had once hated most. But he suddenly realized that she had never truly regarded him as an enemy.
She had always viewed students like them from the perspective of a true educator.
The bus arrived soon after. His steps were still unsteady as he walked toward it, but he was no longer as utterly directionless as he had been moments ago.
The city lights flickered across his young face.
He had no idea what the future would bring.
But the two people in charge of the school had both told him that he was still only a teenager and could still change.
Maybe he really could live a different life.
—
Yu Xiaxing returned to the Yu estate.
At midnight, the monthly rankings would be announced.
She was feeling a little anxious, so she began doing yoga to calm herself down.
Diandian came trotting over, its carrot toy clamped in its mouth.
The little dog ran to the edge of the yoga mat and tilted its head as it stared at Yu Xiaxing for two seconds, as though trying to determine whether this human was exercising or had fallen down.
Then it enthusiastically pounced on her.
“Diandian!”
The moment the dog jumped on her, Yu Xiaxing lost her core strength and flopped face-first onto the yoga mat.
“You bad dog!”
Yu Xiaxing reached out, scooped Diandian into her arms, and gave it a thorough rubdown.
She was just about to continue lecturing it when the phone lying beside her suddenly lit up.
She freed one hand and picked it up. A new group chat had appeared on the screen.
Yu Lingyi had created the group. It contained her, Yu Xiaxing, and Ruan Tian.
What was going on? Why had Yu Lingyi created this group?
Yu Lingyi sent a message.
Yu Lingyi: “Good news. Detective Ruan’s investigation turned up some very specific leads. The legal team says that with this evidence, plus the agreement I got Su Hao to sign, I can recover the money he spent from my account.”
Yu Lingyi: “I couldn’t have pulled this off without you two.”
Yu Lingyi: “Thank you for coordinating everything, Xingxing, and thank you to Detective Ruan for carrying it out.”
Yu Lingyi: “I’d like to take you both out to eat tomorrow, then we can go for a spa in the afternoon. How does that sound?”
Yu Xiaxing was tempted, but then she remembered that she would eventually have to leave the Yu family.
The deeper the bonds she formed with them now, the more it would hurt when they eventually parted ways.
She was about to refuse.
But before she could type anything, Ruan Tian replied.
