The homeroom teacher comforted him, saying, “Assistant Lu, please comfort Board Director Yu when you get the chance. We know she must have done everything she could this time.”
Another teacher nodded as well. “Exactly. Once teenagers get stuck in a mindset, anything anyone says can sound like pressure.”
“But the results Board Director Yu achieved during this period are still there! Even if Ms. Chen stops bringing the school business partnerships in the future, Saint Virtue isn’t a school with no prospects anymore!”
“That’s right! Our school won’t go bankrupt so easily!”
Lu Yanzhao looked at the teachers. He knew they meant well and were worried that Board Director Yu would be devastated if she failed to keep the student.
But they didn’t know that this was also connected to the third task in the inheritance competition…
If she failed, Yu Xiaxing would receive a yellow card.
Even so, he responded politely, “All right. I’ll pass along your words of comfort.”
Director Gao had been listening outside the office for quite some time.
At this, he couldn’t help revealing a gloating smile.
Hadn’t they all been praising her to the skies before? And now she couldn’t even keep a single student from leaving.
—
After Lu Yanzhao left, he called Ms. Chen as well, but she didn’t answer either.
He called Jiang’s father. The man was polite enough, but he refused to solve the problem. He merely said, “Whether my daughter stays in school is for her mother to decide. I don’t have any say in the family.”
In the end, Lu Yanzhao could only send messages to Ms. Chen and Jiang Tinglan.
He told them that even if they wanted to withdraw from school, they still had to come in and see Board Director Yu one last time.
He hoped Yu Xiaxing still had a chance to turn defeat into victory.
—
Yu Xiaxing’s employees were all frantic with worry.
She, on the other hand, leisurely slept until noon, leisurely ate lunch, and didn’t head to school for work until three in the afternoon.
On the way, she received a call from Ruan Tian.
Ruan Tian said, “You asked me to investigate Old Jiang, so I looked into his social connections. I found that his life is very simple. He doesn’t have many friends. In the mornings, he stays home writing novels. In the afternoons, he goes out to chat with people in the neighborhood, then returns home to write more novels.”
“I really don’t think he seems like the kind of person who has an illegitimate child… Did you discover some clue that made you suspect this?”
Yu Xiaxing said, “No… I have absolutely no evidence. It’s purely a suspicion.”
“I noticed that when it comes to his daughter, he only knows how to placate her verbally. He indulges and obeys her, but he never takes responsibility for her future.”
“So I started wondering whether he had another child somewhere else and was deliberately ruining this child so that he could save the money for the other one. Then, once she was grown up, he could leave everything to the child outside the family?”
Ruan Tian laughed when she heard this. “So that’s why! You might be overthinking it.”
“You’re unmarried, so you haven’t seen many of the worst kinds of people. There are plenty of elders in this world who simply enjoy having children adore them but don’t want to take responsibility for those children.”
“My former mother-in-law was like that. My two sisters-in-law controlled what their children ate and wouldn’t let them have candy or snacks loaded with oil and salt, but my mother-in-law insisted on secretly feeding them those things. She even let her grandchildren treat snacks as meals.”
“One grandchild ended up with pancreatitis, and the other became overweight. Their whole bodies were covered in bumps caused by eating cheap, unhealthy snacks.”
“And my mother-in-law was still smug about it, saying that both grandchildren were close to her and not their mothers.”
“Luckily, I had a daughter, and she disliked granddaughters, so she never came around to harm my daughter… Otherwise, she would have fed her into a case of pancreatitis too.”
Yu Xiaxing said, “…Parents like that have it way too easy!”
“Exactly! Based on my observations, this Old Jiang you asked me to investigate isn’t particularly complicated, and he isn’t especially bad either.”
“He’s simply irresponsible. He only wants to enjoy a child’s favoritism.”
“As for raising the child to become successful, he leaves that burden to the mother. Once the child turns out well, he can just reap the benefits. After all, the child will be close to him rather than her mother.”
Yu Xiaxing fell into thought. “I see… Thanks.”
Ruan Tian said, “Why are you thanking me? I’ll keep looking into Huo Mian for you!”
The two of them ended the call.
Yu Xiaxing still felt bad about not paying her, so she transferred ten thousand yuan to her.
But Ruan Tian immediately sent it back.
Ruan Tian wrote, “I told you, it’s free… When you fleece your brothers and sisters in the future, just give me a share then. It’ll be the same thing!”
Yu Xiaxing wasn’t good at arguing over things like this, so she simply replied, “All right.”
—
Yu Xiaxing soon arrived at the school.
Carrying a cup of milk tea, she reached the office building and happened to run into Lu Yanzhao.
He handed her a page titled A Guide to Preventing Scams.
Yu Xiaxing stared at it. “What is this?”
Lu Yanzhao said, “It exposes the scam tactics used by that ‘Breaking Cocoon’ account. We’ve already printed copies for every student.”
Yu Xiaxing glanced over it and found that it contained genuinely useful information.
It didn’t preach to the students that their parents actually loved them deep down. Instead, it rationally exposed the fact that the people behind Breaking Cocoon were only trying to make money.
That was good.
Saint Virtue’s students might not have good grades, but they absolutely had to know how to protect themselves from scams!
If Saint Virtue’s students couldn’t find good jobs or earn much money in the future, then at the very least, they wouldn’t have every drop of their hard-earned wages swindled away.
Lu Yanzhao went upstairs with her and added, “Ms. Chen came to discuss her daughter’s withdrawal from school. She arrived ten minutes ago.”
Yu Xiaxing wasn’t surprised at all.
As a corporate executive, Chen Yuru was clearly the kind of person who planned everything in advance and arrived early.
Yu Xiaxing asked, “Where’s Jiang Tinglan?”
“She didn’t come. She won’t discuss it either. She hasn’t answered her calls or replied to her messages.”
Yu Xiaxing nodded.
Soon, the two of them arrived at the door of the board director’s office.
As soon as they entered, they were met by Chen Yuru’s icy expression and her blunt accusation.
“A board director who doesn’t come to school to work until four in the afternoon—are you serious? No wonder the students are all so lazy. You’re the one who taught them this!”
Lu Yanzhao still hoped to persuade Ms. Chen to stay and help Yu Xiaxing complete the third task in the inheritance competition.
He was planning to give her a copy of the scam-prevention guide as well and explain that Yu Xiaxing had been burning the midnight oil for the sake of the school, which was why she had arrived so late today.
But Yu Xiaxing spoke first, showing no intention of being polite.
“Am I your daughter or your subordinate? Do I also have to provide you with emotional support and constantly curry favor with you?”
“Do I need to report and explain my daytime schedule to you? Have you gone mad from being a manager, assuming that the entire world has to operate according to your schedule?”
“If you want to talk, then talk. If you don’t, then goodbye!”
Yu Xiaxing stepped aside and pointed at the door. “Please leave.”
Lu Yanzhao: “…”
This was definitely over.
Chen Yuru opened her mouth, then stopped herself.
She gave herself a moment to calm down.
Then she realized that she was the one in the wrong.
Of course, she wasn’t domineering toward everyone. Otherwise, she would never have been able to rise to the management level of a major company.
When dealing with her superiors and business partners, she communicated properly.
But when it came to subordinates and younger people, she was used to taking charge. She didn’t communicate with them—she simply issued orders.
That approach was highly efficient in her work.
After all, communicating with inexperienced people was a waste of time. It was better to give them clear and specific goals directly.
Just now, she had treated Yu Xiaxing as one of those people.
Looking at the young woman’s commanding presence, Chen Yuru quickly realized that this girl was not the inexperienced type she had initially assumed her to be.
She had sound judgment, clear principles, and the ability to take action.
Since that was the case, Chen Yuru’s attitude just now had indeed been inappropriate.
After a long silence, Chen Yuru softened her tone. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have treated you that way.”
“...”
Yu Xiaxing, who had been ready to put up a good fight, was stunned.
Someone so forceful had actually been persuaded that easily?
Well, there was no point hitting someone who was offering an apology, so she decided not to argue further.
Yu Xiaxing leaned back in her chair and glanced at Lu Yanzhao. “You go outside first. I’ll speak with Ms. Chen alone.”
