Lu Bochuan's voice wasn't loud.
But Lu Yu and Lu Xun still heard it and turned to look at them in unison.
Shu Qingqing: ...
You, a billionaire CEO, are asking me for a reward?
Besides, isn't he your son too?!
Shu Qingqing put a piece of spare rib in his bowl, smiling without reaching her eyes: "Lu Bochuan, we're a family, let's not act like strangers. Here, I reward you with a spare rib. Finish it."
Lu Yu and Lu Xun silently lowered their heads to eat.
Lu Bochuan picked up the spare rib and took a bite. "Thank you. It's very delicious."
After dinner, Feng Xiangdi suddenly called to talk about work. By the time Shu Qingqing finished talking with her, it was almost nine o'clock.
She quickly grabbed her draft and headed to the study. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Lu Bochuan standing there.
Lu Bochuan was wearing dark gray loungewear, his hair half-dry, likely having just taken a shower.
Seeing Shu Qingqing come out with a manuscript in hand, he lowered his hand that was about to knock: "Going to the study?"
"Okay."
The two sat side by side at the desk.
Lu Bochuan read through it once before asking, "Isn't the speech a bit short?"
"What do you know?" Shu Qingqing tapped the paper. "This is called being concise and to the point. Although the opening ceremony is important, which student wants to listen to a stranger blabbering endlessly on stage? It's better to keep it simple, finish early, get off early, and let the kids be free sooner."
"You're right." Lu Bochuan was very receptive. "But I think you wrote it quite well. Where exactly do you want to change it?"
Shu Qingqing pointed with her finger: "This part feels a bit awkward, and here and here, the connection is a bit unnatural."
"Okay." Lu Bochuan read it two more times before he started modifying it.
He revised it very seriously, but Shu Qingqing felt a bit bored waiting. She checked the time, played with a pen on the desk, and occasionally stood up to stretch.
It wasn't until the minute hand moved from fifteen to forty-five that Lu Bochuan finally put down his pen.
"Qingqing, come and see if this works."
Shu Qingqing quickly picked up the manuscript.
Reading through it, it was indeed smoother than before, but there was still one place that felt a bit off.
"Where is it awkward?" Lu Bochuan rested one hand on the desk and draped the other over the back of her chair.
"Here." Shu Qingqing looked up, her gaze unexpectedly meeting Lu Bochuan's eyes.
The air was filled with a mix of cold pine and lemon scent. They stared at each other with only two centimeters between them, their breathing clearly audible.
Lu Bochuan stared into her eyes, then his gaze shifted to her red lips.
She seemed to have just drank water; her lips were even more moist than before, as if coated in honey.
Lu Bochuan's hand on the back of the chair unconsciously moved forward, resting on the back of her neck, as his head lowered.
Shu Qingqing suddenly pushed him, leaning back and covering her mouth.
Lu Bochuan froze.
"Uh, Lu Bochuan, what's your prescription for near-sightedness?" Shu Qingqing quickly found a safe topic.
It wasn't that she rejected Lu Bochuan kissing her, but she hadn't brushed her teeth after dinner...
And Lu Bochuan had washed up.
She didn't want her first kiss to leave any unpleasant memories.
But Lu Bochuan didn't know what she was thinking.
He quickly straightened up, restoring his usual expression: "About four hundred degrees... It's here, right? Let me take another look."
Lu Bochuan made a few more changes, and the manuscript was finally done. But the atmosphere between them was a bit awkward, so Shu Qingqing didn't dare to stay long and slipped away with the draft.
At 2:30 PM on September 1st, all classes of Beijing No. 1 Middle School lined up and walked towards the auditorium, with their respective parents following alongside the lines.
Because Shu Qingqing had to give a speech on stage, Ms. Zhang pulled her aside to explain a few more things.
In the parents' line, Liu Mingxuan's parent curled her lip and said to the parent next to her, "I heard this Lu Yu's mother is an internet celebrity, right? Ms. Zhang really knows how to curry favor. A mere internet celebrity speaking as the parent representative, it's absolutely unreasonable."
The parent next to her scoffed in agreement: "Exactly. With a homeroom teacher so eager to please, no wonder my son doesn't get any attention in class."
The two echoed each other, complaining enthusiastically.
A parent nearby finally couldn't stand it: "If you think it's inappropriate, you can report it directly to Ms. Zhang. Don't just gossip here. Besides, Ms. Zhang asked Lu Yu's mother to be the parent representative for a reason. Lu Yu is ranked first in the grade, and I heard he's also first in the city. I wonder what rank your child got this time?"
Liu Mingxuan's mother instantly went silent. After a long while, she suddenly took out her phone: "I'll ask then. You think I don't dare?"
Saying that, she sent a message in the parents' group chat—
[Teacher, I'd like to ask how our parent representative was chosen.]
After sending it, she cast a provocative glance at the parent who just retorted to her, only to see that the other parent quickly sent a bunch of photos of the class they had taken into the chat.
Her message was instantly buried.
She was furious but couldn't say anything.
After the students and parents were seated, a student host soon came out, and the opening ceremony officially began.
After the host's opening remarks came the flag-raising ceremony, followed by the principal's speech, the awarding of last semester's certificates, and the teacher representative's speech.
When Lu Yu went up as the student representative, there was a burst of cheers from below, with people shouting "God of Study" and "School Hunk."
Standing backstage, Shu Qingqing suddenly felt very proud.
Such a handsome and outstanding young man is from our family, haha.
After Lu Yu finished his speech, the teacher in charge signaled her to get ready to go on stage.
Shu Qingqing took a deep breath, clutching her manuscript, and walked up step by step.
At the same time, the dean of No. 1 Middle School, leading Zhou Zheng and Lu Bochuan, finally arrived at the entrance of the auditorium.
Seeing Lu Yu stepping down from the stage, Dean Chen panicked: "I'm sorry, Mr. Lu, it's my fault for walking too slowly. Lu Yu's speech has already ended."
"It's fine." Lu Bochuan saw the sign for Lu Yu's class and walked over.
Dean Chen wanted to follow and explain, but Zhou Zheng stopped him.
"Assistant Zhou, this... Mr. Lu won't be upset, will he?"
Zhou Zheng smiled politely: "Dean Chen, it's really fine. You can go back to your work." Mainly, their boss didn't come here for his son anyway.
Lu Bochuan walked to the parent section of Class 1, Grade 12. Seeing an empty seat in the middle on the left, he said excuse me and asked people to let him pass.
"Who is it, coming so late, so annoying." Liu Mingxuan's mother turned around impatiently, but upon seeing that handsome face, her nagging words got stuck in her throat.
She casually tucked a stray hair behind her ear and asked softly, "Sir, which child's parent are you?"
"Lu Yu's parent. Please let me pass, thank you."
Liu Mingxuan's mother was instantly stunned.
The parent who had retorted to her earlier happened to be in the row behind. Seeing this, she laughed out loud: "Didn't expect that, did you? Lu Yu is not only good at studying but also has such good-looking parents, haha. Reincarnation is really a mystical thing."
But Lu Bochuan didn't notice their conversation at all.
Shu Qingqing emerged from backstage with a soft smile and bowed gracefully. "Hello, everyone. It is a great honor to stand before you today as the parent representative..."
Instantly, murmurs rippled through the audience.
"Whose parent is that? She is gorgeous."
"I have never seen her before. She looks so young."
"I heard she is Lu Yu's mother."
"Lu Yu's mom? God is so unfair. Not only are Lu Yu's grades top-notch, but he also has such a stunning mother. I cannot help but be jealous."
"Her speech is actually quite captivating. It is not just the usual empty platitudes."
Lu Bochuan sat quietly in the audience, listening intently to every word of Shu Qingqing's speech. Then, he picked up his phone and snapped a photo.
A few seconds later, Lu Bochuan shared a new post on his social media feed.
"She is glowing."
