Xu Licheng gritted his teeth and entered the classroom.
"I'm Xu Yuan's uncle. Where should I sit?"
Cen Xi's expression also calmed down. She flipped through the class roster and pointed out a seat for Xu Licheng.
After Xu Licheng sat down, Cen Xi began to introduce some of the school's rules and regulations, including the early morning and evening self-study system for high school. The middle school didn't have this system, but now in high school, morning self-study starts at 7 AM, and evening self-study ends at 9 PM. Nian Suian nodded, silently sympathizing with Gu Zhijing. Future tycoon or not, he still had to obediently wake up at 6 AM for morning self-study.
Nian Suian didn't know what Xu Licheng was thinking, but as a bystander, she thought: why stop now? Keep the show going! She still wanted to see more drama.
The first class meeting didn't have much to discuss and ended quickly. Logically, this would be the time for parents to go home and find their children. But Nian Suian was reluctant to leave.
She had seen that Xu Licheng hadn't come out!
Who would go home when there was drama to watch? Nian Suian moved to the staircase and began to study the patterns on the handrail intently.
Two steps away from her was Qu Zizhou's mother, crouching in the corner counting floor tiles, giving off a bit of a "tile empress" vibe. About three meters away, a father seemed to be manually measuring the height of the corridor railing.
"Mrs. Cheng, aren't you going home yet?"
"Haha... I'm just enjoying the view here. You know, the corridor has quite a nice view."
"Is that so? Then I'll join you in looking. It's not for anything else, I just want to see the children's learning environment."
The corridor of the teaching building was now crowded with "busy" parents, and even parents from neighboring classes who didn't know what was going on stopped to see what was happening.
Well, it seemed everyone was the same...
"Do you know I've been looking for you all these years!"
A shout from the classroom acted like an electric switch, instantly stopping the pretend-busy people in their tracks, all turning their heads towards the classroom.
"Dad! When are we going home? What are you all doing?"
Nian Suian believed that at this moment, everyone was thinking, "Whose child is this..."
Sure enough, the pair inside the room was also interrupted. Teacher Cen Xi walked out, her face red, though it wasn't clear if she was angry at Mr. Xu or at the group of onlookers.
"If there's nothing else, parents can go home with their children now. School officially starts tomorrow." After saying this, Teacher Cen nodded to everyone and went downstairs.
Xu Licheng didn't look happy. Seeing Cen Xi leave, he quickly followed her. With the main characters gone, everyone dispersed. Nian Suian took out her phone and sent a WeChat message to Gu Zhijing, telling him she would wait for him at the school gate.
"Let's go, time to head home." Nian Suian had just arrived at the school gate when Gu Zhijing came over.
"You have classes tomorrow, you know!" Nian Suian reminded Gu Zhijing.
"I know." Gu Zhijing didn't react much. It's just school, he'd been going for over a decade, what's so special about it?
"There's morning and evening self-study... Morning study starts at 7 AM..." Nian Suian said with a hint of schadenfreude.
"What!" This time, Gu Zhijing finally lost his composure. This was normal; is there anyone in this world who wouldn't react to having to wake up at 6 AM?
"Are you serious?" Given Nian Suian's past credibility, Gu Zhijing suspected she might be teasing him again.
"See for yourself." Nian Suian opened her phone, pulled up the parents' group chat she had just joined, and showed him the notice Teacher Cen had just posted.
"I want to transfer schools!" Gu Zhijing exclaimed after staring at it for a while, apparently unwilling to accept this fact.
Nian Suian put away her phone and shrugged, "Well, you'll have to ask your dad about that. I can't make that decision."
Hearing this, Gu Zhijing deflated again, leaning back against the seat.
"He definitely won't agree," Gu Zhijing gritted his teeth. "If he would agree, he wouldn't have made me come here for middle school."
"There, there, don't all high schools have morning and evening self-study? It's necessary for the college entrance exam," Nian Suian couldn't help but comfort him, perhaps because Gu Zhijing looked so pitiful, reminding her of her own high school life.
"Bazhong International School doesn't require it, but my dad won't let me go there."
"What kind of school is that? The name sounds a bit odd. Why won't your dad let you go?"
Perhaps because Nian Suian now looked very much like a caring older sister, Gu Zhijing opened up.
"My dad says it's full of extravagance and has a poor academic atmosphere." At this, Gu Zhijing sneered, "It's not about the academic atmosphere at all. It's because the school board chairman is my dad's archenemy."
"Archenemy! Why? Tell me, tell me quick!" If they weren't in the car right now, Nian Suian would have already grabbed some sunflower seeds and settled in cross-legged for a good story.
Gu Zhijing loved nothing more than exposing his dad's faults. Now that he finally had someone to gossip with about his dad, he was eager to spill everything. The bald driver in front also quietly perked up his ears.
"Uncle Fang lives next door to my house... well, my grandparents' house. He and my dad were classmates from kindergarten through high school."
"Wow! Childhood sweethearts!"
"Huh?"
"I mean, childhood friends!"
Gu Zhijing felt something was off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Well, it didn't matter. "I heard this from my grandparents. They said my dad had better grades than Uncle Fang, but wasn't as handsome or as good at talking. All the girls my dad liked in elementary and middle school ended up liking Uncle Fang. Since they lived close to each other, the girls even asked my dad to pass love letters to Uncle Fang. It made my dad furious."
Being a good audience, Nian Suian chimed in at the right moment, "Ah, brothers turning against each other for love. I've seen this episode before. Your birth mother didn't like your Uncle Fang too, did she?"
"No, she didn't. My birth mother didn't like anyone. She said men were just for fun, you shouldn't develop real feelings."
What a beautiful mindset, Nian Suian sincerely applauded! "Wow! Well said. Introduce me to your mom sometime."
"Do you still want to hear the story or not?"
"Yes, yes, please continue." Nian Suian shut her mouth and made a zipping motion across her lips.
"Later, my dad started a company in industry, while Uncle Fang studied art. Now he flies all over collecting various artworks. My dad says he's not doing anything practical, while he says my dad is stubborn. The two of them argue every time they meet. Later, they invested in this school, spending a lot of money. The conditions here are excellent. Uncle Fang even said if I went there, he'd waive my tuition fees, but unfortunately, my dad doesn't agree."
"Your dad is wrong about this. Everything should be for the child's benefit. What do the grudges of the older generation have to do with you?" Nian Suian passed judgment with finality, convicting the unseen Gu Junxing of the crime of pettiness. Judge Nian's rulings were based on personal relationships rather than legal principles, always siding with whoever she was closer to.
"Exactly, he's so small-minded!" Gu Zhijing, taking advantage of his father's absence, quickly vented his frustrations.
"When your dad comes back, talk to him about it again."
Gu Zhijing nodded, but didn't hold much hope. "My dad went on a business trip to Haitang City. I heard the local customs there are quite different from ours. My dad's business negotiations aren't going smoothly, so he probably won't be back anytime soon." It's just early morning self-study, if others can do it, so can he, Gu Zhijing!
Nian Suian couldn't hear anything else, only focusing on the words "Haitang City"...
Haitang City, Jinjiang City
Haitang, Jinjiang...
What kind of cyberpunk world had she come to??
She paused for a moment before asking with a trembling voice:
"Is there a place called Po City around here?"