Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Jian Yi glanced at Wei Tianxi and asked, "What’s there to worry about?"

Wei Tianxi’s face darkened. "Jian Yi, are you truly clueless or just playing dumb?!"

"I’ve spelled it out for you, why the act?"

"Do you still think this is Yude? Your academic performance might have been impressive there, but it might not cut it here! Since you’re on good terms with Shen Ju and the others, why not consider asking them for help?"

Wei Tianxi clicked his tongue, feigning helplessness. "I’m just giving you advice, okay?"

"It’s just about bringing one more person along to tutoring. If you mention it, maybe—"

"And then what?"

"What?"

Jian Yi chuckled. "Seems to me you’re the one pretending not to understand, huh?"

"You’re advising me to ask Shen Ju and the others for help. If I speak up, my chances of success are probably much higher than others."

"Once I join the tutoring sessions, what would I owe you? How should I thank you?"

Jian Yi continued, "Let me think—should I share everything I learn from the tutoring with you?"

"After all, besides that, I don’t have anything else to offer."

Wei Tianxi stared at Jian Yi, his throat tightening involuntarily.

"You—"

Jian Yi wiped the smile off his face and looked Wei Tianxi up and down. "If I recall correctly, your grades in the elite class seem quite ‘stable,’ right? It’s pretty easy to find your name if you count from the bottom?"

"With a little effort now and then, it might even be easier to spot—"

Jian Yi drew out his words, and Wei Tianxi’s face flushed crimson.

At the same time, a pang of alarm shot through him.

He hadn’t expected Jian Yi to already know about his situation so soon after arriving at Qichen?!

"You dislike me, don’t you?"

Jian Yi suddenly spoke again. "You both dislike me and want to use me. Did you think your disguise was pretty good?"

"High school students should keep their intentions simpler."

"After all, at this age, thinking you’re amazing is mostly just self-delusion."

Wei Tianxi’s expression had turned deeply embarrassed.

"Jian Yi! What right do you have—you think just because you were first at Yude, you can outperform me here?! Fine, wait for the big exam at the end of the month. I’ll see how well you score!"

Wei Tianxi sneered, "Don’t tell me you can’t even outscore Guan Shenju here."

............

Just as Jian Yi reached the classroom door with his hot water bottle, he ran into Shen Ju.

"What are you doing?"

"I was checking why you took so long to come back, bro."

As he spoke, Shen Ju happily bounced after Jian Yi back inside.

Jian Yi returned to his seat, seemingly lost in thought.

Shen Ju also went back to his seat, leaning on the desk as he watched Jian Yi. "Did something happen?"

His gaze drifted downward slightly.

Shen Ju noticed that the sleeve on Jian Yi’s right arm was a little wet.

He couldn’t help but press his lips together.

This month had been completely taken over by various exams, big and small. His mind was full of tests, explanations, more tests, and more explanations. There was no extra time to think about anything else, let alone do anything.

The mission progress had almost stalled again.

Jian Yi turned his head. "Do you still remember my so-called dad?"

Shen Ju immediately frowned, his nose wrinkling. "Of course I remember."

Cheating, abandoning his wife and child, emotional abuse.

The other woman showing up at their door...

In the end, he tried to blame everything on Xu Ru.

Because Xu Ru insisted on keeping him, saying Xu Ru had dragged the family down.

Shen Ju lowered his eyes at the thought.

In reality, it was he who had dragged down Xu Ru’s family.

"What are you overthinking again?"

Jian Yi’s tone was somewhat helpless as he glanced at his left arm. "I’ve told you before, the main reason is because of me. He didn’t want a disabled son. The so-called pressure, the inability to handle it—it’s all excuses. Of course, the bigger reason is that he’s just a low-quality person. It’s a good thing they divorced early. Otherwise, with a dad like that, I might have turned out bad too."

"Don’t talk nonsense."

Shen Ju frowned disapprovingly.

"But, bro, why bring him up suddenly?"

"I was thinking..."

Jian Yi paused before continuing, "From what I remember, Jian Zhanguo was really good-looking. The woman he cheated with back then—I heard her family was very wealthy, but she wasn’t too bright. Otherwise, how could she fall for a married man and even come to our door to humiliate us? But in the end, she got her wish and ended up with Jian Zhanguo by having him marry into her family. Jian Zhanguo became a live-in son-in-law."

996 followed along, eager for more gossip, "So? So?"

"You humans are just too dramatic."

Shen Ju, "............"

But he was also curious why Jian Yi had suddenly brought this up.

"I was wondering if that woman might also have a child, and if that child might also be studying at Qichen?"

Shen Ju’s eyes widened. "Why would you think that?"

"Who knows?"

Jian Yi reached out and gave Shen Ju's cheek a light pinch. After all, he had just transferred to Qichen, so there couldn't be any unwarranted targeting, could there?

"I don’t want Mom to come to the parents' meeting at the end of the month."

............

Despite what he said, Xu Ru was determined to attend.

She wanted to see for herself how Jian Yi was doing here.

And because the relationship between her and Jian Yi still had some distance between them, when Jian Yi suggested that Xu Ru didn’t need to come to the parents' meeting at the end of the month, it made Xu Ru read too much into it—she wondered if Jian Yi was pulling away from her, his mother. The more she thought about it, the more fearful she became, and the more fearful she became, the less she wanted to "listen" to Jian Yi.

She wanted to project strength, to maintain her dignity as a mother.

In the end, she still came.

In contrast to Xu Ru’s situation, Qin Suxi was rubbing her hands in anticipation, preparing to attend the parents' meeting for both children.

The Elite Class and the Experimental Class were just named differently, but there wasn’t much difference between them. Students in both classes were Qichen's key focus for cultivation, so in terms of course arrangements and some activities, the two classes often participated jointly. After all, to ensure "precision" and "targeted" teaching, even if one-on-one instruction wasn’t feasible due to practical constraints, the two classes were kept very small.

They were all either meticulously selected or admitted through substantial financial contributions.

Because of this, when organizing activities, the two classes combined had barely over forty students.

It was no wonder Pei Yan’s reputation as an academic genius was so high. Even combined, these two classes had very few students, and some had even gotten in through financial means. But aside from those, the rest were all top academic performers.

Individually, their grades were impressive on their own.

Even Wei Tianxi was no exception.

However, in an environment full of elites, external advantages became much less obvious and seemed insufficient.

At Qichen, unless you completely slacked off or had a very well-adjusted mindset, if you could compete and were willing to grind, the only option was to keep grinding—there was no end to it.

Not only did the students compete, but the parents were just as competitive.

The majority of the parents in Qichen’s Family Committee came from the Elite Class or the Experimental Class.

Qin Suxi was naturally among them.

However, the Family Committee membership wasn’t permanent—there were only thirteen seats in total, and many parents wanted to join.

This parents' meeting was the final organized event of the first semester of the senior year.

It was also the only opportunity for changes in the Family Committee membership for the senior year.

The main criterion for joining the Family Committee was, of course, based on the students.

For example, Qin Suxi—before Shen Ju transferred—was able to get on the Family Committee not because of the Guan family’s background, but solely based on Guan Mulin’s exam results. She also had an obligation to frequently share Guan Mulin’s study experiences and her own parenting insights in the group chat, especially since Guan Mulin’s grades had often been among the top at Qichen over the years.

For the four exam weeks in December, the final major exam was the most important and usually served as the standard for changes in the Family Committee.

Because only the final major exam had overall score statistics and rankings.

For the exams in the previous weeks, quizzes were held in class—the papers weren’t collected afterward, and the next class would immediately go over the answers and review the questions.

For major exams, all tests were completed, collected by the teachers, and quickly graded, but no statistics were compiled. After grading, the papers were returned, and the class would proceed to review answers and discuss questions. This way, the teachers had a clear idea of how the students were doing.

This streamlined process ensured efficiency and speed.

It also helped, to some extent, to keep the pressure on the students while alleviating some of their anxiety.

But only to a certain extent.

Such intensive exams still caused anxiety for some students.

Otherwise, when word got out that Shen Ju and others were receiving tutoring from the academic genius himself, so many people wouldn’t have been eager to ask and inquire.

Wei Tianxi was also cramming like crazy at home.

Because his mother, Wei Jing, wanted to rely on him to get into the Family Committee.

If he could show significant improvement and ranking in this final major exam, and with some maneuvering, Wei Jing had a high chance of joining the Family Committee.

Because of this, Wei Jing had been constantly reminding Wei Tianxi.

She said it was for his own good.

Building connections would benefit the Wei family as well.

In short, it was all about paving the way for Wei Tianxi’s future.

However, Wei Tianxi’s tutoring didn’t just start this month—he had been getting tutoring on and off before, but his grades hadn’t improved significantly.

Just like the person who spent a full 100,000 yuan to buy Pei Yan’s study notes after the news broke about Pei Yan tutoring Shen Ju and others—it wasn’t that they weren’t eager to learn, but that they couldn’t learn well or thoroughly. The worst fear was having the desire to learn but feeling stuck, unable to improve no matter what, and even maintaining current grades and rankings required immense effort...

So when Jian Yi transferred to Qichen, and Wei Tianxi found out who the transfer student was and heard that he often ranked first at Yude, Wei Tianxi felt very bitter.

Because his stepfather was Jian Zhanguo.

Wei Tianxi looked down on Jian Zhanguo, even sneered at him.

His mother still valued him highly. After marrying Jian Zhanguo, she didn’t consider having another child for a long time. Later, when she wanted to, she couldn’t get pregnant. Because of this, Jian Zhanguo and his mother still didn’t have a biological child together. Jian Zhanguo didn’t dare say a word about it, but Wei Tianxi knew that Jian Zhanguo had never given up hope over the years. After all, he had married into the Wei family and didn’t dare divorce easily.

So in recent years, Wei Tianxi had become increasingly dismissive of Jian Zhanguo.

Even if Jian Zhanguo could still keep his mother happy, in Wei Jing’s heart, Wei Tianxi was still the most important, and Wei Jing currently had only him as her son.

Wei Tianxi could practically walk all over Jian Zhanguo—he looked down on him with a superior attitude and didn’t believe that anything related to Jian Zhanguo could be any good.

He’d heard that Jian Zhanguo had a disabled son named Jian Yi.

He’d heard that Jian Zhanguo’s original family also raised a burden.

What could such a family possibly amount to?

Every time he thought about it, Wei Tianxi felt a strong sense of superiority.

In his perception, Jian Yi and that burden must be living miserably.

He sometimes even thought, no wonder Jian Zhanguo clung to their family so tightly, no wonder Jian Zhanguo didn’t dare go back, not even willing to inquire about news—who would want anything to do with a family like that?

No wonder he could walk all over Jian Zhanguo, and Jian Zhanguo would still speak to him nicely—

The Wei family had been in decline in recent years. Even at their best, they couldn’t compare to families like the Guans or the Peis. Wei Tianxi had to put in a lot of effort just to get into Qichen, and at Qichen, he had to humble himself and try every means to break into circles like Han Chengfeng’s. But at least at Qichen, in front of Jian Zhanguo—Jian Zhanguo not only relied on the Wei family but also didn’t dare provoke him.

As for the family Jian Zhanguo abandoned, the one his mother had ruthlessly mocked back then—they were even further beneath his level.

Wei Tianxi never even spared that family a second glance.

Usually, he just used them to needle Jian Zhanguo.

But all these twisted feelings came to an abrupt halt after Jian Yi transferred to the school.

Because after Wei Tianxi learned that the transfer student was named Jian Yi and confirmed that he was indeed Jian Zhanguo’s son, he realized that Guan Shenju from the experimental class was actually the "burden" from Jian Zhanguo’s former family. Yet, not only did Guan Shenju’s status change overnight, but he even managed to bring Jian Zhanguo’s son up along with him.

What’s more, even Han Chengfeng, whom Wei Tianxi had to go out of his way to curry favor with, took the initiative to befriend Guan Shenju... How could such a thing happen in this world?!

And then there were Guan Mulin, Pei Haochuan, Ke Cheng...

The more Wei Tianxi thought about it, the more it gnawed at him.

So his mindset grew even more distorted.

Especially after he found out that Guan Shenju was actually receiving tutoring from Pei Yan—

Because Wei Tianxi had previously sought out the person who spent 100,000 to acquire Pei Yan’s study notes.

Unfortunately, he still couldn’t get his hands on those notes.

He couldn’t understand why the very things he had tried so hard to obtain ended up in the hands of someone he had never even taken seriously.

And that person even managed to surpass him...

Why?!

What’s more, Jian Yi even dared to mock and ridicule him!

Because of this, Wei Tianxi found some newfound drive. He stayed up late studying at home, determined to prove something.

Fortunately, even though the final exam scores and rankings wouldn’t be released until later, his tutors all said he had made significant progress—surely, when the final exam scores and rankings were announced at the parent-teacher conference, he would have made a huge leap forward. So this time, Wei Tianxi not only insisted that Wei Jing attend but also, for the first time ever, asked to bring Jian Zhanguo along.

Jian Yi’s excellence didn’t make Wei Tianxi feel like he could use it to humiliate Jian Zhanguo; it only made him feel frustrated and embarrassed himself.

So, at this parent-teacher conference, he wanted to see just what kind of scores Jian Yi and Guan Shenju would get.

............

“No matter how you score, it’s okay, baby.”

Qin Suxi came alone.

Originally, Guan Lifeng had wanted to come too, but Qin Suxi was worried about putting too much pressure on Shen Ju, so she made Guan Lifeng stay behind.

The two classes were organized together, taking up a small conference room.

There were even students greeting parents at the door, and many parents were dressed up.

Shen Ju had never seen such a scene before.

He didn’t even know the school could have events like this.

It was truly an eye-opener at Qichen.

It felt similar to a parent-teacher meeting, yet different—somehow fancier and more exclusive.

So he was feeling kinda nervous.

996 also comforted him: “Don’t worry about it, host. Remember how you were last place before? That just goes to show—you have a lot of room for improvement!”

Shen Ju: “......Thank you, bro 996......”

“You’re welcome!”

Qin Suxi and Guan Mulin both glanced over at the same time and cleared their throats.

Actually, Shen Ju wasn’t really that nervous about his grades; he was just worried that his improvement might not be that big, feeling like it would make all that time Pei Yan spent explaining problems to him lately a waste.

But it’s not like he was that dumb, right?

Shen Ju was feeling pretty confident.

He hoped to bring back a report card with a big improvement to show Brother Pei.

Just as he was thinking this, he saw Jian Yi and Xu Ru appear together, coming from across the way.

But no matter how close they used to be, even people who had lived under the same roof for over a decade—once separated, they hardly ever got to see each other. At least since the last time they parted, Shen Ju hadn’t had a chance to go back. Now, meeting Xu Ru again in a setting like this felt kinda awkward for some reason.

Still, he spoke up and said, “Auntie.”

Xu Ru paused, her lips parted slightly as if she wanted to say something.

But before she could speak, her eyes drifted, and she seemed to notice something—her face suddenly changed.

The man not far away had also spotted her.

His well-groomed appearance looked even more shocked than Xu Ru’s, as if he never expected to see her here.

Jian Zhanguo’s reaction was too noticeable. Wei Jing turned her head: “What are you looking at?”

Then she saw Xu Ru too.

“What’s she doing here?!”

“And who’s that next to her—is that your son?”

Wei Jing frowned, displeased to see Xu Ru and Jian Yi here.

But then she got a look at what Xu Ru was wearing...

She couldn’t help but smirk as she walked toward Xu Ru.

Guan Shenju even came with "his whole crew"—it’s not like anyone noticed that Guan Mulin hadn’t even acknowledged him? Clearly, he wanted nothing to do with that family.

Fine, let Guan Shenju’s birth mother see for herself—this kind of family, so out of place here, really shouldn’t be here.

As for the relationship between his mother and Xu Ru...

In this world, it’s not about who’s right.

Not in their world.

“Well, look who it is.”

After Shen Ju greeted Xu Ru, he wasn’t expecting a response. Feeling awkward, he wanted to busy himself. He took out his phone and saw a message from Pei Yan asking if the meeting had started. Just as he was about to reply, he suddenly heard a voice he didn’t recognize. Looking up, he noticed that both Jian Yi and Xu Ru had gone pale, especially Xu Ru, who looked really shaken.

No matter how many years had passed, seeing Wei Jing and Jian Zhanguo again still got to Xu Ru.

How could she let it go?

Back then, a car accident took away her younger sister, Jian Yi’s left hand was amputated, and Shen Ju had nobody left to care for him. She had to support Shen Ju while also taking care of Jian Yi; she toughed it out. Yet, in less than a year, Jian Zhanguo actually cheated, and the other woman even confronted her directly, flaunting the affair and telling her to stop clinging to Jian Zhanguo, even throwing a stack of money at her.

Xu Ru refused it. She could never forget that scene, nor could she forget Jian Zhanguo pointing at her and saying that the family broke up because of her.

But clearly, Jian Zhanguo was the one at fault!

She raised Shen Ju using her own money!

Even setting all that aside, how could Jian Zhanguo so heartlessly abandon his own biological son?! Especially when Jian Yi hadn’t even fully recovered from the trauma at the time!

She could never forget these two people.

She always believed she had done nothing wrong.

If she didn’t raise Shen Ju, her own nephew, should she have sent him to an orphanage?!

But in the end, the nephew she raised turned out not to be her biological nephew... So what did all these years of believing she was right even mean? She knew Jian Yi was correct—she was stuck in her own head. There was no way to know earlier; before Shen Ju’s true origins were revealed, he had been raised as her "biological nephew." But she just couldn’t move past it, couldn’t help thinking...

Thinking about the humiliation and blame she suffered, that lingering pain in her heart, the hurdle she couldn’t get over...

Thinking about how Jian Zhanguo would probably point at her nose and mock her even more, saying the child she stubbornly insisted on raising wasn’t even her own, and questioning why she had to shoulder such a burden.

But Xu Ru never expected to see Wei Jing and Jian Zhanguo again.

Especially not in a situation like this.

She grew pale, her expression grim.

She didn’t want to affect Jian Yi because of herself.

So when Wei Jing spoke, Xu Ru even felt a pang of cowardice, wanting to retreat.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to retaliate.

But what could she even retaliate with...

"Mom."

Jian Yi reached out and took Xu Ru’s hand, sighing to himself.

He hadn’t expected his guess to be true.

If he had known earlier... if he had known, he would have insisted that Xu Ru not come.

But Xu Ru never mentioned Jian Zhanguo or the woman he had an affair with, so Jian Yi didn’t have more information. He couldn’t bring himself to ask and reopen Xu Ru’s old wounds.

And now that his guess was confirmed,

he couldn't help feeling regret.

After Wei Jing greeted Xu Ru and saw that she remained silent, she turned her gaze to Jian Yi beside her, glanced at his left arm, and was about to bring up Jian Yi as an opening.

Just then, a figure stepped in front of her.