Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Shen Ju frowned, looking at the family of three before him.

Though he was very young when Jian Zhanguo left and had long forgotten his exact appearance, he could tell that Xu Ru and Jian Yi’s reactions were unusual.

And what Jian Yi had said earlier…

So that’s what it meant.

What exactly did this family want now?

Beside them, Guan Mulin and Qin Suxi exchanged a puzzled glance.

They didn’t know Wei Jing or Jian Zhanguo, and naturally, they were unaware of Xu Ru’s past.

But they did know that Jian Yi came from a single-parent household.

So who exactly were these two people…?

“Who are you—”

“Shen Ju?”

Wei Jing and Jian Zhanguo spoke almost simultaneously.

Jian Zhanguo had noticed the student ID badge on Shen Ju’s chest—

“You’re the son of Shen Shengan and Xu Ning!”

Jian Zhanguo then glanced at Xu Ru and Jian Yi beside her—his son.

He paused, recognizing Xu Ru.

And Jian Yi standing next to Xu Ru… After more than a decade, Jian Zhanguo wasn’t sure what he felt, but he quickly averted his gaze, only then realizing that Shen Shengan and Xu Ning’s son was also at this school.

Had Xu Ru become successful? How did she manage to get him into Qichen?

This thought brought a touch of complexity to Jian Zhanguo’s mind.

After all, gaining admission to Qichen International High School was no easy feat.

Even Wei Jing had to pull strings and call in favors to get Wei Tianxi into Qichen.

Before that, he remembered Wei Tianxi had to cram intensely for a period.

Of course, the tutoring had continued ever since.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to keep up with the pace of Qichen’s elite class.

But Jian Yi and Shen Ju…

If he remembered correctly, this conference room was for parent-teacher meetings for both the elite and experimental classes. How had Xu Ru not only gotten them into Qichen but also into either the elite or experimental class?!

Leaving Shen Ju aside, did Jian Yi—his son—possess such capability?!

It also occurred to him that he still hadn’t had a son with Wei Jing—

Jian Zhanguo found himself looking at Jian Yi again.

But when his eyes involuntarily fell on Jian Yi’s left arm and the missing part, he couldn’t help but frown, his emotions in turmoil.

Wei Jing glanced at Jian Zhanguo.

After more than ten years of marriage, she could naturally tell what preoccupied Jian Zhanguo. After all, this was his biological son—he was probably tempted.

Back when Jian Zhanguo worked at her family’s company, he was talented. He rose to an executive position at a young age, and with his good looks and smooth talk, even though she knew he was married with a child, Wei Jing couldn’t help but succumb to his charms. She enjoyed how Jian Zhanguo would prioritize her above all else, especially since she was fresh from a divorce at the time…

One could say Jian Zhanguo came along at the perfect moment.

Wei Jing wanted to secure this man at all costs.

Besides, Jian Zhanguo’s wife was beneath her consideration—Wei Jing never even saw her as a threat.

The main reason was that Jian Zhanguo not only doted on her but was also obedient, ultimately willing to marry into the Wei family—

So, back then, Wei Jing was thoroughly pleased with such a man.

Even now, Jian Zhanguo’s appearance remained well-maintained, at least enough to not be tiresome to look at.

But after over a decade, even the deepest feelings could diminish significantly.

So, seeing Jian Zhanguo’s visible conflicted and tempted expression, Wei Jing was immediately displeased. She didn’t care to understand his mindset—she just felt that Jian Zhanguo was publicly humiliating her!

Thus, after Jian Zhanguo finished speaking, Wei Jing sneered and snapped, “You remember well—still remembering that burden your ex-wife insisted on raising—”

Wei Tianxi, standing nearby, was suddenly alarmed: “Mom!”

But it was too late.

He hadn’t stopped Jian Zhanguo earlier because he wanted to see him embarrass himself, but why did his mother have to speak so rashly?!

Regardless, Shen Ju’s birth mother was present right here!

Even if the Guan family didn’t value Shen Ju, they probably wouldn’t want to hear such things!

Wei Jing tch-ed, about to scold her son for interrupting her.

Wei Tianxi tried to shoot her a warning look—

But Qin Suxi couldn’t hold back any longer!

“Madam—”

Qin Suxi stepped forward, moving to Shen Ju’s side. She placed one hand on Shen Ju’s arm, the other holding the latest global limited-edition luxury bag. On her finger was a pigeon-egg-sized diamond ring, and she casually adjusted her newly styled hair—done early that morning—while flaunting her freshly manicured nails, done just the day before. With an authoritative yet deliberately curious demeanor, she said, “Excuse me, but did you just refer to my child as a—burden?”

“Your… your child?”

Wei Jing hadn’t noticed Qin Suxi initially, as she had been mostly blocked by Guan Mulin.

But now that Qin Suxi stepped forward, Wei Jing assessed her appearance and knew immediately she was someone of significance. She couldn’t help but feel a stab of jealousy—the bag on Qin Suxi’s arm was a global limited edition that money couldn’t necessarily buy! Even if Wei Jing had the connections to obtain one, she couldn’t afford it. Not that she was completely unable, but she simply lacked the financial capacity to spend that much on a single bag.

Then, hearing Qin Suxi’s words—

Wei Jing was completely stunned.

What did she mean by “my child”???

Wei Jing didn’t quite understand what that meant.

Even Jian Zhanguo standing nearby was taken aback.

—Did he mistake her for someone else?!

She spat each word, as if venting anger.

Loud and deliberately unsubtle:

“You’re the one! The burden!”

“You cheating, married-into-the-family gold-digger!”

Whoa!

Students and parents immediately turned to look.

Gossip!

Jian Zhanguo’s head spun, and his face flushed instantly. He scowled: “What nonsense are you saying!”

“Huh?”

Shen Ju glanced at Jian Zhanguo and Wei Jing: “Did you get divorced again? Is this your new rich cougar?”

“You—you—”

With that, not only did Jian Zhanguo’s expression grow darker, but Wei Jing’s face also turned even uglier.

She hadn’t expected this kid to have no shame, yelling things like that in public without any regard for the situation or status!

Before she could speak.

Jian Yi chimed in from the side, “explaining” to everyone: “Not divorced. The woman my dad cheated with is still this lady.”

More and more eyes gathered around.

Han Chengfeng also showed up. Spotting Wei Tianxi among the people involved, he immediately left his dad behind, saying “I’ll be right back,” and rushed to his buddy’s side—

“Shen Ju, someone called you a burden?!”

“Who called you a burden?!”

Han Chengfeng asked, already knowing the answer, then let out a laugh: “That’s ridiculous. How could a child of the Guan family be called a ‘burden’?”

He was the type to love drama without fear of offending Wei Tianxi’s family. He crossed his arms and looked over: “Hey, uncle, was it you? By the way, do you really marry into money?”

Then he turned to Wei Tianxi: “Wei Tianxi, how did I not know your stepdad was a live-in son-in-law? Haha.”

“That explains why you’re surnamed Wei.”

After saying that, he reached out and patted Jian Yi’s shoulder: “It’s okay, cuz. Having no dad is better than having this kind of dad. You’ve gotten out of a bad situation.”

Jian Yi even gave a nod.

On the other side, Pei Haochuan and Ke Cheng also wandered over.

He had noticed earlier and wasn’t sure he should get involved, but since Han Chengfeng, never one to hold back, had already jumped right in without hesitation, he naturally followed.

However, Pei Haochuan came over and looked at Guan Mulin.

“Is that aunt over there your real aunt?”

Guan Mulin immediately nodded: “This is my aunt, this is my cousin.”

Shen Ju frowned, not to be outdone, and quickly added: “My aunt! My cousin!”

Han Chengfeng, Pei Haochuan, and Ke Cheng said in unison:

“Hello, Aunt!”

“Hello, Cousin!”

Jian Yi: “…………”

Well, that was over the top.

Xu Ru was shocked, still unable to process how things had gotten this far out of hand.

She opened her mouth but couldn’t find words.

On the other side, Wei Jing and Jian Zhanguo were also speechless.

Wei Jing recognized Han Chengfeng because her son had mentioned being friends with him in class. She had even done her homework on him and knew Han Chengfeng’s father was on the PTA. But now…

Why was Han Chengfeng taking their side?!

Wei Jing couldn’t help but look at her son, only to see Wei Tianxi also looking uncomfortable.

Wei Tianxi wanted to pull Wei Jing away.

He was mortified!

He never should have asked his mom to come!

“Mom, let’s go—”

Wei Tianxi whispered: “The other two are from the Pei and Ke families…”

Wei Jing’s stomach dropped.

These were people she knew not to cross.

What is happening?!

Why did so many people show up when she just wanted to mock Xu Ru?!

And all of them were out of their league?!

And calling her ‘aunt’…

Wei Jing couldn’t keep her cool anymore.

Jian Zhanguo was the same.

Confused but also alarmed and suspicious.

He wanted to refute something—after all, in front of everyone, how could he show his face after what had just been said?!

Jian Zhanguo put on a stern face, frowned: “Jian Yi, are you just going to watch your dad—” he said.

“I don’t have a dad.”

Jian Yi cut him off.

“Do you want me to spell out in public how you callously abandoned your son, who had just become disabled, right after running off with your mistress?”

After saying this, Jian Yi let out an “ah”: “My bad, already put it out there.”

“Want me to keep going?”

Jian Zhanguo’s face twitched involuntarily.

He was seething.

Wei Tianxi couldn’t take it anymore and quickly pulled Wei Jing, who was both unwilling and dazed, away. Seeing this, Jian Zhanguo could only clench his jaw and turn to leave.

After they’d left and found a quiet spot, Wei Tianxi filled him in on what happened. When Jian Zhanguo learned that what he’d assumed was a “burden” turned out to be the Guan family’s biological son who had been accidentally switched at birth, he didn’t know what to feel or how to react! That was the Guan family—even the Wei family paled in comparison. How’d that deadweight get so lucky?!

And the son the Guan family had raised for more than ten years was actually Xu Ru’s real nephew.

Anyway you sliced it, there was a connection. If he and Xu Ru were still together, then now…

Jian Zhanguo felt more unsettled the more he thought about it, and the more it ate at him!

Wei Jing was also upset.

She had no idea Xu Ru had ties to the Guan family!

Thinking back to the scene earlier, how she had meant to ridicule Xu Ru, and how she dismissed Guan’s biological son as a “burden,” Wei Jing felt mortified.

She couldn’t help but take it out on Jian Zhanguo: “How could you not know about this?!”

Jian Zhanguo thought to himself how could he possibly know? To avoid making Wei Jing think he still cared about his previous family, he had completely cut ties with Xu Ru’s side for over a decade!

If it weren’t for Wei Jing, how could he have been left in the dark?!

Now it would be hard to mend fences with his son.

But though he thought this, Jian Zhanguo didn’t dare say it.

Bottling up his frustration, he threw out casually, “I haven’t been paying attention, but wouldn’t Tianxi know?”

Wei Tianxi scowled: “That crippled son of yours just transferred here not long ago. How could I have known in advance?!”

Jian Zhanguo fell silent, but his cheek twitched again.

“Alright, let’s not talk about this anymore,” Wei Jing said impatiently.

She was eager to salvage her pride another way and grabbed Wei Tianxi: “Your exam results should be okay, right? I mean, if you can climb the ranks—”

“Mom, relax,” Wei Tianxi said confidently. “Those teachers said I’ve improved a lot, and I did the math—I’ll be fine.”

“You know how at Qichen, the closer to the top, especially in the elite and experimental classes, the harder it is to make a leap. The scores are neck-and-neck. Even gaining five or six spots is a huge jump. But for this exam, I think I can gain at least six positions or more. Just wait and buy me that sports car.”

Then, Wei Tianxi added casually: “Oh, by the way, your uncle’s son seems to be a good student too, but that was at Yude. Who knows what he’ll pull at Qichen?”

“He and Guan Shenju—Shen Ju—haven’t been at Qichen long either…”

Wei Jing immediately sneered, as if speaking to Wei Tianxi but also to herself: “What kind of results can someone from Yude achieve at Qichen? And he’s in the experimental class, right? Isn’t that embarrassing?!”

“I see, they must have gotten in through connections. Hooking up with the Guan family really makes a difference. But so what? Just watch, they’ll soon be humiliated!”

Qichen is a place where elites gather. What outstanding results could someone from a public school like Yude possibly achieve at Qichen?

Wei Jing didn’t take it seriously at all.

After all, she had invested so much effort, resources, and energy into raising Wei Tianxi just to keep his grades stable in the elite class. Shen Ju and Jian Yi had just transferred from Yude not long ago, less than a semester. Could they keep up with Qichen’s teaching pace? It was obvious how much they must be struggling. Did they really think they could get good results? Ridiculous.

The more she thought about it, the more confident Wei Jing became. She patted Wei Tianxi’s shoulder: “You’ve got to earn some face for me later. Whether I can get into the parent committee depends on you.”

Wei Tianxi smiled: “Don’t worry, Mom.”

Qin Suxi, who hadn’t had much chance to intervene, couldn’t help but pinch Shen Ju’s cheek.

…………

“Our baby is no little burden.”

996 sighed: “Even after acting so crude, they still adore you so much.”

“Shouldn’t wealthy families care about status and manners? Shouldn’t they think it’s undignified for you to make a scene in public? Shouldn’t they look down on you?! Ahhh! I don’t get it! I really don’t!”

“…………”

Shen Ju didn’t know what to say.

After Wei Jing and Jian Zhanguo left with the other, his “intimidating aura” unconsciously faded. After all, putting on an act was exhausting.

Now, with Qin Suxi pinching his cheek, he looked a bit dazed.

Hearing 996’s increasingly dramatic complaints, he was startled.

He didn’t know which to respond to first.

Qin Suxi paused, wondering if her child was dead set on completing the mission?

So persistent…

There wasn’t time to think too much, and the setting wasn’t appropriate, so Qin Suxi could only set it aside for now.

The seminar was about to begin.

Qin Suxi invited Xu Ru to enter together, suggesting they sit next to each other.

Xu Ru smiled uncomfortably.

She knew her earlier phone call to Qin Suxi, asking for help, had been abrupt and overstepping. She thought that after that, the Guan family wouldn’t want anything to do with them. But… What made Xu Ru even more upset was that Shen Ju was willing to stand up for them—he was the first to step forward and even loudly called her “aunt”… She felt upset, embarrassed, and conflicted.

How could she not have feelings for this child? They had endured hardships together, struggled together, laughed and quarreled together over so many years. How could she not care?

When did things start to change?

Ah, right—it was when Shen Ju was recognized by the Guan family…

After learning Shen Ju wasn’t her biological nephew, a big part of it was that she couldn’t get over that mental hurdle. But it was also like what Jian Yi implied without explicitly stating—

They could go through hard times together, but when one of them took a different path, the growing gap inevitably led to other thoughts and feelings.

So when Xu Ru saw Shen Ju again and saw what just happened, she felt so ashamed.

She was ashamed of herself.

So pathetic, she thought.

Really… so pathetic.

At this moment, Xu Ru almost wanted to bury her face in her hands.

The next instant, she realized Jian Yi was still holding her hand.

It had been a long time since mother and son had such a warm moment.

“Let’s go, Mom,” Jian Yi said softly.

He didn’t want to tell Shen Ju to cut his mother some slack, but as Xu Ru’s son, as the one who came out on top, even if he was annoyed by his mother’s stubbornness, he couldn’t help but look out for her.

He just hoped that after this, his mother could ease up a bit.

Stop overthinking things.

…………

The importance of this parents’ meeting could be seen just from the parents’ outfits.

After all, it was also one of the key factors in the changes to the parent council.

Winter break was starting not long after the symposium.

Qichen’s winter break usually started earlier than public schools.

After all, with four weeks of December exams, all that pressure calls for some downtime.

Besides, even though school is out, it doesn’t mean students get to play all day at home. It’s not like these last few days before the New Year matter—some time to unwind is still needed.

Everything else can wait until school starts again next year.

So the symposium would announce the school’s upcoming arrangements and things parents needed to help with.

Of course, the most important and anticipated part was still the announcement of the exam results.

The results of this major exam were the most significant.

They even related to the school’s recommended admission spots.

But at such a nail-biting moment, Qichen had a knack for mixing things up—instead of directly announcing all students’ scores and rankings, they first gave out awards, letting parents watch other children receive them.

Like Best Class President.

Best Subject Representative.

Most Helpful, Most Hardworking, Class Energizer, Class Clown Award, etc…

They really put on a show.

But the most important awards were still related to the exam results—

“Alright, the next two awards to be presented are, first, the Most Improved Star Award, given to the student with the greatest progress in both scores and ranking this exam. And the winner is—”

When Wei Tianxi heard this award, he immediately grew both excited and nervous, staring hard at the stage.

This was the award he was hoping for!

Aside from the earlier joke awards, the most important ones were these last two.

As he had mentioned before, in the Elite Class and the Experimental Class, moving up one rank was doable, but moving up significantly, surpassing many others, was difficult.

Because these were mostly high achievers, scores were close, and the higher you went, the smaller the gaps. Making huge progress and leaving many behind was no easy task. So at Qichen, the “Most Improved Star Award” was a big deal—it wasn’t just some throwaway award.

So…

The winner of this award is—

Wei Tianxi was almost saying his own name in his head.

It had to be Wei Tianxi—

“Guan Shenju—Shen Ju!”

“What??!”

Wei Tianxi was completely thrown.

He had even half-stood up, but it wasn’t him?!

How could it be Shen Ju?!

He had been at the bottom of the Experimental Class back then! How could he improve so much in such a short time?!

No way!!!

“And now the final award, the First Place certificate.”

“So, the student who achieved first place in this December major exam is—”

The homeroom teacher of the Experimental Class could barely contain her smile.

Although the two classes were said to be similar, usually such events were hosted by the Elite Class homeroom teacher. This was the first time she was running this show.

All because both of these final awards came from her class.

Especially this first-place student…

The teacher took a deep breath and announced, beaming, “Let’s congratulate Jian Yi for achieving first place in this final major exam!”

What?!?!

Wei Tianxi froze in his seat.

He hadn’t processed the previous result when the next one hit him like a ton of bricks.

He was totally shocked.

Not just Wei Tianxi, but even Wei Jing and Jian Zhanguo looked stunned and disbelieving.

Especially Jian Zhanguo.

His heart was twisting itself into knots!