The next day.

With a soft rustle, several bags of snacks were placed on Chen Xi's desk. She turned her head to look at Xue Lan, her gaze not friendly.

"They're not from a boy," Xue Lan shivered under her stare and waved her hand to explain, "My mom just brought them for me. I ate so many of your snacks before, so I'm sharing some with you now."

Chen Xi glanced behind the young girl and, sure enough, there sat a middle-aged woman who resembled her, chatting with other parents.

Other parents also arrived, and the children introduced each other. The classroom became somewhat noisy with the crowd, but the more chaotic it got, the quieter Chen Xi felt inside.

She just lowered her head, looking at the bags of snacks on the desk, thinking to herself:"When will this end?"

Chen Xi's homeroom teacher, surnamed Liu, was a gentle woman, at least outside of class.

She was already on the podium, signaling with her eyes for the room to quiet down.

Her gaze swept over all the parents, pausing momentarily on Chen Xi, and then she glanced at the time, having a rough idea in her mind.

This little girl had been silent and withdrawn since transferring, and she was alone at the parent meeting. It seemed she should take some time to understand the situation better...

She cleared her throat a few times and continued: "Alright, if all the parents are here, let's get ready to start..."

"Wait a minute!"

To everyone's surprise, a flustered man suddenly burst in, panting and wiping sweat from his forehead, bowing and smiling apologetically at the homeroom teacher on the podium:

"Sorry, teacher, I went to the wrong classroom..."

"Which student's parent are you?"

"Chen Xi..."

Following the woman's gaze, the man quickly found the somewhat frail figure in the crowd, his heart tightening as he hurriedly squeezed through the plastic chairs.

Meanwhile, the young girl was still staring blankly at the snacks on the desk, her head lowered, lost in thought.

The sound of a chair scraping lightly against the floor reached her ears, not loud, but jarring amidst the surrounding noise.

Chen Xi looked up, stunned, her pupils shrinking as she stared blankly at the man who had just arrived, unable to utter a word.

Yan Feng, however, smiled apologetically, quietly explaining, drenched in sweat, "You didn't tell me about the parent meeting today, nor which class it was in, so I ran through the entire senior year building. It turned out to be the last one, and I was late..."

Seeing the sweat streaming down the man's forehead and his slightly disheveled appearance, Chen Xi's lips twitched, but she said nothing, casually putting away the bag of snacks on the desk.

The parent meeting began, and each parent received a copy of their child's report card, including Yan Feng.

In his memory, his sister had always excelled in school, so no matter what, Chen Xi's scores shouldn't be too bad, at least average, right?

Unfortunately, he was destined to be disappointed.

With less than 50 students in the class, Chen Xi ranked near the bottom, her grades looking... less than ideal.

He twitched his lips, swallowed, and deliberately maintained a relaxed demeanor, not wanting the young girl to see any hint of disappointment.

Fortunately, the parent meeting proceeded smoothly, and afterward, he was asked to stay behind by the teacher. Only after all the other parents had left did he follow her out of the classroom.

As he watched the man's departing figure, the classroom erupted with the girls' exclamations, several pairs of eyes immediately turning to the corner where Chen Xi sat. Xue Lan quickly rushed over, asking:

"Xi Xi! Was that your brother just now? He's so handsome! Is he married? Does he have a girlfriend? Can you help me get his WeChat? Please..."

Chen Xi ignored her love-struck friend, instead pulling out the bag of snacks Xue Lan had given her earlier from the desk and stuffing it into her friend's arms.

"Huh? What's wrong, don't you like it? This one's really sweet!"

Seeing her friend's puzzled expression, Chen Xi remained indifferent, leaving only a thought-provoking remark.

"I don't like accepting things from others."

***

Meanwhile, following the homeroom teacher out of the classroom, Yan Feng was sweating profusely.

Thinking about the young girl's dismal grades and recalling his own unreliable, tardy appearance, he could already imagine the stern reprimand he was about to receive from the teacher.

He never felt this pressured even when dealing with million-dollar deals at work...

Fortunately, the private conversation wasn't as difficult as he had imagined; it went quite smoothly.

Chen Xi's homeroom teacher only asked Yan Feng a few simple questions, such as the young girl's family environment, living conditions, and personal habits.

Upon learning about Chen Xi's background, she expressed her sympathy and sternly reminded Yan Feng to focus on the child's education, suggesting he supervise her personally or arrange for tutoring if possible.

He listened attentively, and only after leaving the office did he sigh, taking out his phone, which had been turned off, and powering it on.

A stream of messages popped up, mostly from the company, but before he could check them, Gu Qing called.

Choosing to answer, past experience made Yan Feng wisely lower the volume.

"Hey! You little rascal!! Where the hell have you been!! Why didn't you answer my calls!?"

Yan Feng frowned as he listened, unable to help but comment on his boss's impressive vocal power, then explained, "Well, the kid had a parent meeting today, so I came to attend."

The atmosphere instantly fell silent.

Kid, parent meeting, attend.

These three words could lead to many assumptions.

On the other end of the line, Gu Qing, who had just stood up from her desk, held her phone, her mouth slightly open, speechless for a long time before stammering:

"Pa-parent meeting? Little... Yan Feng, you... you have a child? When did this happen?"

"No," the man had already left the school, stepping onto his beloved little electric scooter, "it's... her child. She passed away last year... so I'm taking care of her for now."

"Oh, oh... that's good, that's good..." Gu Qing patted her chest, exhaling in relief, then quickly added, "No, I didn't mean it like that. I mean, I'm sorry... I reminded you of something sad..."

"It's nothing," Yan Feng chuckled softly, glancing at the red light ahead, a hint of melancholy in his eyes, "I've long since moved on."

----------------------------------------

Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan