Shi Li was staying quietly at home.
That day, when Shi's father came home, he was sighing heavily, clearly something had happened.
Concerned for her father, Shi Li asked him what had happened.
Shi's father sighed, "I had a college classmate, the same age as me, who suddenly had a heart attack at noon today and passed away."
Shi Li let out a gasp. Her father wasn't even fifty yet, and his classmate was also in the prime of his life. How could he suddenly be gone?
Shi's father continued sighing, "His eldest child is ten, the younger one is two. He has parents to support, and his wife is a full-time housewife. The whole family was depending on him alone."
Huang Jie also lamented the preciousness of life, emphasizing the importance of health and self-care, warning against sacrificing one's life for work.
"But at least, for people our age, unlike your generation of only children, this man had a younger brother who can help take care of things."
Huang Jie sighed as well, "If only we had had a second child back then, boy or girl, if something were to happen to your father and me, you two would have each other to rely on."
Shi Li didn't like hearing Huang Jie talk about this. "Come on, if you had given birth to a good-for-nothing, I wouldn't be able to rely on them at all. They'd just drag me down."
Shi Li glanced at her father's expression and quickly added, "Like my uncle."
Huang Jie glared at her, "Don't talk nonsense. Your uncle's only flaw is that he's a bit slow, he has no other shortcomings."
Shi Li shrugged, "Being stupid is the biggest shortcoming of all."
Huang Jie glared at her again, signaling her to stop talking. Couldn't she see her father was in a bad mood?
Alright, Shi Li always obeyed Madam Huang Jie. Whatever she said, Shi Li would do.
Since Huang Jie told her to shut up, Shi Li stopped talking.
Shi Li closed her mouth, thinking about what her father had said about his classmate leaving behind two children, and that this classmate had a younger brother.
Shi Li suddenly remembered something from her past life.
She turned to her father, "Dad, when are you going to attend your classmate's funeral? I'll go with you."
Shi's father thought his daughter was volunteering to go out of concern for him, which warmed his heart and made him feel good.
Shi's father's classmate's surname was Lin, and his funeral was being held at home.
This Mr. Lin was an executive at a listed company, so his villa was quite large, though not in the best location.
At the entrance of Uncle Lin's villa, they ran into Fu Huixing and Mr. Fu. It was then that Shi Li remembered Uncle Lin was actually an executive at Fu Group.
Shi's father and Mr. Fu had a good relationship now, and they seemed to have something to discuss, so they left the kids to entertain themselves.
Mr. Fu specifically instructed Fu Huixing, "Huixing, keep an eye on Zhan Yang." Don't let him run around everywhere.
Fu Huixing nodded slightly, "Okay."
It had been a long time since Shi Li had seen the Fu family's second young master, and he looked much more haggard.
Before, there had been light in his eyes, but now he looked like a walking corpse.
Shi Li looked sympathetically at Fu Huixing, who had to take care of the child.
"How come you have time to go out today? Aren't you studying at home?"
This was Shi Li asking Fu Huixing. Recently, Fu Huixing seemed to have taken some kind of magic pill, as his grades had improved rapidly. He had ranked in the top ten of their class for both midterms and monthly exams.
Saying he had taken a magic pill was just a joke, of course. Shi Li often received text messages from Fu Huixing asking questions.
From these questions, she could tell that Fu Huixing had been studying very hard this semester.
His improved grades seemed to make sense in this context.
He hadn't participated in any of the class activities this semester, always citing schedule conflicts due to private tutoring sessions.
The reason Shi Li knew about his excuses was that she had also asked for leave. Shi Li didn't like to exert herself; a single "spring outing" would drain her energy so much that it would take at least half a year of lying around to recover.
After the online document for leave requests closed, Shi Li checked to see if she was the only one who had asked for leave. In the document, she saw Fu Huixing and his reason for absence.
#Shocking! Qianpu School bully transforms into model student, why is he cooped up at home studying every day?#
Seeing someone else ask for leave along with her made Shi Li feel better about not being the only exception.
And there were quite a few others in the class who had the same excuse as Fu Huixing.
Today was the weekend, and Shi Li had thought Fu Huixing would be at home studying.
Fu Huixing's thin lips curled slightly upward, "As it happens, I had time today to accompany my cousin out."
In fact, he knew that the company's Vice President Lin was a classmate of Shi Li's father, so Shi Li might come, which is why he came too.
Shi Li's gaze swept over the listless second young master, and she nodded seriously, "You really do have a lot of responsibility."
The Fu family's second young master, who had shown no signs of life until now, widened his eyes when he heard Fu Huixing say he was here to accompany him. Put your hand on your heart and say a hundred times that you're here to accompany your cousin?
How come your cousin doesn't know about this?
Someone going through a breakup can't stand seeing others being lovey-dovey right in front of them, finding the scene extremely annoying.
He very much wanted to insert himself between them, to be a third wheel and disrupt these two.
"Uncle Shi and my uncle probably have things to discuss and won't be back for a while. Let me take you inside first."
White mourning couplets were pasted on the villa's entrance, and people were coming and going inside.
Boss Lin had a wide circle of friends when he was alive, so there were many guests.
The staff knew that Fu Huixing's group were Mr. Fu's children, so they led them into the villa, trying to find a place for them to sit.
Shi Li pointed to a corner behind the spirit tablet where surveillance cameras were placed. "You can go about your business. We'll just rest over there."
The staff member looked at the shabby corner, hesitating. This didn't seem right, arranging for the relatives of the company's leaders to sit in a corner could easily get them scolded.
Fu Huixing saw the strange light flickering in Shi Li's eyes and shook his head at the staff member. "We won't trouble you. The corner is fine."
Although the Fu family's second young master was the oldest among the three, Fu Huixing looked more calm and reliable, so the staff member instinctively sought his opinion.
There are just some people who naturally look more trustworthy.
After getting Fu Huixing's approval, he left.
After Shi Li and the others sat down, the staff around them bustled about busily.
A staff member who looked like a manager walked in and instructed the person in charge of monitoring the surveillance, "Last night, someone wasn't paying attention and knocked over the eternal lamps on both sides of the spirit tablet. Check last night's surveillance footage to see who it was. We must dock their pay when we get back!"
The manager's voice was filled with anger.
[Hehehehehehehe]
The staff member sitting in front of the monitor resignedly began to review the footage. He responded to his superior, "Maybe the eternal lamps were knocked over by mice stealing the oil."
The eternal lamps used cooking oil, and if you ignored the fact that mice are afraid of heat, it could have been done by mice.
The manager left with one last comment, "You look through the records first and send me a screenshot when you find the culprit!"
Shi Li grinned like a little mouse stealing oil: [Hehe, not stealing oil, but stealing people!]
