"Hello, Zhijing's mother. Zhijing had a small conflict with a classmate at school. Could you please come to the school? The other student's parents are already here."
The other parent insisted that Cen Xi make the call right there in the office, as if afraid she might say something untoward.
Nian Suian was stunned when she received the call. In her impression, Gu Zhijing wasn't the type of child to cause trouble at school.
"Teacher Cen, is Zhijing alright? Is he hurt? What about the other student?" At this moment, the reason didn't matter; what mattered was that no one was hurt.
"Zhijing isn't injured. The other student has a slight—"
"What do you mean slight! My son's face is swollen from being hit!"
"Hey, parent, don't grab my phone—"
"#!&@&*!"
Even over the phone, Nian Suian could imagine the chaos on the other end. However, knowing that Gu Zhijing wasn't hurt made her feel a bit more at ease.
After hanging up, Nian Suian immediately changed her clothes, went downstairs, and asked the driver to take her to the school.
On the way to school, Cen Xi sent another message.
[The other parent is quite difficult to deal with. Be prepared.]
Nian Suian guessed this must have been sent secretly by Cen Xi. For her to say such a thing meant the other parent was indeed troublesome.
Nian Suian thought for a moment and decided to call Gu Junxing. As the father, he should be there too.
"Gu Junxing, are you busy right now?" Nian Suian thought if he was very busy, she'd let it go.
"I'm not busy at the moment. What's wrong?" Gu Junxing could hear the urgency in Nian Suian's voice. He had just finished a meeting and didn't have any pressing matters for the afternoon.
"Zhijing got into a fight at school. We don't know the specific reason yet, but the teacher has called for the parents. I'm on my way there now, almost at the school. Don't worry though, I asked the teacher, and Zhijing isn't hurt." Nian Suian quickly explained the situation.
"I understand. I'll head over right away."
"Alright, when you arrive, go directly to the grade director's office. It's on the third floor of the Qiushi Building. I'll get there first."
"Mr. Gu, has something happened?"
"Yes, for this afternoon's client, please have Director Yang receive them. I need to go to Zhijing's school." The client meeting was originally scheduled for him to handle, but now he'd have to let the vice president take over.
Nian Suian had never been to the grade director's office before, so she'd have to look for it once she reached the third floor.
"My son is the only male heir for three generations! If you hurt him, can you afford to pay for it?!"
Well, no need to search anymore. Nian Suian just followed the sound.
The office door was open. As Nian Suian approached, she saw—
Wow! The room was full of people. It was hard to tell who were teachers and who were parents.
Four children in school uniforms stood against the wall, two boys and two girls.
"Hello, who are you looking for?" A man standing by the door noticed Nian Suian first.
"I'm Gu Zhijing's parent."
The man who had been yelling at the grade director immediately turned and walked towards Nian Suian upon hearing this.
"So you're the parent of that little bastard who hit my son!"
Fearing his spit might hit her face, Nian Suian took two steps back. Gu Zhijing also came over from the side to block the man.
"Watch your language!" Nian Suian didn't mince words either. They didn't even know what had happened yet, and he was already cursing. She didn't like it.
"This is how I talk, got a problem with that? Is your family out of men? Sending a woman here?"
"Does your family not own toothbrushes? They let you out with such a foul mouth?"
The man, humiliated and angry, was about to say something else when security guards who had hurriedly arrived pulled him away.
Usually, parent-teacher meetings didn't require security, but seeing that the situation was getting out of control, a teacher had run out to call for security.
Three minutes later, the scene finally calmed down. A teacher brought three chairs, asking the three parents to sit down.
"Li Yaxin, where are your parents?"
The girl, teary-eyed, replied, "Teacher, my parents are both busy with work. They don't have time to come."
Seeing that three of the parents had arrived, the grade director didn't want to make them wait for one more, so he didn't say anything further.
"It's like this. Today, before the first afternoon class, Gu Zhijing and Hao Leyun from Class 3 got into a fight with Wang Jiayao from Class 7..."
"What fight? It was just the two of them beating up my son! This is school bullying!"
School bullying was a serious accusation. The grade director's expression turned grave. "Mr. Wang, we haven't clarified the situation yet. Please don't make baseless accusations."
"Director Ge, my Leyun has always been an obedient child. Let's hear what the children have to say about what happened today," Hao Leyun's father didn't believe his daughter would get into a fight.
Nian Suian also said, "That's right, Director. Apart from these four children, we don't know the specific situation. Let's hear what they have to say first. Zhijing, you go first."
After Nian Suian spoke, Wang Jiayao's father became upset again.
"Why should he go first? If anyone's going to speak, it should be my son. Jiayao, speak up! Dad's got your back."
"I was talking to Li Yaxin at the pavilion behind the teaching building when these two rushed over and hit me. I don't know why."
"You hear that? You hear that? Let's see what you have to say now."
"You're lying!" Both Hao Leyun and Gu Zhijing protested. Wang Jiayao was clearly twisting the facts.
"What do you mean lying? My son never lies. You two little brats, just wait for your punishment. Wait to be expelled!"
Nian Suian couldn't help but burst out, "Even in a court of law, both sides get to speak. My son hasn't said anything yet. What are you yelling about?"
"That's right, my daughter hasn't spoken either. Your son's words alone don't mean shit!"
"Dad..." Hao Leyun looked at her father, a bit shocked that he would use such language.
"Don't be afraid, sweetie. Dad's got your back!" Hao Leyun's father was a piano virtuoso who usually never uttered a single curse word. Today, for his daughter's sake, he was going all out.
Hearing Nian Suian's words, Wang Jiayao's father became even more agitated. "Are you trying to fool me? This brat is your son? You're just blatantly lying. Are his parents too afraid to face me, so they sent you instead?"
Wang Jiayao explained to his father, "Dad, she's the stepmother."
"No wonder she's so ill-mannered. Turns out he's got a mother who gave birth to him but no mother to teach him manners, huh?"
"Who's ill-mannered?!"
Nian Suian couldn't hold back anymore. She threw her phone, which hit Wang Jiayao's father square in the mouth.
"Nice!" Hao Leyun applauded from the side. "Great aim! What's wrong with being a stepmother? This stepmother is a hundred times better than you, a foul-mouthed, uncultured biological father. Your son lies, and you have no manners. You really are a loving family!"
"F*ck #@*&*!!"
"How dare you curse at my daughter?!"
The scene descended into chaos once again.
When Gu Junxing arrived, this was the scene he walked into.
