The department head"s expression was ugly as he listened to Zhu Yongzhi"s incoherent words, itching to pull off his belt and strike him a few times. He was just too stupid!

“Which Professor Tan are you talking about?” The furrows between the department head"s brows were deep enough to squish a fly.

“The Business Studies Professor Tan, Tan Huaishui,” Zhu Yongzhi hastily replied.

“Tan Huaishui? What did he want you to do?”

“He wanted me to pressure Xu Jiaojiao so that she doesn"t come to cla.s.s and fails the course. That way, she can"t stay in school.”

The department head couldn"t stand it anymore and he hit Zhu Yongzhi"s head. “Are you an idiot?! You haven"t even realised that you were being used as a tool! What could he possibly do to help you become an a.s.sociate professor? Even if he could, why don"t you first think about whether your own abilities are good enough?”

Zhu Yongzhi rubbed the place he"d gotten hit and wanted to retort, but he didn"t dare to. He angrily muttered, “Then, what do we do now?”

“If you still want to continue working here, then apologise to Xu Jiaojiao, today. If she doesn"t forgive you, your future as a teacher in this school is finished.”

“You serious?” Zhu Yongzhi didn"t dare to believe him.

“Don"t you realise that Xu Jiaojiao"s the leader of the cla.s.s right now, whereas you"re the public enemy?! If Xu Jiaojiao excuses you, it would be much easier to get forgiveness from the cla.s.s. You have to be sincere when you apologise and make sure to not put on any airs.”

“Brother-in-law, teach me.” Zhu Yongzhi stared at the department head like he was clutching at his last straw.

The department head sighed helplessly.

Meanwhile, after uniting to fight the teacher, the students in the cla.s.s became much closer to Sheng Jiaoyang.

After cla.s.s, Sheng Jiaoyang returned to the dorm and put on a mask, hat, and large sungla.s.ses. She then called a taxi to go to the cemetery, stopping at a flower shop on the way to buy her mother"s favourite flowers.

Although tomorrow was the day of her mother"s burial, it was technically supposed to be today. She personally watched her mother pa.s.s away on the night of her eighth birthday. Her mother had wanted to delay her death, but lives were indeed never under a person"s control. Ultimately, she left just before midnight, looking at Sheng Jiaoyang apologetically.

Sheng Jiaoyang was very familiar with this graveyard. In the six months she was in China, she would dedicate a day every week to sit in front of the grave.

Sheng Jiaoyang walked through the rows of tombstones before suddenly stopping. Although it was from a distance, she could see a man crouching in front of her mother"s grave.

She frowned as she slowly made her way over with the flowers.

When she was nearby, the man looking at the tombstone turned his head vigilantly.

Sheng Jiaoyang set the flowers in front of the grave under his attentive gaze.

“You are?” the man asked as he stood up.

“I"m Jiaoyang"s friend. I"m visiting her mother for her.”

“Jiaojiao…how"s Jiaojiao doing now?”

Sheng Jiaoyang looked at the man"s half white hair, and instead of replying, she asked, “You"re her dad, yet you don"t know?”

“You recognise me?” Sheng Xun narrowed his eyes.

“I saw family photos with you, Jiaoyang, and her mother.” Sheng Jiaoyang didn"t bat an eyelid as she lied.

“But, I"ve never seen you before.” Sheng Xun inspected her.

“Of course, you wouldn"t recognise me. How many of Jiaoyang"s friends do you even know? Have you ever even cared about her? You probably don"t even know where she is now!”

Sheng Jiaoyang felt rather bitter. When she was young, she was the pearl in his palm, his whole world. But then, just like morning and night, everything changed. If it wasn"t for her mother telling her everything before she"d died, she probably would"ve treated this irresponsible father like an enemy.

Sheng Xun"s face darkened. “What qualifications do you have to question me?”

“Right, I really don"t have the qualifications right now.” Sheng Jiaoyang smiled mockingly before turning to look at the picture frame on the grave. The beautiful and elegant woman would forever stay youthful.

“You…” Shen Xun hesitated. “Do you know how Jiaojiao is right now?”

How long ago was her accident? Sheng Jiaoyang smiled strangely. “If I said she"s already dead, would you be upset?”

“Even if you"re Jiaojiao"s friend, I won"t allow you to curse her like that.” Shen Xun frowned.

“Curse? Sigh.” Sheng Jiaoyang looked like she"d just heard a huge joke. “I heard that even now she"s still unconscious, what difference is that from being dead?”

“What?”

Seeing the man"s shocked expression, Sheng Jiaoyang, who"d originally thought that she"d be happy, realised that she couldn"t keep her smile. “It happened more than two months ago, yet you don"t even know if she"s dead or alive and need to ask an outsider. I don"t believe you can"t find your daughter"s whereabouts with your abilities.”

“You just don"t care about her.” A tear slid down her cheek. “You don"t even care about the child you had with her, yet you still came to see her? Don"t you feel ashamed?”

Shen Xun"s expression froze, and it seemed like he"d received a severe blow as he staggered away.

Sheng Jiaoyang pursed her lips and looked away. She crouched at the tombstone and gazed at the beautiful, peacefully smiling woman in the photo, bowing as she leaned on the tombstone. Her voice was soft as she whispered, “Mum, I know I shouldn"t have gone against what you said, but when I see Dad acting so uncaring towards me, I can"t stand it. At that moment, I really wanted to tell him what actually happened. But, then I remembered that if he cared even a single bit about me, he would"ve been able to realise the truth on his own.”

The clacking of leather shoes filled the air as another person walked over.

Sheng Jiaoyang turned around, astonished when she saw the visitor.

Why is Shen Zhining here?

Shen Zhining was also astonished to see Xu Jiaojiao.

“Why are you here?” Shen Zhining frowned slightly.

“Today"s the death date of my idol"s mother, so I came to offer a sacrifice. What, can I not do that?”

Shen Zhining glanced at her posture, his tone enigmatic as he said, “Your posture when giving a sacrifice is quite unique.”

Sheng Jiaoyang was stunned for a moment before hurriedly standing up.

Shen Zhining reached out to take the flowers Jing Weinan was carrying and set them in front of the grave. He looked thoughtfully at the other two identical bouquets before looking deeply at the unhappy girl. “You really know a lot, even knowing Aunty Yang"s favourite flowers.”

Sheng Jiaoyang heard the question in his tone and smiled fakely. “Don"t you know that obsessive fangirls exist? They even want to know the colour of their idol"s underwear. I"m that kind of fan.”

The silent Jing Weinan"s lips twitched. He"d never seen anyone call themselves an obsessive fangirl so proudly before.

Sheng Jiaoyang saw Shen Zhining fall silent and felt much better.Previous ChapterNext Chapter