Chapter 14

Editor: SleepyMango123

Proofreader: Lore

In the morning of the second day of school reopening, Han Cheng woke up a little bit earlier than usual. After having breakfast with Xia Tian, both of them got into the car and set off.

Except for his parents, this was the first time that another family member sent him to school. Xia Tian was thrilled but wanted reaffirmation and decided to ask again, “Sending me to school doesn’t waste too much of your time, right?”

Han Cheng was amused and replied, “If you continue to ask, I will test your vocabulary while we are on the road so that you know what not wasting time really is.”

Xia Tian was most afraid of this so he obediently sat in the car and stopped talking.

Han Cheng’s car was fully equipped with various equipment. After getting in the car, he began to process his business file. Xia Tian looked at him dumbfoundedly and after a while, he couldn’t hold back. He whispered, “Uncle Han… Can I ask you something? Just one question.”

This was what he should have asked last night, but Xia Tian was flustered and completely forgot about it.

The corner of Han Cheng’s mouth was slightly raised. He looked at the monitor and briefly said, “Speak.”

“When I was having lunch with my mother yesterday, I discussed it with her. I will go home over the next weekend. Will you have time in the afternoon on Saturday? If you have time, do you want to come to my house for a meal?” Xia Tian asked and continued explaining, “Not my grandmother’s, but my mother’s house. She invited you.”

Han Cheng nodded. “I have time. I’ll send you back when the time comes.”

Xia Tian grinned with joy and replied, “Okay, then I will let my mother know in advance.”

Han Cheng thought for a while and looked at Xia Tian. “Then which day of the week will you be coming back?”

Xia Tian hesitated for awhile before speaking, “Sunday night or afternoon? My mother’s place is too far from school. If I go to school directly on Monday, I’ll have to get up early. It’s a bit inconvenient.”

“True.” Han Cheng nodded. “In that case, I’ll pick you up on Sunday night.”

Xia Tian was touched by his gesture and responded, “No need. It’ll be taking up too much of your time. Besides, are you still afraid that I cannot recognise the way back?”

Han Cheng was doing two things at once and while dealing with work, absentmindedly said, “No, I’m afraid you will run away and won’t come back.”

Xia Tian tried his best to suppress the corners of his mouth that had been provoked. He coughed and stopped talking.

Han Cheng was busy with his own affairs. When they arrived at the school gate, Han Cheng handed him his schoolbag and said, “I don’t think I’ll be able to pick you up at noon, but Liang Qingfeng will definitely come. Have a good lunch. Don’t be naughty.”

Xia Tian agreed. “I understand. You also have a good lunch at noon.”

Han Cheng nodded. He winded down the car window and watched Xia Tian enter the school gate before allowing the driver to drive away.

The internet was a bit lagging. While watching the emails slowly send, Han Cheng recalled the details of interacting with Xia Tian this morning. He was quite satisfied with Xia Tian’s attitude during his rebellious period. Today, he was very well-behaved and ate a lot for breakfast. In the car just now, he spontaneously took out the vocabulary book to recite and memorise. When he left the car, his cheeks were slightly red and his complexion was good.

All these details showed Xia Tian was in good condition today, both physically and mentally.

Sure enough, moderate care and concern was necessary.

Han Cheng took out a cigarette and inhaled…

Afraid of influencing Xia Tian and causing him to be addicted to cigarettes, Han Cheng had not smoked in front of him for several days.

In fact, Han Cheng rarely smoked in front of Xia Tian. He vaguely remembered he saw an article about children who inhaled second-hand smoke were more likely to have tooth decay.

Xia Tian’s teeth were neat and white. It would be a pity if he were to grow a few cavities during the next few years he stayed by his side.

In the future, if he were to kiss his lover, it would affect their feelings.

Han Cheng’s mind flashed this unpretentious thought as he smiled faintly and put out the half-puffed cigarette in the ashtray.

Han Cheng opened the schedule that Liang Qingfeng had sent him in the morning to take a closer look… If he were able to squeeze his schedule, maybe he could spare some time to pick Xia Tian up for lunch.

On the first day of sending Xia Tian to school, Han Cheng wanted to do his best.

On the other hand at the school, Xia Tian sorted the books in his school bag, arranged his homework one by one and handed them to the class representatives of each subject. The English class representative in the class was close to Xia Tian. He took his homework and asked in a low voice, “Oh. Aren’t you recently having make up lessons? How’s it going?”

Xia Tian grinned. “It’s going very well. What’s the matter?”

“No, it’s nothing. It’s good that it’s going well.” The English class representative continued, “You just transferred and you don’t know. After our midterm exam, there will be a parent meeting. Your grades… Well, it’s okay. You have made a lot of progress.”

Xia Tian’s smile froze on his face and he awkwardly repeated, “Parents’ meeting?”

The class representative nodded. “Yes, it will start at the end of the semester. Our school is a bit abnormal. The monthly exam requires parents to sign, but at the end of the semester, they’ll have a meeting. It won’t work if we deceive them by telling the teachers that our parents cannot attend. The teachers don’t need us to notify our guardians and would directly call them. It’s so annoying… Eh? Are you okay?”

Xia Tian forced a smile and replied, “Oh. No, nothing is wrong. I’m going to read a book.”

Xia Tian quietly returned to his seat. With words that were difficult to express, he took out his last report card, feeling exhausted and heartbroken…

Although recently there had been some progress in his performance, it was still very difficult to surpass the second person from the last.

Although the guardian’s phone number was filled in by Liang Qingfeng, with the lessons learned last time, Xia Tian didn’t dare to play any more tricks and let Liang Qingfeng cover up for himself. If Liang Qingfeng were to let Han Cheng know, he would definitely be punished.

But it took a lot of courage to get Han Cheng to sign the first-from-bottom report card. No matter how thick skinned he was, to ask Han Cheng to attend the parent meeting for him… Han Cheng still had no time.

He predicted that Liang Qingfeng would come instead.

But Liang Qingfeng looked a little younger than Han Cheng. If he really were to attend, he would be sitting among the parents. Wouldn’t it be too weird?

Let’s just tell mom in advance. It’s better for her to attend.

Xia Tian was paralyzed on the desk and had a terrible headache… It was nothing to be embarrassed about in front of his mother, but even so, the school would still inform Liang Qingfeng, and Liang Qingfeng would definitely tell Han Cheng. There was still no way to hide it.

“Bzzzz…”

Xia Tian’s phone vibrated. He picked up and was quite surprised to see a text message from Yan Lihua.

“Xia Tian, I will pick you up at noon. Let’s have lunch together.”

Xia Tian couldn’t react for a long time. Yan Lihua wanted to have lunch with him?!

There were still ten minutes before class was starting. The teacher hadn’t come yet so Xia Tian used his phone and called the other party.

The other side quickly picked up. Yan Lihua smiled and said, “Xia Tian, there is a new Cantonese restaurant on Zhongyuan Road. Your sister-in-law went to eat it and said it was good. I’ll pick you up at noon. Let’s go there to eat.”

Xia Tian was stunned and replied, “What… What kind of gathering? Who else is going?”

“Who else? Just the two of us. Your aunt has been there so we won’t be asking her to come along.” Yan Lihua smiled lovingly. “Your mother should be busy today so I didn’t invite her either.”

Xia Tian no longer wanted to go and said uncomfortably, “It’s okay. Someone at home will be picking me up at noon…”

With a pleased look, Yan Lihua continued, “I’ve already told Han Cheng for you, he knows you’re coming with me.”

It sounded like Han Cheng had agreed to it. Xia Tian had no choice but to go with the flow. “Then… Okay. Just tell me the location and I will go by myself.”

Yan Lihua said with concern, “No, it’s okay. I will pick you up, lest you get lost.”

After hanging up the phone, Yan Lihua called Han Cheng. Liang Qingfeng happened to pick it up and Yan Lihua informed him that she was going to have lunch with Xia Tian. His family member was picking him up for a meal. Naturally, Liang Qingfeng didn’t say much, but he was always careful and politely asked Yan Lihua for the detailed address of the restaurant.

“Was there any problem?” Xia Sisi, who had been listening by the side, hurriedly asked when Yan Lihua hung up and continued, “Don’t come back after the meeting and say you have exposed our intentions.”

“No, of course not. Besides, we’re not harming him. As his grandmother, I’ve only asked him out to eat. So what if I mention it.” Yan Lihua said.

Xia Sisi saw how Yan Lihua’s tricks were playing out on both sides for the first time and energetically said, “Shall I join you for lunch too? Helping you convince…”

“No.” Yan Lihua frowned. “Today, I have to coax Xia Tian. What can you do?”

Yan Lihua knew her daughter better than anyone and continued, “If you go, this matter would be in ruins… Go and play with your girlfriends. You don’t need to care about these things.”

Xia Sisi refuted in a dissatisfied manner, “Asking me to learn from you and yet not taking me with you!”

Yan Lihua thought about the upcoming affair and ignored Xia Sisi.

At noon, Yan Lihua arrived at the school gate early, picked Xia Tian up and went to the Cantonese restaurant.

The restaurant was difficult to reserve. Yan Lihua had made reservations two days in advance and asked her assistant to reserve a table by the window.

The decoration of the restaurant was unique; the sofa chair back was very high, and the partition was just right. Each table was like a small cubicle, suitable for dating matters and business conversations.

“Are you hungry? Let’s eat first.” Yan Lihua ordered a lot of dishes and said caringly, “You still have to attend class in the afternoon. Do eat more.”

This was the first time Xia Tian had a meal with Yan Lihua alone. Even if Yan Lihua could not be more gentle, he was feeling uncomfortable. He didn’t know what to say to Yan Lihua, so he didn’t say anything and just focused on eating. Whatever Yan Lihua asked, he would answer with one sentence.

Yan Lihua ate slowly. After a long time talking about the weather and his studies, she gently asked, “Has Han Cheng been busy lately?”

Xia Tian said vaguely, “It’s still alright. Not too busy.”

“Alright? Haha, he should be quite busy.” Yan Li smiled broadly. “I heard that he is currently working on a project with Wu Zhuo Ping from Teng Fei.”

Xia Tian swallowed the food in his mouth, pursed his lips, shook his head and replied, “Maybe, I don’t know.”

“You don’t know anything about his affairs?” Yan Lihua didn’t believe it at all. “The situation is like this. Our family happened to have done similar projects before. If we talk about experience, we have a lot of familiarity with it.”

With a pleased look, she continued, “If Han Cheng needs any help, he can ask me. I know everything.”

Xia Tian put down his chopsticks and took a sip of soup.

Although he was still young, he had never been in contact with these things at home. But his ears and eyes were not for show since his childhood. Hearing these words, he was not naive enough to think that Yan Lihua really wanted to be an advisor for free.

Seeing that Xia Tian did not speak, Yan Lihua made it even clearer. “If we can work together, it would be better. Our family has experience and connections. When it comes to the specific implementation stage, we can provide him with a lot of help. ”

Xia Tian finally understood. Yan Lihua was here to hitch a ride.¹Yan Lihua was harbouring a hidden or unfavourable intention.

Yan Lihua looked at Xia Tian eagerly while he nodded blankly at her. “Yeah.”

Yan Lihua secretly scolded Xia Tian for being stupid as he couldn’t understand anything. She tried to smile more cordially. “After you go back, remember to find an opportunity to mention this to Han Cheng.”

Xia Tian took another sip of his soup and asked slowly, “Shouldn’t you speak to him directly about these official matters? If I were to say something, I’m afraid I couldn’t tell him properly.”

With a shallow smile, Yan Lihua continued to persuade him, “You two are now family. Whatever the time, can’t you just talk about it? Besides, for him, whatever I say is definitely not as good as coming from you.”

As I expected, this was already mentioned to Han Cheng. But he was unwilling.

As for the reason, it was very obvious. Han Cheng didn’t need to cooperate with Yan Lihua at all, and did not want others to take a share of the profit.

“If there are business dealings in the future, I hope that Chairman Yan will not send you to talk to me… If the negotiator is you, I will probably lose money.”

What Han Cheng said yesterday repeatedly echoed in his ears.

Xia Tian’s cheeks burned slightly red.

He thoroughly understood the meaning behind the sudden treat and felt at ease. He took another boiled shrimp and said after chewing, “I’m afraid I will forget it by the time I return home.”

Yan Lihua held her breath and scoffed, “What’s so hard to remember? Is something bothering you?… Our business is doing well. Do you think we will forget you and your mother’s share?”

Xia Tian pretended to be stupid. “It’s okay. Didn’t you tell me not to count on it too much? I think… As long as Han Cheng makes more money, it’s okay.”

Yan Lihua drank two sips of tea, suppressed her anger and smiled, “Silly boy. I used to say that because I was afraid that you were not motivated, so I would say this on purpose to inspire you to do your best. Could it be you are holding grudges?”

Xia Tian shook his head. “No.”

“That solves it.” Yan Lihua urged with a small smile. “You must remember it and tell him when you go back, okay?”

Xia Tian, who was still giving off the sluggish look, searched for reasons and said, “I will try my best… but remember, there may not be a chance to tell him… Recently, he is very busy and doesn’t come home often.”

Yan Lihua frowned and asked eagerly, “Then tell him to go home. Didn’t you mention that he treasures you? If you asked him to return home, how could he not listen to you?”

“It’s not to the extent of treasuring…” Xia Tian flushed a little bit and tried his best to appease her.

In short, Xia Tian didn’t want Han Cheng to go against his will and cooperate with Yan Lihua just because of him.

Yan Lihua completely lost her patience and frowned. “What about at night? You just got married. It couldn’t be that he doesn’t come home at night, right? You have no time to say when he comes back? What are you two doing at night?!”

“At night…” Xia Tian really had nothing to say. Blushing hurriedly, he anxiously used his quick wits to come up with an answer. “What else is there to do? That thing! No… no time to say anything else.”

Yan Lihua, “…”

Yan Lihua felt awkward and angry with his response. Just as she was about to say something, she looked behind Xia Tian and was left speechless.

The words that came out of his mouth made Xia Tian deathly ashamed. He really didn’t know how to deal with Yan Lihua. After a long while, he saw Yan Lihua’s expression was different. He followed her gaze, turned and looked behind him…

Han Cheng, who had come at an unknown time, nodded politely to Yan Lihua. “Liang Qingfeng said that Xia Tian was eating here. I happened to pass by and wanted to send him back to school on the way to work.”

Han Cheng turned his gaze to Xia Tian, looked at his tomato red face, and smiled faintly. “It seems like I had bad timing and interrupted your private conversation.”

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  Yan Lihua was harbouring a hidden or unfavourable intention.