Chapter 57

◎My parents were called in◎

Zhan Xinyue found it intriguing: "Why?"

Xie Wanzhi seemed a little embarrassed by her question, and it took her a while to say, "What do you mean, why? Aren't we good friends? I just invited you to sit with me."

Zhan Xinyue found it even more interesting: "You haven't spoken to me for several days in a row. I thought we had already decided to break up."

She didn't stop walking, continuing to talk as she went upstairs. Xie Wanzhi paused for a moment, then followed her: "Why make it so serious? I didn't talk to you, but you didn't talk to me either, did you? I admit I was in a bad mood a few days ago and threw a little tantrum, but it's not to the point of breaking up, is it?"

"Oh, so what exactly are you unhappy about?"

"I feel like you're paying less and less attention to me these days. Do you know that the birthday present you gave me the other day was the same as two other people's?"

Zhan Xinyue paused for a moment, something she hadn't expected. She subconsciously felt a little apologetic, but quickly regained her composure: "Then you should think I have pretty good taste. The things I like are also thought to be quite good by others."

Xie Wanzhi said, "I don't want to argue with you. I don't know what's wrong with you. This was originally your fault. Now I'm the one who apologized first, and you still give me attitude. You're really not the same as before."

The two had already reached the classroom door. Seeing that she still didn't react, Xie Wanzhi raised her voice slightly: "Can you give me a straight answer? Do you want to sit with me?"

Zhan Xinyue stepped into the classroom and said without turning her head, "I'll think about it."

"What's there to consider? Is this really making things so difficult for you? Or do you already have someone else in mind?"

There weren't many people in the classroom. Shi Ziqian was resting in his chair when he heard the noise and glanced over.

Zhan Xinyue looked away and walked towards her seat: "Didn't I say I needed to think about it?"

The next day, Zhan Xinyue came out of the restroom and walked back along the corridor. As she passed by several classrooms, she heard people talking about him. When they saw her passing by, they would glance at her, seemingly casually.

After she walked past, she heard a low, excited voice behind her: "See that girl? I heard from the people in Class 10 that Xu Shen is pursuing her. The song he sang at the art festival was changed at the last minute for her."

Zhan Xinyue didn't get to see Xu Shen's performance at the arts festival, but she heard from others that he had definitely stolen the show that day. He was originally playing the drums as a supporting role, his drum set propped up in a corner of the stage, but under the spotlight, he shone brighter than the main performer, gaining a whole bunch of female fans in the lower grades with just that one performance. Add to that a solo song later on, and his fame skyrocketed in the high school, almost rivaling Shi Ziqian's.

Zhan Xinyue lowered her head and walked around. As she entered the classroom, Lu Meng returned from the office and said to Zhan Xinyue with regret, "I heard that Brother Shen is going to have his parents called in. Tsk, poor thing."

It's said that he changed the song at the last minute without informing anyone, which made Lao Fang very angry. He said that Lao Fang was undisciplined and had no rules. As soon as the art festival ended, Lao Fang caught him in the auditorium and scolded him for half an hour, and even demanded that he call his parents over to explain in person. Fortunately, Xu Shen has always been free and easy, so they didn't think much about the reason for his sudden song change, and just thought that he had gone too far.

On Thursday evening, before evening classes began, Zhan Xinyue returned to her seat after dinner. She had just taken a sip of water when she saw a middle-aged woman stop at the door and look up at the class sign on the classroom door. She was about forty years old, wearing a black skirt, with short hair and a gentle face.

After glancing in that direction only once, Zhan Xinyue immediately stood up.

She hesitated for a moment, then walked towards the door.

By the time she left the classroom, the woman had already walked quite a distance. She seemed to be looking for someone, glancing towards the door of each classroom she passed. Zhan Xinyue quickly followed, whispering behind her, "Auntie, who are you looking for?"

The woman turned around at the sound of her voice, her eyes crinkling as she looked at Xu Shen. "Hello, classmate, do you know which office the homeroom teacher of Class 1, Grade 11 is in?"

Zhan Xinyue looked at her, her eyes stinging a little.

Jiang Ying, Xu Shen's mother and also her mother-in-law in her previous life, had always been very kind to Zhan Xinyue, who had long regarded her as another mother. Unfortunately, she passed away a few years after marrying Xu Shen. In this life, she was much younger than she remembered, and her gaze was kind, but it was only the look of someone looking at a strange child, no longer the loving gaze she had in her previous life.

"It's ahead, let me lead you there," Zhan Xinyue said, forcing back the tears welling up in her eyes.

"No need for that," Jiang Ying said with a smile. "I can find my way there myself. Just give me directions."

“It’s alright, Auntie, I was just going that way anyway,” Zhan Xinyue insisted.

Jiang Ying finally agreed and thanked her profusely. Her face showed no anger at being called in by her parents; instead, she asked casually, "Are you also a second-year high school student?"

"Yes, Auntie. I'm in Class 10 of the second year of high school."

“My son is also a sophomore in high school. He’s in Class 1. I don’t know if you know him or not,” Jiang Ying said casually.

Zhan Xinyue didn't ask who his son was, but simply said, "There are too many people in the grade, and I'm not very familiar with the students in other classes."

"That's true." Jiang Ying nodded. "There are so many classes in this building, and the corridors are so winding and confusing. It made me dizzy."

As they spoke, the two walked to the outside of a large office. Zhan Xinyue pointed inside and said, "Auntie, we're here. The class teacher is sitting at the table inside."

"Thank you," Jiang Ying said, glancing inside but not going in. Instead, she stood there taking a deep breath. Meeting Zhan Xinyue's gaze, she smiled and said, "Don't laugh at Auntie, I'm just a little nervous. This is the first time my parents have been called in."

Zhan Xinyue comforted her: "Auntie, don't be nervous. Since this is the first time your parents have been called in, it means your son usually behaves very well. The teacher shouldn't make things too difficult for you."

Jiang Ying laughed heartily, "Okay, Auntie isn't nervous. But actually, his parents have been called in several times before, but I always sent his father instead."

Zhan Xinyue was at a loss for words. She had no idea that Xu Shen was so experienced in having his parents called in.

Jiang Ying continued, "My son is no easy child; he's very stubborn, and neither his father nor I can handle him. Sigh, if only we had a daughter like you, it would save us so much trouble every day." She made a worried expression, paused, and sighed, "There's nothing we can do; he probably takes after me."

After saying that, she cheered up again, patted Zhan Xinyue on the shoulder, and said, "I'm going in now. Thank you for bringing me here."

Zhan Xinyue watched her walk into the office, but didn't leave immediately. She slowly leaned against the wall.

In her past life, during the summer vacation after she and Xu Shen graduated from high school and started dating, Xu Shen introduced her to Jiang Ying. Jiang Ying took an immediate liking to her, saying, "I've always wanted a daughter all my life, and now my wish has finally come true." From then on, Jiang Ying truly treated her like her own daughter, and would always tell her, "If Xu Shen ever dares to treat you badly, I'll definitely teach him a lesson and stand up for you."

Zhan Xinyue tilted her head back, thinking: "Mother Jiang, Xu Shen was so mean to me, so incredibly mean to me. If you were still here then, would you also be heartbroken?"

Through the open door, the faint sounds of voices coming from the office could be heard.

"Hello teacher, I am Xu Shen's mother." It was Jiang Ying's polite voice.

The homeroom teacher was also very polite, "Hello, Ms. Xu Shen, thank you for making this trip."

"It's no trouble at all, it's all for the children. I'm so sorry, Xu Shen has caused you so much trouble. What trouble has he gotten into this time?"

"It's not so much causing trouble, but Xu Shen was a bit too audacious this time. A couple of days ago at the arts festival, he had a solo performance. The song had been decided long ago and had been rehearsed, but he changed it without informing anyone before the actual performance."

"No way, the accompaniment doesn't match, does it?"

Jiang Ying's question was clearly outside the scope of the homeroom teacher's expectations. He choked for a moment and explained, "He only told the kid who played the music backstage, and didn't tell anyone else."

"Oh, is that so? I misunderstood." Jiang Ying smiled. "Did he suddenly change the song and mess it up because he didn't sing it well?"

"It's not a matter of good or bad... well, the singing was alright. But..."

Jiang Ying breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good."

The homeroom teacher couldn't understand what she was so relieved about, and her tone became more serious: "Xu Shen's mother, you don't understand the situation. The problem is that everything we do for our arts festival is decided in advance and approved by the school leaders. He changed the song without even telling the teachers. If everyone does that, won't our program be in complete chaos?"

“I understand what you mean.” Jiang Ying nodded. “Xu Shen really didn’t do it right this time. How about this, teacher, I’ll talk to him about it when we get back this week.”

“It’s not enough to just talk to him; we need to make him understand the seriousness of the problem. He can’t do whatever he wants at school. Xu Shen is actually quite outstanding; he’s bright and hardworking, but his fearless nature is a real issue. If children his age aren’t properly disciplined and allowed to continue acting so recklessly, they’ll cause a major disaster sooner or later!”

“Teacher, please calm down. There’s no need to get upset over the child. He did act very immaturely, and I will criticize him.” Compared to the homeroom teacher, Jiang Ying was much more composed. She calmly reassured the teacher, then suddenly changed the subject, “I don’t think this is that serious. I think he must have had his reasons for changing the song at the last minute. Maybe his voice wasn’t good today and he felt he couldn’t sing the previous song well, or maybe he suddenly had an inspiration and felt that this performance was more suitable for another song… Rules are rigid, but people are flexible. Ultimately, it was Xu Shen himself who went on stage, and he was responsible for his own performance. Since the final performance didn’t have any problems, why be so rigid in following the rules?”

The homeroom teacher was speechless.

“That’s how young people are. Sometimes they do things on a whim, but when they grow up, they start to think things through.” Jiang Ying sighed, then apologized to the homeroom teacher, “I’m not saying this to excuse him, I just want to discuss it with you. Don’t worry, I won’t spoil him. When he gets home, his dad and I will definitely give him a good beating.”

Zhan Xinyue listened to the homeroom teacher at the door for a long time without saying a word. She thought to herself that Jiang Ying was right. Xu Shen's personality was indeed like hers.