Home visit

At four o'clock in the afternoon, Zhou Jingxing carried a huge vacuum compression bag on his shoulder, stuffed with two quilts, a suitcase in his hand, and a large shopping bag on his wrist containing clothes hangers and other odds and ends. He strode into the house, unloaded his things, and turned to ask Sun Qian, who had followed him, "Is there anything else in the car?"

Sun Qian threw the bag of plush toys she was carrying onto the sofa. "That's all, this is the last trip! Whew, I'm exhausted."

Zhou Jingxing nodded and sat down on the sofa, taking a tissue to wipe the sweat from his forehead. Sun Qian took a bottle of water from the refrigerator and handed it to Zhou Jingxing, "Thank you so much. If it weren't for your help today, we really wouldn't have been able to move this house."

Zhou Jingxing took the water, unscrewed the cap, and took a big gulp before saying, "It's alright. Zhang Jin is away on a mission and won't be home. How can you move all by yourself? It's only right that I help you. There's no need to be so polite with me."

Sun Qian smiled and said, "Okay, I'll treat you to dinner when Zhang Jin comes back."

Zhou Jingxing watched Sun Qian busy tidying up, thinking that he couldn't help much and shouldn't make things worse. He stood up, walked to the kitchen door, and prepared to say goodbye to Sun Qian before leaving.

As he waved, Sun Qian's phone rang first. "An unknown number?" She answered casually. "Hello, who is this? Wang Ao? It's you!" Sun Qian straightened up. "What did you say? Where are you now?"

Sun Qian hurriedly took off her apron while saying into the phone, "Okay, okay, don't cry, the teacher will be right there. Alright! Why is a grown man crying like this? I'm coming right away."

Zhou Jingxing asked her, "What happened?"

Sun Qian grabbed the car keys and stuffed them into her bag. "Ugh, one of my students, the one I mentioned who looks like Bigger, called me saying she had a fight with her family and is now running away from home. She got more and more upset while she was out there and couldn't help but break down in tears, so she called me for comfort. I'll go see what's going on."

Zhou Jingxing followed her to the entrance, preparing to leave and go home as well. While changing her shoes, Sun Qian suddenly looked troubled, as if remembering something. She looked up at Zhou Jingxing somewhat apologetically and said, "Jingxing, I need to trouble you with something. My student is a bit... well, it's not really appropriate for me to go see him alone. Could you come with me?"

"Ah, yes, that's possible, but..."

Sun Qian breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much! Sigh, this student is always so approachable with me, and Zhang Jin has even gotten jealous twice because of it. I'm afraid Zhang Jin will be upset if he finds out I went to see him alone."

But I was planning to "bump into" Shenzhou near Shenzhou Company... Seeing Sun Qian's grateful expression, Zhou Jingxing had no choice but to swallow his words and said, "Let's go."

On the way, Sun Qian and Zhou Jingxing complained all the way. This unfortunate kid used to be a lively and cheerful ordinary boy in high school. No, "ordinary" isn't quite right; he was a bit too lively, which gave Sun Qian, his homeroom teacher, a real headache.

However, recently, some changes have suddenly occurred in the Wang family, and the child's personality has suddenly changed drastically.

"Wait a minute, the Wang family? Which Wang family?" Zhou Jingxing interrupted Sun Qian's background introduction and asked curiously.

“It’s that famous real estate developer in the city, the Wang from ‘Tianliang Wangpo’.” Sun Qian paused for a moment, “Oh, it’s not nice to curse someone like that. Anyway, the Wang family is very rich.”

Zhou Jingxing nodded, then suddenly remembered a trivial matter: Wang Pojia was one of the sponsors of the Chenzhou restoration exhibition.

Sun Qian continued her rant, complaining that kids these days have so little stress tolerance and are so fragile. "So what if Dad has an illegitimate child? Unlike us back then, we could remain calm even if Mount Tai collapsed in front of us, and nothing could affect our studies. Just like now, nothing can stop me from dreaming of getting rich."

Students will only slow down my sword-drawing speed.

Zhou Jingxing's lips twitched as he listened. What was all this nonsense? Besides, you're not that much older than the students.

Twenty minutes later, Zhou Jingxing looked at Sun Qian, who was holding a student's shoulder with tears in her eyes, and wanted to ask her, "Didn't you say that students would only slow down your sword-drawing speed? Even if Mount Tai collapses in front of you, you still burst into tears!"

Sun Qian took out a tissue from her bag and wiped her nose vigorously. "Alright, the teacher already knows about your family situation. Now I'm going to visit your home and have a good talk with your parents!"

She tossed her head, gesturing to Zhou Jingxing, "Drive! Take us to the Wang family."

"...Okay, Mr. Sun."

It was getting cold, and Wang Po's house was in the city's most expensive and scenic neighborhood. This was the first time Zhou Jingxing had experienced stepping out of the elevator and into his home. He looked around curiously and concluded that it wasn't cold yet, so Wang Po wouldn't break out anytime soon.

Wang has good taste; no wonder he would actively invest in art exhibitions.

Wang Ao is quite good at handling things. As soon as they entered, he politely invited them to sit on the sofa and brought them fruit and hot tea. Then, he explained with embarrassment that his parents were busy with work and could only come home a few times a month. He asked them to call them if they needed anything.

Sun Qian raised an eyebrow. "What job could be more important than children? I'd like to ask them that."

Zhou Jingxing was quite hungry after running all the way, so he didn't stand on ceremony. He forked a piece of cantaloupe and stuffed it into his mouth while eating, listening to Sun Qian and Wang Ao's father arguing.

"Oh right, I'm Wang Ao's homeroom teacher."

"My child usually does well at school, and their last exam results were also good. However..."

"Mr. Wang, you're wrong. Family guidance is crucial for a child's mental health..."

"No, no, no, grades are important, but parents shouldn't only focus on their children's academic performance, right?"

"Mr. Wang, I have reservations about your point of view. Would it be convenient for you to discuss this with me in person?"

"Hello? Hello? Mr. Wang?"

Sun Qian glanced at her phone screen in surprise, "What? He hung up!"

Zhou Jingxing gave her a disapproving look. "Be mindful of your image in front of the children."

Wang Ao, who had been sitting quietly and obediently beside Sun Qian, quickly replied upon hearing this, "It's alright, Teacher Sun is even more... I know she's a genuine person!"

...Sun Qian, what kind of image do you have at school?!

Sun Qian called Wang Ao's mother again, but this time the call was rejected.

Sun Qian was furious, and Wang Ao timidly said, "Teacher, I'm so sorry, my parents..." Sun Qian glanced at Wang Ao and couldn't help but soften. "It's okay, next time I'll just arrange a meeting with your father's secretary. Let me tell you, don't take these messy things at home to heart, it's not your fault..."

Once Ms. Sun's psychology class began, she seemed determined to talk on and on. Zhou Jingxing glanced at the clock, wanting to leave but feeling embarrassed to interrupt her.

Finally, Sun Qian stopped talking, still wanting more. "Oh dear, it's getting late, we should go. You stay home and rest well, and be on time for school on Monday, don't do anything stupid like running away from home again!"

Wang Ao grabbed Sun Qian's sleeve, looked at her with red eyes, and pleaded, "Teacher, don't go... Can you stay with me tonight? I... I'm really heartbroken."

The scene before him deeply shocked Zhou Jingxing; what a pitiful little white lotus!

Senior! I'll learn!

But something seems off.

Sun Qian's expression changed. She decisively pulled her hand back and said coldly, "Wang Ao, I think you might need to calm down. Recently, some things have happened in your family, and I happen to be your homeroom teacher, so I've been paying more attention to you, and you've developed some dependence on me. But our relationship is essentially that of teacher and student. As your teacher, it's my duty to care about you, and it's no different from how I care for other students, so please don't cross that line, okay?"

Wang Zixuan's face turned pale. "Teacher, I didn't mean anything by it..."

"That's for the best. We'll be going now. If you have any difficulties, you can contact me. Goodbye."

"Teacher!" Wang Ao caught up, about to say something, when the door suddenly opened. Zhou Jingxing's eyes lit up when he saw who it was—it was Chen Zhou!

"A sunken ship?"

"What a coincidence."

"Haha, what a coincidence! What are you all doing here?"

Wang Ao was still in a daze. "You two know each other? Wait, who are you? How do you know my house password?"

Shen Zhou smiled gently at him, "You must be Wang Ao. Your father said your homeroom teacher is coming for a home visit today, so he specially asked me to come and greet him." He looked at Sun Qian and said with a smile, "Qianqian, I didn't expect that Wang Ao's teacher would be you."

Wang Ao sized him up a few times, his expression shifting repeatedly, before blurting out a question, "My dad's actually started sleeping with other men?" He took a few steps forward, staring at Chen Zhou with an unfriendly look, "What are you getting out of being with him at such a young age? Is it because he's old? Or because he doesn't shower?"

Chen Zhou was taken aback. "What? No, you've misunderstood!"

Zhou Jingxing reacted faster and more decisively. He pulled Chen Zhou's hand behind him and stood up to Wang Ao, saying, "Kid, put away your malice. He's a friend of your teacher and me. He's a true artist and he wouldn't look down on a rich old scumbag."

Sun Qian also spoke up, criticizing Wang Ao, "Wang Ao, you're so rude!"

Wang Ao suddenly laughed. "Sorry, just kidding." He looked at Zhou Jingxing with unmistakable admiration in his eyes. "You're right, what normal person would be interested in a rich, scumbag old man?"

Zhou Jingxing remained stern. "Don't take offense as a joke. You should apologize to Shen Zhou."

Wang Ao stared at him, his gaze full of inquiry. After a long while, he turned to Chen Zhou and said in a sincere tone, "I'm sorry, I misspoke just now. Please don't mind."

Shen Zhou waved his hands repeatedly, "It's nothing, it's nothing. Mr. Wang and I are not only business partners but also friends. He's busy with work out of town and can't come back, so he asked me to come. Your father still cares about you."

No one took his polite words seriously; Wang Ao even scoffed. Chen Zhou remained calm and asked Sun Qian, "Ms. Sun, how has Wang Ao been behaving at school lately? Please feel free to ask if there's anything we parents can do to help you."

She has already taken on the role of Wang Ao's parent.

So the group returned to the sofa, where Sun Qian and Shen Zhou held a friendly meeting to discuss Wang Ao's studies, mental health, and other issues.

During this time, Wang Ao sat idly to the side playing on his phone, while Zhou Jingxing sat upright next to Shen Zhou, watching him expectantly.

It had been almost a week since Zhou Jingxing last saw Shen Zhou after their parting at the hot spring hotel. Only when they met again today did Zhou Jingxing realize how deep his longing for him was.

Sun Qian suddenly gave Zhou Jingxing a wink, signaling him to look at his phone. Zhou Jingxing reluctantly shifted his gaze from Shen Zhou to his phone.

Sun Qian: Quickly stop staring at me like that.

Sun Qian: A pregnancy test will show two lines if you wave it in front of your eyes twice.

...What kind of insolent and rabid words are these?

Zhou Jingxing looked up at Chen Zhou, and he really, really, really liked him.

If something unexpected were to happen, I wish I could stay with him forever.

Huh? Why is the power suddenly out?!

Wait, if I kiss him in the chaos right now, he won't get caught, right?