On the day of the parent-teacher conference, several strangers came to my house early in the morning: a makeup artist, a stylist, and a designer.

Du Xiaoruo was manipulated by them like a puppet. The makeup artist asked her to close her eyes for a moment, and Du Xiaoruo immediately closed her eyes tightly. The makeup artist tried several times but couldn't apply eyeliner, so she had to ask her again, "Just close your eyes for a moment."

Du Xiaoruo nodded blankly, maintaining her eyelids in a strange, half-open, half-closed position.

After finally getting her makeup done and her hair styled in a retro outward curl, the stylist pushed a coat rack into the bedroom.

The designer had purple hair, very fair skin, and extremely alluring eyes; he looked like a fairy. He introduced himself as soon as he entered.

“My name is Otto, and I am the chief designer for Arthur. How should I address you?”

Du Xiaoruo is most afraid of people with a "cow" personality type; their mouths are like machine guns, constantly chattering away, and you have to respond to them too.

“You…you can call me Du Xiaoruo.”

"Hello, Xiaoruo." Otto smiled broadly, revealing a set of neat, white teeth.

"Today we're going for an old-money style, understated yet elegant. I've picked out three outfits for you to choose from."

Du Xiaoruo looked up at the coat rack, her gaze sweeping over a long, flowing court-style dress. Her pupils suddenly contracted, feeling that the main theme here was an over-the-top style.

In the end, Du Xiaoruo chose the most normal outfit of the three: a retro green tweed fitted suit jacket paired with a black tight-fitting pencil skirt.

Du Xiaoruo changed her clothes and walked out of the dressing room.

Otto showered her with exaggerated praise the moment he saw her.

"Xiaoruo, you're so beautiful, you know? Your head-to-body ratio makes you a walking clothes hanger in the eyes of designers. You've perfectly captured the retro and understated style I wanted."

Du Xiaoruo blushed with embarrassment at the praise and awkwardly thanked him.

Otto praised people like it was free, getting more and more enthusiastic with each compliment. Du Xiaoruo could only blush and reply softly.

"No, it's just that the makeup makes you look good."

“You’re too modest.” Otto put his arm around her shoulder. “There aren’t many people in the entertainment industry with your cool and aloof temperament. There are tons of women who have had plastic surgery, and people are tired of seeing them.”

Du Xiaoruo's whole body stiffened, her heart was pounding, and the feeling of a stranger putting his arm around her shoulder was so uncomfortable.

Someone please save me! Where is the housekeeper?

Qiao An came out of his room, straightening his shirt cuffs as he passed by Du Xiaoruo's room, glancing inside through the open door.

"Ahem..." He coughed lightly twice, pointed at Otto, and said, "Get out of here as soon as you're done."

Otto pouted pitifully, then grabbed Du Xiaoruo's arm and whine, "Your CEO Qiao is so heartless~ Waaah~"

Du Xiaoruo silently took two steps back to keep a safe distance from him.

“GUN!” Joan stared at Otto with her gray-blue eyes and uttered a single word indifferently. Her expression remained relaxed and languid, but a murderous intent had already appeared in her eyes.

Otto sensed danger approaching, so he quickly packed up the coat rack and disappeared around the corner of the stairs within three seconds.

Qiao An glanced at Du Xiaoruo out of the corner of his eye. Now that she had changed out of her pink bathrobe, she finally didn't look so much like a deer. He breathed a sigh of relief, rolled up his sleeves, and quickly went downstairs.

Joanne interpreted yesterday's sudden restlessness as a male's protective instinct.

The parent-teacher meeting was in the afternoon, so Lele went to school in the morning.

The Qiao family's extended Rolls-Royce pulled up in the school's parking lot. The driver opened the door, and Du Xiaoruo got out of the car wearing sunglasses that covered half of her face.

Wearing sunglasses and carrying a bag, she walked straight toward Class 2 of Grade 3, looking aloof, but actually she was panicking inside.

The parent-teacher meeting hadn't even started yet, and I heard a commotion as soon as I got to the classroom door.

A boy with a bowl cut, barely out of school, crossed his arms and shouted loudly.

"Qiao Lele, didn't you say your mom was coming? Why hasn't she arrived yet?"

"Yes, yes, we've never seen your mother. You're lying, aren't you?" This time, it was a little girl's voice that spoke, a slightly high-pitched one.

Du Xiaoruo took two steps forward and saw Lele leaning on the corridor railing, looking down with her eyes downcast and her fair face filled with anxiety.

Seeing that Qiao Lele didn't speak, Huang Longyu ran up to him and shoved him hard.

"Your mom isn't coming. You're a little liar, hehehe."

Qiao Lele's face flushed with anger. He clenched his fists in frustration, but then, as if remembering something, he dejectedly released them.

I realized I was careless. He was relieved just because his father said she would come. He should have checked for her himself. What if she had forgotten about the parent-teacher meeting, or what if something else came up and she couldn't come?

"Xiao Le".

While Lele was lost in thought, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him. He turned around abruptly and saw a familiar figure less than five meters away.

Qiao Lele jumped down from the railing and ran wildly towards Du Xiaoruo.

He suddenly stopped in front of Du Xiaoruo, feeling a little embarrassed by their intimacy.

Du Xiaoruo smiled at him and extended her hand.

Qiao Lele bit her lower lip, hesitated for a moment, and then took Du Xiaoruo's hand.

Du Xiaoruo's hands were very thin and a little cold, as if they would break if you used too much force. Qiao Lele held them carefully, and even slowed down her breathing.

As they reached the classroom door, an exasperated Huang Longyu called out behind them.

"Qiao Lele, is your mother ugly? She's wearing sunglasses to cover her face."

As he spoke, he exaggeratedly covered his face, causing the students in the corridor to burst into laughter.

Du Xiaoruo withdrew one foot that had already stepped into the classroom, took off her sunglasses, and glanced back at Huang Longyu indifferently.

Huang Longyu, who had been laughing wildly just moments before, stopped smiling and kicked the wrought iron railing in front of him hard with a frustrated expression. The railing crashed with a loud "bang".

The female classmate next to her added insult to injury.

“Huang Longyu, I think Qiao Lele’s mother is much prettier than your mother.”

"Stop talking nonsense!" Huang Longyu roared angrily, then turned and ran away.

At the parent-teacher meeting, the teacher handed out report cards and gave some instructions for the summer vacation, and then it was almost over.

Finally it was over, and Du Xiaoruo's tense nerves were just about to relax when she heard the teacher say...

"Parents whose names I'm about to call, please stay for a moment. We have an outstanding student sharing session coming up, which is only open to parents of students who are both academically and morally excellent."

Du Xiaoruo's heart, which hadn't been at ease yet, started pounding again. She felt that Qiao Lele looked like someone who excelled in both character and academics.

share?

Is she going to share her parenting tips? How would she know such things? She's never raised any children.

Amid Du Xiaoruo's anxiety, the teacher began reading the list, but after reading through the list, Qiao Lele's name was nowhere to be found.

Du Xiaoruo was unsure whether to be happy or worried. She was happy that she didn't have to share anymore, but worried that her child wasn't a model student.

The teacher adjourned the meeting.

The parents who remained in the classroom all wore smug smiles, while the parents who left early, including Du Xiaoruo, all looked as heavy-hearted as if they were going to a funeral.

The parking lot was some distance from the classroom. Du Xiaoruo and Qiao Lele walked one after the other without saying a word.

As I walked into the parking lot, I heard arguing coming from inside a Mercedes-Benz.

Through the half-open window, you can see Huang Longyu and his stepmother sitting inside.

Mrs. Huang was among the parents who left early. A strong-willed woman, she felt humiliated and started berating Huang Longyu as soon as she got in the car.

"You've really grown up! I just asked the teacher, and the reason you can't be an excellent student is because you only got 38 points in math. You're really something! I spend 20,000 yuan a month on a private tutor, and this is how you repay me?"

“I don’t want you to tell me what to do. You’re just a stepmother, you have no right to tell me what to do.” Huang Longyu also yelled back at Mrs. Huang in his hoarse voice.

"Oh, you're so capable, you don't ask me to come to your parent-teacher conference. You're too scared to let your dad come, so you drag me out as cannon fodder, huh? I'm telling you, it's a good thing you're not my child. If you were, I'd strangle you."

They walked past the Mercedes and got into their own Rolls-Royce.

Du Xiaoruo opened the report card and looked at it. Qiao Lele got a perfect score in math, but failed Chinese. This was probably why he didn't make it into the ranks of top students.

Schools that categorize students into different classes based on their grades are really annoying.

"Do you have a pen?" Du Xiaoruo asked the driver, turning her head to the side.

The driver immediately took a pen from his suit's breast pocket and handed it to Du Xiaoruo.

"Thanks."

She took the pen, signed her name on the report card, then folded the report card in half and handed it to Qiao Lele in the seat behind her.

Qiao Lele took the report card and held it in her hand, but did not immediately put it into her schoolbag.

After a long pause, he asked in a low voice, "Are you angry?"

Du Xiaoruo's face, hidden behind large sunglasses, showed no emotion. She shook her head, not answering Qiao Lele's question, but changing the subject instead.

"I'm craving ice cream, do you want some?"

Qiao Lele, "Hmm... Ah?"

Du Xiaoruo smiled again. When you're in a bad mood, you should eat something sweet. She felt that Qiao Lele might not be in a good mood right now.

The streets of the old town are very narrow, and even extended cars can't get in. About 500 meters from the Dream Ice House, the driver stopped the car at the intersection, and Du Xiaoruo and Qiao Lele got out.

The two entered the igloo one after the other and ordered food by scanning a QR code on their phones.

Qiao Lele raised his eyelids to look at Du Xiaoruo's expression. After finding that she didn't seem angry at all, he boldly ordered a deluxe set meal with three scoops of ice cream.

When the ice cream was served, Qiao Lele took out her phone to take a picture before using a small spoon to scrape off a spoonful of the soft ice cream and put it in her mouth.

After eating half of the ice cream, Qiao Lele's mood improved considerably, and he secretly sized up Du Xiaoruo.

Du Xiaoruo kept scrolling through her phone and ignored him.

Qiao Lele took out her phone and opened the class group chat, where everyone was discussing today's parent-teacher meeting.

Most of the stories involved being beaten by both parents when they got home. Huang Longyu was the worst off; his mother scolded him the whole way on the bus, and when he got home, his father slapped his hand and deducted his allowance for the next month.

Lele followed Huang Longyu's crying emoji with a polite smiley face.

Huang Longyu, [@Qiao Lele, you didn't make it into the excellent group either, didn't your stepmother scold you?]

Qiao Lele posted the picture of the ice cream in the group chat and replied, "Not only did they not scold me, they even treated me to a Big Mac ice cream!"

Huang Longyu, [...] I'm going to kill you!