Butler Wu maintained a smile throughout, only fading it after everyone left, before turning to return the call to Madam Xie, Ding Huizhu.

It was his dereliction of duty not to keep an eye on Xie Li this morning, and now Xie Li is so shameless, making boastful claims in front of Old Master Xu.

They may seem to be riding high, but if they don't actually have the ability, they'll soon be proven wrong.

Just imagine how Xie Yunqiu will mock Ding Huizhu then.

However, since the two sisters-in-law were fighting like gods, he, as the housekeeper, was inevitably caught in the crossfire. When Ding Huizhu was upset, the first person she blamed was him for his poor performance.

The only thing to do right now is to report the situation to Ding Huizhu immediately.

——

When Ding Huizhu received the call from Butler Wu, she was having coffee with Madam Huo.

She originally thought that with Butler Wu's intervention—giving her sleeping pills and locking her door—Xie Li wouldn't be able to cause any trouble today and would have to stay home obediently.

While missing an exam due to "illness" isn't a pleasant thing to say, it's still better than simply offering yourself up for a beating.

Xie Yunqiu sent her a sarcastic WeChat message in the morning, saying she wanted to get a family doctor for Xie Li, but she patiently ignored it.

Butler Wu actually said that Xie Li not only went to take the exam, but also said in front of all the servants of the Xie family that she did very well?!

Ding Huizhu pressed her temples, her gaze falling on her phone. Without Wu the housekeeper saying anything, Xie Yunqiu had already casually posted Xie Li's boastful words in the family group chat.

As always, he was sarcastic and even tagged Ding Huizhu: "Sister-in-law, I heard that Xie Li has finished reading a whole box of books these past few days? The servants are all saying that Xie Li knows some kind of quantum speed reading method, so it looks like she's almost certain to get into the top high school this time."

But as soon as those words are uttered, even someone who doesn't understand them knows they're not a good thing.

Some well-meaning people even forwarded a news article titled "Read 100,000 words in 1 minute? Is quantum speed reading really not a scam?" to Ding Huizhu, their intentions being self-evident.

Ding Huizhu felt the veins on her head throbbing, and she was filled with shock and anger. She suddenly threw her phone away.

Madam Huo raised an eyebrow and glanced at her indifferently: "What's wrong?"

Ding Huizhu looked at her phone, which had slipped onto the coffee table, and realized that she had lost her composure.

"It's nothing." She naturally picked up her phone again, exited WeChat, and took a sip of her coffee. "I accidentally dropped it."

No matter how good her relationship with Madam Huo was, she couldn't let her know that her own daughter was actually a liar who told a lot of lies.

The Huo family has an extremely upright family tradition, and its development momentum has been very strong in recent years. Now that it has established a relationship with the four major families in the capital, its status has risen even higher.

This is no longer someone Xie Li, an ordinary village girl, could aspire to, not to mention that Xie Li also has character flaws.

Madam Huo disagreed, and instead brought up other things: "Ziyuan has been working very hard lately, and Vice President Ye of the Pharmacist Association has been praising her highly."

When Xie Ziyuan was mentioned, Ding Huizhu's expression softened slightly.

Her adopted daughter truly grew up according to her wishes, and all the effort she put into raising her over the past ten years was worthwhile.

"Vice President Ye is too kind. She's just a young girl, and she's relied on Vice President Ye's help to get things done." Ding Huizhu said with a smile.

Madam Huo smiled meaningfully, "That boy Yun Tang has been going to the Pharmacist Association every day these past few days. Isn't he afraid of being laughed at?"

Ding Huizhu paused slightly, her gaze hesitant as she looked at Madam Huo.

Madam Huo didn't even look at her, only lowered her head to drink her coffee, "Some things are better settled sooner rather than later."