Chapter 5, "Should we change Xiaoxi's guardian?"...

Chapter Five:

After giving the gift, Mu Zheng naturally escorted Ye Qingxi upstairs.

Although Ye Qingxi felt it was unnecessary, Mu Zheng said, "It's okay, we're going to the study too, and we both have to go up the stairs anyway."

Seeing this, Ye Qingxi did not refuse again.

He arrived at his room, opened the door, and Mu Zheng stood in the doorway, glancing inside without making a sound.

Just as he had guessed, although his father cared a lot about his friend's grandson, he was not a very thoughtful person. So, he had prepared a room for Ye Qingxi, but that was all he did. He hadn't considered whether it was suitable for Ye Qingxi.

Ye Qingxi is only five years old, not twenty-five. Adults can stay in a room with retro decor and all the necessities, but for a five-year-old child, it feels too far from home, especially since this is not Ye Qingxi's home.

However, Mu Zheng did not bring up the matter on the spot, nor did he intend to tell his father about it; he wanted to talk to Mu Shaowu instead.

Ultimately, Mu Shaowu is Ye Qingxi's father and the person she will live with the longest, so it's most appropriate to leave this kind of favor-building task to Mu Shaowu.

He came to talk to Ye Qingxi about this matter. Whether he changed rooms or altered the room's layout and furnishings, no matter what, Ye Qingxi would develop a good impression of him and feel that he must like her. Only in this way could their father-son relationship continue smoothly.

Parent-child relationships are inherently difficult to manage, especially since Ye Qingxi and Mu Shaowu are not related by blood.

This means that his younger brother will need to take the initiative to show his goodwill so that Ye Qingxi will trust him and be willing to get close to him.

This was no easy task, so Mu Zheng wanted to help his younger brother.

"Then you should get some rest," Mu Zheng said gently, looking at Ye Qingxi.

Ye Qingxi nodded, "You should get some rest too."

"good."

"Grandpa, you should get some rest too," Ye Qingxi said to Grandpa Mu, who was standing behind Mu Zheng.

"Hmm." Old Master Mu nodded.

Ye Qingxi then closed the door and leaned against it.

He breathed a sigh of relief, glanced down at the smartwatch on his wrist, and then picked up the jade pendant around his neck to examine it.

Even though Ye Qingxi had seen many jade pendants before her death, this one was undoubtedly still a rare gem in terms of exquisite craftsmanship and superior quality.

Mu Zheng was quite generous, even though it was a child he had just met and who was not related to him by blood, he was still willing to give such an expensive gift.

Ye Qingxi carefully twirled it, then gently put it down.

He silently walked to the bedside, took off his shoes, and lay down.

Mu Zheng followed Old Master Mu downstairs and into Old Master Mu's study.

Mu Feng sat down on the sofa in the study and gestured for Mu Zheng to sit down as well. "In a couple of days, contact Fenghua County High School and then have Shao Yan transfer there when school starts in September."

Mu Zheng was somewhat surprised, "Does Shao Yan know about this?"

"Does he need to know?!" Mu Feng was furious when he talked about Mu Shaoyan. "I sent him to the best school in the city, and what did he study? He was at the bottom of the entire grade! When you were in school, you were first in the whole school. Shao Wu, although not as good as you, was still in the top 30 of the grade. Even though Shao Ting didn't like studying, he easily passed the first-tier university entrance exam. And what about him? It's questionable whether he can even get into a junior college! When asked, he always says he can go abroad. Yes, of course I can send him abroad, but with his mentality, he'll just be wasting his time abroad. What good will that do?!"

"I think he's had too much of a good life, so he doesn't know how happy he is now. He should be made to experience hardship and see how hard kids in small towns work to study. He should reflect on his own behavior!"

“But he’s taking the college entrance exam next year,” Mu Zheng said.

"So what?" Mu Feng said confidently. "With his grades, does it make any difference whether he takes the college entrance exam or not? Maybe if he goes through some hardship and realizes the importance of studying, he'll do even better next year."

Mu Zheng: ...

"You don't need to plead for him," Old Master Mu said, his mind completely made up. "Look at his grades! When has the Mu family ever produced such poor results?! Isn't he ashamed of himself?!"

Mu Zheng: ...Weren't you ashamed back then?

Mu Zheng was somewhat helpless. Mu Shaoyan's grades were indeed not good, or rather, they were terrible. He had even talked to Mu Shaoyan about it, but Mu Shaoyan said that he couldn't concentrate on his studies and that he didn't want to study. Of course, Mu Zheng didn't believe him. Mu Shaoyan's grades were not bad in junior high school, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to get into his current high school.

However, after he entered high school, his grades inexplicably began to plummet.

Mu Zheng suspected that his younger brother had a mental block, but no matter how he asked, Mu Shaoyan said no, only that he couldn't concentrate on his studies. The less he could concentrate, the less he wanted to study, and the less he wanted to study, the less he could concentrate, creating a vicious cycle that led to his current situation.

Mu Zheng tried to find him tutors, both old-fashioned and new-style, male and female, from top universities like A and B, but none of them worked.

In the end, Mu Shaoyan even argued with him, asking if he was only worthy of being Mu Zheng's younger brother if he studied well and got good grades.

Mu Zheng certainly didn't mean that. Teenagers are naturally sensitive, so he could only comfort his younger brother and suspend his tutoring plans.

If he were suddenly banished to Fenghua County, Mu Shaoyan would definitely be unhappy and would feel that neither he nor his father truly loved him.

“It’s not a big deal to miss one year,” Mu Zheng said. “We can give him another year. If he doesn’t do well on the college entrance exam next year, it would make more sense to let him repeat a year at Fenghua County High School.”

"You're just wasting your time." Old Master Mu leaned back on the sofa. "You really expect him to make any progress in his studies this year?"

Mu Zheng didn't really expect it.

He also knew that the reason his father brought this up at this time was because he himself was just like Mu Shaoyan back then, cynical and with terrible grades, so his father sent him to Fenghua County during his senior year of high school.

There, his father met Ye Qingxi's grandfather, Ye Min, which completely changed the course of his life.

So much so that after his father returned from Fenghua County, he kept donating money to the school, repairing dormitories, sponsoring students, and setting up scholarships and grants, hoping that he, who had been given a new life there, could help the people there.

In addition, he met Ye Qingxi's grandfather these past few days, and that memory resurfaced. His father wanted to use the same methods his own father had used to educate him to educate his son, hoping that his son could also grow into a person with ideals and goals in a year. There was nothing wrong with this idea, but Mu Zheng was worried that Mu Shaoyan would not be able to accept it.

“Let’s get through this semester first,” Mu Zheng said. “When Xiao Xi first came to our family, Shao Yan left and was gone for almost a year. By then, everyone else in the family was already familiar with Xiao Xi, but Shao Yan was the only one who wasn’t. Even if he didn’t say it, he would feel awkward and feel like he was becoming estranged from the family. Xiao Xi, on the other hand, would also prefer to interact with people she was already familiar with because she wasn’t familiar with them. In this way, it’s like he’s lost an uncle without even realizing it.”

Mu Feng: "..."

“It won’t make a difference if we stay for another semester. Let Shao Yan stay for another semester. If he still doesn’t change, then let him go to Fenghua County.”

Mu Feng looked at him and finally nodded reluctantly.

But when Ye Qingxi was mentioned, he remembered something else. "You should talk to the principal of Xiao Cheng's school and ask him to let Xiaoxi go to start first grade in September."

"Have you told Xiaoxi about this?" Mu Zheng asked.

No. What's wrong?

“Of course there are problems,” Mu Zheng said seriously. “First, Xiao Xi has been attending Sunshine Kindergarten near his home for the past two years, and he should be moving up to the senior class now. If we suddenly send him to first grade, won’t that be too much of a strain for him? Second, his parents left him a long time ago, and now his grandfather is about to pass away. At this time, taking him away from the children he knows in his kindergarten and sending him to a new school with a bunch of strangers, is he willing to do that? Can he accept it?”

Mu Feng had never thought of this.

His idea was actually very simple: now that Ye Qingxi had entered his family, she should naturally receive the best education. Grandpa Mu wouldn't even give a second glance to a kindergarten like Sunshine Kindergarten.

Qin Cheng went to an international kindergarten, so Ye Qingxi should naturally go to an international kindergarten too. But at his current age, he would have to go to the senior class, where the other children have been playing together for two or three years. He's a new student, unfamiliar with the place and the people. What if he gets bullied?

Therefore, Mu Feng thought it would be better to let Ye Qingxi skip a grade and go directly to the first year, so that he could go to the same school as Qin Cheng. They could then share a dormitory at noon, eat and sleep together, and Qin Cheng could take care of him.

That's what he thought, and that's what he told Mu Zheng.

Mu Zheng felt that there was some truth to that.

"Then let Shaowu talk to him later."

Upon hearing this, Mu Feng raised the corners of his lips and let out a mocking laugh, "Him? If he really cared about Xiao Xi, he should have come back earlier today, instead of Xiao Xi seeing everyone but not him, her so-called father. If you ask me, he's not as reliable as you."

"Should we change Xiaoxi's guardian?" Mu Zheng asked. "Since Xiaoxi and Shaowu haven't met yet and don't have any feelings for each other, I'll adopt him and raise him from now on."