The phone rang twice before being answered.
"Hello?"
A middle-aged woman's voice came from the other end of the phone.
Meng Zihan, in a soft, high-pitched voice, asked, "Hello, are you Shen Yanlin's parent?"
Shen Yanlin's mother was an accountant in the finance department of the steel plant. She passed away from illness when he was in junior high school, so the person who answered the phone could not possibly be his mother.
Sure enough, they introduced themselves.
"I'm the nanny, wait a moment, I'll go call him Uncle."
After the nanny finished speaking, she hung up the phone and went to call someone.
Meng Zihan heard the nanny shout, "Minister Shen, the phone!"
"Minister Shen? What kind of position is that?"
Meng Zihan was secretly surprised.
Then she thought about how he had hired a nanny, and she felt even more jealous and envious.
"They even have a nanny at home! Doesn't that mean Shen Yanlin is like a pampered young master, not having to do anything at home?"
"Sigh, I wish I could be with Shen Yanlin, and be like the young mistresses on TV..."
Meng Zihan had just begun to enjoy her dream when she heard a "click" and the phone was answered.
"Hello, I am Shen Yanlin's uncle. May I ask who you are?"
A deep baritone voice came through, carrying the authority of a superior.
Meng Zihan suppressed her pounding heart and looked very anxious.
"Hello Uncle Shen, I'm Shen Yanlin's classmate. Did you know that Shen Yanlin's grades have dropped drastically recently? The teachers all say that if he continues like this, he definitely won't get into university!"
"Is that so?" Uncle Shen asked suspiciously.
"Yes, he's become very close to a new transfer student in his class. That transfer student is a girl, very rebellious and disobedient. She's had a falling out with her family and is renting a place outside. Someone saw Shen Yanlin and that girl getting close, and after school he even went to her rented room and stayed until very late..."
Uncle Shen, however, was skeptical: "Do you have any evidence to support your claim?"
"Of course! I know the girl's address, and Shen Yanlin should be at her house right now," Meng Zihan said confidently.
"Wait a minute." Uncle Shen covered the microphone and turned to ask the nanny, "Aunt Zhang, is Xiao Yan home?"
"No, she went out after dinner." Aunt Zhang shook her head.
"Has it been like this for the past few days?"
“After school started, I went out every night.” Aunt Zhang nodded.
Uncle Shen's face immediately darkened, and he asked into the phone, "What else do you know?"
Seeing that things were looking promising, Meng Zihan quickly added fuel to the fire.
"Shen Yanlin hasn't been to class for the past few days. He came to school at noon today and conspired with that transfer student to sneak into the homeroom teacher's office to steal the exam papers! Luckily, the homeroom teacher came back in time and caught them red-handed!"
Uncle Shen's face turned green with anger.
What happened to Xiao Yan?!
It seems I was really influenced by classmates with bad behavior!
Shen Yanlin's family situation is rather unique.
His father was a military researcher working on nuclear materials. His workplace was not in Jiangcheng, and because of the special nature of his work, he needed to keep his whereabouts confidential and rarely came home.
To outsiders, Shen Yanlin's father only said that he was a staff member of the Geological Exploration Bureau and that he was out conducting surveying work all year round.
Therefore, after Shen Yanlin's mother passed away, he lived with his uncle.
Shen Yanlin's uncle and aunt are both leaders in the city. They are very busy with work and often need to attend meetings and travel for business, so they spend little time at home.
Their two sons also joined the army and served in the military year-round.
Therefore, most of the time, Shen Yanlin and the nanny lived together in the Shen family.
In addition, since he was not their biological son, there was a gap in their relationship, so their uncle's family was relatively lax in disciplining Shen Yanlin.
They turned a blind eye to many of his actions.
As long as it doesn't affect academic performance, there's generally not much intervention.
Now, after hearing what Meng Zihan said, Uncle Shen felt that it was of great importance.
My younger brother entrusted his only son to me. If I don't discipline him properly and he goes astray, then I will be letting my brother down!
"Thank you for telling me this information, classmate. What's your name?" Uncle Shen asked in a deep voice.
Meng Zihan was secretly delighted, but she wanted to learn from Lei Feng, doing good deeds anonymously and without seeking anything in return.
"I don't want him to know that I was the one who reported him. I genuinely care about him and am afraid that he will be distracted at the last minute before the college entrance exam and it will affect his future. I'm happy as long as I can help."
"Thank you then."
Uncle Shen understood her concerns and didn't ask any more questions. After thanking her, he immediately called Shen Yanlin's father.
On the other end of the phone, Mr. Shen's hand holding the receiver tightened involuntarily.
His son's recent situation shocked and angered him.
He could understand the decline in grades; after all, teenagers' minds are unpredictable. But to be ambiguous with female classmates and even try to steal exam papers?!
This is a completely different matter; it involves issues of character!
He believed the situation must be very serious, otherwise, his usually meticulous older brother wouldn't have made a special call!
He must take measures to stop it; he absolutely cannot allow his son to continue like this and turn into a scoundrel!
Suppressing his anger, Shen's father immediately decided to take leave and return to Jiangcheng to talk to Shen Yanlin in person.
The leader knew Shen's father well, knowing that he was devoted to his research and never took leave for personal reasons. This time, however, it was because of his son, so he readily approved the leave.
"Okay, go back and handle it. Don't worry about work, family matters are more important."
So the next evening, Shen's father rushed back to Jiangcheng.
As soon as he entered his elder brother's house, Father Shen couldn't wait to ask, "Where's Xiao Yan?"
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