With tears in her eyes, He Su held Rong Wenwu's hand and said, "Back then, when the Xiang family's child was crippled, the Xiang family made a huge fuss. It was you, Rong, who suggested that Zhao Nan retire and be sent to a lower-level position to atone for his sins."
"I also stood in your way, have you forgotten? Zhao Nan hates me, and it's fine if you hate me too, but don't drag Xiang Dong into it!"
In the past, when she felt unwell in her chest or body, Lao Rong would soften up.
But this time, Rong Wenwu said coldly, "I don't hate you. It was my decision to let him retire and be sent to a lower-level position."
He paused, then said seriously, "But Zhao Nan was able to retire and be demoted for making a mistake. If Xiang Dong makes a mistake, why can't he retire? Don't spoil your children like a doting mother!"
He Su froze: "Is it because I don't want to teach children? I was sent to the Northwest to study with you, leaving Xiang Dong to serve alone and miserable in his teens!"
She choked back tears, sobbing uncontrollably: "What's wrong with him finding solace in a girl? It's just a breakup and a miscarriage, isn't it?"
"That woman was going to report him for womanizing and being morally corrupt, ruining his entire future. Doesn't such a vicious woman deserve to have a miscarriage? Who would dare to marry her?"
He Su's gentle and beautiful face was streaked with tears, making it hard to bear.
Unfortunately, this time, Rong Wenwu's brows were furrowed, and his expression was even more unpleasant—
"Xiang Dong was all alone in the army when he was a teenager, so why was Zhao Nan discharged and sent to the countryside for reform during the worst of times?"
He Su froze for a moment: "You know that's not what I meant..."
Rong Wenwu's face was solemn and cold: "I don't care what you mean, raising such a rebellious son has made me utterly disgraced!"
"Make him get back here right now and send him to the grassroots level of the steel factory to learn what it means to come from the masses. No one is allowed to return to Beijing without my permission!"
After saying that, he turned around and slammed the door shut as he left.
He Su no longer needed to pretend; she leaned back on the sofa, her face pale, her hands trembling with anger.
As soon as the door opened, a woman who looked like a secretary, wearing black-rimmed glasses but appearing much older than He Su, came in carrying medicine.
Upon seeing He Su's unsteady state, she immediately rushed over, put down the tray and medicine, and patted He Su's back.
"Susu, calm down, take a deep breath. You have asthma and heart palpitations, so you can't get too excited, or you'll have a seizure! You can't collapse!"
As she spoke, she helped He Su into the study not far away.
He quickly took a bottle of imported medicine from the desk drawer and sprayed it into He Su's mouth.
He Su took a deep breath, finally calming down a bit, and her breathing became slightly smoother: "Aunt Xu... I won't fall down... With a father like this, Xiang Dong and Chao Bei can only rely on me!"
She sat down wearily on the stool, propping her forehead up with her hand, her eyes red-rimmed, and gritted her teeth as she spoke—
“Back then, that woman divorced Rong Wenwu right after giving birth to Rong Zhaonan and took the child abroad. I’ve been with him for so many years, even when I was sent to the countryside to study and suffer!”
He Su took a deep breath, and finally couldn't hold back her tears—
"He has a short temper. I was the one who tried to smooth things over and be a good person, but he didn't care about me or the two children at all!!"
She said bitterly, "It's just a trivial matter between a man and a woman, and not only will he refuse to help Xiang Dong mediate, he actually wants Xiang Dong to become a steelworker. What kind of father is that?!"
As He Su's personal secretary and also her aunt, Aunt Xu frowned slightly.
"Su Su, don't you think this is too sudden? That nurse and Xiang Dong have been separated for half a year, why did this suddenly come out?"
He Su was taken aback, then calmly thought about it.
Yes, this news came out suddenly, and it all seems a bit strange.
It was as if they were trying to ruin Xiang Dong's future, considering how hard Xiang Dong had worked to get into military academy!
Because the incident happened so suddenly, she got emotional and clashed head-on with Rong Wenwu when she was dealing with his questioning.
They've completely messed things up to this point!
Otherwise, given her influence, even if Xiang Dong really couldn't stay in the army, Rong Wenwu would feel guilty and help Xiang Dong find a good job or send him to a good university.
Why would anyone force her to go east to the factory to work as a chain steel worker, enduring the hardest labor?
He Su frowned: "Could it be that someone is targeting me, or Xiang Dong, or even the entire Rong family..."
"Ring ring ring..." Suddenly the phone rang.
He Su didn't react for a moment and looked at the phone in the study.
But she discovered that it wasn't the phone ringing in the study, but rather the phone ringing in the living room where she and Rong Wenwu had just argued.
Rong Wenwu disliked He Su's study for being too effeminate, filled with gaudy decorations and sentimental literature that had no meaning whatsoever, so he never went in.
Among the staff, only Aunt Xu was allowed to come in and clean her private study.
Therefore, He Su simply asked Aunt Xu to use her connections to install a private, encrypted phone line just for her.
She can contact anyone using the phone in the study without being traced, which is very convenient.
However, the telephones in the living room were installed by the entire compound.
He Su got up and had Aunt Xu help her to the telephone in the living room, where she picked up the receiver.
Qin Hongxing's sobbing voice came from the other end of the phone: "Sister He Su, my Tsinghua University degree is going to be removed from my file, please save me!"
He Su was stunned: "What? What exactly happened?"
Qin Hongxing was a typical student at a worker-peasant-soldier university. He didn't get into Tsinghua University through entrance exams; he got in through a recommendation.
Many people may not have even finished high school, yet they become students at top universities like Tsinghua and Peking University.
But now that the college entrance examination has been reinstated, I haven't heard of any plans to cancel the academic qualifications of worker-peasant-soldier college students!
Besides, Qin Hongxing has been out of school for a year. Why is the university suddenly investigating cheating and threatening to revoke his degree?
He Su rubbed her temples wearily. Why were she, Xiang Dong, and Qin Hongxing all having bad luck?
Qin Hongxing sobbed, "I...I cheated on my university exams and graduation thesis...and I couldn't understand the lectures."
She said angrily, "But this isn't a big deal, is it? How many of the non-worker-peasant-soldier college students who didn't get in can understand Tsinghua University's courses? Isn't that how it is for everyone? And the teachers don't care. What does this mean?!"
He Su sneered. Was it that the teacher didn't care? It was that the teacher simply didn't dare to care!
"Don't worry, have you told your mother? The Qin family is a respectable family, try to pull some strings!"
He Su asked softly, but her eyes were full of impatience.
She was already dealing with her own troubles, and originally didn't want to bother with this idiot at all, if it weren't for the need to maintain the mask of a kind and understanding older sister.
Qin Hongxing shook her head, crying: "After my father passed away, she couldn't be persuaded anymore. My mother heard from people in the education department that they might not recognize worker-peasant-soldier diplomas in the future..."
She's getting anxious now and isn't afraid to expose her weaknesses anymore—the Qin family has been much worse off since her father passed away.
If it weren't for her engagement to Rong Zhaonan, she wouldn't have had the job recommendation to get into Tsinghua University.
Her academic credentials were removed from her file, and one of her proudest assets was gone!
In the compound and at her workplace, everyone laughed at her and even looked down on her!
The thought of this made her feel devastated!
"You have to help me! Those people are bullying me!" Qin Hongxing shouted.
He Su was angered by her self-righteous tone, and her willow-leaf eyebrows furrowed.
She gave a cold, sarcastic laugh that was actually a trap: "Me? What can I do to help you? I'm already overwhelmed with problems myself..."
As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly felt something was wrong and immediately asked, "Who are those people?"
Qin Hongxing was sobbing uncontrollably on the other end of the phone.
"I don't know. I received a strange phone call in the office. They said they were going to give me a winter solstice gift today."
"Then the office director came over and told me that the school had received a report about me cheating on my thesis and exams, and that they were going to revoke my degree and remove it from my file!"
Upon hearing this, He Su felt as if her heart had suddenly plunged into ice water, and she slammed the phone down.
The woman's gentle and beautiful face twisted in an instant, and she gritted her teeth, saying, "Rong, Zhao, Nan...you're really ruthless!"
Aunt Xu was taken aback: "You suspect it was Rong Zhaonan's doing??"
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