Chapter 58
Tao Xi followed Yang Zhengming into the conference room. Director Peng, who was chatting with Fang Zuqing, stood up and waved to Tao Xi, saying, "Tao Xi, come and sit down."
The first thing Tao Xi saw was two elderly people sitting on the sofa. He stood at the door at a loss, first bent down slightly and politely called out "Hello, Grandpa and Grandma" to the two elderly people, and then called Luo Zhengyin and Director Peng respectively.
Fang Zuqing stood up with the help of Luo Zhengyin and put on his glasses. He was stunned for a moment when he saw Tao Xi's face clearly. He and his wife Ye Yurong looked at each other and saw a bit of shock in each other's eyes.
Luo Zhengyin had met Tao Xi several times. She concealed the sadness on her face and smiled at Tao Xi.
Tao Xi walked to the empty seat next to Director Peng with a reserved look and sat down. Director Peng patted him on the shoulder and introduced him, "Tao Xi, these are Yang Duole's parents. We came here today to talk to you about your competition."
Director Peng has dealt with many disputes among students and often receives parents. He spoke in a very subtle way to save face for the parents present.
When Tao Xi heard this, she pursed her lips, placed her hands neatly on her legs, and quietly raised her eyes to look at the two elderly people sitting opposite her, her eyelashes trembling slightly with nervousness.
This was the first time he saw his grandparents face to face. The two elderly people looked tired. Fang Zuqing had a solemn expression and said nothing. Ye Yurong's eyes were a little red, as if she was worried about something.
After Yang Zhengming entered the door, he went to the water dispenser to pour a glass of water. At this time, he walked over with the cup. Ye Yurong took the cup from Yang Zhengming and handed it to Tao Xi.
Tao Xi stood up quickly. Seeing the pair of brown-spotted hands trembling a little like an old man, he stretched out his hands and respectfully took the cup from Ye Yurong. He heard his grandmother say to him kindly:
"Child, drink some water first."
He didn't know why, but when he heard the word "child", he lowered his eyes in panic, whispered "thank you", sat back in his chair with the cup of water in both hands, and drank the water slowly with his head down.
Several parents were a little embarrassed to talk directly about Yang Duole. Ye Yurong saw the nervousness of the child in front of her and asked Tao Xi in a gentle voice: "I heard that you transferred from a school in Qingshui County?"
Tao Xi looked up at Ye Yurong, nodded and said, "I came from Qingshui County No. 1 Middle School."
Director Peng at the side said with a smile: "Taoxi is the first in Qingshui County, so he was rewarded to study here for a year, and his grades here are also very good."
Ye Yurong smiled kindly and praised: "He is a smart and hardworking child."
Tao Xi suddenly opened his eyes wide when he heard this.
Under Director Peng's leadership, the atmosphere in the conference room became more relaxed, but business still needed to be discussed. Yang Zhengming considered for a while and said to Tao Xi sincerely:
"Tao Xi, we came here mainly to apologize to you. I didn't expect Yang Duole to do such a thing. If he hadn't come today, I would definitely ask him to come and apologize to you now."
Ye Yurong's face showed sadness, and she said to Tao Xi: "Our child did do something wrong. We parents did not educate him well. We have to apologize to you."
Tao Xi's back slowly shrank, his eyes dropped to the water cup in his hand, and he said nothing.
Seeing that Tao Xi remained silent, Director Peng could only laugh dryly to smooth things over, saying, "When Yang Duole comes to school tomorrow, ask him to apologize to Tao Xi. How deep can a child's hatred be? Just untie the knot in his heart and everything will be fine."
As soon as he finished speaking, Tao Xi suddenly raised his head and said, "I will not accept Yang Duole's apology."
His tone was resolute and his eyes were filled with stubbornness, leaving no room for compromise.
The atmosphere in the conference room suddenly became stagnant. Several parents looked at each other. Director Peng scratched his head awkwardly. He had some personal friendship with Professor Fang, and this time he wanted to help the parents resolve the dispute privately as much as possible, but now he found it a bit tricky.
Fang Zuqing, who had been silent the whole time, frowned and said to Tao Xi in a deep voice, "Not only will we apologize, we will also do our best to make up for your losses and compensate you, as long as you don't pursue this matter any further."
They had discussed it for a long time before and knew that the key to the matter still lay with Tao Xi. As long as the child was no longer held accountable, what Yang Duole had done would not become known to everyone, and the school could also impose a lighter punishment on Yang Duole because of Tao Xi's understanding. Although they were angry about their own child, they could not sit idly by and watch Yang Duole being drawn into the vortex.
Ye Yurong felt that Fang Zuqing's tone was a little too serious, and was afraid of scaring Tao Xi, so she said to Tao Xi softly, "Child, it's not easy for you to come here from Qingshui County. As compensation, we can sponsor you to finish high school at Wenhua No. 1 Middle School. We will also pay for your college admission fees until you graduate from college. Do you think this is okay?"
When Tao Xi heard the word "child" from her grandmother's mouth again, she felt her breathing become sluggish and her chest ached.
He opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but his throat seemed to be blocked by something rough and no sound came out.
When several parents saw Tao Xi lowering his head and not saying anything, they thought he was hesitating and thinking.
Director Peng actually thought that this compensation was very good. After all, Tao Xi's family was poor, and it would be a problem for him to go to college in the future. There was no need to miss such a good opportunity just for a momentary impulse. He whispered to Tao Xi, "Tao Xi, why don't you consider it?"
Tao Xi shook her head, and her voice was hoarse when she spoke again: "I don't want to accept it."
Ye Yurong didn't expect this child to be so stubborn. She sighed softly and looked at Yang Zhengming who had been supporting his forehead and not speaking. Seeing that he didn't respond, she had to look at Luo Zhengyin helplessly, thinking that Luo Zhengyin knew Tao Xi, and maybe what she said would be more effective.
Luo Zhengyin sat closer to Tao Xi and persuaded her in a gentle tone: "Tao Xi, don't you like painting and want to apply to an art school abroad? We can also support you to study abroad. You have such a good relationship with Qin He, so it's a good opportunity for you to go to the United States together, isn't it?"
Tao Xi heard the word "Qin He" in his blurred vision. He remained silent, but still shook his head stubbornly.
Fang Zuqing has been stubborn all his life, and his daughter is also stubborn. He looked at the child in front of him who seemed to be even more stubborn than he was, put away the seriousness on his face, and said to Tao Xi in a slow tone:
"Child, I understand your anger. To be honest, I am still angry and unwilling to believe that my grandson would do such a ridiculous thing."
He started coughing violently halfway through his speech, and Tao Xi couldn't help but look up.
Ye Yurong hurriedly handed the water to his wife. Fang Zuqing drank a few sips of water before his coughing subsided. He looked at Tao Xi, and a bit of pain appeared in his cloudy eyes. He said bitterly:
"His mother passed away early, and he has been weak and sickly since he was a child, so we all spoiled him and didn't want him to suffer. He has become spoiled and willful. Now he has made a mistake, and we, the parents, are also at fault. We want to apologize to you and sincerely want to compensate you."
Tao Xi lowered his head, swallowed hard at his dry throat, clenched his fingers into his palms, and listened to Fang Zuqing continue talking.
"Everyone makes mistakes, children and adults alike, and everyone has to pay the price for their mistakes. I once paid an irreversible price for a mistake. Now I am old and I don't have many days left. I really can't bear to watch my only child pay such a high price for his mistakes."
As if recalling something from the past, Fang Zuqing's dim eyes were filled with tears of sorrow. Ye Yurong, who was standing beside him, could not help but turn her face away and took out a handkerchief to wipe the wet corners of her eyes.
Fang Zuqing stood up tremblingly from the sofa. This old professor who had almost never begged anyone, bent over, stretched out his trembling hands, handed a piece of paper to Tao Xi, and pleaded:
"Child, it's our child who has wronged you. We are here to make amends for him. You can ask for anything you want. As long as an old man like me can do it, I will do my best to accomplish it."
Tao Xi's vision was completely blurred. He couldn't see what was on the paper at all. He could only see the pair of old hands that were constantly trembling.
He had longed for it countless times, longing to be like his sister Tao Le, who would have grandparents who would always favor him and protect him after he made a mistake or was wronged. They would hold him in their arms with their old but strong hands, shield him from all the blame and beatings, and tell him, "Don't be afraid, kid, come to your grandparents."
Now he stretched out his hands to take the paper from his grandfather, lowered his head and blinked hard, and his blurry vision finally became clear.
There were three words printed in the center of the first line of the paper:
Letter of Understanding.
The compensation they promised was clearly listed in it, and each item was enough to make a person from a poor family excited. He could even continue to write down his own demands below.
What a generous compensation, as long as he signs.
The conference room fell silent again, but several adults finally noticed that something was wrong with the child. He lowered his head and tried to curl himself up. His shoulders trembled slightly, and his fingers were tightly clenched on the "Letter of Understanding". Only suppressed sobs could be heard, like the wailing of an abandoned cub.
They didn't expect Tao Xi to have such a reaction, and they couldn't understand it. From an adult's perspective, accepting these generous compensations was the most rational choice.
Ye Yurong frowned and asked with concern: "Kid, what's wrong?"
Luo Zhengyin handed Tao Xi a tissue, but Tao Xi didn't take it. She didn't know what Tao Xi was sad about, so she could only tentatively suggest: "Why don't you discuss it with your family and call your parents to ask?"
My mom and dad.
"I..." Tao Xi finally opened her lips, as if she wanted to say something, but for some reason she couldn't say it.
At this moment, the door of the conference room was suddenly opened. Everyone couldn't help but look over and saw a tall young man walking in quickly with a frosty face. His eyes fell directly on the child who was surrounded in the middle, and he quickly walked to his side.
"Qin He?" Luo Zhengyin stood up in surprise. "Aren't you still in Beijing?"
Lin Qinhe did not answer. He looked at the piece of paper in Tao Xi's hand. There were tears that had not yet dried on the paper, which had stained the three words "Letter of Understanding" into distorted ink marks.
At that moment, everyone in the room clearly felt the deep anger from this young man. His eyes suddenly turned gloomy, and he said nothing. He just took the "Letter of Understanding" from Tao Xi's hand, and tore the paper in an instant with his bony hands.
Fang Zuqing looked grim, staring at the child he had watched grow up, his voice filled with anger: "Qin He, what are you doing?!"
Lin Qinhe's stern face was filled with a deep chill. He had almost never disobeyed these elders. At this moment, he looked at them solemnly, scanning their surprised and puzzled faces one by one, and his tone was extremely cold:
"Do you know what you are doing?"
Luo Zhengyin had never seen Lin Qinhe so angry before, and was stunned and speechless.
Yang Zhengming stood up. After all, this was his son's business. He explained to Lin Qinhe, "We want to talk to Tao Xi about what Lele did wrong and see if we can resolve it through negotiation."
But they didn't expect Tao Xi to react so violently.
Negotiated solution?
Lin Qinhe glanced at the torn "Letter of Forgiveness" on the ground, with a sarcastic look on his face, and asked: "If it was your own child, who was framed and slandered, and almost had to bear the charge of plagiarism for the rest of his life, and his future was ruined, would you choose to forgive that person?"
The adults fell silent after hearing this. Yang Zhengming frowned. This was the reason why he had always found it difficult to tell Tao Xi. He knew very well that what Yang Duole had done could almost ruin a person's life, let alone a child with no background.
Tao Xi wiped his face casually, stood up, looked at Lin Qinhe and shook his head.
Lin Qinhe held Tao Xi's hand, pulled him behind him, and said coldly to the people who were still silent:
"Taoxi doesn't need your compensation, nor does it need relatives like you."
This sentence was like a huge rock hitting the waves. Several adults looked at Lin Qinhe blankly with frozen expressions on their faces, as if they didn't hear the words clearly. They didn't react when they saw Lin Qinhe taking Tao Xi out.
Lin Qinhe held Tao Xi's hand and led him out of the airtight meeting room, closing the door heavily behind them.
Su Yun, who was waiting outside the door, saw them coming out and asked Lin Qinhe:
"Should you tell them now?"
Lin Qinhe nodded.
Tao Xi suddenly raised his head and looked at Lin Qinhe with moist and slightly red eyes. Lin Qinhe gently wiped away the tears on his face with his thumb, then held his hand again, used some strength, and said to him:
"Don't be afraid, we're going home now."
Tao Xi nodded and followed Lin Qinhe out of the meeting room.
Su Yun watched them walk away before she opened the door of the conference room again. Luo Zhengyin came back to her senses from her panic and asked Su Yun in shock, "Secretary Su, why are you here?"
Su Yun smiled and said to Luo Zhengyin, "Mrs. Luo, Qin He asked me to tell you something."
Director Peng, who had been feeling awkward and didn't know what to do, knew that they must have some important matter, so he quickly stood up, said goodbye to everyone and left the meeting room.
Yang Zhengming had a bad feeling in his heart. Lin Qinhe's words kept repeating in his mind. He couldn't help but take a few steps closer to Su Yun and asked quickly:
"What exactly did Qinhe say just now?" He was so panicked that he didn't realize that Su Yun didn't hear what Lin Qinhe said.
Su Yun looked at the people in the room with different expressions and was a little worried whether they could accept it, especially since there were two elderly people there.
"You'll soon find out."
Amid everyone's puzzled gazes, she took out a laptop from her briefcase, turned on the screen in the conference room, connected it, and clicked on a video.
In the clear picture unfolding on the screen, a middle-aged woman in hospital gown was sitting on a hospital bed. The woman had a pale face, and her whole face was abnormally swollen. The corners of her eyes were full of wrinkles and contained layers of sorrow.
For Yang Zhengming and the two elders of the Fang family, this is an old friend.
But none of them could recognize her at this moment. After all, seventeen years had passed, and the woman whom they had only met once back then had almost completely changed her appearance.
Not long after the video started, the woman said "I'm sorry" over and over again in a familiar yet unfamiliar heavy accent with a look of remorse on her face. Yang Zhengming's eyes suddenly trembled, and he looked in panic at Fang Zuqing and Ye Yurong who were sitting next to him, and saw that their expressions suddenly became solemn, as if they remembered something.
Only Luo Zhengyin looked anxious and confused, and couldn't help asking: "Who is this?"
But no one answered her. They all looked at the screen with heavy expressions and uncertainty. She could only continue watching the video. Finally, she heard a name from this woman that was imprinted in her life: Fang Sui.
Then a cruel fact came out of the woman's mouth in a stumbling and illogical manner, telling how two children were born on the same day on a snowy winter night seventeen years ago, and how their destinies were exchanged because of her one thought.
Luo Zhengyin's ears buzzed and her mind went blank. She watched the woman lower her head and cover her face and cry in the middle of her words, but she still couldn't believe what she had just heard.
She looked at the two elderly people with a stiff gaze, and helplessly reached out to grab Ye Yurong's hand. She opened her mouth, wanting to seek an answer urgently, but found that Ye Yurong's hands were terribly cold, and were shaking uncontrollably just like her. Fang Zuqing stared at the woman on the screen with constricted pupils. Her face, which was drooping with old skin, was a strange purple color. They were shocked, but no one spoke.
"She, is what she said true?" Luo Zhengyin murmured in panic. The woman on the screen was still crying, and her heart was beating wildly. She asked herself hysterically,
"Le Le...Isn't Le Le A Sui's child? Then, where is A Sui's child? Where is it?"
But still no one answered her. Yang Zhengming lowered his head and buried his face in his hands. The joints of his hands were bulging, and the blue veins on the back of his hands were throbbing. A sigh came from his chest.
At this time, the woman's crying in the video finally stopped. She looked at the camera with lifeless eyes and said in a hoarse voice:
"I named the child I left behind Taoxi."
This sentence exploded like a thunder in the conference room.
"Zu Qing!"
Ye Yurong screamed and grabbed a piece of clothes, watching her husband fall heavily to the ground like an old tree broken by a thunderstorm during a typhoon.
Yang Zhengming and Su Yun ran over and helped the old man up, carrying him out the door. Luo Zhengyin came back to his senses in a daze, his hands and feet limp, and he stood up with the help of the armrests of the sofa, and then he followed the hurried footsteps.
The author has something to say:
Sorry for being late, I finally managed to post it before midnight
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