Chapter 169 Mu Shaoyan and Duan Yi had a fight.
169:
Ye Qingxi was selected to sing at the opening ceremony of the World Championships, and thus began her training.
Master Kang asked him to visit his home every weekend so that he could give him systematic guidance.
Ye Qingxi readily agreed.
After a week of classes, it was finally time for him to go to Kang Lao's house.
Ye Qingxi was both expectant and nervous.
He specially bought gifts for Elder Kang and his wife, accompanied by Mu Shaowu.
So on Saturday afternoon, I took the gifts and went to Mr. Kang's house.
Mr. Kang's home is in an old neighborhood.
It's not big, only a little over 90 square meters.
Upon seeing him arrive, Mrs. Kang warmly offered them fruit and nuts, saying, "Please sit down."
Ye Qingxi and Mu Shaowu quickly expressed their gratitude.
Old Kang looked at him with a smile, "Little friend, it's been a long time."
Ye Qingxi nodded.
He said, "Grandpa Kang, I brought you and Grandma a gift."
Old Kang was somewhat surprised, as this was clearly not something a child his age could have thought of, so he guessed that it must be related to the adult sitting next to him.
"What gift did you bring?" Old Kang asked with great interest.
He had never received a gift from such a young child before.
Ye Qingxi took two boxes out of her backpack. "These are smartwatches. They can monitor your and Grandma's health and make phone calls. They're very convenient."
Old Master Kang was surprised that he gave this as a gift, and felt that he was quite thoughtful.
"This must have cost a lot of money, right?"
Ye Qingxi shook her head, "Grandpa, I have money. I have lots of New Year's money."
Old Kang laughed: "Okay, then your grandma and I thank you."
"You're welcome," Ye Qingxi said with a smile.
After accepting his gift, Kang Lao thought about giving him a gift in return.
However, he still doesn't have any grandchildren, so there's nothing related to children in his house.
After a moment of contemplation, Grandpa Kang said to him, "Grandpa can't think of anything suitable to give you right now. In a couple of days, Grandpa will give you a gift in return."
"No need," Ye Qingxi said. "Grandpa, you've already worked so hard teaching me to sing, so you don't need to give me anything more."
Madam Kang laughed upon hearing this.
Old Kang laughed too, thinking that he was quite sensible.
“Let’s begin now,” said Old Kang, looking at him.
Ye Qingxi nodded.
Kang Lao led him into his study.
Mu Shaowu then took his leave—otherwise, he would have been embarrassed to stay and stare at Madam Kang, and Madam Kang would have been embarrassed too.
Mrs. Kang saw him to the door, exchanged a few more pleasantries with him, and then returned to the living room.
The sound of a child's innocent voice could be heard in the study.
Madam Kang listened and nodded gently.
He's a promising talent.
As the old man got older and had more free time, he started thinking about taking on apprentices again in recent years. Unfortunately, he was too picky and didn't like any of them. All the apprentices he was introduced to him by his apprentices were rejected by him.
Now, this child has suddenly appeared. He's young but sings well. Madam Kang has a feeling that this child will probably become her husband's last disciple.
Madam Kang smiled and went about her business.
Ye Qingxi attended classes for two days and gained a lot.
He hadn't had many vocal lessons in his previous life; his good singing was purely due to his good voice and innate talent. Old Kang gradually helped him fill in those gaps.
Ye Qingxi's situation was gradually getting on track, but Mu Shaoyan's situation encountered problems.
On Monday afternoon, after getting into the car, Mu Shaoyan said directly, "Going home."
Ye Qingxi: ? ? ?
Ye Qingxi asked, puzzled, "Aren't you going to Duan Yi's house?"
Mu Shaoyan: ...
Ye Qingxi tilted her head to look at him, "Brother Duan Yi, is something going on at home today?"
Mu Shaoyan: ...
Without saying a word, Ye Qingxi pondered, "That's...?"
"You two... had a fight?"
Mu Shaoyan: ...
Ye Qingxi sighed helplessly, "Say something!"
He shook Mu Shaoyan's arm, "If you don't say anything, I'm going to ask Brother Duan Yi!"
Having no other choice, Mu Shaoyan finally said, "They had a fight."
"Why?"
What else could it be?
Of course, it's because Duan Yi looks down on his former friends.
Yesterday was Lu Zhao's birthday, and Mu Shaoyan wanted to get together with him and have a meal together.
When he sent the message, Lu Zhao said he wasn't planning on eating and told him to focus on his studies and not think about such nonsense.
Since he wasn't going to eat, Mu Shaoyan thought he should buy him a gift.
When he went to find Lu Zhao with the gift, he heard Lu Zhao's mother say that he had gone out with his friends.
Mu Shaoyan then sent a WeChat message to Wang Xu, asking if he was with Lu Zhao and where he was.
Wang Xu, being straightforward, replied without much thought: "We're eating right now. It's Zhao-ge's birthday today, didn't you forget? Want to come and eat with us?"
Mu Shaoyan: !!!
Mu Shaoyan was both angry and puzzled.
He called Lu Zhao directly and asked him what he meant by this.
Lu Zhao was silent for two seconds, then said to him, "Mu Shaoyan, we are not on the same path. You don't need to hang out with us anymore. Focus on your studies and good luck on the college entrance exam."
After he finished speaking, he hung up the phone and immediately blocked Mu Shaoyan.
When Mu Shaoyan tried to contact him via WeChat again, he found that he had been blocked.
He called Wang Xu and the others again, but they didn't answer, even though they hadn't blocked him.
It was obvious that Lu Zhao was preventing them from receiving the call.
Mu Shaoyan was angry and aggrieved, and told Duan Yi about it during lunch.
He had hoped Duan Yi would comfort him, but to his surprise, Duan Yi said, "Isn't this great?"
Mu Shaoyan was shocked. "What do you mean by this?"
Duan Yi said, "You and they are clearly no longer on the same side. What's the point of hanging out together anymore? If I were in their shoes, I wouldn't be with you either."
Mu Shaoyan couldn't accept it, "But we're friends."
"Friends can drift apart sometimes; those who walk different paths will naturally not be able to make plans together."
He spoke calmly and indifferently.
Mu Shaoyan looked at him and asked, "Do you look down on Lu Zhao and the others?"
"Yes." Duan Yi didn't lie to him. "I didn't want you two to associate with each other for a long time. The fact that he's doing this now shows that he has some sincerity towards you."
"Duan Yi! How could you say that!" Mu Shaoyan didn't understand. "Why do you look down on them? Even if their grades aren't good, they have their strengths. They are my friends."
Duan Yi sneered, "Why should I respect them? If someone is born into a bad family, they should work hard. They know they have no other way out but to study, yet they still don't study properly and instead fight every day. Why should I respect them?!"
"Is studying all you care about? Is getting good grades everything to you?"
"That's how it is for people like us," Duan Yi said indifferently. "Are there other opportunities in this world? Maybe, but who knows where they will come, when they will come, or to whom they will come? So learning is the safest and simplest path."
"Mu Shaoyan, you are the young master of the Mu family. Your life is full of possibilities, and you can do whatever you want. But for them, there is only one path to take, yet they don't take it, wasting their time and their precious years. Why should I respect them?"
"Let alone me, even seven years from now, if you're dressed in a suit and tie and see them doing manual labor to make a living, and they might not even have enough to eat, would you think it was right for them to have wasted their youth? Would you look at their sweaty hands and the dirt under their fingernails and think that everything they did was right?"
"I despise anyone who knows they have no other way but doesn't try, including your so-called friends."
Mu Shaoyan was stunned.
He never imagined that Duan Yi was thinking this way.
He could vaguely sense that Duan Yi didn't want him to have contact with Lu Zhao and the others.
Every time he said he was going to see Lu Zhao and the others, he wasn't very happy.
Over time, he stopped telling him about his plans to see Lu Zhao.
But he never expected that he would look down on them so much.
Mu Shaoyan felt that was not the case. Although Lu Zhao and the others did not study hard, they all had chivalrous hearts and would help others when they encountered injustice.
They are actually very good people.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have hung out with them in his second year of high school.
But Duan Yi's eyes were cold and indifferent, as if he didn't care about any of this.
Unable to bear it any longer, Mu Shaoyan paid the bill and left the restaurant first.
They didn't speak to each other all afternoon.
When Mu Shaoyan passed Duan Yi after school, he said to him, "I'm not going to your house tonight."
Duan Yi's voice was calm. "Whatever."
Mu Shaoyan left the classroom, exited the school gate, and got into the car.
He looked at Ye Qingxi, his eyes filled with obvious helplessness, "I don't want Duan Yi to be like this."
He said, "He shouldn't be that kind of person."
If he looks down on Lu Zhao and the others, then how does he view his past self?
Would they also look down on him?
Does he really consider him a friend?
Ye Qingxi: ...
Ye Qingxi never expected that the two of them would quarrel.
To be fair, Ye Qingxi naturally favored Duan Yi over Lu Zhao, since he had only met Lu Zhao a few times, but had spent more than half a year with Duan Yi.
Now that this has happened, Ye Qingxi feels she can understand Duan Yi.
He himself is like a flower blooming in the mud, relying on his own efforts and talent to far surpass his peers, wanting to change his destiny.
Therefore, he naturally looked down on those who did not study hard in the same environment.
He was even afraid that they would affect Mu Shaoyan's studies.
So he was hoping they would break off their friendship—after all, he and Lu Zhao didn't have much of a relationship anyway.
Duan Yi has a cold side, but he had never shown it to Mu Shaoyan before. Now that it has suddenly been revealed, Mu Shaoyan naturally cannot accept it, especially since Lu Zhao is also his friend.
This matter is difficult to resolve, but it's also easy for Mu Shaoyan.
Duan Yi mainly felt that they were not working hard and were not doing their jobs properly, so he thought that as long as they worked hard and did their jobs properly, that would be fine.
Others might not be able to provide them with the conditions for this, but Mu Shaoyan can.
So after returning home, Ye Qingxi took out a bank card from her small wallet and ran to Mu Shaoyan's bedroom.
He handed the card to Mu Shaoyan.
"Uncle, I know what to do."
Mu Shaoyan was a little confused, wondering what to do.
"Give this card to Brother Lu Zhao and let him use it to learn things like cooking, cutting hair, and baking bread. That way, they will work hard to learn, and Brother Duan Yi will stop looking down on them."
Mu Shaoyan: !!!
Mu Shaoyan then realized that he was referring to what Mu Shaoyan had told him in the car.
“Not everyone can do well in school,” Ye Qingxi said. “Kang Cong listens very attentively in class, but there are still some questions he can’t answer.”
“But Kang Cong has Pei Liang and me, and Uncle has Brother Duan Yi. Brother Lu Zhao doesn’t have anyone who can help him, so he can learn something else. I saw on TV that those uncles who cook can run very big restaurants, and people call them Manager Wang.”
Mu Shaoyan: ...
Looking at his bright nephew, Mu Shaoyan suddenly had an epiphany.
He hugged Ye Qingxi tightly and kissed her hard.
"Baby, you're so smart!"
There are 360 professions, and every profession can produce an expert. Many people fail to succeed not because they lack the skills, but because they lack the necessary conditions.
But he has money, so he can definitely create opportunities for Lu Zhao and the others.
Mu Shaoyan didn't think there was anything wrong with this at all.
After all, money is practically just a number to him.
How much can Lu Zhao and the others give?
It's not even enough for Mu Shaoting to buy a bag.
If two or three hundred thousand yuan is enough to change the fate of his three friends and give them a better future, Mu Shaoyan feels it's worth it, very worth it.
He picked up his phone and called Wang Xu.
However, a mechanical female voice came from the other end: "Sorry, the number you dialed is currently busy..."
Mu Shaoyan: ...Well, so you've blocked him too.
Mu Shaoyan was speechless; this must have been at Lu Zhao's behest.
He called Li Shuai again and got the same result.
Mu Shaoyan: ...
Mu Shaoyan was speechless. This guy really intended to sever ties with him!
Seeing his displeasure, Ye Qingxi asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
"You blocked me," Mu Shaoyan said angrily.
Ye Qingxi: ...I really want his uncle to study hard.
Helpless, Ye Qingxi raised her wrist and said, "Uncle, you tell me the phone number, and I'll make the call for you."
Mu Shaoyan: !!!
Mu Shaoyan looked at him, and Ye Qingxi shook her phone watch. "Tell me what you want to say, and I'll say it for you. I'm just a kid, he won't just hang up on me."
Mu Shaoyan thought it made sense.
He picked up a pen and wrote a line on the paper.
Ye Qingxi watched as Mu Shaoyan gave her his phone number and then dialed it.
Lu Zhao answered the phone when he saw that it was a number he didn't recognize.
Then, he heard a very childish voice, "I am Ye Qingxi, Mu Shaoyan's nephew."
Lu Zhao: Oh, it's that kid.
"I have something to tell you. We'll meet at your school gate tomorrow afternoon. If you don't show up, I won't leave. And if anything happens to me then, you'll be in big trouble!"
Lu Zhao chuckled. What kind of accident could happen to him? Young masters like them always have drivers when they travel. Would a driver let him get into danger?
However, he remembered how much Mu Shaoyan cherished this little nephew, so he agreed, "Okay."
I wonder why this child is looking for me?
Is it because of Mu Shaoyan?
Lu Zhao wanted to ask more, but Ye Qingxi had already passed away.
Mu Shaoyan looked at him, remained silent for two seconds, and said to him, "Baby, the 'I' written on this paper is me, your uncle, not you. Why did you say it's you directly?"
Mu Shaoyan found it amusing, "What if something happens to you then? He'll be in big trouble. You'll even secretly add lines for yourself?"
Ye Qingxi smiled, looking rather adorably embarrassed.
He certainly knew that the "I" Mu Shaoyan wrote was his meaning.
But Lu Zhao is now clearly focused on getting Mu Shaoyan to distance himself from people like them who have no future. So it's better to talk about him than Mu Shaoyan. At least, according to Mu Shaoyan, he's chivalrous and wouldn't let a child get into trouble while waiting for him.
After resolving Lu Zhao's matter, Ye Qingxi stopped disturbing Mu Shaoyan's homework and returned to his bedroom.
Of course, Mu Shaoyan also put his card back into his small pocket, saying, "Uncle has his own money and doesn't need yours."
Ye Qingxi had already guessed that he wouldn't want her money. His original intention wasn't to give the money to Mu Shaoyan; he just felt that having this card would make things clearer later.
So he took his bank card and went home.
After returning to her bedroom, Ye Qingxi sent a WeChat message to Duan Yi: "Brother Duan Yi, did you and my uncle have a fight?"
Duan Yi: ...
Duan Yi looked at his WeChat message, unsure how to reply.
Ye Qingxi: [My uncle said he made you angry.]
"No," Duan Yi replied. "Don't worry."
How could Ye Qingxi not be worried?
Mu Shaoyan is his family, but Duan Yi is also his friend and teacher.
Ye Qingxi: [Yes, I'm not worried. My uncle said he'll come to apologize to you tomorrow night, so Brother Duan Yi, don't be too angry; getting angry is bad for your health.]
Duan Yi watched quietly.
He didn't expect Mu Shaoyan to be willing to apologize to him.
After all, to be precise, what happened today cannot be said to be Mu Shaoyan's fault.
Mu Shaoyan and Lu Zhao are friends, so it's natural for him to get angry when others look down on his friends and belittle them.
Duan Yi understood, but those words still slipped out without hesitation.
He watched his mother struggle from a young age, seeing her work hard to escape his father and raise him alone.
He knew very well that he had no way out, so he could only keep moving forward and try his best.
He didn't think he was wrong to look down on Lu Zhao and the others.
He was well aware that in saying those things, besides reason, there were also other emotions that had been disturbed.
He didn't understand why Mu Shaoyan insisted on being with them.
Is Lu Zhao really that important?
It was so important that even after he returned to school, he still wanted to contact them and meet with them.
Sometimes, Duan Yi could sense that Lu Zhao wanted to sever ties with him, to make him focus on his studies and stop associating with these people.
But Mu Shaoyan seemed oblivious and would still approach him.
Duan Yi was annoyed by this.
He didn't like Mu Shaoyan like that.
However, Mu Shaoyan has the right to make his own friends.
But since he and Lu Zhao are no longer on the same path, why is he still going to find him?
This emotion fermented in his heart, so much so that at noon today, he said those words almost without thinking.
He certainly understood what was causing Mu Shaoyan's anger.
But he stubbornly refused to back down.
He didn't expect Mu Shaoyan to back down first.
Duan Yi replied to Ye Qingxi: "No need to apologize, he didn't do anything wrong."
All he wanted was for Lu Zhao and his group to stop hanging out with them.
Ye Qingxi sighed as she looked at the message Duan Yi had sent. Duan Yi was really gentle with his uncle.
He took screenshots of these conversations and sent them to Mu Shaoyan.
Mu Shaoyan: !!!
When did I say I apologized to him?
However, when he saw Duan Yi say, "There's no need to apologize, he didn't do anything wrong," he felt a warmth in his heart.
This is the Duan Yi he knows.
Instead of Duan Yi's calm, almost cruel demeanor at noon today.
Ye Qingxi: [Uncle, after you meet with Brother Lu Zhao and the others tomorrow afternoon, you need to continue your lessons with Brother Duan Yi, okay?]
Mu Shaoyan: [Okay.]
He said, "I thought you went back and that was it. How come you're chatting with him?"
Otherwise, Ye Qingxi thought, should we wait for either of you to back down first?
That will probably take some time!
"Thank you." Mu Shaoyan said, somewhat embarrassed.
He actually needed his nephew's help with something like this.
"You're welcome~" Ye Qingxi replied, "I'm just happy that you and Brother Duan Yi are doing well together, Uncle~"
"Okay," Mu Shaoyan said.
He wasn't an ungrateful person. Duan Yi helped him go from the bottom of the class to the top, which definitely couldn't be solved by tutoring fees alone.
He himself must have put in countless efforts.
Mu Shaoyan was always grateful to him and happy to be among such an outstanding person.
He even cherished Duan Yi as a friend.
But it is precisely because he cherishes it that he cannot accept what Duan Yi said to him at noon today.
It's as if the people he cherishes always look down on him.
Mu Shaoyan thought to himself, before he knew it, it was already May. The college entrance examination was just a month away. He wondered what would happen to him and Duan Yi after the exam.
Will we still be friends?
Like my friends from junior high, we gradually drifted apart.
Now that they're no longer in the same classroom and Duan Yi no longer needs to tutor him, will they continue to maintain their current relationship?
Will Duan Yi find better friends in college then, have more in common, and become closer to them?
Mu Shaoyan himself didn't know either.
But he vaguely felt that if possible, he would still like to remain friends with Duan Yi.
It's rare to have such an excellent person by your side who can guide you.
He was lucky enough to meet her, so he didn't really want to let her go.
So Mu Shaoyan lowered his head and started working on the problems again.
Hopefully, he and Duan Yi can get into the same university.
The next afternoon, Ye Qingxi arrived at Lu Zhao's school right on time.
He stood at the school gate, craning his neck to look inside.
Some students coming out of the school saw him and stared at him curiously.
There are also social terrorists who will come right up to him and ask, "Little kid, who are you waiting for?"
Ye Qingxi smiled at him but didn't say anything.
Just as the other person was about to ask another question, he suddenly heard a voice from behind him, "You're here pretty early."
The other person turned around, and with a shocking hairstyle, it turned out to be their school bully.
Goodness, the school bully has such an adorable...younger brother? He must be the younger brother, right?
Ye Qingxi smiled and said, "Mm."
He reached out and took Lu Zhao's hand. "Let's go, I'm hungry, I want to eat."
Lu Zhao was caught in the child's soft little hand and was momentarily at a loss for how to break free—he had never been led by such a small child before.
Lu Zhao nodded and let Ye Qingxi lead him into the car.
"You have two good friends, right?" Ye Qingxi said crisply, "Have them come over too, let's eat together."
Lu Zhao was amused by him. "Baby, what's wrong?"
"You'll see when we get there. You're a grown man, you're not afraid of me, are you?"
Lu Zhao: ...
Lu Zhao really didn't understand what he was up to.
Ye Qingxi urged, "Make the call!"
Having no other choice, Lu Zhao called Wang Xu and Li Shuai and told them which restaurant they were going to eat at.
When they arrived at the restaurant and opened the door to the private room, Lu Zhao saw Mu Shaoyan sitting in a chair.
He felt a mix of helplessness and realization.
"What are you doing?" Lu Zhao's tone was very complicated.
She seemed somewhat helpless against him, and also seemed to feel a bit guilty.
Mu Shaoyan snorted, clearly still angry.
Seeing this, Ye Qingxi pulled Lu Zhao to sit down opposite him.
The atmosphere was a bit awkward, but thankfully a waiter came in and asked them what they wanted.
Ye Qingxi had already eaten, so she ordered a candied sweet potato to have as dessert.
Mu Shaoyan ordered a lot of food—he hadn't eaten yet.
Before long, Wang Xu and Li Shuai arrived as well. They were both visibly surprised to see Mu Shaoyan and Ye Qingxi.
Once everyone had arrived, Ye Qingxi sat back down next to Mu Shaoyan.
Mu Shaoyan looked at them and said angrily, "You think blocking me is fun?"
Wang Xu said guiltily, "It was Brother Zhao who told us to do this, saying it would be better for you this way."
Otherwise, he wouldn't want to block their Brother Yan.
Li Shuai then said somewhat embarrassedly, "Brother Yan, you're different from us now, you shouldn't be with us anymore."
He's telling the truth.
When they were all academic underachievers with nothing to do, they could naturally hang out together. But now that Mu Shaoyan clearly has a bright future, there's no need for him to hang out with them anymore.
"Stop talking nonsense." Mu Shaoyan glared at the two of them. "If you think I'm different now than before, then you should catch up with me instead of saying 'you shouldn't be with us anymore'."
Li Shuai scratched his head. "Brother Yan, you know how bad my grades are. Even if I were reborn, I would still be a terrible student."
“I know,” Mu Shaoyan said, “so I’m giving you a new path.”
Mu Shaoyan took out a bank card that he had prepared beforehand. "There's 100,000 in here. That's enough for you to learn a skill. Wang Xu, don't you love to eat? Then learn to cook. Li Shuai, don't you love cars? Then learn to repair cars. You can learn anything. As long as you have a skill, you'll have a future."
“Lu Zhao.” Mu Shaoyan looked at him. “I know you’re different from the other two. Your grades are pretty good. It’s your family’s problems that are the issue. Then take 100,000 yuan, rent a place, study hard, and repeat your year. Find a tutor if you need one, buy practice papers if you need one. I can give you more money if you need it. Are you planning to make your child hate their family like you do in the future?”
Lu Zhao looked at him, as if he wanted to say something, but Mu Shaoyan did not give him a chance to speak.
“This money isn’t given to you for free; it’s a loan. You must pay me back within ten years.”
"As friends, this is all I can do to help you. If you're willing to forge your own path, then work hard to do so. If you're not, there's nothing I can do. As you said, we're not on the same path, and we don't need to associate with each other anymore."
"I've given you the opportunity; whether you want it or not is up to you."
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