CH 24

Chapter 24 – Parents

Of course, the sunny weather was good. The only bad thing was that you have to go out for exercise on a sunny day.

Nanlin was not a comfortable county to live in. It was cold and rainy, making people feel that there was moisture in the bones. When it got hot, the temperature suddenly rose, and you ran under the sun. It was all sweat.

In the two tests after the beginning of the semester, You Yu won first place twice without any surprise. Chi Tang’s name hovered around the tenth place in the class, and in the whole grade, she could be in the top 100.

It should be considered a pretty good result.

“Chi Tang, tell me, why can’t your parents come to the parent-teacher meeting?” The headteacher Lao Fang’s tone was kind.

“This time the parent-teacher meeting is very important, especially for you high school students. You will be divided into arts and sciences in the second year. This time, I want to talk to your parents about your future. If there are no special circumstances, parents must come. Go back and discuss with your dad, and try to come over next Monday.”

Chi Tang didn’t say a word. Lao Fang might have seen too many uncooperative students like her. He sighed helplessly and said a few more words before letting her go.

Chi Tang thought about this supposedly important parent-teacher meeting. The crowd of students walked out through the corridor and saw the remaining student left cleaning the blackboard, and the white ash from the two blackboard erasers was flying in the sun.

You Yu looked over, saw her expression, and the duster in her hand stopped.

“What happened?”

Chi Tang didn’t know when it started, every time she was upset, and didn’t show anything, You Yu would find out, and then ask her “what’s wrong” in that tone.

Chi Tang didn’t want to answer when she was in a bad mood.

You Yu followed her into the classroom, put the blackboard eraser down, pulled out the chair and sat down.

“What’s the matter?” she asked again.

Chi Tang hadn’t said a word, she thought of You Yu. She didn’t have parents to attend, and when she thought of that, Chi Tang didn’t want to talk even more.

The next day was a weekend holiday. Chi Tang went home to get her clothes and told him about the parent-teacher meeting.

Maybe it was because she hadn’t been an eyesore at school recently, or it was because her dad had something happy happening but he agreed in one go.

On Monday, he came to school.

Chi Zhang looked good, he was handsome. Even if he ate, drank, and gambled, he still looked good in a suit. When chatting with people, he could only talk about himself. Most people thought that he was a capable man at a first impression.

“When I was young, I led the engineering team and did a lot of projects. Just like the Pearl Building in N City, you know…” Chi Zhang liked to talk about his past glorious times just like every middle-aged man who had made some money. Always talking about his businesses.

He hadn’t had much work in the past two years. The money he earned in the early years had bought a few suites. Now he was living a rich life from rent.

Chi Tang watched him indifferently. At that time, many parents of her classmates came, but because the headteacher had not yet arrived, everyone was chatting. Chi Zhang was the loudest inside, and the other parents couldn’t help but visit him. The two parents next to him talked to him. It was kind of pleasant.

There was no one in You Yu’s position, her parents didn’t come.

Chi Tang saw Chi Zhang glance toward You Yu and knew what he wanted to ask. Sure enough, Chi Zhang said, “No one is coming for your deskmate?”

He could see You Yu’s constraints, and his eyes were very contemptuous. Of course, Chi Tang could also see his attitude. She became angry, leaned against the table, and said coldly: “She is first in our grade. First in grade every time.”

Chi Zhang still said in the voice of a person who is above people from the countryside: “That’s okay, but it’s useless to study hard, you know. People nowadays, those college students, graduates from prestigious universities and don’t know how to do anything. They reduced to sweeping the streets.”

He was not well-educated, but he had a good reputation when he was young. He even started a company and got a bunch of college students to work. He disagrees with these things.

Hearing that he was still not shutting his mouth, Chi Tang was upset for a while, wondering how his superiority that lasted for many years came from, “Can’t you lower your volume? The whole classroom heard you talking.”

Chi Zhang was the most face-conscious. He was blocked by her and immediately became angry. He frowned and patted the table, “What’s that tone? Talking to your dad like this, you’ve been in the belly of a dog for so many years, I don’t know what you learned in school. I have been raising a dog for so many years and it will help me do things, as for you, you don’t even know how to be obedient…”

He had always been like that. When he wanted to scold her, he never cared about the occasion or the people around him.

Chi Tang noticed that everyone else in the classroom was watching them. She was embarrassed and annoyed. She almost uttered the words “Then why don’t you have a dog to raise”, but she held it back and bit her tongue.

If she talked back, her dad would beat her in front of all her classmates and their parents. It was not that she hadn’t experienced it before. When she was in middle school, he beat her once during a parent-teacher meeting, specifically because she said something that irritated him.

Chi Tang forgot what she said but she remembered that the parent-teacher meeting was particularly bad and the teacher didn’t say anything at all.

She didn’t want it to happen again, let alone be laughed at. Chi Tang felt pain in her heart, turned her face, and saw You Yu’s eyebrows raised.

She turned her gaze again, not looking at anyone or talking.

Hearing that she didn’t reply, Chi Zhang was still seething in anger so he started to curse. The two parents who had chatted with him happily before sat a little farther and talked to others in a low voice.

Fortunately, at that time Lao Fang walked in and the students went out.

Chi Tang didn’t want to stay for a moment longer and walked out without looking back.

You Yu followed behind her, and both of them heard faint laughter behind them, and vaguely heard a few words: “Her dad… funny… usually beat people… no wonder she doesn’t live at home. …”

With the same gossip again, Chi Tang took a deep breath.

The sky was blue and the bell in class was noisy and rapid. With her hand in her pocket, she pinched her thumb tightly.

Hurry up, time, hurry up. Grow up immediately, leave him immediately.

“In our second year of high school, let’s choose the same class.” You Yu said suddenly.

Chi Tang looked at her, and a strand of bangs fell in front of her eyes.

“Same with the third year of high school.” You Yu thought about it, “University…”

Chi Tang interrupted her: “I can’t pass the university you choose.”

You Yu: “Then we’ll be in the same city, as long as we are close.”

Chi Tang didn’t have any expression: “Why?”

You Yu: “I promised you.”

Promise? It took a long time for Chi Tang to remember the joke that You Yu used to say “I will take care of you.”

In Chi Tang’s view, even if You Yu was serious about it, it was just a joke.

After all, it was ridiculous. High school friendships could last for several years. Probably after entering different universities, the friendship would fade and end.