Sure enough, the young boy pouted, and now he really wanted to cry.
Ni Jingxi asked, "What's your name?"
"Lu Xuecheng," the boy said, his voice slightly choked with emotion.
Ni Jingxi nodded: "So, can you tell me why your father did this?"
After listening to Lu Xuecheng recount the whole story, she was at a loss for words. Shanghai Jiarui Middle School is a school where students are required to eat lunch in the school cafeteria. Although there are snack shops outside, the school is worried that students might get sick from eating out.
Lu Xuecheng never liked the food in the school cafeteria, but his father wouldn't let him eat outside of school.
There is also a commitment agreement between the school and parents that if some parents allow their children to eat outside of school, the school will not be responsible if the children get sick from the food.
As a result, the students in the class who did not receive the guarantee were particularly envious of those who did not receive it.
In the end, Lu Xuecheng lied to his father, saying that he always had stomach aches and diarrhea when he ate at school, and that he wasn't the only one; several other students had the same problem.
Actually, all he wanted was for his father to allow him to eat outside of school.
At this point, Lu Xuecheng looked up at Ni Jingxi with some guilt: "I really didn't expect my dad to make such a big fuss, and to actually believe that damn reporter and create fake photos."
After listening, Ni Jingxi remained silent for a long time.
After a long while, she looked up at the young boy opposite her and asked softly, "Then why do you think your father was persuaded to create fake photos? Did he want to become famous?"
Lu Xuecheng was stunned.
Ni Jingxi is not a sentimental person, but even knowing that her father had done something wrong, she couldn't help but say, "Because he thought you really had an upset stomach at school, and that the school was irresponsible for your health. So he wanted to protect you, and deliberately posted those photos to attract everyone's attention and make the school rectify the problems in the cafeteria."
The father was a man of few words, but when his child was in trouble, he would do everything in his power to protect him.
Even if he used the wrong method, he was still in that state of mind at the beginning.
Lu Xuecheng hung his head. At this age, the teenager had just entered his rebellious phase. He felt that his parents were stubborn and inflexible, and he wished he could put himself on the opposite side of his parents and use his youthful arrogance to defeat them.
But they will never know how much their parents have done for them.
After a long silence, Lu Xuecheng finally choked up and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't know."
Seeing that the young boy was about to cry, Ni Jingxi said calmly, "It's not that boys your age would rather bleed than shed tears."
These words really made Lu Xuecheng pause, and the bright tears in his eyes swirled several times but did not fall: "Sister, bleeding hurts a lot."
"..."
Ni Jingxi continued, "While I am touched, I just wanted you to understand your father's good intentions. However, his act of forging documents is absolutely unacceptable, so he has now learned his lesson from the law."
Lu Xuecheng was truly stunned by what she said.
Just when he thought Ni Jingxi was going for an emotional approach, Ni Jingxi's two blunt and realistic remarks made him realize that his father's current predicament was entirely his own fault.
What a cold-hearted older sister.
But Lu Xuecheng still said, "Sister, I originally thought all reporters were like that bad woman, who only knew how to deceive people. I never expected there to be such a good person as you."
Ni Jingxi sighed inwardly.
Look how easily kids these days are fooled. After eating two hamburgers, she's suddenly a good person.
Ni Jingxi looked at him calmly and said, "How do you know I'm a good person? What if I just have a grudge against the person you hit? I'd be happy if you hit her, and then I'd help you escape."
Lu Xuecheng: "..."
Do you have to be so realistic?
So the boy took a sip of cola, calming his complicated feelings a little: "Then I still think you're a good person."
Ni Jingxi leaned back in her chair and chuckled softly.
After the boy had eaten and drunk his fill, she said, "Let's go, I'll take you home."
"No need, sister. I have a bus pass and can go home by myself." Lu Xuecheng knew that Ni Jingxi was already being very kind by treating him to a hamburger, so he was too embarrassed to trouble her to take him home.
Although he is a young boy, he already understands the importance of not troubling others unnecessarily.
“Let’s go.” Ni Jingxi stood up abruptly.
Lu Xuecheng stopped talking and followed them out.
Ni Jingxi pushed open the glass door and walked out of the restaurant. She felt her phone ringing in her bag, so she reached out and took it out. It was Huo Shenyan calling.
"You're off work now?" Ni Jingxi was quite surprised. He had been extremely busy lately, and even if he got home at eight or nine o'clock, he would still work in his study for a long time in the evening.
I didn't expect to call her before eight o'clock today.
When Huo Shenyan asked her when she could go back, Ni Jingxi thought for a moment and said, "I still have some things to take care of later, so I'll probably be home around nine o'clock."
"Alright then, I'll hang up now," Huo Shenyan said.
So Ni Jingxi hung up the phone. But as soon as she did, Lu Xuecheng, who was next to her, said cautiously, "Sister, I have something to tell you, but don't get too excited."
Ni Jingxi looked at his mysterious expression and chuckled, "Go ahead and say it."
"When you were on the phone just now, there was a super handsome guy staring at you from behind. Do you have a boyfriend? How about I get his number for you?"
Lu Xuecheng felt that he and Ni Jingxi had met by chance, and that he had inexplicably eaten two of her hamburger meals.
That's a bit too much.
So he decided to repay Ni Jingxi with practical actions.
Ni Jingxi was amused by him, but she was still wondering what these kids were thinking.
To her surprise, when she turned her head, she saw Huo Shenyan standing in the distance by the lights, quietly watching her.
When I turned around in surprise just now, it really felt like he was somewhere in the dim light.
Seeing that she had finally noticed him, Huo Shenyan walked over with satisfaction, looked down at the young man in front of him, and asked in a calm voice, "Is this what you need to deal with?"
Lu Xuecheng: "..."
"I'll handle it with you."
After saying that, Huo Shenyan put his hand on Ni Jingxi's shoulder and hugged her.
Author's Note:
Shenyan: My wife is too charming; if I don't keep an eye on her, someone else will be eyeing her.
Lu Xuecheng: I didn't, I'm not, I really wouldn't dare...
*
I'm afraid some people won't understand. Tong Ge's article isn't meant to whitewash or slander anyone. Although it includes my own opinions, everyone has their own perspective. If you like it, please praise it; if you don't, you can criticize it.
Author's Note:
Ni is being a drama queen today...
Brother Shenyan, please let that girl go! If you have any problems, take them out on my readers!!!
*
Chapter 47
After returning home, Ni Jingxi told Huo Shenyan about Lu Xuecheng. They hadn't had a chance to talk about it in the car when they took the boy home earlier.
Huo Shenyan was slightly taken aback after hearing this: "His father is the one who forged the photos?"
Ni Jingxi nodded.
Her impression of Lu Xuecheng's father was limited to that phone call, in which he urgently urged her to expose the school's behavior immediately.
She never expected that the other party would get involved with Wen Tang.
Earlier at KFC, Ni Jingxi asked Lu Xuecheng if he had any evidence to prove that Wen Tang had instigated his father to deliberately create fake photos. Lu Xuecheng shook his head, indicating that he did not.
Wen Tang is not stupid; on the contrary, as a media professional, she is all too aware of the bottom line of the law.
Such deliberate fabrication of fake photos to spread rumors and cause trouble will definitely lead to arrest once evidence is obtained.
She might only casually mention during a chat that the cafeteria photos weren't clear enough, or that even if such pictures were posted, they wouldn't cause much of a stir.
Parents who think they are protecting their children and are eager to make a big scene are bound to be misled.
Although the school's tuition is not low, and most families who can afford to send their children here are middle-class, not all middle-class parents are educated or knowledgeable in law. Some parents may only have graduated from junior high or high school, but through their hard work and diligence, they have provided their children with a good education. When faced with such situations, they rely more on instinct than on the correct approach.
"Will Shangrui Group sue them?" Ni Jingxi asked.
After all, this incident had an extremely huge impact. Shangrui Group's stock price plummeted continuously after the incident, and its market value reportedly evaporated by more than one billion.
Such a huge loss cannot be made up for with just an apology.
Huo Shenyan didn't answer; instead, he reached out and pulled her hand over, and the two sat side by side on the sofa. Her hands weren't actually small for a girl; because her fingers were slender and long, they actually looked a bit large.
But Huo Shenyan's hand was able to wrap around her hand in an instant.
At this moment, he slowly pinched her fingertips backward, little by little, with a bit of force, but not too much, in a comfortable way that soothed her mood.
Huo Shenyan then made her lie on his lap and looked down at her: "You want to get involved in this?"
"I'm just envious."
Ni Jingxi smiled, a hint of shyness even showing in her clear eyes.
After a long silence, she said softly, "I envy him for having a father to protect him."
Ni Jingxi knew the principle of admitting mistakes and standing up straight when punished.
She knew that Lu's father's actions were completely unacceptable because he had hurt others, but she couldn't help but feel envious. It was the kind of enviousness she felt when she heard Lu Xuecheng frowning and complaining that his father was completely ignorant of the law.
Because it's so good to have a dad.
At that moment, she suddenly thought of Ni Pingsen again. Actually, she rarely thought about her father anymore. The past was like a cage that imprisoned her, but now she was slowly beginning to learn to let go.
The longer she spent with Huo Shenyan, the more peaceful her heart became, and the less obsessive she became.
She was so stubborn that she would slap herself hard on the spot if she even considered the possibility that her father had passed away.
Ni Jingxi may never have moved on from that afternoon when she learned of Ni Pingsen's disappearance.
Looking back now, the feeling of chills running down my spine and my whole body trembling in the sweltering summer heat seems like a vivid memory of despair.
From that day on, she stopped liking summer.