"I have a child with Mrs. Dou, and we didn't just get married three years ago. We got married four years ago. At that time, since your entrance exams were coming up soon, we thought we'd keep it a secret for a while, and it just so happened that Mrs. Dou had just given birth.
I know that you've always been a bit cold towards Mrs. Dou, and we've never blamed you for it. We originally planned to tell you after your college entrance exams that you have a younger brother, but I feel the time is right now.
If you want to date, then go ahead. If you want to get into any school, that's fine too. If you want to listen to your biological mother and study abroad, it's whatever."
...
Jiang Banxia hadn't thought about any of this, after all, she had no concept of matters related to children in her mind.
She's still a child herself.
When she left the bedroom, Dou Ying caught up to her and said, "Xiaxia, don't listen to your dad. As long as you don't want it, there won't be a fourth person in this family."
And at that moment, how could Jiang Banxia listen? She immediately replied, "As far as I'm concerned, you're already the fourth person!"
Dou Ying froze, almost losing sight of Jiang Banxia.
While walking, she called Jiang Yaoting.
"Yaoting, hurry and bring down the car keys. Xiaxia has already run out of the neighborhood."
"Alright, got it."
Despite being angry, Jiang Yaoting couldn't help but worry about his own daughter, no matter how upset he was. He had to ensure Jiang Banxia's safety first.
It's late at night, and having a young girl out in the streets made anyone uneasy.
With the car keys in hand, he went downstairs, got into the car, and turned on the air conditioning.
The cool air helped to calm his anger.
They hadn't used the air conditioning at home earlier.
Not because of stinginess, but because he lived in a dwelling provided by the education bureau, an old building with poor soundproofing.
Once the air conditioning was on, it would buzz loudly, interfering with Jiang Banxia's studies.
So the family had already gotten used to turning on the AC only after Jiang Banxia was done with her work.
Of course, the slight heat wasn't the main issue; the main problem was Jiang Banxia treating her irresponsible biological mother with a smile while remaining cold towards the stepmother who cared for her.
Just thinking about his ex-wife annoyed Jiang Yaoting.
The thought of her constantly persuading their daughter to study abroad made him even more annoyed!
Did she have no self-awareness? She's nothing more than a laborer abroad and still wants to make their daughter suffer over there?
An obedient and quiet girl like Jiang Banxia — any parent would love her.
And even if she was disobedient, Jiang Yaoting remained patient.
It just so happened that two annoying things came together today.
As he spoke to Dou Ying on the phone to confirm her location, he drove in that direction.
A few minutes later, he saw the two of them, one in front of the other.
Jiang Banxia was at the front with Dou Ying following behind.
Jiang Yaoting pulled up next to Dou Ying, stopped the car, rolled down the window, and said, "Yingying, get in the car first. Let's see how far she can run."
Dou Ying, helpless, said, "Why couldn't you have held off for just a few more days? Couldn't you have waited until after her exams?"
Jiang Yaoting, irritated, responded, "Did you not see the joy on her face when she was talking to that woman? Does she think everyone in the world is out to harm her except her biological mother? What else does that woman know besides all the American hypocrisy? Has she ever given Xiaxia a penny for living expenses? Bought her a single gift? Continuously calling her sweetheart, but..."
"And yet she still managed to turn your head?"
Jiang Yaoting: "..."
He awkwardly said, "I was young back then..."
"Ha, in today's terms, that makes you a scumbag."
...
Half an hour later...
Dou Ying got out of the car, called out to Jiang Banxia several times, trying to persuade her to go back, saying everything could be discussed.
But it was no use.
Another half hour passed, Jiang Yaoting got out to call Jiang Banxia, with the same result.
After getting back in the car, Dou Ying said, "It's not working now, maybe we should try someone else."
"Who? Should we call in all the relatives from our hometown? Give her ten more minutes, and if she doesn't get in the car, we'll tie her up if we have to."
Dou Ying quickly stopped him, "Doing that will only make Xiaxia more rebellious! Let's get Xue Ning..."
Jiang Yaoting frowned and said, "Is it appropriate to call her?"
"Why wouldn't it be? She's a teacher at First High School, and she's a student you sponsored. She's always regarded you as an elder. Right now, Xiaxia has a defensive mindset towards family; switching to Xue Ning might help her relax a bit. If you can't bring yourself to call her, I'll do it."
Jiang Yaoting remained silent.
After two minutes, Dou Ying couldn't hold it in, "Are you worried about losing face? If something happens to Xiaxia, your pride won't amount to anything!"
Those words finally made Jiang Yaoting decide to call his student.
Jiang Yaoting had extensive connections in Jiang City, and many teachers at First High School were once his students, especially those who graduated from the teacher-training university in recent years.
...
On Monday noon, Li Yang, while eating in the cafeteria, just found out that Jiang Banxia hadn't come to class.
Today, Jiang Banxia didn't respond to his messages, so he thought she was just busy with her classes.
After all, yesterday was a self-study session, and aside from Liu Dayou occasionally strolling by, few other teachers bothered to check in.
After eating, he didn't return to the dormitory because the guys there were acting a bit oddly, constantly asking if he had done his laundry.
Damn, it gave him goosebumps all over.
He planned to wait until those guys went to class before heading back.
Finding a corner, he called Liu Dayou.
Shortly after, the call connected, and Li Yang said, "Old class, you're being unfair. I'm not even in class. Do you really have to destroy me completely?"
For Liu Dayou, that call from Li Yang was nothing short of a challenge.
Indeed, Li Yang, the worst in class, had ruined the top student.
How many Qingbei students could he possibly train in his lifetime? Even though his teaching quality was high, his elite class hadn't produced top students this time, which meant he would have to return to teaching first-year classes next year.
He was almost fifty, and after cycling through from first-year to third-year a few times, he finally met Jiang Banxia.
But now, first thing in the morning, Jiang Yaoting called to say Jiang Banxia wouldn't attend classes before exams, and he felt utterly deflated.
And now Li Yang dared to call?
"Destroy completely? Li Yang, my biggest regret in life is that I didn't do whatever it took to expel you when I had the chance!"
Li Yang's issues absolutely warranted expulsion, even to the extent that the approval from the education bureau could've been overridden.
But the school adopted the education bureau's instructions and retracted the already-signed expulsion request.
Nobody wanted to offend the education bureau over one student.
Now, there was simply no way out. By December, Li Yang was already registered, so even if they kept him out of the classroom, the school still had to manage his college entrance exam arrangements.
"Liu Dayou, you always say I'm dragging the class down, but exactly how much am I dragging it down? Besides Wu Tianqi and me, aren't there several others with scores around 530? I don't think I've ever scored below 460, right? That counts as dragging down? So, when I'm gone, no other student will drag the class down? In the elite class division, everyone was in the top sixty of the school, yet you somehow taught them to fall to beyond the top three hundred. Haven't you ever reflected on whether the problem lies with you? Is it possible you just don't have the capability, or that you've caused trouble for Jiang Banxia by giving your daughter preferential treatment, having her sit with Jiang Banxia, thus causing her distress? Now you're shifting all the blame onto me, but all that shows is your incompetence. I've given you plenty of respect, keeping my mouth shut despite all the hassles over the years. Do you genuinely think it's everyone else's fault and you're the innocent one?"