Chapter 314

After reminding the two kids, Xu Yanfeng picked up the phone, and Xia Xi's smiling voice came through the receiver: "Finished the parents' meeting?"

Xu Yanfeng remained silent for several seconds.

"Want to ask how I knew?" Xia Xi teased him, "Did you forget I'm in the parents' group?"

To prevent some kids from not passing the message properly, the teacher gave a heads‑up in the parents' group at noon.

Xu Yanfeng continued to stay silent.

Xia Xi continued analyzing: "Today there was a parents' meeting, but Zi Heng didn't tell me; given his personality, he would never forget something this important. So the truth can only be one thing: he told you."

Xu Yanfeng still remained silent.

Xia Xi: "I guess the secret you two were keeping from me last time is exactly this."

Xu Yanfeng finally spoke: "You're absolutely right. What reward do you want?"

Xia Xi gave a "tsk", brushed off his joke, and switched to a concerned tone: "Zi Heng asking you to attend the parents' meeting surely has a reason—what happened to him at kindergarten?"

"It's nothing serious, just kids playing around."

Xu Yanfeng paused, then explained the whole story to her.

Xia Xi hadn't heard Zi Heng mention it; obviously, as he grew older, he no longer babbled everything to her like when he was little. But her attitude was the same as Xu Yanfeng's—she thought it wasn't a big deal, especially since that kid had sincerely apologized, so there was no need to quibble. Besides, Zi Heng is strong‑willed; a few words from others couldn't break him.

"Just letting you know, I'm adding an extracurricular class." Xia Xi casually reported to him, "Dinner's on you—don't wait for me."

Lately things have gone very smoothly, without a ripple, both in life and work. Earlier the custom manufacturer had a problem, but it's been properly resolved. This steady progress is reassuring.

Perhaps one shouldn't entertain such thoughts; often when one feels at ease, trouble shows up—

Xia Xi went to Jingyu Yuan in the morning, returning to the office at 10:30 a. m. As she entered, a folder flew toward her, almost hitting her forehead; luckily someone nearby pulled her back.

Still shaken, she thanked them, her eyes fixed on the chaotic scene ahead: "What's going on?"

The clamor continued; before anyone could answer her question, several more folders flew at her, and Xia Xi hastily turned aside to dodge.

In sight, a richly dressed woman grabbed Gao Ge with one hand and snatched folders from the desk, throwing them wildly; a few people stood by trying to rescue Gao Ge, and in an instant insults, pleas, and shouts to stop the fight mixed together. A perfectly decent office hall turned into a market.

Xia Xi finally made out the fierce woman's face in the chaos—it was Li Tai, whom she hadn't seen in a long time.

Her heart skipped a beat; the scene resembled a legal wife beating a mistress, and Xia Xi couldn't help recalling the gossip Huang Shiyu had casually chatted with her about earlier.

Gao Ge wouldn't…

Absolutely not!

After a moment's thought, Xia Xi had a firm answer in her heart.

Gao Ge is strong‑willed and ambitious, focused on her career; at thirty‑seven she's still unmarried, so it's impossible for her to covet a married man and ruin her own career.

Xia Xi walked into the center of the melee, grabbed Li Tai's plump wrist with one hand and pushed Gao Ge away with the other, forcibly separating them: "Let's talk nicely; this is an office, we're all civilized people—don't make a spectacle."

Her tone was calm, but it didn't quell the fire; Li Tai shook her shoulders and shouted: "Who's in charge of your company? I can't make sense of this with Gao Ge—I want to see your boss!"

Gao Ge, helped up by Yu Xiaoxiao, steadied herself, brushed her disheveled hair, and her white suit now had several wrinkles—not ugly, but compared to her usual appearance she looked somewhat disheveled.

Xia Xi didn't know what had happened, and no one had told her yet, so she first tried to soothe the client: "Madam Li, Mr. Lu is on a business trip; if you have anything, tell me."

Li Tai frowned: "Tell you? Can you take responsibility?"

Xia Xi patiently replied: "I'm practically a half‑owner of Broad and Elegant; I sincerely tell you I can bear the responsibility."

Li Tai stared at her for a while, her expression gradually softening.

Seeing an opening to talk, Xia Xi immediately ordered: "Xiaoyu, go get Li Tai a cup of coffee." Turning to face Li Tai, she put on a smile: "Madam Li, what would you like to drink? Let's calm down and we can chat slowly in my office."

Li Tai: "I don't drink."

Huang Shiyu made an inviting gesture: "Madam Li, please come this way."

As she passed Gao Ge, Xia Xi paused slightly, patted her shoulder twice to comfort her, and told the others: "Tidy this place up—do what needs to be done."

Xia Xi had Li Tai sit on the sofa, then looked at Huang Shiyu and said: "Madam Li doesn't want coffee, so brew her a cup of tea—use the leaves Mr. Lu usually drinks."

Huang Shiyu replied and slipped out quietly.

Xia Xi sat opposite Madam Li, hands resting on her knees, fingers loosely interlaced. Not knowing what had happened, she chose her words carefully: "How is the renovation of your private estate going?"

Who would have thought her most cautious question would hit Li Tai's sore spot? Li Tai, whose calm was just returning, exploded again: "You still have the nerve to bring up the renovation! I was blind back then—I turned down dozens of big firms and chose Broad and Elegant, and before the work was even finished my mother broke a bone in a fall."

Xia Xi: "?"

How is Li Tai's mother's fracture related to the renovation?

At that moment Huang Shiyu brought in a cup of tea, with Gao Ge behind her. Seeing Gao Ge, Li Tai's already surging anger flared up even more: "The main building's renovation is done; I invited my mother to come see it, and as soon as she stepped onto the stairs she fell. At first I thought it was her own clumsiness, but after having experts look, I realized the renovation was flawed—the turn on the landing makes anyone who walks it slip. Isn't this your designers' fault? Whose fault is it? My mother is still lying in the hospital unable to move. I've had no father since childhood; my mother is my life! Whoever makes her unhappy, I'll make unhappy."

Gao Ge: "How is your mother's fall my problem? I've never heard of someone suing road workers after a finished road makes pedestrians fall. Besides, even if we go that far, the staircase's original structure was like that; if you want to find fault, you should look at whoever built the stairs originally."

Li Tai sprang to her feet, ready to strike again; Huang Shiyu and Xia Xi both stepped forward, blocking her in the middle.

Li Tai's concern was something Xia Xi understood. When she and Huang Shiyu had previously measured the property, she had tripped on the stairs, and Huang Shiyu had fallen right after her—worse than her, with scraped knees and lots of blood. Even these two fairly quick‑reacting young people got hurt badly, let alone an older person.

She later noted it down, added it to the precautions, hoping to fix the flaw through later renovation design.

Xia Xi thought for a moment, looked at Gao Ge—usually tough and unyielding, now she seemed innocent and wronged, her eyes red, clearly never having endured such injustice before. In all the time they'd known each other, Xia Xi had never seen Gao Ge like this.

But the matter needed a resolution; Xia Xi set aside her colleague role and, as a half‑owner, questioned Gao Ge: "Didn't you see the email I had my assistant send? It specifically stressed that the staircase needs improvement in this part."

Li Tai blinked, then interjected: "So you knew the staircase had a problem."

"What email?" Gao Ge stared blankly at Xia Xi, "I don't know."

"I'm sure I sent it to your assistant." Huang Shiyu grew agitated: "Back then Xia Gong was hospitalized sick, I was following her arrangements. When I sent the email I set a read receipt, and it showed she'd already viewed it."

Gao Ge went out to call Yu Xiaoxiao.

Yu Xiaoxiao came over hesitantly; when asked about the email, she lowered her head slightly, fingers pinching her hem, feeling the gaze of several people, and couldn't deny: "I did receive the email, but I thought it wasn't important so I filtered it out—I didn't report it to you, Engineer Gao."