Chapter 44

Zi Heng put down the Tower of Hanoi he was playing with, got up from his seat, and walked toward Song Laoshi standing by the podium, his eyes clear, and asked: "Teacher, is there something?"

The other children in the class all turned to look, their young faces full of curiosity.

In a moment, the surroundings grew much quieter, not as noisy as before.

Xia Ziheng is very smart; he never makes mistakes on arithmetic problems, his drawings are very pretty, he is also good-looking, all the children in the class like him, teachers often praise him, when other children make mistakes the teacher calls them out and educates them, since enrolling Xia Ziheng has been excellent in all aspects, he is the model the teachers talk about, so everyone is puzzled as to why the teacher called him.

With so many eyes on her, Song Laoshi felt uneasy and called Zi Heng out into the hallway.

The children grew more curious, craning their necks to look outside, huddling together and whispering.

"What are you thinking? From Song Laoshi's expression you can tell she's not criticizing Xia Ziheng; she's surely praising him."

"But why would praising him require avoiding us?"

"Maybe she just wants to talk to him about something else."

The discussion grew louder, and the class returned to its previous noisy atmosphere.

Song Laoshi looked at the top of Zi Heng's head; his hair, cut short the previous week, had barely grown since, making it hard to pull out. She felt at a loss, not knowing how to proceed—she couldn't just yank it out, could she?

Zi Heng, meanwhile, wore a blank expression. After a few seconds of silence from Song Laoshi, he lifted his head and said, "Song Laoshi?"

"Ah, Teacher sees something on your head that looks like modeling clay and wants to help you remove it." Song Laoshi reached out and touched his hair, hoping to pluck a few strands while he wasn't looking.

No matter how composed Zi Heng's temperament, he is still a child and couldn't possibly think of a paternity test; he just found Song Laoshi strange today: "I haven't played with modeling clay."

"Well, maybe it was some other child playing with it and accidentally got on your head."

"Teacher!"

A clear voice suddenly piped up from beside them, startling Song Laoshi, so she failed to pull out any hair.

Song Laoshi looked toward Zhou Leyi running over; the little girl, panting and sticking out her tongue, said, "Xiao Nuo ran to the bathroom saying you were looking for me; I hadn't even finished on the toilet, so I rushed out."

Song Laoshi: "..."

Zi Heng: "?"

Did Song Laoshi also call Youyou?

Faced with two puzzled faces, Song Laoshi broke into a sweat; nowadays children may seem innocent and naive, but they are actually the hardest to deceive.

Before she could say anything, Zi Heng turned to Youyou and asked, "Song Laoshi said there's modeling clay on my head—did you put it there?"

The two sat together; Youyou usually likes to play with these little things.

Youyou felt wronged, hands on hips, she protested: "I didn't!" She tiptoed to look at Zi Heng's head, tugged at his hair twice, and said, "Where is the modeling clay? I don't see any!"

Song Laoshi said embarrassedly, "Um, I just helped him remove it."

Youyou said loudly, "Last week in the junior class, a child played with modeling clay, shoved it up his nose and couldn't get it out, and was sent to the hospital. The teacher forbade us from bringing modeling clay to school to play, so nobody in the class plays with it anymore."

Song Laoshi: "..."

When the class bell rang, the two children, very disciplined, ran into the classroom, sat in their respective seats, and placed their arms crossed on the desks.

Song Laoshi wiped her forehead, feeling mentally tired; this class happened to be hers to teach. She let out a light sigh, turned and walked into the classroom, went up to the podium, finished the lesson, left the last ten minutes, and led everyone in a game.

In the game of Hawk Catches Chicks, Song Laoshi played the hawk, chasing the children and seizing the opportunity to pull out a child's hair to send to the principal.

Upon seeing the principal, Song Laoshi couldn't help but complain, "Don't make me do this again; nowadays kids are hard to fool. To get their hair, I've had to lie and play games, working up a sweat."

The principal said, "Although we haven't spelled it out, we all know this is for a paternity test, and you don't necessarily have to pull out hair. Give the child a lollipop to eat; when he's halfway through, swap it for a new one and use the saliva sample."

Song Laoshi stared for a few seconds, then muttered, "... Why didn't you say so earlier."

The principal had no time for small talk, took the hair sample, and left to hand it over to the responsible liaison.

Xu Yanfeng switched to a different appraisal agency this time and ordered Guan He to monitor the whole process closely to avoid another mishap like last time.

Having made a mistake before, Guan He dared not be lax; he wished he could eat and live at the appraisal agency.

Actually, if it weren't for Miss Ling meddling, no one would tamper with the appraisal report; and since Miss Ling had been warned by General Manager Xu, she certainly wouldn't do it again, so this time there is no way a mistake could occur.

During the previous appraisal, Xu Yanfeng's mood was complicated; he chose the standard procedure, then did it over again, but lacking patience, he paid extra for expedited service.

In less than three days, the results came out.

Guan He took hold of the report and rushed it to Xu Yanfeng, his tone firm as if swearing an oath: "I've been watching them closely; this report will definitely have no problems."

Xu Yanfeng didn't let him do it for him; he took the sealed envelope, tore open the white seal, pulled out the few pages inside, and flipped to the last page—all in one smooth motion without a pause.

When he saw the appraisal conclusion, he was stunned stiff; after a few seconds he actually laughed, yet the air seemed to congeal.

Last time he looked at the report it was during a raging storm that inexplicably felt oppressive; today the weather is calm and clear with not a cloud in the sky, yet Guan He feels the office atmosphere is even more terrifying than that day.

The boss appears to be smiling, but it's not a genuine smile; his complexion is even somewhat ashen.

Guan He didn't know what the appraisal result said, and dared not speak rashly; he stood silently before the desk, eyes on nose, nose on heart, in a posture of awaiting orders.

A deathly silence lasted several minutes; finally Xu Yanfeng spoke in a flat, emotionless tone: "You may go first."

"Yes."

Guan He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, stepped out of the office, and as he closed the door he couldn't help glancing at the man behind the desk, who had lowered his head, his ten fingers interlaced and pressed to his forehead, his expression unreadable.

Thursday afternoon, nearing quitting time, Xia Xi had agreed with Zhou Du to have dinner together that evening, ostensibly for him to keep his promise. Besides the two of them, there was also Liang Yuan, who works in Nancheng.

However, Zhou Du said he would decide the location.

Xia Xi had no objection; after a while she received the restaurant location he sent—a private cuisine place in a very remote spot.

Zhou Du added, "I checked the almanac before leaving; it says 'auspicious for travel,' so hopefully we won't run into that person again."

He didn't even dare type the three characters 'Xu Yanfeng'.

Xia Xi shook her head and smiled; just as she put down her phone, account manager Jiang Tian suddenly dropped by, saying a client was looking for her.

The previous incident with Li ChengHai had given Xia Xi a warning, so she asked an extra question: "Are they specifically asking for me?"

Jiang Tian said, "Not exactly; the client wants to renovate a villa, looked at several designers' portfolios, didn't much like those styles, so I recommended you to him, and he said he'd like to chat with you."

"Has the person come to the company?" Xia Xi asked.

"Yes, in the small meeting room."

Xia Xi planned to talk first and then decide. She followed Jiang Tian to the meeting room, met the client—a young man wearing glasses, refined in appearance, articulate in speech; she initially judged him to be an elite from some company.

If any staff from the Ling Clan Group were here, they would recognize that this is General Manager Xu's close confidant, Guan He.