Chapter 64: Parent-Teacher Meeting
Duan Xu stroked his buzzcut. He had heard about the Ye family’s situation. The woman was actually Ning Li’s biological mother and shared no blood relation with Ye Ci.
However, if anyone who did not know about the situation saw the scene, they would have assumed that Ye Ci was her real daughter instead of Ning Li.
Duan Xu thought of his father. Even though his father was strict and never held back when beating him, his father never did this to him.
A while later, Su Yuan came out of the infirmary.
“Mrs. Ye, I’m sorry about this. We did not foresee this situation…” Geng Haifan and the school doctor came out together and apologized to Su Yuan.
Su Yuan might have been enraged, but it was not appropriate for her to lash out at the teacher.
“It’s just an accident. Mr. Geng, you don’t need to take the blame. I just have to take the day off for Lil Ci and bring her to the hospital for a detailed check-up.
Although the school doctor said that Ye Ci was fine, Su Yuan remained worried.
Geng Haifan nodded understandably. “Yes, I understand. If there’s any problem, just give me a call, Mrs. Ye.”
Su Yuan told Zhou Hua, the driver, to assist Ye Ci to the car while she walked to Ning Li and the others.
Ding Xi was also there with the group. He was worried about Ye Ci and actually wanted to go into the infirmary, but after knowing that Ye Ci had called her mother, he stayed outside nervously instead.
“Are you Ding Xi?”
Ding Xi lowered his head in guilt. “I’m sorry, ma’am.”
Su Yuan looked rather cold. “I should have escalated this matter to the disciplinary teacher, but Lil Ci said that if you get punished for it, it will affect your future. Considering the circumstances, I have decided to let you go this time.”
Ding Xi finally felt relieved. He looked at Su Yuan but what she said next turned his heart into a deserted island.
“But do remember one thing: from today onwards, you will stay away from Lil Ci. She’s aiming for Xijing University and she can’t afford to be distracted by the likes of you.”
Ding Xi was appalled and embarrassed at the same time. “T-thank you, ma’am. I understand.”
Su Yuan then walked over to Ning Li.
“Ning Li.”
Ning Li looked at her mother with a cold glare.
“You have to learn how to tone down that temper of yours at school. I told you before, Lil Ci is younger than you, and you are her elder sister, so you should take care of her, but is this what you call taking care of your younger sibling?”
Duan Xu was confused when he heard that from the side. Ye Ci was hurt, but what did it have to do with Ning Li?
Ding Xi was the one who kicked the ball and Ye Ci had walked over in the crosshairs by herself. It was just an accident.
Why would she lecture Ning Li about taking care of Ye Ci?
Besides, if Ning Li had not dodged the ball in the first place, she would have been the one lying in the infirmary instead of Ye Ci.
Ning Li barely reacted to her mother’s words. She seemed unsurprised about what Su Yuan said.
“I’m used to being alone, and I don’t know how to take care of people. If you are still worried, why don’t you do it yourself? Since you’ve been doing it for 11 years now, I assume you are already an expert in the field.” Ning Li’s tone sounded flat, but her words had thorns about them, making Su Yuan really uncomfortable.
Su Yuan frowned. “I know you have a grudge against me, but let’s keep it between us. Don’t drag others into this.”
Ning Li stared into her eyes before she shook her head. “No, I don’t have a grudge against you. I’m just giving you a piece of advice. It is up to you to consider whether or not you want to accept it.”
Disappointment only transpired because of hope.
Loss only happened because of the desire to possess.
Now, none of those had anything to do with Ning Li.
Su Yuan furrowed her brows even harder. Ever since she brought Ning Li into the family, the two had not been able to get along.
Their relationship had fallen below the freezing point, and Ning Li treated her as if she was some outsider.
She stared at Ning Li for a moment and left without saying another word.
While the air felt heavy, Duan Xu cautiously stole a glance at Ning Li. He had never seen a mother and daughter talk to each other like that.
All of a sudden, Ning Li’s phone buzzed. She took it out of her pocket and saw Lu Huaiyu’s message.
[Got into a fight at school again?]
Ning Li was not surprised that Lu Huaiyu had gotten the news so quickly. It must have been Zhou Fei.
Even though the incident did not get to the disciplinary teacher, there was a crowd at the field, and the news had spread like wildfire among the teachers and students.
She simply replied with a short message. [No. Just practicing our football skills.]
…
In the master bedroom on the second floor at Yunding Fenghua, Lu Huaiyu sat against the headboard of the bed. His hair was a bit messy, and his eyes were still blurry and tired.
He slightly squinted when he saw Ning Li’s reply.
At the same time, he also received a message from Gu Tinglan.
[How are you feeling today?]
As he lifted his head up to loosen up his collar, the feeling of suffocating eased up a little bit. He did not plan to reply.
He pulled his sheets away and got up. It was then that the corner of his eye caught sight of a new message from Ning Li.
He tapped on it.
[I won.]
Lu Huaiyu stared at the message for quite a while. The suffocation and frustration in his head faded subtly.
He chuckled.
[Wow.]
A slight pause later, he returned to the chat window with Gu Tinglan.
Ever since Gu Tinglan went to Lincheng, the doctor would talk to him about random topics from time to time and also ask about his condition.
Lu Huaiyu barely replied, especially about his condition. He thought about it for a while before he typed a rare reply.
[Great.]
Great. He felt really great.
…
The football incident came to an abrupt end.
On the next afternoon, all the third-year classes held their respective parent-teacher meetings. The parents came to the school to meet the teachers in the respective classrooms.
In the first class, Geng Haifan was standing at the rostrum, preparing for a speech.
Most of the parents had already arrived and were sitting in their child’s seat. Almost all of the students had gone to the self-learning room or the field, except for Ning Li.
Ning Li was in her own seat.
It was almost time for the meeting. Geng Haifan noticed that Ning Li was still in the class, so he walked over to her.
“Ning Li, where’s your mother? Is she stuck in traffic?”
Ning Li shook her head. “She’s not coming today.”
Geng Haifan frowned. “Not coming? Why? I thought all the parents were informed via the group announcement yesterday—”
“Ye Ci is going to the hospital for a check-up later today,” Ning Li said succinctly. “Mr. Geng, I can handle the meeting myself.”
Back when she was young, her grandmother had attended all her parent-teacher meetings. Ever since her grandmother’s condition worsened, Ning Li did not want her to worry about her studies anymore, so she participated in the parent-teacher meeting herself.
However, Geng Haifan believed it was inappropriate.
“But this is the first parent-teacher meeting for you since you transferred here, thus it’s better to have a parent here with you.”
He then turned around and gave Su Yuan a call. Ning Li was able to listen to part of the conversation.
“Mrs. Ye, the parent-teacher meeting is starting soon. Can you make it?”
“Yes, I understand your child’s health is the priority, but the parent-teacher meeting today is important, especially to Ning Li. I think you should free up some of your time to attend it.
“If you really can’t make it, how about your husband? Is Mr. Ye free—
“Okay, I understand.”
Finally, Geng Haifan hung up the phone.
At that point, Zhou Fei passed by the classroom. “Hey, Mr. Geng, who are you calling?”
Geng Haifang sighed. “It’s nothing. I was planning to talk to Ning Li’s parents about her results and discuss her competition and entrance exam further, but neither of them is free.”
Zhou Fei looked into the classroom that was full of parents with a little girl sitting in the corner. She did not fit in the picture at all.
Then, Ning Li took out a piece of paper and started writing.
Geng Haifan looked at his watch. “I have to go back inside now. Excuse me, Mr. Zhou.”
Zhou Fei took his phone out to make a call.