Chapter Thirty: Do I Really Have to Watch It?

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In fact, a few students in the class knew something about Zhou Ziyang’s family. Most of them, however, had never given much thought to what his family was like.

That changed when Zhou Ziyang wrote this essay. Everyone was stunned.

So Zhou Ziyang had suffered that much?

Naturally, there were also people who came forward to say that they remembered Zhou Ziyang’s parents were merely divorced.

But who would go to such lengths to clarify and refute the rumors?

So for the moment, those whose families knew Zhou Ziyang’s parents continued gossiping among themselves, insisting that his parents were only divorced.

Most students who were uninterested in gossip, however, never discussed such things with their classmates or friends. They only knew that Zhou Ziyang had written an essay about his deceased father.

That meant Zhou Ziyang’s father was dead.

And they firmly believed it.

Just as everyone was feeling sorry for Zhou Ziyang, they walked out of the building and encountered a man claiming to be his father.

Who wouldn’t be startled by that?

The student Zhou Guowei had questioned was a loud, excitable sort to begin with. The moment he started making a fuss, Zhou Guowei was left staring at him in confusion.

Hearing this, the students in the classroom raised their heads curiously.

Xia Wei looked up as well. She noticed Zhou Guowei standing stiff-faced at the back of the classroom.

Before long, the homeroom teacher recognized Zhou Guowei from a distance and hurried over to him with a smile.

“Why didn’t you call ahead to let me know you were coming?”

The student’s earlier words had left Zhou Guowei completely bewildered. He merely nodded at Chen Yongwen, Zhou Ziyang’s homeroom teacher, and asked, “Why isn’t Ziyang in the classroom?”

As Zhou Ziyang’s homeroom teacher, Chen Yongwen knew about his family situation. He also knew that the father and son did not get along. With an awkward smile, he replied, “Ziyang said something came up at home, so he took the day off.”

Zhou Guowei frowned at that and muttered, “The college entrance exams are almost here. What could be so important? Why didn’t I know about it?”

Chen Yongwen continued smiling, thinking to himself, Isn’t it perfectly normal that you didn’t know?

“Mr. Zhou, why don’t we go to the office and talk?”

Chen Yongwen knew Zhou Guowei’s identity, but at school, everyone had to be treated equally.

Zhou Guowei did want to understand his son’s current situation, so he nodded and followed Chen Yongwen to the office.

After the two of them left, the classroom naturally erupted into a flurry of whispers.

“Did he just say he was Zhou Ziyang’s father?”

“Wasn’t Zhou Ziyang’s father dead? Don’t tell me he sacrificed his own dad just to get a high score!”

“I told you Zhou Ziyang’s parents were divorced, but you wouldn’t believe me. Hmph!”

The students continued whispering among themselves.

Xia Wei gazed at Zhou Guowei and Chen Yongwen as they disappeared from sight, her heart suddenly hollow.

The moment she saw Zhou Guowei, Xia Wei had been delighted. She had wondered why Uncle Zhou had come to the school.

Could he have come to see her?

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A trace of joy had just risen in her heart when she noticed that Zhou Guowei had not lifted his head once from beginning to end.

She immediately understood that Uncle Zhou had not come to see her.

Then again, how could he possibly have failed to hear that his own son had come first in the exams?

In truth, Xia Wei had wanted to tell Zhou Guowei the news the night before. But when she was about to speak, her mother stopped her.

Confused, Xia Wei asked her mother why she would not let her tell him.

Xu Qing had merely said, “Your Uncle Zhou is very busy. Don’t burden him with unnecessary worries.”

“This was only a mock exam, not the actual college entrance examination. Besides, Ziyang’s grades have always been ordinary. Why did he suddenly score so highly this time? We should wait until his results stabilize before saying anything.”

Xu Qing’s reasoning had been perfectly sound.

Yet Xia Wei could not shake the feeling that if she did not tell Zhou Guowei herself, he would inevitably blame her when he found out later.

“But…”

“There is no ‘but.’ This is an adult matter. You wouldn’t understand.” With that, Xu Qing ended the conversation.

Zhou Guowei followed Chen Yongwen into the office, where they happened to run into the mathematics teacher on his way out.

Chen Yongwen took the opportunity to introduce him. “This is Zhou Ziyang’s father.”

The moment he said this, three or four teachers in the office looked up together, as though they had just encountered a legendary figure.

The mathematics teacher’s eyes lit up. “Ah, you’re Zhou Ziyang’s father! How do you do? I’ve heard so much about you!”

He was smiling, but for some reason, Zhou Guowei felt that everyone in the office was looking at him strangely.

He had encountered plenty of people trying to curry favor with him.

But this clearly was not that.

How should he describe it?

It felt as though they had been gossiping about someone behind his back and had finally come face-to-face with the person himself—a kind of astonished realization: So this is what he looks like.

The teachers in the office had certainly gossiped about Zhou Ziyang’s family.

They probably had not done so before.

But after reading Zhou Ziyang’s perfect-scoring essay, they must have discussed it at least a little.

First, some teacher would sigh and say, “Poor Zhou Ziyang. He lost his father at such a young age.”

Then Chen Yongwen, as his homeroom teacher, would explain that there had been a misunderstanding.

At that point, everyone would suddenly understand.

“Oh, so Zhou Ziyang’s father is a scumbag who abandoned him and his mother!”

They had just finished discussing the gossip when the man himself appeared before them.

Naturally, they had all “heard so much about him.”

Ever since entering the office, Zhou Guowei had felt that the teachers’ eyes on him were strange.

Chen Yongwen, however, remained dutiful. He led Zhou Guowei to his desk and asked, “Prosecutor Zhou, may I ask why you came to the school today?”

Zhou Guowei said it was nothing in particular. He had simply been nearby on business and thought he would stop by to see Ziyang.

“You know what our family situation is like. I haven’t seen Ziyang in a long time,” Zhou Guowei said.

Chen Yongwen smiled and explained, “Zhou Ziyang’s mother is his legal guardian. She has also made it very clear to the teachers that she does not allow Ziyang to have contact with anyone from your side of the family.”

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Still, in Chen Yongwen’s view, Zhou Guowei was ultimately the child’s father, so he felt obliged to tell him about the situation.

He said, “Ziyang did very well in this examination. He came first in our school and ranked thirteenth throughout Xuhuai.”

Zhou Guowei was delighted to hear this, but he was also somewhat concerned.

“His grades have always been quite ordinary. How did he suddenly come first? Teacher Chen, do you think there might be some mistake?”

“Mr. Zhou, what exactly do you mean by that?”

The homeroom teacher, who had previously been fairly respectful toward Zhou Guowei, immediately frowned.

Zhou Guowei knew he should not have put it that way. It was not that he distrusted Zhou Ziyang; his son had simply performed so brilliantly that he was afraid to celebrate too soon.

Chen Yongwen told him, “I can vouch for Ziyang’s results, and so can every teacher here. Not to mention his perfect-scoring essay—who could he have copied it from? Even if he copied someone, he couldn’t possibly have copied his way into first place.”

Zhou Guowei nodded repeatedly. He agreed wholeheartedly.

“Teacher Chen, please don’t get angry. I’m only worried that the child may have been too anxious and gone down the wrong path. I was afraid I might end up celebrating for nothing.”

The other teachers in the office heard every word. Inwardly, they had already begun grumbling. After teaching for so many years, this was the first time they had seen a father suspect his own son.

Chen Yongwen was somewhat displeased as well.

But because of Zhou Guowei’s status, he still assured him that there was no possibility of such a thing. Ziyang had always worked very hard at school.

“I remember the essay topic for this exam was ‘My Father,’ wasn’t it?” Zhou Guowei asked with interest, recalling the paper he had seen Xia Wei working on the previous night.

He truly wanted to know how Zhou Ziyang had written about him.

Chen Yongwen saw the anticipation in his eyes and said, “That wasn’t the exact topic.”

“It was a prompt-based essay rather than one specifically titled ‘My Father’?”

“Teacher Chen, could I take a look at the essay Ziyang wrote?”

There was sincerity in Zhou Guowei’s voice. He genuinely wanted to read it.

After all, his biological son, whom he had not seen in so long, had written a perfect-scoring essay—and the subject of that essay was him.

What father would not want to read it carefully?

But seeing the anticipation in Zhou Guowei’s eyes, Chen Yongwen suddenly did not know how to respond.

After hesitating for a moment, he finally went to look for Zhou Ziyang’s examination paper.

As he searched, he said, “Mr. Zhou, essays are all about narration. Whether the story is true is not actually important. What matters is that the student earns a perfect score.”

“Your mother and I divorced when he was very young, and I’ve always been busy with work. I rarely had time to accompany him. If the child wrote about me, then some of it must have been fictional. I can understand that. Time really does fly. In the blink of an eye, the boy is about to take the college entrance exams. If I wanted to spend time with him now, I’m afraid I might not even get the chance.”

As he spoke, Zhou Guowei sighed. Yet whenever he mentioned Zhou Ziyang, a smile spread across his face. He was proud of his son.

At last, Chen Yongwen found the paper and handed it to him.

Zhou Guowei took it eagerly and began reading.

The moment he saw the essay title, “My Father,” he smiled with satisfaction and said emotionally, “His mother raised him well. She’s a member of the Calligraphy Association and taught him to practice writing from an early age.”

Zhou Guowei continued reading.

Then he reached the first paragraph.

It contained only a few simple words:

“My father was gone when I was very young.”