Chapter 35: Xu Qing Teaches Her Daughter

Page (1/3)

As Zhou Guowei said this, he kept his eyes fixed on Xu Qing. From her expression alone, it was obvious that she already knew Zhou Ziyang had ranked first in the entire school.

Yet when she came home last night, she had not mentioned it at all.

Xu Qing knew there was no point hiding it any longer. Her expression quickly changed, and she sighed.

“I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep it from you forever.”

“?” Zhou Guowei did not understand what she meant.

Xu Qing hesitated, looking as though she wanted to say something but could not bring herself to speak.

“By rights, Ziyang coming first in the entire school should be something worth celebrating. But he had to write an essay like that. You read it, didn’t you?”

Zhou Guowei nodded, and Xu Qing continued.

“Weiwei wanted to tell you about Ziyang’s results last night, but I thought about how you had just had your checkup. Your blood pressure and blood lipids were both a little high, and I was afraid that reading that essay would upset you and damage your health.”

“That child, Ziyang… Even though you and his mother are divorced, you are still his father. How could he write about you like that? Didn’t that turn you into everyone’s laughingstock?”

As she said this, Xu Qing acted as though she shared his outrage, wearing an expression of genuine anger.

“I was afraid you would be upset, so I thought it might be better to keep it from you.”

“But since you already know, I might as well say everything.”

“From ancient times until now, who has ever heard of a son cursing his own father to death? What was Ziyang thinking? Was he really willing to write something like that about you just to get a high score?”

“And I have no idea how his mother raised him.”

“Guowei, why don’t you simply bring Ziyang here and raise him yourself? He and Weiwei are both about to take the college entrance examination. If they live together, at least they can look after each other.”

At this point, Xu Qing looked toward Zhou Guowei, waiting for his opinion.

Gazing at Xu Qing, who appeared so concerned for him, Zhou Guowei said, “The child is about to take the college entrance examination. Making such a change now would affect his performance.”

“But if things continue like this, something will happen to him sooner or later!”

“Guowei, Ziyang may be your biological son, but does he treat you like a father? Does he respect you? If he truly respected you, how could he write that you should die in his essay?”

“Weiwei may not be your child, but you can see how she treats you.”

Xu Qing spoke with deep feeling, her sincere eyes fixed on Zhou Guowei.

Zhou Guowei remained silent for a while. His face revealed nothing. Only after a long time did he finally speak.

“No matter how well Weiwei treats me, she still isn’t my child.”

“?”

Xu Qing froze, her beautiful eyes widening in disbelief.

But Zhou Guowei continued in a calm, gentle voice.

“Little Xu, I’ve spent half my life handling cases. I’ve seen countless men and women put on acts in front of me. But I have my own principles, especially when it comes to family matters.”

“I know you treat me well. But Ziyang is my only son. He may refuse to acknowledge me, but I can never refuse to acknowledge him. He carries the blood of the Zhou family.”

“No matter how well Weiwei treats me, she is still someone else’s child.”

“If you were to marry Ziyang…”

As he said this, Zhou Guowei stared straight at Xu Qing.

At the corners of Xu Qing’s eyes, however, a trace of disdain appeared despite her efforts to conceal it.

This was the daughter she had painstakingly raised.

How could she let her marry a boy who had always been listless and unambitious?

And one from a single-parent family at that!

Her daughter was meant to attend university and marry a man who could help her rise above her current station in life.

Zhou Guowei caught the subtle change in Xu Qing’s expression.

He was therefore somewhat disappointed.

In truth, compared with himself and Xu Qing, he had been more optimistic about the two children.

It was just a pity that Xu Qing had never thought highly of Zhou Ziyang.

He had originally hoped that after the boy ranked first this time, Xu Qing would see him in a new light.

But judging from her eyes…

Zhou Guowei could only sigh inwardly.

“Forget it.”

“Little Xu, you’ve taken care of me for three years. I told you before that I have no intention of remarrying. If you are willing to continue looking after me, I will not stand by and do nothing if you need help with anything in daily life.”

“If you are unwilling, that is fine too.”

“I know Weiwei is the apple of your eye.”

“In the same way, you should understand that Ziyang is my only child.”

“I’m tired. You should go home.”

Xu Qing stared at Zhou Guowei, unable to believe what she was hearing.

She had never expected him to be so cold.

Page (1/3)

Page (2/3)

How many times had Xu Qing even thought that Zhou Guowei already regarded her as his wife?

Then why did he suddenly become so cold whenever Zhou Ziyang was mentioned?

She did not understand. What had she said wrong?

They had rarely spoken about Zhou Ziyang before.

Whenever Xia Wei achieved good results in an exam, Zhou Guowei would always smile gently. Xu Qing would then take the opportunity to ask Xia Wei how many points Ziyang had scored.

“I’m not sure. I think he’s somewhere in the middle or lower part of the class,” Xia Wei would answer.

“That won’t do, Weiwei. Ziyang is practically your younger brother. You should help him more,” Xu Qing would say with a smile.

Zhou Guowei, however, would always say that Ziyang was hopeless and could not be helped.

“There’s no need to let him interfere with Weiwei’s studies.”

Xu Qing had always believed that Zhou Guowei had given up on Zhou Ziyang.

Now, she finally understood.

Men were all the same.

They said one thing to your face and another behind your back.

And she had actually pretended to be a virtuous, devoted woman for Zhou Guowei for three whole years.

Xu Qing returned to the apartment next door.

The sound of the door closing was heavy and oppressive.

In her room, Xia Wei, who had been clutching a pillow, heard the noise.

She went to her mother’s room.

“Mom?”

Even from her own room, Xia Wei had sensed the subtle tension in the household and took the initiative to push open the door.

When her daughter entered, Xu Qing gathered herself slightly.

“What is it, sweetheart?”

Although Xu Qing concealed it well, Xia Wei could still sense that her mother seemed to be in a poor mood.

After hesitating for a moment, she asked, “You and Uncle Zhou…”

“Did you have a fight?”

“No. We were only discussing something. Were our voices too loud? Did we disturb you? Come, sit down.”

Xu Qing gestured for Xia Wei to sit beside her.

Xia Wei obediently did as she was told.

As she looked at her daughter, Xu Qing’s gloomy mood gradually faded.

Her approach to Zhou Guowei had been for her daughter’s sake from the very beginning.

Zhou Guowei had a son.

She had a daughter.

Her daughter was the one she would rely on for the rest of her life.

Looking at her daughter’s beautiful face, Xu Qing found herself more satisfied the longer she stared.

Seventeen-year-old Xia Wei had inherited her mother’s beauty in full: a pair of dark, bright eyes, a refined, upturned nose, and a small, delicate mouth.

She was even more beautiful than Xu Qing had been in her youth.

Wasn’t all her hard work for the sake of giving her daughter a better future?

And now, everything was proceeding along the path she had envisioned.

But when she thought about her own future, she did feel somewhat anxious.

“Sweetheart, the college entrance examination is almost here. You must work harder!”

“Although Ziyang did well this time, it was only a single exceptional performance. He isn’t consistent. You’re different. As long as you maintain your current results, even if you don’t get into Southern University, you can still attend a top-tier university.”

Xu Qing held Xia Wei’s hand and spoke with unusual seriousness.

It was rare for her to have such a heart-to-heart conversation with her daughter. Stroking the girl’s handsome face, she said that she had held Xia Wei back.

She had failed to find Weiwei a good father.

Back then, Xia Wei’s biological father’s family had gone bankrupt. As a woman on her own, Xu Qing had had no choice but to send Xia Wei to the countryside.

Page (2/3)

Page (3/3)

At the time, she had thought that her child could not remain in such circumstances forever.

She needed to find a suitable man to depend on. Only then could she bring Xia Wei to the city and give her a proper education.

She also had to consider whom Xia Wei would marry in the future.

Later, Xu Qing met Zhou Guowei.

She felt that he was an excellent choice.

First of all, if she married Zhou Guowei, Xia Wei would have a father who worked for the procuratorate and a mother who was a teacher.

That would be an entirely respectable family background.

In the future, Xia Wei would be able to marry well.

Weiwei truly deserved it!

Xu Qing was a teacher, after all, and she had seen countless girls.

But none of them was as beautiful as her daughter.

As long as she gave Xia Wei a decent family background, the girl would certainly marry well.

As for Zhou Ziyang—he was simply a toad dreaming of feasting on swan meat.

Zhou Guowei had actually wanted her precious daughter to marry his son, a boy who had supposedly achieved first place through cheating.

When all was said and done, he was nothing more than the son of a divorced family from a small county town.

She wanted her daughter to soar away.

She wanted her daughter to go to a major city.

Once she reached a major city, she would have far more choices.

“Sweetheart, your mother will give you the very best!”

“You must leave this place!”

“Don’t get too close to Zhou Ziyang. Even if he is capable, so what? Hmph. He doesn’t even care about his own son.”

“Your Uncle Zhou isn’t a good man either.”

Xu Qing pulled Xia Wei into her arms.

Hearing her mother’s words, however, Xia Wei looked as though she wanted to say something but could not.

“Mom… even if Zhou Ziyang isn’t very good… he’s actually better than our family, isn’t he?”

“?”

Xu Qing froze, staring at her daughter in disbelief.

She could not understand it.

“Why would you think that?”

“I…” Xia Wei felt that there was nothing wrong with her way of thinking.

“You’ve been in contact with Zhou Ziyang recently?”

Xu Qing’s tone became guarded as she asked the question directly.

“No, no.” Xia Wei sounded somewhat guilty.

Xu Qing noticed her daughter’s guilt but did not expose her.

“You’re different from Zhou Ziyang, sweetheart.”

“You’re a girl, and a very beautiful girl at that!”

“You need to understand that when a girl is beautiful, everything else she possesses only makes her an even stronger hand to play.”

“I worked so hard to bring you back to my side because I wanted you to achieve something greater, didn’t I?”

“Once you get into university, you’ll understand. Zhou Ziyang is completely unworthy of you.”

“After you enter university, countless outstanding young men will pursue you.”

Xu Qing held Xia Wei in her arms, painting her daughter a beautiful picture of the future.

But at that moment, Xia Wei’s heart held only Zhou Ziyang.

Page (3/3)