Chapter 663: Chapter 661: Kind Father 40
"Chen Yijia, do you seem eager to see me fight?" Wen Zhixi asked.
Chen Yijia quickly calmed down; she wasn’t embarrassed—it was other people who were.
She realized that once she had confidence, her face became thicker naturally. In the past, there was no way she would have reacted like this.
Ah Chen ignored Chen Yijia and had already noticed Li Feiwei waiting downstairs.
"Just curious, just curious."
The commotion between Chen Yijia and Wen Zhixi still reached Ah Chen’s ears. Li Feiwei only glanced there before focusing all his attention back on Ah Chen.
Even when he looked at Wen Zhixi, his eyes were full of goodwill.
Wen Zhixi was puzzled but figured that goodwill was better than malice.
"It’s not reached that point yet, and fighting at school isn’t a good option," Wen Zhixi responded to Chen Yijia. "Actually, I don’t even know what event could make me want to hit someone."
Chen Yijia felt a bit annoyed. Do top students always take questions so seriously?
Since that day, Duan Mu really didn’t bother Wen Zhixi anymore, and Wei Yue also reduced her attention toward him, though sometimes it was still uncontrollable.
The atmosphere in senior year was tense, and students in advanced classes mostly focused on studying.
In the blink of an eye, the gaokao finally arrived.
Up until now, Ran Zhengfeng’s goals haven’t been achieved. Wei Yue was indeed influenced; not only did she not surpass Ah Chen, but her scores were far below her usual level.
As for Duan Mu, his grades declined even further.
Duan Li went from being anxious at first to now being disappointed. The mother and son couldn’t talk more than twice a week, and when they did, they always ended up arguing.
The gaokao results were released, and Ah Chen’s target had long been set; her score was as expected.
Chen Yijia performed well, and there was no issue with both of them attending the same school.
Wen Zhixi was admitted directly to a top university without taking the gaokao.
Jiang Fang wasn’t top in other subjects, but he won an award in a physics competition and gained direct admission, though not to the same school as Wen Zhixi.
Wei Yue’s performance was mediocre, completely below expectations, and she didn’t have the means to repeat a year. She applied to a school in Jing City, wanting to distance herself from here, partly because she still harbored feelings for Wen Zhixi.
Duan Mu’s performance was very poor. He was somewhat incredulous when he received his score.
Duan Li immediately told him she could support him if he wanted to repeat the year. Although he originally intended to, the suggestion ignited his rebellious spirit. He felt trapped under Duan Li’s control and feared she would use this to prevent him from staying in contact with Wei Yue. He thought graduating early and getting a job meant he wouldn’t have to look at his mom’s face and could have freedom in whatever he did.
Under Duan Li’s disappointed gaze, Duan Mu also applied to a school in Jing City.
Ran Zhengfeng was somewhat disheartened by the unmet expectations, but still consoled Wei Yue: "Yuanyuan, it’s because you were sick, and this school’s not too bad." After a pause, he asked, "Are you sure you don’t want to repeat the year?"
Wei Yue quickly shook her head, "No."
Repeating a year can be quite expensive, with numerous other expenses alongside it.
Even if Ran Zhengfeng was willing to support her, she felt a heavy psychological burden, unsure if she could even achieve her current score next year. For now, she just wanted to finish her studies quickly, hoping that a job would ease her burden.
She realized that after being adopted, life wasn’t as happy as she had imagined. She didn’t know why but wanted to escape it all.
As long as she’s working and able to earn money, she could repay her adoptive father, and maybe her heart would feel better.
"Uncle Ran, I want to learn painting. Can I?" An orphanage child eagerly asked at the dinner table.
"Uncle Ran, I really like the piano. The music teacher at school taught me a few times, and I got it. They said I had talent, and if I pursue it, my talent would definitely shine."
Ran Zhengfeng was at a loss for words facing the two kids.
The orphanage barely manages a normal standard of living; there’s no money for art education.
Even if they have talent.
But in this world, there are far too many talented children. Who would be kind enough to invest in nurturing them from zero without any guarantee of return? It’s an investment without visible benefits.
"I’m sorry, with Uncle Ran’s current income, I’m afraid I can’t support you learning these things," Ran Zhengfeng said with difficulty.
He increasingly realized that without Zhuo Qiaoqing’s financial support, it wasn’t easy to sponsor the children at the orphanage.
He didn’t dare to dwell on many things, but deep into the night, his heart was often filled with a sense of regret, sometimes enough to torment him throughout the night.
Adopting Wei Yue as a daughter didn’t turn out as happy and joyful as he had imagined.
Why is that?
The orphanage children were very disappointed but were more afraid of making Ran Zhengfeng angry. They responded with an "oh" and didn’t mention it again, all appearing very understanding.
Ran Zhengfeng could still sense that everything was different now, even though the children still treated him with the same closeness, something had changed.
These matters didn’t concern Ah Chen anymore. Zhuo Qiaoqing threw a party for her, inviting many people but not Ran Zhengfeng.
Considering what Ran Zhengfeng did in the past, he didn’t deserve to be at such an occasion.
After learning about this, Ran Zhengfeng was a bit angry but didn’t want to appear and become a laughing stock there.
The better his ex-wife and daughter were doing, the more contemptible he seemed.
"I heard you’re getting close to a girl at school, a senior?" Inside the large villa, only Li Jingming and Li Feiwei, father and son, were present. "Is that why you don’t want to study abroad? Being this useless, what can you do if you don’t study abroad? You should go out and witness the harsh realities of the world, you won’t learn much staying in the country."
Li Feiwei stood there without moving, then said, "My scores are really good now; I’m maintaining the top five in my class and believe I can soon break into the top three."
"You’ve changed quite a bit." Li Jingming lit a cigarette, exhaling smoke as though he didn’t care. "But what are grades worth to our Li Family? As the heir to the Li Family, that’s the least important thing. Beyond that, you’re still useless."
Li Jingming looked at his growing son with disdain; good grades, but still a coward.
Regrettably, he had only this one heir. The child’s appearance was a pleasant surprise, but how did he end up a disappointment as he grew up? Truly regrettable.
"You’ll go abroad this holiday."
Li Feiwei clenched his fists. "No, I don’t want to go abroad."
Though his eyes seemed fearful, he felt an inner calmness.
Not panicking, I’ll be eighteen soon.
Li Jingming furrowed his brows, extinguished his cigarette, and indifferently remarked, "You really care about that girl, huh?"
Anger flashed in Li Feiwei’s eyes. Of course, this old man would use that against him.
This wasn’t the first time he had been threatened, but the person used against him was different.
"If you want her to be fine, you’ll do as I say. Otherwise..." Li Jingming saw the anger on Li Feiwei’s face and sneered. This brat actually dared to defy him now, which wasn’t a good sign.
He picked up the ashtray on the table and threw it toward Li Feiwei. Li Feiwei instinctively dodged but didn’t completely avoid it; he just didn’t want to get his face hit.
But dodging angered Li Jingming even more, and he rushed forward to hit and kick Li Feiwei.
This had happened many times before; when he was younger he couldn’t resist, and today he chose not to fight back. Li Feiwei didn’t retaliate, only trying to dodge when possible, which undoubtedly enraged Li Jingming further.
Unexpectedly, Li Feiwei fell down the stairs, followed by cracking sounds from somewhere completely unexpected, indicating fractures.
Seeing Li Feiwei curled up and barely alive on the floor calmed Li Jingming’s initial rage, leaving him feeling annoyed. This appearance meant that going abroad for the holidays was off the table.
He called someone to deal with Li Feiwei’s injuries, handling it all with practiced ease, oblivious to the slight, maniacal smile curling on Li Feiwei’s lips as he lay there.
A week passed, and Li Feiwei hadn’t asked Ah Chen out to play or video-called to discuss problems, making Ah Chen feel uneasy.
If not for him messaging her daily, she might have thought something had happened to him.
Ah Chen: Junior, have you been busy lately?
Li Feiwei: A bit, Senior, is there something you need?
He was resting at home with a slow recovery. To delay longer, he took to tweaking his bones occasionally, naturally slowing down the healing process.
