Chapter 233: Chapter 233: A Heart-to-Heart Talk
In the middle of the month, the tributaries and main stream along the river resumed navigation. In order to implement the central government's instructions, the provincial party committee convened a meeting of cadres at the municipal level from all over the province. The agenda was for one day. After the working lunch was over at noon, Mayor Fang asked the driver to take her to the Polytechnic University.
When Zheng Jiayi entered the school, she was extremely busy and had no time to spare. Zheng Bozhen helped her with everything, and she only rushed back from the command centre to meet her briefly.
The University of Science and Technology was built by the lake, with beautiful scenery. She asked the driver to park in the parking lot and walked in by herself. She knew her daughter's temper, and was afraid that others would deliberately please her or speak evil of her if they knew that her mother was an official. If she drove the car with the small license plate in, she guessed that it would make her angry again.
The university girls' dormitory building was far from as clean and tidy as the high school girls' dormitory building. The girls going to and from school, in front of these visitors, mostly also had a look in their eyes that combined wisdom and beauty, and an arrogance that their prospects were unlimited. Mayor Fang keenly perceived the little thoughts of these girls. However, in some ways, she really couldn't compare with them. All she could say was, 'It's really good to be young!'
She knocked gently on the door to room 603 a few times. 'I'm here,' she heard, and then she heard someone shuffling their shoes over to the door. She didn't need to look to know that it definitely wasn't her daughter. Sure enough, a girl with glasses and a pen in her hand opened the door. 'Who are you looking for?'
'I'm Zheng Jiayi's mother. Is she here?'
'She is. Come in, auntie.'
It was a dormitory with four bunk beds. There were two other girls in the dormitory. When they saw her come in, they both greeted her lightly, 'Hello, auntie.'
'Hello!'
Zheng Jiayi was lying on the upper bunk of the bed on the right inside, wearing headphones and holding a book in her hand. She looked like she didn't want to be bothered. At this moment, she heard someone come in, but she didn't even raise her eyelids. This child was still too cold.
She patted the side of the bed. Zheng Jiayi, with an impatient expression, looked away from her book. 'Mom?' The joy in her eyes and on her face only lasted a split second, and the rest was full of surprise, 'Why are you here?'
'I came especially to see you.'
Zheng Jiayi rolled over and got out of bed. The other people in the dormitory just carried on with what they were doing, and Mayor Fang was also a little uncomfortable staying in such a cramped place. 'Let's go for a walk with your mother.'
Almost as soon as they reached the first floor, Mayor Fang said it before Zheng Jiayi could even ask: 'Don't worry, the car is parked in the car park in front, not downstairs.'
They strolled along the tree-lined boulevard in front of the building. It was midday, but walking here, they didn't feel the slightest bit of the heat, nor the impatience outside. The sunlight filtered through the leaves and scattered onto the faces of the vibrant people on the road. Mayor Fang felt a little sentimental. Once upon a time, her ideal was to grow old in the school, but who knew that she was now in charge of a city.
Next to her is her daughter, who is as usual cool and collected, but her face, which has been a little tanned from military training, is also full of radiance.
'You've got a tan, and your hair,' she says, touching her daughter's head a few times. Zheng Jiayi is not used to this, and says, 'Oh mom, it'll be like this after military training. Just use some whitening shampoo, and it'll be fine soon. The same goes for your hair, it'll grow back in a few months.'
'Are you all adapting well?'
'It's fine.' Zheng Jiayi's words showed that she wasn't paying attention. The encounter in the dormitory just now also made Mayor Fang understand that his daughter still doesn't handle interpersonal relationships well.
'Jiayi, it's not like the old days. You used to live at home, but now you're living in a dormitory with six or seven other people. You still have to find a way to handle your relationships.'
'I'm fine on my own. By the way, the day before yesterday, Brother Le Zhi came to visit me.' Zheng Jiayi obviously didn't want to continue on this topic. freēwēbnovel.com
'Oh, has he found a job?' Zheng Lezhi is the son of Zheng Bozhan's elder brother and also a graduate of the Polytechnic University. He has been looking for work for a long time, but no company has taken a liking to him.
'Yes, he has. He is working as a sales engineer in a software company.'
'Sales engineer?' That seems to be a new term.
'I heard it's a company that specialises in management system software, called Zhitong. The technical director graduated from Stanford and Le Zhi really admires him. He said the software they've developed is excellent, and that he'll come to your house to see you in a few days.'
'Looking for me?'
'I guess it's just sales. Aren't there a lot of state-owned enterprises in the city?'
'Well, I'll see then. Come, sit with your mother.' Mayor Fang pulled his daughter onto a stone bench by the roadside. He saw her wipe the bench with a tissue three times before sitting down. The child, she really is a bit of a show-off.
'Jiayi, now that you're all grown up and have the ability to think independently, I want to tell you that not everyone will take advantage of their relationship with you, and not everyone is utilitarian in their interactions with others. We live in society and exist as a whole. No matter how good someone is, if they don't know how to cooperate, it will be difficult for them to achieve anything. You're still young, you should try more and not always be on your guard around others. At the same time, I also believe that you have the ability to discern the intentions of the people you spend time with.'
This is a problem that gives her a headache. After Zheng Jiayi's fourth grade, she had already become the director of the political and educational affairs office at No. 1 Middle School. Parents often came to the school to ask for help getting their children into the school. At that time, she taught her daughter not to show off in front of her classmates. After she became the school principal and then the deputy mayor, she said these things even more in front of her daughter. Who would have thought that she had overcorrected the situation, making her daughter extremely wary of everyone around her.
Is that really the case? Zheng Jiayi doesn't believe it. 'Mom, do you remember Feng Yiping?'
'Who?'
'He's the one whose novel was noticed by Director Zhang, and you even went to the signing ceremony at the school.'
'Oh, that little boy, I remember. Why?'
'He was in my class. At the time, he only talked to his desk-mate, and he didn't have any friends in class. But he got good grades. Not only did he write a novel, he also published a book, and it seems he even wrote songs.'
Mayor Fang felt a little helpless. It seems that the more outstanding the teacher, the less likely it is that their own child will be well educated. 'I have come into contact with that child. He is not a cold person. You only saw him at school. So did he have no friends in junior high school? Did he have no friends outside of school?'
'Tell your mother, I remember when you were in primary school, you used to bring female classmates home. Did you have any good friends? None! Do you know what you look like to other people? You look arrogant and aloof, and you'll definitely be ostracised.
You have your own way of doing things, and I won't force you, but at least, you have to maintain even polite interactions with the people around you, like saying thank you more often, and don't always look so cold when you say thank you, okay?'
Zheng Jiayi didn't say anything.
'Okay, if you really can't get along with your classmates, I'll go to the school and talk to your teachers, and I'll help you find a place to live.' There was a hint of provocation in her words.
Zheng Jiayi still didn't say anything, but deep down she had already softened a little. No young girl would want to isolate herself, she just hadn't been used to it, and it was hard to let go of it all of a sudden.
Mayor Fang looked at his watch and sighed softly. 'Take care of yourself. I have to go to a meeting, so call me if you need anything.'
When Zheng Jiayi returned to the dormitory, the student in the bottom bunk happened to be opening the door. She rarely said "thank you," and she even gave a small smile. This sudden action really surprised the student.