Hear this life

As he was talking, the phone on the table rang. Kuang Zhilin picked it up. As soon as he heard what the other party was saying, his tone immediately became warm.

"Principal Zou, yes, I'm Lao Kuang. Are you back from Peking? Oh, you won't be back until the end of the month...Okay, I'll tell Master Cheng."

After hanging up the phone, Kuang Zhilin said, "Principal Zou was originally scheduled to return to Shanghai tomorrow, but unexpectedly, several girls' schools of Beijing Normal University recently launched a lecture to popularize women's education. As a representative of Shanghai women's education, Old Zou was temporarily invited to stay in Beijing for a meeting. She said she would be back around the 30th, and asked me to tell the young master."

When talking about Principal Zou, Kuang Zhilin spoke with great respect. He knew that Zou Zheping was his wife Xi Yue's best friend. They studied together at the Chinese and Western Girls' School, and later went to college in the United States together. However, Zou Zheping studied education, while his wife studied Western pharmacy.

After the two returned from their study abroad, the wife was determined to set up a patriotic pharmaceutical factory. Unfortunately, not long after, the wife's family business ran into big problems. Mr. Xi died of illness, and the wife was forced to return home to take over the business.

Later, the Xi family encountered many crises, and the master repeatedly helped them, so the wife developed a liking for the master. After that, the two held their wedding in a local church and went to Southeast Asia together after the wedding, while Zou Zheping stayed in Shanghai to teach.

But even though they were separated by distance, my wife and Zou Zheping never stopped writing letters.

After the tragedy happened that year, Zou Zheping set off for Southeast Asia overnight.

Kuang Zhilin still remembers Zou Zheping's sad eyes at the funeral.

A few years later, Master Cheng returned to Shanghai. At that time, Zou Zheping was already the principal of a girls' middle school and enjoyed a high reputation in the local education community. Hearing that Master Cheng had returned to Shanghai, Zou Zheping often came to visit him. Master Cheng also respected Zou Zheping from the bottom of his heart. After officially taking over the power of the Lu family, he hired Zou Zheping as the principal of Shishi Middle School.

Hearing that it was Principal Zou calling, Lu Shicheng immediately turned around and looked at the small calendar on the table.

The 30th of this month is Principal Zou’s birthday.

At this time of year in previous years, Principal Zou was busy with students' graduation exams, and he probably didn't have time to celebrate his birthday properly this year, but he still pointed to that day solemnly.

[That day is Principal Zou’s birthday, please prepare a gift in advance. ]

"Yes." said Kuang Zhilin.

***
That day, Wen Tingli disguised herself again to visit Dean Deng. Although Dean Deng could not speak yet, his clear eyes seemed to give people endless strength. As soon as she came back from the hospital, Wen Tingli felt a lot more relaxed. On the same day, she began to learn gunmanship and some simple fighting techniques from Li Chengying and Liu Xiangzhi.

Under the guidance of Head Nurse Liu, Wen Tingli walked into the warehouse in the basement of Cixin Hospital for the first time. The walls of the warehouse had been specially soundproofed, so there was no need to worry about the sound being transmitted when practicing shooting here.

After reviewing her lessons every night, she would practice hard for an hour with Head Nurse Liu. Li Chengying and Liu Xiangzhi never gave her any tasks again, as if they would completely disappear from her life after teaching her the skills.

Wen Tingli was reluctant to leave, and she always worked extra hard when practicing shooting. However, as the big exam was approaching, she had to spend most of her time preparing for it. After weighing the two options, she had to put the Xinxin Department Store beauty pageant behind her for the time being.

It happened that students from other grades were also busy preparing for the pre-summer exams, so the number of people signing up for the beauty pageant decreased accordingly. Xinxin and Yi Feilin were afraid that the official competition would not be sensational enough, so they moved the competition date to next month.

Within a few days, filling out the application form was put on the agenda. Zhao Qingluo and Yan Zhenzhen applied to St. John's and Hujiang as originally planned, while Wen Tingli applied to three universities: the Medical Department and Economics Department of Hujiang, and the Education Department and Science Department of the Women's Normal University (Note).

She would never have considered St. John's at first, because the admission score was high, and second, the tuition was too expensive.

After deciding on her choice, she spent the next twenty days practicing her shooting skills and reading books, except for sleeping. Xiao Taozi knew her sister was going to take the college entrance examination, so she no longer asked her sister to take her out to play at night.

The examination papers for the joint examination are prepared by the Shanghai Education Bureau, and the examination is jointly supervised by all schools.

On the day of the exam, Wen Tingli got up early, ate some Western bread in the ward, and said to Wen Desheng on the bed, "Dad, I'm going to take the exam."

After breakfast, Wen Desheng began to worry about his daughter's exam. When his daughter walked to the window, his eyes moved to the window. When his daughter walked to the door, his eyes also moved to the door, with a melancholy but happy look. Hearing his daughter's words, he pursed his lips and uttered an unusually clear sentence from his hoarse voice: "When you finish the exam, Dad will take you and Xiao Taozi back to Nanjing to see your hometown and tell your mother that you were admitted to university. Hehe, I, Wen Desheng, have been a coward all my life, but I didn't expect to raise such a promising daughter."

This was a worldly tone, but not annoying. It was the first time Wen Tingli heard this familiar tone from her father since he became seriously ill. It reminded her of the summer days when her father would sit in the alley and brag to the neighbors.

Wen Tingli felt a little uneasy, and quickly walked back to the bedside and said, "Dad, are you feeling unwell?"

Wen Desheng pointed at her school bag and said, "Bring more money with you. If you are thirsty, you can buy a piece of watermelon."

By chance, Mrs. Zhou came back from buying breakfast and saw Wen Tingli standing by the bed. She was surprised and asked, "Why hasn't the young lady left yet? It's getting late."

Wen Tingli just stared at her father. When she was really pressed, she said to him, "If I do well in the exam, I will buy a whole watermelon and bring it back. Dad, you can wait to eat watermelon tonight."

Wen Desheng couldn't help but smile: "Okay." This smile made his gloomy face seem much brighter.

Wen Tingli left the ward, looking back every few steps.

This exam lasts a whole day.

After the exam, the whole Duxin building was in an uproar. The students, led by Yan Zhenzhen and Wen Tingli, ran out of the classroom shouting in unison. At this memorable moment, they threw all the rules, school mottos, and ladylike demeanor behind their backs.

Zhao Qingluo laughed and said, "I'm going to sleep for three days and three nights!"

Gao Xiaowen put her hands on her hips and said loudly, "What's the point of sleeping? Why don't we go to the Paramount tonight? We can dance, watch a movie, eat ice cream, and play until ten o'clock. I'll treat you."

"Why go to the Paramount? Isn't it Principal Zou's birthday today? During the time she was in Peking for a meeting, she helped us secure ten admissions places at several well-known universities in Peking. Isn't it worth celebrating the birthday of such a good principal?"

"Principal Zou is back?" The girls were surprised and happy, and gathered around him, chattering about giving gifts and celebrating his birthday.

"Wen Tingli, you haven't met Principal Zou yet?" Zhao Qingluo and Yan Zhenzhen smiled and turned around, but Wen Tingli was nowhere to be seen.

Wen Tingli ran to the school gate to buy watermelons. She picked the biggest one and paid for it, then she called a rickshaw with the watermelon in her hand.

As soon as they arrived at the hospital, Wen Tingli jumped out of the car and ran into the hospital in sweat. However, as soon as she stepped into the corridor, her pace slowed down involuntarily.

She is afraid.

She was afraid to hear Xiao Taozi's crying, afraid to run into the nurse carrying out a body wrapped in a sheet, and afraid that Dr. Thompson would come over and say the routine words of comfort to her.

This was a scene she had often seen in the ward in the past few months. It also meant the end of a life. The cigarette of life had burned out, and no trace of this person would be found in the world in the future.

This time it was Dad's turn.

She thought she had prepared herself mentally, but when the moment came, she still didn't have enough courage to face it. The closer she got to the familiar ward, the more confused she became.
It was extremely difficult to walk just a few steps.

Suddenly, I heard Xiao Taozi's laughter, followed by the sound of thudding footsteps.

The short and fat figure jumped out. Mrs. Zhou chased after him: "Shhh, stop making noise."

When I looked up, I saw Wen Tingli standing there in a daze.

"Still making noises? Look, your sister is back." Mrs. Zhou grabbed Xiao Taozi and took a closer look. She noticed that Wen Tingli looked pale. She hurriedly touched Wen Tingli's forehead with her hand and asked, "Are you feeling uncomfortable? Did you get heatstroke?"

"Where's Dad?" Wen Tingli uttered with difficulty.

Mrs. Zhou was puzzled: "The master is in the room."

Wen Tingli pushed Mrs. Zhou aside and entered the ward. She saw her father on the hospital bed at a glance. He was not a body wrapped in white cloth, but was lying there intact. When she looked closer, her father looked very well.

Wen Tingli fell weakly into the chair beside the bed and said, "Cut some watermelon and eat it."

Wen Desheng looked a little timid: "Did you...do well in the exam?"

Wen Tingli nodded confidently, Wen Desheng's eyes lit up, and Xiao Taozi clapped her hands happily.

Head Nurse Liu happened to pass by their ward and leaned in with a smile: "Xiao Wen, have you finished your exams?"

"Sister Liu, come in and eat watermelon."

Everyone was chatting and laughing when they suddenly heard the voices of two girls talking outside.

"Is this here?"

"I'm not sure either. Wen Tingli usually refuses to make things clear, but this should be the right place."

Wen Tingli hurried out, and the people who came were indeed Zhao Qingluo and Yan Zhenzhen.

"Why are you here?"

Zhao Qingluo and Yan Zhenzhen each carried a few bags of fruit and gifts.

"We were discussing celebrating Principal Zou's birthday tonight, and suddenly you disappeared. We guessed that you had gone back to the hospital, so we caught up with you and saw that you were indeed the case."

The two had heard about Wen's father's situation before. They stood by the bed and said a few words of comfort, then sat down to join in the fun and eat some watermelon, and then pulled Wen Tingli out.

"Everyone is going to Principal Zou's house tonight to celebrate his birthday. You should get ready quickly. It's not a good thing to be absent from such an occasion."

Wen Tingli ran to Thompson to inquire about Bai Ri's condition. After confirming that her father's condition had not deteriorated significantly and had even improved, she smiled happily again and said to Zhao Qingluo and Yan Zhenzhen, "Wait for me."

She first went out to buy a hot dinner, then came back and sat down to help her sister comb two little sky rockets in order to appease her sister, and then went to the public bathroom to comb her hair and change clothes.

Zhao Qingluo and Yan Zhenzhen knew that Wen Tingli's life was not easy. Seeing all this, the two did not just say words of sympathy, but just silently accompanied Wen Tingli and ran around.

Later, the three of them came out of the hospital. Wen Tingli took out a small mirror from her school bag and fixed her hair in front of it: "Should we go directly to Principal Zou's house now? How do we arrange the gifts?"

"Let's gather at the school auditorium first. Chen Xiaohong and the others have already left for Xinxin Department Store to choose birthday gifts. No matter how much the gifts cost, we can split the bill later. Do you have any objection?"

"Of course I don't object." Wen Tingli said with a smile, "But this is my first time meeting Principal Zou. According to the old customs, I have to prepare a gift for my apprenticeship. When we pass by Zhenfei Fabric Shop later, you can drop me off and I'll go buy a box of fabric for Principal Zou. But Zhenfei's fabrics are too modern, and I don't know if the fabrics I pick out will suit Principal Zou's taste. I'm afraid it will be too late if I go to another fabric shop."

"You bought Zhen Fei's fabrics to please her." Zhao Qingluo chuckled, "Principal Zou likes fashionable clothes the most. The more fashionable the fabric, the more she likes it."

"She also loves dancing." Yan Zhenzhen shrugged, "and she never objects to students having their hair permed or wearing high heels. When everyone on the street had their hair in buns, our principal took the lead in having her hair permed. You'll see when you meet her later."

After the three of them bought some fabrics at Zhenfei, they rushed to the school auditorium to gather. When Chen Xiaohong and the others came back with the gifts, the students set out for Principal Zou's house in a mighty procession.

On the way, we met a few students who were leading the group and were returning from Principal Zou’s house.

"Don't go there anytime soon. I don't know which wealthy student heard the news and booked a whole floor at Cirrus to welcome the principal. They invited several chefs from Carlton to cook and invited the Truth Band, which is the most admired by Principal Zou, to perform. Principal Zou was so happy to hear the news that he asked us to go there quickly. Thanks to this wealthy classmate, all the students who like dancing and those who like listening to foreign operas will have fun tonight!"

Everyone was surprised and happy.

"Who has the presence to invite the Truth Band at short notice?"

"Who else could it be besides Gao Xiaowen? Her brother just opened a Yifeilin department store on Xiafei Road. In order not to fall behind, Gao Xiaowen plans to start her own business right after graduation."

After all, Xianlesi is different from Principal Zou's home. The classmates all called for taxis to go home to change their clothes. Yan Zhenzhen and Zhao Qingluo were no exception. As a result, Wen Tingli became the first group to arrive at Xianlesi.

The dance floor was filled with young men and women. On the round stage, the famous singer Qiong Xiaolou was singing "Fisherman's Song" in a soft and mournful voice.

When the servant at the door heard that they were pragmatic students, he hurriedly led them to the second floor.

Many small round tables were newly placed around the dance floor on the second floor. Each table was covered with a white Scottish plaid tablecloth, and on the tables were lilies and pearl orchids, as well as bottles of champagne and soda.

Wen Tingli and her group were seated under the guidance of the waiter. They originally thought that Gao Xiaowen had at most booked one of the small dance halls on the second floor, but it seemed that she had booked the entire second floor.

Suddenly, someone outside said angrily, "We are also regular customers of Xianlesi. We have never heard of this place being reserved. Let me tell you clearly, we are not going anywhere else tonight. We will only dance on the second floor."

Soon, the sound of high heels "click-click-click" was heard, and a group of people came in, escorting a wealthy lady wearing a Xiangyunsha cheongsam. Wen Tingli was secretly surprised, it was Mrs. Qiao.

Mrs. Qiao was holding a young girl in a pear-white dress in her arms. It was Bai Liyun. Next to Bai Liyun stood Qiao Baoxin, who looked helpless.

The manager of the dance hall wiped his sweat and said, "I really don't want to spoil Mrs. Qiao's fun, but that guest reserved the place this afternoon. Look, even the dance floor has been arranged according to that guest's wishes. Otherwise, the third floor will be quiet. We will immediately have someone make room for Mrs. Qiao to have a spacious small hall, and I guarantee you will have a great time."

Mrs. Qiao laughed in anger: "Others can rent the whole floor, but we only have a small hall? Go, call Mr. Zhu, I want to hear about the background of this distinguished guest!"

"Who's looking for me?"

Before he finished speaking, a middle-aged man came in to take over the conversation. He was supporting an elderly lady, followed by Michelle and other pragmatic school leaders.

This middle-aged man is probably one of the owners of Xianles.

The manager hurried forward and said, "There was a small misunderstanding just now. Mrs. Qiao wanted to dance on the second floor, but unfortunately, Principal Zou was celebrating his birthday here tonight. We are explaining this to Mrs. Qiao."

When Mrs. Qiao saw Principal Zou, she seemed to have guessed who had booked the place tonight. She changed her arrogant attitude and said to Principal Zou in a light tone, "Your birthday today? What a coincidence. I asked Michelle two days ago when you would be back. Liyun, Baoxin, you two sisters-in-law should quickly prepare a gift. Tonight, the three of us will focus on celebrating Principal Zou's birthday."

Principal Zou is not tall, with a small round face. She is not wearing a cheongsam, but a fashionable bat-sleeved lilac dress. She has trendy curly hair, a pair of small round eyes, and a pair of apricot high heels. She walks fast and steadily. There are already many fine lines around her eyes and mouth, but her face is very lively and youthful.

She said to Mrs. Qiao in a loud voice: "You are most welcome, but I cannot accept any gift. I do not like to celebrate my birthday, but I just cannot bear to reject the kindness of these children."

The students took the opportunity to surround him and said sweetly, "I wish Principal Zou good fortune and a long life!"

Zhao Qingluo and the others pushed Wen Tingli to the front: "Principal Zou, you haven't met Wen Tingli yet, right? She transferred here from Xiu De in June, when you just left for Beiping."

Principal Zou raised his index finger and said mischievously, "I know the child who won the 'Yuying Award' this year. I read the news about the drama competition in the newspaper. I heard that you defeated the famous child stars Le Zhiwen and Xu Weian? That's amazing!"

Wen Tingli nodded happily: "It is a student's honor to bring honor to the school."

Principal Zou's smile grew wider. Mrs. Qiao saw that Wen Tingli seemed to be quite popular among the pragmatic teachers and students. Her face suddenly turned ugly and she said in a muffled voice, "She is also very famous in our Xiu De."

Principal Zou didn't understand what was going on, so he asked with a smile, "Does Mrs. Qiao also know this child?"

"It's very familiar. You don't know that Miss Wen——"

"Mom!" Qiao Baoxin glared at her mother angrily. Bai Liyun interrupted Mrs. Qiao at the right time: "Didn't you say you were thirsty just now? Let's go over and have a drink."

Mrs. Qiao angrily poked her daughter's forehead with her finger. Wen Tingli had prepared a lot of words to hit back at Mrs. Qiao, but she was not prepared for Bai Liyun to take the initiative to help her out, and she was a little surprised.

Bai Liyun nodded indifferently to Wen Tingli, and helped Mrs. Qiao walk to the other side.

"Why are you holding a big box?" Qiao Baoxin walked over and asked Wen Tingli.

"A gift for our principal." Wen Tingli solemnly presented the material to Principal Zou. "Tonight is your birthday. I hope you like this gift."

Principal Zou frowned and said, "No one is allowed to give me any gifts tonight, or I will run away!"

"Please accept it. Our class is about to graduate, especially me. This is the first time I've greeted you formally after several months of attending school. If you don't accept it, we will feel regretful. You can keep it as a souvenir."

"Yes, yes, we spent a long time choosing this gift, please accept it!" the other students said in unison.

Principal Zou was so annoyed that he had to open the boxes. One box contained pearl-grey fabrics from the Zhenfei Fabric Shop. The other contained a pair of Gu embroidery screens, on which were embroidered a pair of lifelike snow-white Siamese cats. Everyone knew that Principal Zou liked both Gu embroidery and cats.

Principal Zou stared at it for a long time with a smile on his face: "It's so beautiful, I really like it, thank you children."

Zhao Qingluo pulled Wen Tingli aside and whispered, "Based on my understanding of Principal Zou, she will find ways to give you the money to buy the gift. You should find a way to leave early later."

Wen Tingli nodded secretly. After receiving the gifts, the atmosphere on the scene became more lively. After the meal, Principal Zou was the first to go to the dance floor to dance the rumba. His partner was Principal Michelle. One was tall and the other short, one was old-fashioned and the other was flexible. The combination of them had an indescribable funny effect.

The students couldn't help laughing, and they all pulled their classmates to the dance floor. "Sister-in-law, shall we dance too?" Qiao Baoxin asked.

Bai Liyun just sat there drinking milk politely: "You go ahead, I'll stay here and talk to mom."

Mrs. Qiao said with a look of reproach: "You are such an ignorant child. How can your sister-in-law dance now?"

Wen Tingli's heart was moved, but she heard a classmate on the other end say, "Gao Xiaowen, why don't you dance yourself? Everyone hasn't praised you for your generosity yet. This scene tonight is enough for a graduation party."

Gao Xiaowen wore a long, light golden tulle dress with a jeweled headband on her forehead. This outfit made her look like an Egyptian queen in a Western movie.

"I would like to book a floor for our Principal Zou." Gao Xiaowen sipped the orange juice, "But their boss must agree. I will ask who has such a big face in Cirrus later."

Everyone was stunned: "If it wasn't you who packed it? Then who did it?"

Gao Xiaowen sat down next to Wen Tingli and said, "Do you want to participate in the beauty pageant? You signed up excitedly earlier, but you didn't make any move after the exam."

Wen Tingli was speechless. She had come up with this idea just to go to the Lu family to find Lu Shicheng as a matter of course. Now that the truth had been found out, she had put the matter behind her.

Remembering that Gao Tingxin was Gao Xiaowen's eldest brother, she expected Gao Xiaowen to drag her to Yifeilin to sign up. Unexpectedly, Gao Xiaowen said bluntly: "I'm not here to speak for my eldest brother! My father said long ago that the department store belongs to my eldest brother and will have nothing to do with me in the future. I hope it will close down as soon as possible. If you sign up for the Xinxin Department Store competition, I will be the first to vote for you, but if you go to my brother's side, it's hard to say."

Others also said, "Wen Tingli, what are you still hesitating about? This time, two large department stores are competing against each other. The scale is even bigger than the last drama competition. If you get a good ranking in the competition, you might become completely famous."

Classmates often joked with each other like this on weekdays, but this remark just hit the nail on the head for Mrs. Qiao. She looked at Wen Tingli with resentment, and suddenly heard a noise coming from the corridor.

"Booking the whole place?" a young man shouted, "Does Cinnamon have such a rule? Let me tell you, tonight our Cao Boss is entertaining distinguished guests from Peking. You have five minutes to tell everyone inside to get out!"

Wen Tingli's face darkened. Qiu Lingyun! It seems that his injury has healed. Mrs. Qiao looked at the door thoughtfully.

As they were talking, Qiu Lingyun and a group of thugs from the Qinglong Gang rushed in. The manager tried to stop them but was violently pushed to the ground by them.

Wen Tingli quickly retreated into the shadows. She didn't want to have a direct conflict with Qiu Lingyun in this situation. Qiu Lingyun suddenly saw the full field of female students, and he was too lazy to look at them one by one. He just said angrily: "Get out!"

"You should be the one to leave!" Gao Xiaowen slammed the table. "Who are you to dare to act wildly on my bed? Our principal is having her birthday tonight. Before she gets angry, take your gang of hooligans and get out of here right now!"

Qiu Lingyun was furious at first, but then he recognized that it was the daughter of the Gao family. However, he was not afraid at all and just smiled and said, "So it was Miss Gao who booked the place. It's a pity that Miss Gao is going to be disappointed. From now on, this place belongs to our White Dragon Gang!"

Just as the two sides were about to quarrel, Boss Zhu arrived in person. "It's really unfortunate that we really can't give up this place tonight."

Qiu Lingyun sneered: "Boss Zhu, do you know who the distinguished guest our Cao Gang wants to entertain is?"

Boss Zhu said something in Qiu Lingyun's ear.

Qiu Lingyun's expression changed several times, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Don't worry, I'll go ask the gang leader first."

After a while, he returned and shouted to his men inside: "Let's change places, let's go."

The people present breathed a sigh of relief, but still did not dare to move. Seeing Qiu Lingyun approaching the door, Mrs. Qiao suddenly said loudly: "Wen Tingli, your schoolbag fell."

These three words were like thunder, which stopped Qiu Lingyun in his tracks. He quickly turned around and looked around the place. After just a few glances, he found Wen Tingli in the corner.

After staring at her for a long while, he snorted with a half smile and led his men away.

Wen Tingli glared at Mrs. Qiao coldly, and Mrs. Qiao sneered back at her.

Principal Zou frowned as he watched the White Dragon Gang members leave, and said loudly: "Children, thank you very much for celebrating my birthday, but for safety reasons, why don't you stop here tonight? Please go home together immediately and call your respective class teachers when you get home-"

Boss Zhu went to say, "Principal Zou, if you leave, I will be blamed for everything. I swear on the business of Cirrus that no one will come to disturb us anymore. All necessary security measures have been put in place. Please do not mind the little incident just now. Dance when you should dance, listen to music when you should listen. When the show is over, there will be cars to take you ladies home."

While he was talking, he kept winking at Principal Zou and whispered something to him. The principal laughed helplessly and sighed, "This kid..."

No one knew who this was referring to, so Principal Zou asked the students loudly, "Do you still want to play?"

"Of course I want to play. It's a rare opportunity for you to go out and play, so why let a bunch of idiots ruin your mood?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere became lively again. Just at this moment, the Truth Band came on stage, and everyone's attention was focused on the stage. Wen Tingli went to the bathroom, and the sound of high heels was heard outside the door, and Mrs. Qiao came in.

Wen Tingli turned around and left.

"Stop!" Mrs. Qiao shouted, "I want to ask you something!"

"You'd better keep those boring words to yourself!"

Mrs. Qiao hurried a few steps to stop Wen Tingli: "I have already found out that the three universities you applied to are all in Shanghai. If it weren't for this, I wouldn't bother to come to you!"

Wen Tingli smiled and said, no need to guess, it must be Michelle who told her.

"Is there no university in Peking, or no school in Nanjing or Tianjin? Why do you insist on staying in Shanghai?" Mrs. Qiao's eyes were filled with resentment. "I know Baoxin came to see you a while ago. Did she say something stupid to you again?"

"What a joke!" Wen Tingli sneered, "Do I need someone to tell me which university to apply to?"

Mrs. Qiao looked Wen Tingli up and down, and suddenly smiled and said, "I know that you have graduated from high school and will go to college soon. People who don't know your background will inevitably mistake you for the daughter of a good family. Do you think you can be compared with a famous lady like Liyun? I advise you not to dream! Liyun is already pregnant, and Xingchu loves his wife very much now. Don't think of doing anything to destroy their marriage."

Wen Tingli almost laughed out loud: "You really overestimate your son's charm. Even if I stay here to study, it has nothing to do with your son."

"That's for Qi Guang?"

Wen Tingli was stunned. Mrs. Qiao thought she had guessed Wen Tingli's thoughts, and sneered, "Qiguang, don't even think about it. He is not as simple as Xingchu. Although he looks cynical, none of the children of Shanghai's aristocratic families can compare to him. His father left a mess, and he revived the family with his own ability. He doesn't want to be restricted now, and he will definitely marry a lady of equal status in the future. He can see through your tricks at a glance. He is just playing with you, but you actually took it seriously!"

"Where does Mrs. Qiao get the confidence to think that I look up to them?" Wen Tingli couldn't help laughing, then she frowned and pressed Mrs. Qiao's question step by step, "Because you are rich? Or because you are powerful?!
"You dare to bully me because I am poorer than you, but I really pity you. Just look at your cowardly face and you will know how hard it is for you! Is Mr. Qiao's business improving? The Bai family must have helped the Qiao family a lot recently, right? In order to please your daughter-in-law, you repeatedly and openly provoke an irrelevant outsider; in order to maintain the false prosperity of the eldest house, you are willing to gamble with your son's marriage! Just based on these points, my character is a hundred times nobler than yours!"

The flesh on Mrs. Qiao's face trembled uncontrollably, and she said tremblingly, "How dare you...how dare you insult me ​​like this!"

Just as he finished speaking, there was a slight noise coming from the door on one side of the corridor. That place seemed to be a passage reserved for distinguished guests, but the two of them were at loggerheads at the moment, so naturally they didn't pay any attention.

Mrs. Qiao grabbed Wen Tingli by the collar, but Wen Tingli raised her hand and shook it off without any hesitation: "Don't you understand? Your so-called 'noble family' and the so-called 'favor' of your juniors are all worthless in my eyes!"

After saying this, she was about to leave in a chic manner, but she heard Mrs. Qiao sternly ask, "If you are so strong-willed, why did you threaten the Qiao family to pay for your father's medical expenses?"

Wen Tingli's temples were throbbing.

"I can't explain it anymore. No matter how nicely you talk, you are still a piece of shit at heart! Just like your mother!"

With a "slap", Wen Tingli slapped Mrs. Qiao in the face.

"This slap was given on behalf of my father! If it weren't for the Qiao family's support, Qiu Dapeng wouldn't have dared to do such a cruel thing to my father. My father died of his injuries, and the Qiao family should bear half of the responsibility!"

Mrs. Qiao was stunned, and raised her hand fiercely to hit back: "How dare you——"

Wen Tingli slapped her again with her backhand: "This slap is for my mother. Who gave you the right to insult my mother again and again!"

She held her chin high and looked at Mrs. Joe with extreme contempt.

(End of this chapter)