Huayu: Starting with binding the front desk

The last day before the May Day holiday.

Zhang Jingyi stuffed the last workbook into her schoolbag, zipped it up, and looked up at the podium.

Wang Zhe was quietly wiping the blackboard, the setting sun shining obliquely through the window, illuminating him.

She slung her backpack over her shoulder, walked behind him, and gently patted his shoulder.

"Wang Zhe, don't forget to do your English homework this time."

Wang Zhe turned around, still holding the blackboard eraser in his hand, looked into her eyes, and deliberately drew out the last syllable: "Okay...class representative."

He always looks at people like that, staring straight at them, without any restraint.

Zhang Jingyi felt a little embarrassed by his gaze, her eyes flickered and landed on the floor.

"Okay, then... see you when school starts."

See you when school starts.

  

Wang Zhe watched her walk out of the classroom with her schoolbag on her back. Her ponytail swayed gently behind her head as she disappeared around the corner.

He shook his head slightly, turned around, and continued to finish erasing the remaining half of the blackboard.

Meanwhile, Zhang Jingyi's favorability rating on the system panel had quietly jumped to 56.

The system should reward users for every 20 points of favorability gained.

However, the further along the way, the more difficult it becomes to increase favorability—Wang Zhe had already realized this.

He put the blackboard eraser back in the chalk tray and patted the chalk dust off his hands.

The May Day holiday has begun.

Wang Zhe packed his schoolbag, walked out of the school gate, and immediately saw the car parked on the side of the road.

He opened the car door and got in, only to find his father, Wang Yuejin, sitting in the driver's seat.

"Dad, why are you picking me up today? Where's Mom?"

"What's wrong, my dear son? Can't I come pick you up?" Wang Yuejin looked at him with a smile. "Your mom's making you something delicious at home."

"Sure, why not? Dad, let's drive, I'm starving." Wang Zhe fastened his seatbelt, speaking lightly, but secretly sighing inwardly.

I guess Dad came back this time because of that matter.

The car drove onto Jiefang West Road and turned into an upscale residential area.

Wang Zhe lived on the fifteenth floor. As soon as the elevator doors opened, his mother, Xu Ying, came up to him, hugging and kissing him so much that she squeezed his face until it was distorted.

"Have you been eating well at school? You look like you've lost weight again!"

Wang Zhe finally managed to escape from his mother's clutches and put down his schoolbag: "No, I'm eating fine."

He secretly glanced at his mother as he changed into his slippers—she was all smiles and enthusiasm towards him, but she didn't look at his father once. Her gaze swept over him lightly, as if he didn't even exist in the living room.

Wang Zhe had a plan in mind.

It looks like it's already started.

Sure enough, at the dinner table, his mother put a piece of food into his bowl, then put down her chopsticks and asked him a question from his past life in a deliberately casual tone, word for word.

"Son, how about studying abroad for high school? Don't you like musicals?"

"Your dad has already contacted schools in Europe."

In his previous life, Wang Zhe followed his parents' arrangements and went to Europe, where he stayed for seven years.

At first, I was really excited; everything was new and I was curious about everything.

But as time went on, especially when faced with white food that always tasted the same, he went from deep hatred to complete numbness.

Now that he's been reborn and has a system by his side, why should he go through that suffering again?

Moreover, he already knew why they insisted on sending him abroad.

Wang Zhe didn't stop eating or look up. "No, I'm not going. I'm perfectly fine here in China, why would I go abroad?"

Xu Ying paused, her hand holding the food suspended in mid-air, and quickly winked at Wang Yuejin.

Wang Yuejin put down his wine glass and was about to speak when Wang Zhe interrupted him.

"Dad, I really don't want to go, please don't try to persuade me."

Wang Yuejin glanced at his son, remained silent for two seconds, and then nodded: "Alright, if you don't want to go, then you don't have to."

He gave his wife a reassuring look.

Xu Ying opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing more.

The atmosphere at the table was quiet for a few seconds, with only the sound of chopsticks touching the rim of the bowl.

Wang Zhe lowered his head, ate a couple of mouthfuls of rice, then suddenly put down his chopsticks and sighed softly.

"Mom and Dad, are you two hiding something from me?"

The sigh wasn't loud, but it made both the couple's hearts tighten at the same time.

Wang Yuejin was the first to react, and he smiled: "What could your mother and I be hiding from you?"

"Xiao Zhe, why are you suddenly asking this?" There was a hint of nervousness in Xu Ying's voice.

Looking at the two people opposite him, one pretending to be calm and the other hiding his panic, Wang Zhe suddenly felt a little amused and a little sad.

Forget it, I'm not going to act anymore.

"Huh? No?"

He leaned back in his chair and said in a nonchalant tone, "I thought you sent me abroad to get a divorce."

The air at the dining table seemed to freeze instantly.

Xu Ying whirled around, glaring at Wang Yuejin, her voice rising eight octaves: "Wang Yuejin! Who told you to say these things to our son!"

Wang Yuejin looked bewildered, his chopsticks held in mid-air, his expression clearly conveying, "Who am I? Where am I?"

"No, I..."

"Mom, it wasn't Dad who told me."

Wang Zhe quickly came to the rescue, telling a lie without batting an eye: "I overheard you talking to Dad on the phone when I went home last time."

Of course, he wouldn't say that he only knew this because he was reborn.

In his previous life, he spent three years in Italy before he learned that his parents had already divorced.

Fearing he was too young to handle it, they made up a pretext of "studying abroad" and dumped him alone on the other side of the world.

The most outrageous thing is that by the time he found out about it, the two of them had gotten back together.

Wang Zhe felt speechless when he thought about it—you two should have gotten a divorce!

They continued living together after the divorce, and life went on as usual. They remarried less than two years later and even had a daughter thanks to the two-child policy.

So, a world where only he was injured was achieved.

Wang Zhe put down his bowl and looked at Xu Ying seriously. "Mom, you and Dad were doing well, why are you getting a divorce? Did Dad have a mistress?"

Wang Yuejin glared at him. "You brat, what are you saying! Do you think your dad is that kind of person?"

Wang Zhe shrugged and said, "That's settled then. It's just that my dad is going to be transferred to Shenzhen. What's there to be afraid of?"

He moved forward a bit and started analyzing on his fingers, his tone as confident as a little adult.

"Look at him, my dad is only thirty-nine, the prime of his life. If he doesn't work hard, what will we eat and use in the future? Who will pay for the bride price when I get married?"

"Besides, the company is transferring him back to headquarters, which is a good thing! What does that mean? It means the company values ​​him, and he's about to get a promotion and a raise. Mom, you should be happy."

Hearing him say that, Xu Ying's eyes reddened slightly: "Xiao Zhe, Mom knows all this. But the thought of separating from your dad..."

"Stop." Wang Zhe raised a hand, turned to his mother, and said earnestly.

"Mom, that's where you're wrong. Dad's working so hard now, who's he doing it for? Isn't it for us? Do you think your fixed salary at the TV station could afford this house we have now?"

After talking about his mother, he turned his head and aimed his guns at his father.

"Dad, and you too. Don't you ever try to be understanding of Mom? She's the kind of woman who's obviously head over heels in love..."

"Wang Zhe!" Xu Ying was both annoyed and amused.

Wang Zhe retorted confidently, "Did I say something wrong? Don't start arguments so easily. If she says she wants a divorce, you'll just agree to it? You have to appease a woman; it's not enough to just earn money and support the family."

"Spend more time with her when you have free time, instead of always rushing to the river. How long have you been fishing? How many fish have you brought back?"

Wang Yuejin opened his mouth, only to find himself speechless.

He glanced at his wife, then at his son, and finally fixed his gaze on the wine glass in front of him, his expression complex.

After Wang Zhe finished speaking, he stood up and clapped his hands.

"That's all I'll say. You're all grown up, why are you making a kid like me worry? Think about it carefully, I'm going back to my room."

He pulled out a chair, walked into his room without looking back, and gently closed the door.

In the living room, only two middle-aged people remained, staring at each other in bewilderment.

……

Wang Zhe returned to his room, flopped onto the bed, and stared blankly at the ceiling.

He no longer wanted to deal with the conflicts between the couple.

Everything that needed to be said has been said; the rest is up to them.

He knew the ins and outs of that farce in his past life perfectly well—his father was transferred to Shenzhen for work, his mother didn't want to live apart from him, but she also couldn't bear to give up her job at the TV station.

In a fit of anger, the two decided to get a divorce.

I thought, "Let's get a divorce then," but then, in a moment of weakness, I was afraid he wouldn't be able to accept it, so I just sent him abroad.

What's even more bizarre is that after the two got their divorce certificate, they went back to get it back less than two years later.

Throughout this entire incident, only Wang Zhe was injured.

I spent seven years all alone in Italy, eating hundreds of bland pasta meals...

This time, he didn't care whether they got divorced or not.

Studying abroad is out of the question.