Chapter 159: I Will Definitely Come Back!
Xia Yu wasn’t dumb. The only person who knew her Penguin password was Jiang Kekai, and the only one capable of putting in that much effort on her account was her dear little sister, Little Ning. Speaking of which, Jiang Kekai remembered to clean up all records of her conversation with Lin Jie, because she certainly didn’t want Xia Yu to think of that j*rk!
Later on, Jiang Kekai intended to wait for the recent uproar to d*e down and then sneak out to play with her little cutie, Xia Yu. But… old foxes have their tricks; her grandpa, Jiang Heng, was well aware of her plan. So, the very first thing he did was send her abroad for a three-month training program to become a super entrepreneur.
Jiang Kekai attempted to resist firmly, but in the end, she was dragged onto the plane by the maids at home and shipped off overseas…
Jiang Kekai: “I will definitely come back!”
On the bright side, Jiang Kekai had Xia Yu’s contact info, and they didn’t cut off communication. Otherwise, she’d really be at a loss for what to do. And so, two months passed by like a blink.
Xia Le, due to moving up to middle school, had to go a week early for military training, and only after that would school truly begin.
Peng City No. 2 High School was a public school that housed elementary, middle, and high school all in one, and it was conveniently close to Xia Yu’s home—a great place for the kids.
Naturally, Xia Hong took his children there to study: Xia Le would be in middle school, while Xia Yu and Xia Ling would be in elementary school, so the three kids could look out for one another.
“Here, these are two registration forms. Go fill them out over there,” the reception teacher said, perhaps a bit worn out. Despite seeing how adorable the pair of twins, Xia Yu and Xia Ling, were, she didn’t show any extra kindness and just tossed two forms at them.
However, Xia Yu and Xia Ling didn’t mind too much. Name, age, gender…
When it got to the gender section, Xia Yu paused for a moment, then struggled to write one word: male. They continued filling out the information, and eventually, they returned the forms.
“Did you double-check that all the information is correct?” the receptionist asked, snagging the forms for a quick glance.
Well, she definitely found an error because she pulled Xia Yu’s form out and pointed at the gender section. “This must be a mistake, right? A girl should be careful with these things. Take more care next time.”
As she spoke, the receptionist was already reaching for another blank form for Xia Yu to fill out again.
Just then, Xia Hong, the father of both kids, awkwardly chimed in, “Actually, there’s no mistake. This is my son—he’s a boy!”
“A boy?” The receptionist adjusted her glasses and squinted at Xia Yu. Other than the boyish clothes, there was no sign of masculinity in Xia Yu—no Adam’s apple in sight!
Seeing that the receptionist was still doubtful, Xia Hong continued to grin, “It’s true! Here’s a photocopy of his household registration that proves it.” Wang Wenjuan, standing nearby, quickly took out the photocopies of Xia Yu and Xia Ling’s household registration, as these were necessary for transferring schools.
After seeing the photocopies, the receptionist had no choice but to believe Xia Hong. “A perfectly good boy shouldn’t have long hair! Boys aren’t allowed to have long hair in school; it disrupts the campus atmosphere.”
While saying this, the receptionist stamped the two forms and handed them back to Xia Hong. “Go to the finance office to pay.” With that, Xia Hong and Wang Wenjuan led Xia Yu and Xia Ling to the finance office to take care of the payments and class arrangements.
(School processes can be different everywhere; just go with whatever’s easiest—no need to overthink it, haha.)
On the way, Xia Hong couldn’t help but chuckle, recalling what the receptionist said. He turned to Xia Yu, “Xia Yu, how about I take you to get a haircut?”
Hearing this, Xia Ling immediately perked up, “No way!” “What are you two making a fuss about? I was asking Xia Yu!” Xia Hong said, looking expectantly at Xia Yu for her answer.
As expected, Xia Yu shook her head, clearly against the idea of getting a haircut…
When it came time to pay, Xia Hong needed to clarify the detailed costs because he couldn’t let them overcharge him, right? Even though he knew the school had a semi-closed management system that only allowed kids to leave in the afternoon, he thought about Xia Yu’s anxiety and asked, “Could we arrange for my child to not stay at school during lunchtime due to personal reasons?”
“No can do! Rules are rules. Either let them stay home for the day, or just send them to school as per normal,” said the finance officer, showing no mercy.
Maybe it was just a rough day for Xia Hong, but he and his family felt the finance officer was particularly heartless. Surely there could be exceptions for special circumstances, right?
But what could they do? This was someone else’s territory; if they wanted to study here, they had to follow their rules.
Xia Hong clenched his fist, loosened it, then plastered on a forced smile and asked, “What about during nap time? Could my child have a private room? I’d be willing to pay extra.”
“Sorry, all the rooms are full,” the finance officer replied.
Xia Hong was left speechless.
At this moment, he began to ponder whether to switch schools. But Xia Le was already attending this one, and he just couldn’t feel comfortable sending Xia Yu and Xia Ling further out.
Understanding his father’s dilemma, Xia Yu hated seeing her family struggle because of her, so she finally mustered the courage to say, “It’s okay, Dad. I’ll be fine.”
Why did I say it was hard to utter?
Because there were so many people here, and Xia Yu was terrified of being the center of attention; it could make her so anxious she could hardly speak. But at that moment, she managed to keep it together and forced out those few words.
“Are you really okay?”
Xia Yu nodded, affirming that she was indeed fine.
Just then, Wang Wenjuan, her mother, could no longer hold back her frustration and said, “Forget it! If they won’t make exceptions, we’ll look for another school. After all, Peng City is huge, and this isn’t the only school around.”
That was right. Wang Wenjuan was well aware of Xia Yu’s health situation. Allowing her to stay would mean sleeping in the same dorm with boys, which would send a mother’s heart into a panic!
Xia Ling also didn’t want her new little sister to live with potentially dangerous boys, so she quickly chimed in, “Exactly! Dad, let’s check out some other schools.”
Xia Hong was initially inclined to agree, but his wife and daughter’s reactions made him hesitate. Should he really check other schools, even if they were farther away?
Could he let this juicy piece of meat slip away? At that moment, the finance officer wasn’t backing down either: “As far as I know, all the schools—public or private—follow this same protocol. School lunch and naps ensure kids don’t go home and get into trouble during the break. So switching schools wouldn’t change that.”
Well, that…
Xia Hong looked over at the finance officer, then at his wife and daughter, feeling the burden of indecision about whether to switch schools.
Suddenly, he remembered a conversation he had with his wife yesterday and then turned back to the finance officer, saying, “Let’s keep her here. Honestly, running around to find another school sounds like a hassle.”
And just like that, Xia Hong successfully paid the fees.
As he turned around, he saw the displeased looks from his wife and daughter. He smiled and said, “Didn’t we agree yesterday? We’ll respect Xia Yu’s wishes, and she just said she’s okay—what’s the rush?!”
Wang Wenjuan: “….”
Xia Ling: “..…”
Wang Wenjuan never imagined her husband would pull a fast one like this! Isn’t Xia Hong usually the smart one?
Why, at this moment, did he seem so clueless?
But what was done was done, and she could only take it step by step. After all, looking at the finance officer’s ugly mug, she had a sinking feeling getting a refund would be pretty tough, if not impossible.
That’s right, even if it was a public school, dealing with refunds was notoriously tricky, especially once the money was in the big account. After Xia Hong finished paying, they were led to find the homeroom teacher for both Xia Yu and Xia Ling.
Since Xia Yu and Xia Ling were transferring mid-year, they didn’t have a usual homeroom teacher allocated. It wasn’t like the average elementary school student just showed up and registered with their teacher.
The guide took them to the office of a particular homeroom teacher and briefed him, then left. The teacher didn’t waste time either—he gave each of Xia Yu and Xia Ling a form to fill out the necessary details for his records. Meanwhile, he chatted with Xia Hong about his role and the school’s educational philosophy.
Naturally, when the homeroom teacher checked Xia Yu’s form, he pointed out the gender section again: “This is filled out wrong, right?” It’s actually not wrong!
And there it was again, a situation for Xia Hong to awkwardly explain. Being a dad was really tough!
