Today there was a eting in the departnt. When Fang Bingwen walked into the conference room, he noticed that his colleagues were looking at him oddly, causing him to furrow his brow slightly.
"Bingwen, don’t rush off after the eting. I have sothing to discuss with you," Fu Lei called out to him.
"What is it?"
"It’s hard to explain right now; let’s talk after the eting."
Fang Bingwen instinctively felt that this was related to the strange gazes from his colleagues earlier, and his brow furrowed even more tightly.
During the eting, Fang Bingwen was once again praised and was told to keep striving to publish more papers, with the potential to qualify for the professor selection.
For a mont, the expressions of those at the eting varied, but everyone quickly adjusted their emotions as adults do, and congratulated him.
Fang Bingwen nodded coolly. How could he not understand his colleagues’ minds? It was nothing but jealousy!
But even if it was jealousy, it was useless. This was about real skill. Hadn’t he faced jealousy from childhood to adulthood? They still had to look up to him, didn’t they?
"What are you showing off for when you can’t even teach your own child well? Really think you’re a god?"
"Exactly, clearly doesn’t love her yet married the Eldest Lady. What on earth is he plotting?"
"Keep your voice down. You never know, he might beco a professor soon, and then potentially an academician. Be careful he doesn’t make things difficult for you when that ti cos."
"I’m not afraid of him."
Though saying that, when passing by Fang Bingwen, they still showed a flattering yet sowhat fawning smile.
Fang Bingwen ignored them and was still thinking about what Fu Lei had said initially, directly asking, "What do you want to tell ?"
"Have you been too busy lately?" Fu Lei asked indirectly.
"Why do you ask that?"
"If you’re not busy, I think you should pay more attention to Xiao Xu’s education."
"Fu Lei, don’t be so evasive, just tell directly." Since it involved his son, Fang Bingwen’s expression beca even more impatient.
Fu Lei snorted coldly inside, but outwardly maintained a concerned look, "Xiao Xu lied to today."
"What did he lie to you about? Is there so misunderstanding?"
"Would a grown-up like wrong him? You see, you just spoil your son too much. If he were to lie to you, you’re afraid you’d know nothing about it!"
"What exactly happened? What did Xiao Xu lie to you about?" Fang Bingwen said seriously. "Fu Lei, Xiao Xu is an obedient child. If it’s a fabricated story, I’ll be very upset."
"Alright, before I tell you, answer one question."
"Go ahead."
"Did Xiao Xu have anything unusual when he left the house this morning?"
"Nothing unusual, just like usual. What are you trying to say?"
"I’m asking if he had any injuries on his face."
"Injuries? Who could have injured him?"
Fu Lei shook his head and sighed, "Seems like he didn’t have injuries when he left this morning. Bingwen, Xiao Xu did indeed lie to ."
"You’d better explain yourself clearly." Fang Bingwen’s gaze beca sharper.
Fu Lei acted as if he didn’t notice, continuing, "Before the eting, I ran into Xiao Xu in the neighborhood. He had injuries on his face. I asked him how he got hurt, and he said it was Mom who hit him."
Upon hearing this, Fang Bingwen’s heart tightened, his expression becoming more severe.
"What’s strange is that I later ran into Mom at the doorway, who was just getting ready to go ho. She said she hadn’t been ho all day, and you said Xiao Xu had no injuries when he left in the morning. Mom hadn’t even encountered Xiao Xu during the day, so how could she have hit him?" Fu Lei said exaggeratedly.
Before Fang Bingwen could speak, Fu Lei continued, "I know Mom well. She went from being an Eldest Lady to a housewife for your sake. She loves you so much, how could she possibly harm Xiao Xu? If she did, wouldn’t you fight her to the death? Besides, I directly asked Mom. Her surprise and concern for Xiao Xu’s injury showed it clearly, so I’d say Xiao Xu surely lied."
He finished by patting Fang Bingwen’s stiff shoulder, "Brother, I’m only reminding you as a good friend. Xiao Xu really needs proper guidance. Ye Qiu’s kindness towards him is obvious to all of us, yet not only does he not appreciate it, but defas Ye Qiu outside. Have you not explained the reason to him properly? Or has he been influenced by soone with ulterior motives from outside?"
"Are you really not lying to ?" Fang Bingwen remained skeptical.
Fu Lei chuckled, "Why would I deceive you about this? Bingwen, would I purposely wrong a six-year-old child? Rest assured, I haven’t told anyone about this. But I can’t speak about whether Xiao Xu might have told others that Mom hit him. You’d better go ho and ask about it!"
"Got it, thanks for this information."
"We’re family, aren’t we!" Fu Lei waved his hand, but his gaze upon Fang Bingwen’s departing figure was contemptuous.
Fang Bingwen returned ho filled with doubt, and as soon as he stepped in, he sensed sothing was off. His son was not there, and Ye Qiu was sitting on the sofa with reddened eyes.
It was the first ti he’d seen Ye Qiu like this. Perhaps trying to earn his favor, each ti facing him, Ye Qiu would be all smiles, appearing happy and content. Even when he sotis didn’t respond, she would quietly wallow in sadness but would never trouble him.
So seeing her sitting there, teary-eyed and visibly distressed, Fang Bingwen was montarily at a loss, not knowing what to do.
"I heard that Xiao Xu got hurt, did he go to class while injured?" Not knowing how to comfort her, he directly asked about their son.
"Hmm." Ye Qiu made a sound from her throat.
Silence hung between them again, just as Fang Bingwen had carefully chosen his words and was about to speak, Ye Qiu spoke.
"Honey, does Xiao Xu hate so much?" she almost choked on her words.
"What nonsense are you talking about? How could Xiao Xu hate you?" Fang Bingwen said, feeling a bit guilty.
"Fu Lei told everything. He said Xiao Xu told him that I hit him. Why would Xiao Xu say sothing like that to soone outside? You know I couldn’t possibly hit Xiao Xu. For you, I can’t even stop pampering him! Or is it that there’s sothing I haven’t been thorough enough about in my daily actions?" Ye Qiu questioned him, looking straight into his eyes.
"No," Fang Bingwen didn’t even dare to et her gaze.
"I know he envies my two nephews and nieces who know so much, so I went out of my way to invite famous teachers to teach him. I know he loves his mom, so I never once demanded he change how he calls her. For him, I even took special lessons on what food is the most nutritious for children his age, which brand of clothes is the most comfortable, and even the first dish I learned to cook was his favorite, stir-fried shredded potato. Haven’t I done enough?"
Facing Ye Qiu’s relentless questioning, Fang Bingwen found himself unable to refute a single word, rendering his carefully chosen words entirely useless.
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