Chapter One Hundred Foreshadowing

  Hou Jingya was picked up by the family driver, Uncle Li, as usual after school and waited for her on the side of the road. Today, after school, she walked a short distance to the main road and just opened the car door when she saw her mother sitting inside. Li Yixiao smiled and said: "Daughter, Uncle Li and I have been waiting for you for a while. We're going out to eat tonight. Your aunt and uncle are hosting dinner tonight, and we'll go with them as hosts."

  Hou Jingya was actually a pretty high girl, as soon as she heard her mother say they were going to the restaurant to eat, she was a bit unhappy. It was just those eating and drinking things, she would rather eat at home with Li Shu's homemade dishes. She frowned slightly and said: "Mom, what's going on today? You and Dad can go, I'll just go back home, after all, I'm just a kid, it doesn't matter if I go or not. And this time, my cousin should be absent as usual, right?" Li Yixiao looked at her daughter's unwilling expression and said more gently: "Daughter, let's go! This time you guessed wrong, your cousin will definitely not be absent. Moreover, according to your aunt, the guests they invited also brought their children, both boys and girls, and their ages are similar to yours and your cousin's. There should be common topics... As for your father, I don't know if he'll go or not. His response was that he's busy tonight, if he has time, he'll go, if not, he won't go. What kind of answer is that? It's like saying nothing at all! He's become so arrogant just because he has money now, no conscience at all. Doesn't he think about how our family supported him in the past and how your aunt and uncle helped him? And this time, they invited him as a guest, but he's acting like such a big shot...

  Hou Jingya felt a bit impatient and sympathetic towards her mother, which further deepened her prejudice against her father. She interrupted her mother's words, "Mom, I can go back myself, don't keep nagging me. Are we going directly? Do I need to go home and change clothes?"

  Li Yixiao smiled and said, "You little heartless thing, you're also tired of your mom's nagging, huh? I was so worried that you wouldn't go, specially came to your school to pick you up, but forgot that you still need to change clothes. Old Li, let's go home first and then head to Su Ji." Hou Jingya coquettishly said, "Mom, how could I dare? How could I dare be tired of you? I was just thinking that time is limited. By the way, what time is it set for?"

  Li Yixiao glanced at her watch and said, "Don't worry, we still have time, it's only five thirty. Let's go back, you change your clothes, and we'll arrive at Su's place with plenty of time to spare." Li Yixiao saw that since her daughter had agreed to go, she would definitely put on a good show and entertain the children of their guests, which was something she wasn't worried about. Perhaps in the past, what she was most proud of was her husband, but that was already a long time ago; now what she was most proud of was having an intelligent and clever daughter who didn't need her to worry.

  Hou Jingya went home and opened her closet, casually matching a purple short jacket with puffy sleeves. The Korean version of the waist, the lower body is the same series of pleated skirt, looking a bit cute and lovely, more elegant and refined.

  After the car arrived at Su Ji, Hou Jingya saw a wooden sign with two large characters "Su Ji" written in a ancient style. After entering, she saw her cousin Qi Fengyuan standing on the second floor. Today, her cousin was wearing his usual grey suit, looking very gentlemanly. He stood there, seemingly lost in thought, staring into the distance. Even when Hou Jingya arrived, he didn't react at all.

  Hou Jingya and Li Yixiao walked up the wooden stairs, and when they reached Qi Fengyuan's side, Hou Jingya patted Qi Fengyuan on the back. Qi Fengyuan visibly shook, and Hou Jingya said: "Brother-in-law, what are you thinking about? You're so focused that you didn't even notice me walking up to your side, and I scared you."

  The seasonal wind glanced back at Hou Jingya, and immediately a smile appeared on his face. "Cousin, you're here? I wasn't thinking of anything, just casually thinking about a physics problem I saw in a book the other day."

  Hou Jingya looked up and down at Ji Fengyuan, saying: "Oh oh oh, I see. So Brother is very diligent, already self-studying the content of second year of junior high school? We can discuss it together when we have time. Time's almost up, let's go in."

  Ji Fengyuan nodded and said, "Okay." After 6 o'clock, the guests arrived one after another. It turned out that Ji Fengyuan's father, Ji Boyang, had invited some friends from the education sector, including Director Mu Zhihang and his wife and daughter Mu Yuemei. It was said that Mu Zhihang had recently been promoted and would soon take over as the vice principal of No. 1 Middle School, replacing Wang. This was just a matter of time, and he would be taking office soon.

  There were also the Secretary of Education Bureau Luo Yongning and his family, Professor Lu Da's family, Lian Jifengyuan and Hou Jingya's families, a total of five families. In the end, Hou Jingya's father, Hou Zhiguo, still came to Su Ji's largest private room, Huanyan Hall.

  At the beginning of the month, when Mu Yue first saw Ji Feng Yuan from afar, she was a little worried and afraid. But seeing Ji Feng Yuan smile warmly as if nothing had happened, and occasionally glancing at her, she eventually felt at ease.

  It was during the clinking of glasses and plates, when everyone was having a great time, that the adults started chatting about work-related things and private entertainment matters. The kids were clearly getting impatient, especially Luo Yongning's son, who might have been the youngest at the table as he was only in third grade, and soon started shouting "I'm bored!"

  Ji Boyang was also a man with insight, knowing that Luo Yongning doted on his son the most. The topic of their conversation wasn't interesting to the children and it wasn't suitable for them to listen in, so he quickly suggested: "Feng Yuan, you've all eaten enough, us adults have some things to discuss, didn't we see a game center across the way when we came? Take your younger siblings there to play, just remember not to lose them, or else it'll be a case of good intentions leading to bad consequences."

  Luo Yongning was originally pretending to scold his son for being disobedient, but now Ji Boyang had helped him out of the situation. He smiled and said: "Young Master Ji, look at what you're saying! I still don't trust your young master, he's so mature for his age. My son Luo Yi Yang will be lucky if he can be half as good as him when he grows up to Wind Far's age. Wind Far, take Luo Yi Yang out to play, and if he dares not listen to you, you can spank him, I give you permission, don't worry about hurting him, Luo Yi Yang is a...

  Ji Fengyuan was very familiar with these polite phrases, having experienced them since he was a child following his parents. He wouldn't dare to hit Luo Yiyang, who pouted and followed Ji Fengyuan out. Apart from Luo Yiyang, Lu Zhenfei and Ji Fengyuan were old acquaintances, so they didn't need to be greeted. Hou Jingya and Mu Yuemei were both girls, so Ji Fengyuan handed Mu Yuemei over to Hou Jingya to take care of.

  They went to the game city across the street with five people, and Luo Yiyang's eyes lit up as soon as he entered. He sweetly called Ji Fengyuan "Brother Ji" and asked him to buy game coins for him, then rushed to play games. Due to his young age, Luo Yiyang had poor self-control, and his father rarely brought him to such places. The few times he came here were with his classmates, who didn't want to bring him along because they thought he was too inexperienced. He excitedly asked Ji Fengyuan and Lu Zhenfei if they knew how to play this game or that game. Ji Fengyuan humbly said he knew a little, while Lu Zhenfei said it was child's play. Luo Yiyang stared at them, asking them to teach him, even saying he wanted to make them his masters so that he wouldn't be laughed at by his classmates in the future.

  Muyue saw Luo Yiyang staring at Jifengyuan playing games, thinking that there was no chance to be alone with him and wipe out the bad impression. However, she thought again that this person beside her is actually Jifengyuan's cousin, if they get along well, it would be great too. Earlier, she heard from her mom that Jifengyuan treats his cousin very well, making her feel jealous, why doesn't she have a talented and handsome cousin who is good to her? Muyue looked up at Hou Jingya, seemingly not interested in the game city, gazing through the window at the distant lights, smiling and saying: "Hou Jingya, can I call you Jingya?"

  Hou Jingya realized that she had been a bit rude and distracted just now, and smiled: "Of course, we're in the same school and grade, I heard you're in Class 8, right?"

  As she said this, Mu Yuemonth thought of herself not being in Class 10 and felt a twinge of inferiority, also a twinge of regret for not listening to her mother's words to let her father pull some strings, but instead saying that she could definitely get into Class 10.

  Hou Jingya saw that Mu Yuemonth looked a bit down, and quickly said: "Yuemonth, I heard that you had a cold during the junior high school entrance exam and didn't perform well. Not being in class 10 is not a big deal, I heard that after the first semester exams, there will be another adjustment based on the exam scores, so your chances are still great, I have confidence in you..."

  This made Mu Yuemonth listen very comfortably, and she smiled: "Yes, I will definitely be able to enter the top 10 class. This is just a matter of time. I have confidence in myself. Jingya, you are really a kind and good girl. By the way, Jingya, have you heard about Nanxiangxiang's affair with two boys in your class?"

  Hou Jingya was startled, not knowing what Mu Yuemonth was thinking, but listening to her tone seemed to dislike Xiao Xiao, and she would deal with it first, "I've heard something, but I don't know what's going on after all, this thing wasn't spread from our class, our classmates don't know much."