The midterms were coming up soon. Lu Xi had already seen the announcement in the class group chat a week ago.
After the homeroom teacher sent out the notice, he reminded parents to pay extra attention to their children’s nutrition during this period and not to let exam pressure affect their health.
After the teacher finished speaking, many parents in the group—”XX’s Mom,” “XX’s Dad”—began replying. Some expressed their gratitude to the teacher, while others shared concerns about their children’s academic struggles. The discussion was lively.
Lu Xi felt completely out of place.
As the mother of an underachiever, she simply didn’t fit in with the atmosphere of the group.
Discussing study techniques? Not her thing.
Seeking advice from the teacher about her child’s academic struggles? Even less relevant—her blue-haired boy ate well, slept soundly, could down three big bowls of food in one sitting, and still stayed up late gaming. He didn’t stress about school, nor was he troubled by early romances.
From a certain perspective, Xie Heng was growing up quite healthily.
As for his grades… well, whatever. Lu Xi couldn’t control his academics, nor could she tutor him. She herself has mostly forgotten what she had learned.
So when it came to Xie Heng’s studies, she knew her limits. Since she couldn’t manage it, she simply chose not to interfere.
Besides, Xie Yizhao was in the group too. He’s Xie Heng’s biological father, and also a bona fide academic genius. If anyone should be handling this, it was him. Lu Xi saw no reason to exhaust herself by micromanaging everything like a typical Mom.
She had her own things to focus on.
That morning, her assistant had gone to the school and quickly finalized the contract for the uniform designs. The school would be using her designs, and her studio committed to delivering 1,500 sets of each style within three weeks.
As for the manufacturing, the studio had already secured a deal with the same factory that had produced the uniform samples.
With a large order and an upfront deposit, Lu Xi had been able to negotiate directly with the factory owner. If this deal went smoothly, they could establish a long-term partnership. The factory even offered a discount.
After factoring in the 200,000 yuan prize money from the design competition and subtracting costs, the studio’s net profit for this project was estimated to be around 1.5 million yuan.
When Wei Ning reported this figure, Lu Xi was momentarily stunned. She blinked in surprise.
She wasn’t sure if this was considered a high profit.
She only knew that 1.5 million was roughly the price of a single piece of jewelry she owned, hardly a fortune in her world.
But this time, it was different!
This money wasn’t from her inheritance, nor was it a gift from Xie Yizhao. She had earned it herself, using her own creativity.
The thought of this made her feel elated.
Good news had to be shared.
So she held it in until the evening. At the dinner table, just as Xie Yizhao stepped into the dining room and hadn’t even taken off his coat, Lu Xi beamed and ran up to him, tilting her face up with excitement.
“I made 1.5 million!” she announced cheerfully.
Xie Yizhao was briefly taken aback.
He handed his coat to the butler, loosened his tie, and led Lu Xi to sit down at the table, patiently listening as she rambled on excitedly.
She was so caught up in talking that she didn’t notice how much she had said. She was just enjoying the moment.
By the time she finally ran out of things to say, she realized that Xie Yizhao had been watching her with a subtle, amused glint in his eyes.
As she picked up a glass of water, her mouth dry from all the talking, his normally serious expression softened into a faint smile. He reached out and patted her head.
“…”
Lu Xi swallowed her water, feeling a little annoyed.
That head pat, combined with his amused look—was he silently saying, ‘How cute, you’re so easily pleased by such a small sum of money’?
She pouted. “I know, I know. This amount is nothing compared to the pocket change from your business deals. But to me, it feels like an achievement.”
Xie Yizhao paused for a moment, then chuckled in his deep voice. “You’ve misunderstood. I don’t look down on this money.”
Lu Xi gave him a sidelong glance. “Oh? Really?”
He nodded.
After a brief pause, Xie Yizhao placed a piece of rib in her bowl and said casually, “I don’t think I ever told you. When I made my first business deal in college, I didn’t earn a single cent. Instead, I lost 100,000 yuan.”
Lu Xi’s eyes widened in shock. “Really? Tell me more!”
—Come on, spill your failures, make your wife happy.
Seeing how her eyes lit up with curiosity, Xie Yizhao suddenly felt amused. Even while recalling this ‘tragic memory,’ his voice remained calm and composed.
The story wasn’t complicated.
Back in his freshman year, young and ambitious, he wanted to prove that he could succeed without relying on his family.
At the time, the business school was hosting a student entrepreneurship competition. He and his project team decided to invest in a Western restaurant.
Determined not to use his family’s connections, he left all the handling to his teammates and stayed behind the scenes.
Looking back now, the reasons for failure were obvious.
They had blindly chosen a project in the wrong industry, had no clear target market, and lacked social experience. They even ended up offending people. In the end, repeated fire safety violations led to constant reports against them, forcing them to shut down.
Lu Xi listened intently, fascinated.
She had never imagined that someone as effortlessly successful as Xie Yizhao had once been through such a mess.
Suddenly, she felt like she understood him a little better.
Hearing about his past, his ‘godlike’ aura seemed to dim a little. He didn’t feel so out of reach anymore. It was as if the distance between them had closed slightly.
So even he wasn’t invincible.
How relatable.
When Xie Yizhao finished, he gave her a meaningful look and said, “So, for your first business venture to be profitable—Lu Xi, you’re already more impressive than I was.”
Lu Xi was zoning out, imagining the miserable failure of Xie Yizhao’s business back then. She was caught off guard when he suddenly called out, “CEO Lu.”
Snapping back to reality, she felt a chill run down her arms, goosebumps forming.
She was… so happy.
Her heart soared with satisfaction.
What’s it like to have a big shot in the business world shower you with compliments? Lu Xi felt like she was floating. She had to admit, his flattery had hit her right in the heart.
If the butler weren’t standing nearby, she might have kissed him on the spot.
Lu Xi touched her face, generously accepting his praise. She picked up a piece of spare rib, ate it, and blinked. “Since I’m so amazing, do I get a reward?”
She had only asked casually.
But Xie Yizhao replied without hesitation, “Of course. I remember your grand opening is tomorrow. I’ll bring your reward and show my support.”
The next afternoon.
Li Xiao held a phone in one hand, politely exchanging a few words before declining a dinner invitation on Xie Yizhao’s behalf. Then, he put the phone down, knocked, and entered Xie Yizhao’s office.
Xie Yizhao was also on a call, discussing work matters. Seeing this, Li Xiao waited quietly until he finished.
Once the call ended, Li Xiao promptly handed over a checkbook.
The one in Xie Yizhao’s office had run out, and he had just picked up a new one from the Finance Department.
“Hm.” Xie Yizhao accepted it with a calm expression. Picking up a pen, he swiftly wrote down an amount and passed the check to Li Xiao. “Put it in a red envelope.”
Li Xiao took it and glanced at the recipient’s name, immediately understanding.
Forty-five million—this level of romance was something only a man as rich as his boss could pull off…
But still, it seemed a bit excessive.
Of course, his boss hadn’t asked for his opinion. As a professional, Li Xiao knew better than to offer unsolicited advice—trying to direct his boss was a surefire way to get himself fired. So, he wisely kept his mouth shut.
However, Xie Yizhao was observant. Seeing the hesitation in Li Xiao’s expression, he casually asked, “Something on your mind?”
Li Xiao cleared his throat.
After a brief moment of hesitation, he carefully said, “It’s nothing. I was just wondering… If you’re giving Madam a gift, why not just hand her the check? Why make her design thirty outfits for you?”
Sure, he was paying a sky-high price of 1.5 million per set, but it still required her effort. Wouldn’t she find it exhausting?
Xie Yichao chuckled, unconcerned. “She’ll like it.”
Then, glancing at Li Xiao, he added nonchalantly, “You’re not married, so you wouldn’t understand.”
Li Xiao : “…”
Was that a personal attack? This wasn’t covered in his salary!
Feeling unexpectedly wounded, Assistant Li was suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of loneliness.
But what could he do? His boss was the boss—he couldn’t argue. Still, he made up his mind: since he was accompanying Xie Yizhao anyway, he’d pay close attention to Madam’s reaction.
If she didn’t like it, and his boss got humbled, he would do his best not to laugh out loud.
At 5:30, Xie Heng walked out of the exam hall, feeling refreshed as he got into his family’s car and headed straight for Lu Xi’s studio.
He had taken his Chinese exam in the morning and English in the afternoon.
He felt pretty good about his performance.
As for that physics test paper… He had asked Xu Jiaming about it. It turned out to be a misunderstanding. The paper contained a lot of advanced material that they were scheduled to learn next month. Xu Jiaming had simply prepared it for him in advance. No wonder it had seemed impossibly difficult.
With that cleared up, Xie Heng felt a surge of confidence.
A fifty rank improvement seemed entirely within reach.
He had already bought a gift and was planning to deliver it to Lu Xi in person.
But unexpectedly, at the entrance of the building, he ran into someone he really didn’t want to see.
Ye Sisheng.
Xie Heng frowned slightly.
Since walking out of Ye Sisheng’s office that last time, Xie Heng hadn’t expected to see him again. Now that they had run into each other, it was undeniably awkward.
Xie Heng considered pretending not to notice, but Ye Sisheng took the initiative to greet him.
Left with no choice, Xie Heng responded, albeit reluctantly, and even had to share an elevator with Ye Sisheng.
It wasn’t hard to guess that Ye Sisheng was here for Ms. Lu again…
Clearing his throat, Xie Heng turned his head slightly and muttered, “About last time… Sorry, I wasn’t thinking things through.”
Ye Sisheng was momentarily surprised before smiling indifferently.
No matter what, he wasn’t about to hold a grudge against a high schooler.
“No worries. This time, I’m just here to deliver a gift for Mrs. Xie’s grand opening,” Ye Sisheng said. Then, as if recalling something, he added, “You seemed quite interested in my collection. You didn’t get to finish looking last time. If you’re ever free, you and Mrs. Xie are welcome to visit again.”
Xie Heng : ?
—This guy, is he serious? Visit again? I already apologized, why is he so determined to become my stepdad?
Old Xie might not be here, but as Young Xie, he felt obligated to fight back for his Dad.
He chuckled lazily. “No need. I’ve got plenty of those at home. My Dad bought way more than you—figures, models, the whole collection.”
Ye Sisheng was briefly taken aback, as if he had just heard something unbelievable.
It took him a moment to find his voice again. With an awkward smile, he said, “Really? I never imagined… that Mr. Xie would have such a hobby?”