Returning to Parents' Seventeen
Chapter 145: The Bad One Should Be Someone Else

Chapter 145: Chapter 145: The Bad One Should Be Someone Else

Mou Xue walked into the classroom, and Xu Chuning turned to say to You Shuzhen, "Mom, I’ll talk to you after the parent-teacher meeting is over."

You Shuzhen hesitantly nodded, "Okay."

This mother-daughter interaction was fully witnessed by Sang Menglan, who was a bit surprised at the relationship between Xu Chuning and her mother; they didn’t seem like mother and daughter, but rather like peers who negotiated on equal terms.

Moreover, You Shuzhen seemed to actually listen to what Xu Chuning said.

Perceiving this, Sang Menglan’s eyes held a touch of appreciation and admiration when she looked at Xu Chuning. She admired independent girls, and although she wasn’t very independent herself, some people just catch your eye at first glance.

It wasn’t because Xu Chuning resembled Ye Qionfang that Sang Menglan found her comfortable to be around, unlike Xu Zhiyan, who was so confrontational and sharp-tongued.

Strangely, Sang Menglan watched Xu Zhiyan grow up and was familiar with the Xu Family’s upbringing; Xu Yiming and Ye Qionfang were kind-hearted people, yet Xu Zhiyan’s temperament had always differed from theirs.

Back then, Sang Menglan and others thought it was fairly normal for Xu Zhiyan to have a bit of a rich girl’s temperament, given the Xu Family’s favorable conditions.

However, looking at it now, it was not the case at all.

Their kids, including those from other families, might have bad tempers, but were not unreasonable.

Sometimes Xu Yiming and Ye Qionfang were at their wits’ end with her.

Sang Menglan stared intently at Xu Chuning in thought and didn’t notice that Xu Chuning had already looked back at her for the second time.

After meeting Shen Sinian, Xu Chuning already had an idea of her future relationship with Sang Menglan and others, and she had stealthily asked Shen Sinian... if Sang Menglan and the others were easy to get along with. Shen Sinian said they were, mentioning that Sang Menglan and Shen Xingyan were down-to-earth people.

Moreover, Sang Menglan treated her even better than she treated Shen Yubai. Whenever there was anything, she would look for Xu Chuning and not Shen Yubai.

On the rare occasion when Shen Yubai and Xu Chuning would bicker, she would be the first to scold Shen Yubai.

Sang Menglan had a youthful mentality; she didn’t show any pretense of seniority at all, and her future relationship with Xu Chuning didn’t seem like a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, but rather more like sisters.

Thinking about this, Xu Chuning pursed her lips and called out to her, "Aunt Sang."

Sang Menglan snapped out of her reverie, "What?"

She came back to her senses and touched her nose a bit embarrassedly, "Sorry, Auntie was spacing out just now."

"It’s fine," said Xu Chuning in a low voice, "shall we start the parent-teacher meeting first? We can talk about other things after it ends?"

Sang Menglan understood her implication and nodded lightly, "Alright, we’ll talk after the meeting."

Shen Sinian got top grades in the school last semester, and in front of everyone, Mou Xue praised him. Listening to this, Sang Menglan felt a bit of pride and sent Shen Xingyan a message: [Sinian was top of the class last semester, the teacher praised our good parenting, though I do feel a bit guilty.]

Shen Xingyan: [Shen Yubai was also top of the class.]

Sang Menglan: [The teacher mentioned that Xu Chuning had always been the top student before.]

Shen Xingyan: [Is her academic performance really that good?]

Shen Xingyan actually didn’t know about this.

Sang Menglan: [Yeah, do you think she might be sad now that Sinian transferred here and took away the top spot?]

Shen Xingyan: [...I’ll ask your son.]

He actually couldn’t answer that question.

...

Xu Chuning was unaware of the conversation between Sang Menglan and Shen Xingyan. She appeared to be listening to Teacher Mou speaking at the podium, but her mind had already drifted away. Her phone kept vibrating in her pocket, and Xu Chuning, finding it annoying, simply turned off her phone.

Right now, she didn’t want to see or respond to anyone’s messages.

She was afraid of acting on impulse, afraid of saying something out of her control; she was not as composed as outsiders perceived her to be.

Deng Xitong, sitting beside her, noticed that her mood was off and asked in a hushed voice, "Ningning, what’s wrong with you?"

"It’s nothing," Xu Chuning shook her head towards You Shuzhen, "It’s just too hot, I feel stuffy."

Deng Xitong understood: "I feel the same."

After briefly exchanging a couple of sentences, they quietly listened to the content of the parent-teacher meeting.

At Mingzhi Middle School, the parent-teacher meetings are held with both students and parents. Mingzhi Middle School pays great attention to family education issues. They are concerned about parents putting too much pressure on students, resulting in psychological burdens, so the parent-teacher meeting every semester also serves as an excellent platform for communication between students and parents.

The parent-teacher meeting lasted for over an hour, and after all the important matters were discussed, it was almost time to go.

Just as Xu Chuning and You Shuzhen were about to get up and leave, Mou Xue called out to them, "Xu Chuning, Xu Chuning’s mom."

They looked up, and Mou Xue smiled and said, "Can we talk a bit more?"

Actually, Mou Xue didn’t have anything particular to discuss when she approached them—after knowing Xu Chuning’s end-of-term exam results, she had sent her a message to comfort her, saying not to take a single exam too seriously in case she felt downcast.

If someone else had taken the first place, Xu Chuning might have been sad for a while, but since it was her own son who did, all she could offer was comfort—the student surpasses the master.

Shen Sinian’s grades were so good, she should feel proud.

"Teacher Mou," Xu Chuning looked up.

Mou Xue replied and looked toward Xu Chuning, "Can I talk with your mom for a moment?"

Xu Chuning, very considerately, walked out, "Sure."

She waited in the corridor when suddenly Sang Menglan came up to her, "Ningning."

Xu Chuning was taken aback.

Sang Menglan asked, "May I call you that?"

Xu Chuning hesitated slightly and then nodded her head.

Sang Menglan looked at her with a gentle smile, "Sinian and Yubai, they both like you a lot."

"..." Upon hearing this, Xu Chuning grinned, "Aunt Sang, what you said could easily be misunderstood."

Sang Menglan realized afterward, "Oh, my expression must’ve been improper. What I meant was, you are outstanding, and it’s their luck to have you as their classmate, Sinian and Yubai."

Hearing this, Xu Chuning opened her mouth to speak, "Actually, I’m the lucky one."

To have Shen Sinian, such an empathetic, sunny, and cheerful son, and Shen Yubai... such a handsome husband, though in the future.

Sang Menglan chuckled softly, then asked warmly, "How are you feeling?"

Xu Chuning pressed her lips together, "I’m fine, someone else, perhaps, isn’t."

Sang Menglan didn’t expect her to speak so sharply, and after a moment of quiet, she said, "Auntie must first apologize to you."

Xu Chuning was puzzled.

Sang Menglan explained, "A few days ago, I saw your photo in Yubai’s camera. I thought you and Qiongfang, that is Yubai’s Aunt Ye, looked very much alike, so I mentioned it to him."

"..."

Xu Chuning froze, suddenly understanding why Shen Yubai knew about her relationship with Ye Qiongfang and the others.

Actually, when she heard what Shen Yubai said at the school gate, Xu Chuning had wondered how he found out. Shen Sinian had assured her that if Shen Yubai didn’t notice on his own, he wouldn’t tell him. Xu Chuning believed Shen Sinian, so she never doubted him.

She had just been pondering, when exactly and how Shen Yubai managed to find the glitch.

It was only at this moment that she realized—it was with Sang Menglan’s remark that Shen Yubai followed the clues and conducted his investigation. Of course, it wasn’t likely that just because of something Sang Menglan said, he became suspicious; perhaps, even before that, he already had questions about a series of things involving her.

Shen Yubai was so smart, it wasn’t surprising to Xu Chuning that he could have guessed.

Suddenly, she thought of the incident a few days ago when Shen Yubai pulled out her white hair... Looking back, his actions were indeed clumsy, but she hadn’t thought it through.

If she had pondered more on it at that time, today’s events wouldn’t have come as such a surprise.