I Have Decided to Go Look for My Father

Another chime came in at this moment.

Gu Shao, too, had finally received the parent’s communication from the class teacher of Class #7 in the parent’s chat group.

[Class teacher: Hi fellow parents. The parent-teacher conference for this month was set for 2 PM next Monday. Please be there on time. Please contact me privately if you will not be able to make it. And, I want to ask you to not send over grandparents or older siblings in your place.]

The class teacher had just sent over the message when a string of [Parents of Xiao Xi got it] appeared on the bottom of it.

Gu Shao was just about to post the same when he saw a private message from the class teacher.

The class teacher was very polite in the private message. [Pardon me, Professor Gu, for contacting you so late in time. Have you had a chance to look at the message that I had just sent out?]

[Gu Shao: Yes, I have.]

[Class teacher: Oh good. Can you please let me know whether you will be able to make it on the day of then?]

Naturally, the class teacher wished for Gu Shao to be there. That being said, she was aware that Professor Gu was a very busy individual and just might not be able to make it.

Gu Shao replied without hesitation. [Yes, I have time. That won’t be a problem.]

[Class teacher: Oh good.]

The class teacher sent over another message: [Gu Xi did very well during the monthly examinations this time!]

The class teacher’s excitement even came through her words.

A hint of smile crossed Gu Shao’s eyes when he read that.

He replied politely. [Thank you for all your help, Teacher.]

Gu Shao looked back at the two men in front of him after he had put down his cellphone. He had wanted to ask them “So how did your kids do in the examinations?” but finally decided against it.

***

Downstairs, on the other end.

Gu Xi, too, saw the message about the parent-teacher conference from the student’s chatgroup.

[Breaking news! My mom just got the message from Teacher Chen. Parent-teacher conference is set for next Monday!]

[Old Mr. Gu! Next Monday?]

[For sure I will not be having a relaxing weekend then……]

[Save the children!]

[I thought it won’t be until next Friday. They set it for Monday? Oh, mi. I am done for.]

[Me too. I did so awful in my examinations. This time.]

……

There were all sorts of whining in the class’s chatgroup all of a sudden.

Their focus, however, had shifted shortly.

[If the parent-teacher conference is set for next Monday. That means we will see the release of the grades on the announcement board first thing Monday morning when we arrived at school, right?]

[That’s very likely.]

[I…… I am somewhat excited about it?]

[Haha. Me too. I may not have done well myself, but I wagered three 5.3!]

[Just three? I wagered four plus a Complete Solutions!]

[I, I, I……]

……

This time, the wagers for both Sheng Xiuyan and Gu Xi were comparable as were their payouts.

As such, the topic had quickly turned into which one of them would win in the end.

Gu Xi looked at it for a little while and went on to something else.

She refused to admit that she, too, as a little bit nervous.

***

That night, as much as Old Mr. Gu had tried to have them stayed, Gu Shao still took Gu Xi home with him.

They really didn’t think he knew that Gu Yanlin and others brought her back milk tea in the middle of the night the last time that Gu Xi had stayed over?

Gu Shao decided to take Gu Xi home with him to keep her away from junk food.

Gu Shao returned to his study after they had gotten home, and Gu Xi returned to her own room.

Even though the two were not together, the father and daughter were doing more or less the exact same thing.

Inside her room, Gu Xi pulled out her “rainy day fund” notebook and carefully made an entry for the money that she had deposited today.

She had received the capital of 50,000 yuan from Gu Shao for their Youth Innovation Competition topic plus some pocket money.

She received 2,000 yuan prize money from the school’s Joint Science Competition.

She received 151 yuan from red envelopes from Grandpa, minus the process fee of 52.2 yuan.

Gu Xi jotted them all down, confirmed twice that everything looked good before she closed up her accounting book and placed it back inside the drawer.