Tao Xi followed Yang Zhengming into the conference room. Director Peng, who was chatting with Fang Zuqing, hurriedly stood up and waved to Tao Xi, "Tao Xi, come and sit."
The first thing Tao Xi saw was the two old people sitting on the sofa. He stood beside the door at a loss. He first bent down slightly and politely called the two old people "Hello, grandma and grandma", and then shouted separately. Luo Zhengyin and Director Peng.
Fang Zuqing stood up with the help of Luo Zhengyin, put on his glasses, and was stunned for a moment when he saw Tao Xi's face.
Luo Zhengyin has seen Tao Xi several times, she restrained the sadness on her face and showed a little smile to Tao Xi.
Tao Xi cautiously walked to the vacant seat next to Director Peng and sat down. Director Peng patted him on the shoulder and introduced him: "Tao Xi, these are Yang Duole's parents, I came here today to chat with you. Talk about your game."
Director Peng has dealt with many disputes between students and often receives parents. These words are extremely subtle and take care of the faces of several parents present.
Hearing this, Tao Xi pursed his lower lip, put his hands on his lap, and quietly raised his eyes to look at the two old men sitting opposite, his eyelashes trembling with tension.
This was the first time he saw his grandfather and grandmother head-on. The two old men looked tired, Fang Zuqing said nothing, and Ye Yurong's eyes were a little red, as if he was upset.
After Yang Zhengming entered the door, he went to the water dispenser and poured a glass of water. At this time, he walked over with the water glass. Ye Yurong took the initiative to take the water glass from Yang Zhengming's hand and handed it to Tao Xi.
Tao Xi hurriedly stood up and saw that the brown-spotted hands trembled a little like an old man. He stretched out his hands and respectfully took the water cup from Ye Yurong's hand, and heard his grandmother say kindly to him:
"Child, drink some water first."
He didn't know why, but when he heard this "child", he lowered his eyes in a hurry, whispered "thank you", sat back on the chair with the water glass in both hands, and drank slowly with his head down.
Several parents were embarrassed to talk about Yang Duole directly. Ye Yurong saw the nervousness of the child in front of him and asked Tao Xi warmly, "I heard that you were transferred from the school in Qingshui County?"
Tao Xi looked up at Ye Yurong, nodded and said, "I came from Qingshui County No. 1 Middle School."
Director Peng on the side said with a smile: "Tao Xi is the first place in Qingshui County, so he was rewarded to come here to study for a year, and his grades here are also very good."
Ye Yurong smiled kindly and praised: "He is a good boy who is smart and hardworking."
Hearing this, Tao Xi suddenly opened his eyes.
Under the leadership of Director Peng, the atmosphere in the conference room has eased a lot, but the main business still needs to be discussed. Yang Zhengming considered it for a while, and said sincerely to Tao Xi:
"Tao Xi, we came here mainly to apologize to you. I didn't expect Yang Duole to do such a thing. If he hadn't come today, I would have asked him to apologize to you right now."
Ye Yurong had a sad look on his face, and said to Tao Xi, "Our children really did something wrong. Our parents didn't educate them well, so we have to apologize to you."
Tao Xi's back slowly shrank, his eyes fell on the water glass in his hand, and he did not speak.
Seeing that Tao Xi had been silent, Director Peng had no choice but to smile dryly and say: "When Yang Duole comes to school tomorrow, let him apologize to Tao Xi, how much hatred a child can have, it's good to untie the knot. ."
Just as he finished speaking, he saw Tao Xi suddenly raised his head and said, "I won't accept Yang Duole's apology."
The tone was decisive, there was stubbornness in his eyes, and there was no room for retreat.
The atmosphere in the conference room froze instantly. Several parents looked at each other in dismay. Director Peng scratched his hair a little embarrassedly. He had some personal friendship with Professor Fang. This time, he also wanted to help several parents resolve this dispute in private as much as possible, but now he feels a little bit awkward. tricky.
Fang Zuqing, who had not spoken for a long time, frowned, and said to Tao Xi in a deep voice, "Not only will we apologize, we will also try our best to make up for your losses for Lele and compensate you, as long as you can no longer pursue this matter. ."
They had discussed it for a long time before, and they knew that the key to the matter was Tao Xi. As long as the child was no longer held accountable, then what Yang Duole did would not be known to everyone, and the school could also count on Tao Xi's understanding. Take a lighter punishment for Yang Duole. Although they are angry with their children, they can't sit back and watch Yang Duole be involved in the whirlpool.
Ye Yurong felt that Fang Zuqing's tone was a little too serious, afraid of scaring Tao Xi, so he said softly to Tao Xi: "Son, it's not easy for you to come from Qingshui County, as compensation, we can help you continue to read in Wenhua No. 1 Middle School. After high school, we will also pay you the expenses after you go to college until you graduate from college, do you think this is okay?"
Tao Xi heard the sound of "child" again from her grandmother's mouth, only to feel stagnant breathing and a pain in her chest.
He opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but something rough seemed to block his throat, and he couldn't make a sound at all.
Several parents saw Tao Xi lowered his head and didn't speak, and thought he was thinking hesitantly.
Director Peng actually thinks this compensation is very good. After all, Tao Xi's family is poor, and it is also a problem to go to college in the future. There is no need to let such a good opportunity pass up for a moment. He whispered to Tao Xi, "Tao Xi, why don't you think about it? Look?"
Tao Xi shook his head, and when he spoke again, his voice was hoarse: "I don't want to accept it."
Ye Yurong didn't expect this child to be so stubborn, sighed softly, and looked at Yang Zhengming, who had been holding his forehead and didn't speak. Seeing that he didn't respond, he had to look helplessly at Luo Zhengyin, thinking that Luo Zhengyin knew Tao Xi, maybe what he said would be more useful.
Luo Zhengyin sat closer to Tao Xi and persuaded in a soft tone: "Tao Xi, don't you like to draw and want to apply for an overseas art school? We can also help you to study abroad. You have such a good relationship with Qinhe, just in time. Can we go to America together, okay?"
Tao Xi heard the word "Qin He" in the blurred vision, and remained silent, still shaking his head stubbornly.
Fang Zuqing had a stubborn character all his life, and the daughter he gave birth to was also stubborn. He looked at the child who seemed to be more stubborn than him, took away the seriousness on his face, and said in a slow tone to Tao Xi:
"Son, I can understand your anger. To be honest, I am still angry and can't believe my grandson would do such a ridiculous thing."
He started coughing heavily in the middle of his speech, and Tao Xi couldn't help raising his eyes to look over.
Ye Yurong hurriedly handed the water to his wife. Fang Zuqing took a few sips of water to calm down his cough. He looked at Tao Xi, a bit of pain appeared in his cloudy eyes, and said bitterly:
"His mother left early and was weak and sick since childhood, so we all coddled him, reluctant to let him suffer a little bit, and developed a arrogant and self-willed character. Now he has made mistakes and made mistakes, and we parents are also wrong. , I want to apologize to you, and I really want to compensate you well."
Tao Xi lowered his head, swallowed his dry throat hard, clenched his fingers into his palm, and listened to Fang Zuqing continue to speak.
"Everyone makes mistakes, children do, adults do too, and they have to pay for their mistakes. I once paid an irreversible price for a mistake. Now that I am old, there are not many days left. Really I can't bear to watch my only child pay too much for mistakes."
Seemingly recalling something from the past, Fang Zuqing's dim eyes were filled with sorrow and tears. Ye Yurong, who was beside him, couldn't help turning his face away, took out a handkerchief and wiped the wet corners of his eyes.
Fang Zuqing stood up tremblingly from the sofa, the old professor who had almost never pleaded, stooped down, stretched out his trembling hand, handed a piece of paper to Tao Xi, and pleaded:
"Child, it's our child who is sorry for you. We will pay for him. You can ask for anything you want. As long as this old man can do it, I will try my best to complete it."
Tao Xi's vision was completely blurred, he couldn't see what was on the piece of paper at all, he could only see the trembling old hands.
He has longed for countless times, longing for himself to be like his sister Tao Le, after making mistakes and being wronged, there are grandparents who can always favor him and protect him. They will use those old but powerful hands to hold him. He protected him in his arms, shielded him from all scolding and beatings, and told him, don't be afraid of children, come to grandparents.
Now he stretched out his hands to take the piece of paper from his grandfather, lowered his head and blinked his eyes forcefully, his blurry vision finally clear.
Three words were printed in the center of the first row of the paper:
Letter of understanding.
The compensation they promised was clearly laid out in it, each of which was enough to make a man from poverty fall in love, and he could even continue to write his own demands below.
What a generous compensation, as long as he signs it.
The meeting room fell into silence again, but the adults finally realized that something was wrong with the child. He lowered his head and tried to shrink himself together, his shoulders trembled slightly, and his fingers tightly clenched the "Understanding". "Book", only the suppressed choking can be heard, like an abandoned cub whining.
They didn't expect Tao Xi to have such a reaction, and they couldn't understand it. From the perspective of adults, accepting these generous compensation was the most rational choice.
Ye Yurong frowned and asked with concern, "Child, what's the matter?"
Luo Zhengyin handed a tissue to Tao Xi, but Tao Xi didn't answer it. She didn't know what Tao Xi was sad about, so she could only tentatively propose: "If you don't discuss with your family, call your parents. ask?"
my parents.
"I..." Tao Xi finally opened his lips and seemed to want to say something, but for some reason he couldn't say it.
At this moment, the door of the conference room was suddenly opened, and everyone couldn't help but look over, and saw a tall and slender boy walking in with a frosty face. around.
"Qinhe?" Luo Zhengyin stood up in surprise, "Aren't you still in Beijing?"
Lin Qinhe didn't answer, and saw the piece of paper in Tao Xi's hand. There were teardrops on the paper that had yet to dry up, and the three words "Letter of Understanding" were soaked and stained into distorted ink marks.
At that moment, everyone in the room clearly felt a deep anger from this young man. His eyes darkened suddenly, and he didn't say anything. He just took the "Letter of Understanding" from Tao Xi's hand, and his sharply articulated hand instantly Paper torn.
Fang Zuqing's face was ugly, staring at the child who had grown up with him, with anger in his voice: "Qinhe, what are you doing?!"
Lin Qinhe's stern face was covered with deep ice. He almost never disobeyed these elders. At this moment, he looked at them with deep eyes, and swept over their surprised and puzzled faces one by one, and his tone was extremely cold:
"Do you know what you are doing?"
Luo Zhengyin had never seen Lin Qinhe make such a big fire, and was speechless.
Yang Zhengming stood up. After all, it was his son's business. He explained to Lin Qinhe, "We want to talk to Tao Xi about what Lele did wrong, and see if we can negotiate and resolve it."
It's just that they didn't expect that Tao Xi would react so violently.
Negotiated solution
Lin Qinhe glanced at the torn "Letter of Understanding" on the ground, looked sarcastic, and asked: "If it is your own child, who is framed and slandered, almost bears the charge of plagiarism all his life, and his future is ruined, you will choose to forgive that one. person?"
Several adults fell silent when they heard the words. Yang Zhengming frowned. This is the reason why he has always been difficult to talk to Tao Xi. He knows very well that what Yang Duole does can almost ruin a person's life, not to mention a person who doesn't. Children of any background.
Tao Xi wiped his face and stood up, looked at Lin Qinhe and shook his head.
Lin Qinhe took Tao Xi's hand, pulled him behind him, and said coldly to the silent crowd:
"Tao Xi doesn't need your compensation, nor does he need relatives like you."
This sentence was like a boulder breaking into the waves. Several adults looked at Lin Qinhe blankly, with a stagnant expression on their faces, as if they hadn't heard the words clearly, and they didn't respond when they saw Lin Qinhe taking Tao Xi out.
Lin Qinhe held Tao Xi's hand and led him out of the airtight conference room, the door was heavily shut behind him.
Su Yun, who was waiting outside the door, saw them coming out and asked Lin Qinhe:
"Are you going to tell them now?"
Lin Qinhe nodded.
Tao Xi raised his head abruptly and looked at Lin Qinhe with wet and reddish eyes. Lin Qinhe gently wiped the still-dry tears from his face with his thumb, and then held his hand again and used some strength to face him. Say:
"Don't be afraid, we're going home now."
Tao Xi nodded and followed Lin Qinhe away from the conference room.
After Su Yun watched them walk away, she opened the door of the conference room again. Luo Zhengyin recovered from the panic, and saw Su Yun stunned and asked, "Secretary Su, why are you here?"
Su Yun said to Luo Zhengyin with a smile: "Mrs. Luo, Qinhe, please ask me to tell you one thing."
Having been so embarrassed that he didn't know what to do, Director Peng knew that they must have something important, so he stood up and said goodbye to everyone and left the conference room.
Yang Zhengming had a bad premonition in his heart. Lin Qinhe's words kept repeating in his mind. He couldn't help but walk a few steps closer to Su Yun and asked in a loud voice:
"What did Qinhe mean just now?" He panicked and didn't realize that Su Yun didn't hear Lin Qinhe's words.
Su Yun took a look at several people with different expressions in the room, and was a little worried about whether they would accept it, especially two elderly people who were very old.
"You will soon find out."
Under the puzzled eyes of everyone, she took out a laptop from her briefcase, turned on the screen in the conference room, and clicked on a video after connecting.
In the clearly unfolded picture on the screen, a middle-aged woman in hospital clothes is sitting on a hospital bed. This woman has a pale face, and her entire face is somewhat abnormally swollen. The corners of her wrinkled eyes are filled with layers of sorrow.
For Yang Zhengming and the two elders of the Fang family, this is an old friend.
But they couldn't recognize it at the moment. After all, it has been seventeen years, and the woman who was only one side has changed almost completely.
Not long after the video started, the woman used a familiar and unfamiliar accent, and said "I'm sorry" over and over with a face full of repentance. Yang Zhengming's eyes trembled violently. His expression suddenly became solemn, as if he had remembered something.
Only Luo Zhengyin looked anxious and dazed, and couldn't help asking: "Who is this?"
But no one answered her. They all looked at the screen with heavy expressions and doubts. She could only continue to look at the video. Finally, she heard a name branded into her life in this woman's mouth: Fang Sui.
Then a cruel fact came out of the woman's mouth stumblingly and illogically, telling how two children were born on the same day on a snowy winter night seventeen years ago, and how their fates were exchanged in her mind.
Luo Zhengyin's cochlea roared, and her mind went blank. Looking at the woman halfway down her head and crying, she still couldn't believe what she just heard.
She stared at the two old men with a stiff gaze, and helplessly grabbed Ye Yurong's hand beside her, opened her mouth, and wanted to seek an answer eagerly, but found that Ye Yurong's hand was terribly cold, just like her, she was unstoppable. The ground trembled, and Fang Zuqing stared at the woman on the screen with his pupils shrunk. The faces of the aged and drooping skin were strangely blue and purple. Their expressions were shocked, but no one spoke.
"She, is what she said true?" Luo Zhengyin murmured in panic, the woman on the screen was still crying, and the sound made her heart panic, she asked herself hysterically,
"Lele... Isn't Lele A Sui's child? Then, where is A Sui's child? Where is it?"
But still no one answered her, Yang Zhengming lowered his head and buried his face in his palms, the knuckles of his hands were bulging, the blue veins on the backs of his hands throbbed suddenly, and a sigh came from his chest.
At this time, the woman's crying in the video finally stopped. She looked at the camera with dazed eyes and said in a hoarse voice:
"I named the child I left behind as Tao Xi."
This sentence exploded like a thunder in the conference room.
"Zu Qing!"
Ye Yurong screamed, only grabbed a corner of his clothes, and watched his wife fall heavily to the ground like an old tree destroyed by thunderstorms on a typhoon day.
Yang Zhengming and Su Yun rushed over to pick up the old man, hugged them and rushed out the door. Luo Zhengyin was stunned, his hands and feet were paralyzed, and he stood up with the armrest of the sofa, and then he realized that he followed the panic. footsteps.
The author says:
Sorry for being late, I can finally post it before midnight