Entering the living room, Liu Shuying gestured for Zhao An to sit down. She then went into the kitchen to bring out a lavish spread of dishes—fish, meat, and even seafood.
It seemed she had put in some effort. As an adult, she was far more sensible than her son, knowing that asking for help required a certain demeanor.
Trying to get help without any real effort was simply naivety born of someone who hadn't experienced the harsh realities of life.
Zhao An didn't expose her, simply eating and drinking as he pleased.
He didn't initiate conversation, instead discussing Liu Shuying's workplace—an ordinary factory worker.
Her family wasn't wealthy.
And despite her husband's frequent absences, she hadn't been unfaithful; overall, she seemed quite decent.
Her looks were above average, but she possessed a mature, alluring charm that attracted the attention of younger men.
After a few rounds of drinks…
Zhao An, holding his glass, said, "The university town is finished. Our school will have a university now.
Now we have junior high, high school, and university—it's very convenient."
"Haha, a top-tier university is still better.
The new school is closer and more convenient, but who knows what the quality of the teachers is like?"
Liu Shuying chimed in with a smile, scoffing at the idea of a new university.
After all, university is the best place, and also the place to build relationships.
Established universities have excellent faculty, and the teaching quality is much better.
"It's just a diploma. It's important in some ways, and not important in others."
Zhao An smiled. He was no longer a wage earner.
He was his own boss; what kind of employees couldn't he find?
University students, graduate students, master's students, doctoral students, professors?
It's nothing special. He'd even won a Nobel Prize; why would he care about the school?
University is just a good time for hunting, and it's more convenient to have fun.
This was merely a stepping stone for her woman's advancement. Bai Junlin understood this perfectly. Her man had even invested in a university to help her get promoted; wasn't that enough to move her?
It was almost ten o'clock when Zhang Shuying sent her son home to sleep; he had class the next day.
After her son returned to his room, she pleaded in a low voice, "Zhao An, can you help Xiaoye? He did something wrong today!"
Zhao An pretended not to know, scratching his head. "What happened?
Zhang Chang didn't tell me either. I was wondering why Liu Changye treated me to dinner."
Liu Shuying didn't know if Zhao An was genuinely unaware or pretending, but she could only grit her teeth and say, "Xiaoye was reading a book in class, and his homeroom teacher saw him. Now he's facing expulsion.
I was hoping you could put in a good word for him. Your words carry weight.
That way, Xiaoye won't be expelled."
Actually, expulsion was already excessive. A high school senior expelled—wasn't that practically ruining his life?
Even if a university graduate isn't the best, at least it'll make finding work easier.
Even if she gets a factory job, she can find an office job, not work on an assembly line.
That's a much higher starting point than someone without education; how could she not know that?
Zhao An took out a cigarette, lit it, and glanced at the pitiful Liu Shuying. Her delicate and dignified face became even more captivating, and her shapely, long legs, visible beneath her pencil skirt, were straight and shapely.
"That's not impossible.
It's just that it's a bit risky for me.
My reputation would be damaged, which isn't a good thing."
Liu Shuying, sensing an opportunity, knew that since he hadn't explicitly refused, she could continue.
Gritting her teeth, she took two bundles of banknotes from the room and placed them on the table. "Zhao An, if you can help, this money is yours."
Zhao An was stunned for a moment, then let out a cold laugh. "I don't lack money. Money is just a number to me.
My daily net income is millions, tens of millions, even hundreds of millions. I really don't care about this little bit of money.
Besides, you're insulting me. You're looking down on me!"
Liu Shuying felt a little dizzy. She hadn't expected her good intentions to backfire. Gritting her teeth, she lowered her head and said with a sob in her voice, "I'm sorry, please help Xiaoye. He's so young, and he's already been fired. How will he live now?"
As she spoke, she began to cry. As a mother, what could she do when her son was in this situation?
She even felt like dying.
Zhao An stroked his chin, squinted, and sized up Liu Shuying. "Helping isn't out of the question, but I need to have some credibility.
He's looking at nude models; only by providing some evidence can I prove I'm doing this kind of thing."
"What evidence?"
Liu Shuying was puzzled; she probably didn't know she was being targeted.
If she hadn't been targeted, her son wouldn't have been the target.
You could say she was the root of everything; women are all sources of trouble.
She wasn't exactly a beauty, but she had a great figure—voluptuous yet slender, strong and sexy—no wonder she was being targeted.