Shuishui giggled and welcomed the idea of a banquet. If it was her teacher's wish for her, she would gladly accept it. Teacher Hu was old, and she would not do anything that would make him unhappy. She would agree with his wishes and would do anything to make him happy as proof of her respect for her old teacher.
Qingqing looked at Elder Hu. "Dad, you can let Shuishui and Xiao Jie sit together. They are of the same age, so they must have plenty to talk about."
Qingqing knew that Elder Hu disliked her, but she still had to please him. After all, he was the only one who could give them a foothold in the family. She had to depend on Elder Hu's connections for her daughter to enter a good school.
"Shuishui doesn't like to talk," Elder Hu said. He understood Shuishui and knew that she wasn't talkative. Most of the time, she preferred silence. He also felt that Xiao Jie would have nothing sensible to say to Shuishui. Shuishui, however, was a polite child, and she would always respond politely whenever someone would speak to her.
It was a good day. Elder Hu's priority was to help Shuishui find a good university. Suddenly, his phone rang.
Teacher Hu took out his phone and answered the call. "How is it?"
Teacher Hu kept nodding his head. "En, okay, I got it. It's okay. I'll contact you tomorrow." After hanging up the phone, he looked at Qian Shuishui in surprise. "The highest score for the science subjects in the college entrance examination is 720. Unfortunately, you are not the top scorer. You also have to inform your guardian about it."
"En, I'll contact them all later," Shuishui said. It didn't matter to her that she wasn't the top scorer in science. She only wanted to be admitted into the university she wanted. She had to tell Uncle Jiang about it. She would need his help with admission papers anyway. There was no need for her to continue going to high school.
Elder Hu looked at them and said, "Have you ordered yet? Let the waiter prepare the dishes. We've ordered three dishes already. If you want anything else, just order it now."
Xiao Jie looked at the menu. "Then I'll order. I'll have the shredded pork with fish flavor, the pork ribs with cold melon, the straw hat cake, and yangzhou fried rice."
Xiao Jie wasn't done. She added, "I also want to eat this roasted squab, and—" She had ordered almost seven dishes. Elder Hu cut her short and said, "You've ordered so many dishes already. Can you finish them all?"
Teacher Hu didn't like to be extravagant and wasteful. When he took Qian Shuishui out to eat, Qian Shuishui would always order the right amount. She wouldn't randomly order dishes because she wouldn't want to end up not consuming everything.
Hu Wei was more frugal. Although he was rich, he didn't like to waste money. "Xiao Jie, cancel two dishes. You've ordered too many."
"But I really want to eat them all." Xiao Jie looked at the menu. It was rare for her to be able to order the food she liked.
"There are only five of us. Six or seven dishes should be enough," Elder Hu said. He did not like Xiao Jie to begin with. She seemed to want to eat everything. He knew that she would not be able to finish all the dishes she ordered.
Hu Wei forcibly removed the two dishes that his daughter ordered. He finalized the order. Including the three dishes that Shuishui had ordered, there were a total of eight dishes. They had already ordered rice, but Xiao Jie had added yangzhou fried rice.
Xiao Jie was very unhappy. "But she also ordered the dishes she wanted. Why did you remove the dishes that I wanted?"
"Shuishui ordered three dishes, and you ordered five. Isn't that enough?" Hu Wei looked at the child. "If you are still hungry after you finish everything that you ordered, then you can order more."
It was not a good thing to be so wasteful at such a young age. Moreover, Hu Wei was not in a good mood. Although Xiao Jie was not his biological child, he also loved her because he liked Qingqing. He treated her as if she were his biological child. He actually doted on her. Xiao Jie was generally an obedient child. However, she would sometimes throw a tantrum. Hu Wei realized that there was a stark contrast between his father's student and Xiao Jie.
Xiao Jie was an immature child. She demanded for what she wanted, while Qian Shuishui was sitting quietly. Occasionally, she would fill Elder Hu's cup with tea. Her behavior was impeccable.
Qian Shuishui felt that Hu Wei was looking at her. She only smiled and turned to her teacher. "Teacher, do you want tea?"
"No need. I have some here. Shuishui, how old are you this year?" Elder Hu tried to find something to talk about.
"I'm almost seventeen." Shuishui would be celebrating her birthday that September.
"You're still so young. You're entering university at a young age. What university do you want to go to?" Elder Hu continued.
"Beijing University of Science and Technology." It was clear that Shuishui had already made up her mind.
Teacher Hu turned to his son and said, "Hu Wei, your child is also going to university. What are your plans?"
"Dad, I don't have any plans right now. I have an iron rice bowl and my son is about to be born. I want us to move to a bigger house so that we can live more comfortably." They were living in a high-end apartment that Elder Hu had given him. It had three rooms, but he still felt that there was not much space for them to move around.
"You guys can do whatever you want with your own lives. Your second brother told me that you visited him. I've already told him that you can do whatever you want on your own. Don't always resort to borrowing money from others," Elder Hu said to his eldest son.
He looked at his eldest son. "That apartment is worth quite a lot. After all, it's in a prime location. If you really want to move to a bigger house, you can sell it. You can go to the suburbs and buy a bigger one. That should be enough." After so many years, he still did not understand why his eldest son was very disappointing compared to his other children. His youngest daughter was doing well. She was very capable of taking care of herself. His eldest son, however, was very weak. He did not have much courage to do anything. He only stood up to the family when he decided to marry Qingqing, a woman who was already with a child from a previous marriage. He had ignored everyone's objections and carelessly invested in a business that he thought would prosper. In the end, he lost a lot of money. To help him, Elder Hu gave them an apartment they could live in. The apartment was worth a lot of money. His eldest son had the security of his job to rely on, so his life would not be too bad. However, he had married a vain woman. Qingqing pretended to be reserved in front of everyone, but when she was left alone with Hu Wei, she would demand for luxurious items. That was why Elder Hu ignored his eldest son. He would not even get a share of the inheritance. When he passed away, his assets would be divided equally among his two other children.
Hu Wei lowered his head. He looked hurt. "Dad, it has been so long. Why are you still like this? I am also your son. Why are you always so prejudiced against me?"
Shuishui overheard their conversation and realized that Teacher Hu's family was also very complicated. Teacher Hu doted on his eldest son, but for some reason, he had to be cold and strict towards him. He seemed to display that he would refuse to help his eldest son.
"Dad, it's been so long, but you still don't like me. I really don't know why. Could it be that I didn't do well?" Qingqing asked. She felt really helpless as she listened to their conversation and felt the need to interfere. As a daughter-in-law, she felt that it was her duty to reach out and try to be recognized, but Hu Wei's father never recognized her as his daughter-in-law. It was hard to accept the way her husband's relatives perceived her. They would either mock or ignore her during gatherings. She initially thought that her life would be better after she married Hu Wei.
She knew that it was important to make the family patriarch like her. If he did, she would have everything she wanted. However, no matter what she did, her father-in-law had never liked her. She thought that he would be happy and treat her better once he found out that he was pregnant with Hu Wei's son. After all, the baby was his biological grandson. The old man remained cold and indifferent. Hu Wei realized that his father had treated outsiders such as his students better than he had treated his wife and stepdaughter.
She really could not control his emotions, especially because Xiao Jie was there with them. Although Xiao Jie was not a member of the Hu family, Hu Wei took her in as his own when she was only one or two years old. Xiao Jie had always thought of him as her father, because he had always been very good to her.
Elder Hu looked at Qingqing. "What are you shouting for? What is wrong with you? To us, you are not a daughter-in-law of the Hu family. You can do whatever you want."
Hu Wei called out to his father. "Dad." He was shocked that his father said that. "Dad, Qingqing didn't do anything wrong. Why are you so strict with her?"
"I'm not strict. To be more precise, I've never expected anything from her." Teacher Hu's expression was very cold. "Moreover, Xiao Jie isn't my granddaughter. Do not obligate me to treat her well. I'm not unreasonable. But what have you done in the past few years? You invested recklessly, and you only came rushing to me when you lost your money. Why? Are you short of money now? Who told you to ask for money from me? It's this woman, right? Why? An ordinary family can live well with two to three thousand a month. Why can't you? You have a house and a car. What are you not satisfied with? Tell me. Let me hear it."
"Dad!" Hu Wei was embarrassed.
Elder Hu chuckled. "Look at yourself. You've chosen to get rid of the Hu family, so you don't have the right to ask for our help. Don't let others look down on you. Stick to your decisions and stand by them. Don't blame me for being so ruthless. After all, you were disobedient, and I was willing to help you when you failed. You've done enough. I'm old, but I don't have dementia."
Shuishui grabbed Teacher Hu's hand. "Teacher, don't be agitated."
"It's okay. I'm not agitated." Teacher Hu only wanted his eldest son to wake up. Hu Wei had been married to Qingqing for so many years, and he had gotten over it. However, he knew that his son was still quite immature. He turned to Shuishui and said, "Sorry to have embarrassed you, Shuishui. I didn't want you to hear these things."
"It's okay, Teacher. The dishes are here. Let's eat!" Elder Hu hoped that his son would understand him, but would always end up defending his wife's unpleasant actions. Shuishui was annoyed that Hu Wei had asked for money from Teacher Hu. It was what agitated Teacher Hu.
"Uncle Hu, Teacher Hu's health is not very good, and he has been having heart problems these past years," Shuishui said calmly to Hu Wei. She hoped that Uncle Hu would not provoke Teacher Hu anymore.
Hu Wei glanced at Shuishui and didn't say anything more. "Then let's eat. I won't ask Dad for money again. Dad, don't worry. I still have a bit of self-respect, but I still hope that you will help me one last time. I want Xiao Jie to do well in the future. Her score is 552. It's not very high, but I still hope she would be admitted to a good university."
"That is not up to me. Shuishui took the exam on her own. Your score reflects your overall capacity. I can't change her score. I can't do miracles." Teacher Hu did not want to help Xiao Jie. He was getting old. He only wished that his own children would care for him, but he never felt that from his eldest son. He only thought about money. His other children were busy with their own careers and didn't have much time to spend time with him. They would visit him occasionally, but they were often apart from each other. Fortunately, Shuishui was there to comfort him.
During the holidays, she would visit his house to eat with him. Whenever he got sick, she would accompany him to the doctor as a family member. He didn't want to think too much about it to avoid bearing resentments towards his own children.
"Uncle Hu, if you're not satisfied with your daughter's score, she can study again and probably retake the test. The college entrance exam is conducted very strictly, and universities adhere to regulations, so you might not be able to get her into a good university even if you spend money. If her score is closer to the university's quota, it's possible for her to be granted admission. Perhaps you can look up the scores of all the undergraduates for the meantime. If her score is closer to theirs, maybe she will be admitted if you spend a little money, right?" Shuishui said politely. She didn't want Teacher Hu to be angry anymore. She felt that Teacher Hu was already acting like a child.
She thought about how Teacher Hu lived alone back in City A and how none of his relatives came to visit him. She never asked him why, but she had seen how lonely Teacher Hu was.
Shuishui knew that the older people got, the more they craved for their family's affection.
Hu Wei couldn't say anything back to Shuishui, because everything that she had said was true. However, he and Qingqing felt a little uncomfortable because Qian Shuishui scored 720 points. She could basically go to any university she wanted. They could not say anything because it was clear that she was an intelligent young girl, and that was something that they couldn't take from her even if they wanted to.
Shuishui felt that she had said too much, but she had decided to interrupt only when they were arguing and Teacher Hu had gotten angrier.
Xiao Jie remained silent. She was confused why her grandfather could never accept her as his granddaughter. Shuishui wasn't his biological granddaughter and was merely his student, but he treated her very well. She felt that she was being treated unfairly. Her mother had already told her that Elder Hu didn't like them, and she herself also felt it. What her grandfather said that day had hurt her very much. Her cousins had good food and clothes, and they often bought designer handbags. As for her, she only had ordinary pocket money. She did not dare to go to high-end places with her friends because she never had enough money in her purse. She had seen her mother secretly crying in their bedroom, and she only understood why now. "Grandfather, although I am not your biological granddaughter, I will still be filial and visit you every day. I will treat you like my biological grandfather," Xiao Jie said.
Teacher Hu ignored Xiao Jie and drank his tea instead.
Shuishui looked at Xiao Jie. She was indeed quite pitiful. After all, her circumstances were not her fault. "Teacher Hu, why don't we eat outside tonight? We can invite Uncle Jiang and his family so there will be more of us," Shuishui said.
Shuishui desperately tried to change the topic.
"Where do you want to eat? It will be my treat." Teacher Hu knew how considerate Shuishui was. He calmed down and thought about how he wanted to live his life. He was already an old man, and he wanted to live out his golden years peacefully.
"I'll contact them first to ask if they're free tonight, so I can confirm how many people are coming. I can send them the location later." Shuishui cracked a smile in her effort to make everyone around her less tense.