Chapter 145 — Do You Know My Mother?
After the call, Pei Yueran was about to go and check up on the boys when her phone rang again. Looking at the caller, it was Principal Shen.
"Hello Principal."
"Hello Ms Pei. I'm sorry for calling out of the blue like this. Is this a good time?"
"It's fine Principal. Is there a problem?"
"Not at all. Infact, I have wonderful news. Student Yichen passed the scholarship exam!"
The ecstasy in Principal Shen's voice could not be disguised.
When the news sunk in, Pei Yueran reacted, "Really? This is wonderful news indeed." She remembered that the results were supposed to be out today or tomorrow. Principal Shen must have called to inform them in advance.
"Thank you so much Principal."
"Not at all." Principal Shen said. "I didn't do anything. Student Yichen is a very intelligent young man. It is our honor to have him in our school. By the way, the partial scholarship will not be withdrawn, but will be given to him as a monthly stipend. Congratulations."
Pei Yueran could not stop smiling at the good news.
"Is he around?" Principal Shen asked.
"Yes he is, but he is in his room. Let me pass the phone to him."
Principal Shen nodded excitedly. It was as if he could see the glory that was soon to belong to his school because of the boy.
While he daydreamed, he kept watering his ornamental tree. The poor bonsai in his office was almost watered to death. In no time at all, he could hear Han Yichen's calm voice through the phone.
"Hello Sir."
"My boy, congratulations!" Principal Shen's voice was booming.
Somehow, Han Yichen had upgraded from "Student Yichen" to "My boy" in the space of a few minutes.
"Thank you sir", Han Yichen said with smiles. Li Yuchen, who guessed what was happening was jumping around in excitement.
Someone who didn't know would think both of them were getting the scholarship.
"I'm proud of you. You did excellently well." Principal Shen was not exaggerating. Han Yichen had scored a whooping nine hundred and sixty eight points on the exam. It was a historical feat!
Principal Shen continued, "I've made all the necessary arrangements. You just need to resume school with the readiness to work hard."
The arrangements he was referring to was the hostel accommodation, books and everything else that was covered by the scholarship.
Han Yichen nodded. After a few more words, he handed the phone back to his mother, who thanked Principal Shen and cut the call.
Li Yuchen rushed to Han Like a tornado and attempted to lift him up. "You did it! Congratulations!!" His happiness warmed Han Yichen's heart.
"Thank you." He said with a grin.
Li Yuchen's school-leaving exam results were out as well. Although he wasn't the top scorer or anything, his results were not bad. They comfortably earned him a spot in Anping First Middle School.
Thus, both boys were set for school life.
The plan was to go shopping the next day, to buy school supplies. Li Chuanmo would have been back by then.
"So school starts next week. Oh no, this won't do." Li Yuchen said after a moment of silence. He got up and went to sit at the computer.
"What are you doing?"
"I plan to play enough games to last me a long time. I would soon be unable to play games at will. You had better come join me." He said, already logging in and beginning a match.
Han Yichen wasn't even surprised anymore. Li Yuchen's thoughts were usually on a different level.
But on a second thought, he made sense, so Han Yichen got up too and went to the computer.
The next time Pei Yueran came to check up on them, they were hard at work, killing bandits and getting rich.
*****
Monday morning dawned with the sun shining gently after a night of continuous rainfall. For most residents in City M, it was another day of avoiding light colored clothing, just in case a careless driver decided to stain their clothes with rain water.
Wearing a cream suit with a flower print inner blouse, Pei Yueran sat through yet another meeting with Gaoyi Group. Fortunately, even though Gao Tinghua had returned and was present, he behaved himself throughout.
The only thing was that his gaze was fixed on her throughout, as if trying to see something.
She tried to ignore it for the most part, but such an intense gaze was unnerving. It was as if he wanted to see through her clothes or something.
This guy was really trouble, she thought.
On his own part, Gao Tinghua could not stop staring. First, it was because he was trying to memorize her face after not seeing her for a "long" time. Then he told himself that it was because she was just too beautiful.
As the meeting went on though, he kept staring because he could see the resemblance.
He called himself crazy a few times, but he was really confused. He knew it was very possible for two unrelated people to look so much alike however, so he kept telling himself that that was the case.
Anyway, it wasn't like they were spitting images of each other. It was just similar eyes, nose and certain mannerisms.
Besides, he figured that it was because he wanted his mother to be strong like Pei Yueran who was the woman he currently liked, so it made sense to compare them and mistakenly find similarities.
That must be it, he reasoned. He came out of his deep thoughts to feel a freezing glare leveled at him. Turning to the source, he noticed Li Chuanmo, whose lips were set in a thin line.
He smirked, but didn't speak.
The member of his team who was presenting today spoke as if he had hot water in his mouth. He was so fast that his words almost couldn't be understood. He couldn't wait for the meeting to end. This boss of his looked set to cause trouble!
Fortunately, the meeting ended without incident. Gao Tinghua did not make any frivolous remarks, and even when the meeting ended, he did not pester her again after she rejected his lunch invitation once.
Pei Yueran heaved a sigh of relief. The first phase of their collaboration was almost over. After this, they would wait until they could assess the sales of their first joint product, before deciding if the cooperation would continue.
Before she walked out of the door though, he stopped her with a question, "Yueran, do you know my mother?"