After the party, the final exam was approaching, and Huihua no longer had that worry on her face. She had to study hard and take the exam. As long as she worked hard, there was nothing to be ashamed of.
At the end of December, the three of them came back with their admission notices, put their schoolbags on the table, and went out to play. They would start extracurricular classes next week, so they could play freely during this time. In addition to reciting an ancient poem every day, the two boys had to practice piano.
New Year approached
Li Xia’s factory has made a lot of money recently. She has received several orders and can finish them in the second half of next year. She took time to take her children out to play. This year, she went to the northwest. The ancient capital of 13 dynasties has a rich historical and cultural heritage. The Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang are magnificent and majestic, and she can feel the majesty and dominance of the first emperor.
The old man didn’t come this time, as he was getting older and his health was getting worse. The five of them drove into Tongguan and were originally going to stay in Xi’an for ten days. During this long time, the three children just wanted to play around in the area.
In the ancient capital, they drove around and found the best guesthouse. The bedding was new, and all the rooms had private bathrooms. On the night they checked in, the three kids had an argument about where to go the next day.
“Let’s go see the inscriptionless monument.” Shen Hui was very curious about the empress.
“Let’s go see the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.” Huihua wanted to observe this famous ancient building up close.
“I bought him some good wine when we went to Li Bai’s tomb.” Yiyi shook the bottle in his hand and said, “Look, it cost me more than one yuan. It’s authentic from Xinghua Village.”
The three children started quarreling. This had never happened before in Suzhou or Hangzhou. Li Xia looked back at Shen Haiyang and decided to let him handle the quarrels between the children.
“Let’s play Guess the Ding Shell, best of three; whoever wins gets to go to the place they want to go the most first.”
“Okay.”
The three of them started guessing the number of Ding Ke on the ground, and Li Xia looked at Shen Haiyang in confusion. It was that simple—no need to scold or reason with them?
Shen Haiyang replied to her with his eyes without saying anything: It would be much more difficult otherwise.
Yiyi lost every time he guessed, so he left the wine he bought at the guesthouse and followed his family around. Finally, they took him to see Li Bai. He excitedly began to recite Li Bai’s poems one by one on the way.
This kid has a really good memory. In his previous life, he left a small mountain village and still became the top scorer in science. Li Xia looked at his smug look through the rearview mirror and wondered if Fang Zhongcheng regretted it every time he saw him.
Regret? Of course. Ever since he saw how smart his son was, he started to pay attention to his son’s grades. He went to find his child’s teacher and regretted it so much when he came out of school. He went to find his son again during the holidays, but the family went out for a trip again.
As soon as Fang Zhongcheng entered the room, he saw Murong Danling had just gotten up and was sitting in front of the dressing table, drawing her eyebrows and eyes. It was twelve o’clock, the house was cold, and there was not even a bit of warmth in the air.
“Do you look like a married woman? Is there a wife like you? Luckily, my mother didn’t see it; otherwise, she would have scolded you.”
“Who praised me for being pretty in the first place? You want me to be both virtuous and fashionable; who do you think you are? And your mother scolds me. I earn my own money and spend it myself; what right does she have to scold me?”
They started arguing again while talking at home, and Li Xia drove back to Beijing. She went to the hospital to check on Shen Haiyang first, and the family returned home after he was fine.
During the winter vacation, Huihua was required to write ten pages. This trip provided her with enough materials. Li Xia also bought her a travel book on the way. This time, the little girl no longer had to worry about writing a diary. She thought that writing twenty pages would not be a problem, let alone ten.
The three little ones arranged their own time. Shen Haiyang would check on them from time to time and listen to them practicing the piano when he had time. During the winter vacation, the little ones had a great time. Yiyi did not miss any time to play, but he also memorized many words and chatted with his grandfather every day.
————
The following summer, during the summer vacation, a crew came to the provincial capital to film a play. The crew was looking for young actors; boys between ten and twelve years old who could play the piano would be best.
Shen Hui met all the requirements. After Li Xia read the news in the newspaper, she went home and called her child over. “The crew is looking for actors. You meet the requirements. Do you want to go?”
Shen Hui took the newspaper from her hand and looked at it with hesitation. “Is the crew just filming a TV show?”
“It’s a movie. The protagonist’s child has returned from abroad, so he wants to find a child who can play the piano.”
The child didn’t speak for a long time. Li Xia turned her head and silently observed his expression, then asked, “Don’t you want to go?”
“I don’t know either. Let’s ask dad when he comes back.”
“Okay, let’s discuss it with Dad.”
When Shen Haiyang came back and heard about this, he had no special opinion on it. “It’s up to you. If you want to go, go. If you don’t want to go, don’t go. Besides, after this registration, there is still an assessment, and you may not be selected. ”
“Then, shall I try?”
“Okay, then I’ll sign you up first.”
Li Xia thought Shen Hui was very good. This child looked like a combination of Murong Danling and Shen Haiyang, with red lips, white teeth, delicate features, and a pair of watery eyes that seemed to be filled with mist, giving off a melancholy feeling.
Han Jun came over during dinner, and Li Xia told the couple the news. “The crew is looking for actors, boys between ten and twelve years old. I remember your son being one year older than Huihui, right? He also meets the requirements.”
“Actor, I’m going to sign up for my son.” Qin Mu was interested in what she heard.
“Who are you signing up?” Han Jun scolded her, “Let the child study hard, go to college in the future, and bring honor to our Han family.”
“Han Jun, your thinking is really backward. What era is this? This is an era of equality and freedom. What’s wrong with being an actor? There’s nothing to look down on when someone makes a living based on their own abilities.”
Li Xia started to refute, and Han Jun smiled awkwardly. “No, I mean, my kid is so ugly; he’s not cut out for this job. It’s better for him to go to college or join the army.”
Li Xia did not say anything more about other people’s family affairs. The next day, she went to register Shen Hui, and Qin Mu also followed to register her son.
“He is such an old-fashioned guy. What’s wrong with letting your kid go out and see the world?”
“Did he agree to it?”
“I agreed. But he ignored me with a sullen face and said there was a high probability that my son would not be selected. Humph, I don’t care. I just want the child to see more different things.”
Qin Mu smiled and turned to ask her, “Do you and Brother Shen quarrel? I’ve been here for such a long time, and I haven’t heard you two quarrel.”
“There’s nothing to argue about.”
This was too much of a Versailles statement, and Qin Mu was immediately disappointed. They were not short of money, especially after the factory was running normally. Han Jun said that the money was flowing like water. And money can solve 10% of the troubles in life. The rest can be dealt with through discussion.
“We both have similar education levels and come from similar families, yet we quarrel all the time. You two grew up in very different environments, yet you don’t have any differences in your thinking. It seems that love can really resolve conflicts. If you like someone, you will think everything he says is good.”
Li Xia was embarrassed by this. How could she talk about love at such an old age? She and Shen Haiyang really had nothing to argue about. It was enough for the couple to respect each other. He had a good temper, and his words and actions were like a trickle of water. She would be quenched by his anger. As time went by, her temper seemed to have calmed down a lot.
“Han Jun is a bit old-fashioned.”
“Yes, he is the same age as brother Shen, but he seems to be so uncivilized. Before, they all said that since I don’t make money, I should obey men. Now that I make money myself, I have to reform him.”
Li Xia smiled and stopped talking. Many things in life are actually acceptable. If it is not a matter of principle, it can be resolved by mutual compromise and tolerance. Qin Mu has listened to her husband for so many years, and now it is time for her husband to compromise. As for today’s matter, the most important thing should be the child’s opinion. It is good to respect children.
They drove to the location quickly and handed in photos of their two children to register. “Come here for the audition at 9 a.m. the day after tomorrow. Don’t be late.”
“Okay.”
The two mothers came to sign up together, and two days later they brought their children to audition together. Yiyi was curious about what the crew was like, so he followed along. Li Xia told him to behave himself, and the little guy nodded quickly. When she led Shen Hui into the compound for the audition, the brat started to wander around.
This place was rented temporarily by the crew, and there was nothing to see. He wandered around and found it boring, so he followed the crew into the audition yard.
There is a little boy performing in the movie. In this part, he made a mistake and was beaten by his father. He was hysterical and quarreled with his father. The setting is that the child has been abroad for two years and has a very extroverted personality. He can’t accept his parents hitting him at all.
But this child was very timid and could not let go of the assistant director who was auditioning. He was lightly hit by the assistant director and was so confused that he didn’t know how to express his anger. His big eyes were full of confusion. He was just lightly hit. What was there to be angry about?
“You can’t do this.”
This one
It was Shen Hui’s turn. Murong Danling had tried to beat him several times, so he knew what it felt like to be beaten. But he was introverted, and he couldn’t get excited at all when facing strangers.
Seeing the assistant director pointing fingers and being dissatisfied, Yiyi got angry and rushed over. “Brother, just lose your temper with him.”
After saying that, the little guy turned around and pushed the assistant director hard, causing the big man to stumble. “How dare you hit me? What right do you have to hit me? My mother has worked so hard to raise me, and she has never hit me. Why do you, ah, what right do you have?”
The assistant director was stunned for a moment before continuing, “Because I’m your father.”
“What’s wrong with my father? Are you superior to others? My mom has taken care of my eating, drinking, and toileting since I was a child. How dare you hit me, dad? Who do you think you are? Do you think you can control children just because you are tall? Children will grow up quickly. I don’t want a father like you.”
The director didn’t know if it was his true emotions or if the little guy was born with an acting talent, but he spoke these lines with full emotion and just the right expression, and the assistant director’s eyes lit up as he looked at him.
“What number is this? Where are the parents? Where are the parents?”
Li Xia quickly stepped forward and said, “He is less than ten years old. He does not meet your requirements. He has not even registered.”
The assistant director looked at him carefully and said, “It doesn’t matter. The age difference is not a big deal. Can he play the piano?”
The children, one after another, all couldn’t do it, and the assistant director estimated that this child probably couldn’t do it either. But he acted really well, and at most, the piano would be done later.
“I know a little.”
“Well, don’t leave yet. Wait for the director to come. If it’s confirmed, you will join the crew in two days.”
The assistant director said this and went back to work. Li Xia subconsciously looked at Shen Hui. It was agreed that he would come for the audition, but this brat, isn’t he stealing the show?
“Mom, Yiyi acted really well; let him join the group.”
“Aren’t you angry? The brat acted on his own initiative.”
“Why will I be angry? I get nervous and scared when I get on stage. Let Yiyi take care of this matter.”
Shen Hui didn’t like it, but the director happened to take a fancy to his youngest son, who was a talented actor. The boy was selected to join the group and play a rebellious child.
After the summer vacation, Li Xia asked for a month’s leave for her son. Yi Yi’s grades were good, so the teacher said nothing. She gave her new textbooks and asked her to take them home so that the child could study on his own.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t have time to study. With Shen Ruyi’s ability, he can take the math test now. As for Chinese, I can teach him more when he comes back.”
“Thank you, teacher.”
Because the child had to go to school, the crew filmed his scenes first. Less than a month later, the brat came back, and the crew gave Li Xia a set of pictures.
In it, he sits in the sunset, thinking sadly of his mother; he sits in front of the piano like a little gentleman; and he quarrels with his father with puffed cheeks, his eyes full of anger, perfectly showing his dissatisfaction with his father without any words or actions.
“Mom, does it look good?”
“It’s nice. You should concentrate on going to school tomorrow. It’s time to go out after the show. Don’t think about it anymore.”
Originally, she wanted to smooth Shen Hui’s temper, but the brat interrupted. He nodded obediently after hearing what his mother said and went to school with his schoolbag on his back the next day.
Summer turns to winter, and time flies. In late autumn, when the movie was about to be released, the cinema put up a poster. When Fang Zhongcheng saw that his son was actually acting in a movie, he was so excited that he spread the word everywhere.
He queued up to buy more than ten tickets for the first show and gave them to his friends and colleagues. He proudly showed off to others that the person playing the piano on the poster was his son.
“Awesome, really awesome. Brother, your son is awesome. He’s good-looking and can act in movies. He really brings honor to you as a father.”
“That’s right. Chief Fang, you are so lucky to have such an outstanding son.”
Fang Zhongcheng was flattered and ecstatic, but soon the movie started. As the plot progressed, the color on his face began to fade, until it was completely gone and as pale as paper.
“What’s wrong with being a father? Are you superior to others? My mom has taken care of my eating, drinking, and toileting since I was a child. Why do you control me now? Do you think you can control children just because you are tall? Children will grow up quickly. I don’t want a dad like you.”
His son’s scream went straight through the screen and into him.
In his heart, his head was buzzing. The toy he bought for his son fell to the ground, and he had forgotten to pick it up.
The colleagues who had been praising and envying him just now were all silent now, as everyone knew what was happening between him and his son.
Pa, Pa, Pa. He seemed to hear the sound of claps, and his cheeks turned red. Being shamed in public, he trembled with shame. The hurt from his own son was like a knife stabbing into his heart accurately. The pain made him lose the strength to speak.
A few days later, Li Xia received a summons from the court; Fang Zhongcheng sued her.
The couple sat down to discuss the matter in the evening. Shen Haiyang held the notice and shook his head silently. “Is it because Yiyi acted in a movie that stimulated him?”
“Who knows?”
“It’s okay. Yiyi is grown up now, and he will have a certain influence once the movie is released. Fang Zhongcheng voluntarily gave up the custody of the child back then, but it’s not that easy to get it now.”
He works in the procuratorate. Although he is not on the front line, he still knows about this kind of thing. Li Xia was not too worried. After all, the child is not a dead thing; he is a living person. The court will give Yiyi to Fang Zhongcheng. Will the child live with him obediently? The brat will run here every day. Can the judge send the police to arrest him every day?
At the end of the month, Li Xia started to reconcile accounts, calculate wages, bonuses, taxes, and a series of other things at the factory. In the evening, she mentioned this to the brat, who shared the same opinion as his mother. He didn’t want to follow Fang Zhongcheng.
“Even if I am given to him, I won’t go with him.” After saying that, the little guy ran over to let Shen Haiyang hold him: “I have a dad; I don’t want him.”
Huihua and Shen Hui were reluctant to leave him, and they were relieved when they heard him say that. The movie had been released for more than a month on the day of the trial, and the brat boldly asked for leave from his teacher and ran to the court by himself.
“He didn’t want me back then. Now my last name is Shen, so I won’t follow him.”
The judge will naturally consider the child’s wishes. Fang Zhongcheng had borrowed money in advance to buy a bigger house. Now he argued in court that he has a high degree of education and a spacious residence, and it would be better for the child to live with him, but this was refuted by Li Xia.
“Our house, with its front and back yards added up to several hundred square meters, is definitely more spacious than yours. My husband is also a college student, and my father-in-law studied abroad and is now teaching our children foreign languages. The learning atmosphere in our home is better than with you.”
The trial was unlikely to come to a conclusion quickly, so during the break, Fang Zhongcheng came to find Li Xia. “You hate me so much that you tried every possible way to make my son and I enemies. I admit that I was wrong back then, and I shouldn’t have abandoned you.”
“Don’t. You’re good at abandoning it.”
“Li Xia, are you still unable to let me go? But you shouldn’t use the child to hurt me.”
Li Xia was about to leave, but turned around in shock when she heard this and interrupted him. “Are you still asleep?” She took a deep breath and spoke calmly. “Even if there was no movie, do you plan to fight for the custody of Yi Yi?”
Fang Zhongcheng was silent. He had indeed thought of this method. His son was so smart, and he was still young. If he could bring him up well, he would definitely bring him honor in the future.
He knew that he had little chance of winning the case, so he kept delaying it, thinking about building a good relationship with his child first. Sometimes he comforted himself that no matter how good the child she and Shen Haiyang raised was, it was still his own, but this time his son’s scream on the big screen broke his heart. The movie was just an opportunity, and what he thought was a face-saving thing turned out to be a slap in the face. In anger and humiliation, he sued her regardless.
“No matter what I do, you won’t give me my son.”
Because of the lawsuit, he had inquired about Li Xia’s current assets in advance. After a trip to the tax bureau, he was completely exhausted. He gritted his teeth and made those statements today. He knew that, with his own conditions, it would be difficult to win the custody case.
Seeing Li Xia’s confident speech in court, he felt bitter. Her words seemed to be read out like a script, without any momentum. It seemed like she was giving an explanation to herself and others. He tried hard to raise his son, but this woman didn’t give him a chance.
“yes.”
Li Xia turned around and left, not feeling his regretful face at all. In her previous life, she also wanted his excellent son when he grew up, but your apology is really cheaper than grass.
The child is excellent.
If a child is stupid, will you abandon him like a worn-out shoe? Whoever is your son in this world is unlucky. How can there be a father like you?
Father’s love is like a mountain; mother’s love is like water. The mountain is steady, solid, and reliable. It is the goal of children’s learning and also a harbor for children to protect from wind and rain.
But look at you; you are so utilitarian in loving your child. If he is not so smart, if he is sick or stupid, then you would say now that this is not your son at all.
If she didn’t have such a good economic condition and a good family environment, wouldn’t he ignore the child’s wishes and her wishes and forcibly use legal means to take him away and separate her from him? In the final analysis, he doesn’t love anyone but himself.
Li Xia took a deep breath while driving. She was no longer willing to waste her emotions on a man like him. He couldn’t win the lawsuit, so she just went through the motions.
Fang Zhongcheng returned home in dejection. He was already feeling extremely miserable, and Murong Danling even stabbed him in the heart.
“Li Xia seems to have been named one of the top ten rich young people in the province, and the award ceremony will be held before the New Year.” As she spoke, her rosy lips smiled.
“When she was with you, she was so gray and without a trace of brilliance. But when she was with Shen Haiyang, she became a legend in the provincial capital. It seems that you, as a man, don’t take care of others. You have no ability to nourish a woman at all.”
He felt a pang of blood in his heart, and it was stabbed through his heart. He knew he had no chance of winning the custody lawsuit, so he had to keep a low profile at home and abroad; otherwise, his wife’s words would be more sharp than a knife.
At the end of the year, Li Xia and a group of entrepreneurial pioneers gathered at the TV station. The award ceremony has passed, and this year the provincial TV station held a simple evening party. As leaders of the times, they will be interviewed in the middle of the evening party.
Li Xia was a little nervous sitting there, glowing in the spotlight. In her previous life, she was on stage only when her son became the top scorer in the college entrance examination. At that time, her face was already frosted, and her eyes were cloudy. But in this life, she walked in front of the crowd, wearing bright clothes, with a smile on her face, full of youthful vitality.
