During this time, all the teachers were in their s teag, and the office was empty.

  Zhang Zhiyuan walked Zhuang Zi'ang to the door. "Your dad doesn't look too happy. I'll be right outside. Call me if you need anything."

  Zhuang Zi'ang nodded. "Okay, thank you, Mr. Zhang."

  With a deep breath, he pushed open the door.

  Zhuang Wenzhao was sitting in Zhang Zhiyuan's chair, his face heavy with seriousness. Qin Shun stood to the side with her arms crossed.

  "Dad, what are you doing here?" Zhuang Zi'ang asked, his fak.

  "Zi'ang, stop ag childish. I'm here to take you home," Zhuang Wenzhao said, his face stern. He had already talked to his ex-wife. With the Gaokao ing up and the heavy study load, living alohout ao look after him wasn't a long-term solution.

  "Dad, I'm fine. I don't want to go home," Zhuang Zi'ang said calmly. I ran away to give you back your happy little family. Isn't that what you wanted? Why do we have to go bad make things awkward for everyone?

  Qin Shun chimed in, "Zi'ang, I spoke to Yuhang. He admitted he said some things he shouldn't have. You're the older brother, be uanding and don't hold it against him."

  It sounded like an apology, but it was still clearly biased. She easily glossed over her own son's mistakes, while always expeg Zhuang Zi'ang to be the bigger person.

  Zhuang Zi'ang was sick of hearing it. He'd heard simir things his whole life. But what could he expect? She wasn't his mother, after all. They were just forced together as a family because of Zhuang Wenzhao. Maintaining a surface harmony for over a decade was already a feat.

  "Auntie Qin," Zhuang Zi'ang said, "if you have the time, you should discipline Yuhang more. I heard his grades are terrible at school, and he's quite badly behaved." He'd bottled these words up for so long, and finally, he could say them without holding back.

  Zhuang Yuhang had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, showered with endless love from his parents. Being spoiled like that, it was iable he'd be willful. Whenever Zhuang Zi'ang saw his younger brother's carefree childhood, he felt a pang of sadness and injustice, and he wao cry.

  "I know," Qin Shun replied stiffly, a fsh of displeasure in her eyes. How dare he badmouth her precious son to her face?

  Sensing his wife's mood, Zhuang Wenzhao became even harsher. "You should worry about yourself first. Yuhang's affairs are none of your business."

  "You shouldn't speak to Auntie Qin in that tone. Apologize tht now."

  "You don't even know how to respect your elders. What have you learned in school?"

  ...

  This barrage of reprimands instantly escated the tension. The air betweehree of them seemed to solidify.

  Zhuang Zi'ang's heart turned colder and colder. Why is it that when yht a woman home and forced me to call her 'Auntie,' she instantly became my elder? She's got absolutely nothing to do with me. This home, I was here first, a I'm the one who's pushed out, treated like an outsider.

  For over ten years, Zhuang Zi'ang had been suppressing himself, enduring everything. With only three months left, couldn't he finally indulge himself a little?

  "Dad, if you're here tue with me, you leave now. This is a school, not your personal stage to throw your weight around," Zhuang Zi'ang said, his eyes like ice.

  "You're ing home with me today. Yrandfather heard you're pnning not to e back for three months and got so worked up his old dition fred up. Look at all the trouble you're causing the family!" Zhuang Wenzhao scolded.

  Zhuang Zi'a even more disappointed. "I k. So Grandpa's f you t me back. Otherwise, you probably wouldn't even remember where my school is."

  "One word: are you ing back or not?" Zhuang Wenzhao demanded loudly.

  "Not going back," Zhuang Zi'ang said resolutely. He'd finally escaped that suffog home. Why would he be stupid enough to go back? He knew perfectly well that deep dowher Qin Shun nor Zhuang Yuhang wanted him there. They probably wished he'd stay away forever and not be an eyesore.

  Zhuang Zi'ang's defiance made Zhuang Wenzhao lose face. He gnced around, as if looking for something to grab, muttering curses under his breath. "Yetting out of hand! You think I 't handle you?"

  Zhuang Zi'ang showed no fear. "Dad, just leave. You're embarrassing yourself."

  When Zhuang Zi'ang was five, shortly after Zhuang Wenzhao divorced Xu Hui, he was in a terrible mood and often drank heavily. He'd e home drunk and drag Zhuang Zi'ang out of bed while he was still sleeping, finding any excuse to beat ae him. He'd curse him for looking like his mother, whifuriated him. He'd curse him for having a mouth to feed, whioney.

  Later, when Zhuang Wenzhao started dating Qin Shun, he hid the fact that he had a son. He sent Zhuang Zi'ang to the tryside to be raised by his grandparents, where he attended kindergarten in the vilge for half a year. It was only ter when Grandpa Zhuang Jianguo insisted ing Zhuang Zi'ang back to the city for a better education that Zhuang Wenzhao relutly agreed.

  Qin Shun, his stepmother, didn't say anything to his face, but the occasional look of disdain in her eyes betrayed her true feelings. And it made sense – in her eyes, she had no blood retion to Zhuang Zi'ang, so why should she pretend to be a loving mother?

  After Zhuang Yuhang was born, Zhuang Zi'ang's p the family became even more precarious. Fortunately, with a "happy family," Zhuang Wenzhao's temper improved a lot, aopped res to physical violence. But the father-son bond only grew weaker.

  Zhuang Wenzhao was nominally Zhuang Zi'ang's guardian, but it was really his grandparents in the tryside who raised him. They'd regurly transfer living expeo Zhuang Wenzhao's at, and he'd pass the money on to Zhuang Zi'ang. Being the middleman, Zhuang Wenzhao often skimmed a little off the top to buy snacks or toys for his younger son, Zhuang Yuhang.

  Zhuang Zi'ang had always been submissive, but today he was unusually rebellious. Zhuang Wenzhao felt his authority challenged, and he was livid. Even at school, he looked like he wao roll up his sleeves and start hitting him.

  "Stop it!" Zhang Zhiyuan rushed in just in time.

  Zhuang Wenzhao gred at Zhang Zhiyuan, fuming. "What kind of school are you running here? Turning students into this? He's grown rebellious bohat's what!"

  "You've never even bothered to show up for a parent-teacher ference. Of course, you wouldn't know what kind of education your child is getting here," Zhang Zhiyuan shot back, equally furious. He'd been standing outside the door, and while eavesdropping wasn't polite, the father and son were arguing so loudly he couldn't help but overhear. He was shocked that Zhuang Zi'ang hadn't told his own father about his terminal illness. How utterly despairing must he be?

  "I think you're about to ruin him!" Zhuang Wenzhao yelled.

  "Fihen I'll show you today what kind of student we've made of your child!" Zhang Zhiyuan snapped back, losing his temper too. He yanked open a draulled out a thick stack of files – transcripts from all the exams over the past two years.

  "See for yourself!" Zhang Zhiyuan smmed the transcripts down in front of Zhuang Wenzhao, sending up a cloud of dust.

  Zhuang Wenzhao waved his hand dismissively, then picked up the first transcript – the entrance exam from two years ago. On the first line, Zhuang Zi'ang's name jumped out.

  Total Score: 689.Css Rank: 1.Grade Rank: 1.

  , he picked up the sed one, from the first monthly exam. Zhuang Zi'ang was still at the top. The third was the midterm exam, the fourth was another monthly exam, the fifth was the final exam...

  After looking through all the transcripts, Zhuang Wenzhao's eyes were filled with disbelief. Without exception, Zhuang Zi'ang's name was o the first line, immovable.

  He knew Zhuang Zi'ang got good grades, didn't need parental supervision, but he'd had no idea he was this exceptional.

  Qin Shun, standing beside him, had also looked through all the transcripts. She murmured, "Is it really that hard to be ranked first in the grade at your school?"

  Zhang Zhiyuan looked at her like she was an idiot. "There are 22 csses in the grade, over a thousand students. What do you think?"

  Zhuang Zi'ang, you really are amazing.

  To grow up in such a suffog enviro and still be this outstanding. Heaven is truly unfair to you.