Zheng Shuqin’s eyes darted around.

“Guosheng, how can we let Mom and Dad go to Pengcheng alone without anyone to take care of them? Why don’t I—”

Mao Guosheng put down his chopsticks. “Are you going to quit your job? If Xia asked them to go, she’ll surely make proper arrangements.”

Zheng Shuqin choked on her words.

Indeed, she had a job.

Though she wasn’t working today, she had to be at work on Monday.

She couldn’t just tag along for the free ride and abandon her work.

Not one to give up easily, Zheng Shuqin had a flash of inspiration, remembering the children were on summer break: “Well, the children could go with their grandparents and see the world! I’ll pick them up in the evening!”

No matter what she said, Xia Xiaolan just kept smiling without saying a word.

Mao Kangshan slammed down his bowl. “We two old folks barely have enough energy for ourselves. How could we look after grandchildren while traveling? How dare you expect Xiaolan to babysit your children? Your eldest is only four years younger than Xiaolan!”

Given Mao Kangshan’s peculiar temperament, Zheng Shuqin didn’t dare say more.

But internally, she was full of complaints: Never had any advantages in life, and now that they’ve somehow found a wealthy disciple in their old age, they’re still favoring outsiders over family, only thinking about saving money for others!

Ge Jian busied himself with arrangements, securing accommodations and sending people home, handling everything properly.

After dropping off Mao Kangshan’s family at the staff quarters, Ge Jian didn’t return to the hotel until ten in the evening:

“Miss Xia, Teacher Mao is genuinely trying to help, but I noticed his son and daughter-in-law seem unreliable, so I took the liberty of looking into Teacher Mao’s family situation.”

Xia Xiaolan nodded, “You did the right thing. Coming back this late means you must have found something useful?”

Ge Jian then shared what he had learned.

It turned out that Mao Kangshan and his wife had three sons and two daughters, with Mao Guosheng being the youngest son, followed by two younger sisters.

Mao Kangshan had devoted his life to architecture, and all his children worked in related fields.

During the Cultural Revolution, Mao Kangshan was denounced by a disciple and sent to a labor camp.

Madam Song, having no job anyway, followed Mao Kangshan to the countryside labor camp.

Mao Kangshan’s eldest son firmly stood by his father’s side and suffered the worst consequences. Though he wasn’t sent to a labor camp, he was frequently subjected to public criticism. Due to emotional and physical issues, the eldest son passed away before things could improve.

The second son didn’t work at the design institute but at a construction unit, which required him to work wherever projects were located, so he was always traveling around the country rather than staying in Hangcheng.

As for the two daughters, Mao Guosheng had only been working at his unit for three years when Mao Kangshan was denounced and sent away.

Mao Guosheng must have faced some hardships at the Provincial Design Institute during those years.

When Mao Kangshan returned to work at the Provincial Design Institute, his favorite eldest son had died from illness, and it seemed to have extinguished Mao Kangshan’s fiery temper.

From then on, Mao Kangshan became a loner.

He cut off contact with his former students and acquaintances, and even when they visited, he treated them coldly.

Mao Guosheng had thought his father’s return to the city would lead to promotions and wealth, but Mao Kangshan refused to involve himself in the institute’s management, leading to some friction between father and son as Mao Guosheng felt his talents were being wasted.

“People at the Provincial Design Institute say that Mao Guosheng’s wife often complains openly that Teacher Mao held back her husband’s career and owes him. That’s why Zheng Shuqin felt justified in taking over the three-room apartment the institute had allocated to Teacher Mao.”

Xia Xiaolan snorted:

“His parents gave birth to him, raised him, sent him to school, and got him a job at the Provincial Design Institute. He doesn’t count any of these as benefits. Having talent is like being pregnant – if you truly have the outstanding ability, nobody’s blind, others would have noticed it by now.”

At the core, it was simply that his abilities weren’t strong enough.

His emotional intelligence and capabilities weren’t outstanding either, which led to years of stagnation.

Those with real ability, like Mao Kangshan, could offend as many people as they wanted, yet the Provincial Design Institute still had to rehire him.

They even had to allocate him a three-bedroom apartment based on his qualifications.

Even Xia Xiaolan, upon hearing that Mao Kangshan would take her as a disciple, eagerly brought gifts despite his warning about potential troubles.

Mao Kangshan’s talent was like a light that could illuminate a dark room even when locked inside!

So this was the situation with the Mao family. Previously, she had only been able to learn about Mao Kangshan’s “heroic deeds” in professional circles, and only after arriving in Hangcheng could she discover his family matters.

When a master has concerns, the disciple should step in.

Teacher Mao had become disillusioned due to his eldest son’s death and his experiences during the Cultural Revolution. His youngest daughter-in-law felt justified in believing Teacher Mao owed Mao Guosheng, showing little respect or filial piety toward her in-laws.

Xia Xiaolan had no interest in disciplining Mao Kangshan’s daughter-in-law.

At Zheng Shuqin’s age, personality was already set in stone, and Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t waste energy on that.

As for Mao Guosheng, there might still be hope for salvation – at least he still had some sense of shame.

He thought his talents were being wasted?

Xia Xiaolan wanted to see if that was the case.

It was fine that Zheng Shuqin wouldn’t go to Pengcheng. Teacher Mao and his wife needed someone to run errands for them, and Xia Xiaolan might be too busy to attend to everything. This would give Mao Guosheng a chance to show his filial piety.

“Ge Jian, did you find out who the leader at the Provincial Design Institute is and where they live?”

This information was essential.

Ge Jian had become skilled at handling such matters.

“There’s a Vice Director surnamed Zhong who’s in charge of housing allocation.”

Xia Xiaolan nodded, “…Then let’s find this Director Zhong, but before discussing the housing matter, let’s first request leave for Mao Guosheng!”

…

Mao Guosheng remained oblivious to everything.

When Zheng Shuqin asked him about Xia Xiaolan’s background, Mao Guosheng was confused about what he’d heard that afternoon, so how could he explain it to his wife?

“I just heard Xia talking with Father about starting some company, and Father said not to worry about qualifications, telling Xia to prepare the registration capital. Xia also said everything needed to be done before National Day, and Father agreed.”

Starting a company?

Zheng Shuqin pushed Mao Guosheng:

“So that’s it! No wonder she brought such expensive gifts. I knew there couldn’t be such a filial disciple – she just wanted Father to help with business matters! I don’t know what got into Father’s head, agreeing to help pull strings for others… Mao Guosheng, I’ve heard people make good money starting companies these days. Your father has such connections but won’t help you, instead helping this Xia person – has he lost his mind?”

Mao Guosheng felt uncomfortable too.

Truth be told, if they were asked to quit their stable jobs to start a business, they wouldn’t know where to begin and wouldn’t have the courage either.

But the way Zheng Shuqin put it, it seemed like a golden opportunity to get rich had been handed to an outsider instead of them by Mao Kangshan.

Mao Guosheng’s discomfort didn’t last long. As Zheng Shuqin berated him for lacking ambition, he recalled a crucial detail:

“Xia mentioned having 1 million yuan prepared for registration capital, that’s why Father agreed to help her. Don’t just blame Father – even if we sold everything we own by weight, could we come up with 1 million yuan?”

Zheng Shuqin was dumbfounded.

1 million yuan?

They had three children to raise – forget about 1 million, they couldn’t even scrape together 10,000 yuan!

Zheng Shuqin’s heartfelt scalded, and she muttered:

“How could Xia have 1 million yuan? Could Father have been deceived?”