"You!"

Cao Daqiang’s face turned deathly pale in an instant.

He glanced around frantically, terrified someone might have overheard.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

"What exactly do you know? Who told you? Is someone putting you up to this?"

"Nobody told me."

Shanshan looked up at him. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"Did you think you could keep this under wraps? Did you think the whole world was blind?"

With that, she turned and left.

Xiao Zhou was already waiting by the car.

When he saw her come out, he hurried over, scooped her up, and gently placed her in the back seat.

The car started slowly and pulled away from the compound.

Cao Daqiang remained standing there, stunned, staring in the direction the car had gone.

That evening after work, he furtively slipped into Gu Jiajun’s office, closing the door softly behind him.

"Chief, are you sure... there’s no risk in this? If someone exposes it and the higher-ups investigate, I’m finished..."

Gu Jiajun didn’t answer right away. Instead, he slowly raised a hand and gently patted him on the shoulder.

"Xiao Cao, being cautious is a good thing. It shows you’ve got your head on straight. But don’t scare yourself. Being overly suspicious will only make you more likely to make a mistake."

"I dared to promote you, so do you think I’d let you take a fall? Would I let things get out of control?"

"I mentored you myself. Do you know how much effort I put in to get you to where you are today? Would I just abandon you so easily? What do you think?"

"Yes, yes, of course! Of course I trust you, Chief! You’ve been incredibly good to me. How could I not trust you!"

Cao Daqiang hastily agreed.

The two of them murmured for a few more moments.

Finally, Gu Jiajun waved his hand, dismissing Cao Daqiang.

The moment the door closed, the atmosphere in the room changed abruptly.

The muscles in Gu Jiajun’s face tensed.

He slowly sat down, his eyes fixed on the closed door.

In reality, Cao Daqiang was nothing more than a front, a scapegoat designated from the very beginning.

From the first day they started working together, Gu Jiajun never intended to let him get away clean.

He had made up his mind long ago.

’If this ever gets exposed and the heat is on, the first one I’ll throw to the wolves will be this ’loyal’ partner of mine.’

But Cao Daqiang had no idea.

He believed him, but since it was his first time doing something so shady, he couldn’t help but feel unnerved.

Even if he appeared calm and collected during the day, the moment he closed his eyes at night, his heart would race with panic, and he couldn’t sleep.

So, he decided to sneak off to his mistress’s place to unwind.

"Daqiang, you’re finally here!"

The woman threw herself into his arms the moment she opened the door.

She stood on her tiptoes and helped him take off his coat.

"Why’d you stay away for so long? Our son has been asking about you for days, always wondering where his daddy went."

"I’ve been so busy lately I haven’t had a moment’s rest. It’s been one project after another. I really couldn’t get away."

Cao Daqiang forced a smile.

"Once this busy period is over, I promise I’ll take you two out. We’ll go to the beach, for as long as you want."

He paused and looked around.

"Where’s our son?"

"He’s in the study doing his homework."

The woman sighed and said in a low voice,

"His grades have been slipping badly lately; his teacher even called. I had to sign him up for a tutoring class. It’s three times a week, from six to eight in the evening."

Hearing this, Cao Daqiang felt a pang of bitterness.

He walked over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"It’s not easy for you, holding this family together on your own, taking care of the child, and managing everything else."

He pulled a thick wad of cash from his pocket and handed it to her.

"This is for living expenses. Take it. If it’s not enough, just ask. Don’t let Linlin go without, and don’t neglect yourself either."

The woman’s eyes lit up. She immediately took the cash he offered and counted it over and over.

Then she turned and hurried toward the study.

"Linlin! Daddy’s here! Come on out!"

"Daddy!"

The little boy shot up from his desk.

The moment he saw Cao Daqiang, he bounded over and wrapped his little arms tightly around his neck.

"Linlin missed you so much! If you didn’t come soon, I was going to come find you myself!"

Cao Daqiang crouched down and hugged his son.

In this brief moment of peace, he couldn’t help but start scheming.

’How can I get this mother and son to walk through my front door, openly and honorably?’

He wanted to hold his son’s hand in public, to take him to the park, to school.

But Liu Yingzi was no fool.

The Liu Family might not be as prominent as they once were, but their foundation was still strong.

If things really blew up and they turned on each other, he, Cao Daqiang, wouldn’t get off easy either.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t afraid; he just didn’t dare to take the risk.

Once that veneer was torn away, his entire life would collapse.

’I have to find a solid plan.’

Hugging Linlin, his gaze gradually darkened.

The matter of Shanshan skipping grades wasn’t over yet.

The school held a grand ceremony to celebrate the occasion.

In addition to the usual speeches and a ribbon-cutting, the school administration also specially invited several reporters to cover the event.

Several other children who had also earned the right to skip grades due to their outstanding academic performance attended as well.

But aside from Shanshan, none of the other children had skipped three grades.

The younger students, organized and led by their teachers, had carefully rehearsed a series of performances as a farewell show.

And Shanshan, being the youngest child, naturally became the center of everyone’s attention.

The Ling family was seated in the most conspicuous spot in the front row.

"Mom! Look! The one standing right in the middle, in the little blue dress, that’s Shanshan!"

"This child is just so exceptional! She started school at only two and a half, and now she hasn’t even finished second grade and she’s jumping straight to sixth. You couldn’t find another talent like hers in the entire country!"

Mrs. Ling wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, overcome with emotion.

"Oh, so she’s from your family? That’s incredible! To be so outstanding at such a young age, she’s sure to have a brilliant future and bring honor to your ancestors!"

A parent sitting nearby overheard their conversation and immediately chimed in with praise.

Hiding in a distant corner of the auditorium, Cao Jiajia kept her head down.

From time to time, she would secretly lift her head to sneak a peek at the radiant Shanshan on stage.

"Jiajia, don’t be sad."

Liu Yingzi crouched down and gently wrapped her arms around her daughter’s thin shoulders.

"No matter how impressive people like that are, they’re just showing off for now. They won’t get far. We don’t need to compare ourselves to them, and we don’t need to fight for this kind of empty fame."

But Cao Jiajia didn’t say a word, merely keeping her head bowed.

Not until the announcer called the next performance.

"Please welcome little Miss Cao Jiajia, who will be performing the dance, ’Little Deer Under the Moonlight’!"

Only then did Cao Jiajia slowly rise to her feet and walk onto the stage, prompted by a teacher’s gentle urging.

At that moment, Liu Yingzi’s heart finally settled a little.

But just as she turned her head, her gaze inadvertently swept across the crowd and landed on Cao Daqiang.

In that instant, the suppressed anger in her heart flared up.

’Why did I send Jiajia to this school?’

’I knew there was so much competition and pressure here, so why did I still send her?’

’This was all Cao Daqiang’s fault!’

’It was all because of his ridiculous vanity.’

The more Liu Yingzi thought about it, the angrier she became.

Unable to bear it any longer, she abruptly stood up, strode over to Cao Daqiang, and pointed a finger in his face, demanding,

"How dare you sit here and put on an act? Do you have any idea how upset Jiajia was just now?"