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“Clap clap clap——”
After a song, someone applauded at the door. “That’s not bad at all, your playing was pretty good.”
President Kang turned his head back, seeing a familiar figure.
He probably met him in a meeting. His name was Zhang Ju. Unlike rich second generations like him, Zhang Ju started off empty-handed. He was a rich first generation.
Because of this difference, the two didn’t contact each other much.
President Kang remembered him because he was very loving with his wife, but had an enterprise-level marriage. They had fought by each other’s side for over a decade, but only married after the company became publicly listed.
This was referred to as an “enterprise-level marriage” because such a witty decision could prevent a fight over company assets if their relationship broke down.
In the circle, he was the prime example of a successful man. However, at that time, President Kang just felt that he was too cold since she had accompanied him for many years.
Wait.
President Kang froze for a moment. He looked at the slow and artistically untalented female student who had her nose lifted and eyelids split. He originally thought that she was just a product of surgeries that relied on her rich husband.
Now that was truly surprising.
Of course, there is always more than what meets the eye. President Kang felt that he learned something new again.
When the man entered, he first walked beside his wife to kiss her, asking in a gentle and pampering voice, “Did you eat?”
“There are outsiders here.” The originally extroverted female student was suddenly a bit embarrassed.
“I’m just kissing my own wife.” Mr. Zhang held his wife’s hand, continuing, “Did you eat outside? I just asked older sister Zhang, she said you didn’t eat at home.”
“No, I just came back from the arts center,” the female student said as she turned to Xia Sheng. “Here, let me introduce you guys to each other. This is my husband, Zhang Ju.”
“This is Ms. Xia Sheng, she’s a piano teacher from the arts center, and this is her son. Wasn’t her playing so beautiful? I didn’t understand the allure of piano until I heard her play. It was amazing.” The female student, Mrs. Zhang, continued to compliment, “I don’t have much musical talent and even I got goosebumps.”
Zhang Ju politely smiled at Xia Sheng, turning to his wife, saying, “What do you mean by lacking musical talent? Music isn’t food.”
“I forgot, alright.” Ms. Zhang turned to Xia Sheng, “Ms. Xia can eat here with us. Do you have any preferences? I’ll let the kitchen know.”
“I appreciate your hospitality, but I have to go back to prepare for the afternoon class.”
“Ms. Xia can be my private teacher, and it won’t be as stressful,” Ms. Zhang mentioned the offer again.
“That can work,” Mr. Zhang looked at President Kang, “Ms. Xia’s son is about the same age as ours. You can even bring him over.”
President Kang wanted to say that though the man in front of him couldn’t make up to his wife, planning everything out, he was quite willing to give it to outsiders.
“The job at the arts center fits me better,” Xia Sheng indirectly refused the offer.
It wasn’t her first time meeting someone offering for her to become a private tutor. None of those jobs lasted for long, so even though private teachers had higher pay, the arts center offered job security. She also knew that Kangkang was special…
Noticing that she couldn’t convince her, Mrs. Zhang changed topics. “Then about your compensation for tuning my piano…”
“Just send it to the arts center,” Xia Sheng replied.
“Sure, I have something to discuss with the manager of the arts center. I’ll just give them the pay then,” Ms. Zhang said.
“Thank you,” Xia Sheng smiled.
“If you’re going back, let me drive you two. It’s hard getting a taxi in the neighbourhood.”
“Just ask the family driver to bring them back,” Mr. Zhang pulled on his wife. “You didn’t even eat yet. Worry about your body first, you don’t always have to care about other people’s things.”
“Mr. Li, drive Ms. Xia back.” Mr. Zhang finally looked Xia Sheng straight in the eye, “Ms. Xia, I don’t have anything against you. My partner is very enthusiastic about people. Thank you for going through all the inconveniences to help her play the piano.”
“Not at all,” Xia Sheng said.
She didn’t try to decline getting driven back. The neighbourhood was huge. It would take almost a half-hour walk to the exit and call a taxi. She might even get lost.
President Kang was pulled into the car by his cheap mother, secured in the child’s seat. He was still thinking about the tuning fees. There’s a middleman fee again, sigh.
With Xia Sheng’s abilities, President Kang thought she could open an adult class herself with four to five students. If each one paid 100 Yuan and she taught two classes a week, she could bring in a thousand every day, and thirty thousand a month. Tuning and fixing her students’ pianos would make her additional money, an income without any middle agent.
Even though it wouldn’t make her a millionaire, it would undoubtedly be better than her current employment.
Thinking about this, President Kang turned his head around to the silent Xia Sheng, disappointed and even hating his cheap mother for not knowing how to make money.
Xia Sheng was very quiet for the entire journey back. President Kang couldn’t read her emotions. They weren’t related to each other, so they lacked their special mother-son connection.
However, President Kang guessed that it was probably a feeling of unhappiness.
Usually, it was quite easy for poor people to fall into despair after seeing a rich person’s life.
Especially when she only had a piano worth twenty-five thousand Yuan and a person new to piano owned a six-million Yuan one.
It even made President Kang aggrieved. Of course, that was due to him being the one who’d first imported the piano.
When Xia Sheng quieted down, she did emit the melancholy of an artist.
Once the driver dropped them off in front of their neighbourhood, Xia Sheng led her son back like every other day.
However, when she opened the door to her apartment, all of her artistic aurae disappeared. She suddenly turned into a completely different person.
“AAAAAAAAAAAA!”
“Son, that was the best piano Mama has ever played!”
“Did you hear how good I was, did you feel it? Your mother is truly a genius!”
“How can there be such a good-sounding piano on this planet! I’m going to cry.”
Suddenly, President Kang’s forehead became filled with black lines. Her artistic qualities had all gone away.
A mature and calm young mother had suddenly transformed into a childish little girl. All that was missing were flailing arms and hops.
Xia Sheng was truly happy. It was as if a sword wielder found a legendary blade, one that she not only saw, but also tried.
Even if it was just for a short moment, it still greatly pleased her.
President Kang looked at his joyous young mother. She was so happy that the living room couldn’t contain it all, so she walked into the study and irresistibly played another song.
President Kang admired the couple’s positivity despite their clear lack of money.
For example, his cheap mother didn’t look down at her twenty-five thousand Yuan piano after playing a six-million one.
As he watched, he felt a completely new experience, as if a new world opened itself before his eyes.
President Kang’s daily life had been very simple in the past. When it came to his friends, butlers, or helpers, they all had a specific tag.
His friends were humorous and brotherly. His butlers were tolerant and always smiling. He didn’t pay much attention to the helpers, mostly a symbol and helped him clean up things.
Everything revolved around him and they all had a unique yet simple tag.
No one to him had been as complicated as this little couple.
Yes, they were complicated, almost like an onion, having layer after layer.
At first, this young mother gave him an impression of a frail woman who was afraid of bugs. His tag would be a fragile woman.
After, he realized that she was secretly a superwoman and felt that her frail appearance was just a disguise. He thought that she had a deep plot and a great secret behind her back, so he tore off her previous tag.
Now, he noticed that her joy was simplistic and pure. From President Kang’s previous interpretation, she was a mother, so her emotions seemed to all be for her son and husband. It fitted the typical view of the world that a mother’s greatest joy was her child.
However, today, President Kang realized that she had her own joy, joy from playing a song on a six-million-Yuan piano.
What was weirder was that he would normally be disgusted by such joy from playing a six-million-Yuan piano due to its ordinance.
However, he didn’t feel this way. He felt that she was so realistic to the point of being cute.
He even had a strange feeling of seniority… He wanted to get that piano for her.
“Son, let’s go see what Papa prepared for us.”
President Kang raised her head. The young mother was like a little girl, skipping into the kitchen, checking out what the child’s father had prepared for her.
The fearsome hunky man could spend twenty-five thousand on a piano behind his wife’s back but also felt bad about burning his red braised pork belly.
Every morning, before he left for work, he would prepare the materials for his wife’s lunch and put them in the fridge as a surprise for her.
“Papa made us meatballs. We can have meatball soup for lunch.” The cheap mother’s voice came from the kitchen.
Upon hearing “meatballs”, president Kang had a slight reaction.
It was shameful, but he was now happy that he could have some meat. Luckily, no one noticed.
President Kang sat on the foam carpet, playing with the toy car his cheap father had bought for him. The cheap mother peeked her head out the kitchen, saying——
“Son, I miss your father, do you?”
President Kang continued to play with his car. No, not at all.
“You must also be thinking of him, right? After lunch, let’s go wait for Papa at his company while we have time.”
What?
President Kang’s toy car suddenly flew out of his palms.
Where did this cheap mother say she’s going?