Bo Guang felt quite helpless.
He wasn’t a carefree child anymore.
As an adult, he faced all kinds of pressure from work, family, and society. How could he not have any complaints?
If he couldn’t even have a little complaint in his heart when facing his son, then he’d rather avoid it.
He had no demands on his son, and his son had no demands on him.
One was responsible for providing material support, and the other was responsible for studying well.
After his son became an adult and moved out, he, as a father, would have fulfilled his obligation to support him.
The father and son had been strangers under the same roof for many years.
For the last parent-teacher conference of senior year, Bo Guang subconsciously didn’t want to go.
But the teacher had mentioned it several times in the group, and he felt that it might not be good to miss the last one.
This time, Bo Guang proactively brought it up, but Bo Jiangxin’s attitude remained the same: “If you don’t have time to go, your secretary or driver can go instead.”
After saying that, he pointed to the auntie who was cleaning and added, “If your secretary and driver are also busy, the auntie can go too.”
The auntie heard him, and without even taking off her gloves, she quickly waved her hands: “It’s the last parent-teacher conference for senior year, how can I go instead? It’s better if you, Mr. Bo, go personally.”
Upon hearing this, Bo Guang looked at Bo Jiangxin again.
Bo Jiangxin said indifferently, “Anyone can go.”
Then he put down his spoon and said he had finished eating.
Bo Guang looked at his bowl and frowned: “You’ve barely eaten anything. Don’t you have an appetite?”
“I bought some dessert on the way back. I’ll eat that.”
As Jiangxin got up and passed Bo Guang, Bo Guang unintentionally noticed a small leaf stuck to the back of his school uniform collar, so he subconsciously reached out to remove the leaf for him.
Unexpectedly, as soon as his fingertips touched, his son, as if on reflex, turned around and pushed his hand away.
If the awkward conversation between father and son earlier was nothing, this action made Bo Guang truly feel a loss of face from his son.
Bo Guang said in a low voice, “There’s a leaf on your school uniform collar.”
Bo Jiangxin paused slightly, reached out to grab it, and indeed found a leaf.
He opened his lips, but before he could say anything, Bo Guang spoke first: “Bo Jiangxin, I’m your father, not your enemy.”
“You don’t want to see me so much. After you go to college, you can live wherever you want. I won’t bother with you anymore.”
He thought this would deter his son, but Bo Jiangxin suddenly pulled one side of his lip into a smile, raising his cold, sharp eyebrows, looking at his father with such keen sarcasm.
“Fine,” he said indifferently, “Just don’t forget to send me living expenses every month.”
Children know best how to infuriate their parents.
This kind of unyielding, slightly frivolous, and indifferent tone is best at provoking an adult’s anger.
Although Bo Jiangxin was not very enthusiastic at school, appearing cold and aloof, making him seem unapproachable, at least with classmates and teachers, he was distant but polite and courteous.
He would never have this kind of attitude.
Bo Guang completely lost the mood to stay at home.
He straightened his suit and turned to leave.
The host was leaving again, and the auntie hurriedly chased after him, asking, “You’re not sleeping at home tonight?”
“No,” Bo Guang left a remark,
“Please change the bedsheets back for me.”
The front door slammed open and wasn’t closed.
It was still cold outside, and the heating system hadn’t been turned off, so cold wind whistled into the empty living room.
The auntie hurried to close the door.
When she returned, Bo Jiangxin was still standing by the dining table, his eyes downcast, his pale face expressionless.
The auntie walked over and gently patted his arm.
“Don’t dwell on it with your dad, okay? Get some rest early.”
“Tsk tsk, what a sin. Father and son act like enemies. If I had such a rich dad, living in such a nice house, I’d be willing to serve my dad on my knees every day.”
“Rich kids are just full of drama. They’re rich but not satisfied, suffering when there’s no real suffering, always looking like the whole world owes them. If this were my kid, I’d have slapped him already and given him no money, to see if he’d dare give me that look again.”
Facing the auntie’s worried expression, Bo Jiangxin didn’t want to look anymore and turned his eyes away.
There was nothing to be angry about.
Different living environments, different life experiences.
The auntie’s job wasn’t easy, and she had to deal with his mood every day.
It was normal for her to think he was complaining without reason.
Just like when his parents divorced, his mother hugged him and said she had difficulties and couldn’t take him with her, but in reality, she was just preparing to live abroad with her new boyfriend, and her new boyfriend wouldn’t be happy if she brought him along as a burden.
It wasn’t wrong for his mother to pursue her new life; he had nothing to condemn her for.
And there were many others.
Bo Jiangxin didn’t resent them but also didn’t want to be close to them.
Let it be.
The auntie continued to clean up the unfinished late-night snacks of the father and son.
Bo Jiangxin told the auntie she had worked hard, then carried his backpack upstairs to his room.
Sitting at his desk, Bo Jiangxin took out the cream puffs he bought downstairs at Xiang Di’s place.
She had strongly recommended them, saying they were the best cream puffs she had ever tasted.
Even though he didn’t like cream, she had convinced him somewhat.
He took one in his hand and took a bite.
Bo Jiangxin frowned.
The crispy outer shell had softened, and the cream inside had melted. Besides a sticky, sweet taste, there was no other flavor.
He really still didn’t like cream puffs.
He put down the cream puff and picked up the milk; it was still a bit too sweet for him.
His phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and saw a message from Xiang Di.
A chubby orange cat avatar, WeChat name “DiDiDaDiDa,” even her online name was noisy.
Her signature was a string of meaningless numbers, followed by three even more meaningless emojis.
Being a science student with a mathematical mind, Bo Jiangxin was sensitive to such seemingly random numbers and subconsciously wondered if there was a pattern behind them.
Xiang Di first sent a peeking emoji, then asked him: [You’re not home yet?]
Bo Jiangxin replied: [I’m home.]
Xiang Di: [That’s good.]
Xiang Di: [Oh right, did you eat that cream puff? I forgot to tell you, its crust gets soft and unappetizing when it’s cold, so you should eat it quickly.]
Bo Jiangxin was speechless for a few seconds, then replied: [You told me too late.]
Xiang Di: [My fault…]
But soon she remedied: [Then don’t eat this one. I’ll get you another one.]
Bo Jiangxin wanted to say no, but she seemed to anticipate his refusal and said again: [Give me a chance to make it up to you. I really want you to know how delicious this cream puff is.]
He didn’t feel like he was being forced; it just felt like she wanted to give him everything she thought was good.
But now they were too far apart, Bo Jiangxin couldn’t hear her inner thoughts.
He pursed his lips, feeling a mix of emptiness and something else.
He didn’t refuse her and replied, “Okay.”
Xiang Di: [Okay, okay.]
Xiang Di: [Then get some rest early, good night~]
Seeing her say good night so quickly, Bo Jiangxin suddenly felt that she could really pick him up and put him down.
Didn’t she like him to death? Didn’t she want to chat more? But she stopped bothering him immediately once she said good night.
His fingertips slid a few times on the phone screen.
He suddenly asked: [Let me ask you something.]
Xiang Di: [Mm-hmm, go ahead.]
Bo Jiangxin: [What does your signature mean?]
Xiang Di: [Huh?]
Bo Jiangxin guessed on his own: [A numerical code?]
Xiang Di: [No, it’s not that sophisticated. I just typed randomly when I registered WeChat, it doesn’t mean anything, haha.]
Since she didn’t say, Bo Jiangxin naturally didn’t ask further.
There was nothing left to chat about.
Bo Jiangxin clicked on her avatar again.
He continued to look at the string of numbers and the three emojis.
The numbers were 22454264946. The three emojis were a tree, a painting of flowing river water and lush mountains, and finally, a star.
He didn’t know; he wasn’t an intelligence agent, but he subconsciously felt it shouldn’t be random.