Education Is Important

Chapter 43: Education Is Important

After dropping off his children and wife in the morning, Wang Yue hurried to the office and got to work. It felt rather novel to him, and as he absorbed his memories while working diligently, he took his job extremely seriously.

After all, the design work he'd done at So Young hadn't been on such a large scale. Later, when he'd pursued his doctorate, most of his work had been theoretical. At most, he'd assisted his professors; he'd never led a project himself, so he didn't dare be careless.

At lunchtime, he happened to run into Xia Junshan. Seeing the dark circles under his eyes, Wang Yue asked, "Brother Xia, why do you look so exhausted? What happened?"

"It's all because of my wonderful father-in-law. He insists on making two families who are at each other's throats become one big, loving family!" Xia Junshan drooped his head, looking miserable.

"If I remember right, your father-in-law's other daughter is his stepdaughter, isn't she?" Wang Yue asked, unable to believe it.

"Yeah!" Xia Junshan listlessly pushed food around on his plate.

"Wasn't the old dean supposed to be pretty shrewd? It's already asking a lot for your sister-in-law to face the stepmother who wrecked her family. Now she's supposed to be loving toward her stepsister, too!" Wang Yue hurriedly took a sip of his honey-lemon iced drink to calm himself.

Xia Junshan was glad to finally have someone who'd listen to him vent, and lamented, "Exactly! It only takes a spark to set things off. It all ended badly, and I spent half the night comforting my wife!"

"Brother Xia, are you kidding me? What kind of comforting did you do to end up looking like this today?" Wang Yue said with a grin, eyeing Xia Junshan's dark circles.

"Look who's talking. You're no better!" Xia Junshan shot back. But he was a somewhat proud man, and not as thick-skinned as Wang Yue was now. After teasing him, Wang Yue remained calm and unruffled.

Seeing that he couldn't outdo Wang Yue's shamelessness, Xia Junshan quickly changed the subject. "Yan Peng's son is pretty impressive. Yesterday, he recited a really long string of digits from pi."

"Even the most precise instruments don't need that many digits. I thought the fourteen I memorized after the decimal point were already overkill. What's the point of a grade-schooler doing that? Is he entering a competition?" Wang Yue asked.

"She just wants to show off how well her son does in school, make my daughter look stupid!" Xia Junshan said indignantly.

"If he gets good grades and goes into science and technology to serve the country and its people, I'll worship him. But from the way you put it, Yan Peng's wife is just hoping he'll get a good job in the future. And what's a good job for, if not to make money and enjoy life? Yan Peng's family can already enjoy life! Why go to all that trouble?" Wang Yue's logic was airtight, leaving Xia Junshan speechless.

With Yan Ziyou's background, he ought to have been able to enjoy his childhood. Instead, he could only do as his mother demanded and compete with ordinary people for a place at the top. This guy had some real insight. "So you think Tian Yulan is the one who's hurting Yan Ziyou?"

"No! Yan Peng is the one who's hurting Yan Ziyou!" Wang Yue shook his head in disagreement.

"What does Yan Peng have to do with it? Because he can't control his wife?" Xia Junshan was a little confused. He'd thought Wang Yue was joining him in criticizing Tian Yulan.

"No. Yan Peng is the only child in his family, and they've got a huge family business. But he just coasts through life and can't shoulder the family business. That's why Yan Ziyou has to be outstanding enough to take on everything that should've been Yan Peng's responsibility." Wang Yue's point gave Xia Junshan plenty to think about.

"You might have a point," Xia Junshan said, gesturing for Wang Yue to continue.

"Have you ever seen an older man from a rich family let his daughter-in-law control his son the way the Yan family does? Yan Peng's parents just don't want to admit they failed as parents. They also don't believe they can raise their grandson to succeed, so they've allowed Tian Yulan to have the unusual position she has now." Wang Yue finished speaking and began to eat, swiftly and elegantly.

"So you're just taking the long way around to call Yan Peng useless? I'll have to tell him. He said you were a decent guy last time!" Xia Junshan said, looking as if he'd caught Wang Yue red-handed.

"Go ahead. I'll tell him you insulted his wife, Tian Yulan!" Wang Yue struck a nerve at once.

"All right, you win!" Xia Junshan knew that calling Yan Peng useless wouldn't matter, but insulting his wife was another story. So he said no more and got on with his meal. He'd been so busy talking that his food had gone a little cold.

That evening, Xia Junshan repeated Wang Yue's words to his wife, Nan Li. Nan Li agreed that Wang Yue had a point. It was all Yan Peng's fault for not keeping his wife in check; she was always giving Nan Li a hard time. Men and women really did see things differently.

That evening, while his wife cooked, Wang Yue kept the two children company. He helped Yuan Yuan with her homework while handing little Xiao Tuantuan blocks to play with.

He'd spent over ten years working at So Young before learning how to be a hands-on dad, and it hadn't been for nothing. Wang Yue thought this without a trace of shame; in fact, he felt proud.

Once he'd settled his wife and children in bed, Wang Yue turned on the computer at home and returned to his old line of work, developing a game. He planned to make Glory, then buy the rights to it.

There was no rush; he could take his time. If the money he had wasn't enough, he could follow the example of other people who'd traveled through time and make a killing trading Bitcoin first. Wang Yue was delighted by the prospect.

To give the family of four a comfortable life, Wang Yue was going all out. More than anything, he disliked their current living conditions. It wasn't that he was uncomfortable; he felt bad for his wife and children. He also wanted to bring his parents over, so he and Guan Guan could live as carefree a life as they had in So Young.

At home now, when Tuan Tuan spread out all her toys to play, there was barely any room to walk. Yuan Yuan's plush toys, meanwhile, all had to be taken out one at a time. Remembering the big bedroom the two children had in So Young, Wang Yue found himself more motivated than ever to work as a programmer.

After working like this every day, the dark circles under Wang Yue's eyes grew worse and worse. Xia Junshan hadn't seen him for several days, and when he spotted Wang Yue from a distance that day, he was shocked.

"Wang Yue, you need to take care of yourself. We're not young anymore. Go to bed earlier at night, and stop keeping your sister-in-law up!" The first half of Xia Junshan's remark touched Wang Yue; the second made the corner of his mouth twitch.

"Don't worry, I'm in great shape. I could keep going for thousands of years. You should worry about tomorrow's parent-teacher meeting. I heard Huan Huan failed math." Wang Yue gave as good as he got, deliberately hitting the doting father where it hurt.

"I'm giving Huan Huan a happy childhood. Grades aren't everything," Xia Junshan insisted.

"Your daughter's a smart kid; she just has a weak foundation. You can get her a tutor in college and sort it out then. There's no need to sign her up for classes." Wang Yue helpfully offered his advice.

"A tutor?" Xia Junshan was a doting father. If something was good for his daughter, he was willing to listen.

"Yeah. One tutor can cover Chinese, math, and English. At least get her through the entrance exams for middle school first." Wang Yue couldn't remember when this world had changed its middle-school entrance exam policy, so it was best to improve her grades just in case.

"Does Yuan Yuan have a tutor, too?" Xia Junshan wanted to learn Wang Yue's parenting methods.

"Brother Xia, intelligence is a good thing. You should bring yours with you more often instead of always forgetting it!" Wang Yue was at a loss for words. Whenever Xia Junshan's daughter was involved, his intelligence seemed to disappear.

"What do you mean? Oh, right, your sister-in-law's a teacher!" Xia Junshan covered his face and left. He needed to discuss it with Nan Li.

Once Xia Junshan had finally gone, Wang Yue took a nap during his lunch break. He was getting older; back when he used to stay up programming, it hadn't affected him like this.

Maybe he should follow President Li's example and put some goji berries in a thermos?