She was still afraid Shen Qingyan would be bullied.
Terrified.
She knew Shen Qingyan already had it incredibly hard, so ever since she could remember, she had always been especially well-behaved and had never caused Shen Qingyan even the slightest trouble. That was also why she had chosen to swallow her anger when faced with Chen Hao's insults for so long...
And then.
Tang Yao felt herself being pulled into an incomparably warm embrace. That familiar scent filled her nose, followed by a familiar voice by her ear. "Don't be afraid, Yaoyao. Dad's here!"
The little girl's body suddenly stiffened before going limp in Tang Chen's arms.
At that moment, she could no longer keep up her brave front. Tears streamed down like pearls from a broken string, her sobs growing louder until they turned into heart-wrenching cries.
She knew.
She knew that once Tang Chen had come, she no longer had to be strong, no longer had to worry, no longer had to be afraid...
Because she knew even more clearly.
Her dad would protect her!
"Sorry I came late."
As Tang Chen patted Tang Yao's back, he raised his head and looked at Shen Qingyan.
Shen Qingyan covered her pretty face lightly, her eyes slowly reddening as well...
Tang Chen stood up with Tang Yao in his arms, reached out to wipe the tears from Shen Qingyan's eyes, then gently took her hand.
Feeling that warmth brush across her face before finally resting on her hand,
Shen Qingyan felt an unprecedented sense of peace.
"Yaoyao, tell Dad what happened," Tang Chen gently asked his daughter in his arms.
This time.
Tang Yao finally spoke.
Her voice was muffled as she said, "Chen Hao... he's always called me a wild child without a dad..."
"Every day. Every day..."
"He wouldn't let the other children play with me either..."
As she spoke.
Tang Yao kept choking back sobs.
"I didn't want to cause Mom trouble, so I always ignored him. But after school started today, he came to scold me again and said I didn't have a dad."
"But I do have a dad!"
"So I... I argued with him."
"I told him I had a dad and made him promise not to say that about me again."
"But he cursed at me, saying my dad was already dead. He said that if I did have a dad, then he was a ghost that had crawled out of a grave..."
"My dad is the best dad in the world. How could he be a ghost? So I wanted to hit him. I was afraid I couldn't beat him, so I grabbed a chair..."
As she spoke, bean-sized tears poured madly from Tang Yao's eyes.
Listening to her words.
Tang Chen's heart felt as though it were being carved apart by knives, blood gushing from it.
Shen Qingyan felt the same.
She clenched her fists so tightly that her nails nearly pierced her palms, her face filled with self-blame and regret.
Why hadn't she paid more attention to Tang Yao? Why had she let her suffer such humiliation for so long, only finding out now?
At the same time.
She was even more furious!
She suddenly looked up at Li Yin. "Teacher Li, is this what you meant when you said my daughter attacked someone for no reason?"
"Yaoyao's mom, I... I didn't know!"
Cold sweat instantly broke out across Li Yin's forehead.
"You didn't know?"
Shen Qingyan asked coldly, "As a teacher, you didn't know that a student in your class was being bullied like this every day?"
"I..." Li Yin wanted to defend herself, but after opening her mouth, she realized she had nothing to say.
"The last time Yaoyao went missing after school was because of your negligence. Luckily, nothing terrible happened, so I didn't say much to you. But what happened now?"
"You let someone bully my daughter for so long, and you even made us apologize?"
Shen Qingyan's voice was low, but every word was forceful. "I hope you can give me a reasonable explanation!"
Women were soft by nature, but mothers were strong.
Whoever dared bully Tang Yao.
Shen Qingyan would truly fight them to the death!
Looking at Shen Qingyan's expression.
Li Yin panicked.
"So you're that mother and daughter without a father or husband..."
"Director Qian, your son is truly dignified and strikingly handsome!"
At the kindergarten entrance.
A Passat pulled up.
A middle-aged fat man and a chubby four- or five-year-old boy got out of the back seat.
Their builds, figures, and facial features were almost identical. One look was enough to tell they were father and son.
After the pair got out of the car.
An old man in his fifties or sixties hurried over and said ingratiatingly.
The old man was called Shao Qing.
He was the principal of this public kindergarten.
Qian Xiaogang looked at the old face that was practically pressing against his own and smelled the foul breath washing over him. Disgusted, he stepped aside.
Noticing Qian Xiaogang's undisguised reaction, Shao Qing neither got angry nor embarrassed. He simply extended a hand in invitation. "Director Qian, please come in!"
Qian Teng nodded, called out to Qian Xiaogang, and walked into the kindergarten.
As the little fatty walked inside, he pulled out a Strepsils from his pocket and began chewing on it noisily.
"Director Qian, this is our playground, the children's activity area."
"This is our cafeteria. The food here is exceptionally good, and it will absolutely help your son's physique reach the next level!"
"Over here are the classrooms. Our classrooms are usually very quiet and can provide children with a good environment for rest and learning..."
Shao Qing showed Qian Teng around while chattering endlessly and praising the place.
But as he spoke.
A woman's shrill, shrewish yelling drifted over.
The smile on Shao Qing's face immediately stiffened.
He had just finished boasting to Qian Teng.
That voice was undoubtedly a slap in his face.
He casually stopped a teacher and said, "Go take a look. What's going on over there?"
"Yes, Principal!"
The female kindergarten teacher nodded and hurried in the direction the voice had come from.
"Director Qian, this is an accident. The classrooms are usually very quiet... Let's look around over here first..."
He gestured for Qian Teng to proceed.
Qian Teng glanced in that direction, but still followed Shao Qing toward another area.
Although Shen Group had always been in a precarious state, Shen Qingyan had still been a CEO for quite some time. After dealing with those old foxes among her employees day after day, she had long cultivated a cold, oppressive air around her.
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