novelno Chapter 1279: Our Daughter Comes of Age [9]
Chapter 1279: Our Daughter Comes of Age [9]
This year’s New Year’s Eve was still spent at Yunqi Villa.
On the first day of the new year, Tang Li woke up to the sound of firecrackers.
She opened her eyes and realized there was no one by her side, and her daughter had also been carried away.
Hearing the laughter outside, Tang Li put on a down jacket over her loungewear, pushed open the balcony door, and saw Song Jingtian building a snowman downstairs, with a young maid helping him, and Ah Xi and Tiger Whip playing around in snow boots.
The little guy was a year older, yet he still looked like he did two years ago.
Because he hadn’t grown much taller, Song Jingtian’s seat in class had been moved from the second-to-last row to directly in front of the podium desk.
The little guy had talked to the teacher several times about the seating arrangement.
——Sitting in the front with a wide view really affected his ability to pull off little pranks!
More importantly.
His little sidekick was still in the second-to-last row.
Without Little Fatty Wu by his side, there was no one to help him get hot water after class.
His current deskmate, although good at studying, shared no common topics with him.
This little stickler of a deskmate often said the most was, ’Song Jingtian, if you keep eating snacks during self-study and distracting me, I’m going to tell the teacher.’
When Song Jingtian was in the fourth grade, Tang Li was asked by him to join the parents’ group chat.
At Steinway Primary School, each class had a parent chat group.
As soon as she joined the group, Tang Li saw a list of XX dad, XXX mom, XXX grandpa, XX grandma. She looked through the member list and didn’t find anyone called XX big brother or XX sister, making her entry undoubtedly an anomaly.
She scrolled down a bit.
An account named [Parent of Song Jingtian] was prominently among them.
Tang Li thought the profile picture looked familiar, and upon checking, it was indeed [Serious Young Man].
Xiao Minglan didn’t usually play with her cellphone much, so she hadn’t joined this kind of chat group.
Before Tang Li could privately message this little rascal posing as his parent, the rascal himself had already tagged her in the parent group: "Welcome to our First Lady! [Party popper][Ribbon][Ribbon]"
Tang Li: "......"
It was too sudden; she wasn’t prepared.
After receiving warm greetings from the parents, the homeroom teacher, Teacher Mao, made a startling announcement: "Since the parents of various classes and grades have been discussing without conclusion, I have a thought representing only myself. I strongly suggest our President’s wife be elected as the Parent Committee Chairman!"
Tang Li: "???"
Again, too sudden.
The next day, without her knowledge or consent, Tang Li was successfully elected as the Parent Committee Chairman of Steinway Primary School.
She wanted to resign.
While editing a rejection message on her cellphone, Song Jingtian, who had just returned to Tan Palace from school, informed her that the Chairman was responsible for supervising the students’ clothing, food, living, and transportation, with plenty of advantages.
"You want me to use my position for personal gain?"
The little guy didn’t like hearing this, "What do you mean by personal gain? The school’s cafeteria and school uniform production are contracted out to others; not to mention school uniforms costing two thousand per set, every year we have to buy sixteen fixed sets. Just the monthly cost of the meal plan is ten thousand, and our school has more than 1,800 students, not counting our basic tuition fees."
Seeing Tang Li open the calculator on her cellphone, Song Jingtian kindly said, "I’ve calculated it all for you, totaling two hundred and nineteen point six million."
Tang Li: "..."
"So, you want to be the Parent Committee Chairman?"
Tang Li exposed directly.
No wonder he insisted she join the parent group.
Turns out, she was his appointed front for money-making.
"I’m thinking of you," the little guy justified, "You’re just a housewife now, and it doesn’t feel good to ask your husband for money."
Tang Li retorted more justifiably, "Your brother’s paycheck card is with me; you can ask him how it feels to ask his wife for money."
Song Jingtian: "..."
He ultimately lost to Tang Li’s thick skin!
When they first met, Tang Li was like a cold beauty full of brokenness.
Time is indeed a mud-trowel, building a wall of copper and iron on Tang Li’s face!
After all, with a two-billion-dollar deal, it can’t be easily given up.
So, he decided to create a strong woman persona for Tang Li: "You married my brother, now you have a child too. In the future, you will surely engage in charity. This time, by being elected as the Parent Committee Chairman, you can use it as practice."
"Let’s first form a temporary team, Little Fatty Wu’s mom is very willing to assist you. She has a background in foreign trade, so for things like contacting businesses and manufacturers, you let her do it, and you just handle the overall direction."
With the little guy saying so, Tang Li indeed wavered.
Not just in S Country, but the First Ladies around the globe are involved in public welfare and charity work.
Being a good assistant to her husband, showing and helping boost the country’s image, is a responsibility of the First Lady.
Charity and public welfare are undoubtedly the best choices.
Compared to those ladies who move into Tan Palace at the age of forty or fifty accompanying their husbands, Tang Li, at her age, would certainly lack the experience in participating in public welfare activities.
Song Jingtian wasn’t wrong on that point.
After having a child, she would eventually appear in public.
"And it’s not like they’re asking you to make money."
The little guy continued to persuade Tang Li: "The profit from school uniforms and meal plans is so high, if you lower the price of school uniforms to nineteen hundred a set, and reduce the monthly meal plan by five hundred, I’ve even calculated it for you."
Saying this, he took a small accounting notebook from his backpack, "You could save each student six thousand one hundred per year; school-wide, that’s ten point ninety-eight million."
"For us students, you’re helping us lower the cost of schooling."
Tang Li directly asked: "What’s the cost of the school uniform?"
Song Jingtian: "......"
"And the cost of the nutritional meals." The little guy explained articulately, and Tang Li believed he must have done some investigation; otherwise, how could he have pushed her to become the Parent Committee Chairman?
Anticipating the little guy’s tricks, Tang Li specifically warned, "Be honest, no lying."
Song Jingtian: "........"
Being the Parent Committee Chairman requires visiting the school once a week.
There are quite a few daily trivial matters as well.
Though Tang Li was initially hesitant, her husband’s encouragement finally made her accept the hot potato.
To express his support for his dear wife, His Excellency personally drafted her inauguration speech.
In October, as soon as Tang Li took office, she adjusted the pricing for food and clothing at Steinway Primary School.
The prices were set at five hundred for spring and autumn uniforms, three hundred for summer ones, and the winter uniform was the most expensive at nine hundred each. As for the nutritional meals, students only needed to pay four thousand six hundred fifty a month.
This price was calculated by professionals invited specifically by Tang Li.
Even though there’s no profit, it won’t result in a loss either.
Following Song Jingtian’s suggestion, Tang Li invited Little Fatty Wu’s mother, Lady He, to be her assistant.
Lady He, upon learning that Tang Li was working as the Parent Committee Chairman without pay, firmly refused the twenty thousand annual salary.
To express gratitude, Tang Li invited Little Fatty Wu and his mother to Tan Palace for a visit.
Tang Li specifically asked Song Jingtian to help entertain their guests that day.
Though frustrated that she wouldn’t profit from the middleman fee, the little guy still acted as a waiter for the day and took Little Fatty Wu to see his ’niece.’
When Song Xiaohua was praised for her looks, Song Jingtian felt proud inside, but showed no change in expression: "This is just the beginning; wait until she’s eighteen, that’s when the real deal shows."
"True, huh!" Little Fatty Wu patted the little girl’s fair cheek. "They say those who look pretty as kids tend to grow up not so good-looking."
Song Jingtian: "......"
Is that what he meant?
Is that what he meant?!!!
Seeing the thick-headed Little Fatty Wu, he grew more irritated.
He slapped away the brat’s dirty paws reaching for Old Song’s family treasure: "Don’t you use your dirty hands that don’t get washed after using the bathroom to touch our Xiaohua."
Little Fatty Wu: "....???"
Things were fine just a moment ago, why the sudden ban?
And besides, he washed his hands today.
He sniffed his palms—there’s no smell!
While Tang Li and Lady He were having afternoon tea, Guo Li also came to the second floor, knocked on the living room door, and spoke respectfully, "His Excellency heard there is a little guest today, a good friend and classmate of the Second Master’s, and would like to invite the little guest over for a chat."
Hearing this, Lady He knocked over the teacup in her hand.
—It wasn’t placed back on the saucer steadily.
Tang Li detected Lady He’s mixed excitement and nervousness, so she got up along with Lady He and informed Guo Li—the little guest was in the nursery looking at the child.
Little Fatty Wu, after visiting the office area and returning to the second floor, looked a bit dazed.
On the way home, faced with his mother’s questions, he couldn’t recall most of what His Excellency said.
But one statement he remembered—
His Excellency praised him for being loyal and kind.
When his mother asked if His Excellency was like what they show on TV, Little Fatty Wu thought for a moment before answering: "His Excellency is very approachable, looks really strong, and even gave me candy."
"Candy?" Lady He thought she misheard.
Little Fatty Wu nodded: "Yes, in His Excellency’s office, on a cabinet, there’s a cartoon car filled with candy. Song Jingtian told me it was a snack gifted for his niece, but since she can’t eat candy yet, it’s just used for play; last time, his niece took the candy car to the office, and when she left, she didn’t take it. So it was placed alongside other decorative items."
Tang Li could more or less guess—
Song Baiyan meeting with Little Fatty Wu had elements of winning over the kid’s mother on her behalf.
Receiving recognition for one’s work ability, who wouldn’t be happy?
From then onwards, Tang Li clearly felt Lady He becoming increasingly dedicated.
On days like first day of the lunar new year, Lady He sent a ’Happy New Year’ emoji with a rose and stars to the parent group chat early in the morning.
After refreshing herself, Tang Li also went downstairs to build a snowman.
With her father taking care, Song Xiaohua didn’t miss her mother at all.
The whole family realized Song Xiaohua was missing only at the lunch table.
Tang Li and Song Jingtian had been in a snowball fight all morning and only came inside when Aunt Min called them in to eat. As she sat down at the dining table, it suddenly dawned on her that she hadn’t fed her daughter all morning. Just as she was about to head to the study, Song Baiyan appeared at the dining room door.
However, Song Baiyan came empty-handed.
Tang Li asked, "Where’s Xiaohua?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, countless eyes turned towards her.
Indeed.
Where is Song Xiaohua?
Tang Li: "..."
——
——
Two updates combined into one.
Good night!