Chapter 367: Pinjun’s Boss is at the School?
Su Li said that if this ever happened again, they should quickly move any hard or sharp objects out of the way to avoid injuring Li Li.
Then, they should also quickly loosen her collar and turn her head to one side. This would allow any secretions or vomit to drain from her mouth, preventing them from flowing into her trachea and causing choking or suffocation.
She also instructed them not to put anything in her mouth, as it could cause choking...
After giving her instructions, she left. But the others, just like Li Li, took a long moment to process what had happened.
The final exams continued that afternoon. Li Li and her two roommates walked into the classroom, the examination hall, with anxious hearts.
All the students in the class acted no differently than usual. No one stared at Li Li, and no one was whispering. It was as if the earlier incident had never happened.
No one had told anyone else about what happened to Li Li. Besides those who were present at the time, nobody knew about it.
Li Li gave Su Li, who wasn’t far away, a long look, then broke into a smile and focused on her exam.
After that day, during the short remainder of the exam period, Su Li belatedly realized that her classmates’ attitudes toward her had returned to how they were before.
No, actually, their attitude toward her was even better than before.
Because of the exams, no one had time for joking and laughing, but whenever they saw Su Li, they would always nod or say hello.
The prejudiced lenses they saw her through had been silently removed.
Chang E was happy for Su Li.
Although she always wailed dramatically after finishing an exam, Chang E was back to her old self, and she no longer deliberately lowered her voice.
In the final days of their freshman year, everyone had returned to normal.
Except for Qu An.
Qu An hadn’t returned to his former cheerful and upbeat self. His smile was gone, and he grew more and more silent.
He had his principles; he hadn’t told anyone about Li Li’s condition, either.
But all the classmates who used to hang out with him, who he often treated to meals and sodas, who listened to him slander Su Li—they were all gone.
Qu An himself couldn’t describe how he felt.
He was sullen and resentful, always thinking, ’If I had another chance, I would have done just as well as Su Li.’
He didn’t think he had done anything wrong.
He didn’t think he had said anything wrong, either.
After the final exams were over, the students gathered for a meal to relax before getting ready to go home for the break.
Qu An wanted to relax too, but after exchanging just a few words with his girlfriend, they got into an argument, and he went home alone in a huff.
He had been living in the dorms and had only come home occasionally, so he hadn’t noticed the situation at home.
It was only upon returning this time that he realized something was off.
The house, which was always spotless, was a bit dirty, and his mother, who seemed to always be home, was nowhere to be found.
"Mom, I’m home."
Qu An called out. The bedroom door opened, and a haggard-looking Mrs. Qu and an exhausted Mr. Qu came out.
"An, you’re back." Mrs. Qu forced a smile. "How were your exams? You finished today, right?"
Qu An nodded. "Yeah."
He looked at them. "Did something happen? What’s wrong?"
"It’s nothing, nothing. You don’t need to worry," Mrs. Qu replied immediately.
Qu An frowned. "If something’s wrong, just tell me."
He was getting a little irritated.
Mr. Qu stopped Mrs. Qu. "I’ll tell him. His exams are over now, so it’s not like it will affect him anymore."
Qu An looked at his father’s expression. "What on earth is going on?"
Mr. Qu pointed to the sofa. "Sit down. Let’s talk."
After they sat down, he looked at Qu An’s impatient expression and sighed.
"You probably noticed it before. The atmosphere at home has been tense. It’s not for any other reason—the factory’s business is in trouble."
Mr. Qu sighed again. "If we can’t get through this, things might be difficult for the family for a while. You can’t keep squandering your allowance like this. We were going to cut it earlier, but your mother said you had final exams and we couldn’t affect you, so we let you keep spending like that."
Mr. Qu’s expression was grim. "You’ve been spending way too much money lately. A student spending that much..."
Mrs. Qu tugged at Mr. Qu’s arm. "Don’t scold him. He must have had his reasons for spending it."
"I..." Qu An was slow to react, not quite understanding what it meant for the family factory to be in trouble.
His family had struggled a bit when he was young, but things had been good ever since junior high.
He had grown accustomed to this comfortable, privileged, middle-class lifestyle. ’How can they suddenly tell me my allowance is going to be reduced?’
Beyond that, Qu An also felt a pang of unease. He had been spending a lot of money recently because he’d gotten a girlfriend—splurging extravagantly to show off to Su Li and make her regret it.
And then there was all the money he spent treating people to food in order to slander Su Li... That’s why he’d spent so much.
Mr. Qu looked at Qu An sternly. "You’re not a kid anymore. From now on, when it comes to family matters, even if you’re not sharing the burden, you should at least be aware of the situation. You need to be mindful of what needs attention."
"We’ll let it go this time, but this can’t happen again. Our family this time..."
Mr. Qu sighed. "We don’t even know if we can pull through."
Qu An nodded. "I understand. I’ll be more careful in the future."
After he said that, he thought about his father’s words and asked doubtfully, "But wasn’t the family business doing well before? How did it run into problems?"
He looked down at his clothes. "Aren’t we still working with Pinjun Clothing? You said before that it was a big deal."
When he heard Qu An mention Pinjun, Mr. Qu let out a deep sigh.
"Sigh... Don’t talk about it. Pinjun... they’re not working with us anymore."
"What? They’re not? Why?"
Working with Pinjun had always been a source of pride for Qu An. Everyone in his class knew his family’s factory had a partnership with Pinjun.
Mr. Qu heaved another deep sigh. "A moment of folly can lead to a lifetime of regret. It’s a long story; I won’t get into it with you now."
"It’s about time. Shouldn’t we be going?" Mrs. Qu said, looking at the time.
"Right, we should go," Mr. Qu agreed with a nod.
Only then did Qu An notice they were dressed to go out.
"Where are you going at this hour?"
"We’re going to see the owner of Pinjun. We’ll see if we can earn their forgiveness and ask to work with them again. If we can continue our partnership with Pinjun, we’ll have made it through this crisis. If not... sigh. This is our last chance."
For the past half-month, Mr. Qu had been running himself ragged, chasing down every possible opportunity.
In the end, he still had to go beg Pinjun.
A man has to answer for his own mistakes.
"There are leftovers in the fridge," Mrs. Qu told Qu An. "You can heat them up yourself or just go out to eat."
How could Qu An even think about food at a time like this? "Dad, Mom, is there anything I can do to help?"
’My family’s business absolutely can’t fail! It’s not just that I’m used to my comfortable life—I can’t let it happen, not now. I still have to prove myself to Su Li!’
Qu An genuinely wanted to help. No matter what it was, he wanted to do his part.
Mr. Qu looked at the expression in his son’s eyes and felt gratified, but he still waved his hand.
"What help could you be? Just focus on your studies. I can handle these things myself."
Enduring this kind of groveling and begging was enough for one person.
Hearing Qu An, however, Mrs. Qu grew thoughtful.
"Dear," she said to her husband, "why don’t we let An come with us? Didn’t you say the owner is from his university? It’ll be easier to find them if he’s with us."
Qu An was stunned for a moment. "Our university? The owner of Pinjun is a teacher at our school?"