Chapter 883: The Key to Fate's Turning Point

It must be said that the words Yu Xiangnan spoke were truly talented.

On one hand, he shifted the blame to the school; on the other, he perfectly expressed the school's commitment to Gu Xiaoshuang's education.

By the end, even Wang An felt that if he were Gu Xiaoshuang's stepfather, he would be obligated to support the child's schooling. If he didn't, he would be a sinner—a damn sinner against history.

Fortunately, Wang An was not Gu Xiaoshuang's father, otherwise, he would have been too ashamed to show his face.

Thus, one could imagine how Gu Xiaoshuang's stepfather must be feeling at this moment.

It had to be admitted that sometimes, the tongue of a scholar could truly replace a thousand troops.

In the Northeast during this era, people held intellectuals in high regard. As a principal—and the principal of DJ County No. 1 Middle School, no less—the level of respect Yu Xiangnan commanded was easy to imagine.

Consequently, Gu Xiaoshuang's biological mother and stepfather were being lectured by Yu Xiangnan like elementary school students, occasionally chiming in with "Mm-hmm," "Yes, yes," or "The principal is right."

Of course, Wu Dong's uniform also played a part. Gu Xiaoshuang's father kept stealing glances at Wu Dong, clearly feeling a bit intimidated.

Furthermore, in this day and age, who among ordinary people could drive a sidecar motorcycle? Without exaggeration, one needed both money and power to drive such a thing; it wasn't something you could buy simply by having money.

Finally, after lecturing for about ten minutes, Yu Xiangnan stopped.

Lastly, Yu Xiangnan solemnly handed the admission notice personally to Gu Xiaoshuang and said very seriously

"Although it was the school's mistake to miss sending your admission notice, I represent the school in correcting that error. Therefore, you must study hard in the future to be worthy of this admission notice, which was only obtained after such a series of twists and turns."

Gu Xiaoshuang pursed her lips, clutching the admission notice tightly with both hands. Tears had long since filled her eyes, falling one by one like beads from a broken string.

It was clear just how emotional Gu Xiaoshuang was at this moment.

To others, this admission notice was useless—a piece of stiff paper that would be too rough even to wipe one's backside with.

But to Gu Xiaoshuang, this piece of stiff paper was the key to the turning point of her fate.

Without this piece of paper, Gu Xiaoshuang's life would be grayscale, a path where the end was visible from the start.

With this piece of paper, Gu Xiaoshuang's life would be in color, and her future would hold infinite possibilities.

What this meant to a fourteen or fifteen-year-old child who already understood the ways of the world was self-evident.

Thus, upon hearing Yu Xiangnan's words, Gu Xiaoshuang nodded very seriously and said in a slightly trembling voice

"Principal, thank you!"

Yu Xiangnan patted Gu Xiaoshuang on the shoulder, shifting his tone to a soft smile

"There's no need to thank me, as this is my duty as a principal. But you truly should thank that classmate of yours, hehehehe."

Yu Xiangnan didn't say the rest, as such things were meaningless to him.

However, it was exactly as Yu Xiangnan said; if Wang Yi hadn't found Wang An, Wang An hadn't found Wu Dong, and Wu Dong hadn't found Yu Xiangnan, there would have been an eighty or ninety percent chance that Gu Xiaoshuang's attendance at the County No. 1 Middle School would have been a no-go.

Mainly, for a school, the difference of one student was essentially irrelevant.

At this point, Wu Dong said to Gu Xiaoshuang's stepfather

"Since you've already formed a new family, it means you treat Xiaoshuang and Xiaolong as your own children. You raise them while they are young, and they must support you in your old age; this is the natural order of things."

Wu Dong glanced at the simpleton and spoke to Gu Xiaoshuang's stepfather again

"It's not that we can't interfere in many matters, but that we don't want to. But regardless, as human beings, we must have a conscience. If even the conscience is rotten, then we'll have no choice but to step in. And if we step in, things will get very serious. Spending ten years or so inside would be considered a light sentence."

Wu Dong's words were clearly referring to the fact that Gu Xiaoshuang's father wanted her to marry his simpleton son.

However, after Wang An's earlier words, Wu Dong didn't dare do anything drastic; he could only use his status to warn, or rather threaten, Gu Xiaoshuang's father.

After all, this was another family's private matter. No matter how great Wu Dong's capabilities were, he couldn't exercise them in this situation.

The key issue was that Wu Dong couldn't take care of Gu Xiaoshuang and her mother for the rest of their lives.

Fortunately, Wu Dong was wearing a uniform with a holster on his hip, which made him look the part.

Hearing this, Gu Xiaoshuang's father guaranteed with a face full of panic

"Yes, yes, the officer is right. I will definitely raise Xiaoshuang and Xiaolong well. They already call me father, so as their father, I will certainly treat them as my own children."

Wu Dong nodded with a flourish of pretension

"Mhm, that's the right way to do it. Hearts are made of flesh. They are already this old; if you treat them as your own, they will certainly treat you as their real father."

To be honest, if Wu Dong weren't wearing a uniform, his lecturing of Gu Xiaoshuang's stepfather would have looked like a son scolding his father.

Mainly, Wu Dong's age was roughly the same as that of the stepfather's two sons, which created this illusion.

Wang An was observing the actions of Yu Xiangnan and Wu Dong. As he listened to them speak, he suddenly felt a gaze staring intently at him. After scanning left and right, Wang An discovered that the person staring at him was Gu Xiaoshuang's younger brother, Gu Xiaolong.

At first, Wang An was a bit puzzled, but upon reflection, he realized he hadn't yet fulfilled his promise of giving Gu Xiaolong ten cents.

No wonder Gu Xiaolong had been staring at him.

Wang An beckoned to Gu Xiaolong, and the boy trotted over eagerly.

Wang An smiled and took out ten cents, just as he was about to hand it over, Gu Xiaolong returned the ten cents Wang An had given him previously. At the same time, Gu Xiaolong said

"You came to help my sister, I can't take your money."

In this era, a ten-year-old child could be said to understand almost everything, and children growing up in environments like Gu Xiaoshuang and Gu Xiaolong's became mature even earlier.

After all, "the children of the poor manage the household early." Even if they weren't naturally mature, various circumstances forced them to grow up quickly.

Wang An was momentarily stunned by Gu Xiaolong's action, then said with a smile

"One thing is one thing, and another is another. A man's word is his bond; how can you go back on your word?"

(End of Chapter)