Chapter 70 The Most Useless Extracurricular Class, Wen Huilin Goes Crazy

After leaving Lintian Pavilion at noon and dropping off Chen Zetian, Wen Huilin returned to the office just as the afternoon shift was starting.

She pushed open the office door. Several older colleagues were gathered at the entrance of the pantry for their daily chat. Seeing her enter, one of them raised her cup: "Huilin, what did you go do with your time off this morning? You don't look so good."

Wen Huilin placed her bag on her desk and forced a strained smile, "I had to run an errand regarding the interest classes my child is enrolled in."

"Interest classes?" Sister Liu from the next desk turned her chair around, "What classes did your child sign up for? Mine is taking English and Math Olympiad, and every day when he gets back, he complains to me about how tired he is."

Wen Huilin named three: Fencing, Robotics programming, and Cello.

Sister Liu frowned slightly.

Another older colleague surnamed Zhang, who was sitting next to her, also turned around, holding half a biscuit in her hand: "Cello? That thing is a real money pit, isn't it? A few hundred per lesson? A child of one of my relatives has been learning it for three years, and to this day, she can't even play a complete piece. Her mother was so angry she smashed the instrument."

"Fencing is also quite a scam," Sister Liu added, "The son of my husband's colleague learned it for a year, spent tens of thousands, and all he learned was how to poke people with a sword. He actually used it when he got into a fight with someone."

She stuffed the biscuit into her mouth and brushed the crumbs off her hands.

Fencing, fighting...

Wen Huilin had originally been feeling disgusted by that gesture Chen Ang made when they parted ways. Now, suddenly hearing these discussions, her scalp tingled, and a bad premonition arose.

She immediately thought of the incident at school where Chen Zetian stabbed a classmate in the eye, costing her 140,000 in compensation.

As a chill ran down her spine, the first thought in her mind was Chen Ang's scheming.

She recalled Chen Ang's various behaviors at the time; they all seemed like he was fighting for his son, yet the results showed that his intentions were twisted.

She then thought of how Chen Ang even encouraged his son, saying he deserved praise and that it was a courageous act.

In an instant, she felt a chill permeate her limbs, leaving her hands and feet cold.

Chen Ang was intentionally misleading his son; he was raising his son to be a failure.

A wave of intense humiliation and anger surged into her heart. As her whole body trembled uncontrollably, Wen Huilin again noticed a sharp pain in her chest.

"Huilin, what's wrong? You don't look so good," Sister Liu asked with concern, looking at Wen Huilin while holding her cup to drink water.

"It's nothing, Sister Liu. I probably just didn't sleep well last night and feel a bit dizzy." She gave a perfunctory reply, slowly calming her agitated emotions, and then looked at Sister Zhang and asked, "What about this Robotics programming class?"

"That one is even more useless," Sister Zhang waved her hand, her tone absolute, "The child living downstairs from me studied it for a year, and it was completely worthless. His dad was so angry he went to the agency for a refund, but they said the contract stated it was for 'programming thinking enlightenment,' not actual programming. Eight out of ten lessons were just letting the kids play with building blocks. To put it bluntly, you're just paying someone to babysit your child."

Wen Huilin felt the world spinning and her vision darkening. She didn't ask any further and quickly sat back at her desk.

Seeing that her state was off, the others didn't continue, turning instead to other topics.

After sitting blankly for a long while and catching her breath, Wen Huilin opened her computer, staring at the report on the screen, but couldn't take in a single word.

Her mind was filled with Fencing, Robotics programming, Cello—all words synonymous with waste.

She immediately took out her phone and searched for reviews of these three interest classes. The more she read, the colder her heart felt.

Almost every post said that learning these three things was useless for further education and useless for skill development; the only use was that they were expensive.

She recalled again the sincere expression on Chen Ang's face after their showdown, as if he were truly worried about his son's future.

He said "Xiaotian has talent," said "Fencing cultivates temperament," said "Cello cultivates character," and said "Robotics cultivates logical thinking."

It was all fucking fake, all just rhetoric, all a scam.

Of course the teachers would say he has talent; how could he not have talent?

She had fucking thrown 100,000 into it.

No, that's not right. It was more than 100,000.

Chen Zetian stabbed a classmate in the eye with a pencil, costing another 140,000 in compensation.

The root cause was still that Fencing class. Chen Ang had spent her money to sign his son up for three of the most useless interest classes, raising his son into a brat who would stab people in the eye with a pencil.

Then he made her pay, made her get pointed at and scolded by the other parents, and made her almost lose her breath in the police station mediation room.

100,000 for interest classes, 140,000 in compensation—it was all paid by her.

Chen Ang didn't pay a single cent. He had won another round of scheming, and she had only just realized it now.

No wonder he said, "I didn't do anything wrong, why get a divorce?"

From the very beginning, he had been laying a trap, with the sole purpose of taking revenge on her.

What an insidious person, what a vicious heart.

Her hand holding the phone trembled uncontrollably, her blood pressure was rising rapidly, and her breathing was becoming increasingly labored.

She recalled again that gentle gesture of Chen Ang patting Chen Zetian's head in front of the hotel today.

He used to pat Xiaotian's head like that too; at the time, she thought it was fatherly love.

Now she saw it clearly: every time Chen Ang patted Xiaotian's head, he was laughing in his heart—a laugh of vengeful satisfaction.

She absolutely could not let it go like this. Wen Huilin took a deep breath, suppressing the emotions that were about to explode. She stood up, grabbed her phone, and walked straight out of the office door.

In the hallway, she leaned against the wall of the stairwell and dialed Qu Suping's number.

"Mom, I've arranged a place for tonight. You guys come over for dinner later."

Qu Suping paused on the other end, "Chen Ang just called a moment ago and said he had already arranged tonight. Didn't he tell you?"

Wen Huilin's fingers gripping the phone tightened abruptly. She suppressed the strangeness in her voice and smiled, saying, "I was busy this afternoon and didn't get a chance to ask him."

"We've only been walking around for a while. Your dad is over there watching the rowing with Xiaozhuo." Qu Suping's voice was still as gentle as ever, but her next sentence made Wen Huilin's heart skip a beat, "Huilin, are you and Chen Ang having a disagreement?"

"No, how could we be having a conflict?" This reply came quickly. She adjusted her breathing and slowed her tone, "Mom, it's probably just that work is too busy and I haven't rested well."

"That's good then." Qu Suping didn't press further, instead changing the subject, "Chen Ang didn't say exactly where we're eating, just that it's settled. You can ask him in a bit."

Wen Huilin took a gentle, deep breath, "Mhm, okay. I don't have much work this afternoon. I'll pick up Xiaotian early later and go over with you all. When I dropped him off at school at noon, he was still rambling about wanting to hang out with you."

Qu Suping didn't say much more, mentioned her own itinerary, and then hung up the phone.

Wen Huilin gripped her phone, leaning against the wall for a long while, the same thought circling repeatedly in her heart.

Chen Ang, aren't you afraid of your mother knowing? Aren't you afraid to tear off your mask in front of your parents?

You disgust me, so I'll disgust you too. Let's see who breaks first.

On the other side, Qu Suping, who had finished the call, also fell silent.

She wasn't stupid. Having once accompanied Chen Zhonghui from nothing to creating a fortune of tens of millions, how could she lack her own alertness?

She was certain that something must have happened between Chen Ang and Wen Huilin.

At this moment, her face was slightly pale, and she felt a wave of stuffiness in her chest.

After thinking for a moment, she picked up the phone and dialed Chen Ang's number.