Seeing this, Xu Mu could more or less guess what Lu Xueyao wanted.
Put plainly, she wanted him to help—stand in for her parent at the meeting—so her grandmother wouldn't have to go.
She was afraid her grandmother would embarrass her.
Just as Xu Mu was about to call and scold her, another message from Lu Xueyao arrived:
"Our classes start at 8 a.m., the parent meeting is at 9. It's hard for my grandma to take the bus. Could you find someone to bring her to the school?"
A long string of texts followed.
Only then did Xu Mu nod slightly—he'd misjudged her.
Lu Xueyao had indeed grown up.
At that moment, Ye Tong noticed Xu Mu hadn't "attacked," and cautiously peeked her pretty face back out from under the covers.
"What's up?"
She saw Xu Mu looking at his phone.
"It's one of Ye Yu's classmates. She wants a favor from me tomorrow."
Xu Mu didn't hide anything and handed her the phone.
Ye Tong skimmed it and nodded lightly. "You're going to the meeting anyway. Just bring her grandma along."
"That was my plan."
Xu Mu sent the reply, then set his phone aside. "Alright, back to the main event."
Early the next morning.
Xu Mu first messaged Meng Wanyue to say there was a parent meeting and he'd head to the company afterward.
Then he drove toward the urban village where Lu Xueyao lived.
He arrived at 7:30. Lu Xueyao was waiting at the entrance.
When she saw him get out, she hurried over and took his arm. "Brother Xu Mu."
"Take me to meet your grandma."
Xu Mu carried a fruit basket. "It's early and most shops weren't open, so I just grabbed some fruit."
[Favorability +10]
"Brother Xu Mu, you're helping me and still brought a gift?"
Lu Xueyao looked genuinely moved.
"It's the first time meeting Grandma—I can't come empty-handed." Xu Mu tapped her on the head.
Her home was on the first floor of the run-down complex.
The door was already open; inside, neatly stacked flattened cardboard boxes filled a corner.
The furnishings were old—clearly from over a decade ago—
but everything was kept very clean.
"You must be the Xu Mu that Xiaoyao mentioned?"
An elderly woman with white hair, wearing a dark red top and black pants, smiled as she spoke.
"Hello, Grandma."
Xu Mu sized her up—about sixty or seventy, face lined with wrinkles, slightly stooped.
He set the fruit basket on the table and waved to Lu Xueyao. "Hurry to school; don't be late."
"Okay."
She smiled, shouldered her bag, and hurried out.
"Sit, sit. We're the ones troubling you, and you even brought fruit."
Wang Xiuzhen shuffled over, smiling.
Xu Mu sat on the worn sofa. He respected this older generation—mobility already poor, yet still going out to pick recyclables for money.
"You're Xiaoyao's boyfriend, aren't you?" Wang Xiuzhen asked as she sat.
Xu Mu only smiled—neither confirming nor denying.
"Xiaoyao's clearly different lately—smiles more. We have you to thank."
Wang Xiuzhen studied him. Tall and handsome—no wonder the girl liked him.
"Xiaoyao's a good kid," Xu Mu said softly.
"She is. Shame her father had such poor fate and passed so early."
Tears welled as she spoke. "Treat her well in the future. I'm an old woman and don't care about formalities. We won't ask for anything. I won't live that long anyway—you two won't need to care for me in old age."
"Please don't say that, Grandma. You're in great spirits—you'll live a long time yet."
Xu Mu didn't want her sad, so he joked lightly, "Xiaoyao's future baby will be counting on you to help."
"Hahaha." Wang Xiuzhen laughed.
They chatted until close to nine. Xu Mu then helped her into the car.
Seeing the Cadillac Escalade at the curb, she couldn't help exclaiming, "Why is this car so big? Must be expensive?"
"Not really—just a little over a hundred thousand."
He settled her in the back seat and drove to the school.
The parking lot was packed—mostly ordinary cars, but quite a few luxury ones too. As the provincial capital of Jiangbei, Jiang City had plenty of wealthy folks.
Xu Mu parked, helped Wang Xiuzhen out, and they walked in together.
Staff were directing parents to line up by class.
Remembering Lu Xueyao was in Class 2, he brought Grandma to the Class 2 area.
"Brother Xu Mu! Grandma!"
Spotting them, Lu Xueyao ran over from the crowd.
Seeing Xu Mu guiding her grandmother the whole way, she became even more certain she hadn't misjudged him.
[Favorability +20]
"Perfect timing. I was afraid if we got separated, Grandma might get lost."
Xu Mu patted her shoulder.
"I'll take Grandma back to our classroom in a bit," she said with a bright grin.
Wang Xiuzhen took it all in. Her granddaughter had smiled more in these few days than in the past few years combined.
Xu Mu nodded and headed to the Class 1 area.
He followed the group leader toward Class 1's room.
"Parents of Class 1, I'm Ms. Mu, the homeroom teacher. Please enter in order—your child's name is on the desk."
A woman in a fitted uniform appeared—front buttons pulled taut, yet looking friendly and approachable.
Quite a few dads were stunned—what celebrity was this?
Xu Mu stared in disbelief.
It was Mu Qingying.
Wasn't she a music teacher?
Then again, these days P.E., art, and music teachers often doubled as homeroom teachers—
they were teacher's college grads all the same.
Mu Qingying noticed Xu Mu too and, for some reason, panicked—averting her eyes in a hurry.
The kidnapping was still fresh in her mind, especially how Xu Mu had faced death to save her.
Lately, every time she closed her eyes, she saw him.
Xu Mu entered with the others and found Ye Yu's name on a desk in the second row by the corridor.
Sitting down, he looked around; he was the only truly young one here.
On the podium, Mu Qingying glanced at the seating list and saw Xu Mu in Ye Yu's seat.
Ye Yu had specifically told her she only had one immediate relative—her older sister.
The sister had just married and was busy with work, so the parent attending would be her brother-in-law.
She'd been afraid the teacher might think she'd found some random young guy to fill in, so she'd clarified in advance.
So… Xu Mu was Ye Yu's brother-in-law.
He… was married?
For reasons she couldn't name, Mu Qingying felt a bit dazed.
No wonder he'd deliberately kept his distance—he'd secretly married.
But then… why had he risked his life to save her just a few days ago?
She clenched her fists, annoyed at herself and inexplicably irritable.
It felt as if something that should have been hers had been taken away.
"Teacher, aren't you going to start?"
A mother in the audience prompted her.
She'd dressed up specially, but the way the dads were looking at the teacher made her feel sick—her spotlight completely stolen.
"Oh—sorry. Class 1's homeroom teacher is on leave for pregnancy, so I'll be filling in for now. I'm Mu Qingying."
She set her phone on the podium; her notes were already prepared.
"Ye… Ye Yu's parent—you're here, right?"
She'd only said one line and already felt unnatural. Why did she keep ending up talking to Xu Mu first?
"I'm here."
Xu Mu smiled slightly, meeting her gaze with clear, untroubled eyes.
Mu Qingying glanced at him and recalled the elegance of his piano playing.
A flicker of regret rippled through her heart.
Even she couldn't believe she might actually feel that way.