The President’s Man - Chapter 335

…

As they walked to Han Ye’s car, Xiao Zhihao could not help but get angry at the man before him. Unable to take it anymore, he grabbed Han Ye’s arm and snapped, “Why did you do that for?! That’s my scholarship! I didn’t do anything wrong! Why did you tell the principal to revoke it!”

He was angry, extremely angry… and annoyed. That was the scholarship that he worked hard for, and that was his ticket for a better future. Even if his mother was somewhat well off now, what with all the money that she was making from the movie as well as the trust fund provided by DX, Xiao Zhihao still wanted to make it in this world with his own effort.

Han Ye glanced at Xiao Zhihao’s arm that was on his sleeve and said in a cold voice, “Let that be a lesson to you…”

“I thought you like my mother! Don’t you want me to say a nice thing or two about you?” Xiao Zhihao yelled as his breathing quickened. “Aren’t you afraid that I’ll tell her that I hate you?!”

Han Ye looked at Xiao Zhihao for a few seconds before asking, “Are you saying that I should spoil you and let you do whatever you want just because you’re your mother’s son?”

Looking at Han Ye’s calm face, Xiao Zhihao released his sleeve. He opened his mouth, but for some reason, he could not find a word to retort Han Ye.

“Zhihao,” Han Ye said as he looked at the teenage boy before him. His expression softened as he placed his hands on Xiao Zhihao’s shoulders. When the boy tried to shrug him off, Han Ye held shoulders tighter to prevent him from doing so.

“I like your mother, and I like her very much, but I don’t intend to spoil you because of that. I want to spoil you because you’re a good boy, not because I want you to help me court your mother. However, I cannot allow you to think that you can get away with anything just because of my feelings for my mother or who you would be related to in the future.”

Upon hearing him, Xiao Zhihao bit his lower lip in embarrassment and looked down at the ground.

“I know that you can’t get past your father’s death yet, and please believe me when I say that your mother is the same. But I’m willing to wait for you and your mother, so take all the time you need to grieve.”

He released Xiao Zhihao’s shoulders and stood up straight before adding, “I’m sorry that you lost your scholarship, but I have no choice. What you did to those boys was horrible, even if they deserved it. That’s not what a great person would do. Your fists should only be used to protect someone.”

“Then what am I supposed to do? Just let them be? You don’t know what monsters they were!” Xiao Zhihao said as tears welled up in his eyes as he thought about the humiliation that he went through in their hands. He had always convinced himself that he was fine, but when he saw that poor boy in the toilet, all his pent-up anger returned to him, and he lost control of himself.

“Talk to an a.d.u.l.t, find another way… But not with your fists.”

Xiao Zhihao scoffed, “Talking to an a.d.u.l.t doesn’t always help!”

“No, it doesn’t… but if you talk to the right person, it would,” Han Ye said as he thought about his first encounter with DX. “If you want to be a great person in the future, you need to know your own strengths and weaknesses and that sometimes, you would have to ask for help. Holding everything in is not the right move…”

Xiao Zhihao wiped his tears with the back of his hand as he listened to Han Ye.

“Zhihao, your scholarship is gone… but you can still graduate without burdening your mother,” Han Ye said with a smile. Given how headstrong the boy was, he knew that Xiao Zhihao’s biggest worry was that he might burden his mother unnecessarily.

“How?” Xiao Zhihao looked at Han Ye with red eyes, which made him look like Xiao Lei for a split second.

Han Ye hesitated for a moment before saying, “I’ll give you a loan, interest-free. You can start to work to pay it off. It’s not going to be easy because the fees are freaking ridiculous at this school, but I believe that someone capable like you can figure it out. I’ll figure out something that you can do, and if you do well in school, we can set something for that too.”

The different types of fees for the school were ridiculously expensive, but Han Ye figured with his salary and bonuses, he would be able to deal with them. He would have to give up on some materialistic things, but other than that, his life wouldn’t be affected much.

Xiao Zhihao looked at Han Ye, and he was confused by the man’s action. Why would he ask the principal to revoke his scholarship only to offer to give him a loan? Besides, this felt more like Han Ye was punishing himself instead of him.

As if he knew what Xiao Zhihao was talking about, Han Ye said, “Because you need someone to keep you grounded during this time. Your father’s and your friend’s deaths were unfortunate, but that doesn’t give you a right to lash out. Those boys… You weren’t just taking revenge for that poor boy that you saw. With their wounds, I can see that you have lost control. You were unleashing all your pain and anger onto them…”

Xiao Zhihao’s eyes went wide open slightly when he realized that he was found out.

Han Ye signaled him to walk to the car. This way, it would take some embarrassment out of Xiao Zhihao, as a teenager his age would probably hate to be seen through by others, especially by a man who was trying to court his mother.

As they walked, Han Ye said with a calm voice, “I know you’re angry and upset, but don’t lash out on others. Lash it out on me if you want… If you don’t learn how to control your anger, one day, you might get into some kind of trouble that even I, or President Du, could not save you from. What would your mother feel then?”

Xiao Zhihao did not say anything. When he heard Han Ye speak, he felt so ashamed of himself.

“What’s done was done…” Han Ye comforted him. “When we get home later, just go to your room. Unless, of course, you want to tell your mother yourself?”

He glanced at Xiao Zhihao, who after a few seconds, shook his head slowly. The teenager felt too ashamed to see his mother tonight.

Han Ye smiled and nodded. “I’ll talk to your mother about this later… Don’t worry.”

Without looking up at Han Ye, Xiao Zhihao nodded.

“In the meantime, I’ll text her and let her know that you’re with me. We’ll go to the hospital to get your wounds clean up…”

Xiao Zhihao nodded again.