TUMZ Chapter 30

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ANNOUNCEMENT

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Zhuang Hanxue's gaming console and comics were confiscated, and his dad made him work the entire afternoon. After a solemn protest, he was only allowed to keep his health equipment.

Life was truly miserable and unbearable.

When Zhuang Hanxue got home and saw his mom, he immediately declared his loyalty with righteous indignation:

"Mom, Dad wants me to stay by his side, saying he wants to personally train me? What should I do? Mom, listen to me, I am completely on your side! I have not been bribed by that cheating scumbag in the slightest! Really! Do you think I should stay with Dad? Isn't that inappropriate? Wouldn't that be like taking sides?"

His mom, calm and unhurried, replied, "What's the problem? It seems perfectly fine."

"So we're really going to tear off all pretenses and have a full-blown fight, huh?"

"Your dad is just making a statement, assuring us that the illegitimate child means nothing."

"The company is still going to be yours."

"I'm satisfied."

Zhuang Hanxue silently wept in his heart. Why was his life so miserable?

Seeing his lazy and reluctant expression, his mom found it both amusing and infuriating. She casually picked up a cat teaser wand and playfully smacked him.

"Why are you looking so gloomy? You lazybone, if I don't give you a beating, you won’t even move."

"Isn't inheriting the company a good thing?"

Zhuang Hanxue righteously declared, "Mom, but I’m dumb! I’m so stupid that if I go into business, I’ll definitely get scammed to death. Forget about protecting our wealth—I'll probably squander everything!"

His mom, however, said, "That’s actually a good thing. At least you’re self-aware. You don’t need to do much. We hired so many smart people to work for us, after all. Knowing your own stupidity is a virtue. The biggest threat to maintaining an inheritance is lacking self-awareness and thinking you’re clever."

Zhuang Hanxue: "…"

Even now, he still felt like he was dreaming.

Wait.

Weren't his parents fighting like cats and dogs before?

How did they suddenly reconcile?

And now they even agreed on training him as the heir? Seriously? He really is an idiot! Letting a fool like him manage so much money—wasn't that asking for disaster?

He didn’t want to inherit the family business at all!!

He just wanted to take advantage of the situation and sneak some money to Xiao Qiu.

During the day, his dad took him to social events, and at night, he stayed at his mom’s place.

His dad introduced him to various uncles and elders, who still remembered him and joked, "Haven't seen this kid in years! Where has your second son been?"

His dad, smiling without even blinking as he lied, said, "This boy wasn’t very ambitious, so I sent him abroad for further studies. He just got back. Come, greet your uncles and elders with a toast."

Zhuang Hanxue put on a bright smile as he raised his glass, but inside, he felt like he was swallowing the bitterest medicine.

It was clear that his dad was seriously planning to groom him now.

He felt like a dog with a collar around its neck—completely shackled.

But he didn’t dare slack off. If he slacked off, he wouldn’t be able to get money for Xiao Qiu. So he had no choice but to grit his teeth and work hard, putting in the same effort as when he worked overtime for Xiao Qiu!

He just had to endure this for a while!

Secretly, he slipped Xiao Qiu’s project into the pile of company projects, blending it in so that it wouldn’t attract attention.

On the weekend, his second sister’s son—his nephew, Zhuang Haoxuan—came to his grandparents’ house to spend the weekend and do homework.

It had been seven years since Zhuang Hanxue last saw his nephew.

When he left, the little kid had only been in preschool, and now he was about to enter middle school.

Good genes ran in their family—his parents were good-looking, and all the children were attractive as well. Back in school, he had been quite the campus heartthrob himself!

His nephew, Zhuang Haoxuan, was a delicate and handsome young boy, apart from being a little short. He had red lips and white teeth, with a refined, scholarly look. His features resembled his mother's, and he wore thin-rimmed glasses, making him appear gentle and well-mannered.

Seeing his nephew was like seeing a lifesaving Buddha—finally, he had an excuse to slack off!

Zhuang Hanxue righteously declared, “Mom, I haven’t seen Xiaoxuan in years. I’ll go tutor him with his homework, okay?”

His mom replied, “He has a private tutor.”

Zhuang Hanxue reasoned confidently, “That’s different, Mom. As elders, we must personally get involved in a child’s studies—that’s real care. Just casually asking about test scores is superficial and perfunctory, which is unacceptable. I feel guilty! I’ve been away for so many years, and now the kid has grown up so much.”

He looked as if he was heartbroken. Anyone who didn’t know better might have mistaken the boy for his own son.

“Xiaoxuan, would you like your uncle to help you with your homework?”

Zhuang Haoxuan glanced at him but didn’t refuse. He nodded and said, “Thank you, Uncle.”

Their grand villa even had a room specifically set aside for the little grandson.

Even though his parents favored sons over daughters, their eldest son had already married a man and couldn’t produce a biological grandchild. Their second son wasn’t even married yet, and who knew when that would happen? Only their second daughter had a child, and since she got divorced and took the child with her, she even changed his surname to Zhuang.

This was the only grandchild in the family! The one and only grandson! Precious beyond words!

Zhuang Haoxuan was introverted and didn’t speak a word to Zhuang Hanxue on their way to the room.

Meanwhile, Zhuang Hanxue kept chattering away to his nephew.

“Uncle hasn’t seen you in so long. Do you remember when I took you to the zoo?”

“There was this one time I carried you, and you peed on me.”

“I also remember when you were in kindergarten and performed in a show—you played, what was it? A sunflower, yes! You and a bunch of kids wore sunflower headpieces and sang together. It was so cute. But after the performance, you went the wrong way and got separated from the other kids. When you realized it, you got so scared that you just stood there crying. Hahaha, it was adorable.”

“Didn’t we also pick up a little kitten together? When you had just started elementary school? A completely white little female cat, except for her tail, which had calico markings. Are you still taking care of her?”

Annoyed by all the chatter, Zhuang Haoxuan let out a helpless sigh and finally spoke.

“Uncle, after you left, Mom gave Xiaohua away. She wouldn’t let me keep a cat.”

Zhuang Hanxue: “…”

Zhuang Haoxuan pulled out a heavy workbook from his bag. “I’m going to start my homework now. If there are any problems I can’t figure out, I’ll ask you later.”

Zhuang Hanxue quickly nodded. “Alright, alright.”

Zhuang Haoxuan opened his Olympiad math book and started working on the problems. Zhuang Hanxue quietly peeked over, and his face gradually turned grim, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

Damn it, what kind of Olympiad questions were these elementary schoolers solving nowadays? These were high school-level concepts, weren’t they? Was math this hard when he was in elementary school? No way!

When Zhuang Haoxuan reached a particularly difficult problem, he pondered it for a few minutes but couldn’t figure it out. So, he turned to Zhuang Hanxue.

“Uncle, how do you solve this one?”

Zhuang Hanxue gave an awkward but polite smile. “Alright, let me take a look. Why don’t you work on something else first?”

Zhuang Haoxuan didn’t suspect his uncle was completely useless and obediently nodded, switching to his English homework. Zhuang Hanxue glanced over and was once again astonished—the kid had clearly put in serious effort practicing his handwriting. His English letters were printed in perfect, uniform strokes, neat and polished.

It had been years since Zhuang Hanxue was last praised by a child. Now, being flattered like this made every pore on his body feel refreshed.

One word: satisfying.

Ever since he took Qiūqiū as his little master, he had been relentlessly ridiculed by an actual elementary schooler. Qiūqiū constantly called him dumb and said he was terrible at video games.

It wasn’t like he wanted to be terrible at games!

After Zhuang Haoxuan finished his Olympiad math, whenever there was a problem he couldn’t solve, Zhuang Hanxue secretly asked Qiū Zhéyàn for help. Thanks to his “cheat code,” he successfully built up an image of a wise and capable uncle. Then, he corrected Haoxuan’s homework—by checking the answers in the back of the workbook. He also quizzed him on spelling, dictation, and reciting texts. Though he had long forgotten grammar rules, his spoken English skills were still intact. As a kid, he was always praised for his quick tongue, and memorizing vocabulary and texts had always been easy for him.

Checking answers was a piece of cake!

Zhuang Haoxuan was very satisfied with today’s tutoring session. He obediently asked, “Thank you, Uncle. You must be tired. Can I come find you again next time?”

Zhuang Hanxue nodded without hesitation. “Of course! What’s up? But don’t you have a tutor?”

Zhuang Haoxuan replied, “I don’t like tutors. I want my mom to do homework with me. Other kids have their parents help them, but my mom is always too busy and just hires tutors. Some tutors aren’t very good.”

Zhuang Hanxue comforted him, “Your mom has a demanding job.”

His sister wanted to be a career woman, which made it hard to balance family life.

That’s how life worked—rarely could one have the best of both worlds.

Zhuang Hanxue praised him, “You’re so smart. Your homework is almost perfect, and you memorize things quickly and seriously. You must have great grades, right?”

At the mention of grades, Zhuang Haoxuan looked frustrated. He shook his head and firmly denied it. “My grades aren’t great.”

Zhuang Hanxue didn’t believe him. “No way. How did you do on your finals?”

Zhuang Haoxuan, looking like a tiny old man, sulked and muttered, “Not good. I didn’t even get first place.”

Zhuang Hanxue: “…”

Holding it in for a while, Haoxuan finally blurted out in a resentful, “Why was Zhuge Liang born when Zhou Yu already existed?” kind of tone:

“I haven’t placed first in two years. Ever since Chu Yu transferred to our school, he’s always ranked first.”

Zhuang Hanxue: “………………”

____

Author’s Note: Don’t have any expectations for little Zhuang. He is a true and certified fool. Most of the perspectives from those who like him are filtered through about 800 layers of rose-tinted glasses.

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