7 She is just a Straight-Up Menace!

"Can Mom come to my school next Saturday too?!"

Xu Mei expectantly stared at her Daddy waiting for an affirmative answer.

On the other hand, facing her glowing eyes Xu Qin was put in a hard situation.

At the moment, Xu Mei was on her summer break. Her school would resume next week. It was the same school that Xu Qin went to when he was young so he was well aware that the principal was quite a character to deal with.

The principal was well-connected within the country so parents who sent their children there did not dare disrespect him.

He was a teacher who liked to promote activities within the school ground. That's why he came up with the idea of making the first day back to school something enjoyable rather than going straight to study especially for small children like Xu Mei.

The principal informed the parents and guardians to participate that day so that children were more willing to come to school without throwing tantrums.

Even though Xu Qin was busy he had already cleared his schedule on that day to attend the event with his daughter without Su Ming. His daughter also knew that it was impossible to ask her mother to come along so the matter was settled peacefully just like that.

Yet, due to an unforeseen event, Su Ming suddenly became someone else letting his daughter mistakenly think that her mother was starting to care about her.

When in reality, Su Ming did not seem to think much of their daughter since she looked so unconcerned during their previous meeting.

Probably to her, they were nothing but strangers.

However, Xu Qin could never say these words out loud to his daughter. In the end, he softly reasoned with her, "Your Mom is leaving to get recuperate in the countryside soon so she can't join us."

Suddenly hearing the news of her Mom leaving out of nowhere, Xu Mei immediately became anxious, "Didn't you say that she is getting better? Why does she need to leave?"

Xu Qin patiently answered, "The air in the city is bad for her health so she will go somewhere quieter."

Still unwilling, Xu Mei continued to ask, "Mom's sickness, what is it?"

Xu Qin did not get stumped by this question, he responded in a relaxed manner, "It is not physical but mental health issues. Doesn't Mei-er want your Mom to get better?"

At his question, Xu Mei could no longer behave immaturely. Her eyes slowly lowered expressing her disappointment. In a small voice, she whispered, "... How long?"

Xu Qin sadly smiled. He gave an ambiguous answer, "Not sure."

Xu Mei has always been a smart kid. She immediately discerned that her Mom may leave the house for a long time.

With her head lowered, she tightly grabbed her dress as she rapidly blinked her eyes to chase away the tears.

Trying hard to hide the fact that she was about to cry.

Even though she only looked at her Mom from afar as she was afraid of angering her, she still felt somewhat reassured that they were staying in the same house.

The adults seemed to not be happy whenever her Mom was mentioned so she never tried to ask any questions about her whereabouts.

Therefore, she didn't even know that her Mom has always been sick for all this time.

All she did was think about why her Mom doesn't care about her...

Thinking of this, Xu Mei felt bad for not knowing what her Mom had gone through. She could no longer hold back her tears from dropping down, "Wahhh! Mom hic can I go to see her now?"

Xu Qin became increasingly flustered. He hurriedly comforted his daughter while wiping away her tears, "Your Mom just came back from the hospital so it is not good to see her today."

Trying hard to swallow her sob, the little girl continued to plead, "Hic... Then I'll go tomorrow."

After her words fell, she saw that her Daddy's expression was still partly hesitant so she cried even louder.

To begin with, Xu Qin was weak to his daughter. Therefore, he could no longer hold his fort and helplessly surrendered, "Okay, you can go to see her tomorrow so stop crying. You don't want to meet your Mom with puffy eyes, right?"

Finally, hearing the words she wanted to hear the little girl started to quieten down.

In a muffled voice, Xu Mei reconfirmed, "Really?"

Xu Qin tiredly nodded his head to which a smile finally blossom on her face. Seeing his daughter jump up and down in excitement just by meeting her mother, Xu Qin's heart felt heavy.

Gently wiping away her tears with his handkerchief, Xu Qin softly murmured, "Daddy is sorry."

Because of adults like them, a child like you had to suffer needlessly.

Xu Mei did not notice anything wrong. She merely thought that her Daddy apologized for making her cry.

To cheer him up, she gave him a peck on his cheek. With a huge grin on her face, she suggested, "If you still feel bad, how about joining me and Mom tomorrow?"

Xu Qin subconsciously wanted to say no. He seriously did not want to meet her even more so after she mercilessly attacked him with her sharp tongue.

However, all things aside, he too did not want to leave his daughter alone with this strange Su Ming either.

As a result, no matter how reluctant Xu Qin was he still had to say yes in front of his daughter.

"Daddy will come with you to meet your Mom. Now, let's go clean your face."

After Xu Qin took her to clean her face and stayed with her for a little bit longer he finally had a word with the nanny out in the corridor.

The nanny also heard what the little Miss said to the Eldest Young Master so at this moment she knowingly bowed her head in apology.

"I am so sorry. It was presumptuous of me to assume things without witnessing them with my own eyes. I will accept any punishments given to me."

Xu Qin wordlessly stared at the elderly woman who bowed her head to him. She has been working for the Xu family for a long time so he trusted her character.

This was one of the reasons why Xu Qin completely believed her words and wronged Su Ming a while ago.

Except for this time, Xu Qin still had the Old Butler to report the matters to him that's why he knew she didn't deliberately sow discord between him and Su Ming.

They also had security cameras installed within the mansion, therefore, lying was useless.

Su Ming did do this a few times in the past so it was understandable for the nanny to come to that conclusion.

"I will not tolerate another mistake, understand?"

Knowing that she was pardoned for her mistake, the nanny bowed her head even lower as she expressed her thanks, "Thank you, Eldest Young Master!"

Then just as Xu Qin turned around to walk away, he left a few more words, "The one you owe an apology to is Su Ming, not me."

The nanny immediately understood his meaning, "I will make sure to apologize to Mrs. Xu!"

"Mm."

After giving a light sound of acknowledgment, Xu Qin unhurriedly walked back to the staircases. As he descended the stairs he briefly looked in a certain direction before retracting his gaze to look forward.

She signed the divorce agreement but asked to stay for another week, what was she planning?

Taking out his phone, Xu Qin dialed his secretary's number.

"I am going back to the company. The meeting will proceed as scheduled. Also... "

"Have someone monitor Su Ming from now on."

Xu Qin went back to the company and didn't come back until 10 pm. It was already past Xu Mei's bedtime, therefore, Xu Qin went straight for his study.

The Old Butler soon came in with a newly brewed tea. After resting the teacup on Xu Qin's desk, the old man gave him the divorce paper as well as some receipts.

"Here are the receipts that Mrs. Xu asked me to purchase for her today."

Going through the receipts, Xu Qin knitted his brows in puzzlement, "Isn't this the store where you frequently bought my clothes?"

The Old man nodded his head in response to which Xu Qin snickered, "She is buying clothes for another man with my money?"

Concerning this matter, the Old Buter stepped up hesitatingly, "To be honest, I don't think so."

Xu Qin wordlessly lifted his eyes to look at him. The Old Butler slowly stated his reason, "Mrs. Xu donated all of her belongings under the Xu family's name. Even her cosmetics products were shared among the servants within the house. Lastly, those clothes were for her to wear."

Xu Qin fell silent after listening to his reports. Rhythmically tapping his index finger on the desk, he suddenly asked, "Do you have her previous medical records?"

Hearing this question, the Old Butler dutifully answered, "As far as I know, Mrs. Xu's latest visit to the hospital was a year ago and she was healthy."

Xu Qin bluntly questioned, "Both physically and mentally?"

The Old Butler was stunned the moment he heard this. Even though he was old his mind was still sharp. He deduced the Eldest Young Master's mind right away, "Are you suspecting that Mrs. Xu was suffering from stress or trauma to develop another personality?"

Lightly nodding his head, Xu Qin admitted, "I think she is suffering from DID. It is undeniable that she is Su Ming but at the same time she is not so this is the only thing I can think of."

[A/N: DID = Dissociative Identity Disorder.]

Making a small pause, Xu Qin continued to add, "I don't think she is pretending to have amnesia but she doesn't look as blank as a piece of paper either. Don't you think so?"

The Old Butler recalled the new Mrs. Xu and he also agreed with the Eldest Young Master's words. He softly mumbled, "No wonder, she suddenly became polite."

"Polite? Her?"

Xu Qin felt absurd the moment he heard the Old Butler's words. Unconsciously, he raised his voice to retort, "Do you know what she said to me?"

Obviously, the Old Butler did not know of their conversation. He curiously asked, "What did she say?"

"She... "

Xu Qin's voice abruptly stopped once he recalled the words that she said to him. He belatedly realized that he couldn't have a third party know of this embarrassing matter for his own sake.

Taking a big deep breath, Xu Qin decided to make the long story short, "... She talked back to me."

'Was that it?' Was what was written on the Old Butler's face.

Seeing this, Xu Qin felt unfair but he did not go into details about what actually happened.

"How many people can look into my eyes and talk back to me when I am angry?"

Hearing the accusation underneath his words, the Old Butler slightly cleared his throat, "Even facing Madame's fury, Mrs. Xu still conducted herself humbly. Even toward a servant like me, she was asking for a favor not ordering. That being said, maybe you approached her wrongly so she plucked up some courage to talk back?"

Xu Qin looked at the Old Butler in disbelief.

In that woman's situation, it was not merely to eat the bear heart and leopard gall to talk back at him.

She is just a straight-up menace!

[A/N: To eat the bear heart and leopard gall = To pluck up some courage.]