"Don't tell the other teachers, but for Mrs. Zhang's class, you'll be paid 250 yuan per session."

"Two hundred fifty is already quite generous. Don't complicate things," the person on the other end said impatiently, with a note of pressure in their voice. "Mrs. Zhang says she likes your lessons, but she's not insisting on you. Don't think too highly of yourself and start pushing the price like this."

Summer Sheng was stunned. What had she done? She hadn’t said anything about being unwilling. This person had suddenly become irritable. Then it dawned on her: they must have misunderstood. She quickly tried to clarify, "No, it’s just that my child—"

Halfway through the explanation, she realized how foolish she sounded. Why was she even explaining? The price had already risen to 250!

In fact, it was the other party’s frustration that made her realize something. So, she quickly said, "I understand, but if you can’t accept the price, I’ll have to find another job."

At this point, Kang, like a small, proud rabbit, almost stood up and awarded Summer a "teachable" badge in his heart.

Though the art center's boss was a little irritated, they had no choice. Mrs. Zhang had specifically requested Summer, and the previous tuition was non-refundable, with new tuition already paid. Everything had been agreed upon.

Summer hung up the phone, dazed, and then suddenly, the joy of an unexpected windfall hit her—250 yuan per session! 250 yuan!

She wasn’t a professional piano teacher. For her, teaching piano was just a temporary way to earn money, something she wouldn't do long-term. So, she hadn’t really planned for it seriously.

But 250 yuan! What did that mean? That meant, with the children's group in the afternoon, she could earn six or seven hundred yuan a day.

At the end of the month, she’d make at least 1,800 yuan. With that money, she would have more possibilities for the future.

"Baby, you're truly my lucky star," Summer couldn’t help but hug her child. If it weren’t for her child playing with the phone and causing the art center to misunderstand, she wouldn’t have gotten that price.

Kang, receiving this compliment, felt a surge of pride. He thought to himself, if he had been involved in the negotiation, they could have gotten even more. He could have had them cover some of the expenses too!

At this stage, it was no big deal.

Summer didn’t really think her child had done it on purpose; she just felt like luck had been on her side. But after she praised her child, his whole demeanor changed—he seemed to grow even more confident.

Kang's child, despite being just a little over a meter tall, tilted his head up with a proud, almost smug expression, as if to say, "Of course I’m amazing." His entire body was relaxed, as though he had already braced himself for the praise that was coming.

Summer couldn’t help but be amazed. "Baby, were you doing that on purpose?"

As soon as she said that, the little one immediately shrank his head, pretending to know nothing, looking at her with a confused expression.

At that moment, Summer was even more convinced that her child had done it deliberately.

However, she didn’t press further. She could tell her baby was a little nervous. At that moment, she noticed that the office building across the street had closed for the day, and employees were starting to file out.

She took her son’s hand. "Let’s go, let’s wait for Daddy."

It was already 5 p.m., and the sun seemed to know its time was up. It blazed one last burst of red and orange across the sky, as though giving a final show before its descent.

Kang turned his head and saw the stunning sky. It was the first time he had seen such a beautiful sunset in this city, and it gave him a strange, yet pleasant feeling.

He was also about to meet some old acquaintances, and for some inexplicable reason, his mood lifted.

Summer wasn’t one to carry her child often. Most of the time, she simply held his hand while he walked quietly beside her.

But this time, when she looked down, she saw her son happily hopping along, still holding her hand.

It seemed like he really missed his dad.

"Sis-in-law?" A voice quickly recognized Summer.

Summer was taken aback by the news. She had no idea about Yue Qin’s firing. The news shocked her, especially considering how close they had been and how much she had trusted him.

The person who spoke to her seemed to notice her surprise and quickly tried to backpedal. "Ah, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. Yue Qin didn’t tell you about this?"

Before Summer could process all of this, she heard the familiar voice of Kang behind her, calling her attention. "What happened?"

As she turned around, Summer saw Kang walking toward them. Her thoughts briefly darted to the fact that Kang had been silently observing everything from behind her as she dealt with the shock of the conversation.

Kang’s eyes were narrowed as he looked at his old acquaintance in front of him, then glanced toward his girlfriend, who appeared fragile and weary from the recent events. Her face was gaunt, and she seemed smaller than the last time he saw her. It didn’t escape his attention that she had clearly been affected by something, perhaps even more so than he had expected.

As the group continued to chat, Summer’s concern for her husband’s sudden firing made her forget for a moment that they had been standing in the midst of an emotional storm, balancing both the concerns about her child and now the unexpected news about Yue Qin’s career.

She tried to hold it all together, but the more she pieced things together, the more unsettling they became.

"Why did the boss fire him?" Summer asked, looking at the man who was clearly not in a good mood.

The person standing across from her hesitated for a moment before speaking again, not realizing the additional layers of pain those words would add to her mind.

"Well, it's complicated," he said, scratching his head. "But the reason was mostly tied to how things went down at that last company dinner. The new boss doesn’t tolerate that kind of behavior."

Summer’s eyes widened, her thoughts racing to what might have happened at the dinner. Had Yue Qin made a mistake? Or was there something more at play?

Before she could ask further questions, Kang, who had been silently observing, reached out and tugged at Summer's sleeve. There was something in his eyes, something deep and calculating, though his face remained calm.

“Don’t worry,” he said quietly, his tone firm yet reassuring. "We’ll find out what’s really going on."