Joanna Sherman moved Cedric Grant behind her and faced the three boys. "You’re already bullying people at such a young age? I’m going to get a teacher right now!"
To any outsider, she looked just like Cedric Grant’s mother.
A teacher happened to see the trouble and hurried over.
"Hello, you must be Cedric’s parent."
"Hello, Teacher. Please make sure you discipline these students properly... Raising a hand to another student, it’s just too much!" Joanna Sherman’s voice choked with emotion.
"I’m so sorry." Seeing the parent so upset, the teacher felt extremely guilty and quickly contacted the parents of the three troublemakers.
Joanna Sherman turned around and followed Cedric Grant’s gaze to see Sophia Shaw.
She froze for a moment, but still pulled Cedric Grant over to them. "Sophia, don’t misunderstand. I was just passing by... I remembered today was Cedric’s open house day, so I came in to take a quick look."
"I wouldn’t have even shown myself if I hadn’t seen him being bullied."
Sophia Shaw said nothing. Her gaze was as calm as still water, yet it held a power that seemed to pierce right through a person.
The other parents rushed over.
Only then did Sophia Shaw bend down and gently pat Cedric Grant’s shoulder. Her voice was gentle, yet it carried an undeniable, steadying power. "Go on. Tell the teacher everything that just happened, exactly as it was."
Not until Cedric Grant was out of earshot did Sophia Shaw turn to Joanna Sherman, her voice much lower. "Joanna Sherman, I don’t care what schemes you’re plotting, but don’t you dare drag a child into them."
"If I find out you had anything to do with those kids, I will make you regret it!"
For a fleeting second, the corner of Joanna Sherman’s mouth twisted.
The next moment, she adopted an innocent tone. "I really only came because I was worried no one was looking after Cedric. If I had known you were here, I would never have come and gotten in your way."
She paused, a seemingly bitter expression on her face. "If you want to think the worst of me, there’s nothing I can do."
With that, she walked past Sophia Shaw and out of the school.
Sophia Shaw paid her no more mind and walked over to the troublemakers. After confirming they hadn’t been put up to it by someone and were just being mischievous, the knot of worry in her chest loosened slightly.
The teacher sternly reprimanded them, and both the parents and the children gave Cedric Grant a sincere apology.
After they left, Sophia Shaw picked up the uprooted sapling. "Let’s plant it again."
"Okay!" Cedric Grant eagerly picked up the small trowel and dug a deep, deep hole with all his might.
Sophia Shaw placed the sapling inside.
The two of them carefully filled the hole with soil.
"Mom, did you... come to the open house just for me?" Cedric Grant asked in a small voice.
"Yes," Sophia Shaw nodded. "I saw you being hit just now. It took me a moment to run down from upstairs."
"It’s okay."
A tear went PLOP, hitting the ground and dampening a patch of soil.
’Just a moment ago, I thought Mom was here for someone else’s event again, that she was never going to care about me anymore.’
’It turns out Mom hasn’t abandoned me!’
Cedric Grant’s tears started to fall faster and faster, streaming down his face.
"I’m sorry, Mom."
Sophia Shaw pulled him into a gentle hug.
Behind them, in the shadow of a tree near the school gate, Joanna Sherman hadn’t actually left.
Seeing the two of them hugging, her fists clenched tighter and tighter.
She had come to score points with Cedric Grant.
That had been a perfect opportunity. If she had helped Cedric Grant solve his big problem, his heart would have tilted in her favor.
With Cedric Grant’s support, more positive news about her would reach Vincent Grant’s ears.
’Sophia Shaw is such bad luck, stealing my chance!’
’And Cedric Grant believes everything she says!’
Rage and jealousy gnawed at her heart like venomous snakes. She could barely control the urge to rush over and rip them apart.
But remembering Joel Hale’s warning, she could only suppress the impulse, her face ashen as she turned and walked away quickly.
Meanwhile, Cedric Grant looked up from Sophia Shaw’s embrace. With an immensely serious expression, he pointed at the grapevine sapling and declared, "Mom, I’ll water it every day. When it grows grapes, you’ll be the first one to eat them."
He made a silent vow: ’This time, I have to hold on to Mom tightly and never be foolish again.’
After the open house, Sophia Shaw went to another venue.
Recently, with the breakthrough progress of Lead Aerospace’s deep space project, invitations for all sorts of seminars and presentations had been flooding in like a snowstorm.
Levin Sawyer had shielded her from many of them, but he didn’t dare ignore an invitation from the space agency.
This was a critical period for applying for access to the Hubble, and the space agency had many highly respected scientists whose support the project still needed.
When Sophia Shaw arrived, the hall, which could hold several thousand people, had not a single empty seat.
She peered out from the side curtain. The sight of several white-haired, long-retired, and legendary old scientists in the front row made her palms begin to sweat.
Sophia Shaw loved technology and enjoyed a challenge, but facing these industry legends who had truly laid the foundation for Cathan, she was seized by an unavoidable nervousness that bordered on awe.
Standing behind the curtain, her heart was POUNDING nonstop.
Vincent Grant was one of the last to enter, dressed formally in a crisp, dark suit.
He looked like he had rushed over from some other formal occasion.
Joel Hale followed close behind. His sharp eyes scanned the crowd and caught sight of Joanna Sherman, sitting primly and pretending to listen intently. The corner of his mouth dipped almost imperceptibly.
As Vincent Grant neared the side curtain, he paused for a fraction of a second. His deep gaze passed over the crowd and landed precisely on the faintly visible, slightly tense figure behind the heavy fabric.
"President Grant," Joel Hale said softly, trotting over.
Vincent turned his head and gave Joel Hale a few quiet instructions.
Joel Hale nodded immediately, then turned and slipped quietly backstage.
Only then did Vincent Grant calmly walk to an inconspicuous seat in the third row and sit down.
Just as Sophia Shaw was taking a deep breath, trying to quell her stage fright, an old but gentle voice sounded beside her. "Young lady..."
She turned her head to see two staff members carefully helping a white-haired old man down the steps.
The old man’s face was covered in wrinkles and his steps were unsteady, but his eyes were still clear and wise.
Sophia Shaw’s heart skipped a beat. She instantly recognized him. "Old Master Xavier!"
Cameron Xavier, a titan in Cathan’s aerospace industry, a true founding father.
He was nearly a hundred years old and, due to his health, hadn’t attended public events for many years.
The old man extended a trembling hand and grasped Sophia Shaw’s fingertips, his face full of admiration. "It is Cathan’s good fortune to have such a young and brilliant talent. Don’t be afraid. Just speak your mind."
"Old Master Xavier."
Old Master Xavier’s encouragement strangely soothed most of her anxiety.
She remembered that the first book she ever read about aerospace was written by him.
The old man had even written about a time he’d embarrassed himself in front of foreign experts due to his lack of professional expertise.
’If a highly respected figure like Old Master Xavier isn’t afraid of that, what do I have to be afraid of?’
’If I really do make a mistake, it would be a blessing to have it pointed out.’
With that thought, Sophia Shaw felt a surge of courage.
She replied softly, "Okay."
Old Master Xavier smiled kindly, personally taking her hand and leading her, step by step, to the center of the stage.
One old, one young; one representing the glorious past, the other carrying the hopes of the future. This symbolic scene earned a spontaneous and thunderous round of applause from the entire audience.
Sophia Shaw’s speech was a resounding success.
When she finished, the entire audience rose to their feet as one, the applause lasting for a full three minutes.
Vincent Grant sat in his inconspicuous third-row seat, quietly watching the girl shining like a star on the stage.
The brilliant light in her eyes shone straight into the depths of his heart.
After coming off stage, Sophia Shaw went to Old Master Xavier and thanked him sincerely. "Thank you, Old Master Xavier. You’re so considerate. You even knew I was nervous."
Hearing this, Old Master Xavier let out a hearty laugh.
He pointed humorously at his own eyes. "My old eyes are dim, how could I tell? It was someone else, someone with sharper eyes, who could tell you were nervous from dozens of meters away just by looking at your shadow. He’s the one who specifically asked me to help."
Sophia Shaw was speechless.
She instinctively looked around.