Six bloody marks, three on each side.
Although Xibao is young, he takes after Lu Jiang in size. He’s chubby, with long legs and a tall stature, comparable to a normal four- or five-year-old. He’s even taller than Wang Zhonghua. When he jumped and reached out, his hand could touch Su Ping’s face.
What surprised Guo Yan the most was that Xibao could actually distinguish between Su Ping and Su An.
Su Ping and Su An were twins. Aside from the patches piled on their garments, shoes and socks, the two looked almost identical. She herself could only tell them apart by a single tiny black birthmark at the bottom of Su Ping’s eye.
Su Ping screamed in pain, but not forgetting to stuff the cake into his mouth before clutching his cheeks. "Ouch, it hurts!"
This sudden turn of events caught everyone off-guard. Su’s mother and the guards quickly rushed forward.
He turned and ran away, wiggling his chubby bottom as he dashed towards Lao Yi’s guard, Wu Yijiang. Holding onto the back of the guard’s jacket with his chubby hand, he trembled and wailed, "Bad man, took my cake! Bad man! Brother!"
Tears streamed down his plump cheeks.
Seeing him , Wu Yijiang, who had seen him with Lao Yi at the old leader’s house and was very familiar with him, couldn’t help but feel distressed.
Turning around, Wu Yijiang held Xibao in his arms, "Don’t cry, don’t cry. It’s okay if there are no cakes. When Uncle gets paid next month, I’ll buy you a cream cake for you and Brother Lao Yi to eat, okay?"
Xibao hiccupped as he cried. Seeing Su’s mother angrily approaching with Su Ping, he clung tightly around Wu Yijiang’s neck in fright.
"Uncle, save me! Save me!" Xibao buried his face in Wu Yijiang’s shoulder, his chubby body shaking with fear. Anyone could see that the child was terrified.
Everyone around frowned, their gazes towards Su’s mother filled with accusation.
Wu Yijiang immediately waved away Su’s mother’s outstretched hand, stepping back to put some distance between them, and frowned, "I must say, Comrade Su, what are you doing? Xibao didn’t scratch Su Ping’s face on purpose. If Su Ping hadn’t grabbed at Xibao’s cake, why would Xibao scratch him? Do you think it’s appropriate as an old comrade to take issue with a little child?"
Su’s mother was Su’s father’s adopted child bride, hence the surname Su.
Su’s mother, pointing at the bloody marks on Su Ping’s face, indignantly said: "Look! Look! What state did he leave my grandson’s face in? How is he to face others now?"
By this time, Guo Yan had come over and interjected: "What do you mean he can’t face others? Who can’t he face? Only those who have done something shameful are afraid to show their faces. My grandson can face others, other children can still go out and have fun after getting beaten up, does your Su family’s child consider itself to be superior?"
"Guo Yan!" Su’s mother shouted, "The child you brought scratched my Su Ping’s face, you owe me an explanation."
Guo Yan stood in front of Xibao and responded bluntly: "Comrade Su, I respect your age, you can call me by my name, I don’t mind. However, anyone who is called upon to arbitrate would find that I’m right. When children fight and adults get involved, the situation changes. These were your words yesterday. When my grandson’s face got scratched yesterday, you said this. Today, with your grandson’s face being scratched, have you forgotten these words? Are you intending to hit the child now? Even if it involves higher authorities, I’m not afraid!"