"Teacher Peng, it was that student who started the fight with my Liangliang. If anyone should apologize, it’s him to my Liangliang. You can’t just side with her because she’s pretty. You men are all so superficial."
As soon as these words were spoken, Teacher Peng’s face turned green, then black, then white.
This was courting death.
"Zhou Liang’s mother, it was your Zhou Liang who first insulted Da Bao’s mother," Teacher Peng said, enunciating every word.
"Teacher Peng, let it be. Both children are at fault. My Da Bao shouldn’t have hit him. Da Bao, apologize to Zhou Liang." Yun Xiaoxiao looked at Da Bao, signaling him to apologize.
They couldn’t keep dragging this out at school.
It was already getting dark outside.
The days naturally turned dark early in winter, and students got out of school early too.
Da Bao still listened to his mother. He looked at Zhou Liang and said, "Sorry, but if you insult my mom again, I will still hit you."
Teacher Peng looked at Da Bao with relief.
The difference between a mother who is educated and reasonable and one who is completely irrational was glaringly obvious.
"Teacher Peng, sorry for holding you up for so long. We will be leaving now."
Teacher Peng felt very sorry; he hadn’t handled the situation well.
Da Bao said to Teacher Peng, "Teacher, goodbye."
"Teacher, goodbye," Xiao Bao echoed.
They left the office.
"Zhou Liang’s mother, Zhou Liang, you should go too," Teacher Peng said, his tone much colder towards the two of them.
Zhou Liang’s mother huffed and walked away with Zhou Liang.
The contrast was indeed stark.
Yun Xiaoxiao walked outside with the two kids.
"Da Bao, are you confused about why I made you apologize?"
Da Bao was indeed a bit puzzled.
"Sometimes, we need to look at things in the long run. It may seem like you are being treated unfairly now, and Zhou Liang won, but in the long run, Zhou Liang has lost. Your teacher will feel sorry for you and will teach you even better, but he’ll be lax with Zhou Liang. Elementary school is about building a strong foundation, so you won’t struggle later. But if you don’t get that foundation in elementary school, you will find middle school and high school very tough."
"Mom also saw that you didn’t get hurt in the fight, but that chubby kid did."
Da Bao nodded; his mom had noticed that.
"However, Mom can’t let our Da Bao be wronged. Tonight, we celebrate Da Bao standing up for Mom. I’ll buy you something delicious."
Both brothers smiled.
And indeed, they had a tasty dinner.
Yun Xiaoxiao bought crabs, and the family ate together in the kitchen.
"Sister-in-law, can you actually eat this?" Zhao Tianhe recalled catching crabs in the river as a child.
"You can eat it. I got these from a friend at Tsing University. She didn’t want to sell them, but I insisted."
"This shell is thin..."
The shells of the crabs from the river were very thick.
"Mom, is this crab roe?"
"Yes, eat it slowly."
Zhao Xinxin had never eaten this before, but she had eaten river crabs, which weren’t big and didn’t have much meat. However, these crabs were meaty and even the crab meat was sweet.
"My Da Bao, eat one more; this is your reward."
So, it turned out they were included too.
"I also found more seafood at my friend’s place. I’ll go buy some next time."
Seeing that his wife enjoyed seafood so much, Zhao Tianlei thought of a market in Capital City where they sell it. He planned to buy some to freeze at home.
Now that they had started heating with the kang.
Zhao Tianhe didn’t sleep next to Da Bao and Xiao Bao. Instead, Zhao Xinxin slept on the kang bed with them.