Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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It was evening, and Aunt Li was going to pick up her child from kindergarten. She glanced at Tang Tang, who was watching the TV series, thought for a moment and went over to greet her, “Madam, I’m going to pick up Xiao Zhuo now.”
Tang Tang then snapped out of her reverie and quickly stood up, “Aunt Li, you’re going to pick up the baby? Can I come with you?”
“Huh?” Aunt Li was surprised, but refused the next second, “You shouldn’t go. Your leg is still injured, and it’s inconvenient for you to do anything with crutches. It’ll be faster if I go.”
Tang Tang pursed her lips, but she still really wanted to pick up the little one. The child must really want his mother to pick him up after school, and he would be very upset if he didn’t see his mother. That’s how the little girl in the TV series was, always waiting for her mother to pick her up, and she would almost cry if her mother didn’t come. The little one must also really want a mother to pick him up.
“Aunt Li, I really want to pick up Bao Bao. I’m sure he wants me to pick him up too. Please take me with you. My leg is fine; I can walk very fast.”
Aunt Li used to stand up to her without hesitation when she was throwing a tantrum, but now she was pleading so sweetly, all for Xiao Zhuo’s sake. Aunt Li couldn’t bring herself to refuse. Besides, even though Xiao Zhuo seemed to dislike his mother on the surface, what child doesn’t crave their mother’s love? Deep down, he still wanted his mother to be good to him; he’d just learned to disguise it with his current behavior after repeated disappointments.
If Tang Tang really went to pick him up from school, Aunt Li was sure the little guy would be overjoyed.
Thinking of this, Aunt Li nodded. “Alright then, you come with me to pick him up from school.”
Tang Tang immediately grinned, quickly using her crutch to walk to the door. She slowly squatted down to change her shoes, but because her leg couldn’t bend very well, the movement was quite difficult. Aunt Li couldn’t bear to see this, so she simply squatted down to change the shoes for her injured leg.
“Thank you, Aunt Li, you’re so kind.” Tang Tang smiled sweetly at Aunt Li, feeling that although Aunt Li seemed fierce to her on the surface, she was actually quite nice.
Aunt Li wasn’t used to Tang Tang’s politeness and waved awkwardly, “Let’s go, let’s go pick up the kid.”
Tang Tang smiled and followed Aunt Li quickly, trying not to slow her down. Seeing how hard she was walking, with sweat beading on her forehead, Aunt Li softened and decided to give up walking altogether, hailing a taxi directly to the kindergarten.
When they arrived, the children hadn’t come out yet; many parents were waiting outside the gate. Tang Tang craned her neck to look through the fence, and soon saw the teacher leading a large group of children out of the classroom. As soon as the children saw their parents outside, they jumped and waved excitedly, full of energy.
However, one little guy was an exception: Ji Xiaozhuo. He looked down listlessly at the ground, showing no excitement about being let out of school, a stark contrast to the other children, which was why Tang Tang spotted him immediately.
For some reason, seeing the little guy like this made Tang Tang feel a pang of heartache. She didn’t want to see him so unhappy, so she called out to him with all her might, “Baby, Xiao Zhuo baby~”
Tang Tang’s voice wasn’t quiet, and many children looked up in her direction. Ji Xiaozhuo’s attention was naturally drawn to her as well. When he saw Tang Tang outside the fence, his eyes widened in disbelief.
Tang Tang waved, “Xiao Zhuo baby, Mommy’s here to pick you up!”
The little boy standing in front of Ji Xiaozhuo stared wide-eyed and poked Ji Xiaozhuo’s arm. “Ji Xiaozhuo, is that your mommy? Don’t you not have a mommy?”
Ji Xiaozhuo pursed his lips and didn’t speak, but his eyes remained fixed on Tang Tang.
Another little girl, also in Ji Xiaozhuo’s class, stared at Tang Tang for a long time before confidently saying, “She’s definitely not Ji Xiaozhuo’s mother, because she’s so ugly, and she’s lame. She doesn’t look like Ji Xiaozhuo at all. Look, Ji Xiaozhuo isn’t that ugly, and she’s not lame, so she’s definitely not Ji Xiaozhuo’s mother.”
The little boy, hearing this, also carefully examined Tang Tang’s appearance and agreed with the girl, nodding and saying, “Yes, she shouldn’t be Ji Xiaozhuo’s mother. She looks too ugly!”
Ji Xiaozhuo, who had been looking outside, heard their conversation and instantly glared at them, her face darkening. “That’s my mother! My mother isn’t ugly! Your mothers are ugly!”
The little boy and girl were unhappy, especially the little girl, who immediately retorted loudly, “My mother isn’t ugly! My mother is the prettiest! Your mom is the ugly one! If you don’t believe me, have your mom compare with my mom and see who’s uglier!”
Ji Xiaozhuo gasped for breath, raising his chubby fist in front of the little girl to intimidate her. “No need to compare! My mom isn’t ugly at all! You’re not allowed to call my mom ugly, or I’ll get rough with you!”
The little girl was frightened by Ji Xiaozhuo’s fist and fierce tone, and burst into tears. “Mommy— Mommy—”
The little boy and the little girl were best friends. Seeing his best friend being bullied and crying, he immediately got angry and pushed Ji Xiaozhuo. Ji Xiaozhuo stumbled from the push, but after regaining his balance, he pushed the little boy hard back. The little boy was thinner, and after being pushed back a few steps, he fell to the ground, hurting his bottom. He also started wailing after the little girl.
The crying immediately attracted the teacher’s attention. Seeing the two children crying so pitifully, the teacher quickly tried to comfort them, “Tian Tian and Nan Nan, what’s wrong? Why are you crying? Don’t cry, don’t cry, tell the teacher.”
The little girl was too heartbroken to answer, while the little boy wailed, “Ji Xiaozhuo hit me! I want my mom!”
The teacher looked anxiously at Ji Xiaozhuo, “Xiao Zhuo, did you bully them?”
Ji Xiaozhuo pursed his lips tightly and remained silent, his face stubborn.
The teacher was at a loss for what to do. Although Ji Xiaozhuo wasn’t usually very talkative, he wasn’t the type to bully others and had never provoked anyone. Why would he be bullying them now?
The commotion didn’t escape the notice of the parents outside. Tian Tian’s mother, grandmother, and Nan Nan’s mother saw their children crying and immediately panicked. Forgetting all order, they rushed in from the front door, hugging and comforting their children, “Don’t cry, don’t cry, what happened? Tell Mommy.”
Tang Tang also noticed the situation and, fearing her little one was being bullied, quickly limped inside. Reaching him, she hugged him tightly, patting his back and asking, “Baby, don’t be afraid, tell Mommy what happened?”
Ji Xiaozhuo didn’t want to speak, struggling fiercely, unwilling to be held by Tang Tang.
Tang Tang quickly hugged him tighter, patting his head and coaxing, “Okay, okay, good baby, let Mommy hug you, okay? Mommy wants to hug you, be good.”
The little body in her arms gradually stopped struggling, his little head resting on her shoulder, unwilling to look at her.
The parents of Tian Tian and Nan Nan asked the teacher, “What happened? Why are the children crying?”
Seeing the parents enter, the teacher quickly explained, “It seems these children had a fight, and then Tian Tian and Nan Nan started crying. The children didn’t say exactly what happened. Nan Nan, can you tell me what happened?”
The little boy named Nan Nan had gradually stopped crying and sobbed, “Ji Xiaozhuo bullied Tian Tian, then Tian Tian cried, and then Ji Xiaozhuo pushed me.”
Upon hearing this, the two children’s parents immediately became angry, their gazes towards Ji Xiaozhuo becoming very unpleasant. Tian Tian’s grandmother… Holding her anger, she accused Tang Tang: “You’re his parent, right? How do you raise your child? How can he bully a classmate like that! What will he be like when he grows up like this!”
Tang Tang’s gentle expression immediately vanished, and she looked at Tian Tian’s grandmother seriously, saying, “Don’t say that yet. We haven’t figured things out yet. I believe my child wouldn’t bully a classmate for no reason. There must be a reason. Let’s ask him properly before we talk about it, okay?”
Tang Tang’s attitude was very gentle, and what she said made a lot of sense. So Tian Tian’s mother tugged at Tian Tian’s grandmother, “Mom, let’s ask him properly before we talk about it.”
Tian Tian’s grandmother snorted and stopped being so aggressive.
Tang Tang lowered her head and asked Ji Xiaozhuo in her arms, “Baby, can you tell Mommy what happened? I believe my baby would never bully others, right?”
Ji Xiaozhuo’s tightly bitten lip gradually loosened under Tang Tang’s gentle comforting words. He then looked at Tang Tang several times before lowering his head and muttering softly, “They said my mom is ugly and lame.”
Now the matter was clear. Tian Tian and Nan Nan’s parents looked at Tang Tang’s appearance and the cane she was holding, and for a moment they felt a little embarrassed. The words they were about to say to confront her suddenly stopped, because it was inevitable that a child would be unhappy to hear people talking badly about their mother.
The teacher then stepped in to smooth things over, “Alright, alright, it’s just the children having a little conflict. Fortunately, the children are all fine. Let’s just let it go. Next time, Nan Nan and Tian Tian shouldn’t say such things, and Xiao Zhuo shouldn’t hit anyone either. That way, everyone will still be good children.”
Nan Nan and Tian Tian’s parents nodded, not intending to pursue the matter any further.
Tang Tang patted the little guy’s head and reached out to take his hand, “Baby, let’s go, Mommy’s taking you home~”
Ji Xiaozhuo puffed out his cheeks, shook off Tang Tang’s hand, and ran off with his little backpack on.
Tang Tang looked at her empty hand and sighed. He was just asking to be carried, how come he’s ignoring her now?
Children’s hearts are unfathomable.
Aunt Li had witnessed Tang Tang’s behavior the whole time and was somewhat moved. So she couldn’t help but say to her, “The way you treated him before, the child will of course feel wronged. If you really want to be good to him, just keep being good to him, and Xiao Zhuo will accept you sooner or later.”
Tang Tang nodded, “Aunt Li, I know, I will keep going.”
When they got home, it was getting late. Aunt Li went into the kitchen to cook, and Ji Xiaozhuo, without even putting down his schoolbag, ran to the sofa and sat down, picking up the tablet computer and tapping away on it with his little fingers.
Tang Tang was curious about what he was doing, so she sat down a short distance away, leaning on her cane, and watched. She saw the little guy tap a green box, then tap it again, and then start talking to the tablet.
“Daddy, are you back from your mission? You have to video call me when you get back.”
“Daddy, I have something to tell you, come back soon!”
The author has something to say:
There’s one more chapter! I’ll try to update more often since I just started writing.
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