Chapter 11

Bullying classmates?

School bullying?

Such content had never been discussed in a parent-teacher meeting before.

A parent sitting in the front row couldn’t help but ask, “Mr. Wang, what do you mean by this?”

“Does our class have a problem with school bullying?”

All the parents seated here had only one child, who isn’t treated like the apple of their eye?

Hearing that their child might be bullied, it was difficult for parents to remain calm.

A buzz of discussion started in the classroom.

Mr. Wang raised his hands in a calming gesture, signaling everyone to quiet down.

When there was complete silence, she continued, “Although it hasn’t escalated to the level of bullying, any small sign is worth paying attention to.”

“According to the information I have, Zhang Ziyue has often scribbled on the clothes of students from other places, and he has made statements like—foreigners don’t deserve to study in the same classroom with him, many times.”

“This has had a very negative impact on the mental and physical development of our students.”

“I want to take this opportunity to restate the school’s position.”

“In our school, there should be no distinction between locals and outsiders, everyone has been selected by the school to enter Future Star Primary School.”

“We are all equal!”

“I hope that from now on, you will nurture the right values in your children…”

Before she could finish speaking, Zhang Ziyue’s mother angrily stood up, demanding, “Mr. Wang, criticizing our child in public, what is your intention?”

“Even if our girl did something wrong, are you suggesting they did nothing wrong?”

“This is favoritism, you know?”

“And I don’t believe that there’s not a second student in the class who has done something similar to what my girl did. Why are you only talking about my girl?”

Mr. Wang adjusted her glasses, calmly responded, “Ziyue’s mother, I am not aware of other classes, but in my class, the only case of bullying foreign students that’s been found is your child.”

“If you don’t believe me, I can pull up the surveillance…”

Angered, Zhang Ziyue’s mother stood up and headed straight for the classroom door, saying as she walked, “I’m not discussing this with you; I’m going to talk to your school leaders, to demand an explanation from your principal.”

“What kind of teacher is this, showing favoritism all the way to Basket Prison.”

Clap… rustle rustle rustle…

As Zhang Ziyue’s mother left the classroom, a parent sitting in the back row started to clap, and soon thunderous applause filled the room.

Li Jinwen looked astonished, as if he had won the lottery, saying in surprise, “Just like that… the issue’s resolved?”

Lin Mo touched his nose, smiling, “It looks like it’s been settled.”

….

After the parent-teacher meeting concluded, Lin Mo and Li Jinwen, with Lin Xiaoxiao in tow, prepared to leave the school.

Just as they stepped out of the classroom, the homeroom teacher, Mr. Wang, came over with a smile, “Mr. and Mrs. Lin Xiaoxiao, could you please come with me for a moment? There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”

Lin Mo and Li Jinwen glanced at each other, not understanding what was needed but still followed with their child.

The small group entered the nearby empty office.

After closing the office door, Mr. Wang addressed them, “Lin Xiaoxiao’s mom, Lin Xiaoxiao’s dad, has your Xiaoxiao attended any public speaking training classes?”

“No,” Li Jinwen said, shaking his head in bewilderment.

Lin Mo patted Lin Xiaoxiao’s head and said with a smile, “This kid has always been outgoing, loves to talk.”

“If she’s talking too much in class, I’ll scold her when we get home.”

Li Jinwen also spoke with gravity, “Xiaoxiao, have you been talking excessively in class, disrupting the teacher’s lecture?”

Lin Xiaoxiao’s face filled with grievance, and she spoke with a crying tone, “I don’t know, I didn’t!”

Mr. Wang quickly clarified, “You’ve misunderstood. I’m not looking to criticize Lin Xiaoxiao. On the contrary, her performance is quite good.”

“I’ve noticed that Xiaoxiao’s speaking abilities are very impressive.”

“There’s a primary school speech competition coming up, organized by the Education Bureau, and I’d like to recommend Xiaoxiao for it. I wanted to consult your opinions.”

What?

Upon hearing this, both Li Jinwen and Lin Xiaoxiao opened their mouths wide in shock.

Opportunities to participate in such competitions did arise occasionally within the school, but they were usually just hearsay, never an opportunity to actually register and participate.

And now the school was proactively offering them this chance?

It was unbelievably amazing.

Mr. Wang wasn’t surprised by Li Jinwen’s reaction and continued to explain, “The competition is a great opportunity to practice. If you manage to win a place, it will considerably increase the chances of Xiaoxiao getting into a public middle school after the entrance examination.”

“After all, as you know, there are too many people applying for public schools every year. Even foreigners with a score of 120 points have to go through a series of selections…”

Li Jinwen and Lin Mo understood this all too well.

Middle school is an extremely important stage, and public middle schools in Rakshasa City care most about their student intake.

Without a good intake of students, even a Hengshui Middle School would be doomed to fail.

So how do you determine whether the student intake is good or not?

One aspect is certainly the performance in primary school.

But when the grades are all acceptable, the main criterion becomes how much the parents are willing to invest in education.

The best reflection of the parents’ investment intentions is the child’s specialties, what competitions they have participated in, and what rankings they have achieved.

Therefore,

competitions that seem unrelated to academics have always been a battleground for parents.

Some more authoritative competition slots even arose where one had to pay to get in.

It was precisely because he was in such a deformed educational environment that Li Jinwen was so surprised when the homeroom teacher took the initiative to let his daughter compete.

Li Jinwen grinned from ear to ear as he turned to his daughter and asked, “Xiaoxiao, do you want to participate in the speech competition?”

Lin Mo shook his head helplessly with a hint of irritation and said lightly, “Look how anxious you are. This is so sudden; Xiaoxiao needs to go home and think it over.”

“You agree, don’t you, Mr. Wang?”

Heh?

You’re playing hard to get with such a great opportunity?

Do you know how many parents would kill for this chance, even willing to pay for it?

Internally, Mr. Wang cursed, but his face still wore a beaming smile as he adjusted his glasses and said, “Mr. Lin is right, let the child think it over.”

“Xiaoxiao, can you give your teacher an answer during class tomorrow?”

At that moment, she was utterly baffled herself, clueless as to what the principal was thinking, suddenly showing such concern for a child from another region in their class.

When enrolling, the school conducted a comprehensive investigation of parents.

After enrollment, they also gleaned more background information about the parents from the children.

Mr. Wang remembered very clearly that when the children were asked to draw the insignia of their family car, Lin Xiaoxiao had drawn a Sparrow electric scooter.

Not exactly the hallmark of a well-connected family!

But there was no helping it,

since the principal had spoken, he had to follow through.

“Mm-hmm,” Lin Xiaoxiao nodded emphatically.

Lin Mo, holding his daughter’s hand, waved and said, “Goodbye, Mr. Wang. Xiaoxiao, say goodbye to your teacher.”

“Goodbye, teacher.”

“Goodbye, be safe on the road.”

…

Fifteen minutes later.

Lin Mo rode the Sparrow electric scooter on the bustling road.

Lin Xiaoxiao sat behind him and his wife in front, their faces brimming with joy—a family of three in pure bliss.

He owned very little,

and this second-hand Sparrow electric scooter bore all the joy of his life.

“Honey, tell me, what exactly did you talk to the principal about?”

“I just told the truth.”

“Really? Did you give her money?”

“Do I have money? Moreover, would she even care for the little we have?”

The couple’s voices were very low, nearly whispering in each other’s ears, and with the wind’s noise, Lin Xiaoxiao at the back could barely hear them.

“Ah… that’s also true. All our money is with me. Then I really am curious, how did you convince the principal to help us?”

“Really want to know?”

“Yep!”

“I played the ‘handsome man’ card!”

“Cut it out! Come clean!”

“Haha, okay, okay. It was a coincidence, really. I happened to pass by the Home Inn one day and saw the principal slip into the hotel with a young man. I couldn’t tell if he was her husband, but would a married couple need to sneak around? Also, there’s no need to be so secretive, so I bluffed her today, telling her ‘You wouldn’t want your secret to get out to your husband, would you?’ And to my surprise, it worked!”

“What? For real? That actually happened!”

“As if it were fake! I was out of options and had to resort to such a strategy!”

“We’re not breaking the law with this, are we?”

“What law could we be breaking? Besides, I didn’t blackmail her; I just asked her to look into the matter of Xiaoxiao being bullied.”

“Right! No wonder our usually snooty homeroom teacher was so polite today! Honey, you really pulled it off! I was puzzled why you suddenly offered to talk with the principal. So you had an ace up your sleeve!”

“Heh, of course!”

“Alright, enough about that. Xiaoxiao, what do you feel like eating tonight?”

“You can choose McDonald’s or your favorite spicy hot pot!”

“Adults make choices; kids want everything. I also want an ice coke… to watch a movie… and more…”