Family Genes
Just moments after returning home from South Korea, they had to rush over to the kindergarten. Calling it a hectic day was an understatement.
Lanlan was persistently reluctant, yet quickly ‘conformed’ as a glare from Lin Ruoxi made its way to her eyes. She cowardly tailed behind her mother towards the car.
Yang Chen on the other hand was hardly bothered by the situation they were in. It’s just a small playground dispute with a little hair-pulling. Nobody's brains were destroyed.
Obviously these were all thoughts he thought best to keep unheard. He might be indifferent but Lin Ruoxi was not.
Being the father to a child for the first time, Yang Chen was surprisingly responsible as he sat in the driver’s seat, driving Lin Ruoxi and Lanlan towards the nearby Yunhua kindergarten.
Before departure, they made sure to contact Ms Hou, who was Lanlan’s class teacher. But the moment they were connected with her, they had urged them to arrive quicker.
Meanwhile, Wang Qiang’s parents were making a scene in the kindergarten courtyard from ‘the long wait’.
Upon arrival, it was already dusk. Darkness encroached fast as parents escorted their children and out from the opposite direction towards them, and in the teaching facility, only a few office lights were on.
It was Yang Chen’s first visit to the kindergarten. After taking a quick glance around, he found the slides rather amusing to look at but followed alongside Lin Ruoxi and Lanlan as they made their way into the building.
Lin Ruoxi came prepared with the exact location of the office and effectively navigated through the building.
Arriving by the door of their venue, a loud, husky voice of a middle-aged man was heard.
“Where is this family? Is this a game to them?”
“Mr Wang, calm down. They have been informed and are on their way.” The female teacher was audibly frustrated.
“Pfft! You think of me, Wang An as a joke now don’t you, huh? I’m telling you, if today we don’t get this settled, I’ll hire a trope to tear down this broken school!”
Lin Ruoxi and Yang Chen reactively shared gazes by the door, both frowned almost simultaneously from how hostile the parents they were about to meet were.
Nevertheless, both of them were adept problem solvers in their individual line of responsibility as they knocked, and Lin Ruoxi jerked the door open.
Lanlan was visibly unnerved from entering the teacher’s office as she held onto her mother’s arm.
In the office, besides a few female teachers, there were two pairs of parents with their respective children.
Their son was a fat child, his head wrapped with white mesh cloth, and upon witnessing Lanlan’s entrance reactively scurried behind his father.
The other couple was rather plain-looking yet neat and well-dressed and with them a young daughter with a flower braid hiding at the corner.
Watching Lin Ruoxi and Yang Chen make their entrance, alongside Lanlan, their gazes were almost simultaneously fixated upon Lin Ruoxi.
“Hey listen there! My son hasn’t lifted a finger on your daughter. She was the one who first attacked my son! She pushed my son on the ground with the other kids! His hair is all pulled out and is still bleeding! What manners do you teach your child?!” Mrs Wang immediately flew into a frenzy, as her intentions were given away from her envious gaze.
She then quickly nudged her husband Wang An by her side that was stunned by Lin Ruoxi’s entrance. He was completely entranced by her being.
“Huh?”
Wang An quickly snapped out of his daydreaming and back to the sole reason he was in kindergarten. “Exactly! Such violence from a little girl. I swear if you don't come kowtowing this very instant and pay for the damages done to my son, forget about leaving today!”
Lin Ruoxi solemnly replied. “Alright. It’s Wang Qiang who first started this. If it wasn’t for my daughter’s courage and talent she would have fell victim to that group of children. So if anyone is required to bear responsibility it should be on both sides.”
“That’s right!” Ms Hou quickly emphasized to relieve the tension.
“It’d be great if both parents could try to talk this out right here. How about this, Ms Lin here will compensate for the medical fees incurred, and Lanlan will apologize to Wang Qiang. And Wang Qiang on the other hand, you have to apologize to Lanlan and Xiao Ya. Promise not to bully the girls anymore, okay?”
That was a fair solution to the incident, not to mention the children were still enrolled in the same school after all.
But Wang An was not buying it as he sneered in response. “Compensate us? Pfft! Who do you think I am? I don’t give a damn about your money. Do you even know how many coal mines I own? Do you? I could bury all of you with trucks of coal! My people are part of the police force. I could get my men here to wreck this school this very instant if I wanted to! Your pathetic little preschool is not worth our time or effort! My son has never felt this ashamed since the day he was born! For my only son, if you don’t kneel down and apologize, you’ll all be dead meat!”
Whilst speaking, Wang An boastfully patted his son on the shoulder. “Son, watch this! When dealing with these uppity, self-obsessed people, all they do is talk! They like to toss money around! We beat them up, see if they’ll like that!”
Wang Qiang’s little head nodded obediently from the immense respect of his father.