Chapter 163 : Preferring Sons to Daughters  

“If you’re not eating, why are you standing outside the gate?” Shen Zheng asked as he arrived.  

Hearing his father’s voice, Shen Haifeng quickly stood up, putting on a pitiful expression. “I was chased out by Grandma,” he said.  

Shen Zheng raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.  

“Don’t try to act pitiful. What did you do?”  

Shen Haifeng chuckled awkwardly. “Dad, Grandma cooked lunch, pancakes and shredded potato soup but I said something wrong.”  

“What did you say?” Shen Zheng asked.  

“I said the pancakes were like stone cakes and should be soaked in water…” Shen Haifeng replied melancholically.  

Shen Zheng snorted. “Serves you right.”  

With that, Shen Zheng turned and walked away, showing no intention of heading into the house.  

Realizing what was happening, Shen Haifeng quickly caught up to him. “Dad, where are you going? Aren’t you going home for lunch?”  

“I’m going to the cafeteria,” Shen Zheng said casually.  

“Dad, take me with you!” Shen Haifeng pleaded, jogging to keep up.  

Shen Zheng brought him along, and after eating at the cafeteria, he packed some food to bring home.  

When they returned, Shen Zheng called out, “Mom, I brought back some food. Have you eaten yet?”  

Zheng Lanhua poked her head out and replied, “I already ate.”  

Shen Zheng stepped inside and asked, “What did you make today? It smelled good.”  

Zheng Lanhua rubbed her jaw and mumbled, “It was alright.”  

Her teeth, however, ached terribly from chewing on the overly hard pancakes. She vowed not to make them again, or her teeth might fall out entirely.  

Removing her apron, she announced, “You all clean up, I’m going for a walk to digest.”  

As soon as she left, Shen Haiping and Shen Jinxia emerged from their rooms, clearly still hungry.  

Shen Zheng shook his head helplessly and set the packed food on the table. “Eat.”  

The two children eagerly sat down and finished the meal.  

Afterward, Shen Zheng cleaned up and put the lunch boxes away. When Zheng Lanhua returned, she didn’t say a word about the food. Instead, she went straight to her room, claiming she needed a nap.  

“Didn’t Grandma notice?” Shen Jinxia asked, confused.  

“Maybe she’s just ignoring us,” Shen Haiping said.  

Shen Haifeng chimed in with a grin.  

—  

In the afternoon, when they returned to school, Shen Haiping noticed that his deskmate, Liu Niandi, still seemed downcast.  

After school, Shen Haiping stayed behind to fulfill his duty of cleaning the classroom.  

Outside, Shen Haifeng and Yu Feixu played near the school gate as they waited for him. They left together, walking home slightly later than usual.  

On the way, the three boys heard a heart-wrenching cry from the east side of the school. It sounded desperate and filled with fear.  

Shen Haiping froze for a moment, then realized the crying voice sounded eerily like Liu Niandi’s.  

Without hesitation, he ran toward the sound, with Shen Haifeng and Yu Feixu chasing after him.  

As they approached, they saw a middle-aged man holding a stick, hitting Liu Niandi. The young girl was crying and trying to dodge the blows, her sobs echoing through the quiet street.  

There weren’t many people around, just a few standing at a distance, hesitant to intervene.  

Getting closer, the boys heard the man shouting, “Money, money, money! You’re just a girl! I already said you can’t go to school. Tuition is so expensive! Do you think you’re worth it?”  

Liu Niandi sobbed harder, trying in vain to shield herself.  

“What’s the point of keeping a money-losing thing like you?”  

The middle-aged man shouted as he struck Liu Niandi with the stick.  

“Stop!” Shen Haiping yelled, running toward them.  

The man glared at the three boys with disdain. “This is my family’s business. Mind your own!”  

“No matter what, you can’t hit someone,” Shen Haiping retorted. “Who are you?”  

The man raised his stick. “I’m her father. She’s my daughter. Got a problem with that? I brought her into this world, so I can do whatever I want. You kids shouldn’t meddle. Even officials don’t interfere in family affairs. She’s my daughter, I make the rules.”  

Fuming, Shen Haiping countered, “You didn’t give birth to her, her mother did!”  

Ignoring the man, he ran to help Liu Niandi up. “Are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital?”  

Liu Niandi winced from the pain but shook her head. “I’m fine,” she whispered, her voice trembling like a mosquito’s buzz.  

Shen Haifeng, though unfamiliar with her, couldn’t stand idly by. Seeing his brother so concerned, he figured she must be a classmate.  

He asked the man, “Why did you hit her?”  

“Why?” the man, Liu Guangzong, snapped angrily. “She asked me for forty-two yuan! I don’t have that kind of money. This girl must be lying. Why would school cost so much? I’m going to ask the teacher right now!”  

Shen Haifeng explained, “The school only asked for 42 yuan. She’s not lying.”  

Liu Guangzong sneered, “I don’t have money to send her to school. What’s the point of her studying? She’ll get married and leave the family, what a waste of money. You boys are different. You’re sons, and your families will invest in you. You won’t understand.”  

“If the tuition is really 42 yuan, she won’t be going to school anymore. My family needs her to work.”  

He grabbed Liu Niandi’s arm. “Come on, we’re going home. Stop embarrassing yourself!”  

Shen Haiping stepped between them. “All she wants is to study! What’s so wrong with that?”  

The gathered crowd began to criticize Liu Guangzong.  

“What kind of father doesn’t let his daughter go to school in this day and age?”  

“How could you beat her for asking to study? Shame on you!”  

Embarrassed, Liu Guangzong, who had always ruled his home with an iron fist, felt powerless under the adults’ scrutiny.  

Unable to argue, he vented his frustration on Liu Niandi. “Fine, you want to study so badly? Go wherever you like. Don’t bother coming back home!”  

With that, he stormed off, leaving his daughter in tears.  

Liu Niandi collapsed on the ground, hugging her knees as tears streamed down her face. She didn’t say a word.  

Yu Feixu scratched his head. “What do we do now?”  

Shen Haifeng sighed, equally at a loss. “We can’t just leave her here.”  

Shen Haiping crouched beside her. “Has your father always been like this?”  

Liu Niandi nodded, her voice barely audible. “He only likes my two younger brothers.”  

“Do you have anywhere to go?” Shen Haiping asked.  

She shook her head. In the past, whenever she was kicked out, she had no choice but to wait by the door until her father calmed down.  

Turning to his brother, Shen Haiping asked, “Do you think we can let her stay at our house for now?”  

Shen Haifeng hesitated. “I’d like to, but I’m not sure if Dad’s home yet or if Mom’s finished her work. We might not be able to.”  

Hearing this, Liu Niandi quickly waved her hands. “No, no, it’s fine. My dad will let me back in once he cools down. Thank you for helping me.”  

Without waiting for a response, she slowly walked away toward her home, each step heavy with reluctance and sadness.