Chapter 24: The School Bully (24)

 

After the New Year, Mr. Zai Yan brought up studying abroad again and demanded to have the child sent to him. Zai Ye ignored him.

 

More precisely, Zai Ye berated him one last time and blocked him.

 

Besides Mr. Zai Yan’s occasional attempts to remind everyone he existed, Zai Ye’s life flowed peacefully. As for parenting, he gradually found his rhythm, becoming more skilled by the day.

 

High school is when teenagers face their greatest confusion, uncertain of their path, obsessing over every test score, comparing every imagined future. The classroom atmosphere was often suffocating, especially after teachers berated them for poor test results, occasionally punctuated by muffled sobs.

 

In such an environment, their school bully, Brother Ye, always stood out as unique.

 

Today he arrived late as usual, carrying two hefty bags of oranges.

 

When the heavy bags landed on his desk, his followers instinctively reached for them.

 

“Thanks, Brother Ye!”

 

“Brother Ye, what made you bring us oranges today?”

 

“Brother Ye, let me help distribute them!”

 

Zai Ye stopped them. “Wait.”

 

“Do you know how to make orange lanterns?” he asked.

 

His followers: “?”

 

It all began with Yu Qian’s kindergarten.

 

The kindergarten hadn’t started academic courses yet but focused on developing children’s practical skills. They occasionally assigned simple craft projects, like making orange lanterns.

 

Typically, these assignments required parent participation, aiming to strengthen parent-child bonds and encourage quality time together. While well-intentioned, this proved challenging for parents, especially those lacking artistic skills.

 

When assigned the orange lantern project, Zai Ye wasn’t concerned. He bought a small bag of oranges, planning to make one himself to fulfill the requirement. However, his child ate all the orange segments until she was full, and he still hadn’t managed to create a single proper lantern.

 

Perhaps he’d chosen the wrong oranges.

 

So he bought two large bags and brought them to school, hoping to harness collective wisdom. Surely someone could make one successfully?

 

That day, the entire classroom was infused with citrus fragrance. A girl who had cried through an entire period over poor test results received two oranges as consolation.

 

When the homeroom teacher entered, he found nearly every student peeling oranges. For weeks afterward, orange lanterns adorned almost every desk, while Zai Ye selected the three best specimens to submit for his daughter’s assignment.

 

But the craft projects didn’t end there.

 

The next assignment was crafting a picture using colored clay.

 

His rebellious daughter only wanted to play with the clay, completely abandoning her homework to him. After furrowing his brows and attempting it himself, Zai Ye decided to seek reinforcements.

 

His class was full of talent, and they quickly delivered a masterpiece—collectively crafting the game character “Diao Chan” in clay.

 

The work proved too impressive; clearly not a child’s creation. The kindergarten teacher contacted him, delicately suggesting that “parents shouldn’t completely take over their children’s craft projects, but rather encourage participation.”

 

The third assignment was creating a leaf collage.

 

“Shouldn’t you do this homework yourself?” Zai Ye looked down at his daughter sprawled across the sofa.

 

He never imagined he’d be the one nagging someone else about homework.

 

Yu Qian heaved a tiny sigh, reluctantly settled at the desk, played with the leaves briefly, then managed to glue her fingers together while applying adhesive.

 

Evidently, neither father nor daughter possessed artistic talents.

 

After cleaning the glue from her hands, Zai Ye gently moved her aside and completed the project himself, showing more dedication than he’d ever given his own schoolwork.

 

When this assignment was submitted, the teacher contacted him again.

 

“While we previously mentioned that parents shouldn’t complete the entire project, leaving it entirely to the child isn’t ideal either. This work was too carelessly done and didn’t receive any recognition in our evaluation, which could damage the child’s self-esteem.”

 

Zai Ye: “…”

 

The child’s self-esteem remained intact—his, however, took the hit.

 

Was he being told his work ranked below that of kindergarteners?

 

Brother Ye’s competitive spirit ignited in the most unexpected way.

 

Over time, his classmates grew accustomed to their school bully bringing various materials, turning craft sessions into welcome breaks during their monotonous senior year.

 

Seeing him pull out colored paper one day, a follower automatically asked, “What are we making today, Brother Ye?”

 

“Nothing today,” Zai Ye replied.

 

“Then what’s the paper for?”

 

“A thank-you card Qian made for me.” He showed them the clumsily assembled collage.

 

This assignment had been given directly to the children—make a card expressing love for their parents. Since receiving the awkward creation the night before, Zai Ye had examined it countless times, and now found himself looking at it again.

 

Though crude on the outside, inside she had pasted all her earned red flower stickers—every single one she’d received.

 

Zai Ye smiled at the card.

 

Beyond craft projects, kindergarten hosted various activities.

 

“A pet interaction day?” Zai Ye frowned at the notification on his phone.

 

The teacher explained that children with pets could bring them to school, helping everyone learn about caring for other living beings.

 

Managing one child was challenging enough—thank goodness she was relatively self-sufficient—so he’d never considered pets. But if other children brought their pets while Yu Qian had none, would she feel excluded?

 

After considerable thought, Zai Ye asked, “What kind of pet would you like? Preferably something low-maintenance.”

 

Yu Qian blinked and declared, “I already have a pet!”

 

“You do? How come I don’t know about it? Is it at Brother Xiu’s Lounge?” Zai Ye asked.

 

Yu Qian pointed her small finger at the air beside her. “Right here, my pet!”

 

System 65, which had been chattering by her ear moments before, fell silent. Though aware that only its host could perceive it in this world, it still felt nervous.

 

「Host! You mustn’t reveal my existence to others!」

 

Yu Qian lowered her finger, puzzled.

 

Zai Ye stared at the empty space. “What…”

 

A fly buzzed past his face.

 

He looked from his daughter to the fly and back again. Where had it come from? How did a fly get into their high-rise apartment? Had she brought it from outside? Was his daughter actually keeping a fly as a pet?!

 

Then he recalled numerous occasions when she’d stood on the sofa, waving her hands or various objects at nothing. He’d assumed she was playing make-believe, but now wondered—had she been interacting with her “little pet” all along?

 

A child’s world is innocent; she probably didn’t understand that flies weren’t typical pets. Perhaps in her eyes, a fly was no different from a butterfly. Zai Ye reminded himself not to impose adult logic on a child’s perspective.

 

“When your teacher asks for pets at school, you’re planning to bring this? Will it actually follow you there?” Zai Ye asked.

 

Yu Qian glanced at the flickering blue light beside her and nodded. “I take it to school every day.”

 

Taking a fly to school daily seemed rather absurd, but faced with his child’s wishes, no matter how peculiar, Zai Ye could only try to accommodate them.

 

After she went to bed, he prowled the apartment, hunting for the fly that had vanished somewhere within. After an extensive search, he finally trapped it in a mineral water bottle.

 

The next morning, he presented the bottle to Yu Qian. “Here’s your pet. Take it to school.”

 

Yu Qian clutched her little backpack, observed her father’s sleep-deprived face, and seriously objected: “Not this one—mine is blue and sparkly.”

 

Different colored flies? He was amazed she could even distinguish between them.

 

Thinking of his lengthy nighttime fly-hunt, Zai Ye’s expression darkened. “This is the one. Take it to school!”

 

Yu Qian released a tiny sigh, shaking her head with an expression of infinite patience for her father’s shortcomings, and accepted the bottle.

 

“Okay.”

 

She took the bottled fly to kindergarten, where a classmate was showing off their turtle. After the teacher finished admiring the turtle, she approached Yu Qian.

 

“Xiao Qian, did you bring a pet?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Oh? Your parents didn’t mention anything. What kind of pet? Can we see it?”

 

Yu Qian produced the water bottle.

 

The teacher’s perfect smile wavered. “This is… this is a fly?”

 

Yu Qian: “My daddy caught it for me.”

 

Teacher: “Haha, that’s… quite unique.” What kind of irresponsible parent would do this?

 

The teacher’s reaction drew other children’s attention. While everyone had seen flies before, this was their first time seeing one displayed in a bottle.

 

As the children gathered around, the child with the turtle asked, “My turtle can swim in water. Can your fly swim too?”

 

Another child chimed in: “It can fly, so it must be able to swim!”

 

“Let’s add water and see!”

 

That evening, Zai Ye received a message from the teacher. Though diplomatically worded, it clearly expressed disapproval of his choice to catch a fly as a pet, advising him not to be negligent in his parenting.

 

Zai Ye: “…”

 

He felt deeply wronged.

 

Meanwhile, his daughter—who had pointed to the fly claiming it as her pet—dropped her backpack, set down her water bottle, and scampered off to find snacks.

 

Zai Ye sat on the sofa, phone in hand, utterly speechless.

 

After responding to messages for a while, he absently opened the half-empty mineral water bottle on the table and took a sip.

 

His daughter returned, sucking on a yogurt drink. Zai Ye glanced at her. “Where’s your little pet? Did you bring it back?”

 

The child stared at his hand.

 

Zai Ye: “?”

 

A terrible premonition struck him. Zai Ye slowly turned his head to find the fly settled at the bottom of the mineral water bottle he’d just drunk from.

 

Yu Qian took another sip of her yogurt, voice muffled: “Daddy drank fly.”

 

Zai Ye’s face turned green as he bolted for the bathroom.