Chapter 7: Knew They Were Wrong

“Lin Zhaoyang, what’s wrong with you? We were clearly just telling the truth, weren’t we?” Zhao Shize couldn’t help but speak when he saw Lin Zhaoyang’s eyes turn red with anger.

The furious little bull finally found a target. Sanzai suddenly charged at Zhao Shize and knocked him to the ground.

But Zhao Shize wasn’t weak either; the meat on his bones wasn’t for nothing. The two quickly got into a scuffle.

Seeing their younger brother being beaten, Dazai and Erzai immediately joined the fight, while Zhao Shize’s friends, seeing their buddy getting attacked, also rushed over.

What started as a one-on-one fight quickly escalated into an all-out brawl.

An Ruo was completely stunned. Normally, Lin Zhaoyang and Zhao Shize fought too, but it was mostly verbal sparring and had never been this intense before.

Someone clever had already run off to get a teacher.

Over on Su Sanxian’s side, she and Lin Shen had just been discussing whether they were overthinking things about little An Ruo today, when the next moment, Lin Shen received a call from the kindergarten teacher.

The Three Cubs had gotten into a fight.

Su Sanxian and Lin Shen exchanged a glance, quickly found a road to turn the car around, and headed back to the kindergarten.

By the time they arrived, many other parents were also coming in one after another. Since most of them were from the same social circle, once they exchanged information, they realized it was all because their kids had been fighting.

The parents looked at each other in bewilderment, not quite sure what to make of the situation.

When everyone walked together to the teacher’s office, they could already hear children’s cries from quite a distance away.

Some parents, doting on their children, immediately felt their hearts ache and quickened their steps.

A few more steps brought them to the door. They pushed it open and saw more than ten children inside. Whoa—every single one of them had some degree of injury on their faces or bodies.

With just a glance, Su Sanxian saw that her own Three Kids had taken the worst beating. Little An Ruo was there too but wasn’t injured much; her eyes and cheeks were only a bit red.

Seeing that all the parents had arrived, the teacher pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. These kids had been bawling in her office for quite some time, and she felt like her head had doubled in size.

Truly, being a kindergarten teacher wasn’t something just anyone could handle. But thoughts were thoughts—there was still a matter to resolve.

Watching the parents come in and comfort their children, the teacher’s gaze lingered for a while on Su Sanxian, who was holding her three children and whispering softly to them. Then she spoke: “An Ruo, Tian Jing, you two, tell the uncles and aunties what happened just now.”

Tian Jing was the little girl who had gone to get the teacher. She had big, clever eyes, a chubby and fair face, and an aura of intelligence that made people want to pinch her cheeks.

Tian Jing spoke first: “Because today, Lin Zhaoxing, Lin Zhaoyue, and Lin Zhaoyang’s Mom and Dad came to drop them off at school, everyone was really curious, so Zhao Shize asked about it. Then Lin Zhaoyang said it wasn’t his business…”

“It’s because Lin Zhaoyang and Zhao Shize usually tease each other a lot, that’s why he said that.” An Ruo added.

Tian Jing nodded firmly, her train of thought very clear, and continued, speaking fairly: “Then Zhao Shize asked Lin Zhaoyang, ‘Isn’t your Mom still crazy?’ And Lin Zhaoyang got really angry and answered, ‘My Mom is not crazy! My Mom was just sick before!’”

Listening to the little girl’s serious retelling of such a heated scene, Su Sanxian felt both heartbroken for her Three Kids and found the children’s earnestness adorable.

After Tian Jing’s recounting, Zhao Shize’s parents were the first to react. Apart from Su Sanxian and Lin Shen, theirs was the only family where both the father and mother had shown up.

Zhao Shize’s parents had a gentle, well-off look—neither of them fat, but round and plump in a healthy way. His mother, especially, exuded warmth, perhaps because of her comfortable life; she appeared kind and approachable.

“Shize, apologize to Lin Zhaoyang and his siblings!” Zhao Shize’s father, Zhao Qi, said sternly, looking at his child.

Zhao Shize looked at his father with a bewildered expression. Wait, wasn’t this the time when his parents should be comforting him? Why were they asking him to apologize? Besides, he hadn’t done anything wrong!

“Why should I apologize? Everything I said was the truth! And Lin Zhaoyang was the one who hit me first.”

Seeing that his son still didn’t understand what he had done wrong, Zhao Qi felt his temper rising. How could this boy be so clueless? He and Mingzhu weren’t like this!

Su Sanxian also found the scene a little funny. When she had first heard little An Ruo say that Sanzai and Zhao Shize often argued, she thought Zhao Shize had done it on purpose.

But from the looks of it, this child was simply a bit slow-witted and meant no harm.

Zhao Shize’s mother, Song Mingzhu, saw that her husband was at a loss for words after being rebutted by their son. She crouched down and looked at her son as she spoke softly: “Ze Bao, you think you didn’t do anything wrong, don’t you?”

Zhao Shize nodded. Ever since he was young, his parents had taught him to always be truthful, never to lie, and never to do anything fake. He had never told a lie in his life.

Song Mingzhu continued: “Then, baby, think about this: what if Mom went crazy because she was sick…?”

“Mom would never go crazy!” Zhao Shize interrupted his mother, looking at her anxiously. Song Mingzhu motioned for him to calm down and went on: “But let’s say Mom did go crazy because she was sick. Later, Mom got better. But then your classmates asked you, ‘Zhao Shize, isn’t your Mom crazy? We heard your Mom even hits people.’ You—”

“Mom, stop talking, wuwuwu…” Zhao Shize couldn’t hold back his tears anymore. He finally understood what he had done wrong.

But Zhao Shize prided himself on being a man of honor, brave and upright. Knowing his mistake, he wiped his tears and ran straight toward Su Sanxian’s family.

“Lin Zhaoyang, Lin Zhaoxing, Lin Zhaoyue, I’m sorry.” Zhao Shize’s voice trembled as he sniffled, then he turned to Su Sanxian and bowed deeply. “Auntie, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. I shouldn’t have spoken nonsense without thinking. I-I’ll make sure to think three times before I speak next time…”

Watching her son’s clumsy attempt at apologizing, Song Mingzhu felt an overwhelming urge to cover her face. Think three times before speaking? She had told her child to watch fewer costume dramas, but clearly, they had already influenced him deeply.

Still, his apology had the desired effect. Su Sanxian smiled gently at the stiff, nervous Zhao Shize.

Indeed, children were pure and kind at heart. They came into the world free of prejudice, and through observation, imitation, learning, and guidance, they were gradually filled with colors, growing into unique works of art.

“Auntie can forgive you, but whether Lin Zhaoyang and the others forgive you isn’t for me to decide.” Su Sanxian wiped the tears from the little boy’s face and gestured for the four children to talk it out.

Hearing this, Zhao Shize turned his pitiful gaze to Sanzai and his brothers. “Lin Zhaoyang, can you forgive me? I know I was wrong. I shouldn’t have said those things about your Mom. I’ll never argue with you again.”

When Sanzai heard him say he would never argue again, he raised an eyebrow, his expression saying, Yeah, right. Zhao Shize not arguing with him? That would only happen if the sky fell.

But seeing how pitiful he looked and knowing he hadn’t meant any harm, Sanzai decided magnanimously that he would forgive him.

“Fine, I forgive you. But you can’t say anything about my Mom again, or I’ll beat you up!” he warned, raising his fist to make his threat more intimidating.

“Not even saying Auntie is pretty?” Zhao Shize looked at him with an expression of disbelief, silently accusing him of being unreasonable.

Sanzai: “…”