Cen Huai’an’s deskmate, seeing the teacher stop the fight from a distance, finally breathed a sigh of relief and turned to go home.

The burly older brother looked at his bleeding arm, crying loudly, “I’m bleeding, Mom, I’m bleeding! I want to find my mom!”

The burly younger brother cried along, “Brother! Mom! Brother!”

Teacher Fang was overwhelmed by the crying.

Meanwhile, Cen Huai’an, limping, slowly walked over to the book that had been kicked far away.

He squatted down, carefully picked up the book, and wiped off the dirt with his hands.

He realized his hands were very dirty, and the book was getting even dirtier.

Cen Huai’an stopped wiping with his hands, took off his outer jacket, and used the clean clothes inside to clean the book.

The footprint was impossible to remove, and he couldn’t find where the torn cover went.

Cen Huai’an’s expression darkened, glaring at the burly older brother with anger, wishing he could hit him again.

Teacher Fang saw Cen Huai’an’s actions.

At first, she didn’t know what he intended and felt a bit annoyed, thinking that this new student had just arrived and was already fighting, being troublesome.

But to her surprise, he was picking up the book, handling it so carefully, afraid it might be damaged.

Teacher Fang was shocked, feeling a pang of sympathy in her heart.

She coldly turned to her burly younger brother and asked, “Zhao Yin, what’s the deal with Cen Huai’an’s book? And Zhao Jin, why did you come to hit a student from our class? Are you two teaming up to bully new classmates again?”

Zhao Yin shrank back under the scolding.

He was also afraid of the teacher, and so was Zhao Jin.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have insisted on taking Cen Huai’an to another place to fight, away from the school gate where the teacher might see them.

Cen Huai’an walked over holding his book and calmly explained the whole situation to Teacher Fang.

If his face hadn’t been so swollen and bruised, Teacher Fang might have thought Cen Huai’an wasn’t hurt at all.

“Alright! It’s clear that you two deliberately bullied a classmate. Zhao Yin, do you think you two are kings in Experimental Primary School? Everyone has to listen to you? I won’t let this go until your parents come in today!”

Teacher Fang rolled up her sleeves, looking furious.

Even the gentlest teacher can turn into a fire-breathing dragon when faced with troublemakers.

But when she turned to look at Cen Huai’an, she didn’t know what to say.

This wasn’t his fault; if Zhao Jin and Zhao Yin hadn’t intentionally picked a fight with him, he wouldn’t have ended up in a fight.

Seeing how much he treasured his book, if it had been damaged by Zhao Jin, she’d want to beat them up herself.

However, Cen Huai’an had also struck first, and it was several kids who ended up fighting.

Moreover, Cen Huai’an was glaring at Zhao Jin and Zhao Yin, which made Teacher Fang even more troubled.

But it was noon, and the children had to go home for lunch.

Teacher Fang couldn’t keep them too late.

She told Cen Huai’an, Zhao Jin, and Zhao Yin, “Come back to school this afternoon and bring your parents. Zhao Jin, Zhao Yin, don’t think you can get away with this. If you don’t bring your parents, I’ll come to your home!”

Teacher Fang lived nearby; otherwise, she wouldn’t have taught at Experimental Primary School just to be close to home.

Most of the students’ parents were known to her.

Cen Huai’an was clearly hurt more seriously than Zhao Jin and Zhao Yin.

Teacher Fang was worried about him and helped him prepare to go home.

Cen Huai’an pulled his arm away and said, “Teacher, I can walk by myself.”

Teacher Fang continued to hold his arm, “Cen Huai’an, don’t be shy. Look at you, you can hardly walk.”

“But, teacher,” Cen Huai’an looked at Teacher Fang, “you’re touching my wound.”

Teacher Fang said, “Oh?” and quickly released her grip, “Sorry, I didn’t know. Why didn’t you say anything if it hurt?”

Teacher Fang found it strange.

Zhao Jin and Zhao Yin would cry loudly at the slightest injury, but Cen Huai’an, despite his severe wounds, didn’t shed a tear.

Moreover, he didn’t even make a sound when she touched his injury.

Cen Huai’an gritted his teeth and endured the pain, “It would hurt even if I said something. It’s no use saying it.”

Teacher Fang didn’t dare to support him further.

They slowly approached the alley near Cen Huai’an’s home.

Chuxia was waiting at the alley’s entrance, concerned since it was Cen Huai’an’s first day at school.

Once they were out of the alley, heading straight along the main street to Experimental Primary School, Chuxia could see Cen Huai’an’s figure from a distance.

Seeing him limping toward the alley with Teacher Fang beside him, Chuxia’s heart skipped a beat, and her eyes immediately showed worry.

She hurried to them.

“An’an, what happened?” Chuxia frowned at his injuries, “This scratch looks like it was made by nails. Who hit you?”

It was impossible for Cen Huai’an to cause trouble on his first day, so it must have been his classmates bullying him.

Cen Huai’an reached toward Chuxia’s embrace, his eyes red and his voice plaintive, “Mom, someone tore my book.” He showed the book to Chuxia.

Hearing this, Teacher Fang’s guilt reached its peak. “An’an’s mother, I’m sorry. It’s my fault for not keeping an eye on the students…”

She explained the whole situation to Chuxia and then sighed, “Zhao Yin is a student in our class, and he and Zhao Jin are a bit domineering. I didn’t expect they would bully An’an over such a small matter.”

Teacher Fang liked Cen Huai’an more and followed Chuxia in calling him An’an.

“An’an’s mother, I’ve already told Zhao Jin and Zhao Yin to bring their parents to school this afternoon. Please come to school this afternoon too.”

Chuxia held Cen Huai’an, heartbroken.

This was such an undeserved disaster!

Just because Zhao Yin pressed on An’an’s book and An’an pushed him away a bit, they started fighting.

Chuxia was furious and wanted to beat up those two kids to see if they would still use their strength to bully classmates.

Suppressing her anger, Chuxia said, “I need to take An’an to see his injuries first. We’ll discuss when we can come to school this afternoon.”

She definitely needed to go to school; how could she let this matter pass so easily with her son being bullied like this?

However, it wasn’t fair to blame Teacher Fang for this; Chuxia wouldn’t take her anger out on her.

Teacher Fang understood and said, “Of course. An’an’s mother, I’ll accompany you to the hospital.”

Chuxia refused Teacher Fang’s offer, asking her to stay with Cen Huai’an for a while while she went home to get Jiang Zhida.

Jiang Zhida, curious about An’an’s first day of school, hadn’t left yet.

He had just come back from visiting friends nearby, as it was close to the end of school.

When he arrived with Chuxia and saw An’an’s injuries, his casual demeanor immediately changed.

His eyes showed the same severity as Cen Huai’an’s. “Who did this?”

Teacher Fang had a good impression of Jiang Zhida because he always smiled, even though his dress was a bit casual.

However, seeing him now, his aura had changed completely, his cold face looking quite frightening.

Teacher Fang, suppressing her fear, got into the car, lowering her head in embarrassment, “It was a student from our class with his older brother.”

“Two against one?”

Hearing this, Teacher Fang’s heart skipped a beat. “Yes, that’s right. Um, Uncle An’an, please stay calm. We shouldn’t… commit any crimes.” Her tone was particularly cautious.

Jiang Zhida glanced at her, “Do I look like someone who lacks reason?”

Cen Huai’an interjected, “Teacher Fang, my uncle won’t commit any crimes.”

Teacher Fang awkwardly laughed, realizing Jiang Zhida’s appearance made him look like a villain from a TV show.

Chuxia, not in the mood to deal with Teacher Fang’s psychology, checked Cen Huai’an’s injuries, especially his legs.

Since Cen Huai’an was limping, she was worried about his legs or feet.

When she saw Cen Huai’an’s swollen left ankle, Chuxia’s heart ached sharply.

Teacher Fang also noticed the injury on Cen Huai’an’s ankle and exclaimed, “It’s so swollen! An’an, how could you stay silent about this?”

Recalling that she hadn’t helped him or even checked his leg when he had hobbled back, Teacher Fang felt overwhelmed with guilt.

She felt she had been a derelict teacher.

She gently held his ankle, and Cen Huai’an finally seemed like a little child in front of her, wincing in pain.

“Mom, it hurts.”

Teacher Fang didn’t say anything.

After checking, she confirmed it was just a sprain and not a broken bone, which eased her worry a bit, though her expression remained serious.

“Now you’re feeling pain?” Teacher Fang looked at Cen Huai’an, both angry and heartbroken. “You sprained your ankle and still walked on it? Do you want to end up crippled?”

Cen Huai’an’s eyes showed helplessness.

He pinched the corner of his clothes and shook his head. “Mom, I don’t want that.”

He lowered his head. “I didn’t think it hurt very much.”

He had been injured in fights before, and this was his first sprain.

He was used to it.

Being hungry was the worst, more uncomfortable than being injured in a fight.

Hearing this, Teacher Fang felt a pang of sadness, as if she had been bitten by an unseen bug.

“Fool.” She gently touched Cen Huai’an’s head but still spoke sternly. “You need to learn to take care of yourself. No matter how much you can endure, when you’re hurt, you can cry and ask the teacher for help. You don’t have to bear it alone; you have a mother.”

Previously, Cen Huai’an would tend to his wounds alone after fights, and his mother would mainly focus on teaching him a lesson.

Now, Cen Huai’an realized he had someone to rely on.

Even if he was injured in a fight, his mother would care for him.

At this moment, the physical pain seemed to disappear, replaced by a warm feeling in his heart, as if he had just had a comforting cup of hot water in the cold winter.

Unable to hold back, Cen Huai’an hugged Teacher Fang and rubbed his head against her. “Mom.”

Teacher Fang gently patted his back.

Teacher Fang was lost in her guilt, and Jiang Zhida felt a surge of anger but had no outlet.

The car fell silent.

After a while, Teacher Fang released Cen Huai’an and asked where else he hurt.

At this point, Cen Huai’an was no longer his usual strong self.

He showed Teacher Fang all his injuries, except those that needed to be uncovered by removing his clothes.

“Mom, Zhao Yin scratched my neck with his nails, Zhao Jin hit the corner of my mouth with his fist, and Zhao Jin pressed me to the ground and scraped my arm…”

For each injury he described, Teacher Fang’s expression darkened, and Jiang Zhida’s face also turned grim.

Once Cen Huai’an finished describing all his injuries, Teacher Fang checked them all.

Since children didn’t have much strength, the severe-looking injuries were mostly surface wounds, with the worst being his ankle.

Teacher Fang breathed a sigh of relief; this was the best news she could hope for.

Jiang Zhida’s face, however, darkened completely, and his imposing aura made Teacher Fang move back slightly.

Although he seemed easygoing and harmless, that was only when he wasn’t provoked.

Jiang Zhida had gone through a lot when his family was in trouble.

If he wasn’t tough, how could he protect himself and his family?

“Those two kids bullied my nephew like this. What do you have to say, Teacher Fang?”

Although Teacher Fang found Jiang Zhida’s demeanor a bit intimidating, she remembered her role as a teacher, swallowed hard, and said, “An’an’s uncle, I’ve already asked Zhao Jin and Zhao Yin to have their parents come to the school this afternoon. They will definitely be punished.”

Jiang Zhida responded with a simple “Mm” and didn’t say anything more.

Teacher Fang, looking out the window, felt the journey to the hospital seemed so long.

When they finally arrived at the hospital, the doctor re-examined Cen Huai’an and confirmed the same results as Teacher Fang had earlier.

Besides the ankle, which was the most severe, the other injuries were just superficial and would heal in a few days.

The doctor treated Cen Huai’an’s wounds, applying medicine and rubbing out the swelling.

Cen Huai’an endured the pain well.

Applying medicine was painful, especially on the swollen areas, but he kept his teeth clenched and stayed silent.