"No, I was helping my brother fight the older boy." The little girl answered with absolute confidence.
The children around them all nodded in agreement.
However, Lan Jing didn’t hold it against Xiuxiu. In his mind, men shouldn’t hit women. Besides, he couldn’t bear to hit such a cute little girl. Although she threw mud at him, she had missed. He wasn’t angry.
Deng Meina’s eyes lit up when she saw Xiuxiu.
"Did you hit him?" Deng Meina squatted down to be at eye level with Xiuxiu and asked with a smile.
Hearing the pretty lady ask her a question, Xiuxiu felt a little shy.
"No, the older boy is too cunning," Xiuxiu said helplessly. "Every time I threw mud at him, he would use my brother as a shield."
Deng Meina laughed rather unkindly at this. She knew exactly what her son was like. He had more holes than a sieve when it came to scheming.
After Lan Jing apologized, the matter was considered settled. Seeing Deng Meina’s sincerity, Bai Jiu couldn’t very well dwell on it. However, once they got home, she would still have to teach Zhengyang a lesson. Knowing the gap in strength was so large, why did he still rush forward to suffer? That wasn’t being a hero; it was being a fool.
After parting ways, the two mothers each took their children home.
On the way back, Aunt Xu was full of self-blame, feeling she hadn’t looked after the children properly.
"Bai Jiu, I must apologize. I saw the weather was nice today, so I thought I’d weed the field. I never expected..." She had never imagined the children would get into a fight just by going out. And even get hurt.
"Aunt Xu, it’s not your fault. You can’t blame adults for children being naughty. Besides, boys have thick skin. It’s nothing serious, so please don’t take it to heart." Seeing Aunt Xu so remorseful, Bai Jiu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
This really wasn’t Aunt Xu’s fault. She couldn’t lock the children up at home, and she couldn’t stop them if they wanted to go out and play.
Hearing this, Aunt Xu felt a little better, but she was still embarrassed. When they reached the door, Aunt Xu opened her mouth to say something else, but Bai Jiu stopped her. "Aunt Xu, I troubled you again today. I’ll take the kids inside now."
Children fighting really wasn’t a big deal. If you never got into a fight as a kid, you were missing out on a real childhood.
"Sigh." Aunt Xu didn’t know what to say for a moment and could only watch her take the children back inside.
After getting home, Bai Jiu first applied medicine to Zhengyang’s wounds.
"So you do know what pain is." Zhengyang hissed as the medicine was applied, and Bai Jiu wickedly pressed down hard a couple of times. "Let’s see if you dare to fight again."
This boy’s temper was getting more and more impulsive.
"If he says it again, I’ll fight him again," Zhengyang disagreed with his mother. "Who told him to badmouth my dad?"
Bai Jiu was amused. "Oh? I didn’t know you and your dad were on such good terms. When did that start?" she teased.
Seeing the smile vanish from his mother’s face, Zhengyang became a little flustered. "Don’t be mad, Mom. In my heart, you’re the most amazing person. Even Grandma is afraid of you."
A child’s mind was very simple: whoever could defeat the demon in his heart was the most amazing. Dad was just Dad because he was his dad.
Listening to the little guy’s words, Bai Jiu laughed out of exasperation.
"Alright, stop being a smart aleck. Did you learn your lesson today?" This child was a bit too impulsive.
Zhengyang was very smart and knew what his mother was trying to say. "I know, but I’d still fight him." He didn’t think he was wrong.
"Sigh, you child." Why was his brain so much like her eldest brother’s?
"I didn’t say you shouldn’t defend your dad, but I want you to act according to your abilities. Just like today—what did you gain from fighting him?" Losers had no right to speak. She didn’t say the last sentence out loud.
Seeing her brother getting scolded, Xiuxiu felt quite sad, as she had also participated in today’s incident.
"Mom, don’t blame my brother. He was wrong to fight, but he wasn’t wrong to defend Dad." The little girl threw Bai Jiu’s words right back at her.
"I didn’t say your brother was wrong, I just want him to know the dangers of fighting someone bigger and stronger," Bai Jiu said, looking at her two children, wondering if they really understood the logic she was explaining. "Of course, we shouldn’t bully the weak, either. Sometimes, you have to use your brain to get things done." She tried to keep it simple.
However, the two children didn’t disappoint her; they understood. This also made Zhengyang realize from this moment on that there were many ways to win, and he didn’t necessarily have to get hurt. What Bai Jiu didn’t know was that a future Smiling Tiger was born right then and there.
Seeing that the two of them understood, Bai Jiu began to tidy things up. She also took some books out of her spatial dimension. The origin of these books was easy to explain—she would just say she had brought them back last time but hadn’t unpacked them yet. Anyway, there were still two large bags from last time that remained unopened.
It was already dark by the time Gao Zhijun returned. However, he didn’t come back alone; three people were following behind him.
Hearing the door open, Bai Jiu came out and saw Deng Meina and a man behind her husband, holding the hand of Lan Jing, the boy who had fought with Zhengyang earlier today.
Along the way, Gao Zhijun had heard the whole story. He was actually quite happy that his child had defended him. It wasn’t that he hadn’t felt the children’s rejection before; it had taken him a long time to get them to accept him as their father from the bottom of their hearts. Today’s incident proved that his position in their hearts was no weaker than their mother’s.
"Deng Meina, what brings you here?" At this time, almost everyone had finished dinner. Because of his work, Gao Zhijun always came back later than others.
"I brought my child over to apologize." Her son was already eight years old, yet he had fought with a four-year-old child and even injured him. She felt quite bad about it. Since they didn’t want compensation, she could only bring some gifts to their door herself, but she hadn’t known where they lived. She’d had to wait for her husband to come back. Fortunately, her husband knew Gao Zhijun.
"There’s no need to apologize. It’s just children playing around." Bai Jiu hadn’t expected her to come to their door. Besides, she had already apologized during the day.
"You can’t say that; after all, he did hurt someone." It was obvious that Deng Meina was apologizing sincerely.
"Let’s go inside first. It’s dark out." Regardless, visitors were guests, and she had to let them in first.
Inside, Zhengyang was waiting for his dad to come back for dinner. Seeing Lan Jing enter, he suddenly stood up from his stool, his whole body tense and on guard.
"What are you doing here?" The little guy was still young after all and couldn’t hold back.
Lan Jing glanced at Zhengyang, reluctance written on his face as well, but having been spanked when he got home, he didn’t dare rebel.
"I’m here to apologize to you. Are your injuries okay?" It was obvious that Lan Jing wasn’t happy about apologizing, but his concern for Zhengyang’s injuries was genuine.
"I’m fine. I don’t hurt." Zhengyang would never let anyone look down on him. His pretense of being strong was incredibly amusing.
"Alright, have a seat first. Standing around won’t do." Bai Jiu hurriedly invited the guests to sit down. "Have you all had dinner?" Her family always ate dinner a bit late, and she figured other families were probably the same, so she asked.