Electronic Nezha

Chapter 95 Soft Persimmon

I'm speechless. I worked so hard all night and now I'm the parent who's been through so much trouble?

When we took the elevator downstairs, Liu Zhenhua and I both looked like we belonged to the old society.

Especially me; Liu Zhenhua even argued with me a couple of times, but I was just a doormat the whole time. In my mind, Cui Haoxiang's parents were either reasonable and would laugh it off after figuring out what happened, or they were just being unreasonable and would even call the police if necessary, since Liu Zhenhua wasn't involved anyway.

But after they finished their rant, they put up a truce, making it seem like I was there to apologize and that they wouldn't hold it against us.

So arguing is a skill. People who are unreasonable and make trouble won't feel good even if they win, because they think it's their due. But honest people will feel especially angry if they lose an argument when they are in the right, just like I am now.

brush--

The elevator reaches the first floor.

Liu Zhenhua stormed out in a huff.

"Liu Zhenhua, come back here right now."

"What is it now?" Liu Zhenhua reluctantly stepped into the elevator.

I pressed the button for Cui Haoxiang's floor again.

"Dad, what's wrong?"

I didn't speak.

When the elevator arrived, I immediately saw the bicycle seat on the shoe cabinet. I gently knocked on Cui Haoxiang's door.

Cui Haoxiang's father opened the door, and was a little surprised to see me again. He said, "Did you remember that you haven't formally apologized yet?"

"You didn't even say thank you, did you?" I picked up the car seat and waved it at him. "This is something my son and I found outside, so I took it. Now I'm putting it back where it was. If you want to go find it yourself!"

“You—” Cui’s father was bewildered by my actions.

I said, "As for my son playing with your son's car seat, I'll go back and give him a better talking to, and he'll be more careful next time." You have to be a good parent, right? I don't believe Cui Haoxiang's parents still haven't figured out what's going on. Someone else's child hid their son's car seat, and I went out of my way to bring it to them. Even though it wasn't out of charity, this really has nothing to do with Liu Zhenhua.

If bear parents are all together, then let's compare bear-like traits, like the dog's name.

Aunt Cui shouted, "This is burglary!"

"Then call the police, Liu Zhenhua, let's go."

The elevator went down again...

The scene was not quite what I had expected. I was thinking of quickly ending the fight and leaving the other side with only a cold back view. Now, it was five people facing off in the hallway. Cui Haoxiang squeezed between his parents, sticking his head out to look at me and Liu Zhenhua.

"I'll fucking—" Cui Haoxiang's father made several gestures as if he was about to rush home to get a kitchen knife, twisting his body but keeping his feet firmly on the ground, resembling the third senior brother in "Shaolin Soccer" making a feint.

Silence, an unbearable silence...

The elevator finally came up again.

Cui Haoxiang's mother finally said, "My son has to ride four kilometers to school tomorrow. What is he supposed to do without a seat?"

"Let's try an enamel basin or a cutting board." We entered the elevator, and Cui Haoxiang's father was too busy making fake movements to follow us.

We didn't say a word on the way out of the neighborhood. Before getting in the car, I threw the car seat on the back and finally couldn't help but ask, "What's so interesting about this kind of commotion?"

The father and son suffered so much humiliation because of the phrase "watching the show." At first, I didn't know how much he actually participated in what he called "watching the show," or whether he was downplaying the issue or afraid of making things worse, until I saw Cui Haoxiang's family.

The main thing is that I'm a little disappointed. If he were an ordinary kid, even if he really did remove the car seat, I wouldn't have reacted so strongly. You're supposed to be the future savior of humanity, and you can watch your classmate fooling around for 20 minutes? I'm really worried for humanity...

Liu Zhenhua pursed his lips, glanced at the back seat, and said, "Dad, your image has been reaffirmed in my heart!"

"And your image in my heart has plummeted!" This perfectly describes my feelings that night.

Once in the car, the atmosphere was still a bit awkward. Xiao Wu couldn't stand it anymore and changed the subject, asking, "Brother, what delicious food did you bring in the car?"

"Meat pie, would you like a bite?"

"Hehe, although I have all kinds of mouths, it's a pity I can't get a single bite."

Liu Zhenhua's stomach rumbled. Usually, by this time, his food would be mostly digested, but today he hadn't eaten anything.

Liu Zhenhua couldn't resist rummaging through the bag containing the meat patties. The meat had cooled down and had been sitting in the bag for a while, giving off a pungent aroma.

"Don't eat it!" I said. "Eating cold meat pies on an empty stomach will give you diarrhea tomorrow." Liu Zhenhua was initially tempted, but after hearing the last two words, he put the meat pie back.

After this interruption, the atmosphere eased somewhat, and I finally thought about addressing the matter with their classmates. I said, "You guys usually joke around, but you just take the car seat off and then don't care?" No matter what, it's still wrong for Cui Haoxiang to bend over and go home. Their classmates went too far.

Liu Zhenhua said, "They usually return the toys after playing with them for a while, but Zhang Jingxuan did it on purpose today."

"why?"

"Cui Haoxiang also dismantled Zhang Jingxuan's car seat. Zhang Jingxuan is very petty and is used to being arrogant because he is the top student in the grade. He can only joke with others. If others joke with him, he will tell the teacher or ask Zhao Hanyu to 'avenge' him."

What's going on with Zhao Hanyu?

“He is Zhang Jingxuan’s ‘henchman’. His family is not short of money. Sometimes Zhang Jingxuan will help him cheat on quizzes and the like.”

"Is it the classmate you mentioned who gets a hundred yuan for every point he earns?"

"Yes, Cui Haoxiang also wanted Zhang Jingxuan to let him copy the test paper, but he didn't have much money, so Zhang Jingxuan naturally ignored him."

I never imagined that junior high school students could have such complex social structures. Liu Zhenhua had never told me this before; I thought everything was peaceful and serene.

"So today, Zhang Jingxuan deliberately retaliated against Cui Haoxiang?"

"Yeah, I didn't expect them to be so rude. I bought a fried chicken leg after school, but it was too hot, so I waited a while. Who knew someone would hand me a car seat..." See, it's because he had too much pocket money.

What's the deal with milk tea?

"I bought that cup myself!" Liu Zhenhua exclaimed excitedly. "If you don't believe me, I'll go home and check the security footage for you. The milk tea that Zhao Hanyu was 'recruiting' and the one I drank weren't from the same store!"

"I believe you." I finally felt a little better. It's not exactly a praiseworthy quality that the savior loves to watch the drama unfold. It would be terrifying if he could be bought off with a cup of milk tea.

"Um..." I said, "You can spend your allowance as you like, but there's no need for milk tea at noon and chicken legs in the afternoon. Your BMI from the physical education exam will be included in your high school entrance exam score." A father can always find a way to lecture!

"It's okay, I can still get into the top high school even though I'm overweight. Besides, they'll assess my calorie intake..."

"Nobody knows more about BMI than you, right?"

"Dad, let's just let this go."

Before going home, we kept our promise and put the car seat back in the stairwell. After entering the house, I threw the meat patty into the refrigerator, asked Yuan Yuan to cook some vegetables, and even asked her to make sweet and sour pork. I felt that we needed some sweet treats to bring us some comfort.

After dinner, Liu Zhenhua sat down at his desk with his tablet, while I leaned against his bed. It felt like we were back to the old days, before he was, or rather, before I knew he was "Electronic Nezha".

Then it dawned on me that he was holding a tablet again, even though he had just had "surgery"!

"Playing again?"

"I didn't play." Even the conversation was the same as before.

Liu Zhenhua showed me his tablet and said, "You know what? Cui Haoxiang's dad sent a WeChat message to Zhang Jingxuan's dad first. Guess what Zhang Jingxuan's dad said?"

"what?"

“My son is first in his grade, how could I have time to take apart your son’s car seat?” That’s what he said.

I sighed. No wonder Cui Haoxiang's father reacted so strongly when he talked about Zhang Jingxuan. It turns out he had also been bullied elsewhere. It seems that Cui Haoxiang is not unaware of who is targeting him. It's just that among these children, Zhang Jingxuan is the teacher's favorite, and Zhao Hanyu's family is rich and powerful, so in the end, they can only pick on the weak.

It's really frustrating. So even though they knew you weren't the mastermind, they still came after you. Liu Zhenhua suffered this undeserved misfortune just because the school is close to home and he knows almost all the "secret locations." If you had just asked me to do you a favor and brought the child's car seat over, would I have refused?
Liu Zhenhua stared at the tablet, indignantly saying, "You think I'm easy to bully, huh?!"

I asked suspiciously, "What do you want to do?"

“Cui Haoxiang’s dad is having an affair at work, and his mom got scammed by a pyramid scheme. She bought 38,000 yuan worth of cheap face masks that she can’t sell, but neither of them knows the other’s secret. I’m thinking of letting them ‘get to know’ each other!” Liu Zhenhua said through gritted teeth. “I want them to know that I don’t ‘bully’ someone by taking off their car seat!”

"Put it down," I said, standing up.

"Dad, this is mainly to avenge you!"

"Your dad isn't dead yet!"

"But I can't stand it!" Liu Zhenhua's finger hovered over the tablet, like a executioner's dagger; if it fell, Cui Haoxiang's family would never have peace again.

"Then think about Cui Haoxiang, that little fat boy is pitiful enough." The little fat boy's behavior is indeed not good. He is unreasonable, cannot distinguish right from wrong, and has no sense of responsibility. This is largely due to his bizarre parents. He doesn't know how many detours he will take in the future because of such a family. A bad parent creates a bad child. Let's go back to that saying.

Liu Zhenhua thought about it for a moment, then slowly lowered his hand and said, "Let's give him a chance since he rode four kilometers with his butt sticking out." He said listlessly, "Dad, you're right, milk tea is really not worth drinking."

(End of this chapter)