Chapter 36: Punishment
It was Man Bao’s first day of school and her parents were already being summoned. Even the ailing Mrs. Qian hurriedly came out from her room, being supported by Mrs. Xiao Qian to rush to the school building.
The Bai family also arrived quickly. Mr. Bai had been called about his son’s misdeeds at school frequently this year, aware his son was usually the instigator in fights. So he wasn’t in a rush when initially summoned.
However, upon hearing Bai Shanbao was also involved in fighting, he couldn’t sit still any longer. Bai Shanbao was different from his son – he was a precious treasure.
Mr. Bai didn’t dare delay, promptly notifying his sister-in-law and younger sister. So the entire Bai family came over in force.
The two families met at the school gate. One side in fine silks, the other in patched clothes, but the worried looks on their faces were the same.
Just by numbers, the two sides were evenly matched.
But neither had any interest in sizing the other up at the moment. Mrs. Qian and another elderly lady of similar age both hurried straight towards Mr. Zhuang’s residence.
Mrs. Xiao Qian, supporting Mrs. Qian, happened to meet the other’s daughter-in-law at the gate. Though anxious, Mrs. Qian still tugged her daughter-in-law to pause and let the other go first.
The other lady also hesitated, seeing Mrs. Qian’s courtesy, before ungraciously letting her daughter-in-law cross the threshold first, hastening inside.
In the courtyard, the four children stood in a row while an angry Mr. Zhuang sat silent on a chair.
Seeing their own children standing upright, occasionally still glaring at each other, the two families realized there was no major issue. Whether the first pair of mother and daughter-in-law or the second, they all let out relieved sighs.
Then ignoring their children’s yearning looks, they went together to apologize to Mr. Zhuang.
Their children fighting at school, even without knowing the reason, they felt ashamed.
Seeing they understood propriety, Mr. Zhuang’s expression eased slightly. Then pointing at the four kids he said, “Leaving aside Er Tou, the other three are my students. That they could come to blows outside of school means this old man’s teachings have not gone deep enough. I called you two families here today firstly to have you educate your children further, and secondly to inform you that going forward I will pay extra attention to these three. Regarding rewards and punishments, you parents should keep them in mind.”
Yesterday when Mr. Zhuang visited the Bai family, he had met Bai Shanbao. At that time, Mrs. Liu and her daughter-in-law had also met Mr. Zhuang and agreed to send Bai Shanbao to study at the school. So in the strict sense, Bai Shanbao was also Mr. Zhuang’s student.
Mrs. Liu glanced at the fair-skinned little girl beside her grandson, knowing she was Zhou Man, Mr. Zhuang’s disciple. Mr. Zhuang had visited the Bai family yesterday precisely for her enrollment.
Of course Mrs. Liu didn’t believe her grandson would fight with such a soft little girl, so she looked over at Bai Erlang and Er Tou before asking with a dip of her head, “Mr. Zhuang, may I ask what caused the children to come to blows?”
Mr. Zhuang had clearly already vented his anger, but bringing it up again still made him unable to contain his ire. Placing a rock on the stone table, he gravely said, “It was over this stone.”
Everyone stared wide-eyed at the rock, not seeing anything special about it – weren’t such stones strewn all over the roads?
Mr. Bai went after Bai Erlang first, slapping the back of his head as he angrily scolded, “I told you to study properly, what are you messing around with stones for? You fought with your cousin over a single rock?”
Bai Erlang cradled his head, retorting, “I didn’t fight him, I was helping him! I wouldn’t even look at such a smelly old rock, I have way better ones than that in my room!”
Mr. Bai then turned his glare to Er Tou – so this was the one who fought with Shanbao.
Seeing Er Tou was around the same age as Shanbao but surely stronger being a country boy, he couldn’t help worrying if Shanbao had truly been injured. His sister-in-law would likely cry endlessly over that.
Mrs. Liu felt a bit uneasy too, but with Mr. Zhuang present she couldn’t do anything. Her daughter-in-law Mrs. Zheng, however, couldn’t hold back, pulling Bai Shanbao over to feel him up and down before asking, “Shanbao, were you hurt anywhere?”
Standing off to the side, Man Bao made a face at him. Bai Shanbao had been about to cry, eyes already welling up with tears, but immediately stopped upon seeing her taunting look. He fiercely glared back, reassured by having his grandmother and mother’s support as he moved to push Man Bao.
But Mrs. Xiao Qian was quick, pulling Man Bao away and into her embrace as well.
So the adults of the two families were now face-to-face.
Off to the side, Er Tou felt terrified under Mr. Bai’s glare, rushing into his father’s arms crying “Dad, Dad, I didn’t hit him, he hit me first!”
Bai Shanbao turned to look over too, mimicking Man Bao by making a mocking face back at Er Tou, “Losing underling!”
He turned to tattle to his mother too, “Mom, it wasn’t him who hit me, it was her!”
Following his finger, everyone looked silently at Man Bao.
Mr. Zhuang supplemented, “Bai Shanbao hit Er Tou first, so Man Bao fought with Bai Shanbao. When Er Tou tried to help, Bai Erlang joined in fighting Er Tou. None of the four were uninvolved.”
Mr. Zhuang continued, “I think the children just have too much energy. Leaving Er Tou aside, you elders take the children home and educate them properly. Bai Erlang, you will write 20 large characters tonight. Bai Shanbao, Man Bao, you two will each write 10 large characters which I will inspect tomorrow.”
Bai Erlang protested, “Teacher, why do I have to write more than them?”
“Because you are older than them. Not only did you not dissuade them from fighting, you even fanned the flames from the sidelines and joined in. Tell me, do you not deserve punishment?”
“But it still shouldn’t be more than theirs.”
Mr. Zhuang said flatly, “Twenty-five large characters then.”
Mr. Bai just glared at his son, who could only shrink his neck and lower his head.
After learning it was Man Bao who fought with Bai Shanbao, Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Zheng felt embarrassed. Looking at Man Bao, clearly shorter and thinner than Shanbao and still just a girl, they gave awkward smiles before hugging Bai Shanbao without mentioning injuries again.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Xiao Qian discreetly felt over Man Bao, who seemed ticklish and giggled while squirming a bit.
Observing closely, both Mrs. Qian and Mrs. Xiao Qian breathed internal sighs of relief that the child didn’t seem injured.
The parents from both families accepted the punishments for their respective children. The Bai family elders even made Bai Erlang and Bai Shanbao apologize to Er Tou and Man Bao.
They had no choice – Bai Erlang was older than Er Tou, while Bai Shanbao was not only older but also a boy hitting a girl. The Bai family felt their children were the ones in the wrong.
Moreover, the fight had been over something as trivial as grabbing a rock.
But not just Bai Erlang, even Bai Shanbao stubbornly refused to bow his head, even huffing disdainfully at Man Bao a couple times.
Man Bao refused to back down either, glaring right back at him. With neither child looking like they would admit fault, and not wanting to look worse before Mr. Zhuang, the Bai family hurriedly gave apologetic smiles to the Qian family before dragging their children away.
They planned to make the children properly apologize later.
