Doing It Over Again

rector, we don’t have a problem with the school.
We’re just parents who love our child.
Who wants to see their child being wronged?” With that, he pulled a cigarette packet from his pocket, took out a cigarette, and handed it to the teaching director.
“Go on, please help yourself.”

The teaching director saw “Furongwang” printed on the cigarette box.
Although he didn’t like smoking, he knew the cigarettes weren’t cheap.
No wonder this man was so confident.
There were a lot of children from prosperous households enrolled in the experimental junior high.
The children of the director of the Bureau of Education himself went to this school, and they never put on such a show.
This man thought his own child was a treasure and everyone else’s child was trash.
Wasn’t he just bullying this kid because he was poor and didn’t have parents?

“Sorry, I don’t smoke.” The teaching director smoothed his expression and refused the branded cigarette.
“Mr.
Shen, this was originally just a small conflict between two children.
When we initially handled the problem, both students were present.
There was no favoritism.
After all, both children are exceptional students.
As teachers, we don’t want to find fault with either one of them, but when children make mistakes, we have to correct them.
This is our responsibility as teachers, don’t you agree?”

Shen FuDong opened his mouth, but before he could speak, the teaching director continued, “Education is never easy.
If we discipline a child, I’m afraid the parents will say we’re too strict.
But if we don’t take any action, I’m afraid the parents will say we haven’t done our jobs as teachers.
Fortunately, most parents are supportive of our work.
Well-educated parents like you have seen the world and understand how difficult things are for us.” Then he sighed.

Maybe Shen FuDong was happy to be praised by the teaching director’s words calling him “a well-educated parent who’s seen the world”.
Shen FuDong’s tone relaxed further.
In the end, he just asked his child and Shen Shao to come in and explain what happened.

The teaching director confirmed that Shen FuDong didn’t look like he was going to make more trouble, and then he asked a staff member to bring the students over.
After all, the parents had come all the way to the school.
If the teachers didn’t give them some kind of response, the parents wouldn’t be happy, and it wouldn’t be good for the school’s reputation.

Shen FuDong and Zhang ChunLan expected to see a boy in old clothes, covered in dirt.
When Shen Shao walked into the office they didn’t recognize him at first.

Shen Shao was wearing a simple plaid shirt and jeans.
He was tall, long-legged and well-groomed.
After he walked in, Shen FuDong thought he was a child from a good family.

When Shen Shao took the initiative to call him “Second Uncle Shen”, only then did Shen FuDong remember that he was the second oldest in the family, one generation older than Shen Shao.
It was perfectly natural for Shen Shao to call him Second Uncle Shen.

But after hearing this greeting, the teaching director was even more disdainful of Shen FuDong.
That fatherless, motherless boy had just called him “second uncle”.
Shouldn’t the man be worried that if he bullied the child like this, his mother would climb out of her grave to find him?

“Oh, Shen Shao ah.” Shen FuDong’s voice was a little strange.
After looking at Shen Shao for a while, he said, “I heard your eldest uncle mention you not long ago.
He said you haven’t been home for several days.
He’s very worried about you.”

Shen Shao seemed not to notice that Shen FuDong deliberately said this in front of the teaching director, implying that he was somehow running wild.
“The high school entrance exam is in a few months, so now I only go home once a month on break.
To study better I stay at home and read.”

“It’s good you study hard.” Shen FuDong was disappointed when Shen Shao didn’t fall into the hole he just dug.
He lamented that Shen Shao’s mother was so good to him and even remembered to give the child her hidden savings when she died.
The thought made him feel a little annoyed.
Seeing that his son was fidgeting and kept his head down the whole time, Shen FuDong decided things might not be what his child told him when they were home.
How did Shen Shao bully him? Maybe his son was the one who picked on someone else.

Zhang ChunLan still wanted to make trouble, but when she noticed her husband’s tone wasn’t right, she had to push down her dissatisfaction.
Why was it so hard for their family to clean up a kid who didn’t even have a mother?

At that point, the teaching director knew there was nothing more to say.
He called Shen ZhengYang and Shen Shao over, said a few words encouraging them to study hard, and let them go.

He saw from Shen FuDong’s and Zhang ChunLan’s faces that although they still wanted to complain, there was nothing else they could say.
He personally escorted them out with a smile.
As soon as they made it to the staircase outside, they saw Shen Shao fall down the steps to the ground floor.
Shen ZhengYang was standing above him.

This building was full of classrooms and offices.
Several teachers were outside on the landing to the second and third floors, talking.
When they saw what happened, they frowned.

The teaching director looked at Shen FuDong and Zhang ChunLan and said nothing.

As for Shen FuDong and Zhang ChunLan, they were beyond embarrassed.
Inside they were roaring, Son, no matter how much you dislike Shen Shao, you can’t do that here!

You dug a pit for your own parents.
What are we going to do with you?!

TL Notes:

gardeners like to gossip too – from 但是园丁也是有八卦权的 – “gardeners have the right to gossip too” which sounds weird given privacy laws etc.

puppy love – 早恋 – puppy love; fall in love at an early age – Refers to romantic relationships between kids under the age of 18, typically viewed with a negative light (Baidu) The bane of parents who worry that dating will distract their kids from schoolwork and the all-important college entrance exam.
It’s not uncommon for dating to be banned in junior and senior high school (by schools as well as parents) for this reason

a father but no mother – 有爹生没娘管 – This is an insult that means the person wasn’t raised right or taught to behave.
It can also be a self-deprecating remark.
In historical times, people believed the father “sows the seed” and the mother is the one who nurtures and raises the child.
If you don’t have a mother, you weren’t educated properly (Zhihu)

Furongwang – 芙蓉王 – One of the three high-end cigarette brands in China.
The cigarette packs have a picture of a gold-embossed hibiscus flower on the front (Baidu)

Transliterated names, places, and titles—new in this chapter:

Mr.
Mao – 毛老师 – Máo lǎoshī

Shen FuDong – 沈福冬

“”

Zhang ChunLan – 张春兰

Mr.
Shen – 沈先生 – Shěn xiānsheng

Second Uncle Shen – 沈二叔 – Shěn’èrshū