At this moment, it was already close to ten o’clock.
Logically speaking, this should have been class time.
But reality was different.
In 1968, it was a special period.
During this time, schools focused less on classroom knowledge and placed a heavy emphasis on physical labor.
Right now, for example, the school’s original flowerbeds had been turned into farmland, mostly planted with fruits and vegetables.
Instead of sitting in classrooms studying, the children were either weeding, catching insects, or carrying water to irrigate the fields.
How did Su Qinghe see all this so clearly?
Because the school’s mud wall only reached about her chest.
Standing by the wall, she had a full view of everything inside the campus.
Subconsciously, Su Qinghe began searching for Qin Wang.
Not because she cared about him—but because she was wondering why the system hadn’t issued the daily task yet.
Without tasks, how was she supposed to earn cultivation points?
【Daily Task 1: Say to the male lead—“Why don’t you hit others, only you get hit?” Reward: 100 cultivation points upon completion.】
Upon hearing the system’s voice, Su Qinghe’s first reaction was: speak of the devil and he appears!
But immediately after, she realized what the task actually was.
Why don’t they hit others, only you?
Is that even human language?
Even if a biological parent said something like that, a child would resent it for life.
If she, as the so-called stepmother, said this to Qin Wang, he’d probably curse her in his heart forever.
As expected, her earlier instincts were right.
This so-called “male lead nurturing system” was definitely not a good system.
The male lead it wanted to “raise” probably wasn’t a normal male lead at all.
Su Qinghe complained fiercely about the system in her mind.
But while complaining, her eyes kept scanning quickly.
Where exactly was that unlucky Qin Wang now—getting beaten in some corner?
She looked around but still didn’t see him. She moved along the wall.
Just as she turned the corner, she saw six boys between a cucumber trellis and the wall, beating Qin Wang.
The six of them had him pressed tightly against the corner, surrounding him completely.
The leader was a chubby boy with a face full of flesh, his eyes squinting into slits.
For a child in this era to already be this overweight, his family must be quite well-off.
The chubby boy grabbed Qin Wang’s collar with one hand, raising his fist with the other, and said fiercely:
“You little bastard, hand over your money and coupons right now!”
Qin Wang stared at him coldly. “No!”
“I’ll beat you to death!”
Just as the fist was about to land on Qin Wang’s face, Su Qinghe shouted loudly:
“Hey! What are you doing!”
The kids were short and hadn’t noticed anyone outside the wall.
Startled by the voice, they all looked up.
Seeing Su Qinghe, the chubby boy showed no fear.
“Who are you? How dare you interfere in my business!”
Su Qinghe: “???”
Are all the kids in this book this obnoxious?
Why does everyone talk like they’re asking to be beaten?
She let out a cold laugh. “I’m Qin Wang’s stepmother! Let go of my Qin Wang right now!”
The chubby boy was shocked. “Qin Wang, you actually have a stepmother?”
Then he burst out laughing.
“So you little bastard are going to live under a stepmother now!”
“With a stepmother comes a stepfather—your dad isn’t even your real dad. Qin Wang, you’re in big trouble now!”
“Serves you right! A little bastard like you should live under others, with no food and no school!”
The chubby boy’s words were vicious, completely unlike what you’d expect from a child.
Every sentence stabbed directly into Qin Wang’s heart.
Su Qinghe looked at the chubby boy with sympathy.
In novels, kids like him usually end up getting dealt with very badly by the male lead later on.
Very badly.
Before she could say anything, the teacher was already drawn over by the commotion.
The teacher looked at them, then at Su Qinghe standing outside the wall.
“What’s going on?”
Su Qinghe gave the teacher a cold, humorless smile.
“Teacher, this chubby student and a few others were bullying my Qin Wang. What are you going to do about it?”
The teacher looked Su Qinghe up and down. “Your Qin Wang? What is your relationship with him?”
Didn’t Qin Wang only have a foster father?
“I’m his stepmother,” Su Qinghe said. “Let’s go to your office and talk. I’ll come into the school right now.”
Without waiting for a response, she walked toward the school gate.
The teacher had no choice but to follow.
After all, several students bullying one child—and being seen by his stepmother—meant this couldn’t be easily resolved.
Two minutes later, they were all in the office.
The teacher looked at the chubby boy. “Wang Kuan, tell me. Did you lead the others in bullying Qin Wang just now?”
Wang Kuan looked very obedient and innocent.
“No, teacher. We didn’t bully Qin Wang.”
The other boys, clearly his followers, quickly nodded. “Yes teacher! We didn’t bully him!”
The teacher looked troubled and turned to Su Qinghe. “Comrade, you see… all the students are saying they didn’t bully him!”
Su Qinghe was speechless.
“Teacher, why don’t you ask Qin Wang instead?”
The teacher felt awkward and quickly turned to Qin Wang.
“Qin Wang, tell me what happened just now. Did Wang Kuan and the others bully you?”
Qin Wang lowered his head and said nothing.
Su Qinghe felt a surge of anger.
Wasn’t he supposed to be a so-called school bully who terrorized classmates and neighbors?
Why was the boy in front of her just a helpless little victim?
“Qin Wang!”
She called out sharply.
“Why are you keeping your head down?”
“Do you know why they only hit you and not others?”
Qin Wang lifted his head. When he looked at her, his eyes were slightly moist.
Su Qinghe inwardly cursed.
Those words really were too hurtful.
But she had no choice—the system’s task had to be completed.
【Daily task 1 completed. Reward: 100 cultivation points.】
Seeing her balance jump from 3 to 103, she finally felt relieved.
Now she could go all out.
She looked at Qin Wang, exasperated.
“It’s because you’re easy to bully! If you don’t say anything when you get hit, who else would they hit?”
“What did I teach you yesterday? If someone dares to bully you, bite them! Kick them! And if you can’t win, come find me! You didn’t listen to a single word!”
The teacher beside her was completely stunned.
“Comrade! How can you teach a child like that?”
Su Qinghe let out a cold laugh.
“How can I not teach him like that? Even a teacher who’s blind, deaf, and biased can still be a teacher, so why can’t I teach a child like this?”
“If I don’t teach him how to protect himself, should I just wait for him to be beaten to death?”