Half an hour later.
As the homeroom teacher, Teacher Wang naturally had to deal with the fight. She first checked Cai Kangkang and Cai Huanhuan, confirming that the bruises on their faces weren’t serious. However, there were two bloody scratches from fingernails, which looked rather painful. Then she looked at Li Dongle. Since he had fought two at once, his face was also injured. But because he had started the fight, his injuries didn’t earn sympathy. He still had to be criticized!
Teacher Wang sent Cai Kangkang and Cai Huanhuan back to class, then turned sternly to Li Dongle, who was left behind.
“You must write a self‑reflection essay, thoroughly examining your mistake in hitting others today. And tomorrow, you must bring your parents here!”
“My stepmom left, my dad hit me, none of them want me anymore!” Li Dongle shouted, his messy hair sticking up, his neck stiff. “I don’t have parents, I can’t bring anyone!”
Teacher Wang glared angrily, but there was little she could do with a six‑year‑old child. This matter could only be resolved by communicating with his guardians and urging them to properly educate him.
“For now, you’ll stand here as punishment. You can’t leave until school ends!”
As the bell rang for the last morning class, Teacher Wang got up to teach, but not before warning him again: “Don’t run around, don’t touch anything on the desks. Just stand here!”
Li Dongle pouted unhappily and leaned against the wall.
At noon dismissal, Cai Kangkang and Cai Huanhuan’s mother, Qin Xuemei, came to pick them up. Seeing the injuries on their faces, she immediately shouted angrily: “What happened?! Who hit you? Where’s the teacher? Does the teacher even know?”
Teacher Wang quickly brought Li Dongle forward and explained the situation to Qin Xuemei, then urged Li Dongle to apologize.
“I didn’t do anything wrong! They ate the chocolate my stepmom gave—that was mine! I didn’t even get a bite! They should pay me back!”
Qin Xuemei frowned at Li Dongle, struggling to suppress her anger so she wouldn’t slap him right there. She had occasionally heard her father‑in‑law mention Lin Jingwen, knowing how much she cared for this child.
Her own two children happened to sit near Li Dongle in class, and from them she had heard that Li Dongle called Lin Jingwen “stepmom.” She had assumed it was just childish teasing and hadn’t paid it much attention.
But yesterday she heard again from her father‑in‑law that Lin Jingwen’s husband had another woman outside, and Lin Jingwen wanted a divorce. She had already moved out and wasn’t caring for the child anymore.
At the time, Qin Xuemei thought Lin Jingwen was heartless—raising a child only to abandon him? Poor boy.
But now, hearing him call her “stepmom” so harshly, and seeing that he had actually hit her own children, she thought: what a spoiled brat, a troublemaker who deserved a beating!
So Qin Xuemei began to feel that a child like Li Dongle—who wasn’t even her biological son, and acted like an ungrateful little wolf—wasn’t worth caring about.
Most likely, it was because Lin Jingwen had doted on him too much, giving him all the best food, that he had developed such bad habits. He was simply unlikeable!
So Qin Xuemei angrily said to Li Dongle: “Your mom doesn’t want you anymore. From now on, you won’t get any good food. That chocolate wasn’t yours, and we don’t owe you anything!”
“Waaah… you’re lying! My grandma and my real mom both said my stepmom begged me to be her son, because she couldn’t have one of her own. She would never abandon me! As long as I cry, she has to buy me good food to coax me!”
Li Dongle shouted through his tears: “All of my stepmom’s things belong to me! You must give me back the chocolate!”
Teacher Wang and Qin Xuemei were both stunned by his words, their blood pressure shooting up in anger.
“Good heavens, Teacher Wang, did you hear that? This child has been taught by his grandma and mother to say such things—it’s outrageous! His stepmom—bah, his mother, Lin Jingwen—I know her. She really cared about him, otherwise, he wouldn’t be so…”
“Arrogant, reckless, unreasonable, and spoiled!” Teacher Wang said sternly, rattling off several idioms in a row.
“Yes, yes, exactly! No wonder you’re the Chinese teacher.” Qin Xuemei paused, then gave Teacher Wang a thumbs‑up.
“Well, this brat isn’t ours to discipline. I’ll just take my kids home now. Teacher, please keep a closer eye on him. It would be best if his father came in to properly educate him.”
Teacher Wang nodded, her face still stern, staring at Li Dongle for a long moment before finally saying, “Go home first. Don’t come back this afternoon. I’ll visit your house tonight.”
Teacher Wang felt that Li Dongle’s family problems were very serious. The child had no sense of gratitude at all. If his mother heard what he had just said, how heartbroken would she be?
No wonder she had moved out and wanted a divorce.
“You rotten kid, what trouble did you cause at school again? Why does the teacher have to come to our house?” Zhang Lanxiang jabbed her finger at Li Dongle’s forehead and scolded him as soon as she heard what had happened.
Li Dongle pursed his lips and stayed silent.
“Grandma, I know. He hit Cai Kangkang and Cai Huanhuan, saying they ate his chocolate.”
It was Li Chunqing who spoke up.
Li Chunqing was Huang Juan’s third daughter. By blood relation, she was Li Dongle’s older sister. She was eight years old, had started school a year late, and was now in second grade.
The first and second grade classrooms were close together, and the fight had caused quite a stir. Naturally, Li Chunqing had heard about it and repeated the story with confidence.
“What chocolate? When did our family ever have chocolate?” Zhang Lanxiang asked in confusion.
“Third Aunt had some—really expensive chocolate. They said Third Aunt gave it to Cai Kangkang, and Li Dongle got upset, hit them, and demanded they pay him back.”
As Li Chunqing explained, she swallowed hard. She really wanted to know what chocolate tasted like, so she couldn’t help but ask. “Grandma, when will Third Aunt come home? Her cooking is delicious, and she buys candy and chocolate. I miss her.”
Although Third Aunt gave most of the treats to Li Dongle, she occasionally shared some candy with Li Chunqing too.
Sometimes, watching how much Third Aunt doted on her younger brother, Li Chunqing wondered why she couldn’t have been born a boy. Then she could have been Third Aunt’s “son.” If she were Third Aunt’s child, she would behave well, never make her angry, and never drive her away.
Li Dongle was simply too disobedient. He didn’t realize how good Third Aunt was to him.
Hearing her granddaughter’s words, Zhang Lanxiang immediately furrowed her brows, her anger flaring again. That wasteful woman—buying chocolate! And not even giving it to her own family, but to outsiders instead! Oh, it infuriated her!
When the third daughter‑in‑law came back, she would definitely teach her a harsh lesson. No—she would slap her several times to make her completely obedient, so she wouldn’t dare act out again!
“Grandma, when will my stepmom come back?” Li Dongle asked too.
“She’ll be back tonight! Your father went to fetch her, and he’ll surely bring her back!” Zhang Lanxiang replied.
“From now on, you’re not allowed to call her ‘stepmom.’ Call her ‘mom.’ If I hear you say ‘stepmom’ again, I’ll beat your backside raw!”
Li Dongle pouted but reluctantly agreed.
That evening, Li Anping returned home.
“Anping, where’s your wife? Didn’t she come back with you? Is she working the evening shift?” Zhang Lanxiang immediately asked when she saw him.
“Shouldn’t you go pick her up? That way it looks better, gives her some face, and makes it easier for her to come back,” Gao Qin quickly added.
These past few days had been miserable—she missed her sister‑in‑law Lin Jingwen terribly.
“Enough already. Does she think she’s still a newlywed bride?” Huang Juan muttered, rolling her eyes.
“You keep quiet,” Li Jianguo snapped at her, frowning.
Being shouted at by her husband, Huang Juan swallowed her anger. But smelling the alcohol on him, she didn’t dare shout back.
When Li Jianguo drank, he was prone to violence. Huang Juan feared he might lash out and kick her if she provoked him further.
Li Anping looked around at the family, noticing their eager eyes, all hoping for Lin Jingwen’s return. He exhaled gloomily, then stiffly said, “She said she needs a bit more time to cool off. She’ll come back on her own in a couple of days.”