Jiang Yuxin cried all the way home, pleading desperately, “Mom, I promise I’ll work hard. Please don’t cancel my basketball lessons. There’s a city-level basketball competition coming up soon, and I’ve been preparing for it for so long. Mom, this competition is really important. I’ve only ever participated in district-level ones before…”
Lu Jiaping wasn’t really listening to Jiang Yuxin’s words. Her mind was filled with what the homeroom teacher had said—Jiang Yuxin wouldn’t be able to continue as the head student leader anymore. The head student leader—there was only one in the entire school. Jiang Yuxin had held that position since third grade, and now she couldn’t keep it.
It must be because her grades had dropped.
Lu Jiaping said sternly, “Your homeroom teacher said that starting today, you have to read for half an hour every night. I bought you books. You can’t go to sleep until you finish reading them, understand?”
Jiang Yuxin asked, “If I listen to you, can you not cancel my basketball lessons?”
Lu Jiaping’s eyebrows shot up. “Jiang Yuxin, what’s wrong with you? Are you starting to bargain with me now? Hurry up, you still have English class tonight.”
Jiang Yuxin returned home with tears streaming down her face. She changed her shoes and kicked one of them, which hit the wall with a loud “thud.”
Lu Jiaping was completely furious. She put her hands on her hips and said, “Jiang Yuxin, are you trying to rebel?”
It was Friday, and there wasn’t much going on at the department. Jiang Cheng had come home early to pick up Jiang Yuchen and was currently accompanying him as he drew. Hearing the commotion, he looked up and frowned. “What’s going on? Why are you so angry? Why is Yuxin crying?”
“Ask your precious daughter!” Lu Jiaping threw her bag onto the table and stormed into the kitchen to start cooking.
Jiang Cheng pulled the sobbing Jiang Yuxin over. “Yuxin, be good, don’t cry. Tell Dad what happened.”
Jiang Yuxin sniffled and told her father that her mother had canceled her basketball lessons and wouldn’t let her continue with the basketball team.
“There’s a district competition next month, and after that, there’s a city-level competition. Coach Ji already signed me up for both, but now Mom won’t let me participate… Dad, I want to play basketball.”
Jiang Cheng gently stroked his daughter’s face, feeling both heartbroken and helpless. He told her to go inside and do her homework, then followed her into the kitchen, intending to discuss the matter with Lu Jiaping.
Lu Jiaping was making fish soup. While frying the fish, hot oil splattered onto the back of her hand. She quickly rinsed it under the faucet and frowned when she saw Jiang Cheng. “What are you standing there for? The kitchen is already small. Get out, get out.”
Jiang Cheng quickly took a step back, feeling a bit dazed as he watched her familiar movements. When they first got together, Lu Jiaping didn’t even know how much water to put in when cooking rice. Back then, she was still a young girl who loved to dress up.
“Jiaping, it’s just one exam. There’s really no need to cancel basketball. Yuxin has loved basketball since she was little. Before, to get your permission to play, she did so much research and put in so much effort to get to this point…”
Lu Jiaping added water to the pot until it covered the fish and then cut some tofu into it. She looked at Jiang Cheng impatiently. “Jiang Cheng, aren’t you tired of this? Don’t you know? Her grades have dropped, and the school won’t even let her be the head student leader anymore. If things continue like this, whether she’ll even be eligible for the ‘Three Good Student’ award this year is still a question!”
“Whether she’s the head student leader or not doesn’t matter, Jiaping…”
“What do you mean it doesn’t matter? Being a squad leader is an important point on the resume. Prestigious schools look at many things when deciding whether to admit a student. If she suddenly can’t be squad leader anymore, what will we say when interviewers ask? ‘My child’s grades have slipped, she’s not as good as before’? If you were the interviewer, would you pass her?”
Jiang Cheng felt his throat go dry as he tried to continue persuading: “But the basketball class…”
Lu Jiaping chopped vegetables while saying irritably: “Jiang Cheng, didn’t you say you’d leave the children’s education to me? If you’re not going to handle things, could you please stop bothering me? I’m cooking.”
They could talk about it later when there was time. Jiang Cheng wanted to help, but after watching for a while, there really wasn’t anything in the kitchen for him to do. Just then, the phone rang. Jiang Cheng answered it and stepped outside to take the call.
At that moment, Jiang Yuchen’s crying and Jiang Yuxin’s angry shouts came from the living room. Lu Jiaping hurried out.
“What’s going on? Why are you two making such a fuss? Yuxin, why are you grabbing your brother?”
Tears welled in Jiang Yuxin’s eyes as she held a piece of paper, shouting hoarsely: “He ruined my award certificate!”
Lu Jiaping wiped her hands and rushed out with a frown: “Yuxin, I told you to do your homework. Yuchen, what are you doing? How could you touch your sister’s award certificate? Do you know how hard it is to get one?”
She pushed past Jiang Cheng and walked over: “And you, why didn’t you put the certificate away properly? Your brother doesn’t know any better.”
“I always keep it in that drawer!” Jiang Yuxin trembled with anger, pointing to the drawer on the cabinet. “And out of so many, he specifically took this one.”
Jiang Yuchen cried even harder. Jiang Yuxin yelled angrily: “You’re still crying? How dare you cry after causing trouble!”
Lu Jiaping quickly picked up Jiang Yuchen and looked at Jiang Yuxin’s award certificate. It turned out to be from last year’s basketball competition—a team award, not an individual one. However, since it was a district-level competition, it carried some weight.
“It’s just a basketball competition, and this certificate isn’t designed very well—it’s too flashy. No wonder your brother didn’t take any others but specifically took this one. Alright, alright, Yuchen, stop crying. You were wrong to touch your sister’s certificate. You must never touch any of your sister’s award certificates again, understand?”
“I worked really hard in that game. I scored two three-pointers, and even the national basketball coach said I had potential. Without me, we wouldn’t have even gotten second place.”
Lu Jiaping paid no attention to Jiang Yuxin’s words. She walked over to the coffee table, took out a blank sheet of paper, and handed it to Jiang Yuchen: “Draw on this.”
After calming her younger son, Lu Jiaping felt overwhelmed. Everything had to be handled by her—Jiang Cheng couldn’t be relied on for anything, not even comforting a child. When she stood up, her vision went dark, and she had to lean on the coffee table for a while before recovering. She saw her daughter still holding the certificate, stubbornly standing in the living room.
Lu Jiaping frowned deeply: “What are you doing? Go do your homework. What’s there to look at? It’s just an award certificate, and a basketball one at that—what use is it? If you have time, you’d be better off reading or practicing your essays.”
“Oh no, it’s burnt! It’s all because of you two making a fuss.” Lu Jiaping smelled something burning and, ignoring the two in the living room, hurried back to the kitchen.
Jiang Yuxin stood with a dark expression, glaring hatefully at Jiang Yuchen. Jiang Yuchen’s emotions came and went quickly—she was already drawing on a fresh sheet of paper, with several earlier paintings placed beside her. Suddenly, Jiang Yuxin walked over, picked up a brush, and scribbled wildly all over Jiang Yuchen’s painting.
Jiang Yuchen was stunned, and then her cries echoed throughout the room.