Chapter 186: Chapter 186: If the upper beam is not straight, the lower one will go aslant

On the way home, the triplets insisted on being held by their parents, and Lu Xiaoting simply scooped up each chubby son in one arm.

Susu looked at the small arms of her little girl, segmented like lotus root nodes, then glanced down at her own slender arms.

“Lele, would you like a piggyback ride from Mom?”

“Uh huh, Mommy piggyback.”

“My eldest, come along, don’t get lost,” Susu said with a laugh as she carried her chubby little girl on her back.

“Okay, I know, Mom.”

Watching their parents, either carrying or giving piggyback rides to his younger siblings, Tianyu’s mouth curled into a big smile as he followed beside his mom, taking notice of his sister’s mischievous little face.

Being utterly charmed by Xiao Lele, “My sister is really pretty.”

“Big brother, what about An’an?” An’an stretched out his hand hastily, trying to grab his brother.

Pingping too was blinking his big eyes, staring at his big brother eagerly, “Brother, there’s Pingping too.”

Tianyu laughed as he gently touched his two brothers’ skinny arms, “Pingping and An’an are also good-looking.”

“Giggle.”

…

As soon as the siblings touched down, they rushed toward the house one after another.

Tianyu followed anxiously, still shouting, “Slow down, watch your step, don’t trip.”

Susu walked arm in arm with her husband, smilingly watching the four children run into the courtyard, “Our Tianyu is like a little steward, always following his brothers and sister, afraid that the triplets will get knocked or bumped.”

A smile also spread across Lu Xiaoting’s usually stern face, his eyes softened with a smile, “Yeah.”

That day, like usual, Susu went to pick up her son at the usual time. She waited left and right until nearly all the students had trickled out before he finally arrived.

“What happened, Tianyu? Who did you fight with? How did your face get so bruised?” Susu gasped as she saw her son’s face covered in shades of blue and purple.

“Mom, I’m sorry.”

Susu looked down at her eldest son, who didn’t dare to look up at her, feeling both distressed and helpless, and said with a frown, “Get in the car, Mom will take you to the hospital for treatment right away.”

Susu pedaled the bicycle so hard it seemed as if sparks would fly off the wheels, speeding all the way to the nearest hospital for emergency care.

“Doctor, how is my son’s injury? Is it serious?”

The doctor, a middle-aged woman, checked him over while chiding, “You young kid, why are you fighting at such a young age? If you had knocked your head, it could have been a serious matter. Look how worried you’ve made your mother.”

“Doctor, how is my child, is it serious?” Susu quickly diverted the female doctor’s attention away from her increasingly downtrodden-looking son.

“It’s nothing serious, I’ll prescribe some medicine for you, just apply it daily.”

After leaving the hospital, neither mother nor son spoke on the way home.

“Sorry, Mom, I shouldn’t have made you worry.”

As the bicycle stopped at their house, Susu turned back when she heard her son’s voice, her eldest son fidgeting with his fingers, looking like a child who had done something wrong.

Susu patiently asked her son, “Can Tianyu tell Mom what happened? I know our Tianyu isn’t someone who causes trouble without reason; there must have been a reason.”

Tianyu clenched his fists tightly, “It was because Zhang Chunbao was bullying my deskmate, Wang Xiaowei, just because Wang Xiaowei’s family is poor, and his grandparents pick up recyclables. I couldn’t stand it, and I spoke up. I hadn’t intended to fight, but Zhang Chunbao kept on picking on him, and then it turned physical. Teacher Li said parents need to come in during the last class tomorrow.”

Tianyu looking at his mother, lowered his head again, “Mom, I’m sorry for embarrassing you.”

“How could you, don’t think like that,” Susu lifted her son’s face with a smile and said earnestly, word for word.

“Mum doesn’t think you did anything wrong, you were right to stand up for your classmate. The only mistake you made was that you shouldn’t have acted recklessly without being sure of the situation.

Mum hopes that when you’re being brave for justice, you make sure to prioritize your safety, otherwise not just your parents, our whole family will be worried.”

The guilt and unease in the boy’s eyes slowly disappeared, and he nodded earnestly with bright eyes, “Mhm, Mum, I understand.”

Susu patted her son, “When you’ve healed from your injuries, you’ll get up early and exercise with your dad every day.”

“Okay, Mum.”

Sure enough, as soon as the mother and son got home, everyone in the household, young and old, was startled and immediately surrounded them, each asking questions.

“What happened to Tianyu? How did he get injured?”

“Was Tianyu bullied? Or did he get into a fight?”

“Brother, does it hurt?”

…

After Susu explained what had happened, Father Lu and Mrs. Lu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Come, Tianyu, let Mum apply the medicine for you.”

“Hu~ Brother, it won’t hurt.”

“Hu~ Hu~”

“Hu~ Hu~”

The triplets, with scrunched up little faces, huddled next to their eldest brother, blowing on his wounds.

Susu couldn’t help but laugh and cry, “You three be careful not to drool over your brother’s wounds.”

No sooner had she spoken, than Tianyu felt a sudden coolness on his face—ah… the drool of his little brothers and sisters.

As soon as Lu Xiaoting arrived home, he saw the injury on his eldest son’s face and frowned, “Wife, what time did the teacher say to come tomorrow? I’ll go too.”

“The last period, arriving around eleven o’clock should be fine.”

“Mhm, I got it.”

Lu Xiaoting nodded, then turned to his eldest son and said, “Tianyu, from the day after tomorrow, you’ll start getting up half an hour early in the morning and exercise with Dad.”

“Mhm, I understand, Dad.”

The next day

Susu watched the time and arrived at the elementary school by eleven. From a distance, she could hear a commotion, and upon reaching the office, she saw several adults swearing at her son.

Her face immediately fell, and she quickly pulled her son behind her, “If you have a problem, take it up with me, the parent. What kind of people bully a child?”

“Well, well, looks like you’re that brat’s mother. I’m gonna beat you senseless,” the woman with the smoky eyes practically poked her finger into Susu’s face.

“Look at what you did to my son. Our family only has this one precious grandson. You’d better kneel down and apologize to my grandson and then compensate us with money.”

Susu disdainfully looked over the family, who had their heads like pigs, “Heh, so the beam above is not straight and the beam below is crooked, huh? I was just wondering which child had such poor manners, bullying classmates willy-nilly.

Now that I see the parents, it makes sense. With such an unreasonable and obstinate family like this, it’s no wonder the child is useless.”

“What did you say, you cheap hussy? One look at you, barely over twenty, and your son is already this big. You must be some restless thing, getting pregnant while still so young.”

Susu, suddenly complimented on her youth, “…”

“Cheap hussy, I’m going to rip you apart.”

Teacher Li quickly stepped between them to mediate, “Parent Zhang Chunbao, let’s calm down. We can talk this over, please don’t resort to violence.”

Susu scoffed, “Teacher Li, don’t stop me. I really want to see what these cowards plan to do. If they dare to touch a hair on my head, I’ll make sure they end up in jail.”

“Pah~ Son, beat this cheap hussy to death.”