Chapter 1529: Zihan is First in the Whole School

It was Teacher Tian who called to tell her personally.

Teacher Tian's excitement was no less than Sheng Zihan's.

Zihan was excited because it was his first time getting first place; Teacher Tian was excited because it was the first time in her career that the school's top-ranked student had come from her class, and this student was originally supposed to go to Teacher Luo's class.

Because of Teacher Luo, her Experimental Class was no longer the only Experimental Class in the school, and it had even become Experimental Class B.

A scholar can be killed, but not humiliated.

……

Zihan had been vindicated and was waiting for his mother's praise, but his mother asked Zirui instead: "Did you go easy on him? Otherwise, how could he have gotten first place?"

Sheng Zihan: ……

He was so angry at his own mother he nearly exploded on the spot.

"Are you my real mother? How can you say that? It's too much!" The damage was minimal, but the humiliation was extreme.

Shi Youxuan argued with justification: "Your school is the best high school in the country, and your class is the best Experimental Class in the school. How could there be any poor students among your classmates?"

"You couldn't get first place before when the environment wasn't as good. Now that there are so many competitors around you, what's wrong with me asking how you got first place?"

Zihan became even angrier: "You know it, you know I'm surrounded by experts? With so many students who are good at studying, even if Zirui went easy on me alone, it wouldn't be enough. If there was going to be 'going easy,' the whole class could have done it."

"How much ability do I have to convince the whole class, or even the whole school, to go easy on me?"

The sharp-tongued Shi Youxuan admitted defeat in front of her son for the first time.

She smiled and conceded: "Fine, Mom admits that you getting first place is your true ability, okay? I said that just now because I was afraid you'd get arrogant."

"I'm not arrogant, but you have to give me a reward."

"Alright, how about this: what do you want to eat? I'll cook it for you myself."

Sheng Zihan: ……

Zirui snickered.

Mother cooking in person—is that a reward?

It's more like a punishment.

Zihan refused: "Forget about you cooking yourself. I don't want that reward. I'll ask Dad for a reward when he gets back."

……

Shi Yuan got into a fight with another child at kindergarten.

When Shi Youxuan received the teacher's call, her first reaction was that the teacher had gotten the wrong name!

It was impossible for these two children in her family to fight.

Yueyue was outgoing and hit it off with the other children on her first day of kindergarten; she had excellent relationships there, and it was no exaggeration to describe her as being like a fish in water.

Shi Yuan was very honest; he wouldn't take the initiative to provoke anyone, and with Yueyue around, no one would bully him either.

How could someone with that personality get into a fight?

And he was the one who started it?

But the teacher said she hadn't made a mistake; it was indeed Shi Yuan who fought with another child, and it was all because of Yueyue.

Shi Youxuan rushed to the kindergarten and quickly figured out the sequence of events.

The reason for the fight was simple: the children were playing house, and a boy in the small class liked Yueyue and wanted her to be his bride. Yueyue agreed, but Shi Yuan did not.

Shi Yuan also wanted Yueyue to be his bride, so the two of them started fighting!

It is very common for children to have conflicts and get into fights.

But Shi Yuan was too heavy-handed; he pushed the boy, and the child's forehead hit the corner of a table, breaking the skin and bleeding quite a bit.

The child had been sent to the hospital, and the other parents were relentless, insisting on an explanation.

Shi Youxuan went to the hospital to pay the medical bills, bought a lot of nutritional supplements, and proactively offered a generous amount of compensation.

The other parents were not unreasonable people, and seeing her good attitude, they let it go.

Shi Youxuan took Shi Yuan home and said to him: "Hitting people is wrong, do you know that?"

Shi Yuan also knew he had caused trouble; he lowered his head, not daring to look at his grandmother, and whispered: "Mm, I know."

"Do you know you were wrong?"

"I know I was wrong."

"Where were you wrong?"

This was Shi Youxuan's classic line of questioning; she didn't just want the children to know they had made a mistake, but also to know exactly where they went wrong.

"Wrong, wrong in that, I shouldn't have fought with the other child."

She held Shi Yuan's hand and told him: "Yueyue is your little aunt, she is an elder. You are relatives, so she cannot be your bride, that's why you were wrong to fight."

"You can't fight over a bride, but if someone bullies Yueyue, you can fight!"

Sheng Hanyu: ……

Is that really how you teach a child?

But Shi Yuan nodded, indicating he understood.

"Alright, go play."

Shi Yuan was let off easily, and Sheng Hanyu felt curious.

He asked his wife: "Why were you so strict with Zirui, even sending Qi Shishi to A Country to study just to keep them from playing together, but you just brushed it off with a casual remark for Shi Yuan?"

Shi Youxuan replied: "They are different."

"Zirui and the others are older, their own thoughts have already formed, and they are right at the age where adolescent feelings are budding. If you don't stop it at this time, it's easy for problems to arise."

"But Shi Yuan and Yueyue are still small children, like a blank sheet of paper. Whatever you teach them, that's what they become. If you tell them now that they are relatives, they will always be relatives in the future and won't have any other ideas."

Sheng Hanyu gave his wife a thumbs up: "You really have a way with things, impressive."

Shi Youxuan's way of educating children was different from most people's, but it was very effective; all the children were well-raised by her, so her husband was very reassured.

However, when the eldest daughter arrived, her husband's attitude toward Shi Ran was not as good as it had been before.

Weekend.

Shi Ran went to her maiden home to see her son.

"Yuanyuan, Yuanyuan, come to Mommy."

"Hmph!" Sheng Hanyu scoffed.

"Dad, what's the situation with you? What are you huffing about?"

"I'm huffing because you're thick-skinned; even though he's your son, you don't take care of anything, you just come by once a week to take a look, play with him for a bit, and then leave—you haven't fulfilled your responsibilities as a mother at all."

"I'm busy, aren't I?"

"Being busy is no excuse for shirking your responsibilities; you want to have your cake and eat it too, as if everything should belong to you."

"Then what do you suggest I do?"

"You are not allowed to work overtime from now on; surely you can come by to take a look every day, right? On Saturdays and Sundays, take the child back with you to spend time playing with him. Only by growing up in a normal family environment will a child have a healthy mindset. If you want what's best for him, you have to make some sacrifices."

"You can't just say you want what's best for him and expect that to mean you're actually doing what's best for him, can you?"

"Your mother isn't young anymore, and she still has to help you raise the child; how can you have the heart to..."

Sheng Hanyu rarely spoke harshly to his daughter; this was probably the harshest he had ever been.

Shi Ran asked, "Dad, I can do everything you said, but my work schedule..."

Sheng Hanyu interrupted her, "Your work cannot be reduced by even a little bit. You figure out how to arrange the specifics. Your mother is helping you raise the child, and you still want to cut back on work? Keep dreaming. Work, family, and child—you cannot neglect any of them."

Shi Ran:...

Wanting both the fish and the bear's paw—Sheng Hanyu was the most thorough at doing exactly that.

Shi Ran agreed nonetheless.

From that day on, she really did report to her maiden home every day after work, spending at least half an hour with the child before going home.