Chapter 38

Chapter 38

"Yuan Ting, how's your foot feeling?" Teacher Zhao asked warmly.

"Thank you, teacher, my foot is much better. I was at school yesterday, remember? You're too kind." Yuan Ting grinned, "Don't worry, teacher, as soon as my foot is healed, I'll return to school. And about my homework, no need to worry. My brother will help me with it. You know him, he's really smart."

"Yuan Ting, you're such a good boy," Teacher Zhao said, patting his head.

"I apologize for the inconvenience, Teacher Zhao," Cheng Shaolin said.

"It's no trouble at all, Mr. Cheng."

After checking on Yuan Ting, Teacher Zhao didn't seem to have any intention of leaving, leading to a somewhat awkward atmosphere in the living room.

Yuan Ting sensed something amiss, and Cheng Shaolin, noticing Teacher Zhao's hesitance, proactively asked, "Teacher Zhao, has Yuan Ting caused any trouble at school?"

Yuan Ting: "..."

How could I possibly cause trouble? I'm not a little kid, hmph.

"No trouble per se," Teacher Zhao chuckled nervously, "It's just that, well..."

Cheng Shaolin: "Please feel free to speak openly, Teacher Zhao."

"It's like this, Mr. Cheng. This morning during class, three boys in the class shaved their heads, two girls cut their braids into ear-length bobs, and in the class next door, two more boys also shaved their heads. I've received numerous calls from parents complaining that their children are insisting on getting their heads shaved."

Cheng Shaolin: "???"

Yuan Qingguang: "???"

Yuan Ting: "???"

Both fathers and the son blinked in confusion. What did Teacher Zhao mean? It was as if they were not on the same planet.

Shave their heads? What's this about shaving heads?

Yuan Qingguang's gaze fell on Yuan Ting's head. Right, why was his son bald now? What happened to his curly hair?

Seeing their confusion, Teacher Zhao elaborated, "Well, it seems Yuan Ting mentioned something at school about shaving heads making one smarter, and many students believed it..."

Cheng Shaolin and Yuan Qingguang turned to look at Yuan Ting.

Yuan Ting: "??? Huh???"

"Who shaved their heads?" Yuan Ting looked at Teacher Zhao incredulously, as if he had heard the biggest joke ever.

Teacher Zhao sighed, "Duan Wenzhe, Kang Xiaoyu, and your desk mate Wang Hui. Gu Yuqi cut her braids. Her mother called, insisting on shaving her head, claiming if she didn't, she wouldn't be able to top the class in the final exams. She cried so much, her mother finally agreed to just cut it short instead of shaving. Also, two boys from the next class, one a neighbor of Duan Wenzhe and the other Kang Xiaoyu's cousin, claimed that shaving their heads would guarantee a perfect score in the next exam."

Yuan Ting: "..." Holy cow, this, this, this...

Speechless and returning home late again without a key, his mother came for the nth time to open the door for him. Speechless, you're home again...

Are elementary students so easily swayed nowadays?

Are they really elementary students? Don’t they think?

Well, they are indeed elementary students.

For a moment, Yuan Ting was dazed, thinking: Damn it, could he possibly switch careers to sales?

He never thought he had such potential.

Clearly, Cheng Shaolin hadn't expected this either, shocked and at a loss for words, not even sure how to resolve this.

"Xiaoting, did you really say that to your classmates?" Cheng Shaolin looked at Yuan Ting.

Yuan Ting blinked, tacitly admitting it.

Cheng Shaolin: "..."

"Then, teacher, how should we resolve this?"

Teacher Zhao hastily replied, "It's not really about resolving. I came today mainly to say that Yuan Ting is really smart, but the other kids in the class might be too young to distinguish reality, so they easily believed him. I hope Yuan Ting can be more careful with his words in the future."

"Oh, sure, sure, I'll teach him properly," Cheng Shaolin hurriedly responded.

"Then, Teacher, you should advise their parents to teach them not to believe others so easily. We can't stop my son from speaking, right? My son hasn't done anything wrong. Why should he watch his words?" Yuan Qingguang couldn't help but grumble.

Holy cow!!!

Yuan Ting looked at Yuan Qingguang in surprise. Dad, you're awesome, your thinking is almost as sharp as our young master's.

Teacher Zhao felt a bit awkward. Well, that does make sense.

"I'm sorry, Teacher," Yuan Ting immediately said loudly, "It was my fault. I will correct my behavior and ensure I am an obedient and good student in the future."

"Yes, yes," Cheng Shaolin nodded, thinking to himself that actually, Yuan Ting's biological father made a good point. Believing Yuan Ting's words and shaving their heads, do these students really not think? Can Yuan Ting really be blamed?

After sipping her tea, Teacher Zhao added, "Mr. Cheng, I genuinely think that Yuan Ting is incredibly smart."

"That's true," Cheng Shaolin agreed somewhat absently, "Xiaoting is indeed very intelligent."

Yuan Qingguang also nodded. That's a fair comment, the teacher made a good point today.

Yuan Ting: "..."

"Speaking of which," Teacher Zhao's eyes lit up, "Mr. Cheng, I think Xiaoting can really be nurtured further. His logical, learning, and mathematical abilities are some of the best I've seen in a child. I believe he's a genius. You must cultivate his talents. He could join a program for gifted youths, explore his potential, or even enroll him in special courses. He's truly too smart to be wasted."

Cheng Shaolin and Yuan Qingguang's eyes shone upon hearing this; Yuan Ting is a genius.

Yuan Ting: "..." Ha, haha, hahaha...

He decided to start calling himself "Speechless" from today.

Teacher Zhao's visit wasn't about demanding an explanation, after all, it wasn't a case of fighting or bullying. Her actual goal was to encourage the parents to guide Yuan Ting not to instigate classmates to shave their heads at school anymore. Having achieved her purpose, Teacher Zhao then left.

Cheng Shaolin personally saw Teacher Zhao out, and Yuan Qingguang, not wishing to overstay his welcome, also took his leave.

Before leaving, Yuan Qingguang whispered to Yuan Ting, "Son, you're a genius. Your dad is proud of you."

Yuan Ting: "..." You think with your brains, you could have a genius kid?

Cheng Shaolin, after seeing off the teacher, coincidentally met Yuan Qingguang at the door.

Hesitating for a moment, Yuan Qingguang said to Cheng Shaolin, "Mr. Cheng, Yuan Ting is still young and sometimes doesn't measure his words. Please be patient with him. His mother is a good woman. We just weren't meant to be. I wish you both happiness."

"Thank you," Cheng Shaolin patted his shoulder, "You too."

Yuan Ting, standing on one leg behind the door, thought, "Is this a meet-up of two ultimate romantics?"

Yuan Ting took a deep breath, feeling equal disdain for anyone infatuated with love, regardless of gender!!!

But from another perspective, his mother was frighteningly clear-headed – for her, apart from money and status, everything else was just a passing cloud.

Upon returning, Cheng Shaolin picked up Yuan Ting and playfully tossed him in the air, "Son, turns out you're a genius. Dad can't hold you back. Tomorrow, let's go to the hospital to test your IQ. If you're truly a genius, don't worry, no matter the cost, I'll ensure you're well nurtured."

The butler nodded, "Earlier, the young master also mentioned having the little master's IQ tested."

"Really?" Cheng Shaolin looked at the butler, surprised, "Did Nanyi already see that our little Ting is a genius? It seems I haven't paid enough attention to Xiaoting."

"Ha..." The butler chuckled dryly. It wasn't exactly like that.

At dinner, the old master was away on a business trip, but Mo Yikai had returned, seeming in better spirits than the past few days.

As usual, Cheng Shaolin inquired about school matters. Usually, Yuan Ting would answer, but since he didn't attend school today, Cheng Nanyi responded instead.

Normally, Cheng Nanyi's response would be a simple "Pretty good," but today, feeling better, he wanted to share more about school with Yuan Ting. He said, "Today at school, everyone was talking about how shaving your head can make you smarter. Yuan Ting, inadvertently, became the smartest person in the whole school."

Yuan Ting: "..."

Cheng Shaolin: "..."

"Yes, I saw several little bald heads during the recess. Can't believe people actually fell for that," Mo Yikai scoffed, "Must be fools."

Yuan Ting bowed his head and ate his rice ferociously. You're the fool.

After a moment of thought, Cheng Nanyi suddenly said, "One of those little bald heads is your friend, right, Yuan Ting?"

"Ah?" Yuan Ting slowly looked up, "Do I have friends?"

Mo Yikai: "Right, it's that short, chubby kid, isn't it? How did he end up bald too?"

Such a coincidence, really too coincidental.

"Did your homeroom teacher really just come to see you today?" Before dinner, Cheng Nanyi had heard from the butler about Yuan Ting's teacher's visit. A homeroom teacher visiting a student is normal, and he hadn't thought much of it, but now it seemed a bit odd.

Mo Yikai also suddenly became more perceptive, looking incredulously at Yuan Ting: "It couldn't be related to you, could it?"

Yuan Ting: "..." Really annoying.

Annoying just keeps knocking at the door, and here it is again.

Why ask about such nonsense?

Want to experience it yourself?

"Alright, I'll indulge you all."

Cheng Shaolin, sitting to the side and enjoying his porridge, couldn't help but smile at the lively atmosphere. Ever since Yuan Ting joined the family, things had become so much more vibrant.

The butler also wore an expression of watching an entertaining show.

Yuan Ting put down his chopsticks and elegantly wiped his mouth, then looked at the two men: "Here's the thing, dear brothers, Duan Wenzhe, the short, chubby kid you mentioned, is indeed my friend. After hearing about my glorious feat, he admired me greatly. As my best friend, he couldn't bear to see me suffer the baldness alone, so he decided to share my hardship and got himself a shaved head too."

"And look at my Dog Third Brother," Yuan Ting pointed at his feet, his voice taking on an announcer's tone, "For me, my beautiful Dog Third Brother even went bald. What a deeply moving brotherly bond."

"But then, look at my two brothers..." Yuan Ting covered his chest in exaggerated pain, "When we became sworn brothers, we spoke of life and death together, of sharing weal and woe. But now, as both I and my Dog Third Brother are in this state, you, you, you..." Yuan Ting pointed at them, his hand shaking like a sieve, perfectly dramatizing his anguish.

Cheng Nanyi: "..."

Mo Yikai: "..."

They were just having a casual chat, not expecting to become the target.

Cheng Shaolin couldn't help but applaud, looking at his son's logic, thinking skills, and verbal agility – wasn't this a clear sign of a genius? This IQ must be at least 220.

But... wasn't the teacher's visit about something else, about shaving heads to become smarter?

No matter, as long as his son was smart, that was what counted.

Tomorrow they would test his IQ, and then consider enrolling him in a program for gifted youths. Perhaps he could even attend a top university like Tsinghua or Peking in his teens.

"I'm done eating," Cheng Nanyi quickly got up from the table.

"Me too," Mo Yikai also put down his chopsticks and left in a hurry.

Their retreating figures were both comical and resolute.

Yuan Ting chuckled and turned to Cheng Shaolin: "Dad, according to the Cheng family rules, everyone has to wait until everyone's finished eating before leaving the table. They should be punished."

"Hmm." Cheng Shaolin nodded. "Yes, there should be a penalty."

Yuan Ting picked up his chopsticks to continue eating. He had felt a bit guilty before, considering they were sworn brothers. He thought it would be bad to leave them behind, but now, well, men's words are as unreliable as ghosts. All that talk about brotherhood, it's just about shaving heads. They were so scared, not even as brave as his Dog Brother.

"Here, Dog Brother, have a bone." Yuan Ting tossed a bone to Big Silly.

Big Silly: "Woof..."

See, this is real socialist brotherhood.

……

When Shu Zhilan returned home late in the evening, she was initially in a good mood. However, upon hearing from the butler that Yuan Qingguang had visited, she turned pale and rushed to Yuan Ting's room to check if Yuan Qingguang had said anything inappropriate.

Yuan Ting, with his feet propped up and lying on the bed while petting Dog Brother, innocently shook his head: "I don't know. They were whispering together for a long time and didn't let me hear. I didn't catch what they said."

Shu Zhilan's expression darkened even more.

Seeing Shu Zhilan leave, Yuan Ting quickly got up and hopped on one foot to the door of his parents' bedroom, stealthily pressing his ear against the door.

Cheng Shaolin recounted the day's events, including the teacher's home visit, but Shu Zhilan was preoccupied, only concerned about Yuan Qingguang.

"Did he say anything bad about me?" she asked in a coquettish tone.

Yuan Ting shivered.

"Of course not, if he dared speak ill of you, I would have dealt with him."

"The most important thing between spouses is mutual trust. Without that, there’s no point in us being together."

"Absolutely," Cheng Shaolin chuckled softly, "I love you so much, my beautiful and gentle little orchid."

"I love you too, my brave warrior."

！！！

Yuan Ting was stunned, standing petrified at the door.

His ears, they must be dirty now.

Ahhhhhhhh...

This world is too crazy. Who will save him?

Cheng Nanyi, stepping out, saw Yuan Ting standing rigidly in the hallway, puzzled: "What are you doing?"

Yuan Ting, dazed, extended his arms: "Hug."

Cheng Nanyi moved forward to embrace him, noticing the fine goosebumps on Yuan Ting’s pale, slender arms.

"You saw a ghost or something?"

"Heh, hehe, hehehe..."

Speechless, his mother opens the door and says to Speechless, "Can you please go far, far away?"

Author's Note:

A big thank you to the little angels who supported me with their Overlord Votes and Nutrient Solutions from August 8, 2023, 22:21:24 to August 9, 2023, 18:06:48~

Special thanks to the little angels for their Nutrient Solutions: 180.94 (5 bottles); Xi Xingye (1 bottle);

I'm deeply grateful for everyone's support and will continue to work hard!