53 ‘A Matter of Course’; ‘Tasteless and Vulgar’?
“A kindergarten cla.s.smate.”
Lu Ning listened to him address his peers like he was an old man.
Not ‘friend’, but ‘cla.s.smate’.
At the same time, Lu Ning realized something.
When she had found out about the issues about Lu Jingzhi’s studies, she was making one-sided decisions on her own without actually consulting him.
“Jingzhi, I want to go to your school tomorrow to talk to your teachers about your studies. If I do, you won’t be able to continue in kindergarten and might be transferred to first or second grade, or even a higher grade. All the students there will be older than you.
“Will you be afraid? Would you prefer to stay with your friends?”
Lu Jingzhi looked at Lu Ning. After a long silence, he said, “The kindergarten’s full of children, and the teachers ask very simple questions. I didn’t want the teachers to treat me like a freak, so I pretended not to know anything and acted like an unintelligent child.”
He did not add anything else, so Lu Ning probed him, “Then, do you like feeling like this?”
Lu Jingzhi shook his head.
After staying quiet for a moment, he said, “I like learning things I don’t know, I’ll be very happy if I can take my time to learn and understand topics that I don’t know much about.”
Lu Ning looked straight at him. “But if the cla.s.smates around you in school are all taller, all older than you, won’t you feel afraid?”
He thought about it and eventually shook his head. He smiled and looked at Lu Ning. “I won’t be afraid. Sister said I’m not a freak, I’m a normal person. Why would a normal person be afraid of another normal person?”
Lu Ning was startled by what he said. Then, she cracked a smile and stroked his head lovingly.
“Awesome! Let me hug you.”
She stretched out her arms; Lu Jingzhi looked at her and silently walked into her embrace.
——————
Lu Ning returned to her room and took out the test papers from her bag; she scrolled through her messages while working on them.
“Children, time to eat!”
Shen Yunci shouted outside. When Lu Ning heard this, she opened the door and said, “Mom, I’ll come after I finish this paper.”
“Okay.”
Before Lu Ning had returned to her room, Lu Qing came out of his and saw her.
Lu Ning intended to ignore him, but he called out to her.
“Wait, let me see your homework.”
Lu Ning looked at him and ungrudgingly handed the paper to him.
Lu Qing took a gander, and his temples began to throb after a couple of questions.
She even got this question wrong?!
In the end, he looked through a few more questions.
Great, not a single one is correct.
He raised his eyes towards Lu Ning in disbelief.
“I have no idea how you even managed to get admitted.”
Lu Ning crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame as she looked at him. She said quite casually, “I bought my way in.”
Lu Qing could not help but frown when she saw how shameless she was acting. After a long pause, he spat out, “How tasteless and vulgar!”
Lu Ning snickered when she heard that. “What, so it’s ‘a matter of course’ if some people got it with a building donation, yet when I buy my way in I’m ‘tasteless and vulgar’?”
Lu Ning smirked. She s.n.a.t.c.hed the paper back, returned to her room, and shut the door.
Lu Qing stood there, anger br.i.m.m.i.n.g in his eyes.
“I must’ve been out of my mind to want to tutor her!”
——————
When Lu Ning came out, Lu Qing was no longer at home. He must have run off fuming.
Lu Ning did not care, and the family of four ate together harmoniously.
The next morning, in order to send Lu Jingzhi to school, Lu Ning woke up early and even wore her school uniform.
“Ning’ning, aren’t you going to rest at home? Mommy and Daddy can send your little brother off themselves.”
Lu Ning also had her school bag with her. “It’s alright, I’ll follow you. After we’re done I’ll head to school for cla.s.s.”
Shen Yunci and Lu Zhi were a little dubious, but did not inquire further. After having breakfast together, the family headed out.