Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The teacher did not have grounds to refute the indisputable facts laid before her.
Chen Xiaoqian forced the teacher to retreat to the corner of the room. The teacher leaned against the wall, which had a calligraphy decoration mounted on it.
“A gentleman with great virtue can take charge of the world?1” Chen Xiaoqian read the words written on it. The teacher’s face was pale.
“As heaven maintains vigor through movement, a gentleman should constantly strive for self-perfection! The terrain is vast, a gentleman with great virtue can take charge of the world. These phrases are the best compliment to a teacher. Teacher, please tell me, you do immoral and unrighteous things in front of these praises, are you even fit to be called a ‘teacher’?”
Chen Xiaoqian did not speak loudly. In fact, she spoke in a gentle tone.
It was the gentle tone, coupled with the torture and questioning of her soul using sharp words, which defeated the teacher’s psychological defenses with ease.
The teacher covered her face and sobbed.
“Please don’t report this to the school and the Bureau of Education. I still have a child to take care of.”
The teacher did actually hesitate when Chen Lin looked for her help.
Chen Xiaoqian did very well in school, and teachers do get monetary rewards for nurturing a high-scorer student.
However, Chen Lin told the teacher that they were poor, his wife was terminally ill and they did not have money to see a doctor. The money he gave was not much. It was just fifty bucks more than the rewards school provided.
Chen Xiaoqian laughed when the teacher, who was on the brink of falling apart told her it was fifty bucks.
“You ruined my life for fifty bucks?”
Haha, all the things that she suffered in her previous life were only worth fifty bucks?
Her father—no, he was not fit to be called a father. ‘I will never call him father again.’
In order to save money for his son, he stopped his daughter from going to the university, and lied about his wife having a terminal illness. Chen Xiaoqian made a mental note to seek an act of much greater revenge on Chen Lin.
“Chen Xiaoqian, please forgive me once. I won’t do it next time. No…” Her life would be over if Chen Xiaoqian reported to the Bureau of Education.
“This may be your first, but how many times have you arranged the students who gifted you to take the front seat? I never forgive people who bullied me. Because if I do it they’ll do more damage to others.”
The school should be a place for innocence, but unfairness sometimes start from schools themselves.
“Move.”
After Chen Xiaoqian finished saying that, she pushed the teacher a few steps aside. She then took the glass of water from the table and smashed it on the calligraphy that was mounted on the wall. The glass broke and the pieces scattered everywhere. The teacher screamed.
The word that Chen Xiaoqian smashed was ‘virtue’. The word ‘virtue’ tore into pieces.
“You must return the money my father gave you to me.”
Without a second thought, the teacher gave her 550 bucks1.
“Chen Xiaoqian, the recording…”
“I was going to report you using the recording but your daughter saved my life before, haha.”
Chen Xiaoqian took the money and pointed at the broken frame.
“You’re not allowed to fix or change this. You can clean the glasses on the floor since it’ll injure your child. But I want you to look at that sullied ‘virtue’ every day. When you’re about to do something immoral, look at this. If I ever find out that you destroy another student’s future for money I’ll send the tape to the Bureau of Education.”
The teacher nodded repeatedly.
At the very moment, Chen Xiaoqian looked like a devil to her.
Chen Xiaoqian looked at the broken ‘virtue’ expressionlessly.
“You have to copy Yan Family’s Admonition1, Chu Family’s Admonition2, Zeng Guofan’s Ten Laws of Parenting3, you must copy at least ten pages every day, and send them to me every month. Based on the waste recycling rate, three cents a catty. When you send me a total of one hundred sixty-six point six catty, which amount to fifty bucks. I’ll give you the recording tape!”
The teacher was stunned.
This was the first time she heard such strange revenge tactics!
“Didn’t you punish your students to copy their homework again if it didn’t achieve your standards? Now I’m using a similar method to deal with you. I’ve been a student for more than ten years, I survived that kind of punishment. Teacher, do you think that my thirteen years of being a student is worth merely fifty bucks? I want you to know the heft of that fifty bucks!”
“Five hundred sheets of A4 paper weighed about four point three catty. In order to make one hundred and sixty catty, you’ll need eighteen thousand sheets of paper. It’ll take about five years to complete it.” Chen Xiaoqian used her brilliant mind to calculate with ease.
“You use five years to exchange for my thirteen years, isn’t that a good deal?”
‘When you step on others without hesitation, do not blame others for doing the same to you. You deserve it.’
“Chen Xiaoqian, I don’t have the time to do it your way!”
“You used to do that to the students, have you ever thought that the students don’t have the time as well? Don’t you know the students need to sleep? If a student didn’t recite well, they have to copy. If they wrote a wrong word, they have to copy. If they don’t finish, they have to copy! It’s all copy, copy, copy! Teacher, you’re the one who taught me this! When you punished us to do that, you said it was for our own good. Now, this is for your own good.”
The teacher remained silent. The feeling of a student using her own method to punish her was difficult to bear.
“Why…is it all about parenting?”
“Let your daughter stay by your side when you copy, don’t send her to others. Familial company can decrease the urge to steal things. Don’t hit her if she steals anything. Just ask her to write these to you. She copies once, you copy it twice. Let her see what you do! I won’t charge you for this diagnosis fee because you were once my teacher. I can tell the difference between kindness and hatred.”
She finally understood the reason behind the child’s Kleptomania.
“Chen Xiaoqian. I’m sorry that I hid the truth about your admission notice from you. I’d accept any punishment. But please don’t involve my child in this!”
“Are you trying to show that you’re a caring mother now? Your daughter’s suffering from Kleptomania. She steals things that she doesn’t even need, and then she keeps all that in her heart no matter how hard the struggle is. She can’t overcome the urge of stealing, these were all brought on by you!”
“Nonsense! I educate her, I teach her to be a good kid…” Her child was her hot button.
Her husband and her, both have respectable jobs. The child displayed this behavior for about two years now. They scolded her and punished her. However, it got worse and worse. They were afraid that letting the child stay with them would affect their reputation. So they sent her to the grandmother’s, only bringing her back during summer break. However, she continued to steal.
“The root cause of Kleptomania is lacking familial love and hypocritical parents. Although she’s the one that’s sick, it’s you, the parent, who’s causing her to behave that way.”
Chen Xiaoqian looked sharply at her teacher and asked, “Have you ever thought that your actions are worth more than verbal education ten thousand times over? You tell her not to steal, but your actions say otherwise. Can you imagine the impact it has on a child who’s trying to understand the world and form the value systems of their own?”
‘Parents are a child’s best teachers.’