The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 376 - 375: Unknown Full Picture, No Comment

Chapter 376: Chapter 375: Unknown Full Picture, No Comment

Hearing this person ridicule Shen Mingzhu, Pei Ziheng’s little face immediately tightened, "Auntie, haven’t you ever heard of the principle ’Don’t judge if you don’t know the whole story’?"

"Can it be? I’m so young and even my mother has taught me this. Hasn’t your mother taught you?"

"If you haven’t heard, it’s okay, I can tell you. It means that you shouldn’t rush to make judgments before understanding the whole truth."

"You don’t know me, nor do you know my mother, yet you open your mouth to say I’m lying and accuse my mother of spoiling me. Aren’t you afraid that your behavior might set a bad example for your own child?"

Although Pei Ziheng was small and his voice was young, the words he spoke were sharp and to the point.

Watching a fight is human nature, and as a dispute began, many parents and children gathered around.

Dozens of eyes simultaneously fell on that person, filled with gossipy anticipation and seemingly mocking her inability to argue with a child.

That person’s face turned red with embarrassment, and when she looked at the mother and son, her gaze was filled with strangeness.

"Are you really in the first year of junior high?"

"Of course."

That person suddenly had a look of realization, "Ah, I know now, are you a dwarf?"

There could only be this explanation; how else could you explain a child who seems to be just seven or eight years old actually being in junior high?

Unless his body was disabled, appearing short but in fact not being young at all.

Without waiting for Shen Mingzhu and Pei Ziheng to respond, that person began to mock loudly, "No wonder this child looks so mature; turns out he’s a dwarf!"

These were direct and conclusive judgments about Pei Ziheng.

People around, upon hearing this, looked at Pei Ziheng with odd eyes and sympathy.

Such a beautiful boy, and yet a dwarf.

What a pity.

Some timid girls subconsciously took a step back, as if Pei Ziheng were some terrible creature.

Some boys gazed at Pei Ziheng as if he were a monster, with some even calling him "Shorty."

Shen Mingzhu got furious and lashed out at that person: "Are you sick in the head? You call my son a dwarf; I could say you’re dumb! A pair of testicles hanging below the eyebrows, can’t you use your eyes instead of just blinking?"

That person’s face changed colors in embarrassment, "Your son is already in junior high with such a short stature; what is he if not a dwarf?"

"And you look like a winter melon to me, are you one? My son is seven years old, 1.35 meters tall, and weighs 50 kilograms. What’s abnormal about that?"

That person sneered, "Oh, willing to tell the truth now? Did everyone hear that? Her son is only seven and she insists he is in junior high. Is that possible?"

The surrounding people laughed and pointed at the mother and son, obviously thinking it was unlikely.

That person became even more smug and certain, "The young one lies, the old one covers up, tsk tsk, what good can come out of a child raised with such family values? Everyone, keep your eyes open and don’t let your kids play with hers, lest they be led astray."

Shen Mingzhu seriously doubted whether she had checked the almanac before leaving home today, otherwise, how could she have encountered such a fool?

She could not be bothered to argue with the other party and bent down to comfort her son, "Ziheng, today Mom will teach you another principle: don’t argue with fools about what’s long and short, don’t dispute right and wrong with the petty. Arguing with rotten people and rotten situations will only drag you down into the mud. The smartest thing to do is to keep your distance from it, ignore it. Remember that, okay?"

Pei Ziheng nodded, "I remember, Mom."

But that person was not pleased, hands on hips, she yelled at Shen Mingzhu: "Who are you calling rotten? How good are you? I’ve seen many mothers like you, always indulging their children, spoiling them rotten until they’re lawless, and when the children grow up, they become the dregs of society."

Shen Mingzhu coldly stared at the person, "My son scored 347 points in the primary-to-junior-high entrance exam. How many points did your son score? If my son is the dregs, then what is your child?"

The man was taken aback, then he snorted with contempt, "Blowing your own trumpet without any basis, your son scored 347 out of a total 350 points?"

"Just because your kid can’t score that high doesn’t mean others can’t either."

The man was about to continue ridiculing when suddenly someone in the crowd said, "Isn’t the city’s top scorer for this year’s primary to junior high school transition examination around 347 points? I heard it was because the kid was young and got docked 3 points in physical education, otherwise it would have been a perfect score."

"Right, it was even reported in the newspapers, something with the last name Pei, what was it..."

"Pei Ziheng!"

Zhao Yun’s voice rose from the outer ring of the crowd.

Following that, he squeezed into the crowd, wiping sweat from his forehead, and curiously asked, "Aunt Mingzhu, Ziheng, what are you all doing? Why aren’t you going into the school?"

"This child’s last name is Pei, could it be he is the one who topped the city this year?"

Zhao Yun wasn’t aware of the situation earlier, and upon hearing someone ask, he proudly clapped Pei Ziheng on the shoulder, "That’s right, this is my good brother Pei Ziheng, he scored first place in the whole city in his transition from primary to junior high."

Once these words were out, the attitudes of the people around Shen Mingzhu and Pei Ziheng did a complete one-eighty.

"Turns out he’s the child prodigy who got first place in the city this year, sister, you’ve done a great job raising him!"

"The child is fair and clean, with a steady demeanor and well-structured speech, one glance and you can tell he’s extraordinary."

"I hear he finished all the courses from first to sixth grade in just two years of elementary school. If my kid had half his wit, I would wake up laughing even in my sleep."

The students who previously saw Pei Ziheng as a freak now all looked at him with eyes full of admiration and respect.

Starting junior high at the age of seven, and on top of that being first in the whole city, how amazing!

The parent who called Pei Ziheng a degenerate had a face changing through the colors, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, in a continuous and fascinating display.

Taking advantage of the moment when no one was paying attention, the person tried to slip away with their child, but Shen Mingzhu wouldn’t let them off so easily and grabbed them.

"Sister, you dared to call my son a degenerate; you must believe your child is more outstanding than mine. I wonder how many points your child scored? Why don’t you share it so that we can learn something."

Calling the top student in the city a degenerate, your child must be very outstanding indeed.

Facing countless mocking and belittling gazes, that person’s old face turned blood red.

"If you had told us from the start that your son was the city’s top scorer, none of this would have happened. It’s all because you didn’t make yourself clear," someone retorted.

Mingzhu couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation, "I did say my son was in the first year of juniors, but did you believe me?"

The people around also spoke up in support of Mingzhu, after all, who wouldn’t want to be on good terms with the mother of a child prodigy.

"She said her kid was in junior high, but you wouldn’t believe it; you even mocked them, calling the child a Dwarf! That’s truly mean."

"You owe the child an apology. Such a good kid, and you treated him that way."

"Exactly, you have your own kid. Imagine if it were your child being talked about like that, how would you feel?"

Being badgered by everyone’s accusations, the person had no choice but to apologize to Shen Mingzhu and her son and let the matter rest.

The excitement died down, but the parents who had gathered didn’t disperse. They continued showering the mother and son with praise, all the while seeking advice on raising their own children.

Everyone wants their child to succeed, and even learning a small part from Mingzhu, if it could help their child succeed, was worth it.

...

Not far from the elementary school gates, Mrs. Liu, who had previously been indifferent to them, was now looking with great interest at Shen Mingzhu, surrounded by admiring onlookers, and Zhou Hui’s eyes lit up.

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