The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 719 - 718: Teaching the Bratty Kid a Lesson (Part 2)

Chapter 719: Chapter 718: Teaching the Bratty Kid a Lesson (Part 2)

As she spoke, she attempted to rally the surrounding parents, teachers, and students to her side, "Boys will be boys, and it wasn’t intentional. What’s the big deal? Does she have to make such a fuss and bring her whole family to the school to trouble my son?"

"You don’t need to rush to label me. Saying it was ’unintentional’ doesn’t erase the fact that your son bullied my daughter!"

Shen Mingzhu’s voice was like a spring in a mountain ravine, succinct yet powerful.

The parents, who had originally intended to speak up and mediate, now withdrew their intentions and continued to watch.

"You think I’m making a mountain out of a molehill because you don’t understand how precious and cherished my daughter is to our whole family. When it comes to anything concerning her, even something as minor as a strand of hair, we will handle it with the utmost care."

"You believe the children’s conflicts are trivial because your son is the aggressor, not the victim!"

"In the presence of these parents, teachers, and children, I ask you this, would you not care if all the students in the school were to pull your son’s hair, throw away his books and stationery, scribble on his clothes, and stuff caterpillars into his backpack, since, in your eyes, these are just normal roughhousing between children, nothing to make a fuss about?"

Mother Fu’s face reddened, and she struggled to find a rebuttal for a long time.

Shen Mingzhu turned and employed Mother Fu’s own tactic, seeking to garner empathy from the onlooking parents, "We’re all parents here. If your child was bullied over and over again by a brat at school, what would you do? I believe no one could stand idly by while their child is being bullied and take no action."

"My approach may be a bit extreme, but my daughter is my everything. Bullying me is one thing; even a slight harm to her is intolerable, and I will not rest content!"

Having said this, Shen Mingzhu turned to Fu Qiang.

At this moment, he was nothing like his usual untouchable self, but rather a common and timid little boy, fearfully hiding behind his mother.

"Apologize to my daughter and publicly vow never to bully her again. Otherwise, I’ll post denunciations and hang banners at the school gate and in front of your house every day, letting everyone know how you usually treat your classmates!"

Shen Mingzhu, usually gentle in her dealings with others, now showed an authoritative presence when angered, enough to intimidate even Qin Jinlian, his mother.

Fu Qiang, however authoritarian and overbearing, was after all just seven years old and turned pale, with tears filling his eyes, under Shen Mingzhu’s cool stare.

The onlooking parents began to voice their condemnation of Mother Fu, suggesting she should discipline her child properly, as misbehaving with classmates now could lead to harming society in the future.

The surrounding disapproval and contempt certainly shamed Mother Fu, but she feared Shen Mingzhu more.

If she really ended up with denunciations and banners posted in front of her house, she couldn’t imagine the pointing fingers and ridicule she’d face later.

Under immense pressure, Mother Fu had no choice but to soften up and ordered her son to apologize to Pei Tang and made a promise to Shen Mingzhu.

"Fu Qiang, I will give you the benefit of the doubt this time, but if I ever learn of you bullying my Guoguo again, I won’t let you off."

After warning Fu Qiang, she deliberately said to her daughter, "If anyone bullies you, pay it back double. Hit back with whatever you can carry; bite them if you must. Even if you cause trouble, don’t be afraid. Mom will have your back."

These words were meant for Mother Fu to hear.

If she could keep her son in line, all would be well; if not, she couldn’t blame Shen Mingzhu for resorting to an eye for an eye.

After dropping her daughter off at the classroom, Shen Mingzhu went to see the homeroom teacher, Xie Xiuyun.

Facing Shen Mingzhu, Xie Xiuyun smiled with both politeness and awkwardness.

She might have been in the office, but she knew all about the commotion at the school gate from her colleagues.

It wasn’t the first time Fu Qiang had bullied classmates. She felt helpless dealing with such a brute.

Untouchable and unrebukeable, all Xie could employ were criticism and education, but these methods had no effect on someone like Fu Qiang. To maintain a harmonious class environment, she had to ask other students to be more tolerant and understanding toward him.

The way Shen Mingzhu staunchly confronted Mother Fu was like a resounding slap in the face, highlighting Xie’s inability to manage the situation as the homeroom teacher.

Shen Mingzhu had no intention of worsening relations with the homeroom teacher and offered an olive branch, "Teacher Xie, I’m sorry for losing my temper at the school gate and getting into an argument with Fu Qiang’s mother. I hope it didn’t cause you any inconvenience."

Xie Wenxiu also found a way to ease out of the situation, "I can understand the feelings of you parents; children are the treasures of our hearts, and it’s inevitably nerve-wracking to care for them so deeply. Rest assured, from now on, I will strengthen the moral education of the students in my class to prevent similar incidents from happening again."

"Good, thank you for your hard work, Teacher Xie."

...

Shen Mingzhu’s insistence on making Fu Qiang apologize at the school entrance caused quite a stir within the school.

Many students envied Pei Tang for having such a good mother, while others thought Shen Mingzhu was fierce, a real tiger mom.

Shen Mingzhu gained instant notoriety from the conflict, becoming a fearsome figure spoken of with hushed tones among all teachers and students, to the point that after that, no student dared to bully Pei Tang.

Fu Qiang also became much more subdued, not daring to bully any classmates and even going out of his way to avoid Pei Tang.

Shen Mingzhu’s stern warning and ferocious demeanor had left a deep shadow in his heart.

After school.

Fu Qiang walked with his backpack towards the school gates, and upon seeing a coin on the ground, he quickly picked it up and pocketed it.

Once out of the school gates, he headed straight for the skewer shop across the street.

He loved skewers the most and would buy some whenever he had a little spending money.

Near the skewer shop was an alley, and as he walked by the mouth of the alley, a few older students dragged him inside.

They snatched his backpack and dumped out the books and stationery on the ground, trampling them mercilessly. What’s more, one of them even took out matches and lit his homework on fire.

As the smoke and flames rose, the boys laughed uproariously.

Fu Qiang was angry but dared not speak out.

One of them grabbed him by the collar, "I heard you’re pretty badass, liking to bully female classmates. Come on, tell us, how did you bully them?"

At this moment, Fu Qiang no longer had his usual arrogance; he was just a small, pitiful creature, weak and helpless.

Another one kicked him on the rear, "Speak up, you gone mute or something?"

...

Across the street, Pei Ziheng sat in the back seat of a black Mercedes, watching the scene in the alley through the window with an expressionless face.

In the front seat, Liu Shan and Xiahou Dun turned to look at him.

Scolding a first-grader was definitely not something that could arouse their interest.

"Ziheng, if you’re not going to school, what are you planning to do?"

Finally, Pei Ziheng turned his gaze away from the alley, and Liu Shan couldn’t wait to ask, his tone filled with envy.

For someone with severe aversion to schooling like him, the thought of not having to attend school seemed blissful.

"Start a company."

"Damn, that’s awesome!"

The two of them looked at Pei Ziheng with admiration without planning it and expressed their disinterest in school, wanting to join him in business.

"My mom won’t let me hang out with uneducated people."

The two: "..."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.