Hearing the woman’s aggressive words, Yun Zhu shrunk behind Yun Jian in fear, peeping his head out as he hid behind his sister.
After the woman finished, he popped his head out and cried resolutely, “I didn’t! It’s Wang Ba who came to snatch the sweets Si Yi-gege gave me. I didn’t want to give them to him and he pushed me, that’s why I pushed back!”
Wang Ba was the fat fair boy the ostentatious woman grabbed by the hand.
Yun Jian turned to look at Wang Ba and took in how cocky he looked with his jiggly fat self and a raised chin at Yun Zhu. Then, she looked at Yun Zhu, a little meek and diffident, easy to see that he was already educated by his homeroom teacher, Miss Lu, standing before them right now before school dismissed.
“So young and you already know how to lie? Hah. My son would snatch your sweets? You think your sweets are made of gold? One can gain immortality if one eats it? My son has everything he needs, why will he want the candies from you!” Wang Ba’s mother growled at Yun Zhu fiercely.
Miss Lu stood between Yun Jian with her brother and Wang Ba with his mother. She frowned, scowling.
Biased to Wang Ba, she told Yun Jian, “There’s nothing like that. I asked the kids in class. All of them said that it’s your brother who bullied Wang Ba. I’m telling you today so you can teach your brother a proper lesson and apologize to Wang Ba.”
“Just apologizing?” Wang Ba’s mother tipped her chin arrogantly to look down at Yun Jian, speaking with contempt.
The accusation and conclusion transpired so fast that one could not quite catch.
“I didn’t do it! I didn’t! Wang Ba pushed me first!” Yun Zhu was tearing up from the accusation. Clinging to Yun Jian, he grabbed her hand and shook it.
“Jiejie, I didn’t—I didn’t push him for no reason!” Yun Zhu’s inky dark eyes were brimmed with unshed tears.
There was a moment of silence from Yun Jian as she rubbed her brother’s head without saying anything.
“Wow, wow, wow, what kind of people are these? Poor kids from poor families are really different huh! They aren’t the least bit educated!” Wang Ba’s mother insulted vehemently after she scrutinized Yun Zhu and Yun Jian, confirming that they must come from poor households judging from their plain clothes.
“Yun Zhu, are you still not apologizing? It’s only right when you apologize in time after doing something wrong!” Miss Lu educated Yun Zhu with the patronizing tone of a teacher.
There were plenty of teachers in school who treated students in one singular perspective. Sometimes, they might even traumatize children. Miss Lu was exactly one of them.
Through Wang Ba smirking at Yun Zhu, his mother’s aggressive accusation, and Miss Lu’s bias, Yun Jian’s eyes swept down before she raised her voice, “Enough!”
Miss Lu and Wang Ba’s mother, as well as a group of passing parents nearby, were all startled by Yun Jian’s cry.
Holding on to Yun Zhu, she stood strong against Wang Ba’s mother and Miss Lu. “My brother will admit what he’s done. For what he hasn’t, of course he won’t take the blame!”
As she spoke, she turned to Wang Ba and gritted, “Brat, you know if you lied or not. If I find out later that you accused my brother, I’ll rip off your mouth!”
Fat and fair Wang Ba shrunk at Yun Jian’s words, quivering a little from his fear and a guilty conscience.