Today was the day when the eldest child would bring home his grades. Chen Lie had already dealt with his military affairs and left work early, eagerly waiting at home.

He sat on a stool for a while, then walked back and forth in the room, never resting for a moment.

"Erniu, how many points do you think your brother will get in this exam?" Shen Lie asked.

Erniu had no idea where to go. She scratched her pigtails and said casually, "Can I get a perfect score?"

One hundred points? Is the highest score? This girl still knows it.

After hearing Erniu's words, Shen Lie nodded. "Yeah, I also think your brother can get a perfect score. He's been smart since he was young."

Asking Erniu alone was not enough, so he went to ask Sanwa.

He picked up Sanwa and patted his little butt. "Sanwa, tell me, how many points will your big brother get in the exam?"

Sanwa was playing with his wooden toy car and ignored him.

Seeing this, Chen Lie put Sanwa down and said, "Go, go play somewhere else."

As they were talking, the eldest child came running in from outside, yelling, "Dad, I'm home."

Chen Lie saw that Da Wa walked briskly and thought, could it be that Da Wa did well in the exam this time?

He was secretly delighted and went forward to greet her, "You're back. Did you get your test paper? How many points did you get on the test?"

The eldest child patted his schoolbag and said, "Put the test paper in my bag." He rolled his eyes and said, "How many points did I get? Guess."

Chen Lie scoffed. "I guess you want to eat stir-fried pork and bamboo shoots tonight. Tell me, how many points did you get on the Chinese test?"

He planned to start with Chinese. The eldest child was very articulate and spoke very coherently, so he shouldn't do poorly in Chinese, right?

Da Wa: "Sixty minutes?"

Chen Lie's eyes widened. "Say it again, how much?"

This is first grade Chinese! !

The eldest child took two steps back and hid behind the table before he dared to say, "I said, I got 60 points on the Chinese test."

Chen Lie took a deep breath and unbuckled his belt. "Sixty points. Fine, fine, I'll beat you to death today."

The eldest child quickly raised his hand to stop me, "Why don't you ask me what the full score is? How much is it?"

Chen Lie was stunned for a moment, then fastened his belt back onto his pants. "Then tell me, what is the perfect score?"

Could it be that the primary school examination system on the island has been reformed, and the upper limit of the full score is not high, unlike their time, when 100 points was the full score.

Big Baby chuckled and said, "One hundred points?"

Shen Lie took off his belt: "If I don't beat you to death today, I'll take your last name."

Big Boy muttered, "You originally had my last name."

Chen Lie danced with the belt vigorously, and Da Wa hurriedly said, "Hey, hey, hey, stop, stop, why don't you ask the highest score in our class? How much? How much?"

Chen Lie was stunned again, thinking, had I wrongly blamed Da Wa? Maybe… even though Da Wa's score was low, it was because the test paper was particularly difficult, so he only scored 60 points?

So Chen Lie put down his belt and asked again, "So what's the highest score in Chinese in your class? How much?"

Big Baby stuck out his tongue, "One hundred points?..."

Chen Lie closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and suddenly grabbed the belt, "I'm going to beat you to death today!"

The eldest boy rolled his eyes and said, "Don't bother me! Why don't you ask me what place I got in the exam?"

Chen Lie paused again. Could it be that he had wrongly blamed this kid again? Perhaps only one person scored 100 points, and Da Wa's 60 points ranked second or third?

He felt a glimmer of hope rising in his heart, and asked tentatively, "So, what place did you get in the exam?"

Big Baby: "Last one."

Chen Lie held the belt in one hand and reached out to Da Wa with the other, "Stinky boy, if I don't give you a good spanking today, I'll..." He remembered that his father and son had the same surname, so he changed his words, "My surname is not Shen, that's right, my surname is not Shen!"

When Da Wa saw that Chen Lie was serious, he quickly ran around the house.

He ran past Erniu and knocked over the box of rubber bands she kept, and the red rubber bands scattered all over the floor.

He ran past Sanwa and kicked his wooden toy car away, and Sanwa burst into tears.

The room was instantly in chaos.

After all, Da Wa is young and can't run faster than Chen Lie.

Chen Lie took a long step and grabbed the back of his collar before he ran two steps. He sneered, "You little bastard, I'll see where you can run."

After saying that, he pressed the eldest boy down on the stool, pulled up his pants, and slapped him in the face.

The eldest child had never been treated like this before. Tears welled up in his eyes and he howled like a pig being slaughtered. “Wow wow wow, it hurts so much, it hurts so much.”

Erniu and Sanwa came forward from the left and right and grabbed Chenlie's thighs.

Erniu said, "Dad, don't blame me. I'm a little bit stupid, but I'm sure I'll do well in the exam next time."

The third child said in a baby voice, "Dad, no, don't hit me."

Chen Lie grabbed Erniu and Sanwa with one hand each and pulled them away from him. "I'm teaching your brother a lesson. It has nothing to do with you two."

While he was grabbing the two little ones, the eldest boy quickly pulled up his pants, took a step forward, and ran while howling in his hoarse voice, "Hurry up and help! Captain Shen is beating the kids!"

Shen Lie almost collapsed from anger. He actually regretted beating Da Wa the moment he finished beating him, but he didn't expect Da Wa to be so unrepentant. The anger in his heart suddenly flared up, "Shen Da Wa, I'm going to skin you alive today."

Seeing that the situation was not good, the eldest brother quickly ran out of the house.

Chen Lie used the same trick again and grabbed the back of his collar. "Run! I'll see if you can run to the ends of the earth."

Seeing that Chen Lie's hand was about to reach the back of his collar, Da Wa felt desperate and his legs went weak. The next second, he bumped into Ning Tang who had returned from outside.

Da Wa was overjoyed and quickly hid behind Ning Tang, pointing at Chen Lie and complaining, "Stepmother, Dad... hit me."

Ning Tang was puzzled. "Why would Captain Shen hit you for no reason?"

Today is February 11th, and there are only seven or eight days left until the Spring Festival. Mrs. Luo said that the vegetable market will be closed for the three days before the Spring Festival.

So she quickly followed Mrs. Luo to the vegetable market to stock up on vegetables. She bought dried fish, sausages, dried black fungus and a bunch of other dry goods. She came back carrying big bags and small bags. As soon as she entered the house, she saw Da Wa covering his butt and complaining.

Da Wa said, "If you don't believe me, look at my butt. There is still a slap mark left by him." After saying that, he was about to take off his pants to prove Shen Lie's "evil deeds" to Ning Tang.

Ning Tang said disdainfully, "Go away, I won't watch it."

She glanced around the room and saw that it was a mess.

The table was tilted, the chairs fell over, Erniu was stunned, Sanwa was crying, and Captain Shen was so angry that he almost died.

Ning Tang pulled a chair and sat down. "Tell me, what's going on?"

Chen Lie took a deep breath and reached out to pull the big boy who was hiding behind Ning Tang. "Wait until I beat this kid up first. I'll explain it to you later."

Ning Tang reached out to stop him, "You can hit him, but you have to tell me the reason first."

Hearing that Lian Ningtang wasn't on his side, Da Wa suddenly felt the slap marks on his butt start to turn red and hot. He yelled, "What do you mean you can hit me? I didn't do anything wrong. I just did a little bit worse on the test. You come up and spank me? You, you guys, I'm going to run away from home!"

Ning Tang glanced at him and said, "If you keep crying, you don't have to wait for your dad to beat you up. I'll treat you to some stir-fried pork and bamboo shoots first."

Big Baby quickly stretched out his two little hands to cover his mouth and signaled Ning Tang with his eyes to stop howling.

Chen Lie had calmed down by then. He let out a long sigh and explained the whole story to Ning Tang. He asked her, "Tell me, should I beat up this brat? Not only did he do poorly on the test, but he even played tricks on me. What does 'full score in Chinese? How many? How many?' 'highest score? How many?' 'ranking?' Isn't that just deceiving?"

"That's it?" Ning Tang was speechless. "Let's not talk about how Big Boy tricked you. Just because he did poorly on the Chinese test, you took his pants off and beat him up, and even messed up the house. Captain Shen, you're really a nobody."

Chen Lie glared. "That's it? This is a first-grade Chinese language test, and I only got 60 points. Do you think I should beat you up?"

"Well, that's it." Ning Tang said, "Sixty points is pretty good. At least I passed and didn't have to carry a red lantern home."

Da Wa heard Ning Tang's intention to defend him, and he chuckled and made a face at Chen Lie, "Dad, look at you, your ideological awareness is not even as good as your stepmother's. Let me tell you, I only got 60 points on the test. What's wrong? 60 points is not a point."

Ning Tang glanced at him and said, "Shen Dawa, stop cocky and talk to Captain Shen. Do you think he'll beat you up? It was you who tricked him. You deserve this beating."

The eldest child puffed up his cheeks and said, "Who told Dad to ask me how many points I got in Chinese right away? Why didn't he ask me how many points I got in math? I got 100 points in math."

In the whole class, only the twins Su Guangzong and Su Yaozu scored 100 points in both subjects. However, there are still many people who scored 100 points in a single subject, and the eldest boy is one of them.

Chen Lie was stunned. "You got a 100 in math? Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Da Wa said, "You didn't ask earlier."

Chen Lie pulled out his belt and waved, "Big Boy, come here, I have something delicious for you."

Da Wa made a face at Chen Lie and said, "I don't believe you." He turned to Ning Tang and said coquettishly, "Stepmother, look at Dad, he... is threatening me!"

Ning Tang pinched Da Wa's face and said, "You deserve it for threatening me." Then he called out to Chen Lie, "Go look for the bag I brought back. There's a rolling pin in there. Hit me with that. It'll take two days for bruises to appear. Hit me with a belt, it'll leave marks easily."

The eldest child was incredulous. "Stepmother, aren't you and I on the same side?"

"Who told you that?" Ning Tang said, "I'm not on anyone's side. Our family is very democratic and we use reason to speak. I'll side with whoever is right. I think you deserve to be beaten."

Shen Lie was stunned. "You really bought a rolling pin. I thought you were just talking."

"Chinese New Year is coming soon, so I bought some to roll out the dough for making dumplings." Ning Tang said, "Of course, it's still possible to expand its use."

She beckoned, "Big Boy, come here! Explain to me why you lied to your dad and who you learned that from. Tell him you didn't do well on the test. If your dad can even lay a finger on you, I'll take care of all the housework for the whole year."

Da Wa knew that Ning Tang really didn't like doing housework. When he saw her using housework to swear an oath, he realized that she really didn't think it was shameful to do poorly on the exam.

He pursed his lips and spoke frankly, "Actually, I didn't learn this from anyone. In Chinese class a while ago, Teacher Zhou told us a story about 'the first push is great, the second weakens, and the third is complete.' I figured that if I did poorly on the test this time, my dad would be furious when I got home. So I thought, if I interrupted him a few more times when he asked about my grades, so he wouldn't vent his anger so quickly, then, who knows, he might not be so angry."

Ning Tang was amused. "Well said. Then do you think your father looks less angry?"

Big Baby muttered, "Who knew it would go so wrong."

Chen Lie was stunned after hearing what Da Wa said. "'The first push is vigorous, the second weakens, and the third is exhaustion.' I remember it comes from the debate between Cao Cao and Gui in Zuo Zhuan. Are you teaching such profound things to first graders?"

The eldest child pouted, "Of course not. During recess, Teacher Zhou took out a book she'd bought at the Xinhua Bookstore. A few classmates saw it and thought it was a storybook. They started pestering Teacher Zhou to tell them a story. Teacher Zhou was so annoyed that she took time out during class to tell a short story."

Ning Tang looked at Chen Lie, "See? Just from a 'story', Big Boy was able to understand these principles and apply them flexibly. This proves what I said."

Chen Lie asked, "What?"

"You can learn a lot by paying attention to everything," Ning Tang said. "Based on this, even if Big Boy only scored 60 points in Chinese, let alone zero, I wouldn't scold him. Instead, I would praise him profusely."

Chen Lie curled his lips. His child had just passed the first-grade Chinese language test, but he didn't beat or scold him. Instead, he praised him highly. Only Ning Tang in the entire Hailang Island could do this.

However, he was still very surprised at Da Wa's understanding, and his hand holding the belt gradually loosened.

The eldest child blushed at the praise and scratched his head, "Actually, it's not that great."

"Okay, the issue of getting 60 points in Chinese has been resolved," Ning Tang said. "Come on, Big Baby, tell me about getting 100 points in math. Let your dad hear that you, Shen Big Baby, are not completely useless. You're quite smart."

Speaking of getting a perfect score on the math test, Dawa couldn't help but puff out his chest with pride. "A perfect score on the math test? For me, Shen Dawa, that's a piece of cake." He glanced at Ning Tang and said, "Speaking of this, I have my stepmother to thank."

Ning Tang was happy, "Thank me for something."

"Thank you for being lazy every day and not wanting to get up to buy groceries. You just order me and Erniu around. I buy too many groceries, so I will naturally be able to do the math. Math, to put it bluntly, is just about doing the math." said Da Wa.

Chen Lie burst out laughing. He never expected that Ning Tang's laziness could actually help his eldest son learn better.

Ning Tang blushed at his laughter and glared at Da Wa, "From now on, grocery shopping for the family will be your responsibility on weekends. Work on your math skills. If you don't get a perfect score on a math test, I'll use my rolling pin to punish you."

The eldest boy's face suddenly fell and he slowly responded with "OK".

The matter was resolved. Ning Tang glanced at the messy house and asked, "Captain Shen, what should we do with the house?"

Chen Lie was convinced, "I'll take Da Wa, Er Niu, and San Wa to clean up." He glared at Da Wa, "You'll have to work hard."

How could Big Boy dare to argue with Chen Lie anymore? He quickly ran to the kitchen, took out a broom from behind the door, and swept the floor attentively without even glancing at Chen Lie.

At night, Ning Tang and Shen Lie lay in bed, and Shen Lie started his daily pancake making.

Ning Tang kicked his calf and said, "If you have something to say, say it. Stop making pancakes and not letting me sleep."

Chen Lie didn't dare to move. He lay straight on the bed, his hands and feet pressed against his torso. "What do you think? Should we give Da Wa some Chinese lessons?"

I only scored 60 points in the Chinese language test in the first grade, which is really disappointing.

"Tutoring in Chinese?" Ning Tang asked. "Do you mean like Ning Xue, doing nothing but staying home every day to supervise the twins' studies?"

"That's definitely not the case." Chen Lie said, "But if you can find time to tutor the eldest child, I think it's still okay."

Ning Tang: "You have so much free time? You've been in the army all day with meetings and drills, and you're exhausted. Do you still have the energy to go home and teach Da Wa a lesson?"

Chen Lie muttered, "Isn't there still some? As for you, I see you're quite free."

Ning Tang really wanted to spit at him, his face drooling. "Okay, even if I give Da Wa extra lessons, are you sure his Chinese grades will improve? Captain Shen, were you a hard-working student before?"

Chen Lie's face turned stern. "Of course, otherwise I wouldn't have asked you to tutor Da Wa. I've also had times when I didn't do well on exams before, but I worked really hard afterwards."

"So after you worked so hard, did your grades improve?" Ning Tang asked.

Chen Lie curled his lips, "No?"

"You ask Da Wa to do something you can't do yourself?" Ning Tang said, "Captain Shen, you really can do it."

"You keep spouting these nonsense to me." Chen Lie said, "Just tell me whether you will help Da Wa with his studies or not."

Ning Tang said, "Of course I will help, but it depends on which subject you need to take the supplementary course."

"Of course he needs to take extra classes in Chinese. Didn't he get 100 in math? Does he need extra classes if he only got 100?" Shen Lie said.

Ning Tang: "Of course, I will focus on helping the eldest child with math. As for Chinese, I can also teach him appropriately. The requirements are not high. A score of 70 or 80 will be enough."

Chen Lie was stunned. "What the hell? You did poorly on Chinese but did well on math. Why don't you take extra classes on Chinese? Why don't you take extra classes on math?" He used the back of his hand to check the temperature of Ning Tang's forehead. "Do you have a fever? Are you talking nonsense?"

Ning Tang waved his hand away. "You're talking nonsense. I'm serious. You all think that we should improve the subjects we're weak in, but I think things are different. I think we should stretch our strengths. Do you understand me?"

Shen Lie was stunned for a moment, "I don't understand."

Ning Tang rolled his eyes. "Stupid, what I'm saying is, if you're good at a subject, you have to study it wholeheartedly. Even in first grade Chinese, our eldest child almost came back with a red lantern. What about studying in higher grades? Won't he do even worse on the test?"

"Yes, so we have to give the child extra lessons while he is still young." Shen Lie said as a matter of course.

Ning Tang: "Think about it from another perspective. Da Wa can get a perfect score on math tests, and when you ask him to do a math problem at home, he can answer it right away. What does that mean?"

Chen Lie: "Explain? What?"

Ning Tang slapped his thigh. "That means Da Wa is a perfect candidate for math. Math is a subject that, if mastered well, can be applied to many other subjects and can also help develop logical thinking. Don't you think we should give Da Wa some extra math training and teach him advanced math knowledge in advance?"

Of course, this doesn't mean that Chinese is not important. Ning Tang is still confident that she can help Da Wa improve his Chinese grades a little bit. After all, she was a graduate of a key university in her previous life. After her tutoring, Da Wa will at least not carry red lanterns home.

After all, she had roughly read the plot of the novel. In the original work, Da Wa also did not do well in the Chinese test. Shen Lie tried his best to give him extra lessons, even delaying his own work, but his Chinese score did not improve.

This shows that the eldest child really doesn’t have the talent to study.

When he reached senior grades, he could only score 30 or 40 points in Chinese, and his scores in other subjects, except mathematics, were barely above the passing line. This was in stark contrast to the Su twins, who were smart and always scored high in exams.

But at the same time, although there are defects on the one hand, on the other hand, they are particularly outstanding. No one ever needs to worry about the eldest child's math, and he always gets full marks.

But I can't say this to Shen Lieming. I can't tell him directly that Da Wa is not cut out for studying and that his Chinese scores will only get worse in the future.

Chen Lie's mind was full of thoughts. He gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you and help Da Wa with his math skills."

He placed his hands behind his head, looked at the ceiling and sighed, "This is the only way."

He felt like crying but couldn't. "You said I've been famous my whole life, but how could I have such a stupid son? When I go back to the army, if people ask me, 'Captain Shen, how many points did your son get in the final exam,' what should I say? Or, how about I ask for leave and not go to the army for a while, or just hide from everyone? What do you say?"

Ning Tang was amused. "You are really promising. Why are you hiding? What's there to hide? It's just that you didn't do well in the exam. What's the big deal?"

"Yes? What's the big deal?" Chen Lie patted his cheeks. "I'm a regiment commander after all. Where can I put my face?"

"You're just trying to save face but end up suffering." Ning Tang mocked him.

Chen Lie curled his lips. "You don't understand. A tree lives by its bark, a person lives by his face. Please help me think about it. When people ask about Da Wa's grades, how should I fool them?"

"How to fool people?" Ning Tang asked.

"Yes, how can we fool him? Give me some ideas," Chen Lie said. "Let's not talk about the distant future. Su Junyan will definitely ask about it. Lately, he's been whispering in my ear about how smart his twins are. They always get full marks on the in-class dictation tests. They're definitely going to get full marks on this final exam as well."

They could all imagine the scene: "I ran into him on the street, he stopped me and asked me how many points the eldest child got on the test. I stammered for a long time, unable to utter a word. Then he boasted to me that his twins got 100s in both Chinese and math. Isn't that shameful? How embarrassing."

Ning Tang glanced at him sideways. "Are you stupid? If he asked you how many points Da Wa got on the test, you'd be embarrassed to not give a direct answer. Instead, you'd ask him how much subsidy and salary he received before the Spring Festival."

Chen Lie's length of service and rank are both higher than Su Junyan's. Su Junyan is just an office worker, unlike Chen Lie. He also has an hourly overseas subsidy. All in all, Chen Lie can earn hundreds more than Su Junyan a year, and his Spring Festival benefits are better than his.

Chen Lie was stunned. "That's not a good idea. Asking someone about their salary without thinking."

"What's wrong with that?" Ning Tang said, "He knew that Da Wa didn't do well in the exam, but he still tried to hurt you. In the end, he lost more than he gained, and you hurt him instead. That's what he deserved."

Shen Lie hesitated and asked, "Will this work?"

"It'll work. Whenever they ask you, just avoid the question," Ning Tang said. "Just remember one thing: don't compare your weaknesses with others' strengths. Instead, use your strengths to crush others' weaknesses. Got it?"

Chen Lie nodded, "I understand." He then muttered, "If Da Wa did well in the exam, why would I bother with all this hard work? I could walk around with my head held high."

"Then let me ask you, if the division commander's son asks Da Wa why he doesn't have any delicious snacks or interesting picture books, how will Da Wa answer? Will he say my dad is just a regiment commander? Doesn't your division commander father have a high salary?" Ning Tang said.

Chen Lie was confused for a moment.

Ning Tang patted his sturdy arm and said, "There are so many truths in this. Just figure it out slowly. I'm going to sleep first."

After saying that, he fell into a deep sleep without caring about Chen Lie's reaction.