After returning home, Lu Shi lay straight on the bed, neither eating nor talking.

Hu Zi asked softly:

"Mom, what happened to my dad?"

"He felt bad. An An got into trouble, and the other person's parents scolded us like crazy, saying that if the top beam is not straight, the bottom beam will be crooked."

Hu Zi was so angry that he put the bowl on the table:

"Mom, how can they say that? An An is still young, he just doesn't understand."

Zhang Weifang looked at the excited Hu Zi and cursed softly:

"The little girl's head was bruised and will have a scar, and you're not going to let her parents scold her? That's the lightest punishment. If it were me, I'd probably hit her."

"Mom, how could this happen?" Hu Zi was instantly deflated when he heard that the little girl would have a scar.

Zhang Weifang said as he collected the bowls:

"Humph, it's not An An's fault. He pulled other people's pigtails because you spoiled him. Now, he has become a nuisance in the eyes of others."

Hu Zi knew that he was asking for trouble, so he immediately took the dishes and chopsticks to the kitchen.

After washing up, Zhang Weifang lay down on the bed. In the darkness, she could clearly feel Lu Shi's breathing.

Zhang Weifang didn't want to understand his feelings, so she teased him:

"What? Haven't you figured it out yet? A son's debt must be paid by his father. After all, An An is your son."

Lu Shi took a deep breath and said with a hint of frustration:

"If I had known earlier, I would not have had children. Others gave birth to sons, but I gave birth to ancestors."

Zhang Weifang knew that Lu Shi always compared An An and Hu Zi. Although Hu Zi was rebellious sometimes, he was generally sensible and could listen to other people's opinions.

An An is just the opposite. He is heartless and has the courage of a newborn calf that is not afraid of a tiger. That is why he gets into trouble everywhere. He admits his mistakes quickly but never takes them to heart.

Zhang Weifang had no time to lament the passing of time. She yawned:

"Okay, go to sleep. Everyone is different. An An has his strengths too. Besides, he's still young, so just teach him slowly!"

From that day on, An An stayed at home again. The children and teachers in the kindergarten did not welcome him.

Every day after get off work, Zhang Weifang would go to the hospital to visit the little girl. The little girl’s wound was not too serious, so she stayed in the hospital for two days and then went home.

Zhang Weifang quickly found out the little girl's home and went to her door with a bunch of things. The little girl's parents still didn't look at her well, but they didn't refuse the things either.

Half a month later, the gauze on the little girl's head was removed, leaving a small, faint pink mark on her forehead.

Zhang Weifang gave the scar removal cream she bought in the space mall to the little girl's mother:

"Comrade, I asked someone to bring this ointment back from Hai City. It can remove scars. Try it on your child!"

In the following days, the two sides reached a temporary consensus to wait until the little girl's wounds were completely healed before discussing compensation.

The scar removal cream was quite effective. After a month, the girl's scars became much lighter and could hardly be seen unless observed closely.

Zhang Weifang breathed a sigh of relief, and the little girl also smiled happily.

The little girl's parents were quite reasonable. When they saw that their child's scar had become smaller, they also knew that the ointment must have been hard-earned, so they let the matter go.

Zhang Weifang was very grateful for their generosity. She gave them another hundred yuan as compensation for the homework, which made her feel better.

At this moment, Lu Shi was filled with disappointment towards An An. This child made noises and shouted all day long, but Lu Shi did nothing and had no intention of teaching or correcting him.

Faced with this situation, Lu Shi couldn't help but feel powerless and helpless, and even began to develop a laissez-faire, broken-pot mentality—might as well just "let it get away with it"! Anyway, no matter how hard he tried, it seemed like he couldn't change the status quo.

However, this kind of negative thinking will not solve the problem, but may make the situation worse.

An An is now like a wild horse that has broken free from its reins, becoming increasingly uncontrollable.

Zhang Weifang decided that this couldn't go on any longer, otherwise An An would really be ruined.

She organized a family meeting, the specific content of which was about An An's education. She would educate him personally and hoped that Lu Shi and Hu Zi would not fall behind.

Lu Shi was eager for Zhang Weifang to take over this hot potato as soon as possible. He was almost depressed by An An's torture. Hu Zi was not happy, but was directly suppressed by his parents.

The next day after get off work, Zhang Weifang took An An to the girl's home and asked him to apologize to the girl in person.

An An apologized in a daze, but he didn't understand the seriousness of the matter.

Zhang Weifang pointed at the scar on the little girl's head and told An An:

"An An, did you see that? Because you pulled someone's hair, not only did she bleed a lot, but she also got a scar. This is all your fault."

When they returned home, Zhang Weifang told An An:

"An An, our family is broke now because all of Mom's salary was used to pay for your compensation. From now on, we can only have one vegetable and steamed bread every day. No meat, no flour, and no fruit."

At dinner time, An An looked at the plate of cucumbers and a basket of cornmeal steamed bread on the table, and his little face wrinkled:

"Dad, where's my egg custard? Where's my steamed bun?"

Zhang Weifang slammed the table hard:

"No, we can eat this at home from now on. If we don't eat it, we will be hungry."

To be honest, Zhang Weifang’s cornmeal steamed bread is not too bad, and it even contains sugar. However, An An is used to eating steamed buns and meat, so he finds it difficult to swallow.

An An cried out "Wow" and started to cry:

"I want to eat steamed buns and eggs."

Hu Zi was about to coax him when Zhang Weifang glared at him, scaring him so much that he dared not move.

The three of them finished the meal accompanied by An An's crying. To be honest, no one felt very good about the meal, but they all endured it.

After dinner, Hu Zi washed the dishes on his own initiative, while Zhang Weifang and Lu Shi went straight back to their room.

An An threw a tantrum and rolled on the ground, demanding to find his parents. Zhang Weifang simply locked the door, leaving An An alone crying outside.

Listening to An An's crying, Lu Shi felt like he was growing weeds in his heart. He always wanted to go out and see him. Zhang Weifang pulled him back:

"Just stay still."

An An cried intermittently for about an hour this time, and neither Zhang Weifang nor Lu Shi went out.

After washing the dishes, Hu Zi started doing his homework. He didn't dare to coax An An.

An An cried for a long time and finally ran to find his brother. That night, he fell asleep on an empty stomach. Hu Zi cried out of heartache. He felt that his mother was too cruel.

The next day's breakfast was the same as usual. An An wanted to make a scene again, but was calmed down by Zhang Weifang's words:

"If you're not afraid of going hungry, just keep crying. No one will comfort you in the future."