"Big brother and sister-in-law, I'm back!" Li Chenkai, the seventh brother, walked into the courtyard carrying large and small bags. He was still wearing a suit and tie, looking very businesslike. As a teacher, he felt that he should always maintain a good image.
"Oh my, Lao Qi is back!" Ye Xiaoxiao wanted to laugh when she saw Lao Qi return, because her son Li Zhonghao was now like a mouse seeing a cat whenever he saw Lao Qi.
"Sister-in-law, I just wanted to give you a surprise," the seventh brother said with a smile. "By the way, has Zhonghao done his homework?"
Li Zhonghao, who was watching cartoons on the sofa, suddenly felt a jolt and quickly grabbed his schoolbag to run upstairs.
"Stop right there!" The seventh brother's voice suddenly turned stern. "Li Zhonghao, are you trying to slack off again?"
"Uncle..." Li Zhonghao turned around pitifully, "It's the weekend today."
"What happened over the weekend?" The seventh child walked over and pulled a math workbook from his bag. "I remember I assigned 20 bonus problems on Friday, right? Have you finished them?"
Ye Xiaoxiao couldn't help but chuckle, "Seventh Brother, aren't you being a little too strict?"
"Sister-in-law," the seventh brother said seriously, "have you forgotten how you used to urge me to study? Back then, if I dared to slack off, you'd really beat me. Today, I'm going to give you a taste of your own medicine!"
"You... hahaha," Ye Xiaoxiao laughed and shook her head, "How can that be the same? You were about to drop out of school back then. If I hadn't been strict with you, with your scores of a few, would you have even been able to go to university?"
"That's right, that's right," Li Zhonghao quickly chimed in, "Uncle, I'm only in the first year of junior high."
"What's wrong with being in the first year of junior high?" the seventh student asked, getting even more excited.
"Sister-in-law, do you remember? When I was in seventh grade, you caught me slacking off on my homework and made me sit in a chair and copy 'I must study hard' a hundred times as punishment. Today, I'm going to let my good-for-nothing nephew experience that too!"
"Huh?" Li Zhonghao looked at his uncle in horror. "Mom, help!"
Ye Xiaoxiao laughed so hard she couldn't stand up straight: "Alright, alright, Seventh Brother, stop scaring the child. Zhonghao, hurry up and do your homework. After you're done, we'll go out for dinner as a family."
"Mom!" Li Zhonghao muttered in dissatisfaction, "Why are you taking Uncle's side?"
"It's because I'm your mom," Ye Xiaoxiao said sternly, "that you should support your homeroom teacher even more. Go do your homework!"
Li Zhonghao went upstairs dejectedly, while Lao Qi winked smugly at Ye Xiaoxiao: "Sister-in-law, what do you think of my teaching skills?"
"You," Ye Xiaoxiao laughed, "always bullying children."
"That's called tit for tat!" The seventh brother sat down. "Sister-in-law, you don't know, my nephew is incredibly clever. Guess how he cheated on the last exam?"
"Cheating?" Ye Xiaoxiao panicked immediately upon hearing this, "This child..."
"Don't worry," Lao Qi said in a low voice, "He wrote the formula on an eraser, and when I found out, he actually said it was printed on by the manufacturer... Can you believe that excuse?"
Ye Xiaoxiao couldn't help but chuckle: "So how did you handle it?"
"What can I do?" Old Seven rolled his eyes.
"I told him, 'Okay, let's call the rubber factory right now and ask if they print math formulas on their rubber.' Guess what he said?"
What did he say?
"He said it was an imported eraser..." Old Seven couldn't help but laugh as he said this.
"He's a real talent! But hehe, I'm not going to let him off easily."
I had him check all the erasers in the class to see if there were any 'imported erasers' with formulas printed on them.
Ye Xiaoxiao laughed, "You, all you do is tease him."
"That's right!" the seventh brother said smugly.
"Now look what's happened, I've become his homeroom teacher, and I'm determined to make him experience the same suffering I went through this year."
Just then, Li Zhonghao's voice came from upstairs: "Mom, Uncle, I've finished writing!"
"So fast?" The seventh brother immediately put on a stern face. "Li Zhonghao, are you just going through the motions again? I'll go up and check."
A moment later, Li Zhonghao's wailing came from upstairs: "Uncle, I was wrong! I promise to rewrite it!"
"Rewrite? No way!" The seventh brother's voice was exceptionally loud. "This time, I'm going to show you what it means for a strict teacher to produce outstanding students. Come on, I'll give you an extra question..."
Ye Xiaoxiao, listening downstairs, couldn't help but laugh. She wondered if the seventh brother genuinely wanted to urge his nephew to study, or if he was taking the opportunity to settle old scores.
During dinner that evening, Li Zhonghao looked at Ye Xiaoxiao pitifully and said, "Mom, could you talk to the school and ask me to change my homeroom teacher?"
"Why change your homeroom teacher?" The seventh student immediately glared. "Do you think I'm too strict with you?"
"No..." Li Zhonghao stammered, "It's just...it just feels weird."
"What's strange about it?" the seventh brother asked, even more excited.
"I think you feel embarrassed to tell your classmates that you have a homeroom teacher who is your uncle, right?"
Okay, I'll announce it in class tomorrow: you're my nephew!
"Huh?" Li Zhonghao almost jumped up from his chair. "Uncle, please don't!"
"What? You feel ashamed that I'm your uncle?" the seventh brother sneered. "Then let me announce again, about your cheating on the last exam..."
"I was wrong, I was wrong!" Li Zhonghao quickly admitted defeat. "Uncle, please don't say anymore. I promise I'll study hard from now on!"
Ye Xiaoxiao laughed so hard she almost fell over: "Seventh Brother, don't scare him. Zhonghao, you need to know, your uncle is doing this for your own good."
"I know..." Li Zhonghao muttered softly, "but he always uses the things you used to discipline him for to punish me, that's not fair."
"Hahaha!" the seventh brother laughed loudly. "Kid, do you know what karma is? Your mother used to keep me under her thumb, now it's my turn to keep you in check. That's what you call reaping what you sow!"
Li Zhonghao suddenly felt his life was going to be incredibly difficult. Not only did he have to deal with a strict homeroom teacher at school, but he also had to deal with his nagging uncle at home. What's worse, these two people were the same person!
"Oh, right, Zhonghao," Lao Qi suddenly said, "I'm planning to do home visits next week, so please let your classmates know beforehand."
"A home visit?" Li Zhonghao looked bewildered. "But you're at my house every day."
"That's different," the seventh brother said seriously. "That was when I was the youngest uncle. The home visit was when I was a homeroom teacher. These are two different things."
"......" Li Zhonghao wanted to cry but had no tears.
"Seventh Brother," Ye Xiaoxiao couldn't stand it anymore, "stop teasing him."
"Sister-in-law, I'm not just teasing him," the seventh brother said seriously. "I want him to know that whether he's at school or at home, my expectations for him are the same. Don't you think so?" The seventh brother smiled mischievously at his nephew.
Ye Xiaoxiao nodded: "That's true. Zhonghao, your uncle is right, you should study hard."
Li Zhonghao was on the verge of tears: "Mom, why are you taking his side again?"
"That's because your mom knew it all too well," the seventh brother said proudly. "If your mom hadn't been so strict back then, would I have been able to get into teacher's college? Now it's my turn to take care of you. What do you call that? That's called passing on the torch!"
"But..." Li Zhonghao wanted to say something more.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com