Chapter 104: Judgment and Partiality

When Lin Yue arrived, he heard Zhang Linghan's stubborn voice coming from the office: "He was the first to attack us, and he teamed up with others to block us. I'm right, I won't apologize!"

Another female voice that sounded very gentle and kind said: "Zhang Jian was just joking with you, he didn't mean it seriously. No matter what, it's wrong for you to hurt someone."

Lin Yue recognized this voice. She sent her two children to school this morning. This was the teacher who taught their familiar class. She did not rush in, but slowed down her pace and continued to listen to the conversation inside.

In the office, Zhang Wanli said in a steady voice: "Teacher Liu, you mean that he imitated our way of speaking in the classroom, called us bumpkins, and gathered a group of classmates to block us on the way home from school and threw mud on us. Are these all jokes? We are children from small places and have little experience. Now we know that children outside joke with others like this. Then can we also joke with you like this in the future and you won’t get angry?"

Lin Yue burst out laughing. She knew that Father Xu had taught these two children a lot, but it was the first time she heard little Wanli talk so much and so organized. She was shocked and found it very funny at the same time.

There was silence inside for a while, and then the office door was opened soon. The gentle teacher Liu hurried out and said to Lin Yue with a stiff smile: "Mother Wanli, you are finally here. We have been waiting for you for a long time!"

Lin Yue smiled amiably, "Teacher Liu, I'm so sorry. It might be that the kid who went to call me ran too slowly. When I saw him, he was sweating all over. It seems that he didn't run fast enough. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for a long time."

Teacher Liu could hardly hold on to the smile on her face, and said reluctantly, "Mother Wanli, look at what you are saying. I didn't mean that, please don't misunderstand me!"

Lin Yue still smiled amiably and entered the office first. He saw Zhang Wanli and Zhang Linghan standing in front of the desk. A short-haired lesbian in her thirties was sitting on a chair next to them. A little boy of seven or eight years old was hiding behind her, with only half of his head exposed, looking timid.

Lin Yue first smiled at the female comrade. When she saw that Lin Yue was obviously stunned for a moment, she forced a smile and nodded.

Seeing that the other party had no intention of introducing themselves, Lin Yue did not say much, squatted down, and asked the two children: "What's going on? Talk to your mother."

When Wanli and Lingling saw their mother coming, their eyes lit up at the same time. They talked about what happened all at once. Lin Yue nodded and turned around to ask the little boy hiding behind the woman: "Is that so? Is there anything wrong with what they said?"

The little boy rolled his eyes, refusing to speak or come out from behind the woman, looking frightened. But Lin Yue had been in contact with children for a long time, and he could tell at a glance that he was pretending. Lin Yue didn't want to argue with a child, so he turned to look at Teacher Liu.

Teacher Liu smiled and said, "Mother Wanli, we are still investigating the conflict between the two children. We have only heard your child's one-sided statement and have not asked the other children yet..."

"Oh, so that's what I mean. You mean these two kids might not be right? You haven't even heard what the other kids said, so why do you think they only have one side of the story?"

Teacher Liu was sweating profusely. Who said that the wife of Zhang was a rural woman who knew nothing? She was so eloquent and could only pick holes in other people's words. How could she be a rural woman who could not read or write?

The woman opposite said, "Comrade, please stop making things difficult for Teacher Liu. No matter what, your child beat up my child, but they are both fine. This is the truth, right?"

Wanli and Lingling had just talked about what happened. She knew the siblings and naturally chose to believe her own child. Moreover, just now outside the door, Teacher Liu was biased towards the little boy in his words and deeds. She was angry and spoke rudely.

"You can't say that. If my two children were the first to cause trouble and beat up your child for no reason, then of course it's their fault. But if your children bullied them first, then they were just defending themselves, and it's not wrong for us to ask the police to investigate the case."

She held a child in one hand and continued, "I am not an unreasonable parent. Now my two children have told the story. If there is anything wrong with what they said, your son can come out and refute it. But if he refuses to speak, then my child is right!"

The female comrade pushed her son, pulled him out from behind her, and scolded him, "You speak for yourself!"

The little boy lowered his head, secretly glanced in Lin Yue's direction, and suddenly burst into tears: "They hit me first!"

Xiao Wanli and Xiao Lingling were immediately annoyed and shouted back, "You're talking nonsense! It was obviously you who started it first!"

Lin Yue patted the two children, signaling them not to speak. She squatted in front of the little boy and asked with a smile: "What's your name?"

The little boy didn't want to say anything at first, but when he saw that Lin Yue was still squatting there with no intention of getting up, he reluctantly said, "Zhang Jian."

"Well, Zhang Jian, how did they beat you? Where did they hit you?"

Zhang Jian's face changed instantly and he hesitated and refused to say anything.

Lin Yue encouraged: "It's okay, just tell me, if they go too far, auntie will teach them a lesson for you!"

He looked at Lin Yue and saw that she was indeed sincere, so he whispered, "Butt, butt..."

Lin Yue guessed that was the case. She turned around and glared at Zhang Linghan. Zhang Linghan immediately defended himself loudly: "I didn't take off his pants this time! And I did it for his own good. His buttocks are thick, and I'm afraid he'll get hurt if I hit him somewhere else!"

Zhang Wanli nodded. At least his sister didn't take off the pants this time. She just used a long wooden stick to hit the buttocks of those people. This was good enough. If she really did it, Zhang Jian might not be able to stand here peacefully.

Zhang Jian's face flushed red, and he looked up at Zhang Linghan fiercely: "Just wait for me! I'm letting you go this time, but next time I'll beat you to a pulp!"

Teacher Liu and Zhang Jian's mother had seen that Lin Yue had a good attitude and asked questions that were not detrimental to them, so they did not stop him. Now seeing Zhang Jian's outrageous remarks, Zhang Jian's mother slapped Zhang Jian in the face and scolded him, "How can you talk like that!"

Lin Yue hesitated for a moment and advised, "Don't hit the child. If you have anything to say, just talk it out." Then he turned to ask Zhang Jian, "She was really too much. Did they only hit you? Tell your aunt how many people they bullied?"

Zhang Jian looked at Lin Yue with bright eyes. He imagined in his mind that every time Zhang Linghan and Zhang Wanli beat up another person, the aunt in front of him would beat them up one more time. He said bluntly, "There were six of us in total, but they ran fast and were not caught by those two!"

Seeing that the little boy had let down his guard against her, Lin Yue suddenly laughed and said, "Six of you, armed with stinky mud, couldn't beat two little kids under five years old. You're not that good!"

Before Zhang Jian could react, he immediately retorted: "We beat them too! Don't look down on us. There is no one in the kindergarten who is not afraid of us!"

Lin Yue quickly replied, "Really? I don't believe it! I think the boss should be replaced in the future. Well, let Zhang Linghan do it!"

Zhang Jian's mother wanted to stop her stupid son, but unfortunately she failed. She heard her son shouting in dissatisfaction: "A stinky country bumpkin who can't even speak Mandarin, and you rely on her? Bah!"

Zhang Linghan shouted: "Mom, mom, that's how he made fun of us!"

Lin Yue stood up and asked in confusion: "If you can't speak Mandarin, does that mean you are a country bumpkin? But I see your mother, oh, no, it's your mother who can't speak Mandarin either!"

Zhang Linghan laughed loudly: "Haha, you actually called your mother a country bumpkin!"

In the military, everyone comes from all over the world. Because Mandarin is not widely used, many people cannot understand each other when they first join the army. This is a common thing. Even in the military compound, the military dependents speak in dialects from all over the country. Some military dependents have been here for a long time and have no problem communicating, but their accents are still very strong.

However, many children who were born or raised in the family compound may not speak standard Mandarin, but their accent is not that strong, and they may speak a mixture of various dialects. So Lin Yue really didn't understand why Wanli and Lingling were laughed at for speaking a local dialect.

The little boy clenched his hands nervously and shouted, "You country bumpkins, don't let anyone say anything! I'm scolding you, why should I bother with my mother?"

Lin Yue turned to Teacher Liu and said with a smile, "Then the matter is clear. This little Zhang Jian might not be used to others speaking his hometown dialect, so he had a conflict with our Wanli and Lingling. Then after school, he got some stinky mud from somewhere and threw it at the two kids with his friends. Our Lingling is a clean little girl, so the two sides started fighting, and then the six of them couldn't beat our two little ones, so they were beaten and cried. Oh, did they come to you to judge?"

Teacher Liu could hardly hold back her expression. She secretly exchanged a glance with Zhang Jian's mother before saying, "I was passing by there after get off work and saw Zhang Linghan hitting Zhang Jian with a stick, so I called them back to school."

Lin Yue nodded and said with a smile: "Well, it seems that our Lingling was very measured in her attack. She was afraid of hurting Zhang Jian and even found a wooden stick."

Zhang Jian's mother was not happy. She stood up suddenly and said in a gloomy tone, "Comrade Lin, you can't say that! According to you, it's all my Zhang Jian's fault, and your two children are blameless? Then your children hit people with sticks, or is it for our own good? What kind of logic is this!"