Chapter 13 My child needs an apology from his child
Lin Yuxun found a table and chair near the entrance to the school cafeteria. He took off his sunglasses. The red bricks, green tiles, ancient trees, and verdant lawns were all familiar. Seven years after graduation, he returned, the familiar, fresh air filling his lungs, bringing back fragments of those years. It drifted by, and he realized he had no real lingering feelings. "Here for the exam, too?" the slightly older man sitting across from him asked. "Yes." "There are quite a few, probably over two hundred," the man said, glancing around. Lin Yuxun followed his gaze, scanning the two hundred or so people he was referring to. The school had several cafeterias, and the South Gate cafeteria was closest to the exam building. This group of people were waiting around there to enter the exam room. Lin Yao had previously studied the college's MBA admissions data from previous years and had calculated the number of people. The majority of applicants came from sectors like finance, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, internet giants, real estate, law firms, and the Big Four. Most held mid-level management positions, with a few in senior management. The average age of admission used to be over 30, but in recent years it has been easing, to an average of 28, and some were likely married. This MBA program relies on its top rankings, resulting in a very low acceptance rate. The pass rate for the preliminary interview was about 18%, and after further screening based on the national postgraduate entrance examination scores, the acceptance threshold is much higher than most universities. After these two rounds of screening, the two hundred or so applicants were selected. Today, they took the school's own political science exam—the final stage. With half an hour left, no one was cramming for lessons. Instead, they gathered in groups of three or four, chatting animatedly about their workplaces. "Oh, your state-owned enterprises are so stable." "I know Mr. Fang from your law firm. He worked with us on a background check for a company." "Oh, yes, yes, he's my former colleague. Is he working for you now?" ... From that moment on, the socializing began. After greeting the man who had spoken to me, he stood up, detached from the surrounding noise, and wandered to the side of the road. He spotted someone pedaling a bicycle at breakneck speed. Wearing a pure white T-shirt tucked into skinny black jeans and a half-high ponytail, he exuded even more energy than he had seen at the exam hall last winter. The hunter's eyes lit up, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. It was her, the little white rabbit headhunter. Lin Yao, fearing parking problems, didn't drive Long Weihe's car, so she took a taxi to take Qian Duoduo to kindergarten. She checked the navigation, but traffic was still bad, so she decided to take the subway. After exiting the subway, she saw she was running out of time, so she scanned a shared bike and rode from the north gate to the south, pedaling hard. She looked for a place to park the bike. "Good morning." He ran up to her, startling her. "It's you! Good morning!" She grabbed the large black Longchamp bag from the bike basket and glanced at him. It was different from the last time they met...
Lin Yuxun found a table and chair at the entrance of the school cafeteria and sat down.
He took off his sunglasses. The red bricks, green tiles, ancient trees, and verdant lawns were all familiar. Seven years after graduation, he returned, breathing the familiar, fresh air into his lungs, expanding the fragments of those years. It drifted by, and he realized he had no real lingering feelings.
"Are you here to take the exam too?"
The slightly older man sitting opposite him started talking.
"yes."
"There are quite a few people, probably around two hundred or so."
The man looked around as he spoke. Lin Yuxun followed his gaze and scanned the two hundred or so people he mentioned.
There are several canteens in the school. The South Gate Canteen is closest to the building where the exam is held. This group of people are waiting around here to enter the exam room.
Lin Yao had previously researched the college's MBA admissions data from previous years and had calculated the demographics. The majority of applicants came from sectors like finance, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, internet giants, real estate, law firms, and the Big Four. Most held mid-level management positions, with a small number at the senior level. Previously, the average age of admission was over 30, but in recent years, it has been younger, with an average age of 28, and some are likely married.
This MBA program, ranked high, has a very low acceptance rate. The pass rate for the initial interview was approximately 18%, and after further screening based on the National Postgraduate Entrance Examination scores, the acceptance threshold is significantly higher than most schools. After these two rounds of screening, the approximately 200 applicants were selected. Today, they take the school's own political examination, the final hurdle.
There was still half an hour left for the exam, and no one was cramming for time. Instead, they gathered in groups of three or four, chatting animatedly about their workplaces. "Oh, your state-owned enterprises are so stable." "I know Mr. Fang from your firm. He worked with us on a background check for a company." "Oh, yes, yes, he was my former colleague. Is he working for you now?"
Socializing starts from this moment.
After greeting the man who spoke to him, he stood up, away from the noise around him, and ran to the side of the road. He saw a man riding a bicycle, pedaling very fast.
She wore a pure white T-shirt tucked into black tight jeans and had a half-high ponytail. She looked even more energetic than when she was in the exam hall last winter.
The hunter's eyes lit up and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. It was her, the little white rabbit headhunter.
Lin Yao was afraid of parking inconvenience, so he didn't drive Long Weihe's car. He took a taxi to send Qian Duoduo to the kindergarten. He checked the navigation and there was a traffic jam, so he chose to take the subway. After getting out of the subway, he saw that time was running out, so he scanned a shared bicycle and rode from the north gate to the south gate, pedaling hard.
She looked for a place to put her bicycle.
"morning."
He ran in front of her and scared her.
"It's you! Good morning!"
She took the large black Longchamp bag from the basket of the car and glanced at him. He looked different from the last time they met. His hairstyle was different, with neatly upturned hair. He was wearing a black linen long-sleeved shirt. He didn't feel hot at all, and his hands were tucked into the pockets of his apricot shorts. His face was as indifferent as his words.
They contacted each other several times on WeChat. Before the exam, he sent her a message asking what political review materials she bought. She sent him a link, thinking that such a grown man had no hands-on ability at all. He even knew that Qian Duoduo had to search on Taobao for whatever he wanted.
The candidates became future classmates, and it was not strange to chat with each other in the campus environment.
“How long have you been a headhunter?”
"Three years."
"What did you do before?"
“HR.”
"Is it difficult to find someone?"
"It's not as difficult as before. We have built a talent pool that is targeted and focused."
"Can I make money?"
"Small money. We're small."
"Where are the limitations of your development?"
"Customers, the supply and demand in the industry has changed, and it's difficult to expand customer base."
"What industries are the customers in?"
"Pharmaceutical companies, medical devices, hospitals, and medical aesthetics."
“What kind of positions have you worked in medical aesthetics?”
"We have mainly been looking for upstream positions, such as raw materials and equipment R&D positions, as well as midstream positions such as medical aesthetic doctors and management positions."
They didn't talk about anything else, but he kept asking her about her work, and she felt like he was interviewing her. When she interviewed a candidate, she was particular about the rhythm and friendliness of the questions, but he just started asking a lot of questions, and when he asked again, she felt uncomfortable.
"Lin Yao?"
Someone shouted.
She looked for the person, a beautiful woman she'd met during the joint entrance exam last year. She paused, remembering her name: Zhuang Fei, in her early thirties. She'd added her on WeChat before, and she seemed like a bit of a social butterfly. She was a small business owner specializing in custom-made business attire. Her social media feeds were full of commercial cases, advertising deals for either an airline or a state-owned enterprise with 10,000 employees. She supplied uniforms for both of those companies, and her resources seemed promising. Lin Yao thought she should pursue an EMBA program to build connections, rather than the rigors of an MBA.
"Together, it's almost done." Zhuang Fei came over and took her arm as they walked towards the examination room.
Someone inserted, Lin Yuxun closed his mouth, broke away from them and kept his distance.
Zhuang Fei was a true social savvy. She'd talk about exams for the first 30 meters, and her cats and dogs for the next. Even the usually sharp-tongued Lin Yao had to give her some leeway. She'd met a fair share of people, but this was the first time she'd met someone so spontaneous and friendly.
"Handsome guy, what's your profession?"
Zhuang Fei held her back and pulled Lin Yuxun in.
"Unemployed."
The cold word cut off the topic.
Sheniu turned around and ignored him. It was not because she didn't have the skills to integrate him, but because her resources were of no value to her. She didn't waste time and pulled Lin Yao along and walked away quickly.
The two of them were in the same examination room.
Lin Yao placed her bag in the front corner of the classroom as required and found her seat in the first row, first left. Lin Yuxun was in the last row.
There were still a few minutes left in the exam, and some people were greeting each other in low voices.
The man at the table next to her leaned over and whispered, "Hello! Did you score above 250 on the college entrance exam?"
"How do you know?"
"It seems like the seating is arranged based on the joint entrance exam scores this time. I was almost stupid enough to be seated next to you."
He is quite humorous.
"I'm a little better than an idiot." She laughed.
Single exam is easy.
She and the boy handed in their papers first and left the classroom.
"Nice to meet you." He handed her a business card.
She took the business card and politely read it in a low voice, "Ruan Yiyan, Mr. Ruan—Nice to meet you, I'm Lin Yao."
She only turned on her phone after the two of them added each other on WeChat.
Long Weihe called her a few minutes ago and sent her a text message: "Call me back as soon as you finish the exam."
She quickly dialed the number, and Lin Yuxun caught up and wanted to talk. She gestured to wait a moment and continued talking while walking.
A hurried voice came from the other end. "Have you finished your exams? Please help me go to the kindergarten. Teacher Qian Duoduo just called and said he fell down the stairs at school! We need to take him to the hospital! My flight is tonight, so I can only rebook it in the afternoon!"
"Oh my God! How did you fall? Go now, go now, don't worry!"
She blushed with anxiety and said, "Sorry, I have something urgent to do, so I have to leave first." She didn't care about the reactions of the people around her and ran away.
"You came here by bike, right? I'll give you a ride." Lin Yuxun followed.
"I'll take a taxi."
"I park my car on campus, right there, in the parking lot in front. It's faster than taking a taxi."
It's not the kind-hearted little white rabbit that has the opportunity to break in.
She stood where she had parked her bike, panting. There were no shared bikes left. It would take over ten minutes to get a taxi from the door, and there were no better options.
"Thank you for the trouble!"
Long Weihe sent her the teacher's phone number. She called the teacher, then Long Weihe, and in between, Huang Yun. The kindergarten teacher initially couldn't get through to Long Weihe, so she called Huang Yun, the backup contact. She was furious. Lin Yao tried to appease her.
Lin Yuxun was completely flustered. It was clearly inappropriate to interrupt him, so he said nothing and focused on driving. The journey from the university to the kindergarten normally took forty minutes, but it took him half an hour, squeezing the time to the limit.
After hurriedly thanking him and getting out of the car, Lin Yao pushed the iron gate of the kindergarten, but it was locked.
The security guard, who was enjoying himself in a short video, heard a "clang" sound, opened the glass window of the security room, and stuck his head out. "Who are you looking for?"
"Looking for Teacher Yang from Class 2. Please open the door."
The security guard slowly called the teacher to confirm, took out the key, and pointed, "The child is in the infirmary, on the first floor."
At this time, there was a child crying in the place she pointed to, faintly heard among a group of children playing in the outdoor playground. She could tell it was Qian Duoduo.
When I came in, I saw the person sitting on the small chair with tears and snot all over his face. The school doctor was applying red medicine on his forehead, but he didn't know how to wipe off the sticky stuff.
"Duoduo!" She squatted down and held his face. She could tell how aggrieved he was by the curl of his lips. There was an obvious lump on his head and large bruises. "How did you fall? Where does it hurt?"
"My hands hurt, and my head hurts too!" Qian Duoduo looked down at his immobile left hand. "She pushed me! It's all her fault."
The teacher didn’t say that on the phone.
The teacher quickly explained, "We were going upstairs to class after our outdoor activity and two children fell behind. I was in front of them guiding the children upstairs and didn't see clearly what happened to them. They might have been playing together and made a mistake."
"I wasn't joking! I was just talking to her! I was making her laugh! She pushed me hard!" The person involved was not convinced.
He was thinking clearly and still had the energy to fight back. Lin Yao felt relieved. He searched his bag for a tissue to wipe his face, then stood up and asked the teacher, "How high was it? How many steps did you fall?"
"It's so high, I almost... died... wuuuu... I almost died... wuuuu..." Qian Duoduo rushed to answer, crying in his voice.
The teacher's face flushed. "About twenty steps. I didn't see the exact location. Our steps are made of rubber, and the edges are also treated for safety. The school doctor and I just checked. There's something wrong with his left wrist. It's swollen and I suspect it's broken. Otherwise, he should be fine."
Lin Yao stood up and faced her. "Teacher, pushing someone down the stairs is incredibly dangerous! Why did the kid push him? How did it happen? We need you to give us a factual explanation. We need to watch the surveillance footage. No one is exempt from responsibility if anything happens! I'll take him for a checkup. I'll wait for your call."
She put pressure on the teacher. In a hurry to get to the hospital, she picked up the person and left.
"I want to get down, don't hold me!"
When they arrived at the outdoor playground, Qian Duoduo struggled to break free, fearing that other children would see him and laugh at him.
"Aren't you in pain? Can you walk?"
"My hands hurt, but my feet don't hurt, so I can walk!" He stopped crying.
When they came out of the kindergarten gate, Lin Yuxun's car was still there, and he rolled down the window and waved at them.
Lin Yao stopped hailing a taxi and stepped forward, "Are you still there?"
"Take you to the hospital."
"No, let's take a taxi."
"Get up here, or I'll pay the ticket for nothing."
His car had been parked in front of the school and was driven away by the traffic police. He said the situation was special and he had to pick up his child to the hospital. The traffic police didn't waste any time talking to him and just gave him a ticket and slapped it on the front of his car.
After getting in the car, Lin Yao made a video call to Long Weihe, and the other end felt a little relieved.
Lin Yao teased him, "The girl is in his hand, why is it that tearing thing again?"
"I'm never talking to her again! If I talk to her again I'm a little puppy!"
He had completely given up. He stopped crying out in pain and was able to think about other things. He leaned forward from the back seat to look at the silent stranger who had been traveling all the way. He asked, "Who are you? Are you Lin Yao's boyfriend?"
"Qian Duoduo! Stop talking nonsense!"
Embarrassment washed over her, and she helped him up. "Be polite. Call—" She paused, unsure whether to call him brother or uncle. Kids here refer to young-looking men by their marriages: unmarried men are called brother, married men are called uncle.
"Hello, brother!" Qian Duoduo made his own judgment and called out quickly.
Lin Yuxun smiled slightly, "Hello!"
He doesn't like children and is usually a bit annoying. He can't even pretend to be enthusiastic.
The cool face of the little she-cow is hard to resist. Qian Duoduo took an interest in him, starting with a Star Wars figurine on the front of his car, leading the conversation. One innocently asked questions, the other, with a sly air, forced to answer seriously. The awkward and hilarious back-and-forth dragged on all the way to the hospital entrance. Lin Yao still couldn't get a word in.
He escorted the two to the hospital entrance and evacuated them. Lin Yao felt that he had escaped from Qian Duoduo's clutches.
I waited in line for a long time in the afternoon, and had to ask the hospital to contact a candidate to get a CT scan. The head was fine, but the left wrist had a displaced fracture. It was not until after six o'clock that the treatment was completed.
Long Weihe changed his flight to the afternoon and came directly to the hospital. When he saw her at the hospital entrance, he threw his suitcase to the ground and picked her up. "Does it hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt." Qian Duoduo shook his head.
With his hand clamped by plaster, he felt like he had Iron Man's hand and felt very cool. He showed it to Long Weihe with a smile on his face.
Lin Yao went forward to pick up the suitcase on the ground, "I'm not in pain, but the luggage is!"
"What did you say to her that made her push you? Tell me what happened in detail." Long Weihe held the plaster hand carefully.
"After we finished playing games, we lined up. Sisi was the last one in line and was crying. When we went up the stairs, I asked her why she was crying again. She said I was annoying and pushed me hard, so I fell down." Qian Duoduo recalled the incident, feeling wronged and upset. "She didn't even say sorry to me. She should apologize to me! I want Sisi to say sorry to me!"
"Tell me the truth, did you say anything to provoke her?"
"I didn't! But the other kids always called her a crybaby."
When a child suffers, he needs to say "I'm sorry". As a mother, you should support him.
She immediately called her teacher to ask for an explanation.
"Enming's mother, we checked the surveillance footage and it's true that the child pushed you without reason. We're truly sorry. We have a supervisory responsibility, and we'd like to apologize first. How about this: we arrange for the other parent to come to the school, and you can discuss the medical expenses in person? And have her parents apologize to you, too."
"Medical expenses are secondary. Please explain to that parent that children should resolve their own issues. My child needs an apology from their child, not from an adult."
"That's as it should be. We'll coordinate it! Don't worry."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
