Eighty-five cannot escape responsibility
Without hesitation, Li Wei dragged Luo Da to the grove behind the school the next day at noon to discuss the matter.
Luo Da was sitting against the tree, eating his bread, when Li Wei fawned over him, taking out a water bottle and handing it to him. She then took out a bag of biscuits and two apples from the small bag she was carrying, giving one apple to Luo Da. The rest was her own lunch.
Luo Da stuffed the bread into his mouth in a few bites, drank half a pot of water, and then ate an apple with a clattering sound, without saying a word. There was no need for him to speak; after all, unsolicited kindness usually indicates ulterior motives, and Li Xiaoming didn't have the ability to steal, so it could only be the former.
Seeing that Luo Da was deliberately acting serious, Li Wei couldn't pretend to be either, so she greeted him with a smile: "Luo Jianhua, I heard that your brother's exam results weren't very good either. Don't you have any thoughts on that?"
Click, click: "No."
He's not acting like a proper older brother at all; how can he be so indifferent? "Let me tell you, Li Lin and Li Lianhui didn't do very well on the exam either. Sigh! I feel I also bear some responsibility for not helping them more." The man spoke shamelessly.
Luo Da flicked the apple core, which he had eaten all the flesh from, over the wall without saying a word.
Li Wei gritted her teeth inwardly. This guy wasn't cooperating at all. Really, she still had to put on a one-woman show: "My mom insists that I supervise their studies from now on. You know, they're all grown up now, a bit rebellious. And look at my small frame, I can't keep up with their antics every day. So, I thought of you. You know how good I've been to you, when you were little..."
Luo interrupted someone's reminiscing about the past: "What can I do?" It's better not to let her continue. If she finishes recounting the kindness of every drop of water, she'll probably be in class by then.
Li Wei felt her mouth was dry, so she took a sip of water. Only after finishing did she realize that Luo Da had just drunk some… Oh well, it wasn't anyone else anyway. She decided not to argue with him; business was more important: “Here’s what I was thinking: Li Lianhui and the others are all quite afraid of you, so consider this a small way of repaying me. You can watch them study, since you’re such a good student…”
Seeing that Luo Da's expression was off, and he seemed to have a problem with watching the children, Li Wei quickly added, "Of course, you don't have to do it every day. You just need to study with them three days a week. You just need to tell them they have to do their homework with you, and you don't have to do anything else. Hmm... if you can spend four or five days with them, that would be even better, and six days would be especially welcome... Okay, okay. Just three days. Actually, you still have to do your homework, it's just that you have a few more people to keep you company!"
Finally, Li Wei and Luo Da agreed to meet at Luo Da's house every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday evening. They had originally planned to meet at Li Wei's maternal grandmother's house, but Luo Da disagreed. Li Wei was indifferent and went along with it.
For the next three days, Luo Da will be doing homework with Li Lianhui and the others. Luo Da will also be responsible for notifying them. I'm sure no one will dare not go.
Li Wei wasn't idle either. She bought carbon paper and spent the weekend carbonizing practice papers for three subjects. She saved these for when Luo Da led the class in doing their homework, so she could use them for everyone else.
Whether anyone will cause trouble or refuse to work is beyond her jurisdiction; that's Luo Da's business. Anyway, she'll send the papers to Luo Da and wait for him to hand them in tomorrow so she can grade them. Then she'll have Luo Da send them back next time he does his homework, and make a new paper. And so on.
Li Wei's plan is quite good. She can choose to go or not. Anyway, Luo Da is there to supervise. As long as she can curb the ambitions of a few playful guys and they've done a lot of practice, improving their grades shouldn't be a big problem.
Wu Feng wasn't among these people. Wu Feng was a good girl. For a whole week, Li Wei did her homework at Li Wei's house with either Wu Feng or Zhou Xiaoyan, who always followed along. Life was very pleasant.
Just before dinner on Friday evening, Li Lin came running home from Luo's house, stumbling and crawling. She hadn't even put down her schoolbag before running to her parents. She held up her left hand, her voice trembling with tears, "Mom, look! Luo Jianhua hit me, waaaah..."
Cheng Min was startled. She took Li Lin's small hand and saw several red marks on her snow-white palm, which was a little swollen. She asked anxiously, "What happened? Why did Luo Jianhua hit you? Huh? Tell Mom quickly, Mom will go find him!"
Li Zhaoxing's expression was also not good, but he didn't say anything, just waiting to see what his daughter had to say.
When Li Lin saw her relatives, a flood of grievances welled up in her heart, and she sobbed, "Mom—Luo Jianhua insisted that we do our homework at his house, and he made us do problems. If we didn't listen to him, he would beat us! Waaah—" and it hurt so much.
Cheng Min and Li Zhaoxing exchanged a suspicious glance. What was going on? It seemed that this was something their eldest daughter used to do, but now it had become the business of the eldest son of the Luo family. That child didn't seem like someone who liked to meddle in other people's business.
The two of them looked at Li Wei at the same time, feeling that this matter was somehow related to that girl.
Li Wei chuckled dryly, "Ahem, Mom, well, it's like this. A few days ago, you said Xiaolin and Xiaohui didn't do well on their midterms, and you even gave me the task of figuring out a solution. I thought Luo Da's grades are so good, and he doesn't usually study much, so I figured he must have some tricks up his sleeve. That's why I sent Xiaolin and Xiaohui to study further. It was quite a struggle for me to get him to agree. Please don't spoil them. A gem needs to be polished to become a gem. This is for their own good. If it were anyone else, with Luo Da's personality, he wouldn't even bother with her. Don't believe me? Ask Xiaolin, didn't Luo Er get beaten up too?"
Given Luo Er's personality, he's bound to get beaten up; there's no need to even see it happen.
Li Lin still didn't have the courage to lie. She nodded reluctantly while sobbing, and clung to her mother to show that she was indeed frightened.
Seeing Li Lin's state, Cheng Min felt genuinely sorry for her, but she also knew what was right and wrong, so she discussed it with her husband: "Her father, what do you think about this..."
Li Zhaoxing was, after all, a man, and not so soft-hearted. Besides, this matter seemed so familiar to him. It seemed to happen frequently in his family before he entered junior high school, especially in the past few years. The defendant was always his eldest daughter, and the plaintiff was undoubtedly his youngest daughter. As for his son, he would just beat him and that would be the end of it. He basically didn't like to file complaints. Li Zhaoxing was basically immune to this kind of thing.
So he waved his hand and said, "It's just a child's matter. They're only trying to help Li Lin. I think Luo Da is a reliable person. He won't wrong her. If it really doesn't work out, don't go there to study anymore. Let your sister look after you. You still need to focus on your studies. Look at your grades. They're much worse than your sister's. Don't cry, don't cry. Just be more careful in the future."
Li Lin's lawsuit was essentially a waste of time, but she did gain something: she no longer needed to study at the Luo family's house.
Upon hearing this, Li Wei, who was eating at the time, immediately sat up straight: "Dad, it's fine if you let her study with me, but I won't be lenient if she doesn't listen. She's not a three-year-old anymore. Who has the time to lecture her every day? And even if they did, she wouldn't listen. Look how tall she is now, she's even taller than me. Do you think I can handle her? Now someone is tutoring her for free. How can you go along with Xiaolin? Isn't that making her lazy and unwilling to work?"
Luo Da, Luo Da, if it's nothing serious, just give her a cold shoulder and scare her a little. Li Lin is such a coward, she wouldn't dare to yell at you. Why did you have to hit her? Isn't this just causing me trouble? I'm definitely going to come and ask you about this tomorrow. Is this how you repay a debt of gratitude?
Li Zhaoxing thought about it and agreed. He had been quite busy and hadn't paid much attention to the children. His eldest daughter had been in charge of them before, but now that the two younger ones were growing up, he figured it would be difficult for her to manage them. So, he suggested, "How about this: when they go to Lao Luo's house to study, you go with them and keep a close eye on them. Try your best to prevent Luo Da from physically punishing them. You should supervise them more, so they can learn while minimizing their beatings. I think you're the only one among these kids who dares to reason with Luo Da. Don't just think about your own comfort; care more about your younger siblings. Let's do it this way."
Upon hearing her father's words, Li Wei's shoulders slumped. Her days of freedom were now even less than before; wasn't this just torturing her? With Luo Da watching them study, it would definitely be more effective than if she watched them herself. Just because Li Lin complained, she now had to study with the princes. Thinking of this, she became even more annoyed with Li Lin's tearless little face. "A leopard can't change its spots," she thought, "always complaining. If you're so capable, why don't you stand up for yourself and not let people criticize you?"
As if receiving her sister's fierce glare, Li Lin shrank into her mother's arms, then turned and stuck out her tongue at Li Wei, making a face.
"That brat!" Li Wei was so angry that she didn't even eat her meal. She got up, went upstairs to get a coat, and went back to the old house to stay with her grandmother.
Before going to her maternal grandmother's house, Li Wei first went to Lao Luo's house. She needed to talk to Luo Da first. Was it intentional that he only hit Li Lin instead of Li Lianhui, trying to avoid work?
Unsurprisingly, Luo Dazheng was practicing his kung fu with his bare arms. This time, he was kicking, kicking the sandbag. His long legs took turns kicking the huge sandbag, which trembled and swayed back and forth.
Luo Er and Luo Xiaosan were practicing their boxing on the side, quite seriously, their eyes fixed straight ahead.
Li Wei didn't disturb them. She greeted Grandma Luo first, then sat down and watched them practice martial arts.
As Li Wei looked at the Luo brothers, she thought of Li Lianhui. They were doing something serious. Li Lianhui was left unsupervised and must have been playing around with Erpangzi. He probably hadn't practiced any kung fu properly in the few months he had been in junior high school. How could this continue?
Finally, when Luo Da finished speaking, Li Wei hurriedly called out to him, "Luo Jianhua, take a break. I have something to tell you."
Luo Da walked over, picked up a towel from the small table to wipe his sweat, and waited for Li Wei to speak.
Li Wei cut to the chase: "Don't you really enjoy watching Li Lin and the others study?"
Luo Da thought for a moment and said, "It's not that I particularly dislike them, it's just that I find them too troublesome."
Li Wei thought to herself, "It's not that you don't like it: 'Fine, since you find it troublesome, you won't be needed anymore. I'll keep an eye on them myself. But you still have to study with them, just like keeping watch and having a deterrent effect. Also, I see you practice martial arts every day, could you let Li Lianhui practice with you? I've noticed he hasn't been practicing lately. If this goes on for too long, won't all his previous learning be wasted? What do you think?'"
This time, Luo Da readily agreed: "No problem, let him go with Xiao Er and the others." After all, Li Lianhui was fairly obedient, so Luo Da felt it wouldn't be too much trouble.
Although she won't have as much free time in the future, Li Wei feels that these are things she should do and there's nothing to complain about. As for Li Lin, if she still doesn't listen, she'll have to teach her a lesson.
With Luo Jianhua backing her up, Li Wei fears no wild beasts or madmen.
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