A slap in public
When Jiang Jingshu and Xie Zhijin returned to the classroom door, the parent-teacher meeting had just ended, and Xie Zhijin's mother had not yet come out. "Jiang Jingshu, I'm going back now."
Xie Zhijin said goodbye to Jiang Jingshu, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and left first.
Su Xiaoyue linked arms with Jiang Jingshu, "What happened, Jiang Jiang?"
Jiang Jingshu shook her head slightly and glanced around. "Where is Wang Shengli?"
Su Xiaoyue shook her head. "I didn't see him. I hope he hasn't already gone and told Xie Zhijin's mother something."
As soon as she finished speaking, Xie Zhijin's mother rushed out angrily and slapped Jiang Jingshu across the face.
"Young lady, I thought you were a good person at first, but I never expected you to seduce my son?" The woman walked over to Jiang Jingshu arrogantly, not giving Jiang Jingshu a chance to defend herself, and slapped her across the face, along with the woman's vicious words.
Jiang Jingshu: ?
Her face was slapped to the side, and she felt a burning sensation on her cheek. Just then, Jiang Yuan came out of the classroom and quickly walked to Jiang Jingshu's side, glaring angrily at Xie Zhijin's mother's face, "What are you doing?"
"Auntie, I respect that you are Xie Zhijin's mother, but what you did was inappropriate." Jiang Jingshu never expected to be slapped. Her head was buzzing from the slap. She covered her cheek with her hand, and there was a clear handprint on her face.
"Damn, are you, an adult, hitting a child? Jiang Jiang, are you alright?" Su Xiaoyue gently took Jiang Jingshu's hand, her five fingers imprinted on Jiang Jingshu's fair face.
"Are you his father?" Xie Zhijin's mother, Zhao Xu, ignored Jiang Jingshu and Su Xiaoyue's words. She only pointed at Jiang Yuan and said, "Is this how you raise your daughter? So indecent, she fawns over every man she sees?"
"Parent, putting aside the extent of the harm your slap caused my daughter, you're now causing trouble here without any reason or evidence. I could easily call the police and have you arrested." Jiang Yuan stared at Jiang Jingshu with heartache. If it weren't for the rule of law, he really would have wanted to retaliate by slapping her back.
“My classmates all told me that your daughter walks home from school with my son every day, and my son hasn’t been living at home at all lately. So, which home did your daughter take my son to?” Zhao Xu’s gaze returned to Jiang Jingshu, and she looked her up and down.
Jiang Jingshu listened quietly. Xie Zhijin hadn't been home lately? Jiang Jingshu was a little puzzled. How could that be? The two of them came home every day; how could they not be home?
“Xie Zhijin and I are friends. What’s wrong with friends walking home from school together? Besides, we live in the same neighborhood, so why can’t we walk home together since it’s on the same route? If you’re going to conclude that Xie Zhijin and I are dating based on this, that’s completely unfounded. Auntie, I initially thought you were a reasonable person, but today it seems to me that you’re just someone who believes everything you hear, someone who’s easily led astray, and an adult who can’t think for themselves.” Jiang Jingshu stared at Zhao Xu, not showing any weakness. On the contrary, she explained very seriously.
"What a joke! He hasn't been living at home at all lately, how could he possibly be going the same way as you?" Zhao Xu stared at Jiang Jingshu. "My son's grades are ridiculously bad this time. I was wondering why, and it turns out you've been seducing him and ruining his grades. Little girl, focus on your studies. You're doing so badly yourself, and you want to find someone who's good at studying to follow along? Have you no shame?"
Jiang Yuan would not allow his daughter to be bullied like this in front of him. "Since you're making baseless accusations without any evidence, I don't need to maintain a superficial relationship with you anymore. Half of my daughter's face was injured by you. I will take her to the hospital for a medical examination. You insulted my daughter with a lot of vicious language, causing her psychological harm. My daughter is still a minor and has suffered both physical and psychological harm in a public place because of you. This is intentional harm to a minor. I will pursue your legal responsibility to the end and will not mediate."
Jiang Jingshu thought Jiang Yuan was incredibly handsome. Although her face still stung from time to time, Jiang Yuan never backed down when faced with her questions, and his relentless pursuit of the truth warmed Jiang Jingshu's heart.
"Your whole family is beyond saving. Do whatever you want. I'm just warning your daughter to stay away from my son. You won't be able to come into my house."
Parents nearby were taking pictures of this "explosive" scene with their phones.
"Hey, Xie Zhijin's mother, what you did was really unfair. She already said she wasn't dating your son. As an adult, you just hit him. What kind of behavior is that?"
"After this, who would dare to play with your son? Anyway, I will only teach my daughter to stay away from boys with parents like yours."
More and more parents of girls in the area are also speaking out.
“Jing Shu’s father, I support you. I just recorded the whole video. There are surveillance cameras here too. I can send it to you if you need it.”
Jiang Jingshu looked in the direction the sound came from and saw a boy's parent.
The boy's name was Jiang Yuzhou. Jiang Jingshu remembered him. Jiang Yuzhou was the class's sports committee member. Jiang Jingshu was not very physically fit and always lagged behind during morning exercises. He would run next to her and cheer her on silently.
She watched as Jiang Yuzhou winked at her, and Jiang Jingshu mouthed, "Thank you."
Jiang Yuzhou mouthed back, "You're welcome."
The matter was temporarily resolved after Jiang Yuan called the police. Jiang Yuan took Jiang Jingshu to the hospital for a medical examination. Zhao Xu had hit her hard, resulting in minor injuries. Jiang Yuan then took many photos of Jiang Jingshu's injuries as evidence.
He also immediately obtained the surveillance footage from the school in the corridor, and together with the recording provided by Jiang Yuzhou's father, the evidence was very complete.
Jiang Yuan gently touched Jiang Jingshu's cheek, "You've suffered."
Jiang Jingshu shook her head. "Dad, you were really handsome just now."
Jiang Yuan tapped her forehead, "You silly girl."
—
On the other side, Su Xiaoyue had already told Xie Zhijin the whole story, and Su Xiaoyue was furious.
"Xie Zhijin, although this has nothing to do with you, I'm really upset right now and I have to call you and give you a piece of my mind."
When Su Xiaoyue's angry voice came through the phone, Xie Zhijin was writing an exam paper at the hotel. He answered the phone, somewhat puzzled, "What are you talking about?"
“I don’t know what’s wrong with your mother. After hearing what Wang Shengli said, she rushed out and slapped Jiang Jiang. She also kept insulting her with nasty words, saying that Jiang Jiang had been seducing you. Xie Zhijin, is your mother alright? Do you know how badly Jiang Jiang’s face was slapped? If you go to see her now, you’ll probably still see her face swollen like a bun.”
Before Su Xiaoyue could finish speaking, Xie Zhijin suddenly stood up from his chair, causing the stool behind him to fall to the ground due to the violent movement of the person in front of him.
"What did you say."
Anger crept onto Xie Zhijin's face. He gripped his phone tightly, his mind blank for a moment.
He had thought that his mother would at least be presentable in public, but he never expected that she would treat others in the same way.
"Who would dare be friends with you after this? Now look what's happened! No woman will be around for miles around. Xie Zhijin, you really should apologize to Jiang Jiang. Normally, she would have slapped him back. She's never been treated like this before. There are so many parents around, and your mother made her lose face completely. Yet she still cares about you, treating you politely because she's your mother," Su Xiaoyue said angrily, seemingly too angry. "Xie Zhijin, you're a lunatic! You're driving me crazy! Go and comfort Jiang Jiang yourself."
After saying that, he hung up the phone.
The next second, Xie Zhijin rushed straight out of the hotel.
In January, the weather had already turned cold, and he rode his bike home as fast as he could.
When he arrived at the entrance of the residential area, he bumped into Jiang Jingshu and Jiang Yuan, who were returning home. He quickly hid to the side.
"Xiaojing, go back and get an ice pack to cool your cheeks," Jiang Yuan instructed her as they walked.
Jiang Jingshu nodded, but was fiddling with her phone.
Xie Zhijin clearly saw that Jiang Jingshu's left cheek was swollen. He hid behind her, somewhat at a loss.
The next second, his phone rang, and he frantically silenced it.
Hearing the sound, Jiang Jingshu turned around and looked back. "I think I heard something?"
"No, I don't think so." Jiang Yuan shook his head. "Did your mother hit you and hurt your ear? Did they not find it during the examination? Let Dad take you to the hospital again."
Jiang Jingshu shook her head. "It's nothing. I guess I was overthinking it."
After watching Jiang Jingshu and Jiang Yuan leave, Xie Zhijin emerged from behind the tree.
He opened his phone and saw Jiang Jingshu's WeChat message: "You haven't been staying at home lately?"
Xie Zhijin stared at Jiang Jingshu's message for a long time.
"The hotel you're staying at?"
Before I could reply, another message came from Jiang Jingshu.
Xie: "Mm."
Xie: "I'm sorry, I'll handle it."
After sending the message, Xie Zhijin put his phone away and returned home.
Meanwhile, Jiang Jingshu had already arrived home and received Xie Zhijin's message, but she did not reply.
Su Xiaoyue called Jiang Jingshu, and Jiang Jingshu answered, "Jiang Jiang, are you alright?"
"You told Xie Zhijin about this, huh?" Jiang Jingshu knew immediately that Su Xiaoyue had gone to stand up for her.
"I'm so angry, Jiang Jiang. Is his mother crazy? She has no evidence at all, yet she says you two are dating and she even beats you up. This is not the behavior of normal parents."
Su Xiaoxiao said, "I wonder what kind of hard life Xie Zhijin is living at home. Didn't his mother say before that he didn't live at home? I guess he was forced to by his mother."
Jiang Jingshu leaned over the table, looking at the agave in front of her, and said to Su Xiaoxiao, "Su Xiaoyue, my face really looks like a little pig."
"Sweetie, I'll come to your house to play tomorrow. Uncle looked so handsome today, I'm not giving in. But Jiang Jiang, I've been wanting to ask you, are you really going to call the police?"
“I…” Jiang Jingshu hesitated for a moment, “Xiaoxiao, when his mother slapped me, I was angry. My thoughts were the same as my father’s.” Jiang Jingshu thought that if anyone else had bullied or hurt her like that, she would definitely call the police and pursue the matter to the end.
“But this person is none other than Jiang Jiang,” Su Xiaoxiao’s voice came.
Jiang Jingshu stared at the agave in front of her. "If I really make a big fuss, it will directly affect Xie Zhijin."
Su Xiaoxiao did not speak again.
“They are friends, after all, and this matter has nothing to do with him. If his mother has a criminal record, it will ruin Xie Zhijin’s life.”
Jiang Jingshu wasn't actually angry with Xie Zhijin. She seemed to have guessed long ago that Xie Zhijin's relationship with his family was bad, and that it was his mother's problem, not his.
Xie Zhijin has such good grades, his future should be bright, and she doesn't want him to be affected by his family.
But she herself was indeed hurt.
"I haven't decided yet. Let's see how things develop," Jiang Jingshu said to Su Xiaoxiao.
Su Xiaoxiao gave her a few more instructions and then hung up the phone.
Xie Zhijin had just kicked open the door to his house when Zhao Xu, who was drinking tea in the living room, saw Xie Zhijin storming back and couldn't help but say, "Oh, looks like the little vixen has come to complain. Is someone here to interrogate you?"
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