PCJ – Chapter 30 Tutoring

Where could Zhang Benrui outrun a water buffalo? He ran along a field embankment, only to be caught up by the water buffalo. The water buffalo directly used its head to bump into Zhang Benrui, sending him flying as if hit by a tractor. He soared high in the air, then entered free fall, landing in the water field below, forming a human shape amidst the dense rice paddies. The water splashed high in the rice field. The water buffalo still wouldn’t relent, circling around the rice paddy again and again, not daring to charge into the field but waiting for Zhang Benrui to emerge.

“Yuck!” Zhang Benrui spat out a mouthful of mud, his head covered in muck, looking like a movable mud sculpture. Covered in mud all over, the fall was quite a blow to him.

Zhang Jiaohua not only didn’t feel like he had caused trouble but instead felt that the water buffalo had relieved him of some pent-up anger. He excitedly clapped his hands, laughing, “Haha, Zhang Benrui, serves you right, harming others and harming yourself. You deserved it. Oh…”

Zhang Jiaohua’s laughter abruptly stopped as someone grabbed his ears, turning his head to see his father.

“Dad. Zhang Benrui used a hoe to hit our family’s ox, trying to get it to trample me. Luckily our ox is smart and knew to help me get revenge.” Zhang Jiaohua recounted Zhang Benrui’s actions.

Zhang Youping initially didn’t understand what was going on, but now, hearing his son’s account, this was outrageous! Immediately releasing his son’s ears, “You’re not lying, are you?”

“Of course not. I was just leading the ox on the embankment, not eating their crops, he came over, cursed at me, I retorted, and he used a hoe to hit our ox. Look! Our ox was spinning here, chasing after him, and eventually bumped him into the field. If he hadn’t hit the ox, our ox wouldn’t have chased him like that.”

“You, Youping! Your kid has no manners. It’s fine for him to graze his ox on our embankment, but when I say something to him, he lets the ox come and bump into me. Is he trying to kill me?” Zhang Benrui washed off a bit in the field water, revealing his eyes. Seeing the water buffalo still circling the embankment, standing in the water field without daring to come up. Seeing Zhang Youping coming, he immediately acted as if he had seen a savior, quickly turning the tables, playing the victim.

“Serves you right! Our ox didn’t eat your crops, why did you randomly hit our ox twice? My kid was leading the ox in front! What if the ox got agitated and bumped into my kid?” Zhang Youping usually spoke nicely, but that didn’t mean he’d let someone almost kill his son without consequence. At this moment, his blood boiled, his face turning red.

Zhang Benrui saw Zhang Youping suddenly enraged, standing dumbfounded, unable to speak. Zhang Youping, before marriage, was known in the village for fighting like a madman. After marriage, with his wife managing him, he had toned down a lot. Zhang Benrui had almost forgotten this aspect of Zhang Youping’s character. Now, with his anger flaring up, Zhang Benrui was immediately subdued. Say one more thing, and Zhang Youping would surely jump into the field to fight.

“I was just trying to make a joke. Youping, don’t be so hasty. Let’s talk it out. We’re all relatives,” Zhang Benrui conceded.

“Zhang Benrui, luckily my kid is fine today. Otherwise, I would have to give you a good beating. Damn it, what a piece of work you are!” Zhang Youping, seeing Zhang Benrui in such a sorry state, couldn’t be bothered to continue berating him. He went over to lead his water buffalo, praising it profusely.

“Old ox! Well done, in the future, if anyone dares to bully my kid, you go and give them a good bump! I’ll give you extra fodder!” Zhang Youping acted immediately, going home to fetch a basket, taking a sickle, cutting a load of fresh grass from the slope of their embankment, and feeding the water buffalo a hearty meal.

Zhang Benrui slinked away to wash off in the pond, not daring to curse anyone, and went home honestly. He was clearly in the wrong today and encountered Zhang Youping, the fighting king. He could only concede.

Zhang Jiaohua not only wasn’t criticized but was instead praised by Zhang Youping, “In the future, if you encounter people like Zhang Benrui who dare to bully you, come and tell Dad, Dad will go to their house and settle it. Our family doesn’t bully others, but if others dare to bully us, we must fight back. These scoundrels must be severely beaten.”

Liu Qiaoye glared at Zhang Youping with dissatisfaction. “I know you used to be the fighting king. When you were in elementary school, you even beat up my brother. When we got married, my brother didn’t dare to come to our house. Don’t teach our kid bad habits. If our kid causes trouble in the future, you’ll see how I’ll deal with you!”

“I’m afraid our kid will suffer outside,” Zhang Youping smiled, no longer daring to continue instilling his fighting theories.

Zhang Jiaohua went to school with his backpack as usual. In school, he didn’t provoke anyone, and others avoided him like the plague. They coexisted peacefully.

At first, Gong Ziyuan paid attention to this somewhat solitary child, but now he didn’t find it novel anymore. Although he felt Zhang Jiaohua was a bit off, since he didn’t cause trouble in class, Gong didn’t bother to intervene. After all, in this rural elementary school, neither parents nor the school had much pursuit of students’ academic performance. Because for most children, their future destiny was likely facing the soil and sky. Although studying and joining the military were the only two paths for ordinary farming families, since the liberation of Meizi village, there had never been a college student, and only a few had made their way out by joining the army. Since the future was predetermined, why bother excessively pursuing children’s academic achievements?

As a result, teachers had no pressure, and children had no pressure either. Teachers didn’t assign too much homework after class because most children were already half-laborers at home. They still had to do many farm chores every day.

Gong Ziyuan still noticed that Zhang Jiaohua was different from other children. His handwriting was particularly good, and he rarely made spelling mistakes.

Zhang Jiaohua didn’t have much interest in school life. The only interesting time was when the teacher occasionally showed mercy and told a little story.

When he came back from school, he heard again that another duck was missing from Zhang Benrui’s family. Zhang Benrui’s mother, Ma Jinxiu, scolded loudly in the village, then found an excuse to inspect Zhang Jiaohua’s duck flock. In fact, Ma Jinxiu knew that the ducks weren’t missing but had been taken by someone.

Because in the morning, after Zhang Benrui returned home, he changed his clothes after breakfast and went to the market. When he came back, he had a few rat traps in his hands.

Meizi village was surrounded by towering mountains and lush trees, with abundant wildlife. Raccoons and yellow-skinned creatures liked to come to the village for a meal. Yellow-skinned creatures were particularly troublesome. Once they tasted something sweet, they would often come back for more. Moreover, they were very bold and hard to guard against.