19 Salted Fish that is Not Idle

The excitement in Liu Susu's heart was not apparent to Shi Wangyue. He was worried about another problem.

"Mom, will Second Aunt give you less money in the future?"

The joy that had just risen in Liu Susu's heart dissipated in a flash, as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over her head.

"Let's go and apologize to her together tomorrow."

The kid said nothing, but bit hard on his lips.

Why couldn't happiness last a little longer?

… .

The children of wealthy families in Jin City would learn all kinds of skills from the moment they could walk. The Xia family was not that competitive and was considered a family that was more accommodating towards their children.

They allowed their children to enjoy their childhood all the way to kindergarten. After the children started attending kindergarten, they were signed up for enrichment classes based on each of their interests.

In her previous life, Youguang attended so many private enrichment classes until she was sick of them.

After her rebirth, she did not lose any of these skills. Finally she felt more assured that she had more leverage to be a salted fish1.

Xie Haitang wanted to send Youguang for enrichment classes like the other children at home, but the child said that she didn't want to attend those classes.

So be it.

Anyway, the child was smart enough and had a rich family background. There was no worry that she would not be able to make a living for herself when she grew up.

… .

Although there were some twists and turns on his fifth birthday, it was still a day worth remembering.

Shi Wangyue experienced the joy of celebrating his birthday for the first time, and Shi Manchuan finally remembered the existence of his other grandson.

Shi Wangyue's resources became much more ample.

Whatever classes that Shi Tongyang could attend, he was allowed to attend too.

To think that the son of a fool and his impoverished in-laws was given the same rights to education as her own son.

Even if Zhao Fei'er didn't take Liu Susu and her son seriously, she still felt uncomfortable with the situation.

WIth her feeling uncomfortable, Liu Susu would have a hard time. This means that Shi Wangyue would have an even harder time.

Each child was an independent individual. Their talents, preferences, and traits were all different. The types of classes suitable for their learning process and the things they could learn well were also different.

Shi Tongyang had a choice. Wangyue was just tagging along. He had no choice.

He could only learn whatever Shi Tongyang learned.

Ever since her son had been noticed by her father-in-law, Liu Susu, who used to only be fit to carry Zhao Fei'er's shoes, was still subservient to her.

But her suppressed desire to win could now be leveraged on her son.

Since then, Liu Susu had applied her domineering ways to take care of everything about her son—from his basic needs like food, clothing, accommodation to his studies. The only reason she pushed her son so hard was that Wangyue was much stronger academically than Shi Tongyang's.

After Shi Manchuan had praised Wangyue upon finding out that he won first place in a competition, Liu Susu found a new goal in life. She must ensure that her son gets first place for everything he did. If he cannot achieve it, he would have to work harder until he gets first place.

No matter how talented a child was, everyone had their shortcomings.

Shi Wangyue had been a very obedient child since he was young. He had good willpower, was highly intelligient, and also obedient. He was a serious learner towards everything. Shi Tongyang's talent was moderate. It was not difficult for him to surpass Shi Tongyang, but it would require a lot of hard work to get him first place in all the classes.

Because this world will never be short of people who are richer, more talented, and more hardworking than you.

To achieve the goals his mother had set for him, he'd lost all his play time. Every day he spent his time just eating, sleeping and studying. He didn't even get to see much of his father anymore, as Liu Susu wouldn't let them meet.

… .

Summer night.

The city was so polluted that the stars were no longer visible, but the courtyard was lush with greenery and insects could be heard chirping.

The Xia family's house was an old courtyard house built during the Republic of China. It occupied a large area and had a deep courtyard.

At this moment, two bamboo rocking chairs had been placed in the courtyard. Xia Rong and Youguang were lying on one each chair, fanning themselves and rocking away.

What was slightly different was that Xia Rong was holding a paper fan, while Youguang was holding a round fan.

The weather was hot, and the rest of the Xia family were indoors enjoying the coolness of air conditioning. The health expert, Youguang, and Xia Rong chose to bask in the natural breeze out in the courtyard.

When they talked about Wangyue and how he was recently, they couldn't help but feel angry.

"She's crazy. She doesn't even know it."

"She is too strict with her requirements."

"Grandpa, is this considered strict? This is an illness that needs to be treated! I really wish there was a school that taught every parent how to educate their children and control their emotions. After the lessons, there should be an assessment. Adults who didn't pass the assessment would not be allowed to have children."

Xia Rong felt that it was a little strange to see her granddaughter, who was usually calm, get so puffed up like a pufferfish. However, since she was a child, he had to comfort her. "Grandpa went to private school when I was young, and my teacher always made us study with a stick in hand every day. If we did not meet his expectations, he would give us a few strokes of the stick. And look, haven't we grown up well? Grandpa can understand your concern, but you don't have to be too worked up."

"Grandfather, that was a different time. Children now are on another level of spirituality now. You can't raise them the same way. It's easy to cause psychological problems."

In her previous life, the big shot had serious psychological issues.

She didn't want him to go through it again.

On this day after school, Youguang called out to Liu Susu, who had come to pick up the two children. She finally got a chance to speak to her alone.

There was a hubbub of voices within the Rainbow Bilingual Kindergarten campus.

She led Liu Susu to a quiet corner. Shi Tongyang and Shi Wangyue were led by Xia Rong to stand at a distance and wait.

Liu Susu didn't know what Youguang was going to say at first until she asked her about her son's studies at home. She figured out her purpose from then on.

"Auntie, do you think it's more important for your son to get first place or to keep him constantly interested in learning?"

No matter how respectable her status was, she was just a six-year-old girl.

"Understand what"'

Liu Susu's expression was still gentle, but a feeling of annoyance was slowly emerging within her.

"Since he can get first place, he has to get it without a doubt."

"Auntie, then can you guarantee that your son will get first place no matter what he does in his life?"

"I can make him try."

"What if you can't get first place even if you worked hard?"

"Then Wangyue must not have tried hard enough."

"Auntie, I know you want Wangyue to be good, but have you ever thought about this? In this world, we don't get whatever we want just by working very hard? Some people just need to spend a third of their efforts to achieve their goals but some people can't be half as good as the former, even if they use all their strength. Do you know why? Because you need talent. It's carried along in the genes, something no one can change. Wangyue is excellent. He can be the best in his field, but he can't be the best in everything. Auntie, not even you could do it, could you?"

"So why ask your son to do something you can't do?"