Chapter 26: Children's Future I (Seth)

"How is my grandfather's health Doctor Le?" I asked nervously.

I didn't know I would be this nervous. The doctor looked really solemn while he was looking at the result of my grandfather's test. I looked at my grandfather and he didn't seem worried at all.

"Hmmm… His test looks good. He can go home already. I'll prepare his discharge papers." Doctor Le replied looking relieved also.

"These are vitamins and supplements that are good for your grandfather." Doctor Le informed me as he handed me the prescription paper.

I paid for my grandfather's hospital fees and we left the hospital. I was planning on sending grandfather back to the main house but grandfather suggested we head to the shop when he heard Athena had already opened today.

"You two didn't need to treat me like I'm a fragile old man. I'll be fine. I'm just sitting here and watching people pass by. Also, don't waste money on those supplements that Doctor Le gave you. I don't need them." Grandfather told Athena and me once we were resting and sipping tea.

"You are a fragile old man." I commented.

"Your health is very important to us so grandfather please recuperate properly and don't tire yourself out. Don't worry about the prescription, we have enough money to buy those." Athena explained.

"You should just spend the money on the children and not waste it on this old man." Grandfather continued.

"Grandfather, you will still have to watch over me for a long long time so I need to make sure you're okay." I said.

"Alright, alright. Anyway, you said you want to leave the main house, when do you plan on looking for a house?" Grandfather asked.

"Grandfather, even if Seth looks for a house now we don't have money to pay for it." Athena commented.

"Is that so? Maybe, I can help you with it?" Grandfather offered.

"Grandfather, we still haven't paid you back for the truck. Don't worry about the house. We will find a way. I've also talked to a real estate seller and asked him to give me a heads up if there's a good place." I replied.

"If you need money, just tell me, alright?" Grandfather said and we nodded.

"Where are the older children anyway?" Grandfather asked after a while when he didn't see them.

Irene and Justin were playing with the younger twins on one side while eating their snacks. "The older ones are still at school, they'll probably head to the dojo after." I replied.

"Dojo?" Grandfather asked, shocked.

"Athena suggested enrolling the older ones to build character for them." I replied and Athena smiled shyly.

"That is a good idea. It's better for the older ones to spend their energy learning how to protect themselves rather than running around doing God knows what." Grandfather commented.

"They are good children, just a little shy and timid. I wanted them to meet many kinds of people to broaden their horizons and also to make some connections." Athena explained.

Grandfather nodded happily and we talked more about how the business was going. After a while, Seth asked him to take a nap in the stockroom together with the younger children.

When grandfather woke up the children just arrived and they happily greeted their great grandfather before helping in the store. There weren't many things to do but the older ones can think of things to do.

Ashley started checking on the sales for the past week, Brittany started checking the cupboards on what we could eat for dinner, Christine was looking around the shop and tried mix and match some clothes that aren't sold much to attract people to buy them, David was helping Christine by carrying things in and out of the storage, Eric and the other younger ones started to play outside the shop and call customers.

"The children look lively now." Grandfather commented as he happily watched them.

I agreed on that. I feel happy looking at their improvements and how healthier they look, physically and emotionally.

"What are your plans for Ashley and the other older girls? Ashley is already in Grade 5. She'll be starting junior high school soon. It might feel like it's far away but time flies so fast." Grandfather commented.

"We haven't really discussed that part yet. Maybe, we'll let them enter the one we have here." I replied and looked at Athena.

I saw her thinking seriously about this and wondered if I should take this seriously also.

"It's not that I think our city's education is not good but the schools in bigger cities are better." Grandfather told us honestly.

"We would look into the schools of the neighboring cities then, grandfather." Athena replied and grandfather nodded in satisfaction.

We ate dinner here in the shop like always but this time with grandfather and he seemed pretty happy eating together with us even though the place is a bit cramped. This really shows that what you eat or where you are doesn't matter as much as who you eat with.

When I entered our bedroom that night after setting down grandfather together with the boys, I saw Athena was still waiting for me.

"Do you want to talk about something?" I asked her and she nodded.

"I was thinking about what grandfather had said about Ashley and the others who would be starting junior high in a few years and thought that since we're considering buying a house also, why not near to wherever they would be studying." Athena suggested.

That was not a bad idea.

"Then I guess I better look for which good school we can send them in." I replied.

"Also, I don't know if it's early or what and if we have money for it but I want to ask the children about their future aspirations. I don't know if they'll change their minds in the future but I want to give them at least the support they would need for it and I guess that includes which school it would be better to send them too and if we need to send them to extra classes that could help them in their future career of choice." Athena explained.

That is true. Should I go to the school and talk to their teachers about this? I don't even know the children's grades are.

"Why don't I visit the children's school and get a glimpse of their academic standing while you talk to the children and see what they want to do in the future or what interests them. They might talk to you about it rather than me." I told her and she agreed.

I've set an appointment with the school after talking with Athena and was told I can meet them the following day after class. They led me to the principal's office and I met with all of my children's homeroom teachers.

"Good afternoon Mr. Zhang. I am glad you called us." Principal Devi greeted.

"Good afternoon too, Principal and teachers." I greeted them nicely.

"You said you wanted to know the academic performance of your children?" Principal Devi asked and I nodded.

The teachers one by one gave a summary of the children's academic performance. It seems like lately the girls' grades are improving, they were average at best before but now, their grades are getting better. The boys however, were troublemakers, it seemed like they had called in stepmother a lot of times before too but there were improvements in their grades too recently.

"However Mr. Zhang, we received complaints about your son, David, attacking a fellow student." Principal Devi said.

"Oh, really? My son was attacking another student?" I asked skeptically.

"Yes, one of his classmates went to my office with bruises and told me David attacked him." David and Christine's homeroom teacher said.

"Did you ask David why he did it?" I asked.

"No but the other classmates told me that David beat them up." She replied.

"Other classmates?" I asked.

"There were 5 of them." She answered.

"So the fight consisted of 5 students vs my son and you're telling me my son attacked them? Are you sure it's not the other way around and my son acted in self defense because I've seen him go home full of bruises a few months ago and I never heard you bring that up." I replied sarcastically.

"Mr. Zhang, please calm down. We are not pointing fingers here. We just want to know what happened." Principal Devi tried to intervene and placate me.

"Really? You're not? Your opening statement was that my son attacked his classmate, not that there were misunderstandings between them and that you want to get into the bottom of things. It sounded like you were sure that my son was the one who was at fault." I said in indignation.

"I'm truly sorry for how it was worded out. We all just wanted to get to the bottom of the problem." Principal Devi said placatingly.

"With all due respect, I don't think there's a problem here. It was a child's fight but sure if you want me to talk to my son about it I will. I think I'm done listening here. Thank you for your time." I told them and left.

I sighed and returned to the shop in a bad mood. Athena seemed to notice that as she approached me.

"What happened?" She asked worriedly.