Chapter Eleven: I Have a Suggestion
In the police station, the gang leader was sitting in the “confession chair,” his face pale. His parents had been called over and hurriedly arrived at the station; in short, the police station was bustling.
“Beep… beep… The number you dialed is temporarily unavailable…”
The police officer used his own mobile phone to call Lin Feng, but he couldn’t get through to Lin Feng’s phone no matter what.
“Uncle, I need to hurry home,” Lin Feng said. “My mom is waiting for me at home. She’ll be very lonely.”
On the other side, after a quarrel with the other parents, Little Chubby’s parents were worried when they saw Lin Ji communicating with the police officer using her phone inside the room.
“At least our son has a good friend.”
Little Chubby’s mother reluctantly admitted, “She’s a good person. I heard that she does particularly well in school. The teacher told me she’s lively and cheerful, and polite to others.”
“Look at their daughter, she really puts our minds at ease,” Little Chubby’s father sighed. “They have raised a good daughter.”
In the future, they could let Little Chubby play with her more, invite her over, as they heard her family was quite poor. Today they even saw her going to the neighborhood committee to collect oil and rice.
“How can they afford a house in this community if they’re that poor?” Little Chubby’s father was very surprised. “I thought she sold something to be able to buy a house.”
“I’m nothing like you, I don’t care about the community environment at all,” Little Chubby’s mother said while watching Lin Ji, who was chatting with the police officer, and then glanced at her own son, feeling more and more that her son was lacking.
Being chubby can still be considered cute, but in the police station, he was so nervous that he could hardly speak. Unlike Lin Ji—she had a good figure, was well-nourished, tall, outgoing, and independent.
The more she looked, the more envious she became, patting her son’s shoulder and saying, “From now on, you need to hang out with Lin Ji more. You can invite her to our house to play, or take her out; we can reimburse you for the expenses.”
Upon hearing that he could play with Lin Ji, Little Chubby’s eyes lit up, and he nodded.
Seeing Lin Ji smiling and showing the police officer how she drove away the thug, how she had escaped immediately to find help, borrowed a stick, and even called the convenience store owner saying that it was a pity she couldn’t deliver the beer, Little Chubby’s parents felt increasingly envious.
“You still delivered beer?”
“Yeah!” Lin Ji nodded. “I sometimes help the convenience store owner with odd jobs. My family is poor.”
The police officers around her laughed and gave her a thumbs-up.
“Xiao Qin, what are you still dragging your feet for?”
A young police officer, feeling embarrassed, left with a tablet in his hand.
Little Chubby’s parents felt more envious as they saw Lin Ji.
“Look at Lin Ji—”
Little Chubby’s father reminded, “Dear, our child.”
At this moment, Little Chubby’s mother recalled the previous agreement between them; for the sake of their child’s mental health, they had agreed not to criticize their child too much.
“You’re not that bad.”
Little Chubby’s mother quickly added, “You just need a bit more confidence. Play with Lin Ji more in the future…”
Little Chubby’s father chimed in, “Yes, play with Lin Ji more. Don’t look down on her just because her family is poor.”
Little Chubby was confused; he hadn’t thought about how poor Lin Ji’s family was. In their circle, everyone was quite naive. The wealth of a family was often measured by how expensive the car that picked them up from school was, which was meaningless compared to pocket money and a gadget called a mobile phone.
Moreover, why didn’t his parents let him play with Lin Ji yesterday?
He looked up and noticed his parents. Their eyes were fixed on Lin Ji’s lively back as they said many things, though Little Chubby couldn’t make out much, he only remembered them repeating, “Play with Lin Ji more…”
Little Chubby didn’t understand why, but he sensed that when his parents urged him to play with Lin Ji, it wasn’t just because playing with her was fun.
“… Those who get close to cinnabar become red; let’s send Lin Ji home together later and buy her a gift to thank her mother.”
“Okay, we can also throw a dinner party to formally express our gratitude and invite her and her mother…”
What if she doesn’t accept? Maybe they just want to stay home?
“Well, we could buy VIP Disney tickets as a thank-you and take Little Chubby’s friend along with Lin Ji to have fun…”
“Sounds good.” In Little Chubby’s mother’s view, investing in education was worth it. “Children only have fun when they’re together.”
“By the way, son.”
Little Chubby’s father asked, “Does Lin Ji have any interests?”
Little Chubby replied, “Interests? Playing mobile games?”
“Playing again? Who lets you play mobile games? No, no, it’s not me; there are kids in class who have phones.”
“Except for video games.”
“Uh, sword fighting? She’s really good at sword fighting.”
“Then you should invite Lin Ji to join the sword-fighting interest class.”
Little Chubby’s mother said, “We’ll cover the expenses.”
Little Chubby felt a bit awkward. In his mind, an interest class was almost like being in jail. While he would be happier being with Lin Ji, there was no need to drag Lin Ji into something that felt like jail.
Seeing Little Chubby hesitate, Little Chubby’s mother said, “I’m just giving you a suggestion. You need more exercise. If you practice sword fighting, no one will dare to bully you, and you won’t have to bully others either. Lin Ji would be very happy too; her family is poor and can’t afford interest classes. Is that okay?”
Before Little Chubby could agree, he thought that practicing sword fighting didn’t interest him at all. Little Chubby’s mother anxiously added, “Just say it’s okay?”
Little Chubby nodded, “Okay.”
To his surprise, Little Chubby’s mother quickly took out her phone and used AI to search for several sword-fighting schools with good reviews. She whispered in Little Chubby’s ear, “When you talk to her, remember to say this, okay?”
At that moment, Lin Ji finished talking. A female police officer walked ahead, bringing Lin Ji over.
“Police officer.”
Little Chubby’s mother said, “We live in the same community; we can give Lin Ji a ride back, and then we can visit her to thank her mother.”
“No need to trouble Uncle and Aunt,” Lin Ji said. “I still need to return the beer to the convenience store uncle and then ride my bike home.”
“Your bike can fit in the trunk.”
“No need, the police will give me a ride.”
Little Chubby’s mother smiled at the female officer and said, “But it’s not appropriate to use the police car for personal purposes, is it?”
Thus, Lin Ji got into Little Chubby’s car.
All the way, Little Chubby didn’t mention anything about going to the interest class together. In the morning, as the car moved, Little Chubby’s mother kept making eye contact with him from the passenger seat. Little Chubby, feeling helpless, could only speak up:
“Lin Ji, do you like sword fighting?”
“Yeah.”
“Then, do you want to join an interest class?”
Little Chubby stammered, as if reciting a poem in class: “There’s a sword-fighting school called Hema, specializing in European sword techniques, which is pretty good. I want to invite you to join. My mom will cover the cost. There’s also the National Sword Academy…”
Lin Ji looked at Little Chubby and didn’t sense any joy from him. “That’s unnecessary; I’m already very satisfied to practice with the teacher for a few days.”
“It’s okay; we’ll cover the expense, just as a thank you for saving our son.” Little Chubby’s mother interjected, “I have a suggestion. You have a talent for sword fighting; you should find a better teacher, along with the proper environment. We will provide all the protective gear you need for practice.”
Lin Ji shook her head and said, “No need.”
“Don’t be polite; really, no need to be polite.”
“It’s not being polite,” Lin Ji said. “I really don’t want to go.”
“I have a suggestion…”
Little Chubby’s mother suggested from start to finish. After some awkward pauses, she tried to ease the discomfort by chatting casually, asking how many friends Lin Ji had and if she visited her grandparents on holidays.
As a result, Lin Ji began listing her friends’ names: Lin Xiude, Li Yu, Mo Yi…
After naming nearly a hundred, Little Chubby’s mother felt it was inappropriate to interrupt. As they approached the entrance of the community, she said, “Little Ji, remember Mo well.”
Lin Ji happily pointed at several dogs that were tied up, walking in front of the community entrance: “And there’s Da Huang and Xiao Huang.”
Little Chubby’s father laughed heartily, “Haha, very interesting…”
When the car reached the underground parking lot and they got out, Little Chubby’s mother said, “I have a suggestion: this weekend, Little Chubby will go to an elementary math class. They focus on Olympiad training; the teachers are all excellent public school teachers…”
Lin Ji shook her head, “No need, Auntie.”
“You’re so good at math. You can participate in Olympiad competitions to get into a good school.”
“I don’t care about grades.”
Little Chubby’s mother wasn’t ready to give up, “That won’t do; only good scores can get you into good schools… Your mother will be happy, too.”
“My mom treats me very well,” Lin Ji said. “She doesn’t care whether I do well in school; she believes in me, so she doesn’t check my grades at all.”
At this point, Little Chubby’s mother felt dry-mouthed and finally stopped talking.
