Rebirth: He Decides to Lie Flat
Chapter 289 - 289 286 Summoning Parents (Third Update)

Chapter 289: Chapter 286: Summoning Parents (Third Update) Chapter 289: Chapter 286: Summoning Parents (Third Update) Normally, when someone talked about Jiang Yan like that, Shu Wan should have said, “He’s just joking, don’t take it seriously” or “He’s just messing around.”

But instead, she simply gave Ma Zheng’s great-aunt a bland look and still said nothing.

The atmosphere suddenly became very awkward.

Ma Jiandong wanted to say something to ease the tension, but after glancing at the speakerphone still in Ma Zheng’s hand, he closed his mouth just in time and resentfully pretended to pick up the messy toys thrown around Ma Zheng’s bedroom.

Ma Zheng quickly ran forward to hug the computer to his chest and stayed away from the little fatty and his mother, with a wary look in his eyes.

Although the little fatty still thought about how Ma Zheng’s brother would hit him, he couldn’t help but feel reluctant to part with the delicate laptop.

He turned to tug at his mother’s arm, “Mom…”

“Alright, it’s just a computer, isn’t it? I’ll have your dad buy you one later. It’s not like it’s anything special.”

“Can he really buy one? I’ve never seen one like that. Ma Zheng said his brother assembled it himself.”

“…You believe everything he says? You even believe his bragging? Come on, I’ll take you to the computer store right now.”

Until Ma Zheng’s uncle’s family of three left the house and drove away, Shu Wan hadn’t spoken a word.

Ma Jiandong’s eldest brother didn’t say anything either, and in the beginning, he disagreed with his son taking Ma Zheng’s computer home, but he couldn’t control his wife, so he simply stopped bothering.

While they made a fuss in Ma Zheng’s bedroom, he watched TV in the living room as if nothing had happened.

Watching his elder brother’s car leave the housing complex, Ma Jiandong turned to look at Shu Wan, “Shu Wan…”

“What do you want to say?”

Since it was just the two of them downstairs—Ma Zheng was still on the phone with his brother in his bedroom upstairs—Shu Wan spoke without restraint, “Are you going to say that Ma Xu is still young, that he doesn’t know any better and his parents will teach him, and we should just be more tolerant while they’re in our home? Or are you going to say that they came to visit Ma Zheng, and it wouldn’t be nice of us to act this way?”

“Ma Jiandong, first of all, Ma Xu is two years older than Ma Zheng, and this is not the first time he has bullied Ma Zheng. Did you see your brother and sister-in-law educate him? Every time your sister-in-law says to let the kids work it out themselves, bullshit! If Ma Zheng were two years older than her son, if he were taller and stronger, then I would agree with her, to let the kids sort it out themselves.”

“Secondly, they came to visit Ma Zheng and were planning to take his computer when they left. Is that what you call a visit? And about the red envelope your sister-in-law gave, I’d bet it’s definitely no more than two hundred bucks. Do you know how much we spent on this morning’s meal? Nearly four hundred. I bought the best beef at the market. And your sister-in-law had the nerve to complain, saying her son doesn’t normally eat this kind of beef… Ha, their family is quite wealthy, driving a BMW, carrying bags worth thousands, but what does it have to do with us? Have we ever seen a penny of theirs? Benefited from their family in any way?”

“We haven’t, right? So why should I keep putting up with her?”

Ma Jiandong was at a loss for words, unable even to find an excuse for his brother. After all, being afraid of his wife was just an excuse; ultimately, he didn’t want to intervene.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yan, having hung up the phone, could never have imagined that his “guidance” for Ma Zheng today would lead to a series of bold actions in the future.

The first incident involved the boy who sat behind him liking to doodle on his clothes with a pen and poke his back with it, often breaking the skin, even after being told off numerous times. The teacher had warned the boy, and even Shu Wan had talked to his parents, to no avail.

One day, Ma Zheng brought a bottle of ink to school and, when that boy once again doodled on his clothes and poked him, Ma Zheng unscrewed the cap of the ink bottle, turned around, and splashed it on the boy’s face. Thick, black ink smeared the boy’s face and ran down his neck into his collar, leaving the kid completely stunned. That wasn’t all; Ma Zheng had stolen a compass from his dad and began jabbing the boy fiercely in the arm and body until the kid jumped in place.

If you’re going to hit, hit hard enough to terrify and dominate. He had succeeded!

The next day, the teacher had changed their seats.

Secondly, he was the English class representative, and every morning when collecting homework there would always be a few who hadn’t done it and refused to hand it in. Among them was a boy who not only didn’t hand in his own but also snatched away Ma Zheng’s to copy the answers. However, he copied so slowly that every time, because of him, Ma Zheng would get scolded by the teacher. But if Ma Zheng didn’t let him copy, the boy would find a way to tear a page out of Ma Zheng’s exercise book or notebook. Complaining to the teacher about him didn’t help either.

That morning, when the boy wanted to take Ma Zheng’s exercise book again, Ma Zheng didn’t give it to him. The boy went to Ma Zheng’s desk, picked up his math test, and was about to tear it.

Ma Zheng didn’t try to stop him or compromise as he had before; instead, he went straight to the boy’s seat, pulled out his Chinese, math, and English exercise books, and started to tear them one by one, fiercely and adeptly.

He was quite adept, wasn’t he? The night before, he had practiced tearing up waste newspaper for half an hour.

This was nothing like the other boy, who had only ever intended to scare him and always only tore a single page.

Seeing Ma Zheng tear up all of his exercise books like he had gone mad, the boy was stunned. He put down Ma Zheng’s exercise book and didn’t dare to move.

…

Having been called to the school by teachers twice in one week, Shu Wan was somewhat numb to it.

On the way home with Ma Zheng, she tried to bend his tit-for-tat mentality back.

“Xiaozheng, I’ve told you before…”

“First, talk it out with the other party, if that doesn’t work then tell the teacher, and if the teacher talking to them doesn’t work, then go to their parents. But mom, do you think any of these three methods work?”

Ma Zheng placed his hands behind his head and sighed like an adult, “Ah, you know yourself they don’t work with some classmates, don’t you? Brother is right, sometimes talking is just a waste of time, better to take action once and for all.”

“Ma Zheng, don’t use foul language.”

“I know, I know.” His response was quite perfunctory.

Shu Wan was distressed; she felt like she was reliving Jiang Yan’s elementary school days, when she was called to the school several times a week.

However, Ma Zheng was full of incomprehension, “Mom, why are you worrying? I’ve always been obedient at school, I get good grades, and I don’t go looking for trouble with classmates. These two times I only retaliated because I was pushed too far. Do you want me to be a coward who doesn’t fight back even when bullied?”

Shu Wan: “…”

“Who said you’re a coward?”

“What’s the difference between someone who keeps getting bullied and doesn’t know how to fight back, and a coward?”

Shu Wan had nothing to say and eventually just said, “Alright, listen to your brother if you want, but Mom has to make it clear upfront, don’t initiate a fight for no reason, and certainly don’t go looking for trouble with others. Like your brother when he was young…”

Upon hearing that, Ma Zheng immediately widened his eyes, eagerly looking at Shu Wan, asking, “What about when my brother was young?”

Your brother was a little tyrant when he was young, no one dared to provoke him, whether in kindergarten or elementary school!

But Jiang Yan had always been tall and strong since he was young, and his peers were no match for him. This is something Ma Zheng, being skinny and small, couldn’t compare to.