Rebirth in 1986: Unforgettable Regrets
Chapter 64 Reproving

Chapter 64: Chapter 64 Reproving

"Exactly, Minmin, next time you’ll definitely make prettier ones, practice makes perfect," Elder Mrs. Zhang complimented along Zhang Min’s words.

In the kitchen, after the braised pork was done, they started stir-frying vegetables; stir-fried cabbage, shredded pork with radish, and then boiling a fish—a lavish New Year’s meal was ready.

"Xiao Min, where’s Qiangzi?" Liu Cuixong roamed around the front and back of the house, unable to spot her son.

Zhang Min was already upset about not wrapping dumplings well, and when she heard Liu Cuixong, she replied bluntly, "If he’s not next door, then he’s gone to the town’s game arcade again. Mom, you just indulge Qiangzi. You don’t know, back when he was in school, he had to go to the game arcade four times a week. I really don’t know where he got that much money."

Zhang Min purposely said so because she knew Liu Cuixong was biased toward Zhang Qiang.

Liu Cuixong immediately got angry and stepped forward, scolding, "You are his older sister, how can you talk about your brother like that? Go, bring Qiangzi back."

"I won’t go." Zhang Min replied unhappily, heading from the village to the town would still take about ten minutes despite being closer than from Qianjin Village, especially in this biting winter, she had no desire to go.

"Zhang Min!" Liu Cuixong shouted her full name, pointing at Zhang Min’s head, it seemed like another quarrel was about to erupt between mother and daughter.

Zhang Huafeng came out of the kitchen and said, "Cuixong, it’s just a minor headache or fever; Qiangzi will definitely come back at noon."

"Exactly, during such a big festival, he can’t possibly be spending New Year in a game center, right?" Zhang Min quickly agreed, hurriedly shifting to the side, she scampered into her room, definitely not intending to go find Zhang Qiang in town.

"Qiangzi is probably just playing around in the village." Liu Cuixong explained, facing Zhang Huafeng’s gaze, she dared not say much more.

Zhang Huafeng looked at her deeply and asked, "Cuixong, Qiangzi doesn’t often go to the game arcade, does he?"

"Of course not, he doesn’t have that much money to go play, at most he goes to watch." Liu Cuixong responded, stepping out to the yard to see if Zhang Qiang had returned.

Footsteps approached, Liu Cuixong thought it was Zhang Qiang returning and her face lit up with a smile, but, it turned out to be Tang Jun humming a tune as he returned with military chess in his arms. Seeing his aunt at the door, he asked, "Auntie, what are you looking at?"

"Xiao Jun, did you see Qiangzi?" Liu Cuixong’s gaze fell on the blue jacket Tang Jun was wearing, the new jacket not only looked fresh but also stylish, making Tang Jun appear particularly spirited.

If her son Qiangzi wore this outfit, he would surely look good too.

"Nope." Tang Jun shook his head, eager to enter the yard, shouting, "Sis, I beat Mingzi in so many rounds, no one could beat me."

Tang Jun’s words were full of joy and pride.

Tang Yue had just finished washing her hands and upon hearing Tang Jun, couldn’t help but praise, "Xiao Jun, you’re awesome."

"That’s right." Tang Jun was proudly boastful.

Tch, it’s just playing a game, what’s so great about that.

Liu Cuixong muttered in her heart, stretching her neck and looking out, when she saw Zhang Qiang’s returning figure, she started yelling from a distance, "Qiangzi, where have you been?"

"Mom." Zhang Qiang leisurely walked back, shouted one word, and headed inside.

Liu Cuixong followed beside Zhang Qiang, grabbing his clothes, she asked irritably, "During such a big festival, where did you go?"

"Nothing, I didn’t go anywhere," Zhang Qiang stopped walking, his voice somewhat guilty.

"Tell me, did you go to the game arcade?" Liu Cuixong changed from grabbing his clothes to pulling his ear.

"No," Zhang Qiang denied.

Liu Cuixong continued to ask, "Then tell me, whose house did you go to?"

Just as Zhang Qiang was about to speak, Liu Cuixong interrupted, "Qiangzi, let me tell you, I will find out. If I find out that you didn’t go there..."

"I went to the arcade," Zhang Qiang quickly replied, shrinking his body and covering his ears, pleading, "Mom, I just went to look, I didn’t play."

"Really didn’t play?" Liu Cuixong pressed.

Zhang Qiang quickly shook his head, "Really didn’t play, just looked."

"Don’t go to play, go and properly revise your studies," Liu Cuixong let go, then said to Zhang Qiang: "Qiangzi, Xiao Jun’s grades are better than yours, how can you still have the face to go around playing? He could pass, even scoring ninety, why can’t you?"

Not knowing before was excusable, Liu Cuixong always thought that Zhang Qiang and Tang Jun’s grades were about the same because their exam grades had been identical previously, but today when she heard Tang Jun say it, it turns out this time he scored ninety something.

Now, Liu Cuixong was discontented in her heart.

"I, I just didn’t do well on the test." With his head hanging low, Zhang Qiang felt a headache whenever scores were mentioned.

Liu Cuixong scolded furiously, "When have you ever done well? Zhang Qiang, let me tell you, if you don’t do better than Xiao Jun next semester, you might as well quit school."

Liu Cuixong was almost mad, her son, and daughter had always done better than Zhang Hualian’s, but how come this Chinese New Year when she looked, Zhang Hualian’s kids were dressed nicely and even their academic performance was enviable!

"If I don’t go to school, then I don’t," Zhang Qiang actually didn’t want to study, hearing Liu Cuixong’s words, he immediately said, "Not going to school sounds pretty good, I can go learn cooking from my uncle."

"Zhang Qiang!" Liu Cuixong’s voice almost made the house tremble.

Elder Mrs. Zhang and others came upon hearing the noise. Zhang Qiang, finding support, hid behind Zhang Huafeng and said, "Dad, mom won’t let me study, shall I go learn cooking from my uncle? It seems pretty lucrative."

With a sly turn of his eyes, Zhang Qiang thought, if he didn’t have to study, he could go to the arcade every day.

"You dare," Zhang Huafeng glanced at him and said, "Qiangzi, let me tell you, you have to at least finish middle school."

"Cuihong," Zhang Huafeng just started speaking.

Liu Cuixong then said, "I was just saying it offhandedly, his grades are even worse than Xiao Jun’s, it just makes me angry. Xiao Jun and Qiangzi always had similar grades, why does Xiao Jun get good grades and Qiangzi fails?"

Tang Yue: "..." Auntie, what do you mean by this, Tang Jun is not as good as Zhang Qiang?

Besides, Tang Jun was forced to do homework every day during the summer vacation. After school started, Tang Jun’s homework was the best completed, even memorizing books started from the morning, whereas Zhang Qiang?

Although she did not witness it, she knew, Zhang Qiang must have been staying in the arcade every two or three days, going whenever he had time, to say his homework was done was good enough, let alone done well.

This way, it was inevitable that Tang Jun’s grades got better and better than Zhang Qiang’s; the gap between the two was expected.

Listening to this, Zhang Huafeng felt something was off and gave Liu Cuixong a glance.

Liu Cuixong, however, as if not seeing it, continued, "Qiangzi is much smarter than Xiao Jun, Qiangzi, you have to study hard next semester."