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Ji Xiao Zhuo and Nuo Nuo attended nursery school in the military housing compound which consisted of the young class and the older class group. When they were seven years old, they were finally able to enter primary school.
Primary school was different from nursery. The requirements that the teachers wanted from their students were much stricter. In the first lesson, the teacher requested the students to attend class seriously, and they cannot randomly talk or fidget. To the children who just started school, a request like that was simply torture. Of course, Nuo Nuo was the exception.
Nuo Nuo had always been a calm child. She could sit on the bed all day without moving until it was time for bed, so sitting still for lessons didn’t even need mentioning. Obediently, Nuo Nuo sat still and straight while earnestly listening in class.
When Nuo Nuo’s obedient appearance was compared to the other noisy kids, the difference was obvious and she soon caught the teacher’s eye. All the teachers looked at her differently from when they looked at the other children. They were especially fond of her.
As a result, Nuo Nuo would be the first one to be called upon whenever the teacher needed to pick a student to answer questions.
Nuo Nuo blinked twice before getting up from her seat. Instantly, she got everyone else’s attention. Some children with sharp eyes noticed Nuo Nuo was wearing something strange on her ears. They couldn’t help but start discussing with the other children around them, secretly. Everyone expressed their curiosity and started to guess what it was.
When the class ended, a bulky fat kid ran in front of Nuo Nuo’s desk. The fat kid pointed at Nuo Nuo’s ears and asked, “Classmate Wen Nuo, what’s that on your ear?”
Nuo Nuo touched her ear. After thinking for a moment, she replied honestly, “It’s a hearing aid.”
Naturally, children at this age did not know what a hearing aid was, so the little fat kid asked curiously, “What’s a hearing aid? Why do you have one and the rest of us don’t have one?”
Originally, Nuo Nuo didn’t want to mention the issue regarding her ears but she recalled what auntie Tang Tang said before going to school, that she should get along with her classmates. If she didn’t explain, the other person would certainly be unhappy. So she explained plainly, “Wearing a hearing aid would make hearing clearer. Because this ear can’t hear any sounds, I need to wear it.”
The fat kid reacted after two seconds. Suddenly, he widened his eyes and took two steps back. Then he pointed at Nuo Nuo and loudly said, “So you’re deaf!”
“Waa, so she’s deaf. Then do we need to stay away from her?”
“That’s right. Otherwise, what should we do if we also become deaf?”
“Can I ask the teacher to change seats, I don’t dare to sit in front of her. I’m afraid I would turn deaf as well.”
The other children became either shocked or alarmed in succession. Every one of them automatically stayed far from Nuo Nuo like she was something scary.
Nuo Nuo’s eyes dimmed and she pursed her lips. Without a word, she lowered her head to read her book. She did not care what the other children were saying.
After so many years, she was already used to it.
At this moment, the fat kid, who pointed at Nuo Nuo and called her deaf, shrieked. Others just saw him cover his head as he hissed in pain. There was a blackboard eraser on the floor next to him.
He got hit by a blackboard eraser.
After the pain disappeared, the fat child turned around as he glared, “Who hit me? Come and stand out!”
“It was me.” Ji Xiao Zhuo got down from the teaching platform. He spoke as he patted his hands to get rid of the chalk dust.
“Why did you hit me?” The fat kid was a bit dumbfounded by Ji Xiao Zhuo’s open attitude. In the past, whenever someone accidentally hit him, they all looked scared from getting beaten up. But why did this person look like he wanted to beat him up instead?
However, since he saw Ji Xiao Zhuo was not as tall or big as him, the fat child snorted in contempt. He clenched his fists and walked up to Ji Xiao Zhuo, “You’re looking to die?”
Ji Xiao Zhuo didn’t put the fat bully kid in his eyes, “I think you’re the one who is looking to die. If you dare to call Wen Nuo deaf again, I’ll beat you up whenever I see you!”
Getting threatened by another kid, who was not as big as him, in public made the fat kid feel very embarrassed. He shouted, “She is deaf, otherwise, she won’t be wearing that hearing aid. I can’t even call her deaf when she is?”
“You’re really asking for death!” After Ji Xiao Zhuo finished speaking, he aimed his fist at the fat kid’s face and gave a punch. The fat kid staggered back two steps before falling on the floor. The sudden movement caused dust to fly around.
Lying on the floor, the fat child felt dumbfounded. He didn’t believe he would actually get punched, and in front of so many people as well. He had always been the little tyrant at home and nursery. After making a noise in his throat, the fat kid got up and aimed his fist at Ji Xiao Zhuo, “You dare to hit me. I will beat you to death.”
Instantly, the two of them got into a fight.
Although Ji Xiao Zhuo was chubby when he was young, he had slimmed down as he gradually grew up. He was now tall and thin. It could already be seen that Ji Xiao Zhuo would grow up tall like Ji Yan. The fat kid was taller and bigger than Ji Xiao Zhuo. When their sizes were compared, all their other classmates thought Ji Xiao Zhuo would get beaten up very badly. They covered their eyes as they didn’t dare to watch.
However, the results shocked the other children.
Ji Xiao Zhuo won the fight overwhelmingly. The fat kid got beaten till he was crying loudly. He couldn’t fight back against Ji Xiao Zhuo at all. In the end, the pitiful fat kid only got saved when their form teacher came to stop the fight.
But the fat kid’s face had already turned tragic. It was unsure if his parents could even recognize him.
It was the first day and there was already a serious fight. Naturally, an issue like this couldn’t be concealed from the parents, so the form teacher had to notify both children’s parents to come to school.
The fat kid’s parents originally thought their little tyrant had beaten up someone else’s kid again. They were already prepared to give apologies and compensation like usual, but they didn’t expect to see it was their child’s face that was swollen up like a pig. They were both immediately stunned.
The fat child’s mother shouted emotionally, “Who hit my child?”
The form teacher was afraid of parents getting too emotional and hurting a child, so they rushed to pacify, “Zhu Zi Xiao’s mother, don’t get too stirred up. The children got into a fight due to a conflict. Let’s sit down and resolve this properly, alright?”
Zhu Zi Xiao’s father looked at all the children present. Apart from his own child, there was only a little girl and another little boy. But he thought the quiet and delicate little girl didn’t look like she could beat his child up so that only remained the refined little boy.
Pointing at Ji Xiao Zhuo, Zhu Zi Xiao’s father asked the teacher, “Is it this child who beat my son?”
The appearance of Zhu Zi Xiao’s father was also tall and strong. He looked a little scary. It could be told from a glance that Zhu Zi Xiao’s body type was inherited from his father. The teacher was afraid he would hit a child from anger, so the teacher subconsciously put Ji Xiao Zhuo behind them while pacifying the father, “Zhu Zi Xiao’s father, don’t be angry. It’s true that student Ji Xiao Zhuo and student Zhu Zi Xiao got into a conflict, but that is because student Zhu Zi Xiao called student Wen Nuo deaf. Student Ji Xiao Zhuo acted because he was angry. Children are still young and they are not sensible. Please calm down. Let’s wait until Ji Xiao Zhuo’s parents arrive before we discuss this, okay?”
“There’s no need to discuss!” Zhu Zi Xiao’s father waved his hand to interrupt the teacher. He simply said, “Teacher, I’ll trouble you to move Zhu Zi Xiao to sit in front of student Ji Xiao Zhuo.”
“Ah?” The form teacher thought they heard it wrong, “Zhu Zi Xiao’s father, what did you say?”
Father Zhu patiently repeated his words which made the form teacher dumbfounded.
Apologetically, Mother Zhu walked up to Nuo Nuo. She stroked Nuo Nuo’s head and apologised, “Sorry, little girl. Our Zhu Zi Xiao is a bad kid. Auntie will go back and discipline him. I promise he won’t dare to say that to you again.”
When she finished speaking, Mother Zhu went to Ji Xiao Zhuo and said, “Boy, my Zhu Zi Xiao will sit in front of you from now on. Can you help auntie and uncle to manage him? If he is not behaving then you can hit him. It’s fine as long as you don’t beat him too badly. Can you help auntie and uncle with this favor?”
It was rare for Ji Xiao Zhuo to be taken aback. He thought the fat kid’s parents would get revenge and he was thinking up a solution. Who knew the plot would turn so odd?
While everyone else was dazed, the fat kid, as the victim, was the first one to come back to his senses from his parent’s words. He immediately howled, “Mum, Dad, you’re going too far. I’m going to tell grandpa and grandma that you’re abusing me!”
Father Zhu lifted his hand and slapped his son, “Shut your mouth. Your grandparents are on holiday abroad. They can’t protect you for the time being so don’t count on them to save you. You better behave now. I will beat you if you don’t listen!”
Zhu Zi Xiao immediately started crying with sorrow.
The form teacher finally understood the situation and she was overjoyed. She really liked parents who were rational and open-minded. She was really afraid of parents who blindly spoiled their children.
This was resolved now.
So, by the time Tang Tang rushed to the primary school, Father and Mother Zhu had already left with Zhu Zi Xiao. The matter was already dealt with as well.
After knowing the reason why Ji Xiao Zhuo got into a fight, Tang Tang and Ji Yan didn’t scold him much. They just told him not to act impulsively, that he should think properly before hitting people and to control his strength.
But because Ji Xiao Zhuo displayed his absolute strength, no children dared to call Nuo Nuo deaf in her face. Also, Zhu Zi Xiao was moved to sit in front of Ji Xiao Zhuo. Whenever the fat kid caused trouble and wasn’t obedient, Ji Xiao Zhuo would beat him up. In the beginning, the fat kid didn’t accept it but after getting beaten up time after time, he became much more behaved. He soon turned obedient and didn’t dare to cause trouble anymore, and he also didn’t dare to interrupt class anymore. This made Father and Mother Zhu feel very grateful to Ji Xiao Zhuo. They would frequently buy tasty food for him and Nuo Nuo.
Because of this, the Zhu family and Ji family got closer. The two families would frequently eat together. After a few meals, they realised their interests and temperament were similar so they became good friends, and the three children became good companions too. In the beginning, Zhu Zi Xiao called Nuo Nuo deaf but now whenever someone made fun of Nuo Nuo, he would go with Ji Xiao Zhuo to beat them up.
Ji Xiao Zhuo’s primary school career could be described as punishing little brats. Whoever in the school dared to make fun or discriminate against Nuo Nuo would get a beating from him. If they refuse to change after a beating, he would beat them up again and again until they behave. As a result, the entire school recognized Ji Xiao Zhuo as the boss. Whenever Year One’s Ji Xiao Zhuo was mentioned, everyone knew who he was.
Of course, Ji Xiao Zhuo didn’t become well known just because of his fists. It was also because of his good looks and grades.
It was hard not to attract attention, when a boy was handsome, could fight, and get good grades. By the time he was in year five, many girls would blush and feel their hearts race whenever they saw him. Love letters would be placed on Ji Xiao Zhuo’s table one after another.
Many girls thought Nuo Nuo was Ji Xiao Zhuo’s biological sister so they requested her to give Ji Xiao Zhuo their love letters. But Nuo Nuo would shake her head indifferently before looking down and ignoring those girls. As time went by, those girls would stop looking for her but they would all say in private that Ji Xiao Zhuo had a sister who was difficult to get along with.
Ji Xiao Zhuo didn’t feel much towards those love letters. He couldn’t be bothered to read them and he would simply bin them every time. If he had time to read love letters, he might as well play a game of basketball.
Ji Xiao Zhuo loved sports, especially basketball. Apart from P.E class, he would go and play basketball for an hour after school every day before returning home. Nuo Nuo would prepare a bottle of water and towel for him, and she would wait while doing her homework. She did not suit the lively basketball court at all. But many other boys who played basketball with Ji Xiao Zhuo were envious of him. They all said it would be great if they had such a good sister too.
Every time, Ji Xiao Zhuo would proudly say, “Don’t be envious. Not all sisters are as well-behaved as my family’s Nuo Nuo.”
Everyone wanted to beat him up.
Their primary school days went by happily and peacefully like this for five years but changes occurred at their last term of year five.
During this term, a beautiful figure suddenly appeared on the basketball court. A pretty, pale-skinned girl with a ponytail joined Ji Xiao Zhuo’s group. She would play basketball with the boys and sweat with them on the court, brimming with youthfulness.
