Rebirth: A Cinderella's Counterattack

Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Parent-Teacher Conference Turmoil

After eating too much in the evening and lying in bed, Luo Qianqian was still happily curving her almond-shaped eyes.

”Why is the old girl so happy,” laughed Luo’s Mom, who had just finished washing the dishes, only to see her daughter sprawling on the bed, pursing her lips and smiling at something. ”Why don’t you go outside and watch TV?”

Feeling a bit embarrassed under Luo’s Mom’s teasing gaze, Luo Qianqian’s little dark face turned slightly red, ”Mom, I heard the auntie downstairs saying that drinking soy milk can make you white and help you grow taller, even better than milk. Let’s drink soy milk at home from now on, I’m getting as black as a little coal ball.”

Luo Shufan, who was watching TV in the living room, heard this and joined in, ”Exactly, so short and so dark. Other people’s kids are all plump and white, but ours is small and black.”

”Qianqian wants to drink soy milk? Didn’t you hate the taste of soy milk the most? Being short is because you don’t eat well; it’s only these past few days that I haven’t heard your brother complain about you leaving leftovers. I’ll count that as good behavior. You got dark from being in the sun.” Luo’s Mom hadn’t finished speaking when she was stopped by her daughter’s sullen look, ”Alright, alright, I’ll buy soy milk for you tomorrow. If you don’t drink it, I won’t allow your brother to take you out to play anymore.”

”It’s not just me who’s going to drink it, they say soy milk is good for the skin. Brother and Mom should drink it too.” Luo Qianqian muttered, just loud enough for Luo’s Mom to hear.

”Mom, I don’t know what got into Qianqian, but she’s really conscious about her skin color now. She was so hot today at the beach that her face was red, yet she refused to take off her jacket. I haven’t seen anyone in our building that’s especially white either,” Luo Shufan commented.

”My dear brother, Mom told you to go study your English,” Luo Qianqian’s voice came from the room. Although her voice was still soft and sweet, Luo Shufan couldn’t help getting goosebumps.

”Qianqian can even supervise her brother’s studies now, that’s amazing. Tomorrow Mom will buy you a chicken leg to eat,” Luo’s Mom said, somewhat proud as she listened to her son silently turn off the TV in the living room and return to his room.

”Mom, make some pork rib soup for Brother, with a couple of corn on the cobs. I love the corn in pork rib soup,” Luo Qianqian gently shook her head. ”Today, Brother even helped me memorize a poem, he worked so hard.”

”Really? Then recite it for Mom.”

..... The Luo Family’s evening passed with Luo Shufan’s imperfect English recitation and Luo Qianqian’s poetry memorization, leading to the next day’s pot of pork rib and corn soup and a tape recorder gifted to Luo Shufan.

The end-of-term exams arrived quickly, and Luo Qianqian could tell from the smile on her brother’s face that he must have done well. The parent-teacher meetings followed closely after, and Luo’s Mom took a leave of absence in advance to accompany Luo Qianqian to Luo Shufan’s school.

”Qianqian, do you want to come up with Mom to find Brother, or do you want to wait here for him to come down?” Luo’s Mom asked softly, holding Luo Qianqian’s soft little hand.

”I’ll go up with Mom. Brother is so amazing, I want to see him get praised.” Luo Qianqian giggled, tugging at Luo’s Mom’s hand and coquettishly swinging their clasped hands back and forth, her big eyes blinking playfully.

”Alright, alright, let’s go see which place Brother ranked.” Luo’s Mom quickly compromised.

”Luo Shufan, you must have cheated. How else could you have gotten perfect scores on everything, and the math final bonus question is exactly the same as the standard answer!”

”I did not!” The voice of Luo Shufan came from the top of the stairs, and upon hearing this, Luo Qianqian and Luo’s Mom hurriedly quickened their steps.

”A child without a father truly amounts to nothing but knows how to cheat, huh? Got caught, didn’t you?” Hearing such words, flames sprung up in the depths of Luo Qianqian’s eyes.

”Luo Shufan, you’ve always been a good kid, how could you have done this?” The scene that they had been hearing finally came into view for Luo’s Mom and Luo Qianqian.

With his back to the stairs, Luo Shufan faced a teacher and four or five students in school uniforms, expressions filled with mockery, jealousy, and disdain.

”Xiao Fan...” Luo’s Mom was about to step forward but was pulled back by Luo Qianqian.

Luo Qianqian stepped forward, ”Excuse me, teacher, you just said Luo Shufan has always been a good kid. As a teacher, whose duty is to educate and guide, if you can’t even trust your own student, what kind of student do you expect to teach?” Luo Qianqian looked at the growing crowd around them, her expression growing darker.

”Who’s this kid? This isn’t a place for you to play in, go back home.” Luo Shufan’s eyes moistened instantly upon seeing the small figure that had stood up in front of him.

”I am the very sister of Luo Shufan, whom you’ve already condemned as a cheater. I’m not here to play. If you don’t trust my brother, you can very well have him redo the test. Furthermore, regarding these fellow classmates of my brother, I don’t think children without fathers inherently have character issues. Life is full of birth, aging, sickness, and death; to use your logic, does that mean if someone in your family passes away, you’d all become immoral too?” Luo Qianqian took a deep breath. ”Our father may not be with us, but our mother has raised us well. We are not any less than children with both parents. My brother doesn’t retort out of respect for his teacher, but I am still a child without such concerns. I know that when you have doubts about something, the first step isn’t to condemn but to verify. With a teacher who doubts so freely, I am genuinely worried about my brother’s future. With such classmates who accuse others so casually, I feel truly sad for my brother, not knowing how many injustices he has been shouldered with!”

”So, being first in the grade is not shameful if it’s achieved by cheating? Is it only because there’s a scholarship for the final exam?” As the crowd grew, a student finally couldn’t resist retorting from behind the teacher.

”Which eye of yours saw my brother cheating? Not to mention my brother would never cheat for such lousy exams, but if he did, who exactly did he copy from? If it was the standard answer, then how come the teacher supervising the papers didn’t report it? Besides, I have absolute faith in my brother because he also teaches me what he learns at home, explaining his homework, teaching me to recite poetry and read English. Even I could answer this test paper better than you few who only know how to slander others! And that scholarship, what right do you have to talk about it?” The flames in Luo Qianqian’s eyes leapt even higher, not noticing the stunned Luo’s Mom and Luo Shufan behind her.

”Young lady, this teacher hasn’t convicted Classmate Luo, aren’t you being a bit too harsh?” From the crowd emerged an old man with white hair and beard, whom Luo Qianqian assumed to be a classmate’s grandfather.

”Is a teacher casting doubt with a skeptical eye on an innocent student not a conviction? Are you waiting for the student to become so self-deprecating that they fall into depression before you call it a conviction? Then you’d probably say it’s guilt from being exposed for cheating, right? If you dare to question my brother, come at me; he has taught me everything he knows. Although I may not match up to him, I am definitely stronger than those who only talk big and slander. Even kindergarten children know not to lie or deceive. If I can’t measure up to these liars, what right do I have to be my brother’s sister!” Luo Qianqian remembered this teacher in front of her, one who only treated kids who brought gifts well, coldly treated those who had good grades but never gave gifts, even encouraging those who gave gifts to slander those who were academically excellent but did not give gifts; her brother had been suppressed by him in the past life due to his English pronunciation, preventing him from attending Experimental Junior High. It turns out there was also such an incident of cheating accusations in her brother’s past. This revenge from a past life, dear brother, I will help you settle it.