Chapter 82

"Hey! William, please don't be so harsh on your adorable daughter. She's just doing this out of habit, and every child does it. There's no need to scold her. △↗"

Yang Weiwei indicated that she didn't mind, and at the same time, Omar also spoke up to stop Jin Xiantai from scolding little Coco.

"My family has five children, and my youngest brother had the same habit when he was little. It's very normal, and it will get better as she grows up. Scolding her now won't help; she doesn't understand."

Omar had more authority to speak on this matter because in the black community where he lived, each family usually had two or even three or four children.

Like Omar's own family, they had five children.

As the third oldest, Omar had two younger brothers.

Back then, he had taken care of his younger brothers a lot, so he was very familiar with this kind of bad habit in children.

After Omar finished speaking, Vincent, who was sitting beside him, nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, don't be too harsh on your daughter. She's a very cute little girl. My sister also had this bad habit; she used to touch me all the time. So it's normal for children to do this."

Well, it seemed like everyone had a lot of experience, making Jin Xiantai feel like he was the bad guy.

Jin Xiantai felt very helpless about this.

Seeing her father being 'ganged up on,' little Coco was not happy.

She puffed out her cheeks, made a 'huffing' sound, and raised the small spoon in her hand, looking very angry.

Unfortunately, her display had no intimidating effect and instead made people find it amusing.

"Haha, look how much your daughter cares about you. She thinks we're bullying you, so she's standing up for you."

Omar was the first to laugh after seeing Coco's reaction.

The others also looked at the little girl and were amused by her 'intimidating' demeanor.

"Alright, alright, alright! You're right, I won't scold her anymore."

Jin Xiantai sat in his seat, shrugged helplessly, and spread his hands, showing a 'I can't do anything' attitude, which was a sign of compromise.

"Exactly, your daughter is so cute and well-behaved. Don't be ungrateful. My brother used to turn the house upside down when he was little. If your daughter were that mischievous, you'd know what it's like."

Omar compared his brother to little Coco, trying to make Jin Xiantai feel content.

Jin Xiantai had to admit that his daughter was indeed very well-behaved.

After this little episode, Jin Xiantai no longer focused on his daughter.

He shifted his attention back to discussing issues related to the 'Spider-Man' comic with Omar and Vincent.

On the other side, Annie and Yang Weiwei were quietly talking about some interesting things about little Coco and how to take care of children.

What was puzzling was that 16 or 17-year-old Yang Weiwei was very interested in this topic, and it was unclear what she was thinking.

At her age, girls usually cared more about luxury goods, celebrity gossip, and discounts on beauty products.

But now she was listening to Annie talk about where to buy discounted diapers, how to give a child a bath, and how to cover Coco with a blanket at night when she couldn't sleep.

Wasn't that strange?

"We are still young and shouldn't be drawing those 18+ comics, especially selling them to younger classmates. That's not right.

As a member of the fraternity, I feel it's my responsibility to change your views and guide you back to the right path.

Think about it, if a child sees your 18+ comics and gets some bad ideas and actually acts on them, wouldn't that be a crime?"

Jin Xiantai spoke with a righteous tone, making Omar and Vincent lower their heads.

The aura of righteousness and integrity radiated from Jin Xiantai, overwhelming the two mischievous ones.

Moreover, the two couldn't refute Jin Xiantai's words, as they were indeed true.

Looking back and forth between Omar and Vincent, Jin Xiantai paused and continued, "In the near future, we will all enter society. I think we should at least not become people who bring negative influences to society.

Since you both love drawing comics and have good skills, why not create a work that appeals to all ages?

I believe that using comics to instill a sense of 'justice' in the public is a much better approach than drawing 18+ content."

Although Jin Xiantai looked 16, he had the soul of a 36-year-old adult. In his eyes, Omar and Vincent were just two inexperienced children.

Is it right to draw 18+ comics and sell them to younger classmates?

To be honest, Jin Xiantai thought it was absolutely wrong.

If it's wrong, then it should be corrected.

Moreover, since he had become friends with the two, he felt it was his duty to help them establish the right sense of right and wrong.

It wasn't that Jin Xiantai was being overly righteous, but he was using an adult's mindset to deal with this matter and to interact with Omar and Vincent.

Therefore, he had to take a stand and not just go along with Omar and Vincent's 'mischief.'

Whether he could persuade Omar and Vincent to stop drawing 18+ comics depended on their own decisions.

As a friend, Jin Xiantai had to be honest with them and raise this issue, rather than remain silent and let them continue down the wrong path.

That would be irresponsible and not what a true friend would do.

Clearly, Jin Xiantai was not someone without a sense of morality and principles.

"Bro, you're making it sound too serious, aren't you?"

Omar hesitated for a while and finally weakly suggested that Jin Xiantai was exaggerating.

Vincent, on the other hand, had a thoughtful look on his face.

"Not serious! Not at all! What I'm saying is the truth!"

Jin Xiantai looked at Omar with a serious expression, putting a lot of pressure on him.

In the West, even strangers would look each other in the eyes during conversations.

In Western culture, the eyes are the windows to the soul, and whether you're telling the truth can be seen in your eyes.

At the same time, looking at the other person's eyes during a conversation is a sign of respect.

If you avoid eye contact or look around, the other person won't trust you, and you won't have a chance to be friends.

Jin Xiantai didn't know this at first, but after living in the United States for almost a year, he had a better understanding of these cultural norms.

In other words, he was no longer the naive person he used to be.

Jin Xiantai's aura was strong, and his eyes were very sincere. Omar could tell that Jin Xiantai was genuinely concerned for him and Vincent.

At this moment, Vincent, who had been silently thinking, spoke up.

"I think what William said makes sense, Omar. Drawing 18+ comics does have a bad influence on our classmates and younger students."

From this statement, it was clear that the chubby Vincent was beginning to understand Jin Xiantai's point.

"Omar, as William said, if a younger student sees our 18+ comics and then commits a crime in real life, wouldn't we be indirectly responsible for inciting a crime?

So we need to make a choice: continue on this path or choose a new style of comics.

Personally, I support William's idea."

Oh! This was a sharp question, and Omar was momentarily speechless.

But in his heart, he was very clear that if such a thing really happened, he and Vincent would be responsible.

At the same time, Vincent had made his choice, which forced Omar to take this matter seriously.

"Alright! Since two out of the three members of the fraternity agree, I have to follow the majority."

Omar was good at finding a way out, using the 'majority rules' excuse to make his decision naturally.

Overall, Jin Xiantai was quite satisfied with the current situation.

This was a good start.

As long as they could stick to it, Omar and Vincent would not be far from returning to a normal path as comic authors.

Jin Xiantai felt a sense of accomplishment.

Oh, had he saved two young people who were about to go astray?

That was a good thing, he thought to himself.

"William, you have experience in publishing novels and have already created the characters. Can you create a script for us so we can follow the plot?"

Since a decision had been made, Omar didn't hesitate and directly made a small request to Jin Xiantai.

This request was reasonable in Jin Xiantai's eyes.

After all, if he didn't give them a script to follow, who knows what might happen if Omar's mischievous side came out and turned 'Spider-Man' into a dark and inappropriate comic.

Therefore, Jin Xiantai nodded without hesitation, "No problem! It's easy for me, but I need some time. As you can see, my physical condition is not good right now."

He smiled bitterly and pointed to his body and the wheelchair he was sitting in.

Omar and Vincent understood very well. Jin Xiantai was still in the recovery phase, and it would be unreasonable to expect him to come up with a plot immediately.

As lunch was coming to an end, the conversation between Omar, Vincent, and Jin Xiantai was also concluding. There was nothing else to discuss, so the two prepared to leave with Yang Weiwei.

Before leaving, Yang Weiwei hesitated, looking resentful and unwilling, and deliberately lagged behind. She came to Jin Xiantai's side, hesitated for a while, and finally spoke about what she had originally come to say.

"My parents back home have learned about the incident at the school, and they are requiring me to return to China to continue my high school studies. I can't stay here anymore. I can't oppose them, so I might have to leave soon."

Oh, Yang Weiwei was leaving the United States to return to China?

Yes, it was understandable that her parents in China would make such a decision after learning about the incident.

If it were him, he would probably make the same decision.

Putting himself in their shoes, Jin Xiantai understood Yang Weiwei's parents very well.

Therefore, he smiled and said to Yang Weiwei, "It's better to go back. At least there won't be such incidents there, and you won't have to work so hard away from your parents.

Don't look so resentful. Even if you go back, I promise we will still be friends. We can stay in touch through Twitter.

Besides, I have developed an instant messaging app that can be used in China. You can help me promote it when you go back. In the future, we can stay in touch through Twitter and QQ."

Looking at Jin Xiantai's bright smile, Yang Weiwei clearly had more to say but hesitated.

"Hey! Yang, come on, what are you dawdling for?"

Yang Weiwei had a lot to say and was hesitating, but Omar's shout scared her, and she didn't know how to speak anymore.

At the same time, Annie was smiling and holding Coco behind Jin Xiantai. In the end, Yang Weiwei sighed inwardly and said goodbye, turning to leave.

Standing at the entrance of the rehabilitation center, Yang Weiwei looked back and touched the plane ticket in her pocket.

"Leaving this time, we might never see each other again. Really, my first love didn't even bloom before it ended. What a... failure."

At this moment, Yang Weiwei hated her shyness and wished she could be as bold as Western girls.

If she could be as bold as Western girls and confess openly, maybe...

Thus, a girl who had developed a crush on Jin Xiantai but couldn't confess due to shyness and timidity left, taking with her a young and unfulfilled first love.

Inside the rehabilitation center, Annie was pushing Jin Xiantai's wheelchair around the lawn.

"That girl has a crush on you. I can tell. She had something to say to you at the last moment, and she might have even hoped you would ask her to stay and not go back to China."

Annie couldn't miss Yang Weiwei's little thoughts.

So she took the opportunity to tease him a bit.

"Annie, don't be silly. Yang and I are just classmates. How could she have feelings for me? Besides, I'm a single father, so it's impossible."

Jin Xiantai's dull reaction to this matter made Annie inwardly criticize him.

Hmph!

You wooden-headed guy, it's not strange for a girl to develop feelings for you out of gratitude.

Especially for a 16 or 17-year-old girl, it's even easier to fall in love.

If I were in that situation, and a man stood up to protect me in a crisis, I would also be moved and develop feelings for him, let alone a young girl.

You, the idiot, don't understand that girls at this age are easily moved and fall in love.

But then Annie thought, Jin Xiantai's wooden attitude towards girls seemed to be to her advantage.

So, Annie, pushing the wheelchair, couldn't help but smile foolishly.

Jin Xiantai, of course, couldn't see Annie's foolish smile behind him.

At the same time, he remembered the invitation to the charity gala from the governor's office.

So, sitting in the wheelchair, he turned his head and asked, "Annie, where is the invitation to the charity gala? Show it to me. Do you know anything about it? I'm not very familiar with what I need to pay attention to."