Chapter 54

He Xiangdong was very angry, extremely angry. His work was usually very busy. In others' eyes, he was a millionaire with assets worth millions, the factory manager of Dongfang Hardware, and a star entrepreneur in Qingshan. He had achieved such success at a young age, which was enviable and made him feel proud. However, few people understood the efforts he had put in to achieve all this, or that his wealth was not something that came easily, and the thriving factory was not something he could manage by just lying in bed.

At 6:30 in the morning, the couple had to get up, quickly eat breakfast, and leave the house before 7:00. He Xiangdong was the factory manager, and Yin Xiulan was the accountant. Both were indispensable key figures in the factory's operations. After a morning of work, they could return home for lunch, but in reality, if it weren't for cooking for He Ping, the couple wouldn't even come home for lunch. The afternoon was also busy, and they wouldn't return home until 7:00 in the evening. After returning home, the evening was the only free time for the couple.

What was all this for? Of course, He Xiangdong wouldn't say that it was all for the sake of his child. After all, he had his own ideals, had to consider the workers in the factory, and had to maintain his own dignity. But the biggest reason for his hard work was to pave the way for his son, to make his future life smoother. However, today he received a call from the homeroom teacher, saying that He Ping, that rascal, didn't go to class all morning!

What a disgrace! How could this be! He Ping's academic performance was poor, and He Xiangdong accepted that. This required both talent and effort. Without discussing talent, there was no effort. No effort was fine, after all, not everything in life depended on academic performance. He himself didn't have good grades when he was young, but now he was still the leader of a group of people who had better grades than him. Poor academic performance was fine, but skipping class! This was a big problem in He Xiangdong's eyes.

"You rascal! I'll teach you to skip class! I'll teach you to be bad! I'll teach you to sleep! How can you be so undisciplined! Not going to class all morning..." With each word, He Xiangdong slapped He Ping's buttocks. At first, because He Ping didn't feel much pain, he didn't cry or fuss, which made He Xiangdong even angrier and hit harder. But after a while, although it still didn't hurt, He Ping couldn't control his emotions.

This young, vigorous, and proud man was his father. In his previous life, the father who had spent over a decade in prison, like a living dead man, was a lifelong pain in his heart. Originally, such a strong and optimistic person had been tormented into that state. Thinking about this, thinking about finally returning to this era, thinking about being able to protect his parents from the nightmare of his previous life, He Ping's tears couldn't help but fall, and he soon burst into tears.

"Crying? You know how to cry? You know it hurts? Do you know what you did wrong? Do you know what to do in the future?" Seeing He Ping start to cry, He Xiangdong didn't stop. He had "educated" He Ping like this before. Crying meant pain, and pain meant remembering, which would make him realize his mistakes and not repeat them. So after each cry, He Xiangdong would hit him a few more times to make him remember more firmly.

But this time seemed a bit different. He Xiangdong was a bit puzzled. This time, He Ping's crying was different from before. Before, the crying was simply due to pain, though the sound was loud and sounded very pitiful, it was just that. But now, He Ping was indeed crying, but it didn't seem to be because of the pain. Instead, it seemed like he was thinking of something sad. How strange, what could a ten-year-old elementary school student have to cry like this?

Just then, the sound of a key turning in the lock of the door that He Xiangdong had just closed was heard. Soon, the door opened again. This time, a beautiful woman who looked to be in her late twenties stood outside. She wore a grayish-white women's business suit, with long hair tied into a ponytail at the back of her neck, and shiny black high heels. She held a plastic bag filled with fresh vegetables. It was He Ping's mother, Yin Xiulan.

Yin Xiulan was also very angry about today's incident. She had the same thoughts as He Xiangdong: poor academic performance was fine, but one must not become bad. Even if the grades were poor, as long as one went to school every day, interacted with classmates and teachers, and experienced school life, it was fine, as long as one didn't do things like smoking, drinking, fighting, or skipping class. Skipping class, and for a whole morning, was absolutely intolerable in Yin Xiulan's eyes.

But when she walked into the house, she immediately saw He Xiangdong disciplining He Ping, and He Ping's heart-wrenching cries immediately melted her heart, which had been hardened. Especially when He Ping saw Yin Xiulan, he immediately ignored He Xiangdong's restraint, jumped out of He Xiangdong's arms, and rushed into Yin Xiulan's embrace. This made Yin Xiulan's anger shift from He Ping to He Xiangdong.

"He Xiangdong! You bastard! Look at what you've done to your son! How hard did you hit him to make him cry so sadly?" Yin Xiulan's face was cold, and she scolded He Xiangdong harshly. Outside, Yin Xiulan was a virtuous wife who knew how to enhance her husband's status, but at home, she was the boss who said what she meant. Despite He Xiangdong's success outside, at home, he was a typical "henpecked husband" by the standards of the time.

At this moment, He Xiangdong felt extremely wronged. He hadn't done anything out of line. Disciplining He Ping? He had done it before. If he remembered correctly, once on a weekend, He Ping didn't do his homework and played in the arcade all day. That day, he hit him harder than today, but He Ping didn't cry as sadly. What was wrong today? It didn't seem like He Ping was faking it, which was really strange. Though he was a bit puzzled and felt wronged, the only thing He Xiangdong could do was to beg for mercy.

"Dear, don't be in a hurry!" He Xiangdong quickly stood up, looking pitiful: "I really didn't do anything! Ah, no, I did hit him a few times, but it wasn't that hard. I don't know why he cried so much, but it's definitely not because of my hitting. You have to believe me. If you don't believe me, you can ask him. If you still don't believe me, you can take off his pants and check his buttocks. I think it's just a bit red at most."

Yin Xiulan glared at He Xiangdong and then immediately comforted He Ping, gently patting his head: "It's okay, it's okay. Don't cry. If you have any grievances, tell Mom. Don't be afraid of your father. If he really hit you hard, Mom will teach him a lesson. Come, let Mom see your buttocks."

"Sniff, Mom, it's okay. I just suddenly felt like crying. It's not Dad's fault." He Ping's face turned red. He was already a big boy, how could he bear to show his buttocks to his parents!

[PS: Third update of the day!]

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