Chapter 1071 - 1073: The Issue with Teaching Children_1
It was fortunate that Bai Ruozhu only thought about it because if someone found out, she would definitely be accused of being unfilially rebellious.
"No, he’s fine, probably it’s for treating someone else," Bai Ruozhu said.
The Empress Dowager relaxed completely and let out a big sigh of relief, "Oh, is that so?" she said quietly as she glanced at Bai Ruozhu, afraid that Bai Ruozhu might notice something.
"He mentioned you," Bai Ruozhu suddenly said.
The Empress Dowager’s heart lifted again as she stared intently at Bai Ruozhu and asked, "What did he say about me? He should hate me."
Bai Ruozhu smiled, this must be what it meant to be too close to a matter to see it clearly.
"At first, I ran into him by chance, but I wasn’t sure if he was friend or foe. Besides, a branch of the Yao Family started competing with me in business, and I even suspected his intentions for appearing, he only said one sentence," Bai Ruozhu said.
The Empress Dowager was anxious in her heart, "What did he say?"
"You are the one she likes, how could I harm a single hair on you?" Bai Ruozhu imitated Yao Yuxuan’s tone at that time and spoke in a deep voice.
The Empress Dowager’s face instantly blushed to her neck, for she naturally understood the meaning behind those words.
Bai Ruozhu wanted to say that Yao Yuxuan had been keeping an eye on things related to the Empress Dowager, otherwise how would he know that the Empress Dowager liked her? Of course, she couldn’t express these thoughts too bluntly or directly.
Suddenly, the Empress Dowager’s eyes reddened, and she sniffed, saying with a bit of a choke, "You should go back now, come over again in two days."
Bai Ruozhu paid her respects to her, and then she left the Cining Palace.
She thought the Empress Dowager must have known for a long time that Yao Yuxuan was traveling with them to the Capital. Previous visits to the Cining Palace were always accompanied by someone, whether it was Diao Bin or the concubine Yue, which is why the Empress Dowager didn’t find a good opportunity to speak. Perhaps the Empress Dowager had been very eager to know about Yao Yuxuan.
She sighed to herself, thinking that if she had been the Empress Dowager back then, she would rather choose the gentleman Yao who could heal the world, rather than share a husband who was also a monarch.
But she could also understand the Empress Dowager’s position, for she wasn’t living for herself alone and couldn’t be willful without considering the safety of her Family.
By the time she got home, her parents were all smiles. Lin Ping’er handed her a letter saying, "Your eldest brother and sister-in-law have sent a letter saying they’ll start traveling to the Capital soon. They can take their time on the road and won’t be too exhausted. They should be able to reunite with us before the end of the year, and they probably are on their way already."
Without the delay of waiting for letters, it would still take a while to reach them, so her eldest brother and sister-in-law must have already started their journey.
Bai Ruozhu also became happy. She hadn’t seen her eldest brother, sister-in-law, and little niece for a long time and she missed them dearly.
"Your mother is so happy, she even ordered the maid to clean up the Yard today, without considering how many days it would take for them to arrive. Even if we clean now, won’t it just collect dust again?" Bai Yihong said with a chuckle, indicating that he was also in good spirits.
Lin Ping’er gave him a reproachful look and said, "Why would you let the Room collect dust when there are people at home to clean? Do you think the servants are not doing their work?"
Bai Yihong couldn’t argue with her, so he just chuckled sheepishly and said, "Alright, alright, whatever makes you happy."
Seeing their parents’ affection, Bai Ruozhu was both envious and jealous. When would her Achun come back? She was almost becoming a resentful wife.
Dengdeng rushed over to snatch the letter from his mother’s hand, indicating he wanted to read it too, causing everyone in the room to burst into laughter. Lin Pinger even deliberately put on a stern face and said, "Laughing at what? Who says our Dengdeng can’t understand?"
She handed it to Dengdeng, and his little expression was especially serious, as if he really could understand, but Bai Ruozhu was already laughing so hard she doubled over. That’s because her precious son was holding it upside down!
It was unclear if Dengdeng was annoyed because he couldn’t understand, or angry at being laughed at, but suddenly his little hand grabbed forcefully, tearing the intact letter into two...
"That’s your uncle’s letter, how could you tear it?" Bai Ruozhu put on a stern face to scold her son, but Lin Pinger, feeling sorry for the child, held her back, saying, "The letter has already been read, it doesn’t matter if it’s torn, the child didn’t mean it, he’s so small he can’t control his strength."
Bai Ruozhu clearly saw that her son did it on purpose, and she believed that boys should not be indulged like this. She was worried that her parents’ excessive love for Dengdeng would spoil him and turn him into a naughty child. Wasn’t Bai Yibo a cautionary example?
Thinking this, Bai Ruozhu felt that it was time to prioritize educating her child. Although the child was still young, the saying goes that one should judge the future from the age of three, and it was important not to spoil them from the start.
At this moment, Dengdeng seemed not to have heard her scolding at all and continued to tear the letter. The one originally torn in half became fragmented, even more destroyed than before.
Bai Ruozhu’s anger flared up instantly. Was the child doing this deliberately? He was told not to tear it, yet he continued tearing; this was truly a lack of discipline!
With that thought, she looked at Dengdeng sternly and snatched the shredded letter from his hands, saying, "Dengdeng, mom is going to get angry!"
Before she had finished speaking, Dengdeng suddenly burst into loud wails.
Lin Pinger and Bai Yihong felt extremely sorry for him, with Bai Yihong stepping forward to persuade, "Don’t scold the child, it’s just a letter; it’s useless after it’s read."
Indeed, the indulgence of grandparents is different, Bai Ruozhu thought helplessly.
Meanwhile, little Dengdeng was crying even harder, reaching for the torn letter that Bai Ruozhu snatched away as if he wanted to continue tearing the remaining scraps.
Bai Ruozhu put on a stern face, determined to discipline the child properly today. However, Dengdeng usually didn’t love to cry, and it was very rare for him to cry so sadly. As rational as Bai Ruozhu was, she felt so heartbroken at this moment that she wished to pick him up and comfort him well, yet she stopped her parents from going to hold the child.
"Children need to be taught well from a young age. Did you indulge my brothers like this when they were small?" Bai Ruozhu looked at her parents and asked.
Lin Pinger and Bai Yihong opened their mouths to speak, but Bai Ruozhu interjected, "You didn’t indulge my brothers but you indulge little Dengdeng. Do you want him to grow up crooked, to become someone like Bai Yibo?"
"How could that be, how could Dengdeng be a bad kid?" Lin Pinger became anxious as soon as the name Bai Yibo was mentioned.
"Nobody is born bad, a lot of it is due to spoiling them when they are young. Dad, Mom, I know grandchildren are dear, but for the child’s future, we can’t keep indulging him like this," Bai Ruozhu sighed and said.
The couple that was Bai Yihong were not resistant to advice; it’s just that the child’s crying was causing them heartache. Bai Yihong even said, "Dengdeng might not know that tearing letters is bad; he just wanted to play with the paper."
This sentence suddenly reminded Bai Ruozhu of something. She sharply recollected that back overseas, the landlord’s child had torn toilet paper into very small pieces, making a mess everywhere, but the landlord had simply smiled and said to her, "He’s at the age where he likes to tear paper, it’s just curiosity, and it also exercises his finger dexterity."
How could she forget about that? Dengdeng must be at that age too, she realized, and her heart softened. Yet tearing letters was still wrong, and she still needed to explain the reason properly to the child.