You hidden in my heart - Chapter 45.2

Chapter 45.2

He thought Uncle Li would refuse and was even prepared to cry and beg him, but to his surprise, Uncle Li agreed without hesitation.

He would never forget the expression on his mother’s face when she saw Uncle Li outside the classroom on the day of the parents’ meeting.

Lu Yulling knew from that expression that he would be beaten when he got home that night. However, he was not afraid at all. He held his head high and faced his mother’s angry eyes. In front of the head teacher and a group of classmates, he shouted to Uncle Li loudly, “Dad!”

His mother’s face turned blue with anger.

But Uncle Li did not reject the little boy’s words. Instead, he agreed with a smile, “Well, you and Mom go home first. I will stay and attend the parent-teacher meeting for you.”

The head teacher and classmates were all shocked, and some even looked at Lu Yuling with envy, because Uncle Li was very handsome and tall, wearing a well-ironed suit and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on his nose. He looked charming no matter how you looked at him, and you could tell at first glance that he was a very capable person.

They all thought this charming uncle was his dad.

At that moment, Lu Yuling felt that he had won and achieved a great victory.

On the way home, he thought his mother was going to beat him up on the street, but she didn’t. She put one hand in her pocket, carried her bag with the other, and walked very fast, not even bothering to look back at her son.

He was glad that his mother didn’t beat him in the street; otherwise, it would be too embarrassing. Later he realised that it wasn’t that his mother didn’t beat him, but that she didn’t want him anymore. Then he started clinging to his mother’s arm and begging for forgiveness, half trying to please her and half acting like a spoiled child. “Mom, don’t be angry; I know I was wrong! I won’t dare to do it again.”

Finally, the mother stopped and gave the boy a severe look, saying, “Don’t call me ‘Mum.’ I’m not your mother. How dare I be your mother when you have such strong ideas?”

He was stubborn and kept acting like a pampered child. “Hey, don’t be angry. I’ve already apologised to you. The teacher said that a child who admits his mistakes and corrects them is a good child. You can’t not forgive a good child!”

Upon hearing his cunning words, his mother almost laughed out of anger at him. There was a slight smile on the corner of her mouth for a few seconds. She quickly suppressed it and continued to scold the boy with a stern face. “How can you be a good child? Would a good child find a father for himself without telling his mother?”

The only response he gave was, “I asked Uncle Li to come to the parent-teacher conference because I missed him.” He kept what he heard outside the teacher’s office to himself because he feared his mother would be upset.

The mother was furious with her son for not understanding the boundaries, but she could not blame him since she understood deep down that he had to do this in order for people to know that he had a father.

‘What would Li Zhang do if his wife found out?’

However, she couldn’t hold a youngster accountable for lacking self-awareness. If he knew the limits, he would no longer be a child.

She could only blame herself for not giving her son a complete home.

Sighing, the mother finally held her son’s hand, slowed down her pace, and took him home. But she still couldn’t help nagging him, “You are a little boy, but you are so good at acting like a spoiled child. Do you still look like a man? You are almost like a little girl! With your condition, I wonder who would dare to marry you when you grow up!”

Lu Yuling said confidently, “Uncle Li taught me how to act like a spoiled child. He said that men who know how to act like a spoiled child will not be beaten. Look, didn’t I get beaten by you this time? This shows that Uncle Li is right!”

Mother: ‘… Li Zhang, how did you teach my son?’

The little boy continued confidently. “Uncle Li also said that his wife is very powerful, so he has to act like a spoiled child at home; otherwise, he will also be beaten. Then I asked Uncle Li if his daughter is powerful. Uncle Li said that his daughter is also powerful, so I have to learn to act like a spoiled child; otherwise, I will definitely be beaten by my wife in the future. Mom, you definitely don’t want your baby son to be beaten.

Mother: “…”

The debate between mother and son on “Should little boys act like spoiled brats?” ended with the son’s counter-question. In the end, the mother lost because she could not find any reason to refute her son’s words.

‘Huh, men who know how to act coquettishly don’t get beaten? Okay, with your behaviour, I guess your wife will beat you three times a day. It would be great if you could get fewer beatings by acting coquettishly.’

On the way home, his mother took him to the supermarket and bought a lot of vegetables and a set of luxurious dolls. 

Lu Yuling was very surprised by that. “Mom, why did you buy me a doll? Do you really think of me as a little girl?”

The mother said angrily, “Is this for you? This is for your wife! As you are so naughty, I have to bribe her in advance so that she will beat you less in the future!” 

In fact, she bought this set of dolls to thank Li Zhang for attending the parent-teacher meeting for her son.

Lu Yuling took her mother’s words seriously and sighed. “Alas, what Uncle Li said is really true. Beautiful women have bad tempers and need to be coaxed by buying things.”

Mother: “…”

After a moment of silence, his mother suppressed her temper and asked, “What else did Uncle Li say to you?”

Lu Yuling betrayed Uncle Li without any preparation. “Uncle Li also said that I must learn how to coax my wife, not to argue with my wife, not to hit my wife, and not to make my wife cry. I have to listen to my wife and treat my wife as a little princess; otherwise, I will not be a good child, and he will not like me. I can’t let Uncle Li dislike me, so I have to be a good child.”

The mother fell silent again. After a while, she sighed, then smiled, looked at her son with a hint of gloating, and said meaningfully, “Do you think you can just call him ‘Dad’ casually?”

At that time, Lu Yuling didn’t understand what her mother meant and asked in confusion, “What do you mean?”

His mother replied simply and understandably, “It means you have to be a good child.”

Lu Yuling nodded and promised solemnly. “I have always been a good child.”

After returning home, his mother went to the kitchen to cook. 

He obediently returned to his room to do his homework. About an hour later, there was a knock on the door. He immediately dropped the pen in his hand and ran away while shouting happily, “Uncle Li is here!”

After he opened the security door, he saw Uncle Li outside the door. He immediately threw himself into Uncle Li’s arms.

Uncle Li picked him up from the ground and closed the door with his other hand.

Only then did he smell the strong smell of fried chicken in the air. He looked again and saw a transparent plastic bag hanging on Uncle Li’s wrist as he closed the door. There was also a piece of yellow paper inside the plastic bag. The smell of fried chicken was coming from the paper. He was even more surprised. “Wow! Fried chicken!”

Just now in the supermarket, he wanted his mother to buy him fried chicken, but his mother didn’t buy it for him because she was afraid that he would not be able to eat dinner properly after eating fried chicken.

Uncle Li handed him the fried chicken and said with a smile, “It seems I bought the right thing.”

He nodded again and again and then replied in a low voice, “My mother didn’t buy anything for me at the supermarket just now.”

At this moment, his mother had already come out of the kitchen and was standing behind him, but he didn’t see her. “What a good boy! You complain about me as soon as Uncle Li comes?”

Being caught in the act, he quickly turned his head to look at his mother and denied it. “I didn’t!”

‘This naughty kid!’ The mother ignored him and looked at Uncle Li, saying with gratitude and a little helplessness, “He is ignorant, and you are messing with him?”

Uncle Li put him on the ground, and when he stood up, he sighed and replied seriously, “School is also a small society. Although it is just an elementary school, there are also malicious intentions. Yuling is not making trouble, nor is he ignorant. He just doesn’t want to be discriminated against.”

The mother was silent for a while, then she said to Uncle Li, “Thank you.”

Uncle Li hesitated for a moment and spoke again, “You really don’t plan to…”

“No!” The mother didn’t give Uncle Li a chance to finish his words. “Do you want to stay for dinner?”

Uncle Li did not continue the previous conversation, shook his head, and replied, “No, my daughter has to go to piano class; I have to pick her up.”

Lu Yuling’s mother didn’t force him to stay. She turned to the living room and gave the doll set to Uncle Li. “Okay, then be careful on the road.”

Lu Yuling didn’t expect Uncle Li to leave just after he arrived and immediately hugged his legs reluctantly. “When will you come again?”

Uncle Li smiled and replied, “Next Friday. I will pick you up from school every Friday from now on.”

Lu Yuling stared at Uncle Li with eyes wide open and asked incredulously, “Really?”

Uncle Li nodded his head vigorously. “Really!”

Lu Yuling was so excited. He was still immersed in excitement and ecstasy and kept saying to his mother, “Mom, did you hear that? Uncle Li will come to be with my father every Friday from now on!”

Have a nice day!