"Sigh, you go stay at Grandma's first."
Zhu Wenzhang reacted quickly enough and waved his son away. Zhu Cong also realized that what he had just said might have been inappropriate.
Afraid of being beaten.
He immediately bolted out,
Not forgetting to close the door as he left.
At the same time, Xu Ping's eyes were already slightly red, and her emotions were on the verge of breaking down. With a tearful voice, she said,
"Why am I so unlucky, to have such a pair of troublesome children? Other people's children are good at studying and successful in their careers. Some children are already old enough to run errands, unlike mine. The ones who aren't good at studying aren't good at studying, and the disobedient ones are disobedient.
Can I, their mother, harm them?
He just stabs me in the heart.
What am I living this life of toil for?"
Zhu Wenzhang quickly stepped forward and hugged his wife from behind, gently coaxing her,
"Alright, alright, it's okay, it's okay. The child just spoke without thinking. Don't be angry anymore. Just assume we sinned in our past lives and owed them both."
"Bah, you're the one who sinned.
I sinned by marrying you and having these two."
"Okay, okay, it's my sin, alright? You were a Bodhisattva in your past life, specifically saving me, a sinner. I didn't expect you to sink into the sea of suffering with me.
Don't be angry, and don't cry anymore.
If this child really can't make it, let him go to vocational school or a technical college later. Learning a skill is better than starving.
His grades have never been good since he was little.
It seems he's just not good at studying. Perhaps it's also related to us having him at forty. After all, doctors say that children born at advanced maternal age are statistically less likely to be as capable as those born in their twenties or thirties."
...
Under Zhu Wenzhang's comfort, Xu Ping's emotions finally eased slightly, and she was no longer as agitated as before.
The two were finally able to sit down and discuss matters calmly.
"Are you really planning to let him go to vocational school or a technical college?"
After being angry, Xu Ping still had to consider her son's future and asked worriedly. In her mind, vocational schools were for those who couldn't get into regular high schools. Although her son couldn't get into regular high school, she still wanted to fight for him, even harboring a faint hope that his grades might improve if he attended high school.
Zhu Wenzhang, however, shook his head directly:
"I've been thinking, perhaps we should have faced reality long ago, recognized that Zhu Cong isn't cut out for academics. From the first grade, his grades gradually declined as the textbook difficulty increased. He did his homework diligently and didn't get addicted to games.
If his grades had been good before, and then declined because of playing games or not studying, we could still find a way.
Let him go to a regular high school and work harder.
Perhaps there's still a chance to get into university.
But this boy is clearly not that kind of person."
"His grades are what they are, no hope."
"It's better to let him go to a technical college and learn a skill. Moreover, compared to vocational schools, technical colleges have an advantage: if his academic performance really improves in the future, there's still a chance to get into a junior college or transfer to a bachelor's program.
If his academic performance doesn't improve, he'll have a professional skill.
Then he won't have trouble finding a job.
This is the best solution I can think of."
While comforting his wife, Zhu Wenzhang also considered their son's situation and genuinely felt that some things shouldn't be forced.
Since the child truly didn't have the ability to attend a regular high school, why force him? Would attending improve his grades or get him into college? People need to be realistic.
And they need to have some self-awareness about their child.
If the child is capable, he's capable. If he's not, he's not. Forcing a child who isn't capable to be capable might not be for their good, but rather harm them.
Parents must accept that people are different.
Some gaps cannot be bridged by effort alone.
"But this is too embarrassing.
Among the relatives of the same generation, none of them failed to get into regular high school. I can accept my child being mediocre, but this is beyond mediocrity.
He and his sister have the same parents.
Why is there such a big gap in their studies?"
Xu Ping's difficulty in accepting it stemmed mainly from her lingering regret. She had a daughter who had always had good grades. If her elder daughter's grades had been like this, she would have accepted it much more easily.
"No matter what, we have to accept it."
Then followed a long period of silence, quiet contemplation, and eventually, acceptance.
After they had fully accepted the situation and made a decision for Zhu Cong, they discussed their other child, Zhu Xin, and shared some recently acquired information about her.
"Why is she so heartless, to just cut contact like that? Wasn't everything I did for her own good?
It's been almost six years.
Her child must be in school by now, right?
We can't always be the ones to back down..."
Mentioning their daughter, Xu Ping was worried. Her daughter wasn't like her son, who was around all the time and whom she saw every day. Now, she didn't even know where her daughter lived. The little information she had came mostly from snippets shared by her daughter's friends.
Perhaps because she had already compromised so much regarding her son, she couldn't help but want to compromise further, and she even started to miss her daughter.
Although she said, "We can't always be the ones to back down...", the word "but" already indicated her wavering resolve.
"Children really are a burden. I said years ago that that girl is even more stubborn than you. You always insisted that she had to compromise with us and apologize to you, but have you forgotten that doting parents are many? When children are truly hard-hearted, they are much harder than us parents.
So, let's just drop it.
I'll contact our daughter later. It'll be the same as last time. I'll contact her first, and you shouldn't criticize her anymore. Let's mend the relationship.
If our daughter is willing to come back.
Don't push her to go on blind dates or bring up her past wounds. Pretend to be deaf and dumb and leave her alone.
Children and grandchildren have their own fortunes. She's not a child anymore,
She's almost thirty. Whatever she wants to do, let her be, as long as it's not illegal. Okay?"
Zhu Wenzhang could clearly hear the regret in his wife's words, so he immediately seized the opportunity and offered to be the mediator.
At the same time, he reminded his wife not to interfere too much once their mother-daughter relationship had mended a bit.
Whatever the child wants to do, let her do it.
Meddling too much only leads to animosity.
"I understand..." Xu Ping replied helplessly.