“Siying. Where are you? I have brought some snacks for you, dear,” Xinyi came in, bringing a tray with his favorite food.

But to her surprise, Siying didn’t come rushing and hopping to her side as he usually did. Instead, she saw him sulking, no, even close to crying.

“Siying! What happened, dear?”

She quickly kept the tray aside and climbed on the bed beside him.

“Mama…” Big drops of tears trickled down his cheeks.

“Siying, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” She pulled him in her arms and wiped his tears. “Tell me. What’s wrong? Did something happen in the preschool?”

He clung to her chest. “E-en…”

Xinyi grew worried. Then her sight went onto his elbow. She could faintly see some swelling on it. Her breath almost stopped in her throat.

“What’s that!?”

Xinyi raised his hand and rolled up his sleeve. There was a bruise on his elbow, and a little skin was scraped off.

Her eyes widened in shock.

She trembled, and tears rimmed in her eyes too. “H-how did this happen? Did you fall? Oh God, wait a minute. Mama will quickly bring the first aid.”

Xinyi rushed to the cupboard and brought out the medical kit. She took a cotton ball and dipped it in antiseptic. “It will sting a bit. Just a little bit, okay? My son is strong, right?”

Siying nodded while sniffling. “I am strong like Dada.”

She smiled and patted him. “En. Good boy.”

Xinyi gently rubbed the cotton on his wound. Siying jolted.

“Waaa…Mama, it hurts…”

Her heart ached to see him cry. “I am sorry, dear. Just bear it a little longer, please.”

A minute later, she cleaned his wound and was done. Only then, she felt she could finally breathe again.

“There. Done.” She kissed his cheek and smiled. “You were so strong staying put like that. Mama is very proud. Now, tell me. How did you hurt yourself?”

Siying lowered his head. “There was a mean girl who pushed me.”

“Mean girl? Who?”

“I don’t know. She is older than me. The teacher said she was a new student who joined today in the elementary school besides us.”

Xinyi was confused.

A new student did this to him? Bullying? But why would she bully Siying when she just joined today?

“Then?”

Siying sniffled and softly gasped as he cried. “When I was playing, she came to me. She said that she wants to talk to me. The teacher said to be nice to her and make friends with her.”

“She asked you to go alone with her?”

“En. I thought she was shy because she is new. I went with her away from Leina and the group. Then-then she pushed me. I fell and hurt my hand. And then she started scolding me.”

Xinyi wiped his tears. “Don’t cry. Mama is here with you and Dada, and I will surely take care of everything. You just tell me everything in detail. What did she say to you?”

Siying nodded. “She was angry at me and told me not to come near her Mama. She doesn’t like it. She saw me talking with her Mama, and she got angry for that.”

She blinked her eyes. “Mama?”

Siying’s eyes sparkled for the first time in a while now. “En. I wanted to tell you about her. I met a very good Aunty today! She was sitting under a tree. She helped me tie my shoelaces, and she even taught me how to spell bo-bothe-bothering word! She was a very nice and pretty Aunty!”

“I see. That’s really kind of her. So, the new student is her daughter?”

“Yes. First, I did not understand. Then she said she saw me talking to her Mama under the big tree. She said she didn’t like it, and she…” Siying started crying again, “s-scolded me a lot. She told me to stay away from her.”

Xinyi was at a complete loss.

Why would her daughter behave that way? It’s not wrong for children to talk to other parents.

Her mother seems to be a good woman who helped Siying. So why did her daughter act like that?

Xinyi wanted to be upset regarding what happened, but the girl was also just a child.

Maybe she has her own reasons…?

But pushing Siying was a little too much. She could have just talked to him.

She sighed.

Sometimes children at that age were impulsive. Adults could hardly expect them to be calm.

Xinyi wondered.

To her, why was it so wrong for Siying to talk to her mother?

Siying tearfully tugged Xinyi. “Mama…did I do something wrong?”

That was the first time something like that happened to Siying. So his little mind wondered and feared whether he genuinely did something so wrong to the extent that the girl pushed him.

So naturally, he was afraid that Xinyi and Zhiyuan would get upset at him too.

Xinyi shook her head. “No, dear. You did nothing wrong. You just talked to her, right?”

“Talked and had fun!”

“En. There is nothing wrong with that. Talking and having fun is a good thing.”

“So-so why she pushed me and scolded me?”

Xinyi said, “Right now, even I don’t know the answer to that. But don’t worry. Tomorrow, Zhiyuan and I will come and meet her first thing in the morning. We must know why she did that, so it doesn’t happen again.”

“Okay..”

“But wait. Didn’t you tell the teacher about it? She would have definitely called us at that time itself. How come nobody knows?”

Siying nervously remained silent. He seemed a little afraid.

Xinyi immediately caught onto his fear. She cupped his face. “Don’t hide anything from me. Mama will help you.”

Siying stuttered. “She-she said that if I told this to the teacher, then she will hit me again. Waaa…Mama, she is scary…”

Xinyi was taken aback.

Hit him again?

Now Xinyi was getting really upset.

This is too much. She is older than him. She is supposed to take care of him like an elder sister, not threatening to beat him.

This is unacceptable, no matter if she is a child!

I have to talk to Zhiyuan about this; otherwise things will get out of hand.

“What is her name?”

Siying furrowed his brows. “I forgot her family name. But her first name is Chyou.”

*****

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