“Since it’s a parent-teacher conference, didn’t you ask your sister or your grandmother to go?” Robin inquired.
The little boy lowered his head and remained silent for a moment before saying: “I didn’t tell them. Other kids have their parents attending, and I wanted my dad. I’ve been waiting for him to come back.”
Robin fell silent.
At that moment, Kelly arrived, glanced at the two of them, and coldly said, “Time to eat.”
“Alright.”
Robin led the little boy back.
After dinner, Kelly called Robin to the balcony, handed him a cigarette, and with a somewhat indifferent look, asked, “Want one?”
“You smoke?”
Robin didn’t take the cigarette, frowning instead.
“What’s it to you?”
Kelly grumbled unhappily before lighting the cigarette for herself. Her slender, delicate hands held and smoked the cigarette, exhaling puffs of smoke.
However, the next second, Robin snatched the cigarette away.
“If you can’t smoke, don’t.”
Robin placed the cigarette on the ground and stomped on it twice. It seemed like Kelly wasn’t really a smoker, just pretending to be one. Robin sighed and said, “Were you trying to act rebellious so that your father would find out through me and come back to discipline you?”
As if her pretense had been exposed, Kelly turned and walked away. But when she was out of sight, she murmured, “Not entirely.”
“Ah, Pann.”
Robin sighed, feeling a mix of emotions.
The next day, Robin and Rain went to the parent-teacher conference. Upon arriving at the entrance, several little boys came out and looked at Rain, saying childishly, “What, scared after what we said you yesterday? Today you even found someone to pretend to be your father.”
“This is my uncle, here to attend the parent-teacher conference for me,” Rain replied.
“Heh, I thought you’d say he was your dad. As expected, a parentless bastard, unloved and forced to find a random uncle.”
“Bastard, let me tell you, my dad will come, and he’ll even pick me up with his Benz.”
“Not only do you have no parents, but you’re also poor.”
The little boys laughed at Rain one after another.
Robin could feel Rain’s grip on his hand tightening slightly.
“The parent-teacher conference is starting.”
At that moment, a woman in a tight skirt and glasses emerged from within. Her figure wasn’t particularly impressive, but she appeared to be the homeroom teacher.
The woman glanced at Rain and then ignored him, leading the students inside.
Rain was left alone.
“This is my homeroom teacher, Miss Lee,” Rain said weakly.
“Mhm.”
A chill flashed through Robin’s eyes.
He then entered and noticed that Rain was seated at the very back, far from the blackboard. Robin immediately asked, “What’s going on? You’re so small, so you should be sitting in the front.”
“The teacher arranged it. I wanted to sit in the front, but she wouldn’t allow it,” Rain replied, lowering his head.
“Very well.”
Robin felt a surge of anger.
Was this how a teacher should educate their students?
After sitting down, Miss Lee adjusted her glasses and began with some pleasantries. Then, she pulled out a document and said, “This is a performance score I’ve prepared based on the students’ behavior. You can get a rough idea of how your child is performing at school.”
“First place, Joe Williams… A Plus, excellent performance at school… no negative records… a good friend to classmates, showing unity and mutual assistance.”
Applause followed her words.
Robin turned to Rain and asked, “What about this guy?”
“He’s the top student in the class and also the class president,” Rain answered honestly.
“What about you?”
Robin was also concerned about the boy’s grades.
“I’m above average in the class.”
“Not bad.”
Robin smiled slightly. Despite being seated at the very back, next to the trash bin, Rain managed to rank above average, which was already quite impressive.
Then, the homeroom teacher announced the next student: “Bob Green, A, very good performance at school, loves to help classmates… very caring…”
As she spoke, everyone’s gaze fell on a chubby boy in the crowd.
Beside the chubby boy, there was an even bigger man with a large gold chain around his neck. Hearing these words, his face almost broke into a grin: “Thank you for the praise, teacher.”
“This child is well-educated.”
“He helps his classmates and is a good kid.”
The surrounding parents all chimed in with similar remarks.
However, Robin’s gaze was somewhat strange. Helping classmates and being caring? This chubby boy, Bob, was one of the bullies who had tormented Rain and had been the main force, constantly calling Rain a wild child. Could such a person truly be caring and helpful to classmates?
“This guy?”
Robin looked at Rain.
“His name is Bob Green, nicknamed Bobby. His family is very wealthy, and his father often gives gifts to the teacher. We see it all the time.”
Rain explained, somewhat defiantly.
Then, Miss Lee went on to read the performance scores of the other students. After she finished, the whole class applauded. It was only then that Miss Lee said, “The students in our class generally have good performance, showing unity and mutual assistance. However…”
At this point, her tone suddenly dropped.
“However, there is one bad apple that spoils the bunch. In class, he only knows how to bully classmates, fight, disobey class discipline, and not show unity and love for his classmates. Therefore, I give him an F.”
“It’s you, Rain London. You should drop out. In our class, you only bring down our overall performance.”
She stared directly at Rain, without any attempt to hide her disdain.
Rain trembled as he listened, clenching his fists, but he was full of confusion, helplessness, and uncertainty.
However, at this moment, Robin patted him on the shoulder: “It’s alright, I’m here.”
He then stood up and looked coldly at the respectable Miss Lee: “Is this your way of teaching?”
“What do you mean?”
Miss Lee sneered disdainfully.
“You don’t deserve to be a teacher. I’ll ask you, Rain isn’t tall, so why did you make him sit in the back, next to the trash can?” Robin’s gaze was sharp and terrifying.
Suddenly, Miss Lee felt a little flustered: “Well… He wants to fight when he sits in the front… This student is very disobedient.”
“Fighting? Why does he have to fight? Did you ever look into the reasons? You only know that he fights, but you don’t know that most of the time, he’s the one being beaten. Many people gang up on him, but in your mouth, Rain is the one who likes to fight.”
“Did you ever look into why he had to fight? You didn’t. You never tried to understand, you just assumed it was the student’s fault. So, do you think you deserve to stand in your current position?”
“Do you deserve the title of teacher?”
“What right do you have to ruin a child’s life like this?”