Transmigrated as an Unwanted Ugly Girl

Chapter 354 - 188: Rewards and Punishments

Seeing that an argument was breaking out after all, Juhua spoke gently to Laicai. "Sister Juhua knows you’re a smart boy. You’re old enough now that you should know right from wrong. You can stop crying. Boys can’t just cry at the drop of a hat. You need to show some responsibility. Why don’t you tell everyone what you did wrong?"

Laicai was happy to hear Juhua call him smart and quickly stopped crying. He took a couple of deep breaths and hiccuped a few more times before telling Mrs. Wang and the others the whole story from the beginning.

He even concluded, "I shouldn’t have stomped in the water. If I were at school and got someone else’s clothes dirty, they would definitely hit me. Sister Juhua is right. I need to be more mindful, or people will call me a fool."

Hearing this, Mrs. Wang hurried over to wipe his tears, saying delightedly, "See? Haven’t you grown up? You explained that so well. If you’re this obedient, your grandma can die in peace."

Lin Family, however, was still fuming. She said to Mrs. Wang, "Mother, Laicai is being so obedient, yet Juhua is still making him stand there and not letting him eat. Can’t she just talk things out nicely?"

Juhua said coldly, "You’ve been ’talking things out nicely’ with him for years. Has he changed? If Second Uncle hadn’t disciplined him strictly last year, would Laicai have improved at all?"

Yang Dezhi saw that he simply couldn’t control his wife. He’d told her not to speak, but she insisted on it, making him so angry his eyes were practically spitting fire. He was about to drag her into their room to teach her a lesson when he heard Laicai say something that made Lin Family so furious she nearly fell over backward.

Laicai said complainingly to Lin Family, "Before you came in, Mom, Sister Juhua was talking to me nicely. She told me not to be so thoughtless when I play and to be more aware. She even said, ’Skilled players play the game, unskilled ones just make noise.’ But then you came in, Mom. You blamed Dad for disciplining me, and then you blamed Sister Juhua for not watching Laishou and letting his clothes get dirty—but I was the one who got Laishou’s clothes dirty by stomping in the water! After that, Dad got mad, and Sister Juhua got mad. That’s why I ended up standing here."

He felt utterly wronged. ’Everything was fine just a moment ago, but then Mom came in and stirred things up, and it all blew up. It’s just like last year at Eldest Aunt’s house. Mom insisted on sending me to her house for school, which made everyone angry. And whenever everyone gets angry, I’m the one who suffers.’

Lin Family stared at Laicai in disbelief. ’Is this brat blaming me? I’m doing this for his own good!’

Yang Dezhi said coldly to Lin Family, "Even Laicai knows he did something wrong and needs to admit it properly. You do nothing but shield him, blame others when he’s at fault, and forbid anyone from disciplining him. Are you trying to ruin your own son?"

After hearing Laicai, Mrs. Wang’s face hardened. "The discipline was correct. Juhua also did the right thing. A child only remembers the treats, not the punishments. He’s always forgetting, so making him stand for a while is good. It’ll help him remember."

Seeing the whole family side with Juhua, Lin Family glared at her furiously. ’Does this niece have any respect for her elders? How dare she speak to me like that at such a young age? But my own husband is defending her, and even my son listens to her.’

’How strange. He was just punished by her, so why is he still listening to her so obediently?’

She didn’t stop to think that Laicai had just made it perfectly clear: ’If it weren’t for you, I would have been fine. The moment you got involved, I got into trouble again.’

Seeing the displeased look on Lin Family’s face, Juhua’s expression also became stern. "Don’t be upset, Second Aunt. I’m leaving tomorrow. You can raise Laicai however you want. Even if he murders someone in the future, I’m sure Second Aunt has the power to make even the Lord County Magistrate afraid to touch him. But let me be blunt: if Laicai causes a ruckus at home, it’s none of our business. But if he dares to misbehave at my house, I’ll discipline him every single time. Unless he never sets foot in Eldest Aunt’s house again."

The color drained from the faces of Yang Dezhi, Lin Family, and Laicai when they heard this.

’The Lord County Magistrate wouldn’t dare touch Laicai?’

’If he so much as hit another child in the village, their family would raise hell, let alone the Lord County Magistrate.’

Laicai’s thought was: ’Are they really not going to let me go to Eldest Aunt’s house anymore?’

’No way! Eldest Aunt’s family just built a big house with a tiled roof, planted lots of fruit trees, and they’re raising fish. They even made a lot of sausages, and they have so many chickens and ducks. If I can’t go to Eldest Aunt’s house, won’t that just let Laishou have all the fun?!’

He felt the urge to cry again, but remembering that Juhua hated it when he cried, he held back his sadness and said to her, "Sister Juhua, I’ll be obedient from now on. Please don’t ban me from Eldest Aunt’s house, okay?"

Qingmu saw that his second aunt had been nothing but trouble since she returned, and he was furious.

Hearing how sensible Laicai was being, he said deliberately, "That’s right! This is how a good boy acts, Laicai. If you’re obedient, Sister Juhua and I would love for you to come play at Eldest Aunt’s house. We’re boys—if we make a mistake, we just have to fix it. What’s there to be afraid of? It’s just standing for two hours. It’s not like you’ll lose a piece of flesh over it. I guarantee you’ll remember next time and won’t make the same mistake so easily."