Chapter 141 - Parenting
One morning, Xiu Mei finally received the call she had been waiting for for so long. It was a call from her grandfather, informing her of the date of her appointment with Doctor Lee. After the long wait for approval and processing, she was now scheduled for the hypnosis under his supervision.
"It seems like we"ll have to cancel our plans for this upcoming weekend." Xiu Mei said as soon as she sat beside Lu Chen in the living room. He was playing something on the tablet with Lu Qiang before bedtime.
Without looking up to her direction, he spoke.
"What"s wrong?"
"Grandpa called me. He said I"m scheduled with Doctor Lee this Sat.u.r.day."
Hearing that, Lu Chen"s movements paused. Lu Qiang who didn"t understand what they were talking about stopped as well.
"Mom, are you sick?" His expression turned grave after hearing that his Mom was going to have some appointment with some doctor on Sat.u.r.day.
Since he didn"t know the whole context, all he a.s.sumed was that his Mom was sick so she needs to get treated by a doctor.
Without waiting for her answer, Lu Qiang glared at his Dad. He put down his tablet and suddenly threw the pillow at him. Lu Chen was obviously surprised when he suddenly threw tantrums. The last time he was like this, it was before he even met Xiu Mei.
"Dad, did you overwork Mom again?!" Lu Qiang accused. He jumped off from the couch and started beating up his Dad with his small arms. Even though it"s not very painful, Lu Chen still avoided his attacks.
"Baby, no." Xiu Mei wasn"t able to react in quickly and gasped in surprise when the little kid started beating up his Dad straight up. He didn"t even let him explain or anything. Clearly, Lu Chen was being wronged here.
Lu Chen grabbed his arms to stop him from hitting him. Xiu Mei stopped him as well.
"Darling, no. Stop! Mom isn"t sick okay? And it"s not your Dad"s fault." Xiu Mei quickly explained to the kid. She pulled him towards her and clearly explained to him that she was not going to the doctor because she was sick.
"Are you sure, Mom? You"re not lying to me?" Lu Qiang looked at his Mom doubtfully.
"Mom swears to you that I"m not lying, okay?"
"..Mhm. Okay."
Xiu Mei sighed in relief. Thank G.o.d Lu Qiang listens to her so well.
But before that, she had to do something. Her expression turned serious as she looked at the little kid straight in the eye.
"But baby, what you did is not good alright?"
Lu Qiang tilted his head in confusion as if not understanding what she was saying. Xiu Mei patiently explained it to him.
"You hit your Dad right? Because you were angry? But baby, that"s not good. Even if your father did something wrong, you shouldn"t hit him."
"But if Dad really overworked you, Mom, then that"s terrible. So I was just hitting him because I thought he hurt you."
"Lu Qiang, listen to Mom okay? Hitting a.d.u.l.ts are bad. Your Dad may be fine with it but Mommy is not happy seeing you being this disrespectful to your elders. It"s a line that you should not cross, baby."
She scolded, disciplining Lu Qiang. As a mother, it is her job to point out and correct his mistakes like this one. If she didn"t correct his tantrums like this that he hits the a.d.u.l.ts, then when he grows up, who knows who he might suddenly beat up.
Besides, Lu Qiang would sometimes forget to respect his father every time he thinks that Lu Chen did something bad to her. She knows very well how much the kid loves her but seeing him treat Lu Chen like this, she couldn"t allow him to continue that.
She was going to discipline him and correct his bad habits.
"Then what should I do when I"m angry with Dad?"
"Ah?"
Okay, that was an unexpected question.
Xiu Mei glanced at Lu Chen who was sitting close beside her right now. She threw her a look as if asking for help. G.o.d knows how she should answer Lu Qiang"s question. I mean, is there even a kid who would ask their mothers what to do if they"re angry with their fathers?
The only thing she did when she was angry with her Dad was to cry and ignore him until he gives in to her.
Pausing for a second to think, Xiu Mei thought of the most appropriate answer to his question.
"Hmm, then when you"re angry with your Dad, you can just ignore him or maybe, talk to him?"
"Talk to him? But I"m angry with him, why would I want to talk to Dad?"
Xiu Mei scratched the back of her head. Ah… how should she explain this in simpler terms?
Thankfully, Lu Chen finally stepped in and pulled the little champ into his arms. Putting him on his lap, he smoothened his messed up hair while speaking in a calm tone.
"Lu Qiang, just think about this. Imagine that you are angry with Mom. Then what would you do?"
Lu Qiang widened his eyes as he swiftly shook his head. "No way! I won"t get angry with Mom ever!"
"I know. That"s why I said just imagine if that happens. Will you ignore Mom?"
"No!" He strongly shook his head.
"Then will you hit her?"
"Mom said a true gentleman never hits a woman."
"Then what would you do if you"re angry with your Mom?"
With that question, Lu Qiang was stumped. He stopped to think for a few seconds before answering. "Hmmm… then I will go to Mom and make-up with her."
"That"s a good answer. Then what about me?"
"Mhm?"
"If you"re angry with Dad, then, won"t you go to talk and make-up with me as well?"
Lu Qiang who was suddenly caught off guard fell silent. He looked at his Dad that was gazing at him so tenderly and suddenly, he felt guilty. He thought, was he being too harsh on his Dad?
Lu Qiang bowed down his head and fiddled with his fingers. Awkwardly, he realized and understood what his Dad was trying to tell him.
"Dad, I"m sorry."
Lu Chen and Xiu Mei looked at each other and smiled helplessly. Then Xiu Mei leaned over to Lu Qiang.
"Baby, why don"t you say that while looking at Daddy"s face, hm?"
Lu Qiang blinked twice then he obediently listened to his mother. He raised his head and saw his father looking at him as if he was waiting for something.
"I-I ah, I"m sorry Dad. I shouldn"t have hit you."
Lu Chen flashed a smile at the guilty little kid in his arms and brushed his hair.
"Dad accepts your apology. Just promise us that you won"t do it next time again, okay? Always tell us first then your Mom and I will explain it to you. Understood?"
This time, Lu Qiang nodded his head. He remembered and noted what his Dad said.
"Then baby, should we go read you a bedtime story now?" Xiu Mei suggested, trying to lighten up the atmosphere and change the topic.
The two men in front of her approved of her suggestion. So, with Lu Qiang in Lu Chen"s arms, the three of them went to Lu Qiang"s room. While Xiu Mei was choosing the bedtime story for Lu Qiang, Lu Chen was giving the little kid a shower.
The tantrums a while ago were thrown at the back of their minds, buried somewhere. After tucking him to bed, the couple left his room and tiptoed back to their rooms. Stopping in front of their doors, Xiu Mie spoke.
"You"re really a great Dad, Chen." Xiu Mei said, smiling proudly at him. Lu Chen was unprepared for the praise he received.
"Was I really?" Even though he has been taking care of Lu Qiang ever since he was a baby, even until now, he wasn"t actually sure whether he was doing good parenting as his adopted father. A lot of things, he learned from the internet. The others, he picked up along the way while taking care of him.
This was actually the first time someone had praised him for being a great Dad. Maybe because not many people knew he was already a father.
"You are. And you can see that very well with how Lu Qiang grew up. Kids being like that are quite normal, but I"ve seen worse kids before. And I tell you, you really did a great job being his Dad. So don"t doubt yourself that you"re a terrible one." She stepped forward and caressed his cheeks.
Lu Chen didn"t avoid her touch and enjoyed her touch.
"Parenting is an unfamiliar s.p.a.ce for us. Especially the fact that we can"t learn it at all in an academy like we do for work so having you as my partner to depend on like this, I am very much relieved."
Lu Chen covered the back of her hand that was on his face and smiled.
"Me too."
"Oh before we forgot. You"re coming right? On Sat.u.r.day?"
"Of course, I promise. I"ll be there with you."
Xiu Mei beamed. "Okay."
With him by her side, maybe she won"t be too nervous about the procedure at all.