Old Mr. Zhao, who was Zhao Zheng's father, had once visited Zhao Village when Lin Min'er gave birth. After that, their meeting ended on a sour note.
Before he even reached the door, Old Mr. Zhao heard timid and terrified sobs coming from inside.
"Uncle, little Ning'er is only four years old and doesn't know any better. Please don't hit her. Hit me, Huai'er, instead."
Zhao Xue's hand was still raised in mid - air. He just wanted to scare the girl; he never intended to really hit her.
But Zhao Huai's words had pinned the blame on him.
"Woo - hoo - hoo. Uncle, Uncle, I won't do it again. Shuning won't do it again. Don't hit me. I'm afraid of pain."
As Old Mr. Zhao stepped into the yard, he saw a young boy shielding the girl behind him. The girl had her hands covering her eyes, and her body was trembling constantly.
Zhao Zheng and his wife were standing by, watching. It wasn't that they didn't care, but they knew their daughter well. In Zhao Shuning's dictionary, there was no such thing as "getting the short end of the stick".
"Zhao Xue, what are you doing!" an angry voice thundered.
Everyone in the yard immediately knelt down.
"Old Mr. Zhao."
"Father."
The old man walked up to the crying little girl and said softly, "Don't cry. Tell Grandpa, what's wrong with you?"
The little girl raised her head, with two glistening teardrops actually hanging on her eyelashes. For a moment, Zhao Huai was really quite impressed by his sister's acting skills.
"Father, please listen to me—"
"Shut up! Zhao Xue, you even bully a child. You're really regressing."
Although there was a rift between Old Mr. Zhao and Zhao Zheng, the old man felt a deep sense of fondness for this granddaughter whom he had met only a few times.
"Are you Shuning?"
Zhao Shuning nodded, looking extremely obedient.
"Tell Grandpa, what kind of bullying have you suffered?"
Zhao Shuning glanced at her parents and then timidly said, "I'm scared. Uncle, he wants to hit me."
"Why does your uncle want to hit you?"
"Because, because I said something I shouldn't have."
"What did you say?"
"Uncle said I was uneducated and that he would discipline me on behalf of my father. He also said I was a wild girl. But Grandpa, I also have Zhao family blood in me. Why did Uncle say such things?"
The little girl looked extremely aggrieved.
At this moment, Zhao Xue realized that he had encountered a little girl with hidden depths. Half of what she said was the truth, but her vague words would surely mislead everyone into thinking that he had really said those awful things.
Old Mr. Zhao turned around and glared angrily at Zhao Xue. "You said Shuning was uneducated?"
"Father, I—"
"Did you say it or not?"
"I did." But he hadn't said the rest of those words.
"Grandpa, it's not Uncle's fault. It's Shuning's fault. Shuning said Uncle was valiant and imposing, but maybe I used the wrong words, so Uncle got even more upset."
The old man's face darkened. Everyone knew that he was angry. Old Mr. Zhao hated family infighting the most in his life. Now, Zhao Xue was going against the grain.
Zhao Xue was now in a situation where he couldn't defend himself. He never thought that one day he would be outwitted by a child.
Old Mr. Zhao stroked Zhao Shuning's little head and stared menacingly at Zhao Xue. "Kneel down for me!"
"Father!" Zhao Xue was also full of grievances, but with just one look from Old Mr. Zhao, he had no choice but to kneel down reluctantly, losing all his face in front of everyone.
"Uncle, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Zhao Shuning suddenly apologized repeatedly.
Zhao Xue looked at the little girl in confusion, not knowing what she was up to.
The old man also asked, "Little girl, what are you doing?"
Zhao Shuning said, "Grandpa, Father has taught me that if you do something wrong, you have to apologize. If you make someone unhappy, you have to reflect on yourself. Earlier, Uncle said that we shouldn't have come back. Shuning thought that maybe our appearance made Uncle feel uncomfortable. Since that's the case, Shuning has to apologize."
Zhao Xue was stunned.
"Someone, take the Second Young Master back to Tangyuan and give him twenty strokes of the cane!"
With just a few words, Zhao Shuning had made Zhao Xue suffer in silence. Others would never think that a four - year - old child could distort the facts. They only thought that Zhao Xue, as an elder, had acted inhumanely.
Master was right. It's not good to be constantly fighting. By changing the way, you can get rid of your enemies without using a single soldier. It's a truly ruthless move.
From an angle where no one could see, Zhao Shuning showed a sinister smile. At this moment, she was an exact mini - version of the female emperor Ye Ling.
Old Mr. Zhao comforted the others, emphasized the importance of the test tomorrow and the matters to be noted, and then led everyone out of the side courtyard.
"Sigh—" Zhao Zheng let out a sigh and looked at the little girl.
Zhao Shuning playfully stuck out her tongue at her father. The man doted on her with a smile and then went into the back room to prepare for tomorrow's competition.