CHAPTER 197: CHAPTER 197: PLANNING TO EDUCATE THE NAUGHTY CHILD

197 Planning to Teach a Naughty Child a Lesson

Zhao Zhitong, her little face puffed up with anger, thrust out her hand. "He even spat at me!"

Sun Ying sounded very unconcerned. "Oh, it’s just a bit of spit. Go home, wash it off, and it’ll be fine. Look at you, being so dramatic!"

"My Xiaofeng was pushed to the ground! Come, let Mother see. Are you hurt? If you’re hurt, we’ll make them pay!"

Just then, Chen Xiaofeng raised his head, looked at Zhao Zhitong and the others, and flashed a smug smile. His gaze then fell on the little fragrance bag hanging from Zhao Zhitong’s waist. His eyes instantly lit up. He pushed Sun Ying aside, ran to Zhao Zhitong, and snatched the little fragrance bag from her sash.

"Wow, what’s this? It’s so pretty and smells so good!"

Zhao Zhitong snatched it back, her voice sharp with anger. "Why are you so rude? Didn’t your mother teach you that taking things without asking is stealing? You little thief! Thief!"

When Zhao Zhitong snatched the fragrance bag back, Chen Xiaofeng froze for a moment. Then, he threw his head back, squeezed his eyes shut, and started wailing again, "WAH! WAH! Mom! Mom! I want the fragrance bag! I want the fragrance bag!"

Sun Ying immediately rushed over, gathered Chen Xiaofeng into her arms, and began to soothe him. Then, she glared venomously at Zhao Zhitong. "You little wench, you good-for-nothing! How dare you call my son a thief! I’ll rip your mouth apart!"

Saying this, she lunged forward, trying to pinch Zhao Zhitong’s face. Of course, she missed; Zhao Zhitong had already been pulled safely away by Sun Mei and her Aunt.

Sun Mei’s voice turned icy. "Sun Ying, don’t push it! You dare lay a finger on my daughter again and see what happens! Let me give you a friendly warning: your child is already going down the wrong path. He’s already started snatching things. If you keep indulging him like this, he’ll bring serious trouble upon himself sooner or later!"

Hearing her son being cursed with future trouble, Sun Ying shrieked, "He’s *my* child! If I don’t dote on him, who will? I see what this is! You’re just jealous! Jealous that I have a son and you couldn’t birth one!"

Sun Mei sneered. "Fine. Your precious Xiaofeng snatching my daughter’s fragrance bag just now? That can be defined as theft. Let’s go! We’ll take this to the County Government Office and let the County Magistrate pass judgment!"

The moment these words left Sun Mei’s mouth, Sun Ying’s eyes widened, and she shrieked again, "The County Magistrate? Sun Mei, are you insane? You’re blowing this way out of proportion! He’s just a child! What does he know? Making such a huge deal out of nothing! Honestly, all this fuss!"

With that, she grabbed her son’s hand. "Fengfeng, let’s go! Don’t play with these people. And that fragrance bag? It’s nothing good. It’s filthy! Holding it would just lower your status!"

Chen Xiaofeng wasn’t having it. He immediately started wailing, "No! No! I want the fragrance bag! I want the fragrance bag!"

Sun Ying scooped her son up and, while walking home, cooed, "There, there, sweetie, we don’t want that. When we get home, Mother will buy you even better toys."

Only then did Chen Xiaofeng stop his tantrum, though he still yelled at the top of his lungs, "Then I want two! I want two!"

Sun Ying indulged him. "Alright, alright, two it is. As long as you stop crying, you can even have three."

Listening to the exchange between mother and son, Sun Mei sneered and shook her head. Spoiled brats and enabling parents... they really are a timeless, borderless phenomenon, aren’t they? And here’s a prime example right now. Still, it’s none of my concern. I can’t be bothered with her. When the time comes for Sun Ying to reap what she’s sown, she can cry all she wants!

Zhao Zhitong followed Sun Mei back to her grandmother’s house to wash her hands. She scrubbed them a good seven or eight times but still felt that one hand was utterly contaminated. She kept it stiffly away from everything, refusing to use it even to eat or pick things up.

Because of this, when she tried to pick up a pastry with just one hand, she dropped it. Watching the treat fall to the ground, Zhao Zhitong’s little face puffed up, and her lips formed an unhappy pout.

So, in a fit of pique, she summoned all her cousins—maternal and paternal—to the alley behind the house.

There, in the little alley, several small children huddled together, their heads bent in earnest discussion.

Sun Daqing was practically bouncing with excitement. "Little Cousin, why did you call us to the secret base? Did you think of another way to make money?"

Sun Daji whacked Sun Daqing on the head. "Are you daft? It’s still the New Year holiday! Where are we going to find money-making opportunities now?"

Sun Xiaoxue chimed in playfully, "Yeah, exactly!"

Then, all the little ones turned to Zhao Zhitong. "Little Cousin, why did you call us here? What’s up?"

Zhao Zhitong, perched on a rock, tilted her head thoughtfully. "Just now, Chen Xiaofeng threw our beanbags into the ditch, so we couldn’t play with them. And then he snatched my fragrance bag. Aren’t you all angry?"

Sun Daqing was the first to jump up, his face flushed with anger. "Angry? Of course, we’re angry!"

The other older cousins all chimed in, declaring they were furious too.

Zhao Zhitong nodded, then stood up herself. "He’s a bad kid! We need to teach him a lesson!"

Sun Daqing exclaimed, "Exactly! And it’s not just this time! Every time he visits our village, he goes into our vegetable garden and stomps all over our family’s plants!"

"My mom and grandma have gone to his house to talk to them so many times! But instead of scolding Chen Xiaofeng, they just defend him and end up arguing with Mom and Grandma. It’s infuriating!"

The others all nodded in vehement agreement.

Sun Xiaoxue added in her piping voice, "He is! He’s really, really bad! Last time he visited his grandfather, I was standing by our door eating the candy Little Cousin gave me. He came right up and tried to snatch it! When he couldn’t get it, he spat on my candy! It made me cry, and his mom *still* defended him and argued with my mom!"

Sun Daxiang piped up, "And another time, another time... he peed right in front of our house..."

Suddenly, a torrent of accusations poured out as everyone in the group began to list Chen Xiaofeng’s misdeeds. He had become the target of their collective denunciation. It was an outrage!

Looking at the indignant little faces of her cousins, Zhao Zhitong declared, "See? He’s so awful! Bad people have to be punished!"

"Right, right! Little Cousin’s absolutely right!"

Everyone voiced their enthusiastic agreement.

Sun Daji, a thoughtful frown appearing, asked, "So, how are we going to punish him?"

Sun Daqing clenched his fists, jumped up, and declared boldly, "How about we sneak up on him, throw a sack over his head, and give him a good thrashing! There are so many of us, and he’s all alone. He definitely can’t beat us!"

Sun Daxiang immediately shook his head in disagreement. "No way! If his mom finds out, she’ll definitely drag Granny Guan over to our house to raise a ruckus. That’ll just make our grandma upset again."

"Yeah, you’re right, that won’t work. Besides, his mom and his grandma are totally unreasonable, and they say such awful, nasty things!"

After some more discussion, all eyes turned to Zhao Zhitong. "Little Cousin, you must have a good idea, right?"

Zhao Zhitong grinned mischievously. "Of course! Come closer, and I’ll tell you. We’ll do it like this..."

And so, after she animatedly laid out her plan, all the little ones’ eyes lit up.

Praise erupted.

"That’s brilliant! No wonder she’s the smartest Little Cousin in our family!"

"Totally! Little Cousin is the smartest and the bestest!"

After this round of enthusiastic flattery from her older cousins, the little conspirators sprang into action.