Taming of the Shrew

  As soon as Pei Jian entered the house, he felt the low pressure at home. He saw his brother sitting on the sofa with his sister-in-law, looking worried. He was puzzled and sat down beside them to ask what had happened. Aunt Gu raised her head from her hands, looked at her younger brother-in-law, wanting to speak, but only moved her mouth twice without saying a word. What could she say? Everything would have to wait until the master of the house arrived before they could make any plans. Now, anything said would be pointless, so she buried her head in her hands again and continued to sulk.

  Unable to get an answer from his sister-in-law, Pei Jian turned to his brother again and got only sighs and a shake of the head. Not getting anywhere, he thought, "Forget about the old one, I'll go ask the young one, maybe I can get some information out of her." With that, he stood up and entered the room.

  Two years ago, after graduating from the Public Security University, Pei Jian was assigned to the Criminal Investigation Department. Since he wasn't qualified for a dormitory, he lived with his brother and sister-in-law, sharing a room with his nephew Pei Shitao. As soon as he entered the room, he saw Pei Shitao listening to music while painting.

  "Shi Tao, what's wrong with your mom? What happened at home?"

  "Little uncle, you're back! Have you eaten? But there's nothing much to eat at home now... and mom is getting annoyed..."

  Bai Shidao saw that his friend had returned, put down his brush and greeted him, and also told him about the things that Gu Quanzhi had done today. "Now my mother is so anxious that she can't cry, and she's worried to death. She just finished eating and went to find Peipei Jie again, but still couldn't find her, and now she's in a state of distress."

  Bai Jian's heart also "thumped" after hearing his nephew's words, this matter is really not easy to handle, if handled lightly it can be done, but if handled severely the family members will have nothing to say, it all depends on the intentions of the person involved.

  "Is the Peipei you mentioned Lin Peipei from the Lin family?" When Bai Jian heard Lin Peipei's name, his heart skipped a beat. He knew about Lin Peipei. Ever since his sister received instructions from Governor Lin to be cautious with people who came to their door seeking favors, there had been many people trying to curry favor every day. The name was naturally familiar to him, and he had also seen the draft of the painting that his sister had brought back, which indeed lived up to its reputation. He couldn't help but take a liking to this girl named Lin Peipei in his heart. Now that his nephew mentioned her, he became interested and asked more questions.

  "Of course, it's me Lin Peipei. Otherwise, which girl has that kind of skill? Quan Zi's skills are not even considered skills, just brute strength. If someone doesn't have a good grasp of the situation, they might really fall into his hands. You didn't see it, but with three to two moves, she dislocated Quan Zi's arm, what a beautiful move!"

  Pei Shi Tao said excitedly, and gestured with his hands and feet, provoking Pei Jian to burst out laughing, and gave him a slap on the back of the head.

  "Did you see her movements? Still beautiful, that's your cousin... even if that kid owes you a beating, you can't say it out of this door, got it? Don't give your mom more trouble."

  "I know, uncle, my sister even praised me, saying I'm like a big brother now. Who would have thought that after going abroad for a few years, she came back even more handsome? I really like her!"

  His nephew's words raised Pei Jian's eyebrows, and he looked at him sideways, "Wow, I didn't expect that Lin Peipei has become our Shitian's idol, comparable to a star-chaser, and this kid who hasn't even grown out of his baby hair yet already knows how to have a crush."

  "That's right, uncle you don't know that now it's popular to 'say love out loud', I just said what's on my mind, didn't take any action, uncle you can rest assured, I know I'm still young, not the time to like girls yet, my sister also told me to work hard, I mustn't disappoint her."

  Pei Jian was left speechless by his nephew Na Zhen's eloquent words, and he didn't know how to refute him. After thinking for a moment, he decided not to say anything more and got up to take a bath instead.

  It's no wonder that Pei Shitao admired Lin Peipei so much. Before Lin Peipei went abroad, Pei Shitao was still young and had once been obsessed with playing video games. His studies suffered greatly, and he would often skip school to play at internet cafes all night, leaving his parents worried sick. They tried scolding him and punishing him, but nothing seemed to work. One day, Lin Peipei heard about this from her father and volunteered to help, telling Aunt Gu that she had a solution, but with one condition: it would require sacrifice. Aunt Gu was at her wit's end and didn't care what the condition was, so she agreed without asking questions.

  Lin Peipei found Bao Shidao and proposed a bet: whoever could clear the game the fastest would win. If he won, his parents would no longer control his gaming habits. If he lost... well, they'd cross that bridge when they came to it. Bao Shidao was still young and naive at the time, and the promise of freedom from his parents' control was too enticing to resist. He eagerly agreed to the bet. And so, the two children shut themselves in and started playing, only taking breaks to drink water or use the restroom - no eating allowed. At first, Gu Auntie didn't think much of it, but as the day wore on and her son still hadn't eaten, she began to worry. She tried to persuade Lin Peipei to let them take a break and eat something, but Lin Peipei just ignored her and tossed off a casual remark that left Gu Auntie speechless. It turned out that "no eating" was part of the deal, and since Lin Peipei wasn't eating either, Gu Auntie had no choice but to let things be.

  The two kids who had been locked in the house for a whole day and night finally came out with weak hands and feet. Aunt Gu looked at the two of them gobbling down food like wolves, and couldn't help but ask Lin Peipei about the result when she was taking a sip of water. Lin Peipei's face remained calm as she said two words: "Lost!"

  Alas, losing is just losing. It was a desperate attempt to begin with. How can one blame the child for trying their best? As Lin Peipei left, she calmly told Aunt Gu, "Auntie, don't worry yet. What I want isn't about winning or losing. As for the effect, wait and see, you'll know soon enough."

  Although Aunt Gu was a bit puzzled by Lin Peipei's words, she didn't say anything else. Anyway, whether or not her son played video games had the same result, so she just let it go and listened to Lin Peipei's advice. Two days passed, and Aunt Gu discovered that things were different. Her son seemed to be spending more time watching TV than playing computer games, and she hadn't heard from his teacher about him skipping class again. Aunt Gu's eyes began to light up. Another two days passed, and it was still the same, so her heart started to feel happy. During dinner, she leaned over and asked her son, "How come you haven't been rushing to finish your game these past few days?" But instead of getting an answer, she got a glare from her son, "Mom, can you please not say things that make me want to vomit during meals? Just looking at games makes me want to throw up now. I'm never playing again, it's exhausting."

  Aunt Gu was overjoyed, her eyes shining brightly. Oh my, it's finally happened! Her son had said that playing games was exhausting and made him nauseous. Was this the effect Lin Peipei had mentioned? Or did this child have a way with words? That night, Aunt Gu went to thank Lin Peipei with great enthusiasm, but Lin Peipei remained calm and said that things were only half done, and they still needed to continue. Aunt Gu no longer had any doubts, and happily agreed to cooperate, telling Lin Peipei to do whatever she needed to do.

  Lin Peipei didn't ask her to do anything too difficult, just asking Gu Auntie to find a day when she was busiest and take Pei Shidao to work with her, and also asked her to bring him along all day no matter what. At first, Gu Auntie had some concerns, as the place where she worked was not an ordinary office, and everyone who came and went were wearing uniforms, so bringing a child would have a bad influence. But after hearing Lin Peipei say that she had already spoken to her father about it and he agreed, she felt slightly more at ease.

  So Aunt Gu decided to take her son to work next Monday. She chose this day because there were many communication meetings on Mondays, and she had to run around the departments to deliver files and hand over tasks. She wouldn't be staying in the office for long, so even if someone had opinions about her bringing her child to work, they couldn't say much. Aunt Gu still somewhat cared about what others might gossip about.

  Today, Pei Shitao was also very well-behaved and stayed by his mother's side. He stared with wide eyes at what his mother was doing and occasionally wrote notes in a small notebook. Wherever Aunt Gu went, he followed, with an excited face, and didn't get tired after following her for a whole day. Because Lin Peipei made a deal with him to follow Aunt Gu to work for a day and write down everything she did from going to work to coming home, in detail, no matter how small, as a survey report. He could write it simply or just jot down the main points, but every single thing had to be recorded. If he wrote well and passed, Lin Peipei would teach him Taekwondo, which was undoubtedly a very tempting condition for a boy of his age who loved to move around. It wasn't like he had to do anything difficult, just follow his mom around for a whole day, so Pei Shitao readily agreed.

  This day, the small notebook he brought had already recorded every single thing Aunt Guo did, from the unclear things at first to the clear records of time later on: what time to what time, Mom was doing what, what time to what time, Mom went where. Back home, looking at the things written in this notebook, thinking that this time should be able to satisfy Sister Pei, feeling happy and excited, suddenly seeing his mom's figure busy cooking in the kitchen, thinking, why not record everything my mom does at home together? Sister Pei might be even more satisfied with my investigation report. So he thought of it and did it, following Aunt Guo around again, Aunt Guo was a bit surprised at first, didn't you just say to record things at work? Why also record things at home? But she just thought about it and didn't stop her son.

  Recently, Pei Shidao's grandfather fell ill and was hospitalized in Y City. Although a nurse was hired, Gu Auntie still had to deliver dinner every evening. Coincidentally, Pei's father was away on business, so all the household chores were left to Gu Auntie to handle alone. After finishing cooking, she hastily ate her own dinner before rushing to the hospital to deliver food to Grandfather Pei. At the hospital, she also took care of Grandfather Pei and handled some personal matters for him, taking care of every detail.

  Pei Shitao followed his mother's footsteps to the hospital, taking note of everything she did. As he watched her take care of his grandfather, his mind was like a stormy sea and he stood there in a daze. After Aunt Gu finished dealing with Grandfather's affairs, she turned around and saw her son staring blankly, thinking he was exhausted from watching over him. She told him to go wash up and get some rest, and took him home. As soon as they got home, Pei Shitao went into the bathroom, but instead of washing up, he came out with a cup of water and a towel, and began to wipe his mother's face while speaking enthusiastically, "Mom, you're tired too, let me help you wipe your face... I'll study hard and take good care of you and Dad when I grow up."

  Mrs. Gu was stunned, allowing her son to clumsily wipe her face, listening to his words, tears streaming down her face again, she hugged him and burst into loud sobs. Pei Shitao saw his mom crying, still with a childish appearance, gently patted his mom's back, "Mom, don't cry, I'll listen to you from now on."