Difficult To Raise Chapter 4
byChapter 4 Going to School
Jiang Jin’s household registration was quickly moved out. From then on, he would no longer be on the same household register as Jiang Ran. Jiang Ran felt a little melancholic, but also relieved. He optimistically thought that at least now, there would be one more person to care for Jiang Jin.
But Jiang Jin refused to change his name no matter what. Old Man Chen looked a bit sad, and Jiang Ran noticed it. That evening, he tried to persuade Little Jin to change it, but this time, he couldn’t be swayed. Jiang Jin pleaded in a soft voice, “I want to have the same surname as Ge, so I can always be with Ge. You can’t abandon me, because…”
He kissed Jiang Ran’s forehead and said, “I am Jiang Jin, your little brother.”
Jiang Ran thought he was being illogical and tried to reason with him. “But even if you take Grandpa Chen’s surname, you’re still my brother.”
“It’s different,” Jiang Jin countered.
Jiang Ran wanted to persuade him further, but Little Jin started acting like a typical seven-year-old, throwing a tantrum and being unreasonable. Jiang Ran got a headache from the fuss, patted his bottom, and called his full name loudly, “Jiang Jin!”
He always called him by his full name when he was angry, and Jiang Jin had long figured that out.
So he lowered his head and started crying, asking tearfully, “Gege, do you not want me anymore? Am I a burden?”
Hearing him ask this so suddenly, Jiang Ran was instantly speechless. He couldn’t help but soften his voice. “Why would you think that?”
“Otherwise, why would you give me to Grandpa Chen and make me change my surname? If I change my name to Chen Jin, will you still be this nice to me?” Jiang Jin pouted, his eyes watery. “If I change my name now, will you send me to live at his house later? Will you still remember that I’m your little brother then?”
As these questions poured out of his mouth, Jiang Ran realized that Jiang Jin’s attitude toward this matter was not as relaxed as he had pretended.
He had hidden all his worries and panic deep in his heart, afraid to show even a trace. After all, he was just a seven-year-old child, and he was terrified that the only brother he trusted would abandon him.
Thinking of this, Jiang Ran could no longer bring himself to ask him to change his name. Jiang Jin immediately sensed his change of heart, so he stepped forward and hugged his neck, clinging to him. “Ge, you’re used to calling me Jiang Jin too. See, when you get angry, you call me like this…”
He imitated Jiang Ran, shouting fiercely, “Jiang Jin!”
Jiang Ran burst out laughing.
*
The matter of changing the name was ultimately dropped, and Old Man Chen didn’t say anything more. He probably knew that a child as old as Jiang Jin couldn’t be easily adopted into the family, and he hadn’t truly expected to gain a grandson for free.
So the three of them continued to interact as before. Jiang Jin still clung to Jiang Ran all day, and it seemed as if nothing had changed.
But soon, Jiang Ran started Junior High and could no longer walk to and from school with Jiang Jin. Worried about Jiang Jin returning home alone, he had to shamelessly ask Old Man Chen to help pick up the child.
Old Man Chen felt some pity for them. Hearing the request, he agreed, saying, “Fine, I’m idle all day anyway. I can pick him up on my afternoon stroll. It’s no trouble.”
He said it was no trouble, but it was still an imposition. Jiang Ran felt his face burn. He had received help from others time and time again without being able to repay the favor, and he felt ashamed.
Jiang Ran’s thoughts were written all over his face. Having lived for most of his life, how could Old Man Chen not see it? He deliberately put on a stern face and spoke earnestly, “When you can barely get by, saving face is the least important thing. Besides, I didn’t refuse. Why are you making such a fuss?”
Jiang Ran froze, staring blankly at him.
Old Man Chen snorted. “Life is long. I’m an old man living alone. If I can help, I naturally will. But that crybaby brother of yours still needs you to look after him. My old bones can’t handle his antics.”
Jiang Ran understood what Old Man Chen meant. Saying thank you too many times would sound affected, so he could only silently engrave this kindness in his heart.
He smiled and said, “I understand. Then I’ll be troubling you from now on.”
Old Man Chen pulled a cigarette from his pocket, slowly lit it, and then waved his hand at Jiang Ran without saying anything else.
The wrinkles on his face became more pronounced in the light of the flame. Jiang Ran looked at him and suddenly realized something. Old Man Chen was willing to help them, partly because he had no children and was a lonely old man.
But fundamentally, it was because he harbored kindness in his heart and couldn’t ignore their plight. His decision to bind Jiang Jin to him was also driven by a small, careful thought: he was afraid that if something happened, Jiang Jin would still have someone to rely on.
Old Man Chen understood this; he just didn’t say it out loud.
With one foot in the grave, he had become indifferent to many things. What he truly needed now was not a grandson, but someone who could genuinely keep him company.
From that day on, whenever Jiang Ran had free time, he would take Jiang Jin to Old Man Chen’s house to help him with chores he could manage or just keep him company. Even if they did nothing but watch TV together, the old man would be happy for a long time.
Gradually, the three of them truly became like family.
After Jiang Jin started the third grade, he finally stopped wanting to cling to Jiang Ran constantly. He began to have his own life. While Jiang Ran felt relieved, he also encountered new worries.
One day, he received an unexpected phone call from Jiang Jin’s homeroom teacher. It was a very young female voice, and the person on the other end hesitantly asked, “Is this a family member of student Jiang Jin?”
Jiang Ran politely replied, “I am Jiang Jin’s older brother.”
The teacher let out an “Ah,” seemingly surprised that the person answering the phone sounded so young. However, she seemed to know about Jiang Jin’s family situation, so she quickly recovered and immediately said, “Jiang Jin’s brother, could I trouble you to come to the school sometime? There are some things about Jiang Jin that I think we should discuss.”
Jiang Ran frowned and quickly asked, “Teacher, what happened to Jiang Jin? Was he bullied at school?” Jiang Jin had no parents to rely on, only his inadequate older brother. He was soft-tempered and prone to crying, and Jiang Ran had been afraid he would be bullied at school since he started attending.
The teacher didn’t expect this reaction. After a moment of silence, she said, “No, don’t worry. It’s hard to explain over the phone. In any case, please come if you can.”
Jiang Ran considered his class schedule and decisively decided to take a leave of absence. He politely arranged a time with the teacher and said, “Okay, I will come. Thank you, Teacher.”
In Jiang Ran’s mind, anything concerning Jiang Jin was important.
The next day, he asked his own teacher for time off, explaining that he needed to deal with his brother’s affairs. His teachers had some understanding of his family situation and approved the leave without question.
His High School was not far from Jiang Jin’s school, about a ten-minute walk. After entering the school, Jiang Ran asked a few students and found the homeroom teacher’s office.
When they met, he realized that the female teacher looked excessively young. She had long hair, fair and delicate skin, and a face that still carried the innocence of someone new to the world. She must have only recently graduated from university.
When the teacher saw him, she smiled and said, “Jiang Jin’s brother, hello. My surname is Yu.”
She did not look down on Jiang Ran because of his young age.
Jiang Ran smiled back and politely said, “Hello, Teacher Yu.”
Teacher Yu exchanged a few pleasantries with him and quickly got to the point. Her face became serious as she earnestly said, “Here’s the thing: Jiang Jin is actually a very smart child, and his academic performance is excellent, but…”
She paused for a moment and then said with a strange tone, “But he is a little too smart.”
Jiang Ran felt confused. Wasn’t being smart a good thing?
Teacher Yu clearly understood his unspoken question. She was silent for a long time, seemingly thinking about how to phrase it, and finally said, “When other children bully him at school, he won’t tell the teacher, he won’t tell his family, and he won’t fight back himself. He finds ways to incite other children to bully the aggressor. If one isn’t enough, he uses two; if two aren’t enough, he uses three, until that person no longer has the energy to bully him.”
Teacher Yu frowned. “This needs intervention.”
Jiang Ran was somewhat incredulous. In his mind, Jiang Jin was always the little boy who liked to cry and call for his brother. How could he possibly do such a thing?
He said, “This… could there be a mistake? Little Jin has always been very obedient…”
Teacher Yu interrupted him. “Jiang Jin’s brother, I wouldn’t make a mistake about this. If you don’t believe me, you can go back and ask him, but I suggest that we guide him as soon as possible, so the child doesn’t go astray. You might not fully understand the seriousness of this. Let me put it this way: if we let him continue like this, it might develop into organized School Bullying in the future, and Jiang Jin would be the ringleader.”
Jiang Ran’s expression was grim. Although he was still somewhat skeptical, he knew that Teacher Yu was genuinely concerned for Jiang Jin, so he promised to have a serious talk with him.
That evening, after they had bathed and were lying in bed, Jiang Jin was hugging him, half-asleep, when Jiang Ran brought up the matter.
Jiang Jin froze, his sleepiness instantly vanishing. He first observed Jiang Ran’s expression. Seeing his displeased face, he understood the situation—someone must have reported him.
Jiang Jin subtly rolled his eyes. The next moment, his eyes turned red, looking extremely wronged. “He hit me first. He hit me and said I looked like a girl, and he threw bugs inside my clothes. I was so scared, Gege.”
Jiang Ran immediately got angry and said, “Then you should have hit him back.”
But Jiang Jin shook his head and said, “I can’t hit him back.”
When Jiang Ran asked him why, he refused to say anything more.
Jiang Ran thought about it from his own perspective, assuming Little Jin couldn’t win the fight. So he added, “If this happens again, tell me, and I’ll help you beat him up.”
Jiang Ran himself was still a half-grown teenager and couldn’t handle things with adult maturity. The moment he heard his brother was wronged, his first reaction was to help him get revenge.
They were all just little kids. If he beat them until they were scared, they naturally wouldn’t dare to bully anyone anymore.
To his surprise, Jiang Jin reacted even more strongly. He shouted, “Ge can’t hit him either!”
Now Jiang Ran was confused. He asked, “You were bullied. Isn’t it good if I help you get revenge?”
Jiang Jin shook his head, tears welling up in his eyes. He sobbed, “If Ge hits him, his parents will make Ge pay money. Little Fatty had to pay a lot of money when he hit someone before, and his own dad beat him up. Ge works so hard to raise me. I don’t want Ge to lose money.”
Jiang Ran’s expression was complicated. He hadn’t expected this to be the reason. He began to scrutinize his brother, realizing that he was indeed a little too smart, but this cleverness was being misused. This was not a good sign. He didn’t want Jiang Jin to grow up to be a bad child who led others in bullying.
So he tried to reason with Jiang Jin. “Then tell the teacher. The point is, you can’t let other children bully you, and you especially can’t lead others to bully anyone else. That’s wrong, understand?”
Jiang Jin nodded and said he understood.
Jiang Ran watched him for a few moments, feeling that he had taken the words to heart, and didn’t criticize him further. He just stroked his head and said gently, “Little Jin is very smart, and his grades are always good. I know Little Jin is a good child, right?”
Jiang Jin kissed him and said, “Right.”
Jiang Ran felt reassured and hugged him, preparing to sleep. Seeing that his eyes were already closing, Jiang Jin quietly hummed a song to soothe him. Jiang Ran fell asleep shortly after.
In the darkness, Jiang Jin kept his eyes wide open, pondering for a long time. He concluded that next time he did something like that, he couldn’t let the teacher know, and especially not his brother.
So, whenever he did such things afterward, he became very cautious. Instead of being straightforward as before, he began to use his brain to devise ways to subtly create conflict between the aggressor and others, ensuring no one would realize he was manipulating things.
Later, Teacher Yu never called Jiang Ran in for a talk again. In fact, every time there was a parent-teacher meeting, she praised Jiang Jin for being well-behaved, obedient, and getting high scores in every test. Jiang Ran believed his words had been effective and felt immensely relieved.