Rebirth of a Farmer's Dad

"Is everything you're saying true?" Principal Chen asked, staring into Luo Feng's eyes.

"Of course," Luo Feng replied without hesitation.

"I would never joke about my students, especially when it comes to matters that directly affect their interests," Principal Chen reiterated his principle.

"I only ask for one chance, one chance to try," Luo Feng emphasized again.

“I can give you the opportunity, but the final decision is not up to me,” Principal Chen said.

"That's enough, I don't need anything else," Luo Feng nodded and replied with a smile.

"You made a special trip just for this?" Principal Chen was puzzled. He hadn't expected Luo Feng's request to be so simple.

"What else did you think?" Luo Feng retorted.

"So, Xiao Chuang's matter is just over like that?"

"At least I won't remember that such a thing ever happened."

After listening to Luo Feng's words, Principal Chen put aside all his doubts and worries, and now he could finally get a good night's sleep.

Now that his goal had been achieved, Luo Feng decided to get up and take his leave. After all, this was the first time he and Principal Chen had met, and they were not familiar with each other and had nothing to talk about.

He wanted to leave, but Principal Chen refused to let him go easily.

“Hey Luo Feng, no, I’ll just call you brother, it sounds more friendly.” Principal Chen grabbed Luo Feng’s hand and started trying to get closer to him, but Luo Feng just chuckled twice without responding, which was taken as tacit acceptance of the address.

"Brother, listen to your older brother's advice. We've become friends through this misunderstanding, so let's have dinner at my place today," Principal Chen invited.

Luo Feng originally wanted to refuse, as he had a lot of things to deal with. However, Principal Chen held his hand tightly and wouldn't let go, so he couldn't forcefully break free in this situation and could only go along with the host's wishes.

County Chief Chen made a phone call to inform his wife to come home, and also instructed her to buy groceries first so that he could entertain an important guest.

After finishing the call, Principal Chen saw Luo Feng standing to the side, looking puzzled, and spoke to him.

“It’s all because of Xiao Chuang’s matter. My wife and I haven’t had a good night’s sleep these past few days. I saw that my wife was worried all the time, so I simply sent her and our son to stay at her parents’ house for a couple of days. Originally, I planned to let them come back after this matter was over.”

"Oh, so that's what happened. No wonder you were home alone." Luo Feng suddenly realized that Principal Chen and his wife hadn't been having a good time these past few days.

"Haha, I'm sorry you had to see this." Principal Chen said somewhat embarrassedly.

"It's nothing, it's all for the children. We're all parents, I understand," Luo Feng said, trying to comfort her.

"Oh, so you have a child at such a young age." Principal Chen immediately became interested. In his opinion, Luo Feng was only twenty-one or twenty-two years old and shouldn't have become a father so early.

"Yes, I have a daughter who is over four years old this year." When talking about his daughter, Luo Feng couldn't help but smile. This should be a normal reaction for every father.

"Judging from your appearance, you seem so refined that I thought you were a college student."

"Oh, please don't make fun of me. I come from the countryside and I've only had a few days of schooling. Saying I'm like a college student is just making fun of me." Luo Feng scratched his head a little embarrassedly. Even in the future, he hadn't had much schooling.

University must be a distant dream for me.

"I didn't realize you came from such a humble background. Your conduct and interpersonal skills are impeccable; you're even more mature and capable than those of real college graduates," Principal Chen praised, her eyes revealing an even stronger interest in Luo Feng.

Then Luo Feng and Principal Chen, two grown men, sat down at home and began to chat. Because Luo Feng had knowledge of the future, he could chime in on whatever Principal Chen said. The two men chatted happily, and when they ran out of topics, they talked about their own children, which was almost an eternal topic for fathers.

As the two talked, time passed by little by little. Before they knew it, the principal's wife returned with the groceries she had bought, and their son, Chen Chuang, was also brought back with her.

"You brat, come here right now and apologize to him." Upon seeing his son return, Principal Chen hurriedly told him to apologize to Luo Feng.

Chen Chuang seemed not to hear his father's words and turned to walk into the room.

"Stop! I told you to apologize, did you hear me?" Principal Chen said angrily to his son.

"Why should I? I didn't do anything wrong." Chen Chuang turned his head impatiently and argued with his father.

"Hey, you've gone too far, you brat!" The principal's temper flared even more, and he prepared to teach his arrogant son a lesson.

"What are you doing? The child just got home, can't you talk things out?" The principal's wife, seeing this, immediately stepped forward to dissuade them, and Luo Feng also quickly stepped between the father and son to prevent the conflict from escalating.

"Oh, I'm sorry to have made you laugh. It's a misfortune for our family." Principal Chen looked at Luo Feng, perhaps feeling that it was inappropriate to hit his son in front of the guests, so he stopped and said to Luo Feng.

"He's still a child. Talk to him nicely, and he'll understand." Although he didn't agree with this statement in his heart, Luo Feng still said it.

"Alright, you brat, hurry back to your room. Don't just stand there. I get annoyed just looking at you." Principal Chen waved to his son, signaling him to go back to his room.

Then, Principal Chen instructed his wife to cook, saying that since Luo Feng was to stay for dinner today, the meal had to be prepared so as not to be a laughing stock.

The principal's wife was quick; before long, several home-style dishes were on the table.

"Try it, your sister-in-law prepared this especially for you," Principal Chen said to Luo Feng.

Luo Feng didn't stand on ceremony, picking up his chopsticks and taking a few bites. Although these were just ordinary home-style dishes, and the cooking was only barely presentable, Luo Feng kept praising the principal's wife's skills. In China, this seems to be an unspoken rule; nobody wants to be the one to ruin the atmosphere.

"Eat as much as you like, these are all prepared for you." Seeing that Luo Feng was enjoying his meal, Principal Chen and his wife knew that he hadn't taken the events of the past few days to heart, so they kept urging him to eat and drink.

Luo Feng, of course, would not refuse other people's kindness and ate with great relish.

"I'm not trying to be mean, Principal, but your wife's cooking is really good. It's a shame she's not running a restaurant." While eating, Luo Feng didn't forget to chat with Principal Chen.

"Really? I don't think it's anything special. You're in this line of work, so you can't lie." Principal Chen had also had a few drinks and was a bit tipsy. He pulled Luo Feng aside and said with a smug look on his face.

Before he could finish speaking, he was slapped hard on the back.

"You old fool, what are you saying? Aren't you ashamed?" the principal's wife said with a hint of reproach.

"What's there to be afraid of? We're an old married couple, what's wrong with joking around a bit?"

“That’s right, there aren’t that many taboos between husband and wife.”

Judging from their tone of voice and their arm-in-arm posture, the principal's wife could tell that the two had become drunkards, and she shouldn't bother arguing with them, otherwise who knew what else they might say.