Slacker Second Gen C26

Chapter 26: School Tyrant 26

Zai Ye took out his constantly ringing phone, glanced at it, his face showing signs of fatigue and irritation. He closed his eyes for a moment before sitting up.

Instead of immediately changing clothes and heading to the bathroom to wash up, he stepped out and knocked a few times on the door of the nearby room.

“Zai Qian, Zai Qian, are you awake? Get up.”

There was no sound from inside the room. Zai Ye knocked a couple more times, turned the doorknob, and peeked inside.

When Zai Ye’s daughter turned four, she started sleeping alone. Her room was next to his, and the stuffed animals that were originally packed into his bedroom had all been moved to her room. Over the years, many more stuffed toys were added, and the room was now full to the brim.

Zai Ye’s eyes immediately scanned the room, searching for his child on the mint green bed. Finding it empty, he walked into the room, skillfully searching through the corner filled with large stuffed toys. As expected, he found two feet sticking out from between a rabbit and a turtle.

“Zai Qian?”

The child didn’t respond. Zai Ye dragged the small child, who had grown tall enough to reach his waist, out from the corner and carried her to the bed. He didn’t understand why she had this habit of not sleeping in her bed but instead crawling into the corner surrounded by toys.

“Wake up, wash your face, brush your teeth, and have breakfast. You need to go to school. Don’t blame me if you’re late later.”

The child opened her eyes in his shaking, frowned, and reluctantly crawled up.

Once, Zai Ye was also someone who loved to sleep in, enjoying the freedom of late mornings. But his years of raising a child had changed him. On days when his child had to go to school, he had to adjust his schedule to match hers. No matter how late he slept, he had to wake up early.

The child was six years old this year, starting first grade, while her father was about to graduate and transition into being a full-time boss.

Over the past few years, Zai Ye’s game company had become well-known in the industry. Several of the games they developed regularly topped the charts, with one turning into a phenomenon. As a young boss of only 25, Zai Ye was often praised for his achievements and was highly sought after.

The young and successful boss woke his daughter early in the morning, urged her to get ready, and carried her schoolbag as they headed out the door. He drove her to school.

Years had passed, and Zai Ye was no longer the rebellious youth who would sneak a peek at his daughter’s school or take her out for shopping and movies. As his daughter walked into the school, he calmly drove to his company to start his workday.

By noon, he left work early to pick up his daughter and take her out for lunch.

Yu Qian came out of the school gate and, upon seeing his car, quickly left the queue and ran over to get in. She took off her little yellow school cap, fastened her seatbelt, and leaned back into the passenger seat, sighing, “School is so tiring.”

Zai Ye started the car. “… What’s tiring about first grade?”

Yu Qian: “Dad, are you tired from work?”

It sounded like the little girl was concerned about him, but Zai Ye wasn’t fooled. He glanced at her cautiously. “Yes, I’m tired. Why?”

Yu Qian: “You play games at work, playing games isn’t tiring, so what’s so tiring about work?”

As she grew older, Zai Ye had long realized that his little girl was becoming more and more mischievous. She usually didn’t speak much, but when she did, she could really get under his skin. As a father, he had been interrupted mid-meal so many times by her sharp remarks.

The father and daughter continued their discussion about whether school and work were tiring, until they arrived at the company. The conversation ended abruptly by Yu Qian, who, in her usual competitive manner, made a final remark: “Dad, stop arguing with me. It’s childish.”

Zai Ye: “…”

So, that afternoon, Zai Ye’s employees saw their boss, who was in a terrible mood, with a silent, speechless expression.

“Qian Qian, school’s out!”

“Little Qian, school must be tiring. Have some candy.”

Familiar employees greeted Yu Qian with a warm smile and handed her sweets, while the two plump plush cats, “General” and “Little General,” greeted her at the door, rubbing their bodies and tails against her legs, purring sweetly.

When Zai Ye saw his daughter putting down her schoolbag to feed the cats first, he called her, “The cats are already fed. Go eat your meal, it’s getting cold!”

Yu Qian: “Dad, you’re rushing to feed the child, I’m rushing to feed the child too. We need to understand each other.”

Zai Ye, feeling frustrated by her logic, couldn’t find a counterpoint. He could only helplessly urge her, “If you don’t come to eat, I’ll eat your portion.”

Yu Qian gave him a “You’re impossible” look, patted her hands, and put down the cat food before following him to the table.

During the meal, the two cats followed, circling around Yu Qian’s feet.

Zai Ye watched as she ate, distracted by the cats, and said, “You’re my child, so I care about your meal, but did you give birth to these cats?”

Who would have thought that the child would suddenly give him a sympathetic look, as if pitying him, and placed a piece of food on his plate. “Dad, eat.”

If it wasn’t the cucumber that neither of them liked…

Zai Ye poured a small portion of cucumber into Yu Qian’s bowl. “Eat this.”

The child, who also disliked cucumbers, silently pushed the cucumber aside and waited until Zai Ye finished his meal, taking the opportunity to secretly dispose of all the cucumber.

After eating, Zai Ye sat in front of his computer, noticing the child still fiddling with her schoolbag.

“Zai Qian, what are you doing? No nap?”

Yu Qian pulled out her homework and pencil case from her bag and ran to his desk, occupying a spot, sighing, “I still have homework.”

Zai Ye frowned. “First grade already has so much homework? No time for a nap?”

The child leaned against his arm, very obedient.

Zai Ye: “What are you doing?” His scheming daughter wouldn’t act this obedient for no reason.

Yu Qian pushed the homework and pen towards him. “Dad, help me do my homework.”

Zai Ye: “?”

“Why don’t you do your own homework?” Zai Ye rejected.

“It’s too simple, I don’t want to do it.” Yu Qian lightly bumped her head against his arm.

Zai Ye remained unmoved. “You think this homework isn’t simple for me?”

Yu Qian suddenly yawned and rubbed her eyes until they turned red. “Dad, I want to sleep.”

In the end, she lay on the small sofa and fell asleep. Zai Ye expressionlessly opened her homework book and quickly finished her assignments.

That afternoon, when Zai Ye went to pick her up, the teacher called him to the office.

The teacher said, “Zai Qian’s parent, you helped her with her homework, right? If she doesn’t know how to do it, you can guide her, but you can’t do it for her. Sometimes children don’t realize when they’re wrong, but as parents, we must correct them, not just let them have their way…”

Zai Ye was lectured by the teacher.

But he was used to it. He didn’t know if other parents had the same experience, but since his daughter started kindergarten, he had often been called into meetings with teachers. Now it was just a different teacher.

After dinner, Yu Qian took out her homework again. Before she could approach, Zai Ye said, “Your teacher lectured me. Do your own homework.”

Yu Qian sighed.

“You’re sighing? I didn’t even sigh.”

“Dad, you made a mistake on my homework.”

Zai Ye looked up from his computer. “I don’t believe it. Let me see. You’re telling me I made a mistake on such a simple question?”

Yu Qian: “You didn’t write the numbers in the boxes.”

Zai Ye: “…”

He had no idea about the format of elementary school homework.

Zai Ye finally noticed something was off. “You saw that it was wrong, and you still handed it in like that? Do you want the teacher to call me again?”

Yu Qian blinked and didn’t respond. She took her homework to the side and started over. After a while, Zai Ye heard her giggling.

Zai Ye raised his voice, “Zai Qian, what are you laughing at?”

There was another “hehehe.”

Zai Ye stood up and walked over, only to see his daughter sitting on a small stool, one hand holding the pen and scribbling on her homework, the other hand covering her mouth, trying to stifle her laughter. She looked like she was enjoying herself more the more she thought about it. Her little back was shaking with laughter.

Zai Ye reached over, grabbed her by the armpit, and lifted her to look her in the eye. “Are you trying to mess with me on purpose?”

Yu Qian, still trying to hold back her laughter, finally burst out laughing. “Hahahaha!”

Zai Ye tossed her into the air, and the child screamed in surprise. He caught her again and tossed her up once more. The room was filled with the child’s screams and laughter.

That night, before bed, Yu Qian played a game on her tablet.

This was also a game created by Zai Ye’s studio, called “Feed the Little Yellow Duck.” It was a simple game about feeding ducks. Initially, Zai Ye made it to entertain his daughter since she loved feeding the ducks. Over time, the game had been updated and added with new features. Now, in addition to feeding the little yellow ducks, there were various pets to take care of, as well as pet elimination games and farming. It had transformed into a simulation and management game.

The game had surprisingly gained a lot of traction, with impressive retention rates. Though it was designed for children, many adults also played it.

Yu Qian logged in every day, fed her large group of yellow ducks and pets, harvested vegetables, and completed her daily tasks before finally sighing in relief, putting down her tablet, and heading to bed.

She was far more eager to play the game than to do her homework. Zai Ye thought to himself, maybe he should make a game specifically for kids who don’t want to do their homework. The daily task would be to finish their homework, and if they didn’t complete it in time, all the pets would starve.

When Zai Ye explained his game idea to his daughter the next morning, she was shocked, looking at him as if he were the most “evil” person she knew.

It seemed like she took him seriously. That afternoon, when he picked her up from school and drove her to the company, she wore a serious expression on her little face. She went to the snack area, grabbed a bunch of snacks, ran around the company distributing them, and whispered with several key employees for a long time.

When she finished distributing snacks, she went to the side to do her homework. Zai Ye, curious, went over to the people who had received snacks and asked, “What did Yu Qian say to you?”

Everyone couldn’t stop laughing.

“Little Qian said not to help you make such an evil game, haha!”

“Boss, we wouldn’t help you with that, we’ve already taken bribes.”

“Boss, are you trying to scare Little Qian with that game after losing an argument?”

Zai Ye: “…”