Jimmy’s mother was terribly shocked. She quickly looked down and picked up Jimmy. “What’s wrong? Jimmy, what’s wrong?”

After throwing up twice, Jimmy finally stopped. Covered in perspiration, he frowned and asked, “Mommy, am I dying?”

Jimmy’s mother finally panicked. “Of course not. Mommy’s here, baby. Mommy will take you to the hospital right away!”

She held him in her arms and walked out.

When she passed by Nora, Nora told her again, “Have a lumbar puncture done immediately and check whether it’s encephalitis or not when you reach the hospital.”

This time, Jimmy’s mother looked at her and said nothing. Instead, she strode off.

After she left, Nora checked the time—school wasn’t over yet. Thus, she left Pete there and went home by herself.

Ms. Lynn, “…”

She’d thought that Cherry’s mother would comfort Cherry a little before she left—after all, she had just quarreled with her classmate. But why was she so nonplussed about it?

No, that wasn’t right. Cherry’s mother was a very good mother. She must be very busy with work at the moment and must have rushed over from work right after she received the call. She must be rushing back to work to make money to raise Cherry now!

Yes, that must be the case!

With that in mind, Ms. Lynn went back into the classroom, upon which she immediately saw Cherry engrossed in a book.

Ms. Lynn couldn’t help but walk over. She ruffled Cherry’s hair and said, “Don’t be scared, Cherry~”

Pete stiffened, but forced himself to tolerate the body contact.

He found that there seemed to be more and more people whom he could accept coming into physical contact with these days…

Soon, school ended.

One by one, the children said their goodbyes to Pete, who left the school together with Tanya. Mia watched them get in the big black car before she got in the Smiths’ car unhappily.

At the sight, Joel couldn’t help asking, “What’s the matter, Mia?”

Mia asked timidly, “Daddy, will Cherry be eaten by the big tiger?”

Joel, “?”

Mia told him about what had happened earlier that day. Joel ruffled her hair and said, “It’s fine. The big tiger won’t dare to eat him.”

Mia’s big eyes widened and she stared at him puzzledly. She asked, “Why? The big tiger doesn’t dare to eat me because I have Daddy, but he doesn’t!”

Joel cast his eyes down and replied, “His father is Justin Hunt. Don’t worry, the big tiger won’t dare to eat him at all.”

Mia was relieved to hear that. “That’s great!”

Joel, however, turned to look outside—Tanya had brought the child into the car again. Did this mean that the child’s mother didn’t bother coming over to pick him up from school at all?

He stared at Tanya.

In his mind, however, was the DNA test report… The results were too complicated. He didn’t dare to bring it up to Ian even now.

He would need to think carefully about how to word it properly.

—

Jimmy’s mother soon reached the hospital. She rushed straight to the pediatric department with Jimmy.

Jimmy was already feeling much better by then. However, the pediatrician nevertheless carried out a series of tests on him before finally telling his mother the reason for his vomiting. He said, “It’s likely because he was crying too much from fright. Jimmy, do you still feel like throwing up?”

Jimmy shook his head.

The doctor smiled and said, “There’s no need to make too big a fuss over something trivial sometimes.”

Relieved, Jimmy’s mother nodded.

The doctor then said, “It’s better to err on the side of caution, though, so let’s do a few more tests.”

Jimmy’s mother got the nanny to go and foot the medical bill. Then, she called Jimmy’s father.

Jimmy’s father was named Jordan Hoffman. He specialized in businesses such as underground dealings and so on in New York and was considered a leader of the industry. Apart from the Smiths and Hunts, one could say that he didn’t show anyone else any courtesy.

He was a crass boor with a big and muscular figure and stood at about 6’1″ tall with a weight of 205 lbs. He was currently working out. His muscles bulged powerfully in tandem with the movements of the gym equipment.

When his cell phone rang, he picked it up and answered very loudly, “What’s the matter, dear?”

Jimmy’s mother wiped her tears and said, “What’s the matter? Someone bullied your son Jimmy in the kindergarten!”

“F*ck!” Jordan stood up, causing the gym equipment’s parts to clash loudly against each other. “Who is so bold as to bully my son? But did you say Jimmy had to go to the hospital because of the bullying? Why is he such a wimp?”

“…”

Jimmy’s mother choked for a moment before she yelled, “What would my son know when he’s only five years old?! A kid in their class bullied him and told him that he had encephalitis, scaring him so badly that he cried for two hours until he threw up! What are you going to do about this?”

Jordan shouted angrily, “Whose child is it that’s so naughty? How dare they insult my son! I’m going to rip that little bastard into pieces!”

Jimmy’s mother got anxious and said, “Who are you planning to rip into pieces? How can it be the child’s fault when they haven’t even grown up yet? The one I’m angry with is his mother! The kindergarten had gotten her to come down, yet she still told me to get a lumbar puncture done for Jimmy. That’s a lumbar puncture we’re talking about here, you know?! It’s a really painful procedure. Who does she think she is? Does she think she can just scare other people like that?!”

Jordan nodded. “Yes, you’re right! I’ll have someone check who her parents are right away!”

Jimmy’s mother nodded. “I will also put some pressure on the kindergarten. Why should we allow such parents to send their children to kindergarten? Let’s have them voluntarily withdraw from the school! Otherwise, I’ll drive them out!”

“Okay, we’ll go with whatever you say, dear. How is Jimmy feeling, by the way?”

At the mention of Jimmy, the woman’s tone softened and she replied, “He’s feeling much better now. He only threw up because he was crying after he was badly frightened. I’m so mad! What’s a parent spreading such rumors for? Is it that fun to scare children? If it weren’t because Jimmy had suddenly started throwing up, given my bad temper, I would have totally given her a few tight slaps today!”

“I’ll check who his father is right away, and give his father those slaps instead! What is the child’s name?”

“Cherry Smith.”

“Okay!”

Jimmy’s mother was still very angry even after she hung up. She started to madly contact the principal and the teachers on her cell phone and sent them a text message.

Jimmy’s mother: ‘Since Cherry Smith’s mother, Nora Smith, refuses to apologize for her child’s actions, I’d suggest that the school expel her child! I won’t change my mind unless they apologize seriously!’

When Ms. Lynn saw the text message, she quickly contacted Nora. “Ms. Smith, I understand that Cherry didn’t say that to scare Jimmy. Why don’t you have her apologize to Jimmy?”

Nora, who had been woken up repeatedly by phone calls, was already very impatient by this point. She replied aggressively, “Pete… oh, I mean Cherry, will take three days off from school for now, then.”

Jimmy was in very serious condition. If his mother didn’t follow her instructions and have him go through a checkup right away, three days would be more than enough for his illness to flare up.

Ms. Lynn, “?”

In the hospital.

It was only when Jimmy’s mother received news from Ms. Lynn that Cherry would be temporarily stopped from attending classes that she finally calmed down.

When Jimmy finished the various checkups, his mother finally calmed down and looked at him. She suddenly thought of the headache that Jimmy had mentioned previously and asked, “Does your head still hurt, Jimmy?”