Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Nemesis of Mischievous Children

This mischievous child hadn’t visited the house in over a year. Why did he suddenly show up today? As Wu You looked on with undisguised annoyance at the child running toward him, a dark shadow darted out from behind Wu You, intercepting the boy three meters away. The child couldn’t stop in time and crashed directly into Garulu.

Before he could rebound to the ground, Garulu lifted him into the air with ease. Seeing such a fierce, towering figure grabbing him, Zhang Tianbao was instantly terrified, frozen in place. In the blink of an eye, Wu You’s little troublemaker had been “captured.” He thought it was good that Garulu could frighten him, but underestimated the boy’s courage.

When Tianbao saw Garulu merely holding him up without any other action, and his uncle watching from nearby, he started screaming at the top of his lungs. Flailing his limbs wildly in the air, he pounded at Garulu’s suit, shouting nonstop.

“Big guy, let me go! My uncle is a big boss now, he could finish you off!”

This troublemaking child—if Garulu were just a passerby, wouldn’t he have shifted the blame onto Wu You instead? Before Tianbao could continue his ruckus, Garulu tossed him backward.

The boy arced through the air and, with a splash, landed several meters away in the Azure Dragon River.

“Ahhh! I’m going to drown!”

“Uncle, save me! I can't swim! I'm afraid of water!”

Panicking, Tianbao thrashed violently in the river, screaming in terror, not realizing that his shoulders and above stayed afloat the whole time.

Wu You feigned surprise. “Oh dear, Tianbao, you fell in the water! How careless.”

He hurried to the yacht nearby, grabbed a life ring attached to a rope, and tossed it to the child in the water.

“Grab the life ring, quick! There are a lot of snakes in the water right now, even your uncle doesn’t dare go in to save you.”

Clutching the ring, Tianbao’s fear intensified at the mention of snakes, and he screamed anew.

Wu You pulled the rope from the yacht, while the child, wearing the life ring, kicked up splashes as he paddled and cried.

When Wu You finally hauled Zhang Tianbao up the steps at the back of the yacht, the boy sobbed even harder.

The commotion was considerable.

Hearing the child’s cries, Zhang Guihua, Uncle Zhang Guojun, and his cousins rushed out of the house to see what had happened.

Seeing his family arrive, Tianbao broke away from Wu You and ran to Zhang Guojun, throwing himself into his arms, crying and pointing at Garulu.

“That big guy threw me in the water, boo hoo…”

Zhang Guihua immediately questioned Wu You. “What happened? Garulu is always so well-behaved, how could the child end up in the water?”

Wu You hurried to explain.

“Mom, Uncle, don’t listen to Tianbao’s nonsense. You know Garulu—he’d never do such a thing. Tianbao just saw the yacht and wanted to play, didn’t pay attention to safety. Garulu startled him as he came out of the cabin, and Tianbao slipped into the water. It was Garulu who rescued him.”

Garulu cooperated with a smile, though it was rather unnerving.

Though they knew Garulu’s identity, Zhang Guihua, recalling his diligent and hardworking nature, believed the explanation.

Seeing his uncle lie through his teeth, Tianbao protested even louder in Zhang Guojun’s arms.

“Grandpa, Auntie, Uncle is lying! He’s making things up! It was that big guy who threw me in! Dad, you were a soldier, beat him up!”

Wu You strode over to Tianbao, bent down, and rubbed the boy’s cheeks.

“This child! Treats his savior this way, and slanders his uncle. Uncle, I say Tianbao needs better discipline. Today it was Garulu—what if it had been someone else?”

Zhang Xiaoyuan was eyeing the burly Garulu, imagining what kind of heavy weapon this fellow could carry. Hearing Wu You’s words, he strongly agreed.

“Dad, we spoil Tianbao too much. His teachers have mentioned his issues several times. Nowadays, there are plenty of families in trouble because their children misbehave.”

Because Tianbao was adopted, the Zhang family showered him with excessive affection to make him feel loved, which resulted in his current personality.

“Thank you, Mr. Garulu. My sister always said we had a capable helper at home. The child doesn’t understand, please don’t take it to heart,” Zhang Guojun apologized to Garulu.

Garulu maintained his unsettling smile.

“Uh, Garulu has a speech impediment, he can’t really talk,” Wu You explained.

This made the Zhang family even more respectful, imagining all sorts of heroic, resilient scenarios.

Seeing no one believed him, Tianbao’s protests grew even more frantic, sobbing on the ground.

“It seems Tianbao has a lot of misunderstandings about Garulu. Uncle, are you just here for dinner, or staying a few days? If you stay longer, let Tianbao spend more time with Garulu to clear up the misunderstanding. Garulu is quite fond of children.”

The crying child seemed to pause, as if someone had pressed a button.

…

Wu Jianguo called from the back door, “Guihua, Guojun, come back for dinner…”

Zhang Guihua responded and urged everyone to head in for the meal.

Normally, Zhang Guihua cooked for the family, but when guests came or the group was large, Wu Jianguo took over as chef.

When everyone entered, Wu Jianguo asked, “Was Tianbao crying just now? What happened?”

Zhang Xiaoyuan answered casually, “No big deal, Uncle—just a mischievous child, fell into the water himself. Aside from wet clothes, he’s fine. Good thing your big guy saved him.”

“Oh, that’s good, that’s good.”

While no one was watching, Garulu grinned at Zhang Tianbao, causing the boy to shrink further into the crowd. His usual sanctuary seemed to have failed today—a wise man avoids immediate trouble!

…

Wu You helped Wu Jianguo carry dishes from the kitchen, feeling quite pleased.

During dinner, Tianbao seemed like a changed person: he ate quietly, didn’t cause trouble, and no longer tried to dominate the seating. He was even less picky about the food.

Both the Zhang and Wu families sighed inwardly—children truly can’t be spoiled.

During the meal, Zhang Xiaoyuan revealed a keen interest in the yacht. That kind of luxury was usually only seen on TV; in real life, he’d only glimpsed them from afar. He never expected his cousin to own one.

He’d heard from Zhang Guojun that his cousin had started a company and made a fortune, thinking perhaps he’d opened some factory and earned a bit. But buying a yacht? That kind of gas-guzzler costs tens of millions! And parked outside was a Maybach Zeppelin, a famous car.

He’d worried that newfound wealth might make his cousin’s family arrogant, but found them just as friendly as before, which made him genuinely happy. And Tianbao’s newfound manners were an unexpected delight.

…

His cousins showed great interest in the yacht, and even the mischievous child was intrigued. Since that was the case, Wu You decided to take the whole family out for another trip to sea.

Naturally, Garulu—the nemesis of troublemakers—was a must for the journey.

Learning, after all, follows a curve best reinforced in stages. No doubt about it.