Chapter 400: Interlude 4

Chapter 400 -187: Interlude 4

“Your husband went back to Shanmei a few days ago. You should find some time to go back too, Sis. As for the retail stores, you can have a few assistant managers handle them. All you need to do is supervise.” Jiang Miao didn’t want to see his sister and her husband spending so much time apart, worrying it might affect their relationship.

“He just came to see me a few days ago, so another week or two won’t make a difference. Once this busy spell is over, we’ll have plenty of time at the end of the year,” Jiang Xia said with a smile.

“Just make sure you two work it out. You have two kids at home, after all, and you need to take their education seriously,” Jiang Miao reminded her.

Of his sister’s two children, the younger one, Zhang Xiaomin, was doing fine. However, Zhang Xiaolong, who was already in middle school, had become a bit rebellious.

The moment she heard her brother, Jiang Xia guessed what was coming. “Did Xiaolong get into trouble again? When I get home, I’m going to give him a good thrashing.”

Jiang Miao thought for a moment. “Sis, I don’t think Xiaolong is the academic type. Plus, those classmates he hangs out with aren’t exactly a good influence. Why not just pull him out of school and have your husband take him along to learn the business? Our family doesn’t need him to have a diploma, and this way, he won’t pick up any more bad habits.”

At his words, Jiang Xia had to agree it was a good suggestion. Given their family’s financial standing, a diploma truly wasn’t necessary.

She was well aware of her son’s grades; he was consistently ranked in the bottom tier of his year. Forcing him to study more would likely be pointless.

As for transferring schools, while the Jiang Family’s influence would make it easy, forcing someone who wasn’t academically inclined into a better school would only add to his stress.

She and her husband were both incredibly busy with work. If they just let their son continue on at school, he would definitely keep in touch with that bad company he kept.

This couldn’t go on.

Jiang Xia made up her mind. She and her husband could take turns bringing their son along on their business trips. It would broaden his horizons while simultaneously cutting him off from seeing his bad friends every day. With enough time, those so-called classmate bonds and friendly loyalties would surely fade.

Besides, she considered, the knowledge from middle school, high school, and college didn’t really have a direct bearing on most real-world jobs. Much of the country’s education system was impractical or severely outdated.

If her son decided he wanted to learn later, she could always hire private tutors for specialized subjects.

Compared to academic knowledge, Jiang Xia was now far more concerned with her child’s values and character. For a second-generation business heir who would never have to worry about his livelihood, a strong moral compass was the most important thing of all.

Suddenly, a clear plan for her son’s future began to form in her mind.

Seeing that his sister was taking his advice to heart, Jiang Miao inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

This was his philosophy as well. You couldn’t just outsource a child’s education to schools and teachers; it was even more important for parents to lead by example.

‘After all, many teachers have spent their entire lives in an academic ivory tower and don’t have much real-world experience. The younger ones are especially lacking in that department.’

‘Besides, the climate in schools these days is terrible. If a teacher is even slightly strict, they get complaints from some outlandish parent, so a lot of teachers just decide to phone it in.’

‘When I was in elementary school, I couldn’t count the number of times a teacher had rapped my palms with a ruler. But students these days? You can’t hit them, you can’t scold them. They’re all like giant, fragile babies. The slightest little thing goes wrong, and they have a complete meltdown.’

He and his sister talked for several hours. He offered her a lot of advice and helped map out a series of arrangements for Xiaolong. This included things like interning at the retail stores, working as a regular laborer at the breeding and agricultural farms, and occasionally joining his parents on business trips—essentially creating a work-study program for him.

That afternoon, he took a stroll around the scenic spots on Qin Island. The October Golden Week holiday had already passed, so the attractions weren’t crowded with tourists.

He spent the night at a hotel on Qin Island.

「The next morning」 At eight o’clock, Jiang Miao and his companions once again boarded a northbound high-speed train. This time, however, he didn’t stop in the Capital City or any other places along the way, heading straight for Zhelimu City.