Chapter 76 - A Professional
Nora was driving a jeep, but the way she was driving, it was as if she was driving a sports car instead.
Screeeeech!
The car stopped at the school gate. She got out and strode toward the kindergarten.
Ms. Lynn, the teacher who had brought Cherry into the kindergarten earlier that day, was waiting there. She was a young woman in her twenties and was currently in a panic.
How anxious must the parents be, having something go wrong on the first day their child was sent to school?
With that thought in mind, she went forward to Nora and said, "Ms. Smith…"
Nora interrupted her and asked, "Are the children okay?"
Ms. Lynn, "?"
The confused teacher replied, "… Yes, they are."
As Nora walked in with the teacher, she asked, "Are the teachers also okay?"
"… Yes, they are all fine."
Nora was taken aback. "In that case, who did Cherry beat up?"
She subconsciously glanced at the school gate. "The security guard?"
Ms. Lynn, "???"
How would Cherry possibly be able to beat such a big and tall security guard, especially when he had even gone through professional martial arts training?!
No, wait, they had digressed too much.
Ms. Lynn said anxiously, "Cherry fainted!"
It was Nora's turn to be surprised this time. "Surely, she's just faking it?"
Although Cherry was born a month prematurely, as a doctor, Nora had nursed and taken care of Cherry very well. While she looked a little skinnier than most, she was actually as strong as a young calf!
Faint? Cherry?
Ms. Lynn was so dumbfounded that she couldn't even utter the words of comfort she had originally wanted to say. She said emphatically, "It's true!"
This piqued Nora's curiosity and she said, "I'll go take a look."
Ms. Lynn followed after her and said, "She's in the dance studio. Don't worry, Ms. Smith. I know you aren't in good health, so it must have been hard raising Cherry all these years. Cherry is also a very lovable and obedient girl. We'll definitely hold the culprit accountable!"
Nora was rendered speechless.
Only then did she realize that the teacher was now calling Cherry by her nickname instead of 'Cheryl Smith' like what she had done when Nora sent her to the kindergarten…
So, what exactly happened today?
Despite claiming that it was impossible that Cherry had fainted, Nora nevertheless obviously quickened her pace. Ms. Lynn couldn't catch up to her even when she jogged briskly behind her.
The moment they entered the dance studio, Nora immediately saw Cherry lying on the sofa. A few teachers were gathered around her, and standing next to them was a little girl in a dance practice outfit who was crying loudly. A teacher, who was also wearing a dance practice outfit, was currently trying to coax her.
Was Cherry really hurt?
When Nora walked over, she heard the school doctor say, "Don't worry, Ms. Smith. I've already given her a checkup. Cherry looks totally fine. She probably fainted because she was too aggrieved. Sigh!"
"…"
Yeah, aggrieved, my a*s.
From the moment she held Cherry's wrist and felt a strong pulse, Nora knew immediately that she was just pretending.
She couldn't help but hold her forehead.
She had only just warned her against pretending to cry in the morning, yet she was already pretending to faint?
Even so, the little fellow's eyes were still and motionless. Her acting was pretty good.
She tickled Cherry's palm with a finger: 'Stop acting and wake up.'
Cherry returned a tickle of her own on Nora's palm: 'Mommy, don't expose me!'
Nora was rendered speechless.
She coughed and asked, "What happened?"
By then, Ms. Lynn had also entered the dance studio. Seeing that she looked calm and hadn't started ranting at the teachers as soon as she came in, she immediately felt even more strongly that Cherry's family must be reasonable people.
She said, "The kindergarten is celebrating its 50th anniversary soon, so we're going to hold a huge party and all the parents will be invited. The kindergarten is selecting twenty children for the finale dance. I saw that Cherry is very talented, so I wanted to let her try out for the dance, but as a result, she ended up getting into a conflict with her classmate Sinead Lowe…"
Sinead was probably the crying little girl.
Nora glanced at her. The child's posture was straight and upright. It was obvious from a glance that she had gone through dance training before. It was just that even though so much time had already passed, she was still crying. It was obvious how spoiled she was.
While she was thinking, the dance teacher who was coaxing Sinead stood up. She had an air of elegance around her, though she also had a bit of an arrogant look on her face. She frowned and said, "I am Whitney Lowe, Sinead's mother."
She walked to the side and took out a bag. Then, she took out a wad of cash from within and threw it in Nora's face. "I'll take responsibility for this and pay for Cheryl Smith's medical expenses. This should be enough for you to still have some left over after that. In that sense, the two of you even profited a little."
Nora was bewildered.
A cold look appeared on her face. She looked at Ms. Lynn and asked, "What exactly is going on?"
Ms. Lynn glanced at the dance teacher and explained in a low voice, "Sinead's mother is a dance teacher that the kindergarten specially hired. She was the runner-up in the women's category for an international dance competition. After that, she married into the Lowes, a wealthy family. She's now a famous dance teacher in the circle…
"Cherry's very smart and learned the dance very quickly, but Sinead kept saying that she wasn't doing it right. The two children then got into an argument and Mrs. Lowe chided Cherry a little. After that, she passed out from anger…"
As soon as she said that, Sinead yelled, "That's because everyone keeps looking at her when she's dancing! I'm the center! Don't let her go on stage!"
The moment she said that, the teachers became even more embarrassed.
Nora understood now.
Cherry had big eyes and fair skin, and looked very adorable. She was certainly very eye-catching among the group of children in the kindergarten.
Sinead was the center, but Cherry had robbed her of all the limelight, so she became dissatisfied.
Whitney was their dance teacher, so she would definitely be partial toward Sinead.
Cherry had always been clever and was someone who refused to let anyone give her the short end of the stick. As she was at a disadvantage, she had pretended to faint so that Sinead couldn't say anything even if she wanted to!
Nora couldn't help yawning.
She had always been someone who fought others head-on and did everything directly and straightforwardly. Just whom did her daughter inherit all these little ideas from? It really was very… silly.
She picked up Cherry and prepared to leave.
However, Whitney stood in front of her as soon as she got up. The cool and standoffish woman said arrogantly, "Ms. Smith, your child is so bad-tempered. All they did was just argue a little, yet she could make herself pass out from anger."
Nora, "?"
She didn't even make a fuss, yet Whitney was kicking up one instead?
She stood still and turned around.
Whitney pointed to Cherry and said to Ms. Lynn, "That girl has a poor physique. I checked her body just now. She's very stiff and isn't suitable to be a dancer. Withdraw her from the upcoming performance and switch to someone else instead."
Sinead immediately clapped happily and said, "Yes, make her withdraw! Don't let her go on stage!"
Ms. Lynn looked livid.
She said hesitantly, "But I think Cherry danced pretty well just now…"
"Which part of that was good?" Whitney reprimanded sternly, "Are you the professional here, or am I? Her movements were stiff and too forceful just now. Neither did she follow the rhythm and ended up missing the beat several times, making her out of sync with the rest of the children. She was born unsuitable for dancing!"
The look in Nora's eyes turned even colder.
Cherry's physique was amazingly good. Otherwise, Quinn wouldn't have begged to take her as his disciple.
That woman named Whitney Lowe… A professional?
Hah.
She asked unhurriedly, "Does this mean that Cherry can be part of the dance if someone more professional than you says that she's suitable for dancing?"