There was another source of discord at the Lin household and you would be wrong to think it was again between Xiu Ling and her mother-in-law. This time the argument was between Lin Kang and his mother and their topic of contention was with regards to Lin Xi's education.
"Mother, it is still too young for Lin Xi to attend any tuition," argued Lin Kang and he would be right. The boy was just several months over one year old and it was indeed too soon for him to start his official schooling years. Then again, it was not too soon for Lin Xi to start his unofficial learning journey and that was exactly what Mrs. Lin had in mind.
"Lin Kang, what are you talking about? As the elders say, it is never too old to start learning and I'd say it's never too young to start either.
"Furthermore, I'm not saying we should send Lin Xi to some kind of boarding school or as you've said, tuition. I'm just suggesting it is time to start enrolling the boy in special talent classes." Mrs. Lin pulled out a huge stack of flyers and recommendations that she had printed from the internet. The woman had done her research.
"Mother..." Lin Kang sighed, "I know you mean well but I am still of the opinion that it is too soon to torment Lin Xi with such hectic schedule. Let the boy enjoy his childhood."
Mrs. Lin tutted. "Lin Kang, how could you misrepresent my intention. I do not mean to torment the child." She picked up the flyer that sat at the top of the stack and waved it about to stress her point, "See, the center promises the classes to be both educational and fun."
"Mother, those are advertising lingo, they don't mean anything."
"Sure they do. I've sent you to these classes when you were Lin Xi's age, weren't they fun?" Mrs. Lin asked.
Fun... was not exactly the word Lin Kang would use to describe his childhood. He supposed those classes could be fun if they were not shoved down his throat and he was given a breather in between them but all he could ever remember about his childhood was being rushed from learning one thing to another. The classes packed his schedule to the brim, they felt practically endless. Tedious and boring would be the choice terms Lin Kang would use to describe those classes instead of fun.
In fact, this was the reason why Lin Kang was arguing with his mother. He did not wish for his son to go through the same thing he did. He wanted the boy to have as free of a childhood that he could. He wanted to give Lin Xi a childhood that he did not have, one filled with freedom, mischief and imagination, instead of stuck in classes memorizing the multiplication tables, learning table manners and the like. In essence, he wanted his son to grow up like a normal boy and not one defined by the fact that he was the future heir of Lin family.
Before Lin Kang could voice his opinion, Mrs. Lin added, "Plus this is only for his own good. You wouldn't want him to lag behind the others, would you?"
In other words, this was the price to pay to be an elite. This was how the elites got the leg-up over others in life, they had an early start. While most people started on a level playing field, their children would already be leaps and bounds ahead of others. These people would continue to lead in their lives and other would always play catch-up, before submitting to the fact that, unless a miracle happened, they were never going to catch up due to the massive difference in resources and support. Some were born to be leaders and others followers and leaders often started their training since they were still very young.
Was he being selfish? By protecting Lin Xi's childhood, was he doing right by his son or was he merely projecting his own wishes on Lin Xi? Lin Kang knew the two was not really directly causative but he could not help but ask himself, was a happy childhood a good trade-in for a life of mediocrity?
Lin Kang did not have the answer and he felt like he needed to hear more voices of opinion. Therefore, he turned to Xiu Ling who was also in the room and asked, "Xiu Ling, what do you think?"
The woman was the child's mother so of course, she had the right to throw her own opinion into the hat as well. At least one individual in the room thought that way, the other seared Xiu Ling with a glare that seemed to say, 'Who are you to decide the future of my grandson?'
Mrs. Lin treated Xiu Ling with such hostility because the young woman was always taking the stance opposite from hers. It was as if the sole reason of Xiu Ling's existence was to make her life difficult.
Even before Xiu Ling said anything, Mrs. Lin knew the young woman was going to side with Lin Kang. 'What does she know? She is a woman from peasant stock so of course, she would not understand the need of giving Lin Xi an early start in life. She probably prefers for Lin Xi to go toad-catching or whatever activities that farmer boys are up to.'
Even though Mrs. Lin knew she could easily discount Xiu Ling's contribution to the conversation, to know that her son valued Xiu Ling's opinion to have directly asked for it did not sit well with Mrs. Lin.
It was like she could see into the future and she was sure she did not like it one little bit.
Xiu Ling was surprised when she was addressed. She assumed her voice hold no water in this discussion so she had been sitting quietly on the side, just listening in, but since she was asked, Xiu Ling began cautiously...
There was another source of discord at the Lin household and you would be wrong to think it was again between Xiu Ling and her mother-in-law. This time the argument was between Lin Kang and his mother and their topic of contention was with regards to Lin Xi's education.
"Mother, it is still too young for Lin Xi to attend any tuition," argued Lin Kang and he would be right. The boy was just several months over one year old and it was indeed too soon for him to start his official schooling years. Then again, it was not too soon for Lin Xi to start his unofficial learning journey and that was exactly what Mrs. Lin had in mind.
"Lin Kang, what are you talking about? As the elders say, it is never too old to start learning and I'd say it's never too young to start either.
"Furthermore, I'm not saying we should send Lin Xi to some kind of boarding school or as you've said, tuition. I'm just suggesting it is time to start enrolling the boy in special talent classes." Mrs. Lin pulled out a huge stack of flyers and recommendations that she had printed from the internet. The woman had done her research.
"Mother..." Lin Kang sighed, "I know you mean well but I am still of the opinion that it is too soon to torment Lin Xi with such hectic schedule. Let the boy enjoy his childhood."
Mrs. Lin tutted. "Lin Kang, how could you misrepresent my intention. I do not mean to torment the child." She picked up the flyer that sat at the top of the stack and waved it about to stress her point, "See, the center promises the classes to be both educational and fun."
"Mother, those are advertising lingo, they don't mean anything."
"Sure they do. I've sent you to these classes when you were Lin Xi's age, weren't they fun?" Mrs. Lin asked.
Fun... was not exactly the word Lin Kang would use to describe his childhood. He supposed those classes could be fun if they were not shoved down his throat and he was given a breather in between them but all he could ever remember about his childhood was being rushed from learning one thing to another. The classes packed his schedule to the brim, they felt practically endless. Tedious and boring would be the choice terms Lin Kang would use to describe those classes instead of fun.
In fact, this was the reason why Lin Kang was arguing with his mother. He did not wish for his son to go through the same thing he did. He wanted the boy to have as free of a childhood that he could. He wanted to give Lin Xi a childhood that he did not have, one filled with freedom, mischief and imagination, instead of stuck in classes memorizing the multiplication tables, learning table manners and the like. In essence, he wanted his son to grow up like a normal boy and not one defined by the fact that he was the future heir of Lin family.
Before Lin Kang could voice his opinion, Mrs. Lin added, "Plus this is only for his own good. You wouldn't want him to lag behind the others, would you?"
In other words, this was the price to pay to be an elite. This was how the elites got the leg-up over others in life, they had an early start. While most people started on a level playing field, their children would already be leaps and bounds ahead of others. These people would continue to lead in their lives and other would always play catch-up, before submitting to the fact that, unless a miracle happened, they were never going to catch up due to the massive difference in resources and support. Some were born to be leaders and others followers and leaders often started their training since they were still very young.
Was he being selfish? By protecting Lin Xi's childhood, was he doing right by his son or was he merely projecting his own wishes on Lin Xi? Lin Kang knew the two was not really directly causative but he could not help but ask himself, was a happy childhood a good trade-in for a life of mediocrity?
Lin Kang did not have the answer and he felt like he needed to hear more voices of opinion. Therefore, he turned to Xiu Ling who was also in the room and asked, "Xiu Ling, what do you think?"
The woman was the child's mother so of course, she had the right to throw her own opinion into the hat as well. At least one individual in the room thought that way, the other seared Xiu Ling with a glare that seemed to say, 'Who are you to decide the future of my grandson?'
Mrs. Lin treated Xiu Ling with such hostility because the young woman was always taking the stance opposite from hers. It was as if the sole reason of Xiu Ling's existence was to make her life difficult.
Even before Xiu Ling said anything, Mrs. Lin knew the young woman was going to side with Lin Kang. 'What does she know? She is a woman from peasant stock so of course, she would not understand the need of giving Lin Xi an early start in life. She probably prefers for Lin Xi to go toad-catching or whatever activities that farmer boys are up to.'
Even though Mrs. Lin knew she could easily discount Xiu Ling's contribution to the conversation, to know that her son valued Xiu Ling's opinion to have directly asked for it did not sit well with Mrs. Lin.
It was like she could see into the future and she was sure she did not like it one little bit.
Xiu Ling was surprised when she was addressed. She assumed her voice hold no water in this discussion so she had been sitting quietly on the side, just listening in, but since she was asked, Xiu Ling began cautiously...
