TGDS Chapter 67.2

The Good Dad System (Arc 9) Chapter 67.2: Run, Boy! (2)

A five or six-year-old child, who had learned a lot in kindergarten, clumsily carried the foot basin out, but due to lack of strength, he spilled water all over the floor: “Dad! The teacher told us to be filial to our parents! Today is Father’s Day, I will wash your feet!” The basin could hold the whole of him, and he was obviously tired with a flushed face, but he was still very excited.

The original body was touched, but what came out of his mouth was still a scolding: “Look at you, how could you be so careless? You spilled water all over the floor, and you have to mop the floor later. You have to maintain the environment of your home in time, otherwise it will definitely be a mess.”

“I’ll wipe it later.” The little face that was full of excitement just now seemed to cool down at this moment. He lowered his head and squatted down, tears welling up in his eyes.

After entering elementary school, there were more things to pay attention to. Pei Xiangdong, who was just over nine years old and had just become the class monitor, sat at the dinner table, head down, eating, and hesitantly said, “Dad, I’m the class monitor now…”

Before he could finish his words, the original body spoke up: “Well, monitor, isn’t there something like squadron leader after monitor? You still have a long way to go. I went back to hold a parent-teacher meeting for your class last time. There were quite a few outstanding students, some who had taken instrument exams, some who could dance…would you like to learn something too?”

Pei Xiangdong thought he had gotten used to it, but he still felt sad. He lowered his head to eat and replied sullenly, “…I’ll think about it.”

The county experimental middle school assigned students to classes based on the entrance exam. The high school entrance exam was just the first hurdle. Pei Xiangdong was a good student and always did well on the exams. In his first monthly exam after joining the experimental class, he took first place in his grade. He took his report card home and waited for his father to get off work. As soon as he walked in, he handed it to him: “Dad, these are my monthly exam results.” He couldn’t help but continue, “This time I’m first in my grade.”

“Let me see.” The original body adjusted his glasses and carefully checked. “This is just a monthly exam. There’s nothing to be proud of. There are still three years to go! Besides, you have to know that you think your competitors are students in school, but what about high school? Can you get into the city? What about university? It’s still too early!”

“Yeah, I understand.” He already knew that he would get such an answer.

The original body always thought that he was checking for omissions and finding problems for Pei Xiangdong – but he never realized that this child only needed a word of praise. Instead, his “admonitions” became a shackle on the child’s shoulders, causing him to gradually doubt himself.

——Am I that bad?

——Yes, you are that bad.

Pei Xiangdong and his original body had gone out together many times. The county town was not big, and he knew many people after living there for a long time. They often visited his original body’s friends during festivals. For Pei Xiangdong, every visit was like a knife in his heart.

The aunt he knew said with a smile: “Our Xiaofang recently had a graduation performance at the kindergarten. Come, let me show you the photos.” She happily took out a whole photo album and searched through the pictures of the children in it.

“Xiaofang is obviously outstanding. Maybe she can become an artist in the future!” The original body was very supportive, completely unaware of the pain his son felt when he heard this.

“Hey, don’t even mention our Xiaofang. How can she compare to Xiangdong? I’ve heard that Xiangdong is doing well in exams and is very outstanding! Maybe he’ll become a top talent in the future!”

The original body immediately shook its head. “No way, him? No way! This kid is proud, careless, and has a biased approach. He’s seriously lagging behind in several subjects, and now he’s taking advantage of others whose overall average is lower than his. If he doesn’t pay attention, he’ll definitely be outperformed.”

…Well, he knew, he understood. When he was younger, he would immediately defend himself—and then face a barrage of criticism from his father about his impoliteness and lack of social etiquette. But now he’s used to it. In short, everyone, in his father’s heart, is better than him.

When children are in junior high school, parents often start to “show off their magical powers”. They ask about various ways to get extra points and urge their children to do them. Among them, sports is a very popular one. Even if they really fail, they can still regard it as physical exercise.

Pei Xiangdong loved running. From a young age, he’d always trotted to and from school on his own. The county town had good security, and there were always plenty of kids with slack access. He loved running all the way home, enjoying himself when he was happy and running until he broke a sweat when he was unhappy. His outstanding physical education test scores had earned him a job offer from his PE teacher. County A Experimental Middle School was notoriously short on talent. While students might pass exams, they struggled in sports and arts competitions, often finishing last in the annual county and city sports meets. The PE teacher, desperately searching for talent, recognized Pei Xiangdong’s talent and enlisted him on the team.

After joining the school team, he was like a duck in water. Although the physical education teacher was not very professional and the relevant targeted training he gave was considered by professionals to be a bunch of nonsense, it made Pei Xiangdong’s performance improve by leaps and bounds. He won the Grand Slam in the county middle school sports meeting, winning the 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m championships, and led the school all the way to the city middle school sports meeting. As a result, he was spotted by Coach Wang who came to inspect the provincial team. Then, just like what was said in the book, Coach Wang tried his best, and Pei Xiangdong repeatedly begged his father but failed to convince the other party.

At that time, the original body said to Pei Xiangdong: “Do you know how many people there are in this country? There are over a billion people, and in all these years, only one flying man has emerged. The rest are gone. Don’t listen to that teacher’s lies. How can there be so many talented people? If you can’t do it, then you can join the city team or the provincial team. It will be difficult to break out!”

“But Dad, I really like running, and Coach Wang also told me that I am very talented.” For the first time, he firmly expressed his thoughts in front of his father.

“What’s the point of liking it? You don’t have the ability.” The original body said earnestly, “Have you ever seen an Olympic champion among us? There’s not even a National Games champion. Look at TV, most of the people who run are black. It’s not like you can do it just because someone says you can. If you can’t, just listen to Dad, study hard, and find a job in the future. Running has nothing to do with us! All this talent is just a joke.”

He didn’t think studying was the only path in the world. After all, the nurses in his department, some with secondary school degrees, could easily earn a few thousand yuan after graduation. But running was too illusory! No matter how he looked at it, he didn’t think his son was any good. How could it be possible? Having made up his mind, he had no intention of changing his mind. He didn’t even plan to watch his son run—wasn’t it just running? What was so interesting about it? There was no need!

Faced with his determination, Coach Wang and Pei Xiangdong had no choice but to give up. After all, Pei Xiangdong was still a minor and could not make his own decisions. Besides, he was not a very independent-minded or rebellious teenager. Having depended on his father since childhood, he subconsciously listened to his father’s words.

Then Pei Xiangdong lived his life step by step as his father had said. He was admitted to a school in the city and then to the Medical University of Province C with excellent grades. Following the path his father had planned, he became a doctor. Of course, even so, his life was still inseparable from his father’s diligent supervision.

“You need to work harder! You need to keep up with your professional titles and other things, otherwise how can you compete with others? Don’t think you’re good enough now, there are so many excellent people in the world!” “Your new paper? I’ve read it, but the journal you published it in isn’t prestigious enough, and the points aren’t high. You should try a better journal next time. Also, this topic isn’t good enough, so I’ll reconsider it next time.” “If you’re going to give a lecture, you need to learn from others and prepare at your best. Don’t think that inviting you to give a lecture means you’re recognized. It’s just because you’re famous now! People may not even agree with your ideas.”

The original body always said this, even after his son had already started a family and had children, he still said so. He was quite satisfied to see his son making continuous progress under his encouragement.

The original body was quite satisfied with his life. His career was renowned, and his pursuit of medicine had been a complete success. Although he divorced his wife and spent the rest of his life with his son, he wasn’t particularly lonely. His son inherited his legacy, became an excellent doctor, and later had a happy family. What regrets did he have? He was very happy.

Unexpectedly, an illness in his old age shattered all his plans. As an elderly person, his body inevitably suffers from various problems. He accidentally fell and was hospitalized. Due to his age, he couldn’t undergo surgery. Although he could barely take care of himself, he had no choice but to ask his son and daughter-in-law to take care of him. Fortunately, his son worked in the hospital. Every day after work, he could go directly to the ward to rest and chat with him. During the day, he asked the nurses to keep an eye on him, so he didn’t have to bother anyone else.

He was bored in the ward—the hospital had few smart TVs, so he often watched the sports channel, watching various competitions, just to kill time. He was surprised to find that every time a running competition was broadcast, his son would stare at the TV with his eyes fixed, unwilling to even blink.

He thought back to the past and jokingly said, “Look, there are only one or two people in China who can run now. I was right when I said you couldn’t run, wasn’t I?”

The original body didn’t expect that his casual words would make his son’s heart almost lose control. Pei Xiangdong looked at him and suddenly said, “What if I can do it?”

He laughed: “What if? No means no.”