Chapter 203 My Dad Is Not Awesome
The food was served hot and fragrant. Wang Peihua carefully placed a pot of boiled fish on the table. The aroma of garlic from the hot oil was very prominent.

The appearance and smell of these dishes really show that the Education Bureau Director’s cooking skills are extraordinary.

Combined with what Wang Hang’s mother said, she hadn’t cooked for many years, but suddenly she could cook these dishes…

"Uncle Wang is an amazing cook, and his cooking skills are very solid." Li Yan praised sincerely.

It's not a question of social etiquette. People are kind enough to invite you to dinner and cook for you after a long time. The food is colorful and delicious, so it's only natural to say a few words of support.

"Don't praise me. My dad takes half a day to cook. He came home early from get off work today." Wang Hang said disdainfully, "My mom can cook by herself. Look, she has to bring an assistant."

Wang Peihua, who had just taken off his apron, just smiled and said, "Look at how good Li Yan is at being a good person. You only know how to sabotage her every day."

Why do you and your wife both use the "look at others" parenting method? New Taipei's education is doomed!
But it seemed that Wang Hang had gotten used to this kind of suppression. He went to the table shaking his head, not looking too concerned.

Li Yan seldom eats at other people's homes, mainly because her family was strict when she was young, and another reason is related to the fat boy's family.

When he was in the fourth grade of elementary school, he went to Lin Zhiyuan's house to play. Li Chun and Chen Fengling happened to come at noon and were too busy with business, so he naturally stayed for lunch.

Because he was the top student in the fourth grade, Lin Zhiyuan's parents took good care of their son's outstanding deskmate.

For example, the mushroom that Mr. Lin enthusiastically picked up.

Li Yan is quite picky about food. She is not picky about food and only eats the food she likes, but she will vomit if she eats the food she doesn’t like.

If you don't like this, there will be all kinds of weird things, such as cabbage stalks, big mushrooms, tea tree mushrooms, big pieces of white radish, fried and softened garlic...

So he was very upset at that moment. In such a delicious pot of braised chicken with mushrooms, why did you only pick up one mushroom?
Where's my chicken?

But as the saying goes, it is hard to refuse a kind invitation. As a child, Li Yan did not know how to refuse. She could only hold her breath and swallow the mushrooms and rice in one gulp. As the saying goes, a short pain is worse than a long one.

He closed his eyes, chewed it a few times and swallowed it.

Then, when Father Lin saw how quickly Li Yan was eating, he was a little surprised and enthusiastically picked up a bigger mushroom and put it on top of Li Yan's rice:

"It's rare that you like mushrooms, eat more."

Since then, Li Yan herself has been very resistant to going to other people's homes.

In fact, today's Wang family dinner was the same. The table was full of red. The three dishes without chili peppers were braised cabbage stalks, tea tree mushroom soup, and a cold sweet and sour white radish.

If Li Yan can't eat spicy food, she can only have cold rice today.

"Welcome Li Yan to be our guest," Wang Peihua smiled as he sat down, "We are lucky to have a student like you in New Taipei..."

"Old Wang, stop using official language," Yin Dan, Wang Hang's mother, rolled her eyes, "We haven't had dinner yet, so let the children relax a little."

"Okay, okay," Wang Peihua picked up his chopsticks, "Everyone, start chopping..."

Before he could finish his words, Wang Hang stood up and reached out to grab two slices of beef from a distance.

Wang Peihua frowned slightly, then immediately said in a brisk tone, "Li Yan, you are from Lincheng, right? Did you grow up in the city?"

"Yes, my parents are the only ones in their family who came from the countryside to the city." Li Yan nodded, took a look at the food, and asked, "Isn't Uncle Wang a native of New Taipei?"

"No, I'm from Bazhou, inland." He finally reacted just after he finished speaking, "Oh, I neglected it. You can't eat spicy food, right? Come on, here's something non-spicy..."

As he spoke, Wang Peihua picked up a piece of cabbage stalks with chopsticks.

"Yes, I can eat it, but I don't eat cabbage." Li Yan refused decisively.

"It sounds like your parents are quite ambitious." Wang Peihua continued the previous topic.

Is it really another interview dinner? Li Yan glanced at Li Zhuowei next to her. His attention was not on the meal at all. He was like a student listening to a lecture, and he was almost taking out a notebook to record.

"My parents are hardworking and willing to work hard." Li Yan didn't agree too much. "What do they do?"

It would be strange if you didn't know this.

Unexpectedly, the first person to ask nonsense questions was Director Wang himself.

“They do business in the fruit and vegetable wholesale market.”

"Are you usually busy?"

"Very busy."

"So you were often alone at home when you were a child?"

"Correct."

Li Yan glanced at Wang Peihua. Although he was the one who asked the most questions, he did not stop picking up the dishes with his hands, and looked like he was chatting about family matters.

This is probably also a compulsory course for leaders within the system?

Dinner parties are where many things are discussed and once the matter has been brought to the table, we cannot deal with it the same way we would in the workplace or even in the meeting room.

"I'm very interested in one thing. You've always been alone at home, and your parents didn't have time to teach you, so how did you become what you are today?" Wang Peihua finally put down his chopsticks and asked the core question he wanted to know most.

Yin Dan and Li Zhuowei both put down their chopsticks, leaving Wang Hang alone still shoveling food into his mouth.

You can't say it's a restart of the system, right?

Li Yan originally wanted to use the excuse that he was restricted from watching TV and going out to play, so he could only read books, but considering Wang Hang's future happy life, he chose a more truthful answer.

"Enlightened."

Wang Peihua and his wife both glanced at their son who kept picking up the stir-fried beef.

"Opening up... this term is quite mysterious." Wang Peihua smiled, and suddenly sighed, "It seems that talent is indeed something that is destined by fate, and even the opening up of enlightenment is also determined by the time."

This sentence really sounded like that of a father who wanted to learn some parenting tips. Li Yan was a little confused about the meaning of Wang Peihua's meal.

"It's actually just a matter of wanting to win." Li Yan added, "The conditions you provide Wang Hang are definitely better than what my family gives me, so the incentive of 'study hard and you'll have more good things in the future' is actually not enough. Or rather, if you only rely on external incentives, whether positive or negative, you'll always get bored."

Wang Peihua stopped eating and nodded, "Winning spirit, Wang Hang, did you hear that?"

"You are also conducting external reverse stimulation, which is the repressive education of 'look at others'." Li Yan said bluntly, "It's not that it's bad. For some people with passive personalities, it is very effective. You must know Wang Hang better than I do, so I won't comment on this approach."

Put on the armor first, he doesn't want to get into trouble.

"You mean," Wang Peihua pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, "you need some internal motivation?"

"I think that even if you want to show off by getting good grades or you are worried about being laughed at if you fall behind, it's fine. It may be more effective than others telling you that if you study well, you will have status, and if you study poorly, you will be laughed at, etc."

"Awei, record this."

Li Zhuowei took out a notebook from somewhere and started writing quickly.

"Oh, Dad!" Wang Hang, who had been silent all this time, suddenly put down his bowl. "Why can't you eat properly? You always lecture me every day before I eat. Today, Li Yan comes over for the rare occasion, but he starts asking questions halfway through the meal. Now you want others to work overtime to cook for you and keep records for you...Brother Wei, Li Yan, let's ignore him."

Seeing that the director's son was angry, Li Zhuowei immediately smiled and waved his hands, "Oh, Xiaohang, what are you talking about? Your father is the director of education and is always concerned about the education of New Taipei City..."

"What's the point of being the director of the Education Bureau? How high of an official position is he?" Wang Hang was very impatient.

Wang Peihua's expression at this moment was so complex that it is hard to describe. Any video of it would be a classic textbook in psychology.

(End of this chapter)