One of his sons was already half a head taller than him. Cheng Laoben even felt a little depressed standing in front of his son. 

But he still mustered up the courage. 

"You can't drop out of school. You have to finish junior high school at least." He said to his son. 

The son glanced at him with a look of disdain in his eyes. 

Cheng Laoben was a little unhappy. 

The son he had raised since he was a child actually looked at him with such eyes. No matter how good Cheng Laoben's temper was, he couldn't stand it. 

His wife had a tumor on her lung. In order to treat the disease, Cheng Laoben quit his job at the mine, spent all his savings, but failed to save his wife's life. Just after the seventh day after his wife's death, his son asked not to go to school and wanted to go out to work. 

"Anyway, you can't drop out of school." Cheng Laoben said. 

Cheng Laoben rarely spoke so harshly. Cheng Laoben could endure anything. He never argued with others and just laughed it off. However, when it came to his son's future, Cheng Laoben had to express his attitude. 

"Laoben" was a nickname Cheng Laoben had had since childhood. Perhaps it was because Cheng Laoben was a bit slow-witted as a child, and because he was good-tempered and didn't really argue with others, the nickname stuck with him until now, to the point where few people knew his real name. 

"I just don't want to go to school anymore," his son said. 

His son looked stubborn. 

Cheng Laoben had the urge to slap him. 

But Cheng Laoben being Cheng Laoben, he held back. 

He had never hit anyone in his life, not even his son or his daughter, who was less than three years old. Of course, he was small and thin, so he wasn't sure he could win a fight, but he did have a good temper and could endure anything. 

"You still have to go to school," Cheng Laoben said, his tone softening. 

His son snorted. 

Cheng Laoben continued to work on his son's work. 

"Dad didn't have much education, so he could only do manual labor. He's suffered from his lack of education his whole life. You have to study and can't follow in your father's footsteps," Cheng Laoben said. 

"Hmph, I won't follow your path," the son said. 

"You don't study, you have no education. Aren't you just like your father, suffering from lack of education, following in his footsteps?" 

The son snorted again with disgust. 

"I will never be like you," the son said. 

Cheng Laoben smiled with his son. 

"Don't be so confident. Without education and knowledge, you can't control your own destiny," Cheng Laoben said. 

Cheng Hui, the son, frowned and ignored his father. 

"It's really not okay to be uneducated. You can't drop out of school," Cheng Laoben said. 

Cheng Hui still ignored his father. 

He took a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and smoked it in front of Cheng Laoben. 

His wife was ill and hospitalized, and their daughter Xiaoyu was not even three years old. Cheng Laoben really couldn't take care of them alone, so he asked his son to take leave from school to help out. While accompanying his mother in the hospital, the son somehow took up smoking. He also became more and more silent, as if he had suddenly grown up a lot. Cheng Laoben knew his son was upset, so he didn't stop him. 

It was tacit approval, I guess. 

But now that his wife had passed away, he couldn't let his son go on like this. Cheng Laoben felt he had to intervene. 

"Stop smoking," Cheng Laoben said. 

His son seemed to have heard nothing. 

Blood rushed to his head. 

"I'm talking to you. Stop smoking," Cheng Laoben said, raising his voice slightly. He rarely spoke so loudly. 

The son glanced at Cheng Laoben, then stopped looking at him. He walked to the door, leaned against the doorframe, and looked out at the starry sky. 

Cheng Laoben's heart softened again. 

He walked over to his son. 

"Your mother is gone. I know you feel bad. To be honest, I feel bad too. But our lives have to go on, so don't smoke anymore. It's a bad habit," Cheng Laoben said. 

His daughter Xiaoyu, who had been playing with her doll, turned around and spoke. 

"Brother, smoking is harmful to your health," Xiaoyu said. 

Cheng Laoben laughed. 

"Look, even your sister knows this," Cheng Laoben said. 

But his brother didn't react at all. 

He even started blowing smoke rings one after another. 

The big and round smoke rings slowly rose up and dissipated in the night sky. 

Cheng Laoben could no longer bear it. 

He rushed forward and slapped the cigarette out of his son's hand. 

The son glared at him. 

"What are you doing?" the son yelled. 

Cheng Laoben also responded sharply. 

"I don't allow you to smoke." Cheng Laoben said. 

"You have no right to control me." The son shouted. 

"Why can't I control you? I'm your father, why can't I control you?" Cheng Laoben said. 

The son's face turned red. He wanted to say something, but in the end, he swallowed his words.