Lin Kang sat before his home computer and started to work. There were many projects that needed his attention. He needed to calculate his company's profit projection and investment risk in the coming quarter year. There were charts, graphs, lists, equations, calculations and tons of paperwork to go through.
His was a job that needed extreme focus and attention, something that was not easily achieved with a toddler in the room with you. Lin Kang did not know that before but he sure would learn this valuable lesson now.
While he concentrated on calculating a business account, there was a sudden clattering that came from behind him. It was not loud but was definitely audible enough to cause interruption to Lin Kang.
The man turned around with an imperceptible frown and saw there was a mess of blocks around Lin Xi. The boy had destroyed his own creation.
With his father watching, Lin Xi picked up the blocks and started building another construction. 'Perhaps he was not satisfied with the earlier one,' thought Lin Kang.
He was reminded of how he would also reject the floor plan given to him by the architects when it was less than satisfactory. 'The boy too has an eye for perfection, that is not a bad thing, especially in a business like ours,' observed Lin Kang.
Lin Kang nodded approvingly before turning back to his work.
After about 10 minutes, Lin Kang finally got his focus back. Things were finally going good when there was another disruption to his thoughts. The frown on his forehead deepening, he turned around to look.
King Kong Lin Xi was rampaging through the cities that he created, knocking down the stacked blocks that represented skyscrapers. It was then that Lin Kang realized, Lin Xi rebuilt those things not because they were not perfect, he did it because he wanted to knock them down again. It was to satisfy that destructive urge that little boys tended to have.
The building blocks tumbled and knocked into each other, creating a cacophony that was highly entertaining to Lin Xi and incredibly annoying to Lin Kang.
Lin Kang pushed his chair back as he stood up. He strode purposely towards Lin Xi before squatting down.
Lin Xi stopped what he was doing and looked his father in the eyes, he assumed his father was about to join him so he smiled in invitation.
Lin Kang though hauled all the building blocks into his arms and proceeded to stand up. Lin Xi protested as his arms went for the blocks that got beyond his reach. Instead of crying, Lin Xi puffed up his cheeks in protestation and yelled defiantly at his father.
Lin Kang walked to the other end of the room and placed the blocks down. Then he turned to Lin Xi and a proud smirk appeared on his face as if he was saying, 'You lost. What are you going to do now?'
With the winner's ease, Lin Kang returned to his seat and continued working. He assumed his son would distract himself with some other activity, one that was preferably more silent. However, Lin Kang had underestimated his son's propensity for getting things even.
With his back turned to Lin Xi, Lin Kang had no idea his son was crawling off the play mats to head towards the pile of building blocks that Lin Kang had moved to the other end of the room.
Lin Kang's study was carpeted so Lin Xi did not make any noise to attract his father's attention as he made the journey. As Lin Xi held the block in his hand, he grinned, some would say wickedly. Oh, he was going to get even alright…
While Lin Kang was filling up an excel sheet, something hit him on the back of his head. He stopped working and turned to look. A building block landed squarely on the floor next to his chair.
He whipped his head around to where he placed the set of blocks and was shocked to see his son sitting near them. 'Wait, when did he move there?' was the question that was on his mind, and then it was succeeded by the question, 'Did Lin Xi throw this block at me?'
Lin Xi had his head turned away, playing perfectly the role of an innocent bystander when Lin Kang zeroed his eyes on him.
Lin Kang knew the culprit had to be his son but how did a one-year-old toddler manage to aim a block at his head and hit him with it. Where did he get the strength? He did not remember raising Hercules as his son.
Lin Kang's eyes swept the area around Lin Xi and something caught his eye. Instead of a chaotic mess, Lin Xi had arranged the building blocks into a row and placed the coloring book over it. He had essentially created a makeshift catapult.
Like a normal father, Lin Kang was understandably impressed by his son's innovative thinking but that was overwhelmed by a different kind of feeling that was more intensive.
For a man as prideful as Lin Kang, he felt humiliated because he was outwitted by his son that was barely above one year of age. His own ego got in the way of being proud of his son's achievement. The man's pride truly knew no bounds.
Lin Kang stood up as a menacing aura gathered around him. The workers at his company knew this as the calm before the storm and they understood the storm was going to be huge. They would be silent and subdued in his presence, overwhelmed by Lin Kang's domineering presence. Even Xiu Ling and Mrs. Lin knew better than to speak against him when he was like this.
Lin Xi finally turned to look at his father. He was stunned like most in Lin Kang's majestic presence would but instead of fear, respect or any of those that Lin Kang was expecting to see in his son's eyes, the boy's gaze was filled with interest and intrigue.