"Mom, what do you think of this bag?" his mother praised her son rather than scolding him.

“妈妈，你觉得这个包怎么样？”他的母亲没有骂他反而称赞她的儿子。

youdao

Instead of questioning or scolding him, however, she simply asked pleasantly if he wanted dinner.

她没有追问他什么，也没有责怪他，只是和蔼地问他想不想吃点什么。

youdao

This made Confucius really angry, and he knocked Yuan Rang on his shins with his staff, scolding him, "You!"

孔子真的生气了，就用手杖敲敲原壤的脚胫，骂他道：“你啊！”

youdao

He always wondered why his grandmother pounced on him when he joked about getting sent to Sing Sing for bad behavior, scolding him, "Don't you dare use those words in front of your grandfather!"

WSJ: When a Genealogy Hobby Digs Up Unwanted Secrets

Other nights, he would fall asleep between his two gauchos and dream that his wife was leading their children by the hand and scolding him for the way he had let himself lapse into brutishness.

NEWYORKER: The Insufferable Gaucho

Was she scolding him?

NEWYORKER: Another Manhattan