Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Huh? What do you mean?” Stunned, Xiaotu stopped dead in her tracks.
“Brother Orange Juice is older than you are. He has already finished preschool and is about to start the fourth grade of elementary school.” Xiaotu’s mother patted Xiaotu’s fluffy little head and explained this to her with great regret.
“What is the fourth grade of elementary school?”
“It is…” Xiaotu’s mother thought this over carefully for a moment, and then explained it to her patiently. “After you finish preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, and third grade, then you can start the fourth grade of elementary school.
“Huh?” Xiaotu’s little red mouth hung open in complete and utter shock.
“Then…how long will it take for me to get there?”
“Not long, not long, just about six years,” Xiaotu’s mother said with a smile.
“So I’ll have to wait six years until I can attend fourth grade together with Brother Orange Juice?”
“Oh, no, honey, by the time you reach fourth grade, Brother Orange Juice will already be in the second year of high school.”
“What is the second year of high school?”
“You’ll reach the second year of high school after you finish the fifth grade of elementary school, the sixth grade of elementary school, the first year of middle school, the second year of middle school, the third year of middle school, and then the first year of high school.” Xiaotu’s mother wiped the sweat from her forehead again as she explained it to Xiaotu, counting each grade level.
“Huh?” Xiaotu was having a hard time understanding the concepts of elementary school, middle school, and high school. She was, however, vaguely getting the sense that it seemed so extraordinarily difficult for her and Brother Orange Juice to attend school together. As she began to understand this, the tears started to stream down her face. WAH! WAH! “No, I want to go to school together with Brother Orange Juice…”
AHEM! AHEM! “Uh, the preschool class has an advanced section, and you can have Brother Orange Juice take you there and then pick you up every day.” Seeing her daughter start to cry, Xiaotu’s mother quickly started to try and console her by beating around the bush. “This way, you can still get to see Brother Orange Juice every day.”
“Then will he go to school together with me?” With her eyes wide and teary, Xiaotu asked her mother in a pitiful tone.
“Uh, no, not exactly…”
WAH! WAH! WAH!
Xiaotu started wailing at the top of her lungs.
…
It was the first day for the preschool’s advanced section, and there were five days left until school started for Cheng Zhiyan.
In the early morning, in the company of Xiaotu’s mother and Cheng Zhiyan, Xiaotu unwillingly arrived at preschool. When all of the preschool teachers came over to greet and hug Xiaotu, she clung to Cheng Zhiyan’s neck for dear life and started wailing at the top of her lungs. Her screeching howl echoed throughout the entire preschool.
After Xiaotu’s mother had finally managed to coax Xiaotu into going inside, she quickly grabbed Cheng Zhiyan and promptly hightailed it out of there.
“Auntie, must we run so fast?” Cheng Zhiyan turned his head back and glanced toward the gates of the preschool with an expression of concern as he asked Xiaotu’s mother.
“Of course, or else Xiaotu will cling to you and howl all morning.” Xiaotu’s mother walked with her bicycle as she said to Cheng Zhiyan, “Don’t worry, children all start out like this when they first start preschool, but the crying and tantrums will eventually subside after a month or two. Yet for these first few days, I’ll have to bother you and ask you to please pick up Xiaotu every afternoon.”
“All right, then…” Cheng Zhiyan nodded a little hesitantly.
“Okay, thank you. Auntie will be off to work, and you should return home now.” Xiaotu’s mother waved good-bye to Cheng Zhiyan as she rode away on her bicycle.