Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Right before school was about to end, Cheng Zhiyan punctually arrived at the school gates to wait for Xiaotu. Since he himself was still only a child, he stood out among the crowd of grandpas and grandmas waiting to pick up their grandchildren. Since he was such a fresh-faced, handsome young boy, the grandpas and grandmas couldn’t resist coming up to talk with him. They all asked him lots of questions.
“Sweetie, are you here to pick someone up as well?”
“Uh, huh.” Cheng Zhiyan nodded affirmatively.
“Are you here to pick up your younger brother or younger sister?”
“Younger sister.”
“Well, well, you’re such a helpful young child. Where are the adults in your family?”
“Working.”
“Oh my, what a lucky family. One boy, one girl, and the eldest one is so well brought up.”
Cheng Zhiyan lifted his head and silently glanced around at the grandpas and grandmas who surrounded him. Then he moved away from them to the place closest to the school entrance, where he waited in silence.
It was noon in the middle of summer. The sun was beating down with scorching heat, and the ground seemed as if it was being burned up by the sun. The guard, who had been standing in the communication room, finally slowly opened the gates to the preschool and shouted to everyone waiting outside the gates, “School has ended, you all can go in now.”
Since he was young and agile, Cheng Zhiyan was the first one to walk in.
The kindergarten was empty. Only those in the advanced section of the preschool were here today.
Cheng Zhiyan walked to the door of the preschool class, and, as soon as he pushed open the door, a small figure rushed toward him.
“Brother Orange Juice!” Xiaotu was crying as she ran toward him, and then she lunged at Cheng Zhiyan with all her might.
The scene before him, for some inexplicable reason, made Cheng Zhiyan’s heart ache a little, yet also appeared somewhat amusing.
He stooped down, using both hands to hug the soft and fluffy Xiaotu as he felt her fluffy head rubbing back and forth against his shoulders. He asked her in a gentle voice, “Be a good girl and tell me why you’re crying.”
WAH! WAH! WAH! “Brother Orange Juice, I thought you weren’t going to come pick me up…” Both of Xiaotu’s hands were tightly wrapped around Cheng Zhiyan’s neck, and her tears fell into the collar of his shirt.
The drops of cold tears fell on Cheng Zhiyan’s body and instantly seeped into his soft heart without him even realizing it.
“How come you thought I wouldn’t come to pick you up?” Cheng Zhiyan gazed at her in amusement, then reached his hand out to tousle her hair as he said in a low voice, “Didn’t we already agree that I’ll send you off when school starts and pick you up when school ends?”
WAH! WAH! WAH! “I don’t want to go to preschool anymore. Preschool isn’t fun. Brother Orange Juice isn’t in preschool…” Upon seeing Cheng Zhiyan stand up, Xiaotu quickly grabbed his arm and continued complaining pitifully.
“Every child must go to preschool.” Cheng Zhiyan gazed at her helplessly.
In reality, coaxing children wasn’t something he was particularly good at, not to mention the fact that this was really the first time he’d ever seen Xiaotu cry so hysterically.
“No! No! I don’t want to go to preschool.” Xiaotu cried uncontrollably as she yanked Cheng Zhiyan’s arm.
“You can meet a lot of new children in preschool, and you can become friends with them.” After racking his brains for a while, he finally managed to come up with a benefit of attending preschool.
“No! The only thing preschool children know how to do is cry! They cried all day long…” WAH! WAH!
“…”
As he watched the tears stream down Xiaotu’s face, Cheng Zhiyan wanted to say what he was actually thinking inside: All you know how to do is cry as well, and today you probably cried all day long too. Am I right?