After her afternoon nap, Yan Jiaojiao was surprised to find that Director Xu’s usually stern, wooden face had begun to show hints of a smile. He even gave her milk tea and cake. She was puzzled—had Director Xu gone silly from drinking too much crucian carp soup?
Everyone had almost used up their points, so the next step was to complete tasks to earn more.
Director Xu announced, “Next, we’ll play a game. Each teacher and the child they’re leading will form a team. The first game is ‘One, Two, Three, Wooden Man.’ I believe everyone is familiar with it.”
“The program team will send a staff member to stand at the finish line. After they call out ‘One, Two, Three, Wooden Man’ and turn around, everyone and the children must freeze. The first team to touch the staff member’s back wins.”
“Please note: you cannot stay in the same spot for too long. If you’re caught doing so three times, you’ll be eliminated immediately.”
Mia, who had played this game before, raised her hand and asked, “If we touch that uncle, do we win too?”
Director Xu replied, “That’s right. It seems our little friend Mia is very confident. Are the other children confident too?”
The scene fell silent. Director Xu glanced around and let out an awkward chuckle. “Well, let’s just get started then.”
The adults began explaining the rules to the children, knowing full well that kids their age couldn’t possibly stay still for long.
Zhong Qing didn’t want to come in last and also wanted to get more treats for Xiao Hu. She crouched down and gently explained the rules to him. At first, Xiao Hu’s attention was still on the toy in his hands.
It wasn’t until Zhong Qing played her trump card: “If Xiao Hu doesn’t cooperate and play the game, there’ll be no meat to eat tomorrow.”
Xiao Hu, who couldn’t live without meat, immediately looked crestfallen at the thought. “Want meat!”
“Then Xiao Hu must listen carefully to the commands later, okay? When you hear ‘One, Two, Three, Wooden Man,’ you must stop.”
Xiao Hu nodded emphatically. “Mm!”
Xu Mo didn’t even need to explain anything to Mia—she understood the game better than he did. In her sweet, soft voice, she warned him, “Brother, you’re not allowed to hold me back later, okay? I’m really good at this game.”
He suddenly felt a sense of being looked down upon by a child. “How do you know I won’t play well when we haven’t even started?”
“Because you’re ‘Cai Cai’!”
“‘Cai Cai’ is just my nickname—it doesn’t mean I’m bad at games!”
The night before, Mia hadn’t finished listening to the story. Instead, she had asked him hundreds of questions like a curious little explorer, even digging out his childhood nickname. She had been calling him “Brother Cai Cai” all morning.
By the time the others had finished instructing their children, the live-stream camera was focused on Yan Jiaojiao and Ling Yi.
The sun was scorching, so both she and Ling Yi were wearing hats. She crouched down and explained the rules to him once, and he understood immediately.
“Just stay put for the first two rounds. On the third round, take a small step forward—and make sure you move toward the shade. If you get sunburned, I won’t take care of you.”
She pinched Ling Yi’s cheek. It wasn’t particularly fleshy but was smooth and tender. Ling Yi watched her movements quietly and nodded in silence.
The game began. A staff member walked to the designated spot, dressed head-to-toe in a yellow referee uniform. Xiao Hu, who was also wearing yellow that day, let go of Lin Qingfeng’s hand and pointed to his own clothes. “Yellow. Yellow.”
Lin Qingfeng chuckled softly. “Yes, Xiao Hu is very smart.”
The children’s toys included a talking pen, and Xiao Hu had taken an unexpected interest in it. By randomly tapping it, he had accidentally learned a few words.
“Shh.”
The whistle blew, and the people standing on the starting line began moving at different paces.Lin Qingfeng and Xu Mo, with their long legs, quickly outpaced the girls with just a few strides. They walked face-to-face in perfect sync, chanting, “One, two, three, freeze!”
Xiao Hu was startled by the sudden call and immediately pulled her foot back, but she still lost her balance and moved.
The staff announced, “Xiao Hu is out.”
Zhong Qing comforted her, “It’s okay, Xiao Hu. Your sister is still here.”
The game continued, and surprisingly, Mia ended up taking first place. Though young, she was agile and had strong control—whenever the call stopped, she could steady herself instantly.
Xu Mo came in second. Since he and Mia were on the same team, Lin Qingfeng took second place by default, while Yan Jiaojiao secured third.
Each of them earned 300 points, leaving Liu Jinzi and Zhong Qing with only 100 points.
As they went to collect their points from the director, a commotion broke out among the children behind them.
When they turned around, they saw that Xiao Hu had pushed Mia to the ground, while Nana was shoving Xiao Hu back. Ling Yi, who hadn’t been involved at all, stood under the shade of a tree, sipping water quietly.
Yan Jiaojiao, after collecting her things, sat down beside Ling Yi. She held a handful of sunflower seeds she’d gotten from the camera operator and watched the scene unfold.
Xu Mo helped Mia up, his heart aching for her. Her elbows and knees were scraped red. Someone quickly brought over a first-aid kit, and he disinfected the wounds with iodine before applying ointment.
Mia didn’t cry or make a sound, stubbornly biting her lip to hold back, though her reddened eyes betrayed her.
He asked softly, “Does it hurt, Mia?”
Mia shook her head.
Lin Qingfeng was also concerned about Mia. He dragged Xiao Hu, who was scowling, over to apologize, his tone serious.
“Xiao Hu, apologize to your sister.”
Xiao Hu turned his face away, refusing to speak.
Xu Mo carefully checked Mia for any other injuries and sighed in relief when he found none. Faced with Xiao Hu’s defiance, he wasn’t sure how to persuade him.
“Mia, can you tell your brother what happened just now?”
Mia replied with a sob, “While we were playing, I accidentally stepped on him, and he pushed me down.”
As soon as Yan Jiaojiao heard this, she knew exactly what had happened. She sighed deeply—children’s worlds were so childish and troublesome. Having finished her sunflower seeds, she didn’t want to listen anymore and took Ling Yi inside to enjoy the air conditioning.
Children’s tempers come and go quickly. A few hours later, the rift between Mia and Xiao Hu had vanished, and they were playing together again as usual.
The adults were in charge of preparing dinner. Yan Jiaojiao had saved a few tomatoes to make soup. Drawing from her experience at lunch, she was very careful with the salt, afraid of creating another disaster.
Under Zhong Qing’s guidance, she also stir-fried a plate of tomatoes and eggs. Though the presentation was rather pitiful, Ling Yi still managed to eat a bowl of rice. Yan Jiaojiao leaned in and whispered, “Is it good?”
Ling Yi was the first person to taste her cooking—whether that was a disaster or misfortune remained to be seen. Just as she thought he would politely nod as he did with others, he shook his head!
Yan Jiaojiao lost her appetite, gritting her teeth to hold back her anger. This kid was already so two-faced at such a young age—didn’t he know he’d grow up twisted?
She shoveled a few mouthfuls of rice into her mouth aggressively. Ling Yi looked at her ungraceful eating habits in confusion before lowering his head.
This sister had a bad temper.
The first episode of the show ended like this. Though only two days had been recorded, the audience response was quite positive, with some even urging for more updates on the official blog.
Unexpectedly, Yan Jiaojiao even trended on social media and gained a fan page, though it didn’t have many followers yet.Yan Jiaojiao had just turned her phone back on when a call came through. She saw the name “Dog Man” flash across the screen.
After a moment of silence, she reluctantly answered, “Hello.”