Shen Yan wanted to say that he hadn’t wet the bed since he was one year old.
But when he saw Jiang Xian’s teary eyes and that guilty little expression, he ended up pressing his lips tightly together, his face stiff with silence.
Let’s just say he did it!
Xu Shu looked at her little girl’s soaking-wet pants.
Hey!
This blame game really is one where one dares to throw it and the other dares to catch it.
“Did your big brother really pee in them? Little kids who tell lies will grow a long nose, you know!” Xu Shu tapped the little girl’s nose, teasing her on purpose.
Hearing this, the little girl immediately covered her nose with her tiny hand, her eyes wide with terror. Tears welled up in her eyes in an instant, her high-pitched voice trembling slightly as her little face was filled with fear: “No, Xianxian doesn’t want a long nose.”
Little Shen Yan, sitting nearby, finally spoke up: “It won’t.”
The grown-ups tell so many lies, and their noses never get longer.
“Really? Xianxian’s nose really won’t get longer?” Jiang Xian was still a little scared, and she asked with a worried expression.
“Mm-hmm.” Little Shen Yan kept his porcelain-smooth, delicate face stern as he glanced in Xu Shu’s direction.
That gaze seemed to say silently: It’s the adults who are the liars.
Uh!
Xu Shu’s cheeks began to flush slightly.
She had originally intended to teach the little girl that children shouldn’t tell lies, but instead, she had lied to scare her.
That really wasn’t right.
She couldn’t help but reflect on her actions, then gave her daughter an awkward smile. “Yan Yan is right—Xian Xian’s nose won’t grow longer. Mommy was lying to you. Actually, it’s okay to wet the bed; Mommy and Daddy wet the bed when we were little, too. But lying is wrong. Mommy lied, so I’m sorry, Xian Xian. And what about you, Xian Xian? Is there anything Xianxian wants to say to Mommy?”
The little girl cautiously glanced at Xu Shu’s expression. Like a deflated balloon, her head drooped instantly, and she admitted her mistake in a low voice: “I’m sorry, I was wrong! It wasn’t Yanyan—it was Xianxian who wet the bed!”
Xu Shu ruffled her hair and said gently, “Admitting your mistake makes you a good girl. All right, Mommy forgives you. Go change your pants right away, then take Yan Yan to get breakfast.”
With that, she turned her gaze to Shen Yan: “Yan Yan is a good boy too, but next time, you don’t have to take the blame for her.”
Shen Yan looked at Jiang Xian, then at Xu Shu, and nodded his head like a little adult.
Ning Wanwan came over from next door and saw the little rascal sitting quietly at the table eating breakfast.
She couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow inwardly.
Sure enough, other people’s wives are always better, and the food next door always smells better.
“Xianxian, Auntie baked these little cakes just for you,” Ning Wanwan said with a smile, holding out the treats she’d specially prepared.
“They smell so good! Thank you, Auntie.” The little girl slid off her stool and ran toward her with a smile.
Jiang Xian picked one up and handed it to Shen Yan.
Jiang Zheng watched, a pang of envy welling up inside him. No wonder they say girls are more outgoing.
The next second, a tiny hand was held out to him: “Daddy, here! ”
Jiang Zheng immediately beamed: “Oh, thank you, my little girl!”
His daughter was just so thoughtful!
After breakfast, Ning Wanwan mentioned taking Shen Yan to enroll in kindergarten.
“Xianxian is three this year too—she should be starting kindergarten, right? “If the two kids go together, they’ll have each other for company.”
Xu Shu glanced at her daughter, who was on the floor playing with a toy frog, and sighed with a headache: “This little one still has half a month to go before she turns three.” According to the rules, children must be at least three years old to enter kindergarten.
The poor girl was born at an inopportune time—her birthday is in September.
Ning Wanwan said, “It’s only a matter of a few days. As it happens, I know the principal. If you want to send her to kindergarten, maybe I can help.”
“Is that possible?” Xu Shu couldn’t help but feel tempted.
Anyone raising a child these days knows how tough it is; if she could send the little girl to kindergarten, it would make things a bit easier for her.
“I’ll ask around. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
The kindergarten Ning Wanwan had picked out for Shen Yan was right nearby. The principal was the wife of her college professor; she got along well with the old professor and was on good terms with his wife, too.
After hanging up the phone, Ning Wanwan looked at Xu Shu and said, “Alright, we’ll just take the kid there when the time comes.”
“Thank you so much.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Ning Wanwan then turned to the little bundle of fluff lying on the floor. “Do you want to go to kindergarten, Xianxian?”
“What’s a kindergarten?” the little bundle asked, tilting her head up.
Ning Wanwan smiled at her. “Kindergarten is a place with lots of other little kids. You can play games and sing songs with them, and you get to eat snacks every day, too.”
The moment the little girl heard there would be friends to play with and snacks to eat, her eyes lit up. She nodded her little head firmly and said, “Xianxian wants to go to kindergarten.”
“You can’t cry once you get there,” Xu Shu reminded her.
“Xianxian won’t cry!” The little bundle blinked her big eyes and asked, “When are we going to kindergarten?”
The enrollment process went very smoothly.
“Principal, thank you so much for your help this time.” In the principal’s office, Ning Wanwan held the hands of the two little ones as she thanked the principal.
The principal was in her early fifties. Though she looked stern, her eyes betrayed an unmistakable tenderness.
“Your teacher and I have always treated you like our own child. There’s no need to be so formal with us.”
Her husband’s student wasn’t just beautiful—she was also exceptionally talented.
Having dedicated her entire life to education, the elderly woman couldn’t help but feel a special fondness for such an outstanding student.
“Your teacher has been talking about you to me a lot lately. When you have time, be sure to bring the child over for dinner.”
“Sure, I’ll go visit the teacher in a couple of days,” Ning Wanwan replied immediately.
Thanks to the professor and his wife, she had already been planning to pay them a visit soon.
“Your teacher will be so happy to hear that,” the elderly woman said, a smile spreading across her face.
After leaving the principal’s office, Ning Wanwan dropped the two little ones off at their kindergarten classroom. Standing at the door, she turned to Shen Yan and said, “Yan Yan, you’re the big brother, so you have to take good care of Xian Xian, okay? Also, get along well with the other kids. No fighting. If any of them bully you, tell the teacher, and then tell Mom when you get home.”
Before the little one could answer, Jiang Xian’s soft, sweet voice chimed in: “Auntie, I’ll protect Yan Yan.”
As she spoke, she clenched her little fist.
She’s so fierce!
Ning Wanwan was amused and ruffled the little girl’s hair. “Alright, then Auntie will leave Yan Yan in Xianxian’s care.”
The little girl patted her chest and promised, “I’ll keep him safe.”
Ning Wanwan was melted by her cuteness all over again. How could there be such an adorable little girl?
She was about to say something else when she saw her own little rascal had already taken the girl’s hand and led her straight into the classroom.
He didn’t even spare a single glance for her, his own mother.
Ning Wanwan: …
She silently repeated to herself a hundred times: He’s my own flesh and blood, not a stranger’s! He’s my own flesh and blood, not a stranger’s!!!