At the entrance to the kindergarten classroom, Li Duo had received advance notice from the principal that two new children would be enrolling today. When she saw Ning Wanwan leading the two little ones inside, her eyes lit up.
What a pair of beautiful little ones.
It was their first day at kindergarten, and both had been specially dressed up for the occasion.
Jiang Xian wore a pink princess dress, her hair styled into two adorable buns tied with pink bows that swayed gently with her movements. Her round, doe-like eyes sparkled with curiosity and anticipation.
Shen Yan, on the other hand, wore a white button-down shirt and black overalls. His slightly curly hair fell naturally across his forehead, framing his delicate, serious little face.
They looked just like a pair of dolls.
Li Duo crouched down, her face beaming with a warm smile, and greeted them softly, “You must be Xianxian and Yanyan, right? “Welcome to kindergarten! I’m your teacher, Teacher Duoduo—and your good friend, too.”
“Hello—!”
Jiang Xian blinked her big eyes, suddenly letting go of Shen Yan’s hand. Her chubby fingers pressed against the hem of her skirt on both sides as she bent her little body forward with all her might, performing a full ninety-degree bow.
Sunlight streamed through the glass window, bathing her fuzzy little head in light, making her look like a glowing little glutinous rice dumpling.
Li Duo couldn’t help but chuckle at her adorable appearance and reached out to gently ruffle her hair.
Jiang Xian lifted her soft little face, her round eyes sparkling: “ Teacher, I’m Xianxian.” The little girl’s voice was soft and sweet, like a milk candy in her mouth, sweet enough to make one’s heart flutter.
Shen Yan stood silently, then chimed in with a babyish voice: “This is Yan Yan.”
“Okay, I got it!” Li Duo replied with a smile.
Just then, the sound of children’s chatter drifted from the classroom, and Jiang Xian poked her little head out curiously.
Seeing this, Li Duo said gently, “Come on, I’ll take you to meet your new classmates.”
She took the two little ones by the hand and walked into the classroom.
All the children’s eyes were instantly drawn to the two little ones.
A chubby little boy ran over curiously and asked, “Are you new here? My name is Zhuangzhuang.”
“Hello, I’m Jiang Xian!”
Jiang Xian was very bold and talkative, and she quickly blended in with the other children. Shen Yan, on the other hand, kept a stern little face the whole time; even when a child tried to talk to him, he ignored them.
It wasn’t until the chubby little boy named Zhuangzhuang reached out to pull Jiang Xian’s hand that he suddenly blurted out, “Didn’t you bring a toy to play with everyone?”
“Oh, right!” Jiang Xian’s big eyes lit up as if she’d just remembered something, and she eagerly took off her little backpack.
“Waaah—” A chorus of crying suddenly erupted in the classroom.
The little boy, who had been expressionless and indifferent to everyone, gave a barely perceptible twitch of his lips.
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong? What happened?” Teacher Li Duo hurried over.
She saw a group of children running away in all directions, wailing “Waaah—”, leaving little Jiang Xian standing all alone in the middle.
“I just wanted to show them my little frog, and then they started crying.” The little girl looked at Teacher Duoduo with an innocent expression, her small mouth unconsciously pouting. Her voice was soft and sweet, and her dark, shiny round eyes were sincere yet confused, as if she didn’t understand why the other children were crying.
Could it be that they didn’t like her little frog?
The frog was so cute—why wouldn’t they like it?
“What frog?”
Could it be a toy frog?
The little girl raised her chubby little hand and pointed ahead.
Li Duo looked down and almost let out a scream the next second, but thankfully she managed to stifle it.
Staring at the toad that had crawled onto her foot at some point—its big eyes wide open and its white belly rising and falling—she froze solid.
Waaah~~~
What if she wants to cry too?
Dad Jiang rushed to the kindergarten after receiving a call from the teacher, only to find his little girl crouched at the entrance, her back to the door, carrying a small green frog backpack.
Her little bottom was sticking out, her back turned to the outside world.
A tiny little bundle.
Like a little turtle carrying a shell on its back.
The little bun on her head was drooping, a far cry from the proud and confident look she’d had when she left that morning.
She looked a bit pitiful.
Dad’s heart immediately clenched. He strode over, scooped his precious daughter up from the ground, and asked tenderly, “Sweetie, tell Daddy—did someone bully you?”
Seeing his daughter like this, Dad instinctively assumed that, being so young and on her first day of kindergarten, she must have been bullied by the other children.
As for the teacher’s mention on the phone that his daughter had scared another child to tears, he had completely forgotten about it.
His daughter was so well-behaved—how could she possibly have intentionally scared another child?
The teacher must have gotten it wrong!
“Shh-shh, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. Daddy’s here! There, there. We won’t go to kindergarten anymore. Daddy will take you home.” The man, standing over six feet tall, felt his eyes well up with tears at the thought that his little girl—whom he cherished like a precious treasure—might have been bullied by others.
The little girl was suddenly lifted off the ground. When she heard they were taking her home, she immediately started wiggling her little feet, struggling to get out of Dad Jiang’s arms. “No, I don’t want to go home. Xianxian wants to go to kindergarten. Daddy, please put me down.”
There were lots of little kids at kindergarten, and so many, many toys—she loved kindergarten.
“Huh?” Dad Jiang was taken aback. Hadn’t his daughter just been bullied? Why did she still want to go to kindergarten?
The little girl was now as wriggly as a piglet at the Spring Festival—he couldn’t hold her still. Afraid of dropping her, he had no choice but to set her down.
The moment she hit the ground, the little girl’s hands immediately rummaged through the backpack on her back. She pulled out a frog and shoved it into his hand: “Daddy, take Froggy home. The other kids don’t like playing with him.”
Dad Jiang: …
No wonder the teacher kept stressing that we must check the kids’ backpacks before leaving!!!
The little girl shoved the frog into Dad Jiang’s hands, waved her tiny hand at him, and said, “Bye, Dad! I’m going inside now.” With that, she took off, her little legs scampering quickly toward the door.
Not a hint of reluctance to leave her old man behind.
Dad Jiang looked at the frog in his hand, then at his daughter’s little legs darting away. Man and frog alike stood there, looking a bit disheveled in the breeze.
Sunlight streamed through the stained-glass windows onto the toy shelf. The little bundle stood on tiptoes, clinging to the doorframe, her dark, shiny eyes darting about faster than a pinwheel.
The moment Teacher Duoduo bent down to tidy up the toys, she slipped into the classroom like a little mouse stealing a drop of oil.
“Big Brain Tiger is coming to catch you!” a squeaky, high-pitched scream rang out.
Some of the timid children were once again scared into wailing and scrambling all over the classroom.
Teacher Duoduo was at her wits’ end.
The little girl clearly had such a sweet, innocent face—how could she be so mischievous?
Dad Jiang, who had received yet another complaint call from the teacher, was at his wits’ end.
It seemed—or rather, it really did seem—that his daughter was indeed a bit too energetic.