Shen Yan stared at the drool on the lid, his little face set in a tight frown. “You go ahead and eat it. I don’t like ice cream.”
“Really? Then I’ll just eat it myself!”
The little girl happily licked a few more bites of ice cream, then closed the lid and put it back where it belonged.
That way, Shushu wouldn’t suspect she’d stolen any!
She really was a clever little thing.
Shen Yan looked at the cream smeared on her lips from sneaking a bite of the ice cream, frowned, and pulled a small handkerchief from his pocket to carefully wipe her clean.
Jiang Xian flashed a wide grin, beaming at him foolishly.
The afternoon sun slanted through the kindergarten’s stained-glass windows, casting patches of dappled light and shadow. Just as this peaceful and serene atmosphere settled in, a childish cry suddenly rang out from the nap room: “Teacher, Xianxian is missing!”
The sudden cry shattered the silence of the entire nap room.
Upon hearing the cry, Li Duo’s heart sank. She hurriedly stood up from her seat and walked quickly toward Jiang Xian’s bed.
The bed was empty—the little one who should have been lying there was nowhere to be found!
“Teacher, teacher, Yan Yan is gone too!”
Li Duo hurriedly glanced at Shen Yan’s bed as well.
The two little ones’ beds were right next to each other, and now both were empty.
Li Duo felt her vision go dark.
It’s over. If both children go missing, she’d likely lose her job.
Suppressing her panic, Li Duo began organizing the other teachers to search. The kindergarten instantly descended into chaos, with teachers calling out the two little ones’ names from every corner.
At that moment, by the edge of the kindergarten playground, a snowball-like figure was stuck between the rusty fence bars.
A rosy little face, as plump as a peach, looked as if a gentle pinch would make it squirt juice.
The afternoon sun cast a golden glow on her fuzzy head; half of her little buns had come undone at some point, her chubby elbows were dusty, and her tender, lotus-root-like calves kicked wildly. Her little bottom wiggled left and right, but after struggling for ages, she still couldn’t wriggle free from that narrow gap.
Now she was getting really anxious. Her little face was flushed red, her shirt had ridden up to her chest, exposing a patch of soft, white belly, and she was crying out in a babyish voice, “Ahhh help! Who’s gonna save me?”
She was stuck!
As soon as Shen Yan saw her stuck, he immediately stood beside her. He stared at her little belly for a moment and said, “Suck in your tummy.”
“How do I do that?” Jiang Xian stopped struggling, blinked her big eyes, and asked pitifully.
“Breathe in.”
“Oh!” Jiang Xian obediently took a deep breath, then gave a little push—and to her surprise, she actually squeezed through the gap in the fence.
“Wow, I’m finally out!” The little snowball danced with joy, turned around, and waved at Shen Yan on the other side of the fence. “Yan Yan, hurry up and come out.”
Shen Yan frowned slightly at the dilapidated iron gate in front of him.
He hesitated a bit.
A faint call came from behind him.
It was the kindergarten teacher coming to look for them.
“Teacher Duoduo is here! Hurry up, hurry up!” Jiang Xian urged anxiously from outside.
Shen Yan finally crouched down and squeezed through the gap in the fence.
Fortunately, he was slimmer than Jiang Xian, so he didn’t get stuck and slipped through easily.
Jiang Xian rushed forward, grabbed his hand, and took off running.
Outside the cake shop, the two little bundles were crouched in front of the glass window.
“Hurry up and take a sniff—it’s free!” Jiang Xian pressed her little face against the transparent glass, her features squished out of shape as she inhaled the aroma wafting from inside, drooling with anticipation.
Seeing this, Shen Yan quickly pulled out a small handkerchief to wipe the drool from her face. Then, taking her little hand, he led her inside and pointed to a strawberry cake in the display case, saying to the shopkeeper, “Auntie, we’ll take this one.”
The bakery clerk looked at the two snow-white, adorable little bundles in front of her and felt as though her eyes had been cleansed. Her hands itched to reach out and give them a gentle squeeze. Glancing behind them and seeing no one following, she asked with concern, “Little ones, did you come here on your own? Where are your parents?”
A flash of wariness crossed Shen Yan’s eyes. He shot the clerk a cold look, didn’t answer her question, and instead tapped the smartwatch on his wrist, saying, “I can pay for this myself.”
Uh!
The clerk felt a jolt of surprise as she met his gaze.
She saw plenty of little kids every day—their eyes were usually innocent and pure, or filled with curious naivety. This was the first time she’d ever seen such a cold expression on a child’s face.
It didn’t look like the kind of look a child his age should have.
It was as if the soup of forgetfulness had been watered down, and he hadn’t forgotten everything.
“Alright, I’ll get it for you!” The clerk paused for a moment, then quickly regained her composure, smiling as she took the strawberry cake out of the glass display case.
“Here, have some!” Shen Yan handed the cake to Jiang Xian.
Jiang Xian’s eyes lit up the moment she received the strawberry cake. A pair of sweet dimples appeared on her fair, delicate face, as if they could melt anyone’s heart.
Just then, Xu Shu and Jiang Zheng received a call from Teacher Duoduo and rushed over, frantic with worry. When they finally spotted the two little ones at the bakery entrance, they were both exasperated and amused.
There stood their little girl, holding a slice of cake, her face smeared with cream, looking just like a little tabby cat.
“Jiang Xianxian!” her mother’s familiar shout rang out.
Jiang Xian’s small frame trembled involuntarily.
With a “whoosh,” she jumped to her feet and hid behind Shen Yan.
“Jiang Xianxian, you come out here! Don’t think hiding behind Yanyan will save you. How dare you sneak out of kindergarten? You’ve got some nerve. Today, I’m going to spank you until your bottom is red.”
She’d only been in kindergarten for a week, and Xu Shu couldn’t even remember how many times she’d gotten into trouble already.
And the trouble just kept getting worse.
Shen Yan stood ramrod straight, her tiny frame—barely a meter tall—exuding the presence of someone six feet tall: “Grown-ups should be reasonable. Hitting people is wrong.”
What’s the point of reasoning with a little troublemaker?
A good spanking will set her straight.
Just thinking back to the moment she received the teacher’s call saying the two little rascals were missing, she felt like the sky had fallen.
If she didn’t teach her a proper lesson, she’d definitely do it again next time.
“Jiang Xianxian, if you don’t come out right now, I’m done with you.”
“Waaah—” The little one started crying in fright.
“No, no, no, Xianxian.”
Shen Yan frowned, shot an annoyed glance in Xu Shu’s direction, then said to Jiang Xian, “They don’t want you, but I do!”
“Really?”
Jiang Xian let out a sob, her little body trembling, looking utterly pitiful.
Shen Yan: “From now on, you can live with me.”
Jiang Xian stopped crying completely.
Aunt Wanwan was pretty and gentle, and she’d bake little cookies for them and make delicious fruit smoothies.
Unlike her mom, who only knew how to hit her.
She wanted to live with Yan Yan and have Aunt Wanwan be her mom.