Fighting at Kindergarten

Shen Xinde spent a delightful afternoon with the other children in the park. To keep Gu Zhuoling from missing him at kindergarten, Shen Xinde even made a point of calling him on his children's watch during the kindergarten's break.

Gu Zhuoling's voice came through the phone with a hint of laughter. "Did you have fun, Haohao?"

"Lots of fun!" Shen Xinde cheered, then began chattering about all the interesting things that had happened that afternoon.

"Dolly, I found a patch of really pretty flowers in the park!" Shen Xinde said just as he was about to hang up.

"I'm not telling you where! You have to guess when you come tomorrow!"

"You're even giving me homework." Gu Zhuoling couldn't hide the laughter in his voice.

"You have to do it!"

"Okay."

That evening, after Shen Xinde got home, he met his private tutor. She was a very young woman who spoke gently, and the moment she saw Shen Xinde, she exclaimed that he was adorable and that she liked him.

"Xinde, you can draw whatever you like first." For the first lesson, the teacher hadn't planned any difficult technical exercises. Instead, she wanted to see what Shen Xinde could create.

Shen Xinde sat on a little stool, with white paper and crayons spread out on the table. "I'm going to draw a picture for Dolly. I promised him."

Shen Xinde had already decided to draw half of it tonight and finish the other half in tomorrow afternoon's art class.

The teacher didn't know about Shen Xinde's relationship with Gu Zhuoling, but she stayed attentively by his side. "Are you going to draw a doll?"

"No, Dolly is my big brother." Shen Xinde shook his head.

"I see. Then you can start drawing, Xinde!" The teacher understood. It was probably a nickname the children had for each other, so she said nothing more and watched Shen Xinde begin.

Shen Xinde hadn't intended to draw anything special. After giving it some thought, he decided to draw the scene of him and Gu Zhuoling saving the flowers that day.

"Is that rain? Why aren't you using white or blue, Xinde?" The teacher watched Shen Xinde start drawing and found it a little strange.

"Because I'm really happy, the rain has to be yellow!"

The teacher knew that children didn't stick rigidly to reality when it came to color; their choices were more childlike.

What set Shen Xinde apart from the other children, however, was that even though he had only finished half the picture, his creativity and ability to combine colors were outstanding.

After seeing the teacher off, Shen Xinde rolled up the half-finished picture and carefully tucked it into his little backpack, along with his crayons. The whole backpack was bulging.

When Gu Zhuoling saw him the next day, he found him carrying a large bag of snacks, with the little backpack on his back bulging too.

"What did you stuff in your backpack?" Gu Zhuoling took the bag from Shen Xinde and put it in the car, then turned to lift his backpack.

"Nothing." Shen Xinde didn't answer directly. He laughed it off and climbed into the car.

Gu Zhuoling paused. Realizing that Shen Xinde didn't want to say, he let it go.

With a whole bag of snacks sitting right beside Shen Xinde, who could resist?

Shen Xinde certainly couldn't.

After Gu Zhuoling caught Shen Xinde reaching for a snack for the nth time, Shen Xinde switched to acting cute.

"Just one bag! One bag of gummies!"

Shen Xinde held up one of his short little fingers, squirming as he gazed pitifully at Gu Zhuoling.

"No." Gu Zhuoling wasn't expressionless this time. Instead, he was all smiles.

How hateful!

How wicked!

Heartbreaking!

Devastating!

Shen Xinde huffed and turned his round little head away from Gu Zhuoling.

"Are you throwing a tantrum now? You were almost overweight at your last hospital checkup." Xia Wanqing was driving up front and naturally had a clear view of everything the two were doing in the back. She couldn't resist teasing him.

"Haohao isn't fat!" Shen Xinde caught his mother's meaning and clung to the seat as he protested.

"Chubby boy!"

Xia Wanqing, of course, showed no mercy.

"Wah!"

Shen Xinde turned around, leaned against Gu Zhuoling's leg, and threw a tantrum.

"Dolly! You tell her!" Shen Xinde clung to Gu Zhuoling, giving him what he thought was a very threatening look.

Gu Zhuoling didn't answer right away. Instead, he cupped Shen Xinde's chubby little face, feeling its softness in his hands, then looked at his determined gaze.

At last, he couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Shen Xinde immediately took offense.

He's laughing at me!

He's hurting my self-esteem!

Too much!

"You're not fat, not fat." Afraid he might really upset him, Gu Zhuoling hurried to soothe him.

But when he saw Shen Xinde's eyes light up, he realized he was about to ask for snacks. His expression changed at once. "But you still can't have any snacks."

Wah—

So cold and heartless, hard-hearted, icy, and unfeeling. Vicious, callous, and utterly ruthless.

"Didn't you give these to me?"

Gu Zhuoling squeezed Shen Xinde's little hand.

Shen Xinde pondered for two seconds, then waved his hand with a heartbroken expression, putting on an air of gravity. "Forget it. Once Haohao gives something away, he won't ask for it back."

His impish antics even made Xia Wanqing laugh out loud.

At noon, it was the middle class's turn to go out and play. The junior class happened to be on break, but since letting them out would disrupt the middle class's orderly outing, the children could only play in their classroom.

Gu Zhuoling was at the back of the line as he came downstairs. He spotted a round little head behind the glass in the door of junior class one.

It was Shen Xinde.

Shen Xinde spotted Gu Zhuoling too. Grinning, he waved and said goodbye to him.

Seeing Shen Xinde blink at him through the glass, Gu Zhuoling couldn't resist tapping the glass over his forehead as he passed.

Shen Xinde played along, immediately throwing his head back as though he had been tapped.

Gu Zhuoling found him so adorable that he smiled at Shen Xinde before turning to catch up with the rest of the group.

That afternoon, Gu Zhuoling followed Shen Xinde's example and called him during a break.

"Hydrangeas." Before Shen Xinde could speak, Gu Zhuoling had already answered the homework question Shen Xinde had given him.

Hydrangeas bloomed in clusters in the park, their blue and pink blossoms mingling beautifully.

"That's right!" Shen Xinde was still drawing. As soon as he heard the answer, he cheered into his watch.

"Am I good?" Gu Zhuoling's eyes held a smile.

"Big brother is the best!"

Gu Zhuoling wasn't as good as Shen Xinde at sharing what he had done that afternoon, but he still tried to say a few things the way Shen Xinde would.

As the call was ending, Gu Zhuoling spoke up. "My dad is picking me up this afternoon. How about we pick you up too?"

"Okay! Then Haohao will wait for you at kindergarten." Looking at the almost-finished picture in his hand, Shen Xinde readily agreed.

I can give it to Dolly this afternoon!

But things didn't go as the two little ones wished.

That afternoon, Gu Ruize picked Gu Zhuoling up without a hitch. Gu Zhuoling had just gotten into the car and was about to suggest picking Shen Xinde up too.

Then Gu Ruize's phone rang. He answered it first, and less than a minute later, he told his assistant, "Go to Orchid Pavilion Kindergarten."

Gu Zhuoling naturally realized that something might have happened to Shen Xinde and couldn't help growing anxious. "What happened to Haohao?"

Gu Ruize's expression was a little odd. He glanced at his son beside him and paused before speaking.

"Xinde got into a fight with someone at kindergarten."