Pei Yi crouched beside Qiqi, his hand on his shoulder.
“Qiqi, do you want to go to school here?”
Pei Qiqi looked at the children in class, remembering his previous kindergarten. The kindergarten his mother sent him to seemed different from this one. The old kindergarten was grey and dull. The teachers were tall and big, standing in front of him with hands on their hips like giant black monsters. Their mouths and eyes were wide open, and they pointed at him. The spit from their mouths poured into his ears like a tide.
Pei Qiqi raised his hand to touch his ear. A crisp, pleasant song reached his ears. He looked over. A female teacher was teaching the children to sing. The children circled the teacher, dancing and happy. Beside him, Youyou was also swaying his head to the music, smiling with a row of little white teeth.
Pei Qiqi blinked and nodded. “Mm.”
He wanted to go to school here. He wanted to go to school here with Youyou. At snack time, the teacher who had been singing opened the door and came to lead the two little ones inside. Su Youli turned to look at his father.
Shen Minyan pinched his cheek. “Go play with the teacher. Mom and Dad will wait at the door.”
The little guy nodded. After a few steps, he turned back and saw his parents and Brother Xiao Tang still waiting at the door. Relieved, he followed the teacher to his seat. The two little ones sat obediently, hands on the small table, listening to the teacher. Unlike at home, in kindergarten, you had to be a disciplined child.
“Good afternoon, children,” the teacher said.
The other children were used to the pre-snack ritual. Their milky voices rang out in unison: “Good afternoon, Teacher Apple.”
“Children, please have your snack.”
The children answered loudly: “Thank you, Teacher! Everyone, please eat!”
After that, only the sound of children eating remained in the classroom. The two little ones were new today, sitting there dazed. Teacher Apple walked over and crouched in front of them.
“Qiqi, Youyou, eat up.”
With the teacher’s encouragement, the two newcomers nodded and picked up their snacks. This was the little guy’s first time eating in a classroom with so many children. It was novel and fun. The little guy held his little cake with both hands, tilting his head to look at the other children, his little legs swinging under the table.
Xingya’s chefs came from all over the world, all with extraordinary culinary skills. The food was nutritious and delicious. Su Youli finished his little cake in three bites and was carefully eating the blueberries from his plate. Suddenly, an arm reached over from behind. The little guy saw half a little cake appear on his plate.
Su Youli: “?”
Teacher Apple laughed and walked over to speak to the child behind Su Youli. “Haohao, you can’t give leftovers to Youyou.”
The boy named Haohao, cheeks puffed out, was holding a blueberry too. “It’s not leftovers. It’s clean.”
He had broken off half of his little cake for Youyou. He had seen it. Youyou really liked the little cake, eating every bite with care.
Teacher Apple was curious. “Why did you give your cake to Youyou?”
Haohao looked at Youyou, who had turned to look at him, and blushed. “Because Youyou looks like a doll.”
Teacher Apple looked at Youyou. The little guy’s eyelashes were long and curled. His round head was topped with fluffy curls. His baby fat was chubby, his skin milky white. He was even more delicate and cute than a doll. The little guy wasn’t wearing the uniform bib, so he stood out in the classroom. Tang Dou had dressed him in a light sporty set today: a cream-yellow hoodie with a little dog print on the chest. Now, the cream-yellow little guy was carefully holding his plate, staring at the half cake on it. Beside him, Pei Qiqi said nothing. He pressed his lips together, picked up the cake from Youyou’s plate, and put it back on Haohao’s. Then he put his own untouched cake onto Youyou’s plate.
His movements were quick and practiced.
Haohao looked at the complete cake on Youyou’s plate and stammered: “Youyou, tomorrow I’ll give you all my cake.”
The little guy’s eyes curved. “No need. Youyou has his own cake.”
Besides, Brother Qiqi would also give him his cake. The little guy still preferred clean, whole cakes. He took a small bite of Pei Qiqi’s cake and thanked Haohao again. Seeing the two little ones helping each other, the adults at the door relaxed. Inside, the two little ones were eating the cake bite by bite.
Pei Yi felt warm inside, leaning his head on Hua Zhao’s shoulder. “This school is so stingy. They can’t make the cakes bigger, give one more?”
A small one wasn’t enough to eat.
Hua Zhao pushed him away. “What do you know? Kids have small appetites. You think everyone eats like you?”
Tang Dou smiled and explained: “Snacks usually aren’t too much. It’s almost dismissal time.”
Pei Yi nodded and turned to Shen Minyan. “Brother Shen, why isn’t Youyou eating the banana and biscuits?”
Today’s snack also included two small biscuits and a banana. Su Youli had finished the cake and blueberries but left the biscuits and banana.
“Youyou doesn’t like bananas.” As for the biscuits, Shen Minyan was still thinking.
Near dismissal, the teacher didn’t require the children to finish everything. The children didn’t waste food either. What they couldn’t finish, they packed into their little backpacks to take home. After snack, the little guy asked the teacher to keep his two biscuits and banana. After playing in the classroom for a while, the dismissal bell rang. The children lined up under the teacher’s direction, put on their backpacks, and waited for their parents. Pei Qiqi and Su Youli stood at the front of the line, led by the teacher to the door.
“Qiqi, Youyou, see you next time.”
The two little ones looked up. “Goodbye, Teacher Apple.”
In just half an hour, the two little ones had fully adapted to kindergarten life. Back in the car, the little guy took out the two biscuits from his pocket, one for Mom, one for Dad.
“Dad, eat. Mom, eat.”
Tang Dou, in the back, had a banana stuffed into his hand. His heart warmed.
In the other car, Pei Qiqi gave both biscuits to his aunt. When his uncle pinched his face, he shook his head. “Uncle, next time I’ll bring you one.”
Pei Yi: “Can’t you give one to each of us? I’ll just watch?”
Pei Qiqi thought his uncle was silly. “But Auntie won’t be full with one.”
He didn’t mention that he’d given the cake meant for his uncle to Youyou. Next time, next time he’d definitely bring one for his uncle.
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gingerbread On LC chapter 2