The meeting between the two groups was a bit awkward. Perhaps foreign children developed faster, but the elementary school students on the other side, only about seven years old, already had the build of young teenagers. Looking at them, Felix was indeed small and the youngest in that group. Hans had spotted Felix from a distance and immediately noticed the strange children beside him.
In such a short time, Felix had made new friends. And Hans had even worried about him, bringing the winning flag to show him. The ‘Treasure Hunt Team’ immediately ran to their new friend’s side at the sudden appearance of the older children. They cautiously observed the other group and backed away to a safe distance. Hans’s expression was unpleasant. He felt that Felix had made new friends so quickly, completely disregarding his efforts.
“Felix, come here.” Hans stepped forward, acting very bossy.
Felix was still a bit angry, but Hans had grown up with him. He couldn’t bear to refuse, so he carefully moved forward. Seeing him come over, Felix’s expression softened a little. He took the flag from his waist and placed it in Felix’s hand.
“I won.”
Hans looked up, a little smug, and waited for Felix to praise him like he usually did. But there was no praise. Felix didn’t praise him. Instead, he looked unhappy.
“I won. Aren’t you happy, Felix?” Hans was puzzled.
The flag in his hand was crumpled. Felix was holding back his anger and didn’t want to talk to him. The ‘Treasure Hunt Team’ had never seen foreign kids in a fight before. They found it fascinating and couldn’t help but stare. But this attention was misinterpreted by Hans. Being stared at by these black-haired, black-eyed Chinese kids made him lose face. He reached out and pulled Felix toward him.
“You have new friends, and you’re ignoring me? I…”
Felix shook him off, his chest heaving: “I’m not ignoring you! You ignored me! You left me behind and walked away!”
Hans stared at the child in front of him in surprise, finally realizing Felix was angry at him.
He grabbed Felix’s arm, pulled him aside, and made sure the Chinese kids couldn’t hear before lowering his head to explain: “I didn’t leave you. I asked the teacher to stay and look after you.”
Hans didn’t know how else to explain. Felix was the youngest in the class, and naturally, he didn’t have the same stamina. They had been in the same class in kindergarten. Their class had always come in last in the annual hiking race, mocked by the other classes. Felix had told him that when he got to elementary school, he wanted to win the hiking championship.
Mentioning kindergarten, Hans got excited too. He held Felix’s shoulders and said, “I didn’t abandon you. I wanted to fulfill your wish.”
The surroundings suddenly grew quiet. Mi Le climbed onto Mi Huan’s neck, grabbed his brother’s hair, and leaned forward, listening intently. This was the first time he’d seen foreigners arguing. Wow, they talked really fast, like they were chanting spells. Su Youli followed suit, running over and grabbing Shen Yan’s thigh. Shen Yan easily lifted him onto his shoulders. Shen Yan found it amusing, entertained by his serious, gossipy expression.
“Youyou, can you understand what they’re arguing about?”
“No,” the little guy answered.
“You can’t understand, but you’re listening so seriously.”
The little guy found it novel and interesting. Whatever Hans said to make up with Felix, the two boys who had been fighting were now holding hands and walking over together. Felix’s eyes were a little red, probably from crying, but he seemed to be in a good mood when he spoke.
“This is my good friend, Hans.” Felix introduced his friend to the ‘Treasure Hunt Team.’
Mi Le climbed down from his brother’s shoulders and whispered to Pei Qiqi: “They made up just like that?”
Pei Qiqi also thought Felix had a good temper, forgiving someone who had abandoned him so easily and staying friends with him. Sensing that these few people didn’t have a good opinion of him, Hans explained again to the ‘Treasure Hunt Team.’ He hadn’t abandoned his friend; he just wanted to fulfill Felix’s wish from kindergarten. He knew Felix didn’t have the stamina to keep up.
“But… you still shouldn’t have said Felix was holding you back,” Mi Le said.
As soon as he said that, Felix’s eyes reddened again. Hans grabbed his hair in frustration and apologized to Felix again in front of them.
“I’m sorry, Felix. I was too anxious then.”
Their team hadn’t been behind at the start, but they lacked stamina. Within half an hour, teams that had been behind them had caught up. Hans got anxious, speeding up the team and not paying attention to Felix, who was at the back. When he finally remembered, Felix was exhausted, his legs too weak to walk, and he refused to stay and rest. In a moment of anger, Hans said those things. He hadn’t meant it, and he certainly hadn’t abandoned Felix. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have left the teacher to look after him.
The little guy couldn’t understand what the older boy was saying. Shen Yan was translating for him sentence by sentence. So the blue-eyed brother hadn’t been abandoned after all. That was a relief. Children fighting was a common thing. The adults present didn’t interfere, letting them sort it out themselves.
After resting for half an hour, the two groups set off on the return journey. When they reached the campsite, Felix was reluctant to part with them. He enthusiastically invited them to his home. Mi Le, as the team’s diplomat, politely declined his invitation and invited them to visit China instead. After the hike, the children washed up, changed into light, clean clothes, and washed their faces and hands.
The four guest families sat in the central clearing of the campsite, and the director began to summarize the day’s activities. After the summary filming was done, the children were taken away by their respective nannies, while the four parents remained on the benches. The director struck while the iron was hot, asking each parent how they would rate their child’s performance today.
Wang Zhi raised his hand excitedly: “One hundred points, of course!” He and Niu Niu only saw each other during holidays. His impression of her was of a delicate, shy little girl. He hadn’t expected her to be so strong.
“It seems you haven’t been watching our show closely. Niu Niu has always been amazing. She didn’t even hesitate to go into the mud pit before,” the director said with a smile.
Wang Zhi’s face flushed, and he quickly praised his sister along with the director.
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