Chapter 650: Extra Chapter: Childhood 7

Extra Chapter: Childhood 7

During recess, several children gathered around the desks of Mu Youyu and Jiang Liangjin.

The little girl walking ahead with two small braids was the most enthusiastic, "Hi, I'm Yuanyuan! Do you know Jiang Liangjin? Why doesn't he play with us and only talk to you?"

All the kids in class know that Jiang Liangjin is the famously aloof weird kid in class.

When someone speaks to him, he merely answers with one or two words indifferently; if a reply isn't necessary, he simply doesn't speak at all, never getting especially close to anyone.

Now he actually keeps caring about this new little kid.

Mu Youyu feels a strange possessive desire toward Jiang Liangjin: "Exactly, he should play with me; he promised to sit only with me, one girl!"

Another boy in a small jacket pushed forward, "Wow, did your dad tell you to play with him? My dad also told me to talk to him more and be good friends."

Several kids nearby also chimed in: "My mom said so too."

"My dad said so too."

"He said if I play well with Jiang Liangjin, he'll buy me a new toy."

"Exactly, he's been alone for a long time, with no one to play with him."

Mu Youyu understood: this crowd all wants to snatch A Jin from her.

Jiang Liangjin, meanwhile, was lowering his head to read a book, showing no reaction to these words at all.

"Oh." Mu Youyu replied slowly, "So you all know him, then why don't you go find him to play yourselves?"

Yuanyuan counted on her fingers, "But he ignores us!"

"Exactly, I talk to him and he ignores me!" the boy in the small jacket also complained.

Mu Youyu tilted her head, "That's because he prefers playing with me."

Jiang Liangjin nodded.

The children looked at each other.

Yuanyuan understood, "Then can you let him play with us? Next class we can go swimming with the teacher!"

Jiang Liangjin finally spoke coldly: "No."

"The pool water is dirty; he doesn't want to stay with strangers."

In entertainment class he usually just reads by himself, or the teacher takes him to do other quieter activities.

Yuanyuan pouted, "Why?"

Jiang Liangjin still had that cold little Expression, "I want to play with Youbao."

The boy in the small jacket immediately seized the point, turning to Mu Youyu, "If the new classmate plays with us, he'll come too!"

The children, hearing this, surrounded Mu Youyu, urging one after another: "Yes, yes, let's go together!"

"You tell him to go."

Mu Youyu put her hands on her hips, her little face stern: "No, I don't like swimming; the water gets in my eyes, and besides, there are so many people, it's filthy, I'll get sick."

Someone cleverly suggested, "Then let's play Lego; Lego won't get water in your eyes!"

"Lego takes forever to build, and A Jin walks off halfway through." Mu Youyu refused, "If he walks away, I don't want to keep building it."

A chubby little girl from behind came over, "Let's do crafts together, cut out little cats!"

Jiang Liangjin, annoyed by the noise, frowned slightly: "No, the cut‑out cats look like dogs."

The chubby girl widened her eyes, "Mine don't look like dogs at all! I cut them beautifully!"

"Not beautiful." Jiang Liangjin said firmly.

The chubby girl's eyes reddened.

Yuanyuan quickly patted her back, "Don't cry, don't cry, he always talks like that; last time he said my drawing looked like noodles."

Jiang Liangjin opened his mouth: "That's exactly noodles."

Yuanyuan screamed and burst into tears, "That was clearly a princess's hair!"

Teacher Tian's eyebrows twitched, unsure whether to go over and soothe them.

In the chaos, a little girl jumped out and said, "Stop crying, stop crying, let's still go swimming; the water there isn't dirty."

"The teacher changes the water every day! I even took a sip yesterday, and it tasted just like regular water!"

Mu Youyu scrunched her little nose in disgust, leaning back, "You drank pool water?"

"Just… just a small sip." The little girl's face flushed red, "It wasn't on purpose; my mouth didn't close when I went under."

The kids all burst out laughing; Yuanyuan stopped crying, covering her mouth and giggling, "Paopao, you're so stupid—my mom said there are little bugs in the pool water!"

"No!" the girl called Paopao stamped her foot in panic, "The teacher said it's filtered! There are no bugs!"

"What if there are?" the boy in the small jacket, with a mischievous mind, threatened her, "Tiny bugs could crawl from your mouth into your belly and swim around!"

"Wah—I don't want that!" Paopao burst into tears, louder than Yuanyuan's earlier crying.

Seeing the situation spiral out of control and fearing blame, Mu Youyu grabbed Jiang Liangjin's arm, "You guys stop arguing, don't talk to him!"

She declared possessively: "He just wants to play with me; he's mine alone—go find other kids to play with!"

Jiang Liangjin shot up, blocking the chaotic gazes, "Yes, I won't play with you."

The kids were stunned.

Teacher Tian came over to mediate: "All right, all right, during recess the kids can have free activity, but our new classmate needs a little time to get used to the environment—you go play first, and we'll do it together next time."

Paopao stopped crying.

Yuanyuan felt a bit disappointed, but she obediently took a few kids' hands and walked away.

Before leaving, she glanced back and saw Jiang Liangjin still standing in front of the new classmate, muttering to herself, "Jiang Liangjin is really fierce."

"Exactly, he's so overbearing."

"That new classmate is also overbearing."

Mu Youyu and Jiang Liangjin paid no attention to them.

By twelve o'clock, it was lunchtime; the teacher arranged for the children to go to the cafeteria.

The ingredients and nutrition on campus are specially supervised, and the menu rotates weekly.

The cafeteria has colorful long tables and short chairs, with a self‑serve buffet offering meat, vegetables, seafood, soup, and fruit in balanced proportions.

Mu Youyu picked out the dishes she didn't like, took a few bites, then tilted her head to look at Jiang Liangjin's plate beside her.

His rice was hardly touched, and the vegetables were pushed to one side.

Mu Youyu worried he wasn't eating enough and would feel reluctant to eat more, so she scooped a spoonful of rice from her own bowl into his, saying, "A Jin, eat a bit more."

Seeing this, Jiang Liangjin picked up the spoon and put that mouthful of rice into his mouth.

Mu Youyu became more convinced he wasn't eating enough, and she also moved the slice of ginger from her bowl to his, saying, "Then you eat this for me—I don't like ginger."

Jiang Liangjin stared at the ginger slice, paused, and said, "…I don't like it either."

"Then what do you like?"

Jiang Liangjin thought for a moment and earnestly replied, "I like you."

Mu Youyu exclaimed, "Wow," and said, "If you eat a bit more, you'll have the energy to like me."

"All right." Jiang Liangjin lowered his head and ate the ginger slice.

"Wow, A Jin is great, not picky." Mu Youyu continued, picking out the white radish from the beef‑stir‑fried radish and scooping it into his bowl, saying, "Eat a bit more."

Jiang Liangjin also didn't like white radish, but he didn't say anything; he just silently stuffed it into his mouth.

Teacher Tian at the neighboring table kept watching them; seeing him start to eat on his own, she blinked several times in astonishment and said, "Jiang Liangjin actually ate vegetables today?"

The foreign teacher also came over, saying, "Really? He used to never eat the cafeteria's vegetables, only drinking milk, right?"

"Then what is he eating now?"

"…He's eating the cafeteria's white radish."

The meals here are good and nutritionally balanced, but Jiang Liangjin's picky eating is famous in the kindergarten.

He basically doesn't touch vegetables, doesn't drink soup, eats only a few fixed kinds of meat, and only certain fruit varieties.

Teacher Tian also didn't know what he liked to eat; she urged him, but most of the time he just blandly replied, "I'm not hungry," and she had grown used to it, so she stopped pressing him.

But today's situation was completely different…

After the noon break, during snack time, Teacher Tian deliberately glanced at Jiang Liangjin's plate and was amazed to find that all his little snacks were gone.

She fell into thought: "Heaven, now he has a playmate and is willing to eat more."

At 3:30 p. m., the kindergarten's dismissal bell rang on time.

Mu Youyu shouldered her small backpack, took Jiang Liangjin's hand, and followed the teacher toward the door.

From afar they saw two figures standing side by side at the door—Mu Xi and Song Lujing, one on each side, with a height difference of about a head.

Mu Xi saw her sister come out, waved at her, and Mu Youyu ran over, calling, "Second brother!"

"Good girl." Mu Xi took her backpack, lowered his head to check it thoroughly, and asked, "Did you eat well at kindergarten today?"

"Yes! A Jin too—he ate a bite of ginger!" she announced proudly.

Mu Xi: "…What?"

Song Lujing grabbed her hand and said, "Little sister! Was school fun today? Did anyone bully you? Tell me and I'll back you up!"

Song Lujing's shaking made Mu Youyu unsteady, so she quickly grabbed Jiang Liangjin's hand to steady herself and said, "No, the kids here are all friendly."

Only then did Song Lujing relax, glance at Jiang Liangjin, and ask, "You also behaved well today, right?"

Jiang Liangjin nodded, gripping Mu Youyu's small hand, and said, "Mm, I've been right beside her."

Song Lujing: "Oh."

With many people around, Mu Xi pulled the two little ones to stand a bit to the side and said, "Let's go home first."

Song Lujing went around to stand in front of his sister and said, "I'm going to the martial arts hall this afternoon; do you want to come?"

Mu Xi shook his head and said, "I need to take my sister home; you practice on your own."

Song Lujing sighed, "It's just me feeling sore—how pitiful."

Mu Youyu lifted her head and said, "Brother Lujing doesn't mind the pain; a little hurt passes quickly. Second brother once told me that a real man must be brave!"

Mu Xi: "When did he say that?"

But her sister had already earnestly repeated, "Second brother didn't cry even when he fell last time!"

Mu Xi chose to mute himself.

After receiving his sister's comfort, Song Lujing felt much better and said, "Then, little sister, would you like to come watch my training tomorrow after school?"

"Sure, I'll come with A Jin right after school, Brother Lujing—remember to wait for us."

"All right, I'll wait for you, little sister!" After saying that, Song Lujing was picked up by the family's butler and taken home.

The remaining three went to the Mu family's home.

Song Ningsheng was already waiting at the door; seeing her daughter hopping in, she bent down, reached out to catch her, and said, "Our Youbao's back? Come quick, let Mom see how school went today."

Mu Youyu let go of the two boys' hands, lunged forward, and said, "Mommy, Mommy, the teacher praised me today."

"Really?" Song Ningsheng asked gently, "How did the teacher praise you?"

"The teacher said I'm the prettiest child in the whole kindergarten!"

Mu Xi agreed, saying, "Your sister is naturally pretty; the teacher has good taste."

Jiang Liangjin also knew the teacher had good eyes: "Right."

Song Ningsheng was amused by her daughter's proud little look and said, "Then how are the other children?"

Mu Youyu answered honestly, "They say I'm overbearing and won't let them talk to A Jin."

Song Ningsheng raised her eyebrows and asked, "So did you let them talk to A Jin?"

Mu Youyu shook her head, speaking righteously, "No, I didn't—A Jin said he only wants to play with me, so I won't share."

Song Ningsheng probed, asking, "Did the teacher say you shouldn't do that?"

Mu Youyu answered confidently, "But A Jin isn't a toy; he's mine, I don't want to share him."

Song Ningsheng almost got drawn in, "Then you need to work it out with A Jin yourself."

Mu Youyu turned her head and started negotiating, "A Jin, didn't you say before that you're mine?"

Jiang Liangjin replied solemnly, "Yes."

She turned back, wearing a triumphant expression, "Mom, you heard that—he's mine, I don't want to share him with anyone else."

This isn't excessive, Song Ningsheng gave in, "Okay, okay, okay—then we Youbao had better keep a close watch on A Jin."

"Don't worry!" Mu Youyu puffed out her little chest proudly, "I've already told the whole class he's mine; no one can take him from me."

"Our Youbao really does have prestige at school."

Mu Xi thought her sister did the right thing, and Jiang Liangjin was fine too.

Since he chose to play with the younger sister, he should unconditionally meet all her demands.

Jiang Liangjin spoke up at the right moment, "Youbao, I'm heading back first."

Mu Youyu waved, "Let's go to school together tomorrow."

Jiang Liangjin also waved, "See you tomorrow! Goodbye, Aunt Song, goodbye, Brother Mu Xi."

After he left, Mu Yunshuo came out from behind, his smile deepening, "Looks like our little treasure is the big boss of the kindergarten today."

Hearing that, Mu Youyu pretended to be solemn, "Dad, I've grown up—I can't be called 'treasure' anymore."

Mu Yunshuo laughed, picked her up and spun her around, "Alright, our Youbao has grown up!"

Mu Youyu giggled from being spun, and was carried all the way to the restaurant.

At the table, Mu's grandfather, great-uncle, younger uncle, and aunt—those elders who could come—had already taken their seats.

Everyone obviously already knew of Mu Youyu's glorious deeds today, and upon seeing her they began to praise her.

"Our Youbao was so mighty at kindergarten today, the teacher even called specially to praise you."

"As soon as she started school she won the teacher's favor; she'll definitely be the most popular kid in the whole school."

Mu Youyu: "Exactly!"

The next day, Mu Youyu and Jiang Liangjin entered the classroom hand in hand.

Yuanyuan spotted her, quickly stepped forward, holding a clumsily made handmade paper flower, and hesitantly offered it to Mu Youyu.

"This is for you," Yuanyuan murmured, head down, "I thought it over after getting home yesterday—you were right, Jiang Liangjin really is yours; I shouldn't keep bothering him."

Mu Youyu blinked her large, slightly gray eyes, examined it from all angles, then looked at Yuanyuan's slightly anxious expression and asked, "Did you fold this yourself? It's actually pretty nice."

Yuanyuan's tone brightened, "Really? I spent a long time folding it!"

"Really." Mu Youyu put the paper flower in the drawer, "Thank you, I'll keep it—don't be upset; next time I'll let A Jin play LEGO with you guys."

She secretly felt proud, thinking she was truly a kind, easy‑to‑talk‑to little girl!

No wonder the elders and the brothers like her.