Chapter 656

title: Extra Chapter: Childhood 13

When Jiang Liangjin had tidied up and walked through the opened door, Mu Youyu was sitting cross-legged on the bed, flipping through a large cartoon picture book.

She lifted the picture book, pointing at one page, "Why is this person crying?"

Jiang Liangjin walked over, took a moment to look, and seriously explained, "He can't find his hat."

none.

Jiang Liangjin flipped a page, "On the following pages, the wind blew it onto a tree."

Mu Youyu flipped to that page at the back, checked it—sure enough it was in the tree—then closed the book, "Why doesn't he just climb up and get it himself?"

"He can't climb up; the tree is too high, he's not a monkey, he's a person."

"Then he could shout for someone else to help him get it."

Jiang Liangjin.

Mu Youyu had a flash of inspiration, "He could find a giraffe; with its long neck, it could bite off the hat in one go."

Jiang Liangjin seriously considered the feasibility of that plan and concluded, "After the giraffe bites it, it would eat his hat."

Mu Youyu froze, lowered her head flipping back to the first page, stared at that hat for a few seconds, "Never mind, he doesn't want the hat anymore."

"Mm-hmm, we can help him draw a new one."

The two then really took out colored pens, lay on the bed, and drew a new hat for that little figure.

After finishing, Mu Youyu held up the paper to examine it, "It looks better than the original."

Jiang Liangjin.

Six-year-old Mu Youyu gradually began to discover that the most fun thing in the world wasn't toys, but people's reactions.

And Jiang Liangjin, being the person closest to her, naturally became her most handy experimental subject.

Jiang Liangjin, Mu Youyu, Mu Family. Also Mu Family living room.

Jiang Liangjin reached out and felt that scarf, turned his head sideways, "I'm not cold."

Mu Youyu.

Mu Youyu walked around to his front, tied the two ends of the scarf in a knot, "This is your blindfold experience; from now on you are a prince who cannot see."

Jiang Liangjin maintained the posture of having his eyes covered, "What should I do then?"

"You need to listen to me; I'll lead you."

Jiang Liangjin.

She took his hand and led him in circles around the living room, "There's a table ahead, step over it, then walk two more steps, there's a water gun, bring it back…… All right, you can sit down now."

Jiang Liangjin really followed her instructions, handed the water gun to her, and then sat down.

Mu Youyu, Jiang Liangjin.

Mu Youyu, Jiang Liangjin.

Jiang Liangjin.

Mu Youyu unveiled the scarf with satisfaction, "Of course, I am a perfect navigator."

none.

Jiang Liangjin, Mu Youyu.

Song Lujing came over excitedly to look for his sister; as soon as he entered, he saw a large box of exquisitely wrapped candy placed at the doorway.

Song Lujing, Mu Youyu (younger sister). Also maybe "younger sister" is generic, not a name.

It's also quite heavy, which he understands; just as his brother said, this represents his sister's love being heavy as well!

Mu Youyu poked her head out from the corner, "No, that's homework Lujing-gege owes me; you said last time you'd help me write it, you forgot?"

Jiang Liangjin.

"？" – just a punctuation, no named.

When Song Lujing opened it, there was no candy in the box, just a neat stack of several blank practice workbooks, "When was this?"

"Last year, you said your sister's homework is my homework."

Song Lujing vaguely recalled having said something similar, and not wanting to renege, he gritted his teeth and carried that box of 'candy' home to do the homework, beginning to write furiously.

Mu Youyu, Jiang Liangjin.

After the winter break passed and not long after school started, Mu Youyu raised two snails.

She had personally caught them in the school garden, one named Manman, the other Tun Tun.

Every day after school she would crouch in front of the coffee table to observe them for a long time, watching them climb up the glass wall, then slowly slide down.

Jiang Liangjin didn't dare touch them much, afraid of crushing their shells, so he only handed over vegetable leaves from the side, occasionally being pulled by Mu Youyu to squat together and watch.

Mu Nian, Mu Youyu, Youbao (little treasure) is a nickname for Mu Youyu? Actually "little treasure" is a term of endearment for Mu Youyu. It's a named entity? It's a nickname used for Mu Youyu. According to the glossary, "little treasure" maps to Youbao. So we should include Youbao as a named entity.

Mu Nian, Youbao.

Mu Youyu didn't even look up, "Let them race, see who reaches the finish line first."

Mu Nian squatted down to look for a while, then asked, "How long have they been crawling?"

"An hour already." Mu Youyu counted on her fingers, "Tun Tun is a bit faster, but I think Manman is gathering strength; Manman will win."

Mu Nian stared at the two snails whose movement trails were hardly visible, and fell into silence.

Half an hour later, just before he left, he glanced again; the two snails on the chopsticks were one up, one down, the distance still no more than two centimeters, the outcome undecided.

Mu Nian.

"... Darling really has patience." spoken by Mu Nian? It's ambiguous but likely Mu Nian speaking. "Mm-hmm!" likely Mu Youyu responding. But we need to see if any named entity appears. The line 56 is spoken by Mu Nian (since he's the one who just looked). We'll treat Mu Nian as named.

That evening, Mu Xi returned from the martial arts hall, passing by the sofa, her slippers scraping the floor and making an extremely faint crisp sound.

He moved his shoe aside, saw a small patch of damp trace on the floor, with scattered fragments of unclear shell shape at the edge, and then realized it was those two disgusting snails!

At least it was the sister who raised it; Mu Xi endured the discomfort in her heart, went to get wet wipes, wrapped up the remains, then squatted down and wiped the floor clean.

After finishing, Mu Xi hesitated about whether to proactively tell his younger sister.

But after thinking, he felt that if his younger sister knew, she would likely be upset and might ignore him, so he decided to pretend nothing had happened.

The next day after school, Mu Youyu searched for a long time by the tea table but couldn't find Slowly and Gulp.

Jiang Liangjin, who had been waiting nicely on the sofa, looked up and saw her nose was already red, asking, "What's wrong?"

"Gulp and Slowly are missing." Her voice was muffled, with a nasal tone.

Jiang Liangjin walked over and squatted beside her, asking, "They're probably dead, right?"

He had long found those two snails unpleasant!

"No! I don't want them to die!"

Mu Youyu shook her head firmly, "I've raised them for so long; they crawl onto the chopsticks every day... they should be able to live a bit longer."

"It's fine; let's go to the garden and find another one."

"No."

"Then shall we look for two?"

"No!"

"Buy?"

"No!"

Jiang Liangjin suggested several methods, but Mu Youyu rejected them all; he eagerly wanted to divert her attention, saying, "Let's go out and play? You promised me yesterday."

"... Okay, but only for a little while."

The two ran into the garden one after the other, played for a while, and Mu Youyu was no longer sad.

She had fun, squatted at the garden's edge, picked a small wild flower, held it up to Jiang Liangjin, and said, "I give this to you; this is the realm I have conquered for you!"

This is what she learned from a TV drama yesterday; of course, it was Shen Ningmu who watched the drama.

Jiang Liangjin took it and pinned it to his shirt pocket, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty's grace."

"You're welcome." Mu Youyu then took out a candy from her pocket, unwrapped it, and handed it to his mouth, saying, "Here's a reward for you."

Jiang Liangjin lowered his head and held it in his mouth.

Mu Youyu watched his cheek bulge a little, poked it, and asked, "Is it sweet?"

"Sweet." Jiang Liangjin asked, "Have you eaten it?"

"I've had it; this is the second one." Mu Youyu pointed to her own pocket, "There's still one left, saving it for tonight."

Jiang Liangjin: "Then I'll also keep half for you to eat tonight?"

Mu Youyu: "You're so smart! But I don't want to eat your saliva."

"Not bad; I learned it from you."

When summer vacation arrived, Mu Youyu's interest class wasn't demanding; occasionally bored, she would accompany Mu Xi in practicing piano.

She sat beside him without fuss, occasionally humming a few lines, occasionally lowering her head to flip through her older brother's sheet music.

Seeing that she could sit still, Song Ningsheng simply invited Tan Jingyan, the teacher who taught Mu Xi, to come once more each week, and incidentally give Mu Youyu some lessons.

Teaching one or two is the same; Tan Jingyan initially didn't think much of it.

But Mu Youyu learned quickly, had a good ear, and picked up hand positions as soon as they were shown.

Once, after listening to her play a melody she had casually written, Tan Jingyan fell silent for a moment, looked at Mu Xi, and said, "A You's musical sense is just like yours; it's innate, and if properly nurtured, her future achievements might not be worse than yours."

Mu Xi nodded, "Mm-hmm."

Tan Jingyan tentatively sought Mu Youyu's opinion, hoping she would study piano seriously.

But Mu Youyu thought that the colors and lines of painting were more fun than piano, so she felt no inclination.

She sat on a small chair, swinging her legs, looked up at Tan Jingyan, and replied crisply, "Teacher Tan, I prefer painting; I want to learn that."

Tan Jingyan was unwilling to give up and asked, "What's fun about painting?"

She thought seriously, "I can draw anything I want, and add color; piano only lets you hear sound."

Tan Jingyan still wanted to persuade her, but Mu Xi answered for his sister, "My sister can study whatever she wants; if she doesn't like something, she doesn't have to learn it."

Tan Jingyan had no choice but to relent, "Fine, then I won't push you; if you change your mind someday, just come find the teacher anytime."

Mu Youyu was very polite, "Thank you, teacher!"

Thus, the matter of learning piano was put aside.

Mu Youyu's attention quickly shifted back to painting.

Every corner of the house held her doodles—on the study walls, dining tablecloth, and behind the hallway's decorative picture frames—hidden were various round‑lined little figures, houses, and flowers.

Mu Yunshuo gathered a stack of drawing paper, sorted it into folders, thinking to wait for Grandfather Mu to return and show him.

The day Grandfather Mu returned, he immediately contacted a highly respected figure in the international art world—Lin Tingsong.

In the international art world, this person is a presence capable of upholding half the country.

He has high accomplishment in oil painting, Chinese painting, printmaking, and so on; his disciples are spread worldwide, but in recent years he rarely takes on students personally and has no closed‑door disciples.

Grandfather Mu did not go through an intermediary; he directly presented the Mu family name and delivered a visiting card.

The Mu family's standing at home is what it is; Lin Tingsong still gave them this face.

On the day of their meeting, Lin Tingsong arrived at the Mu residence as promised.

Upon opening the door, Grandfather Mu got straight to the point, displaying Mu Youyu's paintings and hoping he would accept his granddaughter as a disciple.

Lin Tingsong flipped through those paintings, seeing the spontaneous brushstrokes and imaginative compositions, sensing spirit, yet he only nodded.

"Your granddaughter indeed has talent, but I'm sorry, I haven't taken on any disciples in recent years."

His attitude was gentle, and his words were reasonable.

Grandfather Mu didn't get the answer he expected, his face darkened, and he asked, "What do you mean by that? Isn't my granddaughter good enough for your eyes?"

Lin Tingsong spoke frankly, "I don't mean that; I simply lack the energy to teach young children. If they were a bit older, around sixteen with some foundation, I could still consider it."

Grandpa Mu was unhappy, 'Look at the person first before you speak.'

Lin Tingsong was about to take his leave when Mu Youyu was brought back from outside by Qing Ma.

She burst into the house, arms full of a chubby little puppy with a bell on its neck, crying, 'Great-grandpa! Great-grandpa! I picked up a little milk puppy!'

Grandpa Mu's expression changed, and he affectionately reached out to her, 'Hey, come over and let Grandpa have a look!'

Mu Youyu hurried over, only then noticing a stranger present; she stopped in front of Grandpa, blinking her big eyes, 'Hello, uncle!'

Lin Tingsong lowered his gaze to look at her; she had fair, glowing skin, her eyes large and bright, clear and clean, with a fluffy little puppy curled in the crook of her arm, sitting quietly and unusually well-behaved.

The Mu family hadn't produced a girl in generations, yet she wasn't spoiled at all—nothing like the spoiled, willful child he had imagined.

He softened his voice: 'Hello, little friend.'

Grandpa Mu narrowed his eyes at him.

As expected, Lin Tingsong changed his tone: 'I can teach her, but only for six months; if within that time her work satisfies me, I'll continue teaching.'

Grandpa Mu pondered, then nodded: 'All right.'

Letting his precious granddaughter study for half a year is fine; after six months, if she's still interested, we can get another teacher.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than an angry shout came from the doorway: 'Lin Tingsong! You've picked on her again?'

Tan Jingyan strode over, glaring at Lin Tingsong, face full of anger: 'I'm telling you, Ah Yu's willingness to study art with you is a favor—don't be shameless!'

He had just come out of the music room; hearing the servant say someone from the art world had arrived, he went to see who it was, never expecting it to be this guy, Lin Tingsong.

Lin Tingsong blinked, then laughed: 'Tan Jingyan? What are you doing here… oh, I forgot they hired you at great expense to teach Young Master Two of the Mu family.'

Tan Jingyan and Lin Tingsong have never gotten along well.

He is a master of the international music world, while Lin Tingsong's standing in the international art world is comparable.

They have known each other for a long time, often being compared, and every time they meet they exchange a few barbs.

'You teach your music, I teach my art.' Lin Tingsong waved his hand, 'Don't interfere with my affairs.'

Tan Jingyan snorted coldly, 'I insist on meddling! If you can't teach her well, don't harm Ah Yu—I can find her a better teacher! On the piano side, I can teach too; her talent isn't much worse than Xiao Xi's.'

'I can't teach her?' Lin Tingsong seemed to have heard something amusing, 'In six months I'll let her choose for herself—then we'll see who she picks.'

'What's there to choose? Has Ah Yu agreed?'

'Her grandfather agreed!'

'So what? I know other teachers who are younger than you, old man.'

'Hey, young? Can youth teach as well as I do? Can your years of painting match mine?'