Chapter 1247: with translation of chapter title

NO. 151: What could be the problem?

The window was bright and the desk clean, magical heavenly light splashed in, slanting onto the windowsill, leaving warm patches of light.

Vigorous children sat in those seats, each making small movements they thought were inconspicuous.

At the nursery, different teachers advocated different classroom rules, but there was one point they all shared: a leniency that as long as one did not disturb classroom order, they would not be stopped.

As a welfare education facility for infants and toddlers, even in the demon realm area, they would not impose harsh education on children, nor would they go to the extremes of the feathered serpent tradition's all-out indoctrination.

Whether in teaching method or content, this is considered the most conservative approach in demon realm education, almost comparable to ordinary human schools in the mortal realm.

However, the students and teachers here are anything but ordinary.

Precisely because of this, an educational approach that focuses on cultivating interest with actual learning as a supplement should naturally make classroom order appear especially lax and free‑spirited, but, as mentioned before, one of this nursery's operating goals is to have these innately special children learn to respect rules.

Thus, within the varied classroom rules of different teachers, there often exist special ironclad laws; violating them brings a punishment severe enough to be remembered for a lifetime.

Most of the nursery's children have achieved such feats, after all children are naturally lively and active, and their differing physical qualities and innate talents make it easy to develop blind confidence, leading them to challenge authority like newborn calves unafraid of tigers.

In this regard, the more outstanding one's physical and intellectual talents, the more likely they are to experience an unsettled childhood.

As long as they consider themselves geniuses, they are destined to feel the world's constriction through repeated frustrations from challenging authority.

By contrast, although Xiao Aomo is said to be a half‑demon, no matter how you calculate he is merely a human child type, and thus he recognizes his own weakness earlier than all his peers.

Thus it became well known at the nursery at that time—Xiao Aomo always followed the rules, and even if you forgot what a rule was, you could go ask him.

Fond of source energy cultivation, they refuse to stuff crystal cores into their brains; many children at the nursery make this choice, most having been urged by elders to lay such a foundation, yet consequently they lack the seemingly trivial but actually T0‑version 'photographic memory' tag.

Then, not long after, they will abruptly awaken after being long‑held down in academic performance by a 'human little boy'.

Or they might simply want to teach that 'human little boy' a lesson.

They naturally have that ability.

After all, although the demon realm area is called that, it is essentially a non‑human special zone, and the diversity of its residents' species is even greater than the various branches encompassed by the so‑called 'Sakaz' tribe of Kazdail.

Here, non‑human races that surpass humans are everywhere at the starting line, and children's conflicts developing into physical altercations need no complicated reason.

If Xiao Aomo were merely an ordinary human infant, he would likely have the chance to experience classic school bullying.

But the result is clear to everyone.

Xiao Aomo, who loves observation and thinks rationally, even if initially immature as the top overall scorer, stubbornly played the role of the standout for a time, but that was merely a shortfall in accumulation.

Simply by conscious observation and purposeful thought, he already counts as an 'enlightened one' among children.

He never relaxed his attention to the environment, his contemplation of his situation, and even early on sought out teachers.

A certain vampire's grandiose speech before the feathered serpent can be said to be a 'reasonable conception' made without adult interference.

But the reality is that adults did intervene.

Xiao Aomo, devoid of any 'childish pride,' has known from a young age the dimensional‑strike technique of 'I call the teacher,' and most importantly, he knows whom to ask to be truly effective.

As mentioned before, each teacher at the nursery follows different classroom rules, corresponding to different life philosophies, and also to their own likes and dislikes in dealing with people.

Some teachers do not care about the students' conflicts, while some even enjoy fanning the flames, just to see what they want to see.

But there are also teachers who strive to create complete order, not allowing fights based on a momentary idea.

Moreover, some teachers try to foster a family‑like atmosphere of friendship and will actively prevent conflicts from arising.

At single‑digit ages, and in a barely changing growth environment, many children fail to notice these teachers' deliberately externalized manners of conduct, let alone compare and summarize them.

When they occasionally try to seek adult help but end up asking the wrong person, Xiao Aomo has already found the method of enlisting the strongest external force, and from it he has realized the consciousness of 'taking turns to seek help.'

One cannot always rely only on the most agreeable person, nor constantly depend on the most effective one, nor let those folks think they only go to teachers; one must find a way that, even if the teacher is absent, can still convey that same pressure……

As a child who has been pondering these things since kindergarten, Xiao Aomo, in a sense, can already be equated with those who rely on 'rebirth crystal core' technology or reincarnation‑type source energy to unravel the mystery of the womb.

But precisely because his background is clear and his differences understood, he has attracted the attention of many adults, who rate him as the most low‑maintenance and most promising child.

Compared to source energy or physical cultivation talent, this sort of gradual transcendence of the talent category—this kind of alteration—is an even rarer trait.

As for this, the children are not aware.

They merely notice that the more outstanding they are, the more they can perceive the teachers' favoritism toward Xiao Aomo; but their excellence is limited by environment and time, completely unable to keep up with the teachers' perspective, so they only become more puzzled, more irritated, and even more envious.

Until, by the still‑incremental learning, discovering, and summarizing of Xiao Aomo, he realized that giving appropriate positive and negative feedback to those around him is also important; thus he gradually restrained his unconscious outward behavior, began to actively show a harmless, friendly side, and slightly mended those already childish rifts.

Children's joys and sorrows have always been like this—just child's play—but the joys and sorrows of child's play still need to be filled with sincerity, not merely brushed off with the same childish perfunctoriness.

They may heal easily, but they are certainly not to be healed casually.

Valuing is the primary principle; this is the insight Aomo gained when he was their age, and with this purpose in mind, his reintegration into the group and the repair of all relationships proceeded smoothly.

Of course, he did not become the children's king.

In a group of children whose talents and abilities are strong enough to easily produce bloody incidents, the title of 'children's king' is often a beautiful tragedy; Xiao Aomo truly lacks the fortune to enjoy it, and he has no intention of becoming such a conspicuous figure.

He merely shaped himself into a peripheral tool; although some younger juniors affectionately call him brother, most of the time he is like the protagonist of a low‑tier mobile game—others think of him when they need him, and otherwise he remains unnoticed.

This life continued until his early graduation, when Morrison Linnton took him away; only then did everyone realize that the class, indeed the school's most versatile brick, had suddenly vanished.

Moreover, he disappeared earlier than everyone else, and many children could not get used to it.

Especially those who habitually turned to Xiao Aomo for solutions when problems arose, treating him as an external brain, felt at once like discovering a mobile‑game player had abandoned the game, leaving the whole world stalled as a game character.

From a feeling of loss as if life were missing a puzzle piece, to a frantic sense as if one's entire life were missing a puzzle piece……

"It sounds like some kind of lifelong regret," Miss Qian remarked through the screen, then became alert.

"Little Snake, how many female classmates did you know back then!"

"Although the promises made in kindergarten are also a common topic in Jidong comics, please rest assured; there are many things children don't understand, but the only thing they understand is that they must not take promises lightly, which in the demon realm area counts as the most basic common‑sense education."

"So you never made a single promise?" Miss Qian was not completely diverted from the topic.

"There have been, but only with the teachers including Grandma, that is, the talk of severing ties, which is essentially a contract as well."

"It's her again, I'm still holding a reserved attitude~!" The girl raised her index finger and poked the screen, though the camera didn't actually catch that detail, "I'm very doubtful of the demons' ethics; Little Snake is not allowed to be alone with her!"

"Alright, then may I ask about the progress of revising the Gurrit universe story on Miss Qian's side?"

"That straightforward?" Miss Qian was also surprised; upon hearing that sentence she immediately exclaimed proudly, "Eighty percent done!"

"With Digital Sauce helping to review, and having contacted the publishing platform, we expect adjustments to be completed by mid‑December, then we'll show it to everyone; if there are no problems, we can promote it for the Spring Festival!"

We still need to consider releasing the original version, right? I don't think we'll be in it, although you definitely will be.

That's why we moved up the Spring Festival promotion!! This way we can generate more buzz, and also avoid the timing of that version, preventing fan arguments—Shuoma Jiang knows a lot about this kind of doujin release!

That would be perfect. We should let Shi Ma, A Peng, and Nei Hai Yu Tai know ahead of time. Compared to syncing online, I think we might as well just meet up.

Oh! Sure! But Xiao She, what's that tail behind you……

"Miss Huo Er Hai Ya," he said, turning back and glancing at the swaying gray-black tail tip; Aomo expressionlessly pointed to the silver-haired woman who happened to be probing nearby, saying, "Don't disturb others' conversation."

"I really want to see Xiao Qian," the woman said, covering half her face. "After school starts and I return to Boundary Gate District, being this far away feels really lonely." She seemed especially upset.

Is that Xiao Qian? Can I also see her? Xiao Aomo?

"?!" Upon hearing that familiar voice, Miss Qian went rigid and her fur stood on end on the other side of the screen—"Xiao She, you promised that earlier!"

Yes, she's not alone—Miss Huo Er Hai Ya is also there.

Aomo walked expressionlessly down the sidewalk, amid the astonished gazes of passersby.

At that moment, to his left and right were a nun and the head of a feathered serpent; they were somewhat close, the abundant pressure could still be endured, but each one's back of the head had already blocked the screen from his view.

This let him silently pull the screen away from his face, allowing him to naturally move back.

What's the problem with this?