Chapter 11
Time passed quickly.
At seven o’clock that morning, He Zhen and Yu Chen went to kindergarten together to register. Yu Chen normally woke up at eight, so being hauled out of bed this early left him groggy all the way until he was already sitting in the car.
The business car specially used to take He Zhen to school was very spacious. He Zhen could sit in the back to eat or do homework.
The driver was called Old Liu. Seeing that He Zhen had actually gone to school today without throwing a tantrum, he said to Li Huan in the front passenger seat, “Sure enough, having company really does help.”
Li Huan turned back to look at Yu Chen, whose little head was wrapped up in a bunny hat, making him look adorably round and sturdy. His smile carried a trace of worry. “Chenchen has never been to kindergarten before. I’m afraid he won’t adapt well.”
People always said a new year brought a new atmosphere. Li Huan felt that for Yu Chen, today was no different from celebrating the New Year. It deserved a proper sense of ceremony for his first day of school.
He had specially bought Yu Chen several sets of beautiful new clothes, unwilling to let him dress worse than the other children. After all, the children at that kindergarten were either rich or powerful. It would be easy for Yu Chen to feel the gap. Children were not as clueless as people thought. Yu Chen was sensitive by nature and more sensible than most children his age. If he were to feel wronged, it would be very bad for his healthy growth.
Yu Chen looked especially lovely in the bunny hat. He was fluffy from head to toe, like a cute lop-eared rabbit.
He was terribly sleepy. Even though he could barely hold his little head upright anymore, his right hand still gripped a small biscuit tightly, and every so often he would remember to take a bite.
He Zhen was long accustomed to waking up this early and looked full of energy. He had already begun imagining how those annoying brats in class would look when they saw him bringing a new friend back with him.
Yu Chenchen looked way too cute today!
The cutest in the whole world!
In the entire kindergarten, who else had such a pretty little underling?
He Zhen secretly glanced at Yu Chen, then asked with feigned reserve, “Yu Chenchen.”
Yu Chen squinted his big eyes and did not respond.
He Zhen put on a stern face. “Yu Chenchen, there are chocolate hazelnut cream puffs.”
Yu Chen, half-dozing, immediately lifted his head. “Huh?”
He Zhen gave him an I knew it look. “Why are you so sleepy? Do you want to sit in my lap?”
For safety reasons, Yu Chen was seated in a car child seat. Hearing that, Li Huan hesitated before advising, “Young Master, the car will jolt while moving. You won’t be able to hold Chenchen securely, and the two of you could get hurt.”
“Hmph.” After his offer to cuddle was rejected, He Zhen immediately turned his head toward the window, hiding his frustration behind a cool, aloof front.
Yu Chen was a thoughtful child. Even though he was very sleepy, he still did not forget to comfort He Zhen. “Boss, you can hold me after we get out.”
A faint snort escaped He Zhen’s nose. “I don’t want to.”
Outside Yingzhuo Kindergarten, several luxury cars were driving away in an orderly line.
Little He Zhi’an had already arrived a long time ago and had been eagerly waiting for He Zhen and Yu Chen.
Ten minutes later, delight exploded in He Zhi’an’s eyes. “Big Boss! Second Boss!”
A look of astonishment flashed across the face of the He family’s housekeeper.
When had their young master joined a gang?
And apparently he was the one with the lowest status.
The He family’s business car stopped at the kindergarten entrance, and the other vehicles all made way. After getting out, Li Huan first greeted He Zhi’an, then helped the two little boys out of the car.
He Zhi’an was so excited that he immediately ran over to Yu Chen, ready to hold one of Yu Chen’s hands while He Zhen held the other.
He Zhen shot him a glance. Under the excuse of helping Yu Chen straighten his little backpack, he scooped Yu Chen right up into his arms and hugged him close.
Housekeeper He smiled. “Young Master He is so strong!”
He Zhen smiled at He Zhi’an in a deliberately provocative way, monopolizing Yu Chen’s hugging rights as he carried the plump little milk dumpling into the school.
The teachers greeting them at the entrance saw that He Zhen was carrying an unfamiliar child, and they all praised him at once. “What a beautiful child. Is this Zhenzhen’s friend?”
He Zhen proudly curled his lips and held Yu Chen even tighter.
Seeing that, He Zhi’an did not get upset at all. He trotted after He Zhen and, from behind him, secretly teased Yu Chen and pinched his cheek.
Yu Chen was still sleepy. He blankly curved his eyes at He Zhi’an, and that single dazed little look nearly melted He Zhi’an’s heart.
He was so jealous of He Zhen!
He wanted a little brother too!
When they reached the building entrance, Li Huan stopped He Zhen just as he was about to head upstairs.
Crouching down, he explained, “Young Master, Chenchen is in Middle Class.”
“What?”
“What?”
The two boys asked in unison.
While He Zhi’an was still stunned, He Zhen had already puffed up like an angry little pufferfish. “Why?”
Li Huan explained, “Because Chenchen is not yet five, so he can’t go into the senior class.”
At once, He Zhen wilted like an eggplant struck by frost. Pressing his lips together unhappily, he began sulking.
Only then did Yu Chen learn that He Zhen was not in Middle Class either. Before he could even comfort him, the new-student teacher, Miss Chen, had already come jogging over.
Miss Chen was pretty and approachable, and Yu Chen’s attention was completely drawn to her. After she finished discussing his basic situation with Li Huan, Yu Chen sweetly wished her good morning.
It was also Miss Chen’s first time seeing such a cute child. She could hardly wait to hug Yu Chen into her arms, take his hand, and say goodbye to everyone.
Watching Yu Chen’s swaying little figure leave, He Zhen and He Zhi’an silently looked at each other. A visible layer of resentment settled over both of them.
Yu Chen’s class had three teachers in total. Miss Chen was the vice homeroom teacher, while the homeroom teacher and the childcare teacher were called Teacher Zhao and Teacher Yang.
In a strange new environment, Yu Chen was very well-behaved. Following Miss Chen’s instructions, he went to memorize where to place his towel and cup, then finally put his change of clothes into his very own locker.
Because he was a transfer student joining midway, the only locker left for him was the one in the very top row. Yu Chen was much smaller than the other children his age, so opening and closing the locker was extremely difficult for him. Even so, he still stood on tiptoe with all his might and earnestly completed the task.
Just as he turned to Miss Chen with a little smile, hoping for praise, a stern and unfamiliar face suddenly entered his view.
Teacher Zhao, the homeroom teacher, held the home-school notebook in her hand and looked Yu Chen up and down from head to toe. Then, leaning against the lockers, she said to Miss Chen, “I thought he was some rich family’s young master. Turns out his parents are just workers.”
Miss Chen tilted her head to glance at Yu Chen and gently pinched his little cheek. “Chenchen, why don’t you go play with Teacher Yang first, okay?”
Yu Chen obediently nodded. Before Teacher Yang led him away, he cast one fearful look at the homeroom teacher, then gathered his courage and softly greeted her.
“So polite.” After Yu Chen left, Miss Chen said to Teacher Zhao, “The child’s mother passed away. In the future, try not to mention his family in front of him.”
Teacher Zhao’s face was full of disdain. “A child like this should’ve just been sent to an ordinary kindergarten. Yet they insisted on sending him here.”
Miss Chen said, “The He family probably introduced him.”
Yingzhuo Kindergarten was the most famous elite school in Hai City, divided into middle school, elementary school, and kindergarten sections. The parents of the children here were certainly all wealthy, but compared to the He family, they were still insignificant.
Just because He Zhen had refused to come to kindergarten, the principal had already been driven nearly frantic, trying every possible method—yet none of it had worked.
And now, after half a month, He Zhen had finally come.
The principal himself had gone to Senior Class One first thing in the morning to visit He Zhen, even bringing along the most popular figurine gift of the season.
But He Zhen did not seem especially appreciative. Out of basic politeness, he only said thank you once, then sat on a little stool with a frown the whole time, not joining any of the games with the other children.
The principal asked the teacher, “What’s wrong with Xiao Zhen today?”
The teacher hesitated. “According to An’an, the Second Boss in Xiao Zhen’s gang was forcibly separated from them.”
The principal could not make heads or tails of such trendy new vocabulary. He mulled it over for a long while before muttering to himself and leaving.
Meanwhile, in Middle Class Two, little Yu Chen was brightly and loudly learning a nursery rhyme with the teacher.
He liked Miss Chen best, because she always smiled at him and spoke in such a gentle, warm voice.
Teacher Zhao also liked to smile—but only at the other children. Whenever she looked at him, she always frowned coldly.
Yu Chen did not know what he had done to make Teacher Zhao unhappy, so he did everything very carefully, afraid of being scolded.
At eleven-thirty noon, the fragrant meal cart was pushed in. Having been hungry all morning, Yu Chen happily lined up with the other children and went to the washroom.
The children in Middle Class Two liked Yu Chen very much. Although they had not yet had much chance to chat with him that morning, everyone liked crowding near him. Even when washing hands, the line behind him was the longest.
“Thank you, faucet!”
Humming the nursery rhyme he had just learned, Yu Chen walked back inside with cheerful little steps to eat lunch.
But when his meal was handed to him, he suddenly ran into a problem.
At kindergarten, the children had to use chopsticks to eat.
Whether before transmigrating into the book or after, Yu Chen had never once used chopsticks in his life.
Today’s lunch was braised pork ribs, tomato beef with egg, and mixed shrimp medley—all dishes Yu Chen liked.
He fiddled with the two chopsticks in his hands, his big eyes darting left and right as he tried to learn from the other children at his table how to use them.
But he thought learning chopsticks was far too hard. No matter how he held the two little wooden sticks, they simply would not obey him at all. He could not pick up anything.
The other children had already started eating. The little girl sitting across from Yu Chen kindly asked, “Don’t you know how to use chopsticks?”
Yu Chen shook his little head. “No.”
The little girl immediately raised her hand. “Teacher Zhao, the new child doesn’t know how to use chopsticks. What should we do?”
Teacher Zhao first smiled gently at the girl. But when she turned to Yu Chen, her eyes went cold, and her face instantly hardened. “You’re already in Middle Class and you still can’t use chopsticks? Why are your abilities so poor?”
Yu Chen trembled, and tears escaped on their own.
He hurriedly grabbed the chopsticks again and tried with all his might to learn properly.
Teacher Zhao gave a cold snort and said to Teacher Yang, “Just as expected. Families like this simply don’t value education.”
Yu Chen pouted and sniffled in grievance. After struggling with the chopsticks for a long time, his stomach growled with hunger.
As he watched the other children gradually finish eating, he cast a frightened glance at the teachers. Miss Chen was not in the classroom at noon, leaving only Teacher Zhao and Teacher Yang inside.
Yu Chen’s little belly was starving terribly. He swallowed hard, then secretly reached out with his little hand and picked up a piece of rib.
“Yu Chen! No grabbing food with your hands!”
“That’s no way to behave!”
When Teacher Zhao got angry, her eyes widened into perfect circles, and her sharp scolding voice echoed through the entire classroom.
Yu Chen was so startled that the rib in his hand slipped with a plop and rolled onto the floor.
Teacher Zhao frowned tightly and barked at him, “So filthy. Pick it up!”
Yu Chen was trembling with fear. As he crouched down to pick up the rib, he could not hold it in any longer, and strings of tears pattered down his round little face.
He Zhen had taught him so many things, but he had never told him what to do when a teacher got angry.
Yu Chen’s eyes were as red as a little rabbit’s. Hidden beneath the desk, he sobbed in a tiny voice, “Boss, I miss you…”
