Chapter 114 (Extra)
Time flew by, and in no time at all, the start of the new school semester had arrived.
Once school was in session, An An had a heavier schedule. Kindergarten let out around three or four in the afternoon, and then he had to go to extracurricular classes.
He was still speaking with a bit of a lisp because of that missing front tooth, so he tended to keep his lips pursed, giving him a rather aloof, “young master” look. In those moments, he looked strikingly like Xie Siheng.
I swear I won’t laugh anymore.jpg
Hahahahahahahahaha…
Chi Wang quietly said to Xie Siheng, “This kid really can pull off two faces—right now he’s like your perfect mini-me. Why don’t you pass him the Buddha beads from your wrist? Gotta start cultivating our little ‘royal Buddhist child of Beijing’ from a young age.”
Xie Siheng: “…”
Will that joke ever die?
*
The past few days, Chi Wang actually had some free time and could drop An An off at school.
Xie Siheng wanted to come along, but Chi Wang turned him down. “It’s just dropping a kid at school—no need for two parents to escort him. Think about it: how many families send both parents on the school run?”
Most of the time, An An got dropped off by their housekeeper, or sometimes Chu Qing and Xie Yunting, or even Xie Siheng. Chi Wang rarely had the chance because he was usually up by 5:30 a.m. to work out for an hour and a half, then had breakfast at 7:00 and hurried off to the office. As the boss, he tried to set a good example and was rarely late, which left him no time to take An An.
But now that work had slowed down, he could choose to work remotely. Hence, he was free to drop An An off.
*
Inside the car, Chi Wang’s mischievous streak emerged. He wanted to tease An An into talking. “Hey, An An, have you thought about how you’ll talk to your classmates? If you keep that frosty expression, you might end up like Dad Xie—only one friend in the whole world, Uncle Zuo!”
“…” An An, still a bit pouty, said, “I won’t keeb my fabe col’ all the time. Dad, don’t be lookin’ at me like a sideshow.”
He punctuated his displeasure by giving Chi Wang a light punch to the chest.
Chi Wang: Hehehe.
Kids are born to be teased!
Fighting back a grin, he said, “I’m not laughing at—hey, let me see if your new tooth has grown in yet.”
An An refused to open his mouth, so Chi Wang had to coax him. Finally, An An said, “Don’t laugh at me.”
Chi Wang nodded solemnly. Only then did An An open his mouth.
Chi Wang gently propped open An An’s jaw to check. He could see a sliver of white emerging from his gums. Smiling, he said, “It’s coming in! Remember, do not lick it. If you keep licking, it might grow crooked.”
An An nodded very earnestly. He’d been careful all week—eating slowly so he wouldn’t hinder the new tooth’s growth.
*
They arrived near the kindergarten, but because it was the first day of school, the nearby parking lots were packed. Their driver had to drop them off at a corner so Chi Wang and An An could walk the rest of the way.
Chi Wang carried An An’s backpack and held his hand as they headed for the gate. Before long, they ran into some of An An’s classmates. Thanks to his good memory, Chi Wang recognized one little girl named Ni Ni, and a boy named Zhen Zhen.
Zhen Zhen was the most excited to see An An. He practically launched himself at An An, smiling in a way that was almost fawning. “Brother An An! Finally! I tried calling you, but you never answered. I missed you so much!”
He even took out a little toy figurine, presenting it as though offering treasure.
Zhen Zhen’s mom came over and pulled him aside, looking a bit embarrassed. “All right, talk about it at school.”
But Zhen Zhen protested, “No, Mom, let me go! I wanna talk to my brother An An!”
An An accepted the toy, then opened his arms and gave Zhen Zhen a quick hug. He offered him a small, closed-lip smile.
Thrilled, Zhen Zhen reached out to hold An An’s hand, but An An withdrew his own and shook his head. He glanced up at Chi Wang.
Zhen Zhen paused, finally noticing Chi Wang. He looked up politely. “Hello, Uncle.”
Chi Wang responded with a friendly grin. “Hi there, hi there.”
He turned to Zhen Zhen’s mom. “So, Zhen Zhen’s dad didn’t bring him today?”
She pulled a face at her son, who was still hovering around An An. Then she explained to Chi Wang, “He’s busy with work today, so I’m dropping off Zhen Zhen. By the way, does An An not use his phone much? Zhen Zhen tried calling him a bunch of times over summer break, but no one ever picked up.”
Smiling, Chi Wang glanced over at An An, who was now walking ahead. Zhen Zhen circled him like an eager puppy, chatting a mile a minute, while Ni Ni hovered on the other side, trying to get a word in but being pushed aside by Zhen Zhen’s enthusiasm.
Meanwhile, Ni Ni’s dad was shooting death-glares at them all from a distance.
Chi Wang: …(sweating profusely.jpg)
Doing his best to ignore Ni Ni’s dad, he chuckled to Zhen Zhen’s mom. “An An hardly ever uses his phone. He’s been quite busy, too—kept going out of town this summer.”
She looked puzzled. “Out of town?”
Chi Wang’s smile turned mischievous. “He’s popular, so everyone was competing to have him over. He only spent a few days at home during the entire two months of break!”
This sounded perfectly plausible to Zhen Zhen’s mom. After all, An An was a real stand-out kid in their combined Kindergarten-class chat group, with his cute looks and sweet, polite nature. No wonder teachers and classmates alike adored him. He had a bunch of “followers” in class who always wanted to play with him. Even her own boy was no exception. Over the summer, every time he got something fun or cool, he’d immediately say he wanted to give it to “brother An An.”
Zhen Zhen’s mom shook her head in exasperation at the thought, but didn’t dispute it.
*
Chatting away, they soon reached the kindergarten. It was naturally quite a high-end institution with a large playground, on-site auditorium and performance stage, plus interest-based clubs and bilingual education.
Chi Wang’s favorite thing about this kindergarten was the cafeteria, which served very tasty meals. Whenever he was the one dropping An An off, he’d try to stick around and grab a bite there. Not that he lacked good food at home—the housekeeper had been with them for five or six years and was an excellent cook—but, well, sometimes you just want something different.
He wasn’t the only one with that idea: after finishing the registration and drop-off, plenty of parents lingered in the lounge to chat.
Thanks to An An, Chi Wang was quite popular among these parents. If Xie Siheng were the one dropping An An off, no one would talk to him—his aura was too intimidating, too cold. No one wanted to have their warm enthusiasm meet a stone wall. But Chi Wang was the opposite: always smiling, eyes crinkling, exuding a warm and friendly vibe. He already knew a lot of the other parents.
That said, there was one parent who kept glaring at him coldly from time to time: Ni Ni’s dad—the father of the prettiest girl in class.
Someone asked him, “Why doesn’t An An smile anymore? He used to be so smiley. Is he sad about the new semester starting?”
Chi Wang replied, “Not at all. He just lost a tooth.”
“Oh… I see.”
Chi Wang’s gaze drifted to An An. Since it was the first day, there were no regular classes, so the teacher had arranged a movie screening.
An An sat up straight, back nice and upright, watching the film very intently. But the kids beside him were restless, one trying to touch his hair, another trying to show him some cartoon stickers.
An An managed to multitask—he kept watching the movie while simultaneously taking the hand trying to touch his hair and gently, politely placing it aside. The classmate showing him stickers earned a cursory thumbs-up and a thin-lipped little smile.
Suddenly, one kid from the back tried to wrangle his way to the seat next to An An, pushing aside the friend who’d been petting An An’s hair. Instantly, the two started fighting.
The teacher rushed over to intervene, picking up the newcomer and putting him back in the rear row. During all the commotion, An An didn’t so much as turn his head. He stayed focused on the movie, seemingly unbothered by the fuss around him.
If I don’t see it, it doesn’t exist.jpg
It made sense in its own way.
A parent nearby turned to Chi Wang. “So, do you have any betrothal plans for An An? If not, can we consider something for our child?”
Chi Wang laughed. “Come on, that’s so old-fashioned. We don’t really do arranged marriages nowadays.”
“But you never know,” the parent insisted. “I see your An An and my baby really get along. Could be fate!”
Before Chi Wang could respond, his attention was grabbed by the kids again. Another boy came up, essentially bribing the “sticker child” with a box of chocolates to hand over the seat beside An An. Then he sat down next to An An and excitedly pulled a small box from his pocket, opening it with a flourish.
Even from a distance, Chi Wang’s sharp eyes spotted a massive diamond ring inside, glittering like crazy—and definitely not cheap.
Chi Wang burst out laughing and turned to the boy’s mom. “Well, well, Fan Fan’s mom—look at your kid!”
Fan Fan’s mom squinted, a bit nearsighted, and asked, “What’s he doing?”
Chi Wang all but wheezed with amusement. “He’s proposing to my An An! So romantic.”
Fan Fan’s mom: “…”
She didn’t even seem surprised, just mildly exasperated. “It’s not the first time. Last time, he tried to give An An his dad’s car keys.”
“Mine’s done that, too—took our gold ornament to give to An An. Good thing An An’s so smart; he kept it safe until I came to pick him up.”
“Agh, my kid’s no better—took my necklace for An An. Foolish thing, An An’s a boy; why gift him a ladies’ necklace?”
At that, several parents chimed in about their own trials, complaining about similar incidents.
Initially, Chi Wang was still laughing wildly, but then his laughter began to fade. Wait… just how much has An An accepted from all these kids behind my back?! He never mentioned it!
He looked toward An An again. Fan Fan was showing him the ring, clearly wanting to give it to him. An An casually picked it up, grabbed Fan Fan’s hand, and slipped the ring onto Fan Fan’s finger instead—then let go and resumed watching the movie.
Fan Fan, thrilled, held up his hand to show everyone, completely unaware that An An had declined the ring.
Chi Wang: “…”
