Chapter 42
Xing Nuo left the bedroom in the middle of the night.
When he returned after clearing the dungeon, a warm ray of morning light was just peeking through the window.
He was covered in dirt, his face smeared with grime, but his curls shimmered in the faint light.
Shen Wen picked up the little dirty cub, frowning, his gentle expression tinged with exasperation.
“How did you get so dirty? Just a short walk, and you’re a mess.”
He carried Xing Nuo to the bathroom and started bathing him, even though it was early morning.
Xing Nuo, stark naked, splashed his feet in the water, his little head poking out of the large bathtub, swimming around like a fish.
Having soaked in the pool so many times, he had instinctively learned how to swim.
Shen Wen brought the children’s bath soap and, catching the little one, covered him in foam.
After rinsing off the soap, Xing Nuo, his head still covered in shampoo suds, closed his eyes, a warm towel covering his face.
Shen Wen, having thoroughly washed Xing Nuo from head to toe, straightened up, exhausted.
He sighed, rolled up his sleeves, wrapped Xing Nuo in a large towel, and carried him to the living room sofa.
Xing Nuo, wearing only a little nightgown, bounced on the sofa, wrapped in the fluffy towel.
“Little butterfly! Zaizai little butterfly!”
After bouncing for a while, he saw his always-sleepy brother emerge from the bedroom.
“Back?”
Shen Baizhou, yawning, seemingly aware that Xing Nuo had been gone for a while, walked over and pinched the little one’s cheek.
“You’ve even gained some weight.”
He smiled, his eyelids lifting, and pulled Xing Nuo into a hug.
“Did you have fun?”
Xing Nuo, his feet on his brother’s leg, bounced a couple of times and nodded vigorously.
“Zaizai and Daddy…plant flowers…eat biscuits.”
In Xing Nuo’s memory, he had simply returned to the castle, eaten, played, and spent time with Daddy.
He had also met some strangers.
He then turned to his brother, his eyes wide, and gestured excitedly.
“Big, big round pearl at home! Cool…and glow!”
It was a shame he hadn’t brought one back for Big Brother. He would have been so surprised!
Shen Baizhou, guessing what the little one was talking about, smiled and nodded, leaning back against the sofa.
“That’s quite a rare item.”
In reality, his underwater lair was filled with them.
Shen Baizhou, his eyes tired, having barely slept all night, yawned and carried the little one to the dining table.
“Hurry up and eat. Big Brother has to go to school.”
Xing Nuo sat in his high chair, a fragrant vegetable bun placed in his hand, and looked up at his brother.
“Big Brother no eat?”
Shen Baizhou slung his backpack over his shoulder, his usual carefree demeanor replaced by a listless exhaustion.
“No, I have a physics quiz this morning. Can’t be late.”
He could skip a meal. He wouldn’t starve. He dragged himself off to school, tired and sleepy.
Xing Nuo, watching his brother, shivered and rubbed his arms.
School so scary!
He took a bite of his bun and was happily swinging his little legs when he saw Shen Wen approaching with his small backpack.
“After breakfast, Xing Nuo has to go to kindergarten.”
Xing Nuo, his mouth full, looked up at his dad, his eyes wide.
He swallowed with difficulty and shook his head, putting the bun back on his plate.
“No. No kindygarten!”
Having enjoyed his freedom for the past two days, the little one didn’t want to go back to kindergarten!
But Shen Wen, despite his gentle appearance, had an air of authority that brooked no argument.
He picked up Xing Nuo, changed him into a light blue outfit, put the yellow hat they had bought a few days ago on his head, and nodded in satisfaction.
“Good.”
He looked like a proper kindergarten student.
Xing Nuo, pouting, was carried to kindergarten, unhappy.
As they were going downstairs, they ran into their ever-present third-floor neighbor.
Qi Yao, grinning at the sight of Xing Nuo, chuckled.
“Crying again? Still crying about going to kindergarten?”
Qi Yao loved teasing children, looking at Xing Nuo’s red nose and eyes.
“This is just a trial class. When school officially starts in September, you’ll have to go every day. You’ll be crying all the time!”
Xing Nuo, already feeling aggrieved, turned to his dad.
“Daddy, Uncle say…go all day?”
Shen Wen glared at Qi Yao and patted Xing Nuo’s head, changing the subject.
“Don’t listen to him. Be a good boy at kindergarten today, and Daddy will buy you a new storybook.”
Xing Nuo listlessly rested his head against his dad’s shoulder, his curls drooping, and sighed softly.
“Ugh.”
Zaizai’s life so hard…have to go to kindygarten every day.
Qi Yao, seeing the little one’s dejected expression, laughed heartily.
After they left, he turned to his teammate.
“My neighbor’s kid is pretty cute, right?”
His teammate, exasperated, rubbed his forehead and sighed.
“Captain, can you please stop teasing children? The frequency of anomalies has increased significantly lately. Can you please be a bit more serious?”
Qi Yao clicked his tongue and smacked his teammate’s head.
“I know, I know. Stop lecturing me. Let’s go upstairs.”
They returned to their apartment and started discussing a recent anomaly.
“This one is quite unusual. It keeps appearing in schools…”
Returning to kindergarten after a few days, Xing Nuo was even clingier.
He clutched his dad’s robe, standing at the classroom door, shaking his head, refusing to go inside.
The teacher, clapping her hands, tried to coax him in.
“Come on, Xing Nuo. Such a good boy will definitely be obedient and attend class, right?”
Inside the classroom, the chubby boy, his back straight, his chin held high, sneered at Xing Nuo.
“Scaredy-cat, too afraid to even go to school!”
Ever since learning that Xing Nuo was a boy, the chubby boy had harbored a subtle animosity towards him.
He puffed out his chest, his little red flower prominently displayed.
“Teacher will give me a little red flower today! And you, you’ll get nothing!”
Xing Nuo’s eyes widened in anger, and he stomped into the classroom, sitting down with a sullen expression.
“I have little red flower too!”
He was the most obedient and well-behaved child!
The teacher, seeing the two boys finally settle down, smiled wryly and led the parents out of the classroom.
“Starting today, parents can no longer wait in the office. Please pick up your children at the kindergarten gate at 11:30.”
The parents, having accompanied their children for a few days, nodded understandingly.
Except for a couple of worried parents, the others left immediately.
Shen Wen, however, had nothing else to do.
Unlike the castle, with its cook and pastry chef, his human world home didn’t have anyone to prepare meals. He had recently started researching how to make nutritious meals for children.
He didn’t think takeout was safe enough for Xing Nuo.
Thinking this, he took out his phone, checked the recipes for shrimp and egg custard and egg drop soup he had recently learned, and headed to the market.
In the kindergarten classroom.
Xing Nuo, his nose slightly red, watched his dad leave through the window, his small back slumping.
He wiped away a tear that was about to fall, took a deep breath, and, trying to cheer up, joined the other children in singing along with the teacher.
Today’s song was about little bunnies.
The children, their voices sweet and innocent, like newly sprouted seedlings, sang along.
Mid-song, Xing Nuo suddenly felt a chill.
He moved his arms, wanting to rub his cold cheeks.
But just as he raised his hand, the teacher, a new male teacher he didn’t recognize, wearing rimless glasses, his voice hoarse and unpleasant, noticed him.
“Young man, you need to follow the rules. Did you raise your hand before moving?”
Xing Nuo, under the teacher’s cold, intense gaze, shrank his neck and shook his head.
“Since you didn’t, I’ll mark you down for breaking the classroom rules!”
The male teacher chuckled, his face contorted in a manic grin.
The strange, unsettling laughter echoed through the classroom, frightening the children.
A timid little girl immediately started crying.
“Mommy! I want Mommy!”
“Scary teacher!”
Children’s cries are contagious. The other children, already emotionally unstable on their first day of kindergarten, started wailing.
Xing Nuo, looking at the crying children, sniffled, also feeling like crying.
The male teacher, seeing this, grinned even wider, his mouth stretching almost to his ears.
“Cry, little ones, cry! You’ve broken the rules! After this class, whoever broke the most rules will be my delicious lunch!”
At Rongcheng Private High School.
Shen Baizhou, clutching his hair, stared at the incomprehensible physics formulas on his test paper, his expression murderous.
As time passed, the unfamiliar teacher at the front of the class suddenly spoke:
“It’s been half an hour. My dear students, if you fail this test, you’ll be eaten by me!”
The class monitor, pushing up his thick glasses, looked up at the teacher, puzzled.
“Teacher, where’s Mr. Zhang, our physics teacher? Did he ask you to supervise us?”
It was strange. He hadn’t heard Mr. Zhang leave the classroom.
Some of the students, having given up on the quiz, were twirling their pens, looking at the strange teacher, and chuckled.
“Teacher, what did you teach before? You talk funny.”
The teacher grinned, his smile cold and sinister, his mouth stretching almost to his ears.
“I just like eating students!”
He closed his eyes, a look of relish on his face, lost in the memory of devouring someone.
“The taste of fresh blood flowing down my throat is a delicacy you humans can’t even imagine!”
He then looked at the students, his smile turning into a sneer.
“Don’t worry, this test will be very long. I won’t let any of you leave alive!”
