Chapter 74
Six-year-old Xing Nuo had a new worry.
As a student in the upper kindergarten class, he had to learn many things, and the characters in his books, once simple tadpoles, were becoming increasingly complex.
Teacher Xiao Song, carrying a stack of test papers, tapped the blackboard with a serious expression.
“Children, we’re having a pop quiz today. Are you ready?”
A chorus of groans filled the classroom. Xing Nuo, his cheeks resting on his hands, his round eyes blinking, sighed softly.
His friend Qingqing poked him with her pencil and whispered:
“Xing Nuo, let’s hand in our tests early and go play!”
Yiyi, her apple cheeks flushed with excitement, giggled.
“There are lots of sunflowers in the kindergarten garden! Mommy said they have yummy seeds inside!”
The two girls, convinced that sunflowers contained edible seeds, tried to persuade Xing Nuo to join them.
Xing Nuo was usually a good and obedient student, but—
“Sunflowers really have seeds?”
Yiyi nodded firmly. “Yes! Sweet ones and salty ones!”
The three of them hatched their plan and, upon receiving their test papers, started working furiously.
Xing Nuo, having a solid foundation, quickly finished his two-digit addition and subtraction problems and was the first to hand in his test.
Qingqing, usually careless, scribbled down some random answers and, grabbing Yiyi’s hand, ran out of the classroom.
“Xing Nuo! Come on!”
Qingqing, dragging her two friends, ran towards the small garden behind the kindergarten.
Xing Nuo followed, his curls bouncing in the wind, revealing his soft, fair cheeks.
The three children ran through the warm autumn sunlight and reached the sunflower patch.
Xing Nuo, his constitution still weak, clutched the fence, panting, and patted his chest, trying to catch his breath.
Qingqing, full of energy, started climbing the fence.
Xing Nuo, seeing this, quickly grabbed her arm.
“Qingqing, that’s dangerous.”
Yiyi nodded in agreement, but before she could say anything, Little Fatty’s voice sounded.
“Aha! I knew you were sneaking out to do something bad!”
Little Fatty, who had been at odds with Xing Nuo and his friends for the past three years, having grown from Little Fatty to Big Fatty, never missed an opportunity to taunt Xing Nuo.
Having caught them red-handed, he smugly turned to go and tell the teacher.
Yiyi ran after him, grabbing his clothes.
“Don’t! We didn’t do anything!”
Xing Nuo, although feeling guilty, also nodded vigorously, his curls bouncing.
“We…”
Before he could finish, Qingqing gasped.
“Wow! Such a big sunflower!”
The children turned and stared, their mouths agape.
The small, almost withered sunflowers had somehow grown to be three or four meters tall, taller than the pine tree at the kindergarten gate.
The giant sunflower heads, their seeds sharp and pointed, looked like they could be fired like bullets.
Xing Nuo’s mouth fell open, and when he looked back, the small sunflower patch had become a vast sea of sunflowers.
His small, five-head-tall body was almost completely hidden among the towering plants.
Qingqing, still excited, clenched her fists and yelled:
“We’re like Xiaoya, in the magical sunflower garden!”
Xiaoya was the protagonist of a fairytale Teacher Xiao Song had recently told them. She had entered a magical garden and befriended Mr. Pine Tree, Sister Swallow, the narcissistic daffodil, and other magical creatures.
The children’s faces were filled with innocent wonder, their eyes sparkling with excitement and curiosity.
Xing Nuo, his intuition screaming danger, pulled Little Fatty and Yiyi closer, also grabbing Qingqing, who was about to greet the sunflowers.
“We no move. This place dangerous.”
For some reason, this vibrant, colorful sunflower garden filled him with unease.
Qingqing giggled, patting Xing Nuo’s thin shoulder.
“Xing Nuo, you’re such a scaredy-cat! What’s so dangerous? Teacher said flowers and plants are our friends!”
She reached out and touched a sunflower’s green stem.
“Sunflower, did you bring us here?”
Just as Xing Nuo was thinking that sunflowers couldn’t talk, a rustling sound came from the sunflower, and a clear, childlike voice answered:
“I didn’t bring you here, but welcome to our Flower Kingdom!”
Qingqing and Yiyi gasped, their fists clenched, their faces flushed with excitement.
“We really are like Xiaoya! We’re in a magical garden!”
Even Little Fatty, curious, walked over and touched a sunflower’s stem.
“A real sunflower! So big!”
The three children bounced around the sunflower, asking questions.
“How did you get so big?”
“Is Xiaoya here too?”
“Will Sister Swallow take your seeds away?”
Xing Nuo’s head ached from their chattering. He covered his ears.
When he looked up again, he saw a different scene.
The sunflower in front of him was now a withered stalk, its head drooping, its seeds dripping a yellowish pus.
The bright, sunny sunflower garden had become a desolate wasteland.
Xing Nuo gasped softly and took a couple of steps back.
Yiyi, more perceptive, turned and looked at him, her head tilted.
“Xing Nuo, what’s wrong?”
As she spoke, the giant sunflower head in front of her also turned slightly, looking at Xing Nuo, who was covering his ears.
“Little boy, why are you covering your ears?”
The sunflower’s voice, once sweet and childish, now sounded sharp and piercing to Xing Nuo.
He shook his head, feeling dizzy.
He lowered his hands and looked up again. The sunflower garden was back to its vibrant, cheerful self.
As if everything he had just seen was an illusion.
Xing Nuo tilted his head, blinking, his brow furrowed.
“So strange.”
But he didn’t say what was strange.
He had a feeling that saying it out loud would be a bad idea.
Watching his three friends chatting excitedly with the sunflowers, Xing Nuo tugged on Qingqing’s sleeve, his voice filled with unease.
“Qingqing, let’s go back. Teacher will look for us.”
Qingqing, having snuck out to play, shook her head vigorously, her ponytail, tied with an apple-shaped hair tie, almost coming undone.
“No! Teacher will be angry! Let’s play a little longer!”
Even Little Fatty had forgotten about telling the teacher. He hugged a sunflower’s stem, giggling, trying to climb up.
“Let’s climb up! We can reach the sun!”
The sunflower chuckled good-naturedly, its voice clear and bright, and lowered its leaves, inviting the children to climb on.
“I’ll take you up. The view from up here is beautiful!”
The children each sat on a leaf, gripping the edges, exclaiming in awe.
“So cool! Can we fly?”
“I want to sit on the flower head!”
Xing Nuo didn’t move. He watched as his three friends were slowly lifted towards the sunflower head, a strange thought forming in his mind—
His friends were about to be eaten by the flowers.
His feet seemed rooted to the ground. He didn’t move as the sunflower offered him a leaf.
Suddenly, he remembered his dad’s flowers.
In his hazy memory, the garden of the castle he used to live in was also filled with vibrant flowers.
He blurted out:
“Sunflower, you know…woses in castle?”
As if triggered by those words, all the sunflower heads in the field began to tremble.
“Those tyrant flowers?!”
“Oh dear, why would anyone mention such terrifying things?!”
The first sunflower, its head now fully turned towards Xing Nuo, asked:
“You know the castle roses?”
Its voice was filled with suspicion, its countless seeds, like eyes, staring at him.
Xing Nuo felt a chill run down his spine, but he didn’t back down. He looked up, his eyes bright and clear.
“Yes. My Daddy planted them. Vewy pwetty.”
The sunflower stopped trembling.
All the sunflowers in the field fell silent, only the rustling of leaves in the wind could be heard.
The leaves carrying the three children stopped mid-air, not reaching the sunflower head.
Qingqing, sitting on a leaf, bounced and asked:
“Sunflower, why we not moving?”
Little Fatty, more destructive, banged on the sunflower’s stem and leaves, his hands on his hips.
“Are you broken? It’s okay, I’m good at fixing things!”
The sunflower, annoyed by their antics, but remembering something, suppressed its anger.
“Just a moment. I need to ask your friend a few questions.”
Qingqing, looking down from her leaf, called out:
“Xing Nuo! Why aren’t you coming up?”
“Xing Nuo scaredy-cat! Hahaha, too afraid to come up!”
“Come up, Xing Nuo! You can’t see anything down there!”
The sunflower also changed its tone, its voice now filled with enticement.
“Curly-haired little boy, come up here. You’re so short, we’re blocking the sun. You can’t see anything.”
Xing Nuo had grown taller, but compared to the sunflowers, he was still tiny.
He tilted his head and suddenly asked:
“Sunflower, Daddy’s woses…no eat children. You eat?”
