Chapter 90: The Exchange
At the tail end of early autumn, the sun seemed to have released all its heat for the year, the intense heat even more astonishing than in summer.
The trees showed no signs of turning yellow, still as green as a cloud, bringing a hint of coolness to the playing children.
These past two days, Fei Zhiyan had been particularly busy. After Nuonuo became more and more familiar with kindergarten, he had temporarily let the driver or Fei Han pick him up.
And after school, Nuonuo, under the still-golden sun, would play with his motorcycle in the yard with Zhou Xiaole.
Zhou Xiaole and Lei Xiaoyan were also true loves when it came to motorcycles. Whenever they had free time, they would run to Nuonuo’s house. The two had even argued several times over the little motorcycle.
But recently, to comfort Zhou Xiaole’s mood of not being in the same small class as them, Lei Xiaoyan had very generously said he would not fight with him.
And Nuonuo, the owner of the little motorcycle, was sitting under the shade of a tree with his little face in his hands, happily eating watermelon.
The cool, sweet watermelon juice filled his mouth, and Nuonuo couldn’t help but swing his short little legs, open his little mouth wide, and take another big bite.
Looking at Zhou Xiaole, whose little face had been tanned more than one shade darker from often playing under the sun, Nuonuo tilted his little head and said, “Xiaole, your face is so dark.”
He looks especially like a smooth, braised egg.
Especially since Zhou Xiaole had scraped his head while playing on the slide in kindergarten a few days ago, and most of the hair on his head had been shaved off, his little head looked even rounder than a braised egg from a distance.
Zhou Xiaole, on the other hand, didn’t care at all. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, his eyes sparkling as he ran over, and, like a cow gnawing, he finished more than half of the watermelon.
The watermelon juice was all over Zhou Xiaole’s little face, and even a drop of red juice was hanging on his eyelashes.
Nuonuo wrinkled his little face and, imitating his papa’s helpless expression when he was playing and got himself all dirty, he propped his forehead on his little hands and let out a heavy sigh. “Xiaole, you can’t be like this.”
Auntie Wu, who had walked over with a plate, heard Nuonuo imitating Mr. Fei’s speech and was so amused that the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but lift. “Come on, drink your drinks!”
Nuonuo let out a small “wow” in appreciation and happily picked up his drink cup and took a sip.
Zhou Xiaole, thinking of something, sniffled and asked, “Boss, what are you going to bring to school tomorrow?”
Tomorrow was the small class students’ exchange day. It was an activity specially set up by the teachers to let the children understand the joy of sharing.
Tomorrow, when they went to school, every little friend had to bring their favorite thing to exchange with other little friends.
Originally, Gu Ze had pulled Nuonuo aside and whispered in his ear that they should exchange with each other.
But who would have thought that the teacher had already anticipated this and had specially separated Gu Ze and Nuonuo.
Not only that, but this time the teacher had also mixed up all the little friends who had a good relationship. Otherwise, they might exchange one second and then exchange back the next.
Nuonuo was paired with Zhuang Rou, and the two of them were to put their things in each other’s lockers tomorrow.
Hearing Zhou Xiaole’s words, Nuonuo didn’t even drink his drink and unconsciously opened his little mouth to think.
“Xiaole, what are you going to exchange?” Nuonuo turned his little face and asked.
Zhou Xiaole took a big gulp of water and sat opposite Nuonuo. “My favorite thing is your little motorcycle, Nuonuo, so I bought a little motorcycle model to exchange tomorrow.”
At the mention of this, Zhou Xiaole pouted, a hint of reluctance in his eyes.
Hearing this, Nuonuo’s little face was still wrinkled in distress. “I have so many favorite things, ya. A wittle baww, bwocks, cookies…”
Zhou Xiaole was also dizzy from listening and quickly said, “Boss, you have to exchange your favorite thing! Your most, most favorite!”
Zhou Xiaole repeated with emphasis.
Now, Nuonuo’s little face completely fell. “But… my favorite is my papa and my brothers, ya.”
I can’t possibly take my brothers to school tomorrow to exchange, can I?
At the same time, Zhuang Rou was sitting quietly at her desk, seriously looking at her picture book.
Zhuang Jie stood on his tiptoes and opened the door, bringing in a plate of fruit for his little sister. He said softly, “Xiaorou, come and have something to eat.”
A hint of joy instantly appeared on Zhuang Rou’s face. She got off her chair and ran to her brother, hugging him. “Brother, you eat too!”
Seeing the little girl’s well-behaved and soft expression, Zhuang Jie’s slightly fierce brows couldn’t help but lift slightly. Looking at his little sister’s lively appearance, his eyes also softened.
“Xiaorou, have you thought about what you want to exchange tomorrow?”
Zhuang Jie had also experienced the kindergarten exchange day last year, but he didn’t care what he liked or disliked. At that time, he was almost disgusted with the whole world. There were only things he didn’t hate, not things he liked.
So he had just picked a toy that was still pleasing to the eye from some toys and, like completing a task, gave it to another child.
But hearing her brother’s words, Zhuang Rou’s lips pursed tightly. After a long while, she finally said in a small voice, “My favorite is Mommy and Brother.”
Zhuang Rou and Zhuang Jie were from a single-parent family. Their father had died in an accident two years ago, and their mother was almost in charge of everything in the family.
Before Zhuang Jie had accidentally come here, this little girl, Zhuang Rou, was like she was carrying a heavy shell. She was weak and had low self-esteem, and at one or two years old, she couldn’t even speak a complete sentence.
And at that time, Zhuang Jie had no joy in his new life and had a kind of gloomy and fierce hatred for this world, wishing he could completely destroy it. He always felt that the world was red, a blood-like red.
A heavy emotional burden was accumulated in his chest, like a balloon that had been stretched to its limit. It didn’t even need a needle to prick it. It seemed that with just a light touch, that fragile surface would break.
Unfortunately, he had met Zhuang Rou, a gentle and timid little sister.
Zhuang Jie felt that he must have owed this family in his previous life. His son, Zhuang Jie, had used his life as a price to pull him over, asking him to protect this mother and daughter.
And Zhuang Rou was so fragile she seemed about to break with a touch. Zhuang Jie didn’t dare to say anything harsh at all, and that emotional burden could only be held in, unable to be released at all.
Until today, a year later, Zhuang Jie was almost getting used to this life, but then he met Fei Nuo.
His eyes couldn’t help but be stunned. Hearing Zhuang Rou’s words, his not-so-obvious broken brows relaxed, and he pursed his lips and let out a laugh. “Eat some fruit.”
The next day, the sun rose as usual, but the heat had obviously dropped a degree. The long-awaited coolness of autumn had finally rushed over.
Early in the morning, the little friends all lined up outside the classroom and were led in by the teacher one by one. They took out the things they had brought in their little backpacks and put them in another little friend’s locker.
When it was Nuonuo’s turn, he held his little backpack and, holding Teacher Xiao Ran’s hand, took out a piece of paper from his backpack.
Teacher Xiao Ran was full of question marks, but she didn’t ask. There were still little friends waiting outside, so after putting it away, she took Nuonuo out first.
And when it was Zhuang Rou’s turn, what she took out of her backpack was actually also a piece of paper. But it was a pink and tender color, which was very in line with a little girl’s preference.
Teacher Xiao Ran thought to herself, Could these two have planned it? They actually both exchanged a piece of paper?
With a question in her mind, she sent Zhuang Rou out. When Teacher Xiao Ran saw Gu Ze’s action, she couldn’t help but sigh.
Gu Ze was to exchange with Bai Xin, and what Bai Xin put in was her current favorite princess dress.
The sparkling blue skirt, the beautiful little diamonds… it was clear at a glance that it was not cheap. And when Bai Xin took out this little mermaid dress, Teacher Xiao Ran was so dazzled her eyes even squinted slightly.
Gu Ze also took out his favorite book. He had learned a lot of words by following the educational channel on TV, and with a small dictionary, he could already start to read independently.
The title of the book was Making Money Starts from a Young Age.
Seeing this book title, Teacher Xiao Ran’s lips couldn’t help but twitch. It really does fit Gu Ze’s personality, she thought.
And then, Gu Ze took out a small jar, which contained folded little stars and candies, and stuffed it into Nuonuo’s locker.
“You can’t do that, Gu Ze. You can only exchange with one little friend.”
Teacher Xiao Ran sighed helplessly and promptly stopped Gu Ze’s behavior.
But Gu Ze pursed his lips and said in a small voice, “I’m afraid Nuonuo won’t receive anything from other little friends.”
So he had specially prepared an extra portion for Nuonuo.
Teacher Xiao Ran said with a very good temper, “Of course not. Zhuang Rou has already put things in Nuonuo’s locker.”
“Then what if Nuonuo doesn’t like it?” Gu Ze asked again.
If Nuonuo doesn’t like what the other little friends have prepared, then he’ll be very happy when he opens his locker and sees the candy.
The cub’s problems were always endless and headache-inducing. Teacher Xiao Ran explained to Gu Ze for a while before she had him take the jar out and give it to Nuonuo privately later.
Finally, after everyone had exchanged their things, another male teacher led the remaining little friends in. They all cheered and ran to their lockers, opening them with anticipation.
Although the things they received were all sorts of strange, the children were all full of enthusiasm and chattered nonstop with the people around them.
And in Nuonuo’s hand was a piece of paper. After he opened it, there was a short stick figure drawn on it.
Zhuang Rou also opened the piece of paper with a confused look on her face. On it was a sticker of a mighty little person.
Teacher Xiao Ran was so curious about what these two little friends had exchanged that she simply stood next to them. Seeing the similar yet different pieces of paper, she couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Nuonuo, what did you exchange with Xiaorou?”
Nuonuo blinked his eyes and pointed at the little person sticker. “This is my brother. I like my brother the most. I want to exchange my brother with Xiaorou for a day.”
Hearing this answer, the expression on Teacher Xiao Ran’s face directly froze, and a group of alpacas ran through her heart.
Is that even allowed??
“But won’t you be reluctant to part with him?” Teacher Xiao Ran asked with a slightly complicated expression.
Nuonuo nodded his head. “I will, ya. But the little toys and little cookies I like, I don’t like them as much as I like my brother and papa.”
It was because of this premise of “most favorite” that Nuonuo had tried his best to endure this reluctance.
Hearing this answer, Teacher Xiao Ran’s heart softened.
One of the reasons she loved being a kindergarten teacher was this. The most sincere answers that children inadvertently revealed would really make her feel that this world was very beautiful.
Most importantly, no little friend had ever done this before, and the teachers had never thought that a little friend would exchange their own brother.
And Zhuang Rou, hearing Nuonuo’s words, her little face also became dazed. “I… I also want to exchange my brother.”
Now Teacher Xiao Ran was really having a headache. She couldn’t help but say, “You two didn’t plan this, did you?”
The brother currency.:))