After the forty-minute Chinese Language class, it was break time. Lunch was at eleven, and all the teachers and students of the kindergarten gathered in the cafeteria.
There were three dishes and one soup, with ninety grams of rice per serving. Every child had to finish their food; they could only leave leftovers if they really couldn't finish it. In fact, unless they were sick or throwing a tantrum, children usually finished everything.
Simon ate three bowls of rice, and the surrounding children stared at him with amazed eyes for half an hour.
Influenced by his previous life's habits, Simon ate very quickly. Sun Hui had reprimanded him several times at home, but he would unconsciously speed up every time he started eating. The other children, however, were all chewing slowly, which made him feel a bit out of place.
Su Xiangli carefully wiped her mouth with a napkin, then said to Simon with a stern face, "Eat slowly, you look like a starving ghost."
Simon also wiped his mouth, "Next time for sure. By the way, little girls shouldn't frown, you'll get wrinkles."
Su Xiangli was instantly alarmed, covering her delicate face and beginning to rub it, "Can't get wrinkles, can't get them. Don't you dare secretly curse me!"
Simon narrowed his eyes, "That's not certain. If you're well-behaved, I won't curse you."
Su Xiangli pouted, "Oh no, so you're the villain threatening the protagonist, I'll defeat you in the name of magic!"
Simon raised an eyebrow, "You like watching cartoons a lot? Then I curse you to have ten commercials for every episode you watch."
"Real demon!" Little Su Xiangli was about to cry.
A boy in a small suit nearby exclaimed, "You made a girl cry!"
Simon pretended to be calm, "She's just too happy."
Seeing that other children were about to be drawn over, Simon quickly reached out to wipe Su Xiangli's tears, gently dabbing the corner of her eye with his right index finger. Only after completing the entire action did he realize how childish and abrupt he had been, but the effect was surprisingly good.
Su Xiangli seemed stunned. Simon simply completed the next action for her, putting down her small hands that were on her face, and then tidying up her peculiar expression.
"Nice." Simon was very satisfied.
The boy in the suit from earlier said to Simon, "Self-introductions are scheduled for the afternoon, but we can get to know each other beforehand."
This boy spoke clearly and methodically, holding his back straight and wearing a well-fitting suit, with the demeanor of a little adult. However, after saying all that, his face was already a bit flushed, clearly indicating he was nervous.
Simon extended his right hand, "My name is Simon, Lu as in the animal, Zheng as in correct, and Kang as in healthy."
The little boy shook his hand. Simon noticed that the other's palm was damp and warm, he was truly very nervous. For a child, pretending to be mature is always a very exciting and challenging task.
"My name is Zhang Yingxuan, I'm three and a half years old. Oh, Zhang as in the bow-long Zhang, Ying as in handsome, Xuan is written like this..." He gestured in the air with his name, realizing it wasn't very clear, so he dipped a little leftover juice from the soup bowl and wrote the character Xuan on the white plastic table. It was clear he had practiced; his writing was good, very neat, and even had some brushstrokes.
Even when Simon was in the sixth grade of elementary school, his handwriting wasn't this good, and the Chinese Language Teacher Wang often ridiculed it as "crab-crawl script."
"I understand."
Su Xiangli snapped out of her daze and also introduced herself to Zhang Yingxuan, "I'm Su Xiangli, you can just call me Pear."
Simon's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Sure enough, Su Xiangli's address for Zhang Yingxuan became "Xuanxuan."
Then, the little girl's address for Simon became "Bad Boy."
Simon covered his face. Zhang Yingxuan looked bewildered, even finding the mood to laugh, "Hehe, Pear, you're so funny."
At this point, lunch time ended. A life skills teacher named Li led the Chun Sun Class children to exercise and aid digestion. Su Xiangli deliberately only spoke to Zhang Yingxuan, completely ignoring Simon.
It was another half an hour of simple activities, mainly playing small games to let the children vent their excess energy so that the upcoming nap could be more peaceful.
Su Xiangli angrily watched Simon talking to another little girl. The little girl wore a white dress and was a cute, squinty-eyed fellow. Simon would occasionally make her laugh.
Su Xiangli muttered, "I curse you, Bad Boy."
Zhang Yingxuan looked confused, "What did you say?"
"Nothing. And also, from now on, your nickname is Dummy."
"Why?"
"Why so many 'whys'? Before asking questions, think carefully about where you went wrong!" Su Xiangli mimicked her mother's tone, sternly criticizing classmate Zhang Yingxuan, leaving the little comrade in deep confusion.
"Oh, I know. Is it because Simon isn't talking to you, and you're unhappy? Then I'll go call him over."
"No! Some mistakes require the person involved to figure out themselves!" Su Xiangli pouted, took out her phone intending to fiddle with it for a while, but became very frustrated when she found that all the apps were unusable.
The teacher control component was built into the phone's underage mode, standardized nationwide. As long as teachers and parents didn't agree, the device in a child's hand was no different from a glowing glass brick.
Su Xiangli, who had always been so mature, looked aggrieved. Zhang Yingxuan frowned and ran to find Simon.
"Classmate Simon, please go comfort Pear."
Simon was startled. He was having a good chat with his new classmate. The little girl in the dress was Qiu Qiongzh, she spoke softly and was a curious little one.
Qiu Qiongzh tilted her head, "Pear? The fruit? I like it!"
Simon grinned at her, "I'm going to talk to a friend first, we'll continue later."
"Oh, you're going, but don't ever forget me!" Qiu Qiongzh used a classic line from the popular web drama 'Love of a Mechanical Girl in Cyberpunk'.
Simon was speechless, "Alright, alright." Smart kids these days are too precocious.
Su Xiangli saw Simon trotting over and couldn't help but let out a small laugh, but remembering they were in a huff, she turned her back to him.
Simon mimicked a duck, tilting his head and waddling his bottom to the little girl's front, then twirling his hand on his head, indicating he was winding himself up, while making sound effects: "Squeak--squeak--squeak, click!"
Fully wound up, Simon continued to mimic a duck, circling Su Xiangli. The little girl tried and tried to hold it in, but finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Your expression is so funny!"
Simon responded with a quack, "Don't laugh at me, silly little Su Xiangli!"
"I'm laughing at you, Bad Boy Simon!"
The teachers chatting in a group not far away all laughed at this scene, and the Chinese Language Teacher Wang's gaze was particularly warm.
He softly recited, "Green, green are your lapels, long my heart. Though I go not, why do you not send your voice?"
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