Mr. Dior - Chap 101 Meeting You Earlier
Meeting You Earlier (1)
Jiao Yan was three and a half years old this year, the age to start kindergarten.
The elderly nanny they had at home resigned due to her old age, and then they hired a new auntie who rarely smiled. Every day, she would just give him some toys and then play with her phone, not speaking to him at all. This made little Jiao Yan, who used to resist going to kindergarten, agree to his parents’ proposal.
School’s new term had already started for more than a month, and Jiao Yan was now considered a transfer student. When he followed the teacher into the class, the children were in the middle of a class.
The classroom was covered with fall-preventing soft padded mats and the desks were pink-blue oval-shaped tables. A dozen or so children were sitting around the tables together. When they heard the movement, they all looked over.
“This is our new classmate; his name is Jiao Yan.”
Jiao Yan was wearing a white shirt, a little suit, small leather shoes, and had a grey plaid necktie on. He stood in front of the blackboard with a long face.
There was a brief moment of silence in the classroom, and a girl in a pink dress raised her hand: “Teacher, is he a prince?”
The teacher laughed: “Why do you think he is a prince?”
“He’s dressed like a prince!”
“He looks really handsome!”
“He looks just like the prince from a fairy tale book!”
Several little girls began to discuss it in a lively manner, talking all at once.
The little boys were somewhat unconvinced, as children of this age often believe they were princes. Zhang Xiaofei, who had been sound asleep on his desk, was awakened by the noise. He furrowed his brow, rubbed his eyes, and saw the little prince on the stage with his own soft light special effect.
He lifted his leg and kicked the lil fatty next to him: “Sit over there!”
“What are you doing?” The lil fatty was not happy.
“You’re squeezing me.” Zhang Xiaofei gestured to his widest seat in the entire classroom and waved his little fist.
Giving in to the fist, the lil fatty sniffled and aggrievedly moved to the side.
Zhang Xiaofei was satisfied and raised his hand: “Teacher, let him sit here. There is an empty place here!”
So, Jiao Yan sat next to Zhang Xiaofei.
“I’m Zhang Xiaofei, my full name is Zhang Chenfei. What’s your name?” The little boy with red imprints on his face from sleeping, thinking he looked handsome, asked while propping up his chin on one hand.
Jiao Yan, who hadn’t interacted much with children his age, felt a bit nervous. His small face was tense: “Jiao Yan.”
“That’s your full name ya. My mom says we should use our nicknames in kindergarten.” Zhang Xiaofei said seriously.
“Really?” Jiao Yan, who had never been to kindergarten, didn’t quite understand. “My nickname is Yan Yan.”
“Yan Yan, hehe, here, have this.” Zhang Chenfei took out a piece of milk candy from his pocket and handed it to the little prince. This was the secret weapon his mom had given him to make friends. Any kid in kindergarten who had tried his milk candy would be willing to play with him.
Jiao Yan looked at the candy in his hand, unsure whether to accept it. After a moment of hesitation, he said quietly, “Thank you.”
The teacher continued class, which was about teaching everyone to write their own names. Each student was given a mini erasable whiteboard and a coloured marker. Most of the kids had practised writing their names at home, so they were able to write them crookedly.
Zhang Chenfei, who had already started learning sums with his dad, naturally had no trouble writing his name and quickly wrote down the three words, “Zhang Xiaofei”.
Jiao Yan had watched many preschool cartoons on his own at home and had learned many words. However, no one had taught him how to hold a pen or write. Seeing the neat and beautiful characters written by the child next to him, he felt a bit envious.
“All right, children who can write their names, please hold up your boards so everyone can see.” The teacher clapped their hands and looked around at everyone’s boards.
Most of the children could write one or two words of their names, and those who couldn’t, used “O” as a placeholder, such as “Li YingO” and “Wang OO.” However, there were also those who could write their entire names, like “Gao Siqing” and “Zhang Chenfei”.
“Jiao Yan, why haven’t you written your name? The teacher heard you know how to read.” The teacher came over and crouched behind Jiao Yan, pointing at the characters on Zhang Chenfei’s board. “Come and read this.”
When his name was suddenly called, Jiao Yan didn’t know what to do: “Zhang Xiao…”
“Dick!” Gao Shiqing, who was the youngest but the most literate, jumped up, “I know, that word is pronounced ‘DIAO’, Zhang Xiao Diao, hahahaha!”
Zhang Chenfei threw his pen cap at him: “Then you should be called Gao Big Mouth, no wonder your mouth is so big!”
“Lue, lue, lue!” Gao Shiqing climbed onto the table and made faces at him with his mouth open.
Zhang Chenfei grabbed a pen and also climbed onto the desk, to draw a big mouth on him. The two of them began to playfully fight on the table, knocking over Li Yingjun’s small board.
“Zhang Xiaofei, Gao Xiaoqing!” The teacher grabbed one in each hand and lifted the two naughty demons. “For not following classroom rules, both of you go to the garden!”
With the troublemakers cleared out, the class continued. The teacher wrote Jiao Yan’s name on the whiteboard and asked him to copy it.
The class passed by like this, and after the class ended, the children played around on the padded mats. Little Jiao Yan sat on his seat without moving, as nobody was familiar with him and so no one played with him. Touching the milk candy in his pocket, Jiao Yan stood up and walked towards the garden with his short legs.
The garden was filled with various playing facilities, including slides, trampolines, climbing nets, and swings. Swings were the most precious among all the toys because there were only two seats, and it was first-come, first-served.
The two people who were punished and were not allowed to attend the class took their seats early, sat on the swing and swung their legs proudly.
“Zhang Xiaofei, can I play for a while?” The girl in a pink skirt begged him.
“Is there any benefit for me?” Zhang Chenfei remained unmoved, continuing to swing on the swing rhythmically. “Old Gao, let’s see who can swing higher!”
“If you let me play, I’ll be your bride in the future.” The little girl said innocently, holding onto the swing ropes.
Zhang Chenfei looked at her: “I don’t want that. Last time, you wiped your runny nose on my sleeve. I don’t want a sloppy bride like you!”
The Pink Skirt wrinkled her nose as if greatly humiliated and, imitating lines from a TV drama: “Today, you’re indifferent to my love, but tomorrow, I’ll make you unable to reach high in society.”
After saying that, she turned and ran away but then stopped to grab Jiao Yan, who was standing alone in the corridor: “Jiao Xiaoyan, let’s play《Cinderella》. I’ll be Cinderella, and you can be the prince.”
Jiao Yan had seen《Cinderella》in cartoons but wasn’t sure how to play. He asked, “Do you mean I should play the prince and then find you to dance?”
“Yes!” The Pink Skirt nodded with a gleeful smile. She also pulled three other girls to play the roles of the wicked stepsisters and stepmother. Then, she provocatively glanced at Zhang Chenfei on the swing.
Children from other classes who were seeing Jiao Yan for the first time thought he was good-looking. Before long, many girls from other classes had surrounded him, vying to dance with Jiao Yan.
“Aiyou, your status is not guaranteed. Before, it was always you playing the President, and they played the heiresses.” Gao Shiqing said schadenfreudedly.
President Zhang Xiaofei dropped down from the swing and inserted his hand into his pocket, pushing aside the little girl who was about to dance with Jiao Yan.
“Aiyou, it’s the President!”
“Wa, is he here to fight over Xiao Ya?”
“Zhang Chenfei is the best at reciting lines in this garden. Ao ao, he’s going to say something, he’s going to say something!”
Zhang Chenfei raised his chin coolly: “He is the one I have taken fancy of, no one is allowed to touch him.” After saying that, he stretched out his soft hand.
“Ya——ya?” The little girl got stuck in the middle of her screaming and looked at the little President in disbelief as he hugged the little prince.
The little mushroom radio played the music for the break, and Jiao Yan, who didn’t quite understand what was going on, was grabbed by Zhang Chenfei and swayed along with the music:
What is Dad’s dad called? Dad’s dad is called Grandpa.
What is Dad’s mom called? Dad’s mom is called Grandma.
……
After dancing with the little prince, Zhang Xiaofei, the overlord of the kindergarten, unilaterally announced that the new little prince was his wife and no one was allowed to hold his hand.
“I’m a boy, I can’t be your wife.” Jiao Yan knew this basic fact.
“I said you can, and I have the final say in this kindergarten.” Zhang Chenfei was being unreasonable, and he grabbed the little prince’s chin with his fleshy little hand. “Follow me, and they won’t bully you. You remember my name…”
Jiao Yan wasn’t used to being so close to other kids, and he felt a bit nervous. He remembered what Gao Shiqing had said earlier, “Zhang Xiao Diao?”
“……”
Zhang Chenfei became angry and refused to talk to Jiao Yan. Jiao Yan, totally unaware, obediently followed the teacher’s instructions to eat lunch and take a nap.
During naptime, all the children from the same class were in one room, with two small beds placed side by side.
Zhang Chenfei was lying next to Gao Shiqing, tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep: “Old Gao, do you think I should go and coax him?”
“Are you sick? He is a boy. Do you really think of him as your wife?” Gao Shiqing hugged his feet, put them to his mouth and took a bite.
“He’s good-looking! My dad says the definition of a wife is the person who looks the best in your eyes.” Zhang Chenfei said while angrily clutching the wooden railing of the small bed and staring at Jiao Yan not far away.
Jiao Yan’s bed was next to Li Yingjun’s.
Li Yingjun was a clean and elegant little boy, his eyebrows would curve when he smiled. He had greeted his new neighbour and was just about to fall asleep when he was suddenly pushed awake. He turned his head and was startled: “Zhang Xiaofei?”
“Shh…” During naptime, the teacher didn’t allow any noise. Zhang Chenfei looked around and said, “Let’s switch places.”
“Why?”
“I want to sleep with Yanyan, he is my wife.” Zhang Xiaofei said confidently.
“No, I like this little pillow.” Li Yingjun disagreed.
As a result, Li Xiaojun was beaten to tears by Zhang Xiaofei.
Jiao Yan had just fallen asleep and was dreaming about his parents leaving him alone at home when he was suddenly awakened by crying. He opened his eyes to see Li Yingjun standing barefoot on the ground, crying, while Zhang Chenfei was triumphantly occupying his bed.
The teacher came into the room upon hearing the noise, and Zhang Chenfei, a thief crying out thief: “I saw this bed first!”
“Zhang Xiaofei, why is it you again? Go back to your place.” The teacher criticised him in a low voice.
“No. I’ll sleep here!” Zhang Chenfei clung to the wooden railing of the bed and pouted, as if he was on the verge of crying loudly.
The teacher was afraid of waking up the other children, so could only coax Li Yingjun to sleep in Zhang Chenfei’s place.
Jiao Yan looked at the hand that reached out from the wooden railing, blinking in confusion.
“The teacher said we should hold hands while sleeping.” Zhang Chenfei said with a serious face. “Holding hands prevents nightmares.”
Jiao Yan extended his hand, half-believing and half-doubting, and held the hand that smelled of milk candy.
“Sleep ba, Lao Gong will protect you.” Zhang Xiaofei said seriously.
The little Jiao Yan closed his eyes once more, and the dream from earlier continued. The nanny had turned into a wooden figure, sitting motionless on the sofa. He felt a bit scared, his nose tingling as if he wanted to cry. A warm hand reached out and held his own, and a voice with a hint of milk candy said coolly, “Don’t be afraid, Lao Gong is here with you.”
In the cold dream, there was suddenly warmth, and the little Jiao Yan in the dream couldn’t help but smile.
Going to kindergarten was really nice.
