"Please don't hit him too hard. Xiao Rui is only three years old. I'm afraid of really hurting him. Please understand my feelings," Mo Youyou said very sincerely.
“I completely understand, and please rest assured that I am a professional. Corporal punishment is only an auxiliary measure. I will not use sticks to discipline the child, but rather help him from the root,” Mao Dongjian said.
"That's good, that's good!" Mo Youyou nodded repeatedly, then handed Liu Shengrui over to Mao Dongjian.
Next, it was time for Mao Dongjian and Liu Shengrui to spend time together.
"Your name is Xiao Rui, right? You can call me Teacher Mao from now on. The first thing we're going to do now is for Xiao Rui to play with your toys with Teacher Mao. Is that okay?"
"The first step in making friends is to share toys with each other, right?"
Mao Dongjian was indeed well-prepared; her large bag contained some trendy toys, and she even picked one out as a gift for Liu Shengrui.
"This toy car is a gift from Teacher Mao to Xiao Rui. Do you like it?"
The brand-new toy car looked so beautiful, and it was exactly the type that Liu Shengrui didn't already have. He was even more excited and grabbed the toy car.
"I like it." Liu Shengrui nodded, holding the toy car and examining it carefully.
Mo Youyou thought it would be difficult to get Liu Shengrui to speak, because she had gradually discovered that Liu Shengrui did have communication problems—even though she didn't want to admit it.
But to my surprise, Mao Dongjian was quite capable; he got Liu Shengrui to speak right away.
Mo Youyou felt even more relieved.
After all, it was a few days before the early childhood education teacher came to visit, and Mo Youyou had taken the day off specifically to keep an eye on things and see for herself before she could feel completely at ease. She couldn't trust Zhang Cuihua's word at all.
So while Mao Dongjian and Liu Shengrui were spending time together, Mo Youyou just sat on the sofa and watched.
Mao Dongjian was already used to such stares.
"Xiao Rui, your teacher gave you a gift. Would you like to play with your teacher?" Mao Dongjian asked.
Liu Shengrui nodded, not rejecting Mao Dongjian. He even pulled her to sit down next to his pile of toys. He picked and chose, and finally took out his favorite Superman toy and put it in Mao Dongjian's hand.
“You can play,” Liu Shengrui said generously.
This move left Mo Youyou and Zhang Cuihua completely stunned!
It seems that people who specialize in early childhood education may be born with a friendly personality, as they were able to get Liu Shengrui to share his favorite Superman toy on their first meeting!
Others might not know, but Mo Youyou and Zhang Cuihua did, and they knew how much Liu Shengrui treasured this toy.
“Okay,” Mao Dongjian happily took the toy, fiddled with it for a bit, then pretended to be confused and asked Liu Shengrui for help, “Xiao Rui, how do you play with this toy? Can you teach me? I don’t know how to play with it.”
Liu Shengrui looked at her, trying to understand what she was saying, but at first he didn't react.
"So, how do you play this?" Mao Dongjian looked at Liu Shengrui expectantly.
This time he seemed to understand.
Liu Shengrui took Superman back and put all his effort into dismantling his limbs and head—normally he would have been scolded for doing this, but Mao Dongjian had no intention of reprimanding him at all; instead, he clapped his hands and praised him.
"Xiao Rui, you're really amazing!" Mao Dongjian said.
"So, after it's dismantled, how should we proceed?"
Liu Shengrui was clearly taken aback. He instinctively thought that Mao Dongjian would react in the same way as the others, or at least criticize and lecture him. However, she seemed to be praising him.
Is this a compliment?
This was a completely unfamiliar experience for Liu Shengrui.
Unlike Zhang Cuihua's constant praise of "My grandson is so great," this kind of praise seems to be a first for her.
"Let's give it our all," Liu Shengrui said.
Immersed in Mao Dongjian's praise, Liu Shengrui picked up Superman's limbs and head again and slowly pieced them back together. He did it very seriously, as if he really wanted to teach Mao Dongjian how to play.
"Wow, so that's how you play! I got it. Let me try it too. Xiao Rui, do you think I did it right?" Mao Dongjian said.
"Okay," Liu Shengrui nodded in response.
Mo Youyou was completely stunned.
Isn't this exactly the kind of interaction she's always wanted with her son?
But despite her efforts, she had never been able to play with her son in such a harmonious way. On the other hand, Mao Dongjian, who came to her home on the first day, had already done it so easily. It was simply unbelievable. Was this the charm of professionalism?
In this way, through toys, Mao Dongjian quickly became close friends with Liu Shengrui, and it even seemed that their relationship was better than Liu Shengrui's relationship with his family.
Mo Youyou repeatedly marveled in her heart at Mao Dongjian's "remarkable methods"!
But this is just the beginning.
If this is what constitutes early childhood education, then this job is far too easy to earn.
The first unpleasant incident occurred when Zhang Cuihua brought out the washed fruit, partly to give Liu Shengrui something to eat, and partly as a way of entertaining Mao Dongjian.
But Mao Dongjian did not regard the fruit as a treat for himself, but rather as a new teaching opportunity.
“Xiao Rui, Grandma is offering you fruit. What should you say?” Mao Dongjian asked.
This is more like "teaching" than playing with toys together.
However, Liu Shengrui, who was just chatting and laughing with Mao Dongjian, was now silent and didn't even acknowledge Mao Dongjian, as if he had selectively ignored her words.
“Xiao Rui, you should thank Grandma,” Mao Dongjian said, her tone noticeably different from her initial attempt to get closer to her; it was much more assertive.
Mo Youyou unconsciously became nervous. She wanted to see Liu Shengrui's reaction, and even more so, Mao Dongjian's response.
This is the main event.
"Play." Liu Shengrui was already immersed in his own world.
Mao Dongjian stopped wasting words and took away the toy Liu Shengrui was playing with. Then, pointing at the fruit and Zhang Cuihua, he repeated what he had said at the beginning.
"Xiao Rui, Grandma brought you some fruit. You should thank Grandma," Mao Dongjian said.
Despite her assertive tone and attitude, her overall demeanor was very calm; she showed no anger or resentment, only a faint expression of emotion.
Liu Shengrui stared at Mao Dongjian without saying a word.
"Say thank you." Mao Dongjian seemed determined to get Liu Shengrui to say it.
Liu Shengrui stared at Mao Dongjian for a long time, and finally simply started to attack her.
"So annoying! So annoying!" Liu Shengrui shouted, making a move to hit someone.
Mao Dongjian was no pushover. This wasn't the first time she'd encountered a child who could fight, so she knew how to deal with it: she absolutely couldn't let them succeed, and she couldn't let them think they could lay a hand on her at will.
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