Chapter 4 That was his child
The afternoon sun shone on the surface of the pool, creating shimmering light like diamond fragments.
Zhu Zhenghao walked in through the back door of the swimming pool and immediately saw that extremely conspicuous tall figure standing alone by the pool doing warm-up exercises.
He was somewhat surprised and called out, "Brother Song, why are you here so early today?"
When the swimming pool opened last time, Song Juelan stayed there until evening before leaving, and business was even more booming than he had expected. He later heard that after changing his clothes, Song Juelan went to help out at the front desk for a while.
Zhu Zhenghao was flattered and surprised, never expecting that Song Juelan would care so much about his small swimming pool.
Today, right after lunchtime, Song Juelan appeared here.
Hearing the noise behind him, Song Juelan turned around and glanced at him, nodding as a greeting: "I have class later."
Zhu Zhenghao nodded and said "Oh," then paused for a few seconds before suddenly looking over: "What class? Who has class?"
Song Juelan spoke calmly, as if he were talking about something ordinary: "Basic courses for preschool children."
Zhu Zhenghao was struck dumb as if by lightning, frozen motionless by the pool.
He simply couldn't connect the words "preschool children" with the cold-faced man in front of him.
Although Song Juelan obtained his coaching certificate very quickly within a few days after agreeing to be his coach, he knew Song Juelan's personality and never even considered having Song Juelan coach students.
Not to mention those are preschool children who are completely out of control...
Zhu Zhenghao stared blankly at the people on the shore, his voice trembling: "Are you coming up?"
Song Juelan was too lazy to repeat herself. After warming up, she went into the water. Her slender and powerful body swam away like an agile fish in the blink of an eye.
Zhu Zhenghao mentally exclaimed "Holy crap!" countless times, his shock lingering for a long time.
He had originally only come here to take a look, but now he immediately decided to stay and see how Song Juelan would take care of the child.
This is a once-in-a-millennium opportunity. Besides, if Song Juelan loses patience and leaves, he can handle the situation promptly.
Around 1 p.m., the swimming pool gradually became more crowded. Laughter and playful noises came from the shallow end, water guns sprayed water everywhere, and several floats with cartoon patterns flew ashore.
Zhu Zhenghao instructed several lifeguards to keep an eye on that area, then, his head aching from the children's screams, he rubbed his temples and walked away.
At this moment, he finally understood why Song Juelan didn't like children.
It was incredibly noisy.
As he looked toward the pool on the other side, he keenly sensed something unusual.
Song Juelan, who had just been swimming, now stood quietly in the water, frequently turning her head to look towards the entrance, and occasionally glancing up at the electronic clock hanging on the wall.
If he didn't know that Song Juelan was incapable of dating, he would probably have thought that Song Juelan was waiting for a date.
"Are you waiting for someone?" Zhu Zhenghao strolled over and gestured with his chin toward the entrance.
Song Juelan immediately looked away, lowering her eyes to stare at the ripples on the water's surface: "No."
It was almost 2 p.m., but Wen Zhi had not yet appeared.
Two days ago, they arranged a class time on WeChat, and today is the first day of class.
I don't know if something happened to them.
With one minute left before class started, Song Juelan felt a strange unease. Just as she was about to get out of the pool, a pleasant voice came from behind her.
"Coach Song."
Song Juelan's back stiffened slightly, and she subconsciously pursed her lips, turning around to look.
Wen Zhi was seen standing by the pool with Xiao Tang in her hand, slightly out of breath.
His soft cheeks were fair with a rosy glow, a few strands of black hair were damp with sweat and clung to his fair neck, and there was a tuft of hair sticking up on top of his head.
"Xiao Tang overslept, sorry to have kept you waiting." Wen Zhi smiled apologetically and rubbed Xiao Tang's fluffy head.
In fact, he slept until the afternoon. Fortunately, Xiao Tang changed into her swim trunks while he was sleeping, so he wasn't late.
Hearing that Zhi had taken the blame for him, Xiao Tang pouted and tugged at the wings on her little yellow duck swimming ring, deciding not to argue with him.
Finally seeing the person who had been on his mind for the past few days, Song Juelan suppressed the strange emotions in his heart, but suddenly remembered that night when he almost opened Wen Zhi's WeChat Moments and accidentally patted her.
Seeing Wen Zhi's natural attitude, which didn't seem like she had discovered it, I finally felt relieved.
He shook his head and said in a low voice, "I just arrived too, I haven't been waiting long."
Zhu Zhenghao, who witnessed Song Juelan soaking in the pool for an entire afternoon, was speechless.
Wen Zhi looked around and, not seeing any other children nearby, softly exclaimed, "Are we the only ones having class today?"
Song Juelan replied somewhat awkwardly, "...Yeah, there are fewer people at this time of day."
Wen Zhi asked casually without thinking much about it, and squatted down to help Xiao Tang put on her swimming cap: "Okay, go to your lesson with Coach Song."
Xiao Tang glanced at the crystal-clear pool with her round eyes, then immediately closed them tightly and clutched Wen Zhi's clothes: "Zhi Zhi, there's so much water."
Wen Zhi, who also couldn't swim, couldn't comfort him by saying that water wasn't scary, so she could only coax him, "If Xiao Tang learns to swim well, he can grow as tall as Coach Song."
Song Juelan braced his hands on the edge of the pool, his smooth back muscles slightly tensing, preparing to get out of the water.
Upon hearing Wen Zhi's words, he paused in his grip, nearly falling back into the pool. He managed to pull himself up with a quick movement.
Only the area behind her ears turned slightly red.
Wen Zhi thought... he was very tall?
Hearing the splashing sound of water, Wen Zhi subconsciously turned her head and was dazzled by a large expanse of firm muscles.
Water droplets rolled down his well-defined abs, his V-line disappearing into the edge of his swim trunks, every inch of his muscles exuding a strong aura of hormones.
The impact up close is nothing compared to seeing it from afar. He blinked slowly, swallowed hard without any self-respect, and immediately felt that signing up for swimming lessons was the right decision.
Over there, Xiao Tang was comforted by Wen Zhi's words and wobbled towards the poolside while holding her little yellow duck swim ring.
Song Juelan reached out to stop the little dumpling who was about to roll into the pool at any moment, and pointed in the direction of the teaching pool: "Let's go over there."
Those round eyes, so similar to Wen Zhi's, blinked once. Cleverly turning around while holding the swim ring, her feet wobbling on the wet floor like a little yellow duck.
Having zero experience with children, Song Juelan protected him for a few steps before realizing he could simply pick him up. So he squatted down in front of Xiao Tang and picked him up along with his swim ring.
Xiao Tang instinctively hugged his neck tightly, glanced down, and was immediately startled by the height. She covered her eyes with her small hands and exclaimed softly, "It's so high!"
He was used to the height Wen Zhi held him, but when Song Juelan suddenly picked him up, he immediately felt like a crane standing among chickens.
When they arrived at the teaching pool, Wen Zhi saw that Xiao Tang was adapting well, so she stopped disturbing them and sat down on a bench nearby.
The young Coach Song looked very professional. He first led Xiao Tang to squat by the pool to feel the water temperature, and then slowly guided Xiao Tang into the water.
Xiao Tang, who was a little afraid of water just now, excitedly splashed the water, giggling, and stepped into the water.
Wen Zhi rested her chin on her palm, watching the harmonious scene in the water.
I didn't expect Song Juelan to look so young, yet she's quite good at taking care of kids.
His gaze unconsciously fell on Song Juelan again. His back view was broad-shouldered and narrow-waisted, with perfectly defined muscles, making him quite a sight to behold.
He stared at it rather unreservedly for a while before pretending to look away casually.
After taking Xiaotang into the water, Song Juelan let him play freely in the water for a while before teaching him the most basic arm and leg movements.
Xiao Tang was having a blast playing in the water. When she was almost exhausted, she felt thirsty. She clung to her swim ring and floated to the shore, looking up and saying, "Zhi Zhi, I want some water."
Wen Zhi put down her phone, took a short, chubby cartoon water bottle out of her bag, walked to the edge of the pool, squatted down, and handed it over.
Xiao Tang hugged the water bottle with both hands, puffed out her cheeks, put on the straw, and drank more than half of the bottle in one gulp.
The swimming pool has a rule that you must take off your shoes before entering the pool area. Wen Zhi stepped barefoot into the water at the edge of the pool, and the cold touch made him move around a little uncomfortably.
As Song Juelan turned her head, what came into view was a pair of fair and delicate feet.
Her ankles were so slender that they seemed like they could be held in one hand, with a rounded curve, and faint blue veins could be seen under the thin skin.
Looking up, there were two slender, smooth calves, with soft curves and dazzling whiteness.
Song Juelan's pupils contracted slightly, and he abruptly turned his head away, unsure of where to look.
His movements were a bit rough, and Wen Zhi noticed the commotion. She looked up and saw that Song Juelan's neck was a little red.
He asked with concern, "Coach Song, would you like some water?"
Song Juelan didn't hear what he said clearly and nodded haphazardly.
Wen Zhi went to the nearby water station and poured him a cup of water in a disposable paper cup.
When Song Juelan took the water glass, her fingertips subtly twitched, and she murmured a thank you.
After a short rest, Song Juelan forced himself to concentrate and continued practicing the movements he had just learned with Xiao Tang.
But his gaze would inadvertently drift toward the shore a few times before quickly returning.
Time flies, and the class was over in no time.
Wen Zhi took out a bath towel from her bag and dried Xiao Tang, who was soaking wet from just coming out of the water, then wrapped him in another dry bath towel.
Xiao Tang swam for so long on her first time in the water and was already exhausted. After Wen Zhi picked her up, she grabbed Wen Zhi's collar, waved to Song Jue Lan, and said softly, "Brother Jue Lan, bye-bye."
Wen Zhi subtly pursed her lips.
You're calling him "brother" so soon.
After saying goodbye to Song Juelan, he left with Xiaotang in his arms.
Song Juelan watched the two figures disappear into the distance, remaining rooted to the spot.
Zhu Zhenghao, who had endured the whole class, couldn't wait any longer and walked over, patted Song Juelan on the shoulder, and gestured in the direction the two had left: "Hey, what happened over there?"
He didn't expect that Song Juelan would actually bring a student, and that the student was a child who looked only three or four years old.
I remember when I was in school, some classmates brought their younger siblings to school. The whole class exclaimed how cute they were, but Song Juelan got up and went to the corridor, unwilling to have any contact with the children.
He couldn't believe that Song Juelan had changed her personality so quickly and would like taking care of children, but he couldn't think of any other reason.
Although he knew it was impossible, Zhu Zhenghao still joked with a grin: "That guy was really good-looking. You wouldn't happen to have a crush on him, would you?"
Before he could finish speaking, Song Juelan frowned and looked over: "What are you thinking? He's a student's parent."
Zhu Zhenghao asked, puzzled, "Huh? So what?"
So what if they're parents? There's no rule against dating students' parents.
The boy looked like the child's older brother, probably around their age.
“That’s his child,” Song Juelan added calmly.
Zhu Zhenghao's eyes widened suddenly, his jaw almost dropped to the ground, and his voice rose uncontrollably.
"What? His...his child?!"
Song Juelan lowered his eyes, his slightly damp, dark eyelashes casting shadows on his face, concealing his expression.
After a moment, he gave a barely audible "hmm".
A note from the author:
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Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution!
Winter 30 bottles; Su 8 bottles; Zhixing 6 bottles; Yilou Tingyu 5 bottles; Zao Dian Shui 77, Wo Yao Fa Cai 2 bottles; Chengzi, Wen Weiyan, Yizhi Haitang, Cao Cong Li De Voldemort, Dao Si Shi Liu 1 bottle
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