Since relaxing at Yunxuan's house for a day, Chen Bing has become more diligent than usual. He insists on exercising, studying, practicing his talents, and reading books almost every day, a routine he never slacked off even when he was in kindergarten.
If some college students who don't even open a book for months saw such a self-disciplined child, they would probably be ashamed to death.
Wow! Someone actually hasn't opened a book for months on end. Is this even normal?
Ahem, getting back to the main topic, thanks to her daily diligence and self-discipline, Chen Bing has not only become more energetic in appearance, but her internal knowledge reserves have also been greatly improved.
Meanwhile, after her initial enthusiasm subsided, Yunxuan gradually returned to her true self. She no longer enrolled Shang Yunmiao in as many extracurricular classes as she had at the beginning.
Nowadays, apart from attending English classes on Saturdays and Sundays, Shang Yunmiao only has time to appreciate a few ancient poems under Yunxuan's supervision.
Chen Bing would occasionally teach her Go, but it was just something that happened by chance, and it didn't amount to much.
Besides improving herself, Chen Bing also got to know a group of kids in the neighborhood.
It was somewhat of an accident. One day, when Chen Bing went out to buy something alone, she happened to see this group of children surrounding a tree, trying to get the soccer ball that had been kicked up there down.
Out of kindness, Chen Bing stepped forward to help, and that's how they met.
Chen Bing was about to leave when they insisted on inviting her to play soccer. Having not played it in a long time, she was genuinely eager to join in. Finally, after their repeated invitations, she joined in.
After playing for an hour or so, they politely bought popsicles for themselves, and that was how their relationship was established.
Children's emotions are still very pure. Apart from those born with bad traits, most people can still distinguish right from wrong with proper education.
On subsequent weekends, if Chen Bing happened to see them playing after returning from her extracurricular class, she would go over and play for a while. Later, with some small opportunities, the timid Shang Yunmiao also started going to play with them, but she only dared to do so when Chen Bing was present.
Xiao Shang has lived in this neighborhood for so long but has never had anyone to hang out with. In the end, she ended up being the only one who moved in and brought her along. This shows how bored she must have been at home before.
However, she has made some progress. Gradually, her personality has become more lively, probably because she has grown up and is getting to know more people.
"Okay, you can only open your eyes when you count to fifty! Begin!"
With a shout of "Start!", the game of hide-and-seek officially began, and the little kids scattered and ran away.
Unlike the others, Shang Yunmiao didn't run away immediately. Instead, she stayed close behind Chen Bing, letting him lead her to hide.
As a mature adult, Chen Bing wasn't about to use his full strength against them. He strolled around leisurely, and finally, in the last five seconds of the countdown, he led Shang Yunmiao to a good hiding place.
Before long, the children who had been hiding very well were found one by one. Seeing that almost everyone had been found, Chen Bing took the initiative to show up with Shang Yunmiao.
According to the rules, the first person to be found becomes the next ghost hunter.
The first girl to be caught seemed a little unhappy. She rubbed her eyes and quickly burst into tears.
"Waaaaah, you're bullying me! You saw Tongtong, why did you grab me first... Waaaaah..."
The boys were clearly not very gentlemanly; they ignored the girl's tears and urged her to face the tree and start counting.
Boys this age don't like playing with girls anyway, let alone when the girl is making a lot of noise.
The little girl, feeling wronged, ran away crying, leaving the crowd staring at each other in bewilderment.
"Then I'm not playing anymore, bye-bye."
"Let's play a little longer, okay? I'll be the ghost hunter." The child, who hadn't had enough fun, tried to persuade the person who was about to leave.
"Then I'll be going too. It's time to go home for dinner."
It's easy for children to get together and play, and it's equally easy for them to separate and go home.
Chen Bing didn't seem to care much about it, but Shang Yunmiao, who was standing next to her, looked a little disappointed.
She didn't have many friends in kindergarten, so she longed for things like this, where several children would get together and play all sorts of games.
The girl wore her emotions on her sleeve, and Chen Bing, seeing her dejected expression, finally softened.
Alright, it's not dark yet anyway, so I won't do the math problems tonight. I'll play with you a little longer.
With that in mind, Chen Bing took Shang Yunmiao to a nearby park for a stroll. They played on the swings and slides whenever they saw them. After the little girl had her fill of fun, Chen Bing took her to a supermarket to buy some snacks. The two of them sat together on a park bench, enjoying the sunset while eating junk food.
"Chen Bing, aren't you going to eat?"
To stay healthy, Chen Bing only ate one or two jellies and then stopped. Seeing this, Shang Yunmiao asked curiously.
Chen Bing shook her head.
"You eat it, I don't really want to eat it."
Hearing him say that, Shang Yunmiao thought about it and, after finishing the instant noodles in her hand, stopped reaching for more.
You can't go wrong by following Chen Bing's lead.
Shang Yunmiao placed the plastic bag full of snacks on her right side so that there was no barrier between her and Chen Bing. She leaned against Chen Bing's arm, quietly keeping him company as they watched the sunset.
It was a chilly early autumn evening. A gentle breeze swept across the straight poplar trees, blowing golden, withered leaves into the air before they slowly fell, carpeting the ground in a golden hue.
Where the leaves fell, Chen Bing seemed to see a large dog sitting quietly at the edge of her line of sight.
He snapped out of his daze and turned his head to look in that direction carefully.
In the dim light of the setting sun, Chen Bing could make out what was crouching there.
It wasn't a dog, but a little boy wearing a yellow shirt. There were no adults around him; he was just squatting there all alone.
Did you have a fight with your family?
Chen Bing was wondering whether she should go over and check on him. If she didn't go, it didn't seem very safe for a child to be squatting there alone.
Before Chen Bing could make a decision, Shang Yunmiao gently tugged at his sleeve.
"Chen Bing, there's someone squatting over there, shall we go take a look?"
Chen Bing, who was already inclined to do so, nodded, then jumped off the chair and walked over with Shang Yunmiao.
The boy was squatting with his back to the two people. When you got closer, you would see that he was holding a wooden stick and idly sweeping up dead leaves.
When Chen Bing walked past him and looked at her profile, she realized that the squatting child was actually a girl, but her hair was cut very short, so she looked like a boy from behind.
What surprised Chen Bing even more was that after careful examination, he realized that he seemed to know this girl.
Liu Xiaoxiao?
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