Strawberry picking, star picking, one picking a day
Because Xia Tong was young and had never attended preschool, and had missed the two weeks of classes before the start of the school year, she naturally couldn't keep up with her classmates. The math teacher's surname was Yan, and her style of doing things was as strict as her surname. She treated Xia Tong, who had no foundation at all, the same way, so Xia Tong was most afraid of going to Teacher Yan's math class.
It was math class again. Ms. Yan wrote several names on one side of the blackboard. Then she walked to the front of the class, expressionlessly tapped the desk twice with her pointer, and the whole class immediately fell silent. She pushed up her glasses and said slowly, "Several students didn't do the homework I assigned yesterday. I've written their names on the blackboard. Homework is a tool to reinforce classroom knowledge. I've repeatedly emphasized that every student must do it. Didn't you understand?!" Her voice suddenly rose at the last sentence, echoing in the classroom, making the students hold their breath. Elementary school students are actually quite easy to manage; a little scare and they'll all behave obediently. Ms. Yan clearly knew this well.
Then she started criticizing by name: "Xia Tong! You've been on the list for three days in a row. Are you determined not to do your homework and to go against the teacher?"
Xia Tong blushed and quickly shook her head, then lowered her head in shame. It wasn't really her fault; she hadn't attended preschool and didn't even know what homework was.
"You never learn your lesson, do you want to become a sly old fox?" Teacher Yan continued to lecture her.
Xia Tong was on the verge of tears when Fu Jia, who was sitting next to her, suddenly raised her hand and exclaimed, "Report! Xia Tong is crying!"
Teacher Yan realized she had gone a bit too far with the little girl, coughed, and said, "It's good that you know you were wrong. You must do your homework tonight, okay? If you don't know how, ask the students around you, like Fu Jia, who is very good at math. Fu Jia, you should also help the new classmate, okay?"
Fu Jia replied in a serious tone, "Understood, Teacher Yan."
After class, Xia Tong grabbed Fu Jia, who was about to go out and play, and stammered, "Teacher, what was the homework you just mentioned?"
Fu Jia was puzzled. Hadn't the teacher just finished assigning the homework before class ended? Could Xia Tong really be stupid? From his vantage point above, he saw Xia Tong looking at him with wide, expectant eyes, her face still flushed from the previous assignment, her small nose and cherry-red lips. Xia's mother was a woman who knew how to dress up and loved beauty, so naturally she dressed her up like a pretty girl every day. He noticed that she had changed her hair accessory, and then tugged at her neatly braided pigtails: "Hey? Where's the little strawberry on your head?"
"Hey, don't pull... Mom worked so hard to tie it up for me." Xia Tong covered her head.
"Where's that little strawberry on your head?" Fu Jia pressed on relentlessly.
"Didn't you pick it?" Xia Tong said aggrievedly. The day before yesterday, Fu Jia suddenly took a liking to the little strawberry she used to tie her hair and insisted on 'picking' one. Yesterday, her mother saw that the old one was broken, so she bought her a new hair accessory. A moon and three little stars squeezed together looked quite cute.
Fu Jia excitedly tugged at the little star and said, "Then I'm going to pick a star today."
"No, no, it'll break. Mom will scold me if it breaks." Xia Tong desperately protected her headdress, afraid that he would pull it off with a strong tug.
Suddenly, Fu Jia noticed Xia Tong's little ears, which were slightly red from nervousness, thin and tender, making them quite adorable. She abruptly stopped touching the little stars in Xia Tong's hair, sat down, and flipped through Xia Tong's blank math textbook: "Didn't you remember the homework the teacher just assigned?"
Xia Tong was taken aback by his change of topic, then nodded in annoyance. Fu Jia smiled and moved closer to her: "Do you want me to tell you?" Although Xia Tong was a little confused by his sudden kindness, she still nodded quickly.
Fu Jia cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone: "Come here, I'll tell you quietly."
Xia Tong, who was sitting to the side, hesitated and leaned her ear over. Just as she got close to him and was waiting for him to speak, he suddenly bit her ear!
Her soft, delicate little ears were enveloped in a wave of warm, humid air before being attacked by a monster. Its teeth bit into her ears, startling her.
"Ah--" Xia Tong was so startled she almost jumped up, covering her ears and accusingly saying, "You bit me!"
"Hmph, it looks soft, but it's not even as tasty as pig's ears." Compared to Xia Tong's surprise, Fu Jia seemed much calmer, smacked her lips, and sat upright in her seat, speaking as if nothing had happened.
"Why did you bite me?!" Actually, Fu Jia's bite wasn't very hard; he just suddenly had the idea to try the texture of this little girl's ear, which looked like a dough figurine. But Xia Tong had never been bitten like that before, and she was extremely surprised.
Fu Jia then opened Xia Tong's textbook: "You didn't know where to do your homework, did you? I'm telling you now, do you want to listen or not?"
Xia Tong covered her ears and looked at him as if she were looking at a child trafficker, filled with suspicion and fear.
“Aren’t you going to come and listen? I’ll only say it once, okay? Exercise 1, questions 1 and 3 of Unit 3—” Fu Jia began reading the questions aloud.
Xia Tong immediately forgot the pain from being bitten and quickly moved a stool back to sit down: "Wait a minute, wait a minute, let me write this down."
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After school, the students lined up. The school required each class to hold hands and walk out of the school gate, ostensibly to promote harmony among students, but actually to prevent children from getting lost due to mischief. Xia Tong, carrying her small schoolbag, obediently let Fu Jia hold her hand. There were many parents outside the speed bumps at the school gate. Before Fu Jia even stepped over the speed bumps, she was attracted by the stalls selling various trinkets next to the school and pulled Xia Tong out of the line.
They came to a small stall with only a large glass jar filled with colorful, jelly-like balls. Xia Tong squatted down to look at them curiously, and the vendor began to enthusiastically introduce them: "Little friend, come and see! These are called Ocean Babies. Take them home and put them in water, and they'll grow bigger, sprouting little hands and feet. It's very interesting!"
Xia Tong reached into the water and stirred the sleeping little balls, asking curiously, "Are these babies alive? Why aren't they moving?"
Fu Jia chimed in from the side, "You're so dense, you don't even know this. They're still small, of course they can't move. Do you know tadpoles? They start out without legs or arms, only tails, and then they grow into frogs."
The vendor sitting in front naturally didn't argue, and quickly gave a thumbs up, praising, "That's exactly right! This child knows a lot; he's very smart!"
Xia Tong's eyes widened: "Are tadpoles the same as frogs when we were little? I saw tadpoles at my grandma's house last time, but they looked very different from frogs!"
Fu Jia, flattered by the vendor and seeing Xia Tong's surprised look, became even more smug, her tail practically wagging in the air: "You don't even understand this? You're such an idiot. We have this ocean baby at home too, and I've raised it to this size." As she spoke, she spread her arms out to demonstrate.
Xia Tong was even more surprised: "Really? It can really grow this big?"
"Of course! I know how to take care of it! Now it listens to me very well and carries me downstairs for breakfast every morning! Its skin is smooth and soft, and it's so comfortable to lie on!"
Xia Tong squatted there, her face full of longing: "That's so nice... I want one too..."
The vendor sitting behind the stall had stopped talking and was watching the two of them with a smile.
"Uncle, where should we keep the baby sea creature?"
"When they were small, we kept them in an ink bottle; now that they're grown, we need to keep them in a bigger place."
Does it need to be breathable?
"Just open the bottle cap twice a day to let it breathe. Keep it in a cool place most of the time, as marine babies don't like to be in the sun." The vendor also carefully explained the breeding methods to her.
"Jiajia, what are you doing here?" A strange voice came from behind.
Xia Tong turned her head and saw an unremarkable man standing next to Fu Jia. Although his appearance was average, he was tall and imposing, exuding an indescribable aura. She stood up, thinking that this must be Fu Jia's father, and then timidly greeted him, "Hello, Uncle."
"Is this your classmate?" The man also noticed the little girl. The pretty girl had a childlike voice; what adult wouldn't like such a child? "Hello, little friend, where's your mother? Didn't she come to pick you up?"
"Oh dear, I forgot my mom was waiting for me. I'm off now. Goodbye, Uncle. Goodbye, Fu Jia!" With that, she slung her little backpack over her shoulder and skipped away.
After finding her mother, Xia Tong dragged her to the place selling baby marine life: "Mom, I want to raise this one. It will grow big and very big!"
When Xia's mother took one look, she thought, "Isn't this just a growing bulb that's used as decoration in a vase? We even have some at home that we use as potting soil for growing plants. Where did this 'growing ocean baby' come from?" So she explained to her, "This is just an ordinary decoration. At most, it can be used to grow flowers; it won't grow."
Xia Tong pouted, "I want them! My classmate said they can grow big! Mom, buy me a few, I promise I'll raise them well!"
Xia's mother sighed helplessly, "Why did you make such a lie to me? Really..."
After saying that, he turned to the vendor and asked, "How much is this?"
Three for one yuan.
"Aren't you trying to scam people?! It's one thing to fool a child, but do you think I'm a child who doesn't know any better?" Xia's mother was unhappy. Did this shop owner think she was a child and trying to cheat her?
"Then four for one yuan! Sister, it's just for fun, right? Look how much the child likes them, just bring a few for her to play with!"
Helplessly, Xia's mother took out her money, watching Xia Tong happily playing with a plastic bag of water and her toy water bottle. She sighed inwardly, "Who does this silly girl in my family take after?! She's so easily fooled!"
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This is the second update~~~~ I have 70,000 words in reserve, so feel free to jump in!
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