Gu Beiyan was about to explode with anger. Wen Zifei was laughing so loudly, and he still had the nerve to claim it wasn’t on purpose?

Yu Yuanyuan stared at the soccer ball for a long time before walking up and grabbing it. “Yuanyuan wants to play with the ball too!”

“Pfft, don’t make a mess, just stay out of the way,” Wen Zifei scoffed, rushing forward to take the ball, but he missed as Yuanyuan deftly sidestepped and switched the ball from one hand to the other. “Yuanyuan wants to play, let’s play together.”

In the kindergarten, there weren’t any strict rules for playing soccer. The miniature soccer field, with its tiny goals tailored to the height of the kids, gave everything an extra dose of cuteness.

“Alright, but if you lose, there has to be a punishment, right?” Wen Zifei smirked, holding the ball smugly in his arms.

Just as Teacher Qin was about to intervene, Yu Yuanyuan eagerly responded, “Okay, okay!”

Everyone else: “…”

Does this little dumpling even know what punishment means?

Wen Zifei wrinkled his nose and added, “If you lose, you’ll have to be my servant for a week.”

Teacher Qin sighed. Typical kids’ punishment.

“What if you lose?” Yu Yuanyuan suddenly asked.

Chu Qi breathed a sigh of relief, glad that Yuanyuan hadn’t completely lost her mind—at least she had the sense to ask in return.

Wen Zifei scoffed. How could he possibly lose? No way!

“I won’t lose.”

“Well, since you’re so confident, let’s set the rules,” Chu Qi chimed in, backing Yu Yuanyuan up. “If you lose, you’ll have to be Yuanyuan’s servant for a week.”

“Fine, who’s scared of that?” Wen Zifei retorted.

Chu Qi nodded, then turned to Teacher Qin. “Could you be the referee?”

Teacher Qin blinked, slightly taken aback. Where did this sudden competition come from? And now they wanted her as a witness?

Seeing how serious and excited the little kids were, she couldn’t bear to dampen their spirits.

“Alright,” she agreed, “I’ll be the referee. The game will last 20 minutes, and no hitting, dangerous moves, pushing, or tripping.”

“And will Chu Qi and Gu Beiyan be on Yuanyuan’s team? That way, it’ll be three versus three,” she suggested, noticing the two kids nearby.

Chu Qi instinctively wanted to refuse, but Gu Beiyan grabbed her hand and charged ahead, not giving her a chance to back out.

Whatever. At least if they lose, I won’t have to be the servant.

“I’ll be the goalie!” Yu Yuanyuan declared, patting her hands together enthusiastically. Her excitement left Chu Qi and Gu Beiyan with serious doubts about how reliable she would actually be.

Gu Beiyan’s mouth twitched, and he carefully chose his words. “But Yuanyuan, being the goalie is really important.”

“Yuanyuan is the best goalie ever!” the little cub replied cheerfully, drawing a big circle in the air with her arms for emphasis.

Seeing the circle as an innocent “heart” gesture, Gu Beiyan’s brain short-circuited, and he nodded mechanically, “Okay, okay!”

Chu Qi glanced at the hypnotized Gu Beiyan and then at Yu Yuanyuan’s wobbly little form, exasperated. This team is doomed.

Well, whatever. As long as Gu Beiyan handles the offense, I’ll just run around and try to help block the ball for our goalie cub.

Everything else would be left to fate.

With a blow of the whistle, the game began. The other kids gathered on the sidelines to watch. With Gu Beiyan on the field, the cheering from the girls was especially loud, and his close buddies were practically screaming themselves hoarse.

Compared to their match in the park, this time Yu Yuanyuan had it easier. The goal was smaller, and she didn’t need to run around too much.

But just five minutes into the game, Gu Beiyan could already feel their team was at a disadvantage.

Why, you ask?

The other team was skilled, and both players were ganging up on him, trying to steal the ball.

Meanwhile, Chu Qi was lazily strolling near the goal, and Yu Yuanyuan… her gaze was completely vacant.

This was bad. This was really bad.