Chapter 25: Yingbao’s First day of School

Half an hour later, a Rolls-Royce Phantom stopped at the entrance of St. Petersburg Elementary School. However, this did not attract much attention. The students attending this school all came from wealthy or prestigious families, so seeing luxury cars was nothing out of the ordinary.

By this time, many parents had already arrived to drop off their children. Numerous cars were parked in front of the school. Since parents were not allowed to enter the campus, they could only escort their children to the school gate, where the children would then walk inside on their own.

The students wore the official St. Petersburg school uniform, and their backpacks were also distributed by the school. Due to Zhao Jiaying’s unique age, the school did not have a uniform in her size, so a custom one had to be made for her. Until the uniform was ready, she was allowed to wear her own clothes.

The night before, Lin Haibo had already sent Zhao Jiaying’s class assignment to Ou Zichen. She was placed in Class 2(6), and her homeroom teacher was Ms. Chen Shishi.

Today, Ms. Chen Shishi was also waiting at the school gate to welcome Zhao Jiaying. She did not know which student was Zhao Jiaying, but she recognized Ou Zichen. As soon as she saw him leading Zhao Jiaying toward the entrance, she immediately stepped forward to greet them.

“President Ou, hello! I am Zhao Jiaying’s homeroom teacher. My name is Chen Shishi!”

“Hello, Teacher! I’ll be entrusting my daughter to your care from now on.”

“President Ou, you’re too kind! That’s my responsibility!”

She then turned to look at the little girl beside Ou Zichen and said: “You must be Zhao Jiaying. I’m your homeroom teacher. You can call me Teacher Chen!”

“Hello, Teacher Chen! I’m Zhao Jiaying. Daddy and the others all call me Yingbao!” Zhao Jiaying replied in her sweet, childlike voice.

“Alright, Yingbao. Now come with me inside.”

Chen Shishi extended her hand, signaling that she wanted to hold the little girl’s hand and lead her in.

Zhao Jiaying turned around and said to Ou Zichen: “Daddy, Yingbao is going to school now!”

Ou Zichen gave her a doting smile and spoke in an incredibly gentle tone: “Alright, be a good girl and listen to your teacher. Second Uncle will come pick you up after school in the afternoon.”

Chen Shishi, who was standing nearby, was completely stunned by this scene. She had never expected to witness such a gentle side of the great President Ou. If he treated his daughter this well, then there was no need to even mention how well he must treat his wife.

All of a sudden, Chen Shishi felt an immense envy toward Zhao Jiaying’s mommy. How did she manage to marry such a perfect husband? She also became very curious about what Zhao Jiaying’s mommy looked like. What kind of woman could possibly win the favor of the great President Ou?

“Daddy, goodbye!” Zhao Jiaying held Chen Shishi’s hand, waved at Ou Zichen, and walked into the school.

After watching her enter the campus, Ou Zichen turned around and headed back to his company.

Class 2(6) was located on the second floor of the teaching building. Since there was no elevator, they had to take the stairs.

At that moment, the class bell rang, and the students returned to their respective classrooms to prepare for the lesson. Holding Zhao Jiaying’s hand, Chen Shishi walked into Class 2(6). The classroom instantly fell silent as the students curiously looked at the tiny girl beside their teacher.

Chen Shishi led Zhao Jiaying onto the podium, facing the entire class. However, instead of feeling nervous, Zhao Jiaying was excited. From now on, she would be studying in the same classroom as these older brothers and sisters!

“Class, today we have a new classmate joining us. Her name is Zhao Jiaying, and she is only four years old. I hope you will all take good care of her from now on. Understood?”

Upon hearing that Zhao Jiaying was only four years old, the students were shocked. However, none of them whispered among themselves. One of the school rules at St. Petersburg Elementary was that students were strictly prohibited from discussing anything unrelated to academics during class time. Everyone followed this rule very well.

In unison, they responded: “Yes, Teacher!”

“Very good!”

Chen Shishi then turned to Zhao Jiaying and said: “Yingbao, go ahead and introduce yourself to your classmates!”

“Mm!”

Zhao Jiaying looked at the whole class and said in her sweet, childlike voice: “Hello, big brothers and big sisters! My name is Zhao Jiaying, but you can also call me Yingbao. I’m very happy to be your classmate, and I hope to learn a lot from all of you!”

After finishing her introduction, Zhao Jiaying gave a deep bow. The classmates all applauded to welcome her.

“Alright, now that everyone has been introduced, let’s begin class! Take out your Chinese textbooks and turn to Lesson Three…”

Since Zhao Jiaying was the smallest in the class, Chen Shishi assigned her a seat in the first row.

“Yesterday, we learned the poem ‘Ode to the Willow.’ Can any of you recite it from memory?”

Zhao Jiaying was the first to raise her hand and answered in her sweet, childlike voice: “Teacher, I can recite it!”

“Alright, then please recite it for us, Classmate Zhao Jiaying!”

With that, Zhao Jiaying’s clear and crisp voice rang through the classroom:

Ode to the Willow

(Tang Dynasty – He Zhizhang)

Adorned in emerald, a towering tree stands tall,

Ten thousand green threads drape like a waterfall.

Who has cut these delicate leaves so fine?

The spring breeze of February, like scissors divine.

“Very good! Yingbao, that was amazing!”

As soon as she finished, a few academically weaker boys in the class immediately clapped and cheered, completely in awe. She was like a child prodigy—how incredible!

The classroom suddenly became noisy. Chen Shishi raised her voice and sternly said: “Quiet!”

She glanced at the mischievous boys who never seemed to take their studies seriously and felt utterly speechless. Even a four-year-old could do better than them, and yet they still called themselves second-grade students?

“Classmate Zhao Jiaying did an excellent job. I hope everyone will learn from her. Alright, let’s continue the lesson…”

Being praised by the teacher and her classmates filled Zhao Jiaying with joy. It seemed that everyone liked her, so she no longer had to worry about being left out.

Before she knew it, the lesson had ended, and it was time for the ten-minute recess.

As soon as the teacher left the classroom, several boys and girls gathered around Zhao Jiaying’s desk, bombarding her with questions.

“Yingbao, are you really only four years old?”

Zhao Jiaying nodded and replied: “Actually, I’m not even four yet. If you don’t count today, my fourth birthday is still forty-nine days away!”

“Not even four yet, and you’re already in second grade? And you can even recite such a difficult poem? Yingbao, you’re incredible!”

“My little brother is already five years old, and he barely recognizes any characters. Yingbao, you’re basically a little genius!”

“Yingbao, I think I’m starting to admire you!”

Having a tiny four-year-old as a classmate was a completely new experience for everyone. On top of that, Zhao Jiaying was not only adorable but also excelled in her studies, making her instantly popular. Whenever recess came, her classmates would eagerly gather around her, chatting and asking her all sorts of questions.

Zhao Jiaying was also very happy. She found elementary school much more interesting than kindergarten because everyone liked her and wanted to be her friend. Gradually, she developed a sense of superiority.

During lunchtime, everyone scrambled to sit with Zhao Jiaying. They even gave her the meat from their plates, saying: “Yingbao, eat more! That way, you can grow up quickly!”

Once one person set the example, the other classmates followed suit. In no time, Zhao Jiaying’s plate was piled high with meat.

Looking at the plate filled with meat, Zhao Jiaying felt warm inside because she knew this was their way of showing affection. They gave her the delicious meat because they liked her.

However, there was no way she could finish such a large plate of meat, and she hated wasting food the most. So, she said: “Big Brothers and Big Sisters, thank you for giving Yingbao so much meat, but there’s really too much. I can’t finish it all. You should eat some too, or else it will go to waste!”

Hearing what Zhao Jiaying said, everyone took some of the meat back. Then, they happily sat together and enjoyed their meal.