Chapter 31

“Really?” Xu Ai thought to herself that he must be lying, but why would he lie? It didn’t seem necessary.

However, it felt like his opinion wasn’t as important as Nuo Nuo’s.

After all, she had just spoken to Nuo Nuo.

Xu Ai decided to shift her inquiry back to her daughter, trying to adopt a gentle tone. “Sweetheart, did you think Mommy sounded strict just now?”

Although Xu Ai usually wouldn’t mind, she felt a bit concerned. If Sheng Zexi’s gentleness made her seem strict, would Nuo Nuo think Daddy was better than her?

Nuo Nuo, happily munching on her meal, noticed that while Mommy had been downcast, Daddy had already helped her pick a lot of food. Hearing Mommy’s question, Nuo Nuo shook her head and denied, “No, Mommy, you’re not strict at all! You’re the kindest mommy in the world!”

Xu Ai blushed at her daughter’s words. How could her little one be so sweet? Nuo Nuo’s compliment made her feel a little shy. Although her daughter probably thought she wasn’t strict, there was no way she was the kindest mommy in the world. Why was Nuo Nuo’s opinion of her so high?

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Xu Ai softly said, “And my little sweetheart is the best little sweetheart in the world.”

Nuo Nuo beamed with joy at her Mommy’s praise and giggled, “I think my mommy is super awesome too!”

At that moment, Xu Ai glanced at Sheng Zexi, who was watching them, occasionally taking bites of food. She wondered if he felt a bit envious of how Nuo Nuo praised her.

But Xu Ai realized she was overthinking it.

Why was she competing with Sheng Zexi?

Even so, she couldn’t help but look in his direction. He had a faint smile on his face, and there was no hint of envy. He calmly continued eating.

A few days passed, and Nuo Nuo had adapted to life in kindergarten.

Song Yuxi had a good relationship with Nuo Nuo, but she felt a bit shy approaching her when Ning Yichen was around.

However, she really liked Nuo Nuo, and Nuo Nuo enjoyed playing with Ning Yichen and the others.

This left Song Yuxi feeling troubled.

Nuo Nuo was very attentive to her deskmate’s feelings. Seeing that Song Yuxi looked unhappy, she asked during recess, “Yuxi, are you feeling sad?”

Song Yuxi really liked her deskmate. Nuo Nuo was beautiful, and her mom always dressed her in different pretty dresses with unique hairstyles. Playing with someone like that felt joyful and happy.

But she had bullied Nuo Nuo’s friend in the past.

Song Yuxi sensed that Ning Yichen was rejecting her.

If she only played with Nuo Nuo and not with Ning Yichen, what would happen to Nuo Nuo?

After thinking for a while, Song Yuxi decided to test Nuo Nuo’s thoughts. She asked, “Nuo Nuo, if your friend doesn’t get along with another friend, will you still play with the other friend?”

Nuo Nuo thought of Pei Zhen and Ning Yichen.

The two of them had a great relationship.

If she wanted to play with Ning Yichen, Pei Zhen would be willing to play too.

After thinking, she told Song Yuxi, “If they had a fight, I would figure out why they were fighting. If someone did something wrong, I would make that person apologize.”

As soon as Song Yuxi heard Nuo Nuo say this, she realized she was in trouble. If she didn’t apologize to Ning Yichen, Nuo Nuo might not like her anymore.

However, she still held onto a glimmer of hope and tried to ask, “Nuo Nuo, why do you like playing with Ning Yichen? Many people don’t like playing with him. Don’t you think he’s not a very likable friend?”

Song Yuxi felt a headache coming on and ran her fingers through her hair.

Nuo Nuo looked over at Ning Yichen, who was talking with Pei Zhen, and shook her head. “He’s not annoying.”

Moreover, since coming to kindergarten, with Pei Zhen’s influence, Ning Yichen had been able to play well with many of the boys in class in just a few days, despite initially being cautious around friends.

Nuo Nuo wasn’t dumb, she could sense what Song Yuxi was implying. “Yuxi, do you not like Ning Yichen?”

Song Yuxi didn’t want to admit it, so she quickly waved her hands to deny it. “No, no, no.”

Her little face turned red from lying.

Nuo Nuo felt relieved to hear that her deskmate didn’t dislike Ning Yichen, and a smile appeared on her face.

“Nuo Nuo, let’s go play outside, okay?”

Not far away, Pei Zhen was calling for Nuo Nuo.

Seeing this, Nuo Nuo grabbed Song Yuxi’s hand and said, “Let’s go play together.”

When they reached the playground, Pei Zhen had already gathered his new friends to play a game of tag.

Pei Zhen was a very capable leader among the kids. By the time Nuo Nuo and Song Yuxi arrived, he was already explaining how to play.

One little boy, who also knew Ning Yichen, had previously joined in excluding him. When he saw that Ning Yichen wanted to play too, he immediately pointed at Ning Yichen and told Pei Zhen, “If he plays, I won’t play.”

Pei Zhen was protective of his friends and didn’t back down, saying, “If you won’t play, we’ll just play by ourselves.”

The little boy was incredulous at Pei Zhen’s response. After confirming that Pei Zhen wouldn’t change his mind, he angrily ran away to play with other kids, though he occasionally glanced back at them.

He also wanted to play tag.

Song Yuxi watched as the little boy left, then looked at the smiling Nuo Nuo.

Nuo Nuo was listening to Pei Zhen explain the game rules. After Pei Zhen finished, Nuo Nuo came over to tell Song Yuxi, “When the police come to catch us, we have to run. Otherwise, it’ll be our turn to catch others.”

Song Yuxi was a bit distracted, but when she heard Nuo Nuo’s words, she stammered a reply, “Okay, okay.”

The game began.

Song Yuxi joined in with Nuo Nuo.

Everyone was chasing each other and having a great time.

Soon, it was Ning Yichen’s turn to be the police.

Song Yuxi was running a little slower, and as Ning Yichen chased after her, he suddenly stopped when he realized it was her. He then went around her to chase another little boy.

After the little boy was caught, he asked with some dissatisfaction, “Ning Yichen, you clearly could have caught Song Yuxi just now. Why didn’t you?”

Ning Yichen didn’t say anything.

Other kids urged him to start the next round, and the boy who was caught began chasing them again.

This pattern repeated a few times. Each time Ning Yichen saw Song Yuxi, he wouldn’t catch her. Eventually, a little friend asked Ning Yichen, “Ning Yichen, do you like Song Yuxi? You never catch her!”

Nuo Nuo didn’t quite understand what “like” meant, so she looked at Ning Yichen with curiosity.

Ning Yichen denied, “No.”

Just then, class started, and everyone returned inside.

Ning Yichen ran ahead.

When class was over, Song Yuxi confided in Nuo Nuo, “Nuo Nuo, actually, I lied to you.”

Nuo Nuo, who was eating milk candy and had even shared a piece with Song Yuxi, looked confused and asked, “What did you lie to me about?”

Song Yuxi crossed her legs and looked down at the floor, saying, “Actually, I used to not like playing with Ning Yichen, just like those other kids. I even bullied him, but I want to play with you.”

Song Yuxi nervously twisted the fabric of her clothes. Looking at Nuo Nuo’s fair face and round, pretty eyes, she felt worried that Nuo Nuo wouldn’t want to play with her anymore.

Nuo Nuo had seen those kids excluding Ning Yichen, but didn’t expect that her own deskmate was one of them. A look of distress crossed her face as she said, “If you want to play with me, you can’t bully him anymore. You have to apologize to him.”

Song Yuxi felt she should apologize, but her fingers were curled tightly, and after a while, she weakly asked, “Nuo Nuo, can you come with me?”

Seeing her deskmate recognize her mistake, Nuo Nuo was happy and immediately agreed to go with Song Yuxi.

When Nuo Nuo brought Song Yuxi to find Ning Yichen, he clearly wanted to back away, but there was a desk behind him, and he couldn’t escape to his seat.

He even felt that Nuo Nuo was standing with her deskmate in the same camp, ready to dislike him together.

Unexpectedly, Song Yuxi sincerely said, “Ning Yichen, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have bullied you before.”

She even bowed seriously.

Nuo Nuo helped explain from the side, “Ning Yichen, Yuxi is here to apologize, but you don’t have to forgive her if you don’t want to. You can choose to forgive if you want.”

Ning Yichen hadn’t expected Nuo Nuo to say this…

He always thought that if someone apologized, they had to be forgiven. He didn’t realize that it was okay not to forgive. Although he would choose to forgive Song Yuxi for Nuo Nuo’s sake, he hadn’t considered that it was possible not to forgive at all.

He looked at Song Yuxi’s sincere expression and felt that there was really nothing to hold a grudge over.

Moreover, among all the little friends who had bullied him, Song Yuxi was the only one who had apologized.

He moved his lips slightly and said, “I… I don’t blame her.”

Song Yuxi was still quite nervous, especially after what Nuo Nuo had just said. But she also knew it was all her fault. Ning Yichen’s words made the weight in her heart lift, but she still found it hard to believe. “Really?”

Ning Yichen nodded. “Yeah.”

The two little friends shook hands to make peace, and during the afternoon games, Ning Yichen no longer avoided her.

That evening, when school was over, Song Yuxi had already left. Ning Yichen saw Nuo Nuo waiting for her parents to pick her up and ran over to her, sincerely thanking her, “Nuo Nuo, thank you.”

The sudden gratitude caught Nuo Nuo off guard. “What’s wrong? Why are you thanking me all of a sudden?”

Ning Yichen replied, “I never thought there would be someone who would apologize to me.”