To make up for the debt owed to Lin Qingping and Gu Juncheng

“Your father is still your father, and you are still Li Zhiyuan. You can call Uncle Gu ‘uncle’ or ‘dad’ if you want, or even ‘godfather’ if you want. You can call him whatever you want.” Lin Qingping looked into his eyes and said with a smile.

Zhiyuan nodded, and the tram had already stopped at the platform.

Zhiyuan blushed and whispered, "The car is here... Mom."

Lin Qingping smiled and kissed him on the cheek, "Hurry home!"

Then he jumped into the car.

Zhiyuan stood on the platform, his face flushed, his eyes bright, looking somewhat bewildered.

Lin Qingping had already gotten into the car and was standing by the window, waving at him, "Hurry back!"

Zhiyuan ran off like a rabbit in the blink of an eye.

Lin Qingping watched him from the car window until his small body entered the house before she sat down.

The image of Zhiyuan, in his forties, visiting her in the hospital before she died in her previous life flashed before her eyes.

By then, she could no longer speak. He bent down and whispered "Mom" in her ear, saying, "Mom, I've come to see you..."

Actually, she wasn't very good to him in her past life either.

However, she remembered that he had helped her a few times when she opened her shop, and that she had visited him twice when he was in prison.

In his past life, Zhiyuan had no other relatives; she was probably the only one who visited him.

He remembered those two times for so many years.

I don't know how he lived after she died in her previous life. I just regret that I should have left him a share in my will.

How many truly sincere people can one meet in a lifetime? People who don't have any ulterior motives?

The person she treated with all her heart betrayed her and even caused her death. This child, whom she disliked as a child and who was just an ordinary acquaintance as an adult, genuinely cared for her. Regardless of the source of this sincerity, even if it was a promise to Gu Juncheng, it is still quite sincere for someone to remember a promise for decades.

As for Zhiyuan, he probably didn't meet a single truly sincere person. The Gu family members were sincere, but Gu Juncheng passed away long ago.

Moreover, she remembered that Zhiyuan had never married until she died. In this life, she was determined to make sure he lived a good life. Although whether he got married or not was not important, it was a choice he had to make himself. He had the ability to choose whether or not to get married, not because he had been to prison and was disliked by others, and no one wanted to marry him.

The next day, when Zhiyuan went to school, the atmosphere in the class was a little different.

Several more classmates started talking to him, but the little round-faced girl who gave him candy just watched him from afar and smiled.

He went to his seat in the far corner, and as soon as he sat down, the little round-faced girl came over, stuffed something into his hand, and ran away immediately.

He looked, and it was chocolate again...

Another type of chocolate packaging.

How can I tell Little Round Face that he doesn't like chocolate?

He and his classmates waited and waited in the classroom, but the teacher never came to start the class. What was going on today?

Suddenly, the sound of arguing came from outside.

The children all peered out the window and saw Yun Xiaoshan outside, being led by a woman who was pointing at and scolding the teacher.

"Yun Xiaoshan's mother is here again!"

Some children said...

Again? It seems like you come here often.

Seeing this, the childcare teacher called the students back to their seats, but everyone was so engrossed in watching that they didn't want to move.

Yun Xiaoshan's mother's shouts could be heard clearly in the classroom: "Is this how you teach? Irresponsible teachers should be fired! Call your principal! I want to report this to her! Does a teacher like this deserve to be a teacher?"

The principal rushed over and her first priority was to comfort Yun Xiaoshan's mother.

Yun Xiaoshan's mother was even angrier. "Principal, are you covering up for your teacher? This isn't the first time my Xiaoshan has been injured by this teacher. Look at him, look at his face, his hands, all bruised and battered. Is this how your kindergarten ensures the safety of our children? Do you know how precious the children in this kindergarten are?"

Yun Xiaoshan, who is quite large for his age, was dragged around by his mother to show her the wound from the fall he sustained at yesterday's parent-child sports meet.

"Yun Xiaoshan loves to tattle. Even when he falls down, he goes home to tell everyone. His mother is so fierce." The little round-faced girl had somehow snuggled up to Zhiyuan and whispered in his ear.

"Alright, alright, kids, stop looking! We need to start class!" The childcare worker drew the curtains and called all the children back to their seats.

That day, the teacher didn't return to the classroom for a long time, and when she came in, her eyes were red.

So teachers cry too?

Will you also be bullied?

In Zhiyuan's eyes, the teacher is the most amazing person...

Yun Xiaoshan entered the classroom shortly after the teacher came in. His mother was still at the classroom door, shouting, "Xiaoshan! If anyone bullies you, no matter who it is, don't be afraid! Fight back if you should!"

The little round-faced girl didn't take it seriously and whispered to Zhiyuan, "Who would bully him? He's the one who bullies others!"

Then, somewhat timidly, she told Zhiyuan, "We're all afraid of Yun Xiaoshan. We can't beat him, and he'll complain about us because his mother is too fierce!"

Zhiyuan held the chocolate in his hand, remaining silent.

During the afternoon nap, the little round-faced boy reached his hand over from next door again, "Zhiyuan, I still have candy, here you go."

I wonder how much candy that little round-faced girl has in her pocket...

However, this time, before Zhiyuan could even take it, a chubby hand suddenly appeared and snatched the candy from the little round-faced boy's hand.

The little girl with the round face noticed, clenched her hands tightly, and said in a low voice with a flushed face, "It's not for you..."

"I insist!" Yun Xiaoshan stood by the round-faced boy's bed, pressing down on him and trying to snatch him away.

The teacher noticed the commotion and frowned. "Yun Xiaoshan, please go back to your bed."

Yun Xiaoshan shouted instead, "They're talking badly about me! I heard it all!"

"Yun Xiaoshan!" The teacher was exhausted and even a little scared after being scolded by Yun Xiaoshan's mother. "Yun Xiaoshan, can you go back to your own bed? I'll tell you a story."

"No! They spoke ill of me, I want them to apologize to me! And they have to compensate me! I want them to learn a lesson!" Yun Xiaoshan shouted.

The teacher started to have a headache. So, what children say is basically what they hear from their parents. Yun Xiaoshan's mother said almost exactly the same things to the principal, with keywords: apology, compensation, and lesson.

Seeing that Xiao Yuanlian was fighting with Yun Xiaoshan so hard that her face turned red and she wouldn't let go, Zhiyuan immediately reached out and grabbed Yun Xiaoshan's wrist.

Despite his thin frame, he was surprisingly strong; when he grabbed Yun Xiaoshan's wrist, the veins on the back of his thin hand were clearly visible.

Yun Xiaoshan was in pain from being grabbed and was about to scream when Zhiyuan said, "Go ahead and scream, cry, or complain. What else can you do besides that?"

"You..." Yun Xiaoshan swallowed the words he was about to shout.

But my wrist hurts...

Yun Xiaoshan's eyes were already brimming with tears.

"Yun Xiaoshan, didn't your mother tell you to fight back?" Zhiyuan said again, "Go ahead and fight! Or are you going to call your mother to beat me up because you can't beat me? All you do is call your mother to beat you up! You tattletale!"

"I...I'm not a tattletale! You're the tattletale!" Yun Xiaoshan's face turned red with anger. "You...you let me go...or else...or else I..."

"How are you? Should I call your mother?"

"I..." Yun Xiaoshan huffed and puffed, then suddenly questioned him, "You...were you all laughing at me behind my back? I didn't run well yesterday, and I made the class come in last?"

Zhiyuan didn't bother to respond to his comment; no one had even considered this matter.

"And also, are you feeling smug now? You were the one who caught up, you came in first! I know you're all laughing at me!"

Li Zhiyuan was too lazy to waste words with him, "Don't try to take Xiaoyuan away from me again..."

As he said this, he suddenly realized that he didn't know what Xiao Yuanlian's name was, and that she wasn't called Xiao Yuanlian. However, seeing that Yun Xiaoshan was really in so much pain that she was about to cry, he let go.

Yun Xiaoshan glared at him angrily, "Hmph! I know you're all laughing at me! Just you wait and see!"

Finally back in my own bed...

Little Round Face looked at Zhiyuan with pure admiration. "Li Zhiyuan, you're amazing! You managed to beat Yun Xiaoshan!" she exclaimed. "By the way, did you name me Xiaoyuan? It's a lovely name! You can call me Xiaoyuan from now on!"

Zhiyuan: ...

I simply don't know your name.

"So what's your name?" Zhiyuan felt that it wouldn't be right for him to ignore such a warm person.

The little girl with the round face smiled and said, "Call me Xiao Yuan! You can just call me Xiao Yuan. I like this name!"

Zhiyuan: ...

Oh well, the teacher will take attendance regularly anyway, I'll just remember next time.

For the next two days, everything was peaceful at the kindergarten, until one day at lunchtime, Yun Xiaoshan moved closer to Zhiyuan and said to him, "Li Zhiyuan, do you dare to come with me today?"

Zhiyuan: ? ?

"I'm not going!" The answer was crisp and decisive.

"Coward!" Yun Xiaoshan laughed at him.

Zhiyuan bluntly asked him, "What do you want to do?"

"It's nothing. I know there's a place in the kindergarten where you can climb over the wall to get out. You don't know how to climb over the wall, do you? You coward!" Yun Xiaoshan laughed at him again.

Zhiyuan thought for a moment, then said, "Okay, I'll go out with you."

During lunch break, all the children were asleep, including Xiao Yuanlian. Zhiyuan felt someone tiptoeing to his bedside, and when he looked, it was indeed Yun Xiaoshan.

"Let's go!" Yun Xiaoshan waved his hand.

The two quietly slipped out of the room where the students were taking a nap. At that time, the teacher was also dozing off and didn't notice them.

“Right here, once you climb over, you’re outside. Do you dare?” Yun Xiaoshan pointed to the wall.

"Why did you climb out?" Zhiyuan asked him.

"Let's have a competition to see who can climb over the wall the fastest!"

"Let's go, you can go first!" Zhiyuan thought for a moment and said.

"Okay!" Yun Xiaoshan started climbing up the brick holes in the wall, his chubby body surprisingly agile. "Hurry up!"

Zhiyuan rubbed his hands together and said, "Let's go!"