CHAPTER 32: YOU CAME!

"My name is Liang Lingxi. I like music and painting, and I want to be a princess when I grow up!"

The teacher clapped happily. "Wonderful! How lovely, Lingxi!"

And then... it was Chi Yuanying’s turn.

"My name is Chi Yuanying," she said, her voice sugary sweet. "I like my Mommy and Daddy, and I also like pretty things! Oh, and I want to be friends with everyone!"

Her eyes darted toward Huaijin pointedly as she said the last part.

Huaijin tilted her head, smiling faintly. ’So it unofficially begins.’

Throughout the morning, Yuanying kept glancing at her whenever the teacher wasn’t looking.

Huaijin didn’t even need to guess what was running through her mind was jealousy. Pure, childish jealousy.

After all, Yunyin was used to being the center of attention.

But now, not only did the teacher praise Huaijin’s calm manners, but even the little male lead, her precious crush, was stuck sitting beside the "wild child" she looked down on.

As the hours ticked by, Huaijin endured coloring time, alphabet lessons, and snack breaks, all while trying to avoid unnecessary drama.

But of course, drama didn’t avoid her.

During recess, she went to sit quietly under the shade of a tree, enjoying the sight of the children playing. She was content watching the scene unfold like a soap opera, because it was one.

Little Lingxi and little Yuanying were both hovering around the same boy, her grumpy deskmate, offering him juice boxes and cookies.

"Do you want my chocolate?" Lingxi asked sweetly.

"No, take mine!" Yunyin interrupted quickly, holding out a brighter, shinier box.

The boy blinked, confused. "Uh... I don’t like chocolate."

"But you ate it yesterday!"

"That’s because I didn’t want to make Auntie sad!"

The two girls gasped at the same time, glaring at each other with all the intensity of sworn rivals.

Huaijin, sitting at a distance, bit into her strawberry biscuit and muttered under her breath, "And thus begins the love triangle of doom."

A passing teacher gave her a confused look, but Huaijin only smiled innocently.

From afar, she looked like an ordinary, quiet child, small, polite, with her hair tied in two tiny buns.

But inside her mind, she was a veteran survivor of emotional warfare.

Every pout, every glare, every cookie offered to each other was a chess move she had seen before.

And she wasn’t about to join that board again.

When the bell rang, signaling the end of recess, she stood gracefully, dusted off her skirt, and murmured, "Show’s over for now."

Her deskmate came running back, still grumbling.

"You didn’t even play," he accused.

"Didn’t need to," Huaijin replied calmly. "I was entertained enough watching everyone else."

He frowned. "You’re weird."

"Thank you," she said with a tiny bow.

By the time school ended, Chi Huaijin was mentally exhausted. Her little body wanted to nap, but her mind was already processing the future chaos she would have to deal with.

’So, the male lead and both daughters are in the same class,’ she summarized internally. ’This kindergarten is basically the prologue of a drama. And I, unfortunately, am sitting in the front row.’

Still, as she packed her tiny backpack, she smiled softly.

Because no matter what kind of story this was, she wasn’t the same helpless extra anymore.

If fate wanted her to stand among the main characters again, that’s fine.

But this time, she would write her own lines.

And as she ran out through the school gates, waving at her father’s familiar car in the distance, her heart lightened again.

The world outside might still be full of schemes, villains, and fate’s cruel tricks, but right now, she had her father waiting for her.

And that was enough to make even kindergarten drama seem bearable.

***

The school bell rang, echoing through the pastel-colored halls of the kindergarten. Children’s chatter erupted instantly, like a thousand little birds released from a cage.

Tiny footsteps thundered across the floor, lunch boxes rattled, and the teachers’ gentle shouts barely kept the chaos under control.

But amidst the sea of running children, one little girl sat quietly by the window, her small hands folded neatly over her lap, her round eyes fixed on the school gates.

Her heart thumped faster every second that passed.

And then—

A familiar car pulled up outside.

Even though it was an ordinary, slightly shabby car that didn’t match the gleaming ones around it, to Chi Huaijin, it looked like the most beautiful thing in the world.

Her eyes lit up instantly, and the calm, mature aura that had impressed her teachers all day evaporated into thin air. Her tiny body jolted up from the bench as if powered by rocket fuel.

"Daddy!!!" she cried, voice ringing like a bell through the corridor.

Before anyone could stop her, she dashed across the playground, her little backpack bouncing, her pigtails flying in the air until she threw herself into the arms of the tall man waiting at the gate.

Yuanfeng barely had a second to react before an armful of pure sunshine collided with him.

"Oof—! Huaijin?" he chuckled, slightly startled. He bent down and lifted her easily into his arms. "Slow down, you’ll fall!"

But Huaijin only giggled, hugging his neck tightly, her small hands clinging to his collar.

"Daddy, you came! You really came! I missed you so much!" she babbled, her cheeks flushed pink from excitement.

People around them turned to look.

Some parents smiled in amusement; others whispered softly, thinking it was perhaps her first day meeting her father after a long absence.

But that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Yuanfeng and Huaijin had been inseparable since the day they reunited in this life once again.

And yet, every time she saw him, every time she could run into his arms... it felt like the very first moment all over again.

He brushed a strand of hair from her face and smiled faintly, his usually stoic expression softening like snow melting under the sun.