Extra Chapter 23
Bobo got confessed to again.
A little piglet, with snot not yet wiped clean, held flowers and blushed, saying, “Zhuoyue, can I be friends with you?”
Bobo accepted the flowers, took out a tissue to wipe the piglet’s nose, and under the silly gaze of the piglet, nodded and said, “Sure, after school this afternoon, I’ll spend one star hour on extracurricular tutoring assignments, another star hour to read extracurricular books, and two star hours to develop my hobbies. Do you want to study with me?”
The piglet looked dumbfounded, nervously clutching the tissue twisted with snot.
He stuttered, “D-do we have to study for so long?”
“It’s actually not long, as long as you study like this every day, it’ll become a routine for you. How about this, you go home first. Study for an hour every day, and when you get used to it, we can study together more deeply, okay?”
Upon hearing this, the piglet quickly nodded in agreement.
Little Baldy, watching from the side with hawk-like eyes, only approached Bobo after the piglet left. “Brother, that piglet is not as good as Huahua. He’s so big but still can’t wipe his own snot!”
Bobo packed his little backpack, listening to Baldy chattering beside him. He had already developed the ability to tune out Baldy’s nonsense.
After putting on his backpack, Bobo covered Baldy’s mouth, mimicking what dads do, lightly tapped Baldy’s head, and whispered, “Shh… Don’t speak ill of others here, okay?”
Baldy blinked innocently and obediently nodded.
Bobo let go, straightened out Baldy’s little backpack, and the two toddlers left the kindergarten with their backpacks.
“Baldy, just now in the classroom, the little friend you spoke ill of hasn’t gone far yet. You spoke so loudly, he could hear it.”
Baldy justified himself, “If he heard it, he heard it. I didn’t say anything wrong!”
Then Bobo gently tugged on his tiger ear, “But that little friend might feel sad.”
Initially wanting to argue back, Baldy deflated like a balloon when he saw Bobo’s eyes.
He pouted and muttered, “Okay, I got it. I’ll… speak softly next time, only talk about their bad things to you.”
Bobo couldn’t help but smile. He patted Baldy’s head gently and softly said, “Alright.”
Receiving this touch, Baldy became motivated again. He pricked up his tiger ears, cautiously surveyed the surroundings, confirmed no one was nearby, and quickly whispered to Bobo, “Today in art class, wasn’t it supposed to be group work? Liang Liang is really too much.”
“He messed up our desk, scattered scissors everywhere! Knocked over my water cup and books! He didn’t even clean up the paper scraps he cut! How can he do this? After messing up our desk, he just left without cleaning up. I wanted to scold him right then!”
At this point, Baldy furrowed his little brows, hands on hips, and huffed forcefully, then glanced at Bobo with a bit of grievance.
“…You won’t let me scold him, brother. Aren’t you angry? You’re too good-tempered, Papa told me, being too nice makes people think you’re easy to bully, and they’ll bully you again next time.”
Bobo nodded and gave Baldy’s little head another pat.
He soothed, “I’m also angry. But there’s no need to get angry over something like this.”
Bobo remained calm, speaking softly, “I won’t invite Liang Liang to work with us again in the future.”
Baldy was stunned for a moment, not immediately understanding.
He repeated dumbfoundedly, “Won’t invite him again? But… but he usually invites us to eat candy.”
“Yeah, won’t invite him again.”
Bobo spoke softly, “From now on, if there’s any need for cooperation, I won’t invite him. Since that’s the case, why should we argue with him or make him unhappy during our last cooperation?”
“We just need to know in our hearts that Liang Liang isn’t suitable as a team member. If you still want to play with him normally, then play with him. Oh right, he gave you a lollipop today, don’t eat too much. One per day, be careful not to get cavities.”
Baldy listened with a puzzled expression, nodding repeatedly. “B-but Liang Liang usually likes playing with us.”
“Does Baldy like Liang Liang?” Bobo turned to look at his younger brother.
“…Not really, I guess. I just usually eat the lollipops he gives me.”
Liang Liang was a generous toddler who would share lollipops with Baldy and Bobo. Bobo didn’t eat much candy and would often give his to Baldy.
So Baldy always got double the lollipops.
“In that case, next time let’s tell Liang Liang, ask him not to do this again.”
Bobo patted Baldy’s head again, “Let’s go quickly, Papa has been waiting for us for a long time.”
Baldy finally snapped out of it and followed Bobo with small, hesitant steps like a little fool.
Along the way, many toddlers greeted them voluntarily. Bobo smiled and waved at each one, while Baldy, holding a lollipop, quickly ate it before they reached the orphanage gate.
Licking his watermelon-flavored lollipop, Baldy watched Bobo greet others. To finish the lollipop quickly, he stopped just licking it and instead crunched it with his teeth.
“Brother.” Baldy swallowed the lollipop remains and suddenly called out softly.
Bobo turned back puzzled, looking at Baldy, who drooped his tiger ears a bit. “What’s wrong?”
“…Brother, if one day, I… I make you unhappy too, can you tell me why? As long as you say it, I will definitely change!” Baldy cautiously glanced at Bobo.
“…Don’t just ignore me.”
Bobo solemnly tapped Baldy’s head, echoing what dads often say helplessly, “What are you thinking about?”
“You are you, and Liang Liang is Liang Liang. I just don’t like Liang Liang very much.”
Bobo counted on his fingers, listing Liang Liang’s shortcomings.
“He likes to show off, always saying his family is wealthy and that his parents love him very much.”
These weren’t major faults, but Bobo knew that many kids around him didn’t have parents. Every time Liang Liang talked about his family, it made many children sad.
“He often doesn’t keep his promises. He doesn’t consider other people’s feelings. He always pushes cleaning duties onto other kids…”
“I don’t like Liang Liang very much, so I ignore him. But how could I ignore you? I’m your brother, so I’ll take care of you, protect you, and never abandon you.”
Bobo saw Baldy’s dumbfounded expression and sighed like a little adult, then opened his arms and hugged silly Baldy.
Silly Baldy really was a bit of a fool, just like Papa had said.
Bobo thought to himself.
“But Papa said I should protect you.”
Baldy, being hugged, spoke weakly, showing some lack of confidence in his words.
“Alright, then I’ll let you protect me.”
Bobo messed up Baldy’s hair, holding Baldy’s hand as they walked towards the gate.
The gatekeeper, Grandpa Moxi, smiled and said goodbye to each toddler. When Bobo saw Grandpa Moxi, who had been smiling all along, Bobo grinned broadly at him. “Grandpa Moxi~”
“Today Bobo and Baldy are holding hands.” Grandpa Moxi chuckled.
“Papa!”
“Papa~”
The two toddlers then spotted He Ruge standing at the school gate. Baldy dashed forward, while Bobo walked towards He Ruge with small steps.
They held He Ruge’s hands—one on each side—and their shadows stretched long in the sunset.
