Chapter 94- Goodbye, Ruan Ruan
Shui Xirui first walked into Land Class 1. It was time for dessert before dinner. Except for Huahua, who was standing in the corner, all the infants were sitting in their seats eating snacks.
Each infant’s seat was tailor-made. For smaller infants like Little Hedgehog and Snake Baby, their tables and chairs were also small, while Little Bear sitting in the back row sat on extra-large tables and chairs.
When Shui Xirui’s footsteps were accompanied by another sound, seven or eight infants raised their heads when they heard the sound. When they saw He Ruge behind Shui Xirui, their eyes of different colors shimmered with the same bright light.
The little black bear in the back row even shouted loudly, his powerful voice startling the other infants in the class. They all looked at He Ruge, their childish voices echoing one after another.
The moss green parrot, bigger than a chicken, jumped from the chair to the table and stretched its neck dumbly to look at He Ruge. The flapping movements startled the neighboring infant, another unidentified bird-like creature with long chicken legs. When the bird-like infant raised its eyes to He Ruge and also stretched its neck unconsciously.
Little foxes, kittens, puppies, sloth babies… basically all the infants looked at He Ruge, except for two infants who remained unmoved.
One was sitting in the front row like a corn doughnut, named Qiu Menggu, who was a blind child from the snake clan. The other was sitting in the middle area, a snow-white ball curled up without a name.
“That snake clan infant is called Qiu Menggu, she is blind,” Shui Xirui whispered to He Ruge, introducing the situation, “The little rabbit who curled up without a name may have been too traumatized. He can’t speak and has no response to the outside world.”
He Ruge looked at the back of the little rabbit and felt a vague sense of familiarity.
Before he could take a closer look, Shui Xirui walked up to the podium and introduced him to the infants, “Children, come and see, who is the new teacher standing next to Teacher? “
The little black bear in the back row shouted loudly, “Ru, Ge!” His pronunciation was unclear, just two simple words, and he had to pause for a moment before he could shout them out.
He Ruge noticed that this little black bear had a drool bib around his neck, and his dessert table was a mess.
Shui Xirui gave a thumbs up to the little black bear, “Xin Hao answered correctly, great, this is Ruge we saw on the screen yesterday. He told us many stories and sang us to sleep. His full name is He Ruge, our Teacher Xiao He. Teacher Xiao He, come and say hello to everyone.”
Under the gaze of the infants, He Ruge walked to the front of the podium. The eyes of those infants were glued to him, without blinking.
Shui Xirui was both jealous and envious on the side. She remembered that when she first arrived at Land Class 1, all the infants looked at her with guarded eyes.
It took her a month to break through their barriers, but when He Ruge came, those infants proactively peeked out their heads from behind the door, although they still held onto the doorframe with both hands, ready to close the door and retreat into their own world at any time…
But such closeness was already enviable. Shui Xirui had no doubt that if she mentioned the reactions of the infants in Land Class 1, the teachers at the Blue Whale Orphanage would be stunned.
Although it sounded very difficult, it seemed reasonable when it came to He Ruge. Because for the infants, they had already seen this handsome teacher who tells stories and sings songs yesterday.
Humans are visual animals, and coupled with He Ruge’s melodious voice, not to mention these infants, even Shui Xirui herself was captivated by Teacher Xiao He’s handsome appearance and beautiful voice.
She squatted in the corner, looking at He Ruge along with Huahua, who was standing in punishment.
The young man standing at the podium looked relaxed, with a smile on his lips and a cheerful tone, “Hello, children of Land Class 1. I am your Teacher Xiao He. I am very happy to join the big family of Class 1…”
“Teacher Xiao He is so handsome,” Shui Xirui murmured to herself. What surprised her was that Huahua, who never responded to her before, actually softly murmured in agreement. This momentarily made Shui Xirui feel pleasantly surprised.
She said to Huahua, “You’re not allowed to pick flowers next time. Go back and sit down.”
Huahua silently looked at the roses in He Ruge’s hands. The eyes of this little flower thief were bright, ignoring Shui Xirui, standing firmly in the corner, silently conveying a message: “Won’t go back, won’t stop picking flowers next time.”
After introducing himself, He Ruge looked to Shui Xirui for help. Although he had just spoken eloquently on the podium, these drafts were prepared early in his mind, recited until they were thoroughly familiar before he could speak so fluently.
What should he do next?
Should he teach the infants?
He Ruge was completely at a loss.
Shui Xirui pulled He Ruge into a corner near the door. She brought two chairs and introduced the daily work routine to He Ruge, “Now it’s dessert time after dinner. After the infants finish their dessert, they have to do their homework until five o’clock. After the teacher corrects the homework, they will explain the mistakes to the infants, and then they can have dinner at half-past five.”
“By around six o’clock, everyone usually finishes dinner. I will take them out for activities after dinner for about half an hour to aid digestion, then we’ll go back to the room to watch cartoons, listen to stories, and so on.”
“Around eight o’clock is bedtime for the infants. There’s also bathing, bathing is once every two days, and today happens to be the bathing day for the infants. We’ll give them a bath later. Except for Xiong Xin Hao, who is a bit dirty, the other infants are quite clean, but there are a few who are particularly afraid of water, so bathing will be troublesome.”
Shui Xirui only talked about half a day’s work content, but He Ruge felt a huge workload. Because Shui Xirui had to take care of not one infant, but twenty infants.
“It sounds very tiring. You used to take care of a whole class of infants by yourself. It must have been very difficult,” He Ruge sincerely said.
Shui Xirui smiled and shook her head, “I’ve loved infants since I was a child. Although it’s tiring, once you get used to it, you’ll find it’s not so bad. Physical tiredness doesn’t matter much. What I’m most afraid of is mental exhaustion. The most difficult days are already over, and now, when I talk to these infants, they are willing to respond to me. That’s my greatest motivation for work.”
She pointed to Huahua standing in the corner and said to He Ruge, “Teacher Xiao He, do you see that little troublemaker? Huahua, this little troublemaker, likes you very much. Can you persuade him not to pick flowers anymore?”
He Ruge nodded in agreement. So Shui Xirui led He Ruge and Huahua to the corridor, while she herself walked into the classroom, carefully closing the door, leaving Huahua and He Ruge with space for private conversation.
He Ruge squatted down, holding the roses in his hand, and asked in a soft voice, “Huahua, why did you give me flowers? Did you want to share something beautiful with me?”
Huahua curled up and remained silent.
“The roses you gave me are very beautiful, and I like them very much.”
The little hedgehog, who was originally curled up, moved slightly and quietly raised its head to look at He Ruge.
“But once the flowers are picked, they will wither quickly.” He Ruge lightly touched the slightly curled petals with his fingertips.
“If they aren’t picked, the beauty can last longer on the branches.”
He Ruge kept the most beautiful rose and then put the other roses in the flowerpot.
“There’s a line of poetry that says ‘the fallen petals are not heartless, they turn into spring mud to nourish flowers.’ These petals will turn into nutrients and produce even more beautiful roses.”
“I hope next time, Huahua, you can invite me to appreciate the flowers. After all, aren’t the flowers always in the flowerpot? We can quietly appreciate them together.”
He Ruge tried to soften his voice, afraid of startling the little hedgehog.
However, Huahua continued to curl up into a ball, pretending to be deaf and mute, refusing to communicate with the outside world.
This was a naughty child, but it had a completely different style from the little monsters. It was refusing to communicate with the outside world.
“Huahua?” He Ruge called softly.
Suddenly, the little hedgehog moved, ran into the classroom without a word, and ignored He Ruge. There was another small door on the classroom door, so although Shui Xirui closed the main door, Huahua could still enter through the small door on the main door.
Huahua ran into the classroom and silently returned to its seat. Ah Lu sat on the outer side, while Huahua sat against the wall. Seeing Huahua return to its seat, Ah Lu leisurely licked the plate.
“If you don’t come back, I can’t help but eat your dessert.”
Huahua sat on the chair gloomily.
Ah Lu leaned over, “Did you hurt your hand?”
Because of picking roses, the hedgehog’s paw was cut by thorns.
“Deserved it,” Ah Lu said softly.
When He Ruge walked into the classroom, he saw two little hedgehogs huddled together, as if whispering something secretly.
“Seeing Huahua sulking as it entered the classroom just now, Teacher Xiao He, you probably didn’t succeed in persuading it,” Shui Xirui approached He Ruge.
“Seeing Teacher Xiao He’s helpless expression, I already know the answer.”
He Ruge sighed and said, “Yes, Huahua is a little hedgehog, so it’s normal for it to be tricky.”
“Teacher Xiao He, don’t sigh now. The infants who are eating dessert now are all little angels. When we correct their homework and explain the answers to them later, and when we give them a bath, that’s when you should sigh.” Shui Xirui raised her voice.
“The children who haven’t finished their desserts, hurry up! You have one more minute! Teacher is going to collect the plates!”
When the seemingly gentle Shui Xirui raised her voice, her volume was quite loud. He Ruge remembered Shui Xirui’s soprano voice when he first saw her, the resounding “Xirui”, which must have been trained daily.
Most of the infants had finished their dessert, and He Ruge and Shui Xirui split up to collect the plates. The classroom’s seating layout consisted of four rows, with five infants in each row.
When He Ruge was collecting plates at the third position of the second row, he saw the little rabbit curled up into a ball.
At such a close distance, He Ruge looked at the little rabbit and felt a sense of familiarity. Perhaps all rabbits in the world looked the same. At this moment, He Ruge thought he saw Ruan Ruan.
He couldn’t help but call softly, “Ruan Ruan?”
The little rabbit, who had been curling up into a ball, slowly raised its head, its ruby-like eyes reflecting He Ruge’s figure.
He Ruge almost didn’t hold the plate steady because this little rabbit… looked exactly like Ruan Ruan.
***
Side Story:
He Ruge: Look what I found? A bunch of cuties from a class!
Xi Guican: Am I, the big cutie, not enough for you anymore?!
