Teacher Zhao finally managed to soothe Chen Hu, then turned to see Bei Yao watching her and the chubby boy with wide, dark eyes.
Teacher Zhao crouched down to examine Bei Yao's calf, which was red and swollen with some broken skin. The little girl didn't cry or make a fuss, remaining quiet and well-behaved. Yet just this month when she first started kindergarten, this youngest girl in class had been prone to tears.
Seeing Bei Yao wasn't crying, Teacher Zhao breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't expect two young children to clearly explain what had happened - she just hoped they wouldn't cause any more trouble.
As soon as Teacher Zhao left, Chen Hu glared at Bei Yao with his tear-reddened eyes. The chubby boy snorted and walked away.
In the afternoon, the children were folding paper crafts while Pei Chuan stood by the doorway, never joining them. When Teacher Zhao tried to push his wheelchair forward, he pressed his lips together and dug his fingers stubbornly into the door crack. Afraid he might pinch his fingers, Teacher Zhao had to give up.
Bei Yao knew what he was watching for - his parents still hadn't come to pick him up.
She vaguely remembered that Uncle Pei and Aunt Jiang Wenjuan had divorced during elementary school, with Pei Chuan staying with his father. But back then she hadn't paid attention to him, and couldn't even remember which grade they were in when it happened.
Bei Yao spent the whole afternoon lost in thought.
Not being an actual child, she naturally couldn't bring herself to be interested in these childish games like other children. Besides, she was running a fever, and the high temperature left her feeling muddled and listless.
If she really had to grow up again with an adult's memories and soul, it would be quite difficult.
During pickup time, parents came to collect their children one after another.
Chen Hu's father arrived first as usual. The chubby boy stood up triumphantly from his small stool, shooting Bei Yao a sidelong glance as he passed by. But what he resented more was Pei Chuan. As he went out the door, he shouted at Pei Chuan: "Your dad isn't coming to get you!"
Pei Chuan lifted his gaze, his dark eyes quietly watching Chen Hu. His pale fingers tightened silently on the wheelchair.
The chubby boy scampered away.
Bei Yao was furious!
What a brat!
Bei Yao's mother Zhao Lanzhi got off work late from the garment factory, so usually Fang Minjun's grandmother came to pick her up. Eventually, only Bei Yao, Pei Chuan, and Teacher Zhao remained in the classroom.
While Teacher Zhao cleaned up the paper scraps left by the children, Bei Yao looked at Pei Chuan's back and toddled over on her short legs.
The courtyard was bathed in sunset glow. Her chubby little hand held a paper airplane, which she gently placed on his lap.
Though Pei Chuan's wheelchair wasn't high, sitting in it still made him slightly taller than the four-year-old girl.
Pei Chuan looked at her.
She smiled, her almond-shaped eyes curving, and said in her soft, milky voice: "For you. I'm Bei Yao. Our homes are very close, shall we go home together?"
Pei Chuan's face remained cold as he abruptly threw the airplane away.
Go away. I don't want you.
Somehow, she understood the message in his eyes.
But little Pei Chuan had forgotten it was a paper airplane. A gentle breeze caught the paper plane, carrying it lightly far away until it landed near the plum blossom tree in the courtyard.
Bei Yao glanced at the paper airplane, then turned back to look at him.
The next moment, she toddled off on her short legs to retrieve it. She ran back, carefully placed the paper airplane on his lap again, the light in her eyes undiminished.
Pei Chuan felt a surge of anger, though he didn't know why himself. Gritting his teeth, he threw it away again.
The little girl kept retrieving it for him. Each time she brought it back, she would carefully dust it off before placing it on his lap, looking up at him with a smile.
When she carefully placed it on his lap for the sixth time,
He tore it apart without expression.Bei Yao's slightly yellowish hair was soft, tied into two little tufts.
Pei Chuan thought she would definitely cry, just like Chen Hu had, weeping dramatically and then complaining to the teacher. None of the children in kindergarten liked him. Even before his legs were broken, he had been quiet and withdrawn with few friends. The children all thought he was aloof and hard to get along with.
Bei Yao knew that all wounded people were like hedgehogs, yet their hearts remained tender.
In her innocent four-year-old voice, she asked him, "If you don't want to play anymore, shall we go home? My mom hasn't come to pick me up either. Can we go home by ourselves?"
He remained silent, but when Bei Yao reached out to touch his wheelchair, he suddenly slapped the back of her hand.
He didn't hold back at all—a sharp "smack" rang out. Her soft little hand immediately turned red.
Bei Yao instinctively pulled her hand back.
She looked down at her small hand, and Pei Chuan was also staring at the hand he had struck.
The little girl's chubby hand was pale and soft, with several small dimples on the back. Bei Yao had always been afraid of pain since childhood; even a vaccination shot could make her tremble all over. Pei Chuan had a natural "broken palm" (where the palm line crosses completely), and his merciless strike was unexpectedly painful.
Bei Yao sighed inwardly.
He really was difficult to get along with.
She wanted to say something more, but Zhao Zhilan's figure had already appeared on the small path outside the kindergarten.
Bei Yao frowned slightly. Zhao Zhilan came over, picked up Bei Yao, and greeted Teacher Zhao. Passing by Pei Chuan, her heart softened too: "Pei Chuan, Auntie Zhao will take you home."
Pei Chuan lowered his head, his fingers gripping the door seam tightly.
Teacher Zhao smiled awkwardly. "Bei Yao's mom, you should go ahead."
Zhao Zhilan had no choice but to carry Bei Yao and leave.
Holding her soft daughter, she sighed softly. "Ah, what sins did that couple commit? Their child has become like this..."
After they had gone farther away, Teacher Zhao smiled and patted Pei Chuan's head.
Pei Chuan didn't move. Following his gaze, Teacher Zhao realized he was watching the mother and daughter at the end of the path.
Zhao Zhilan had picked a small yellow wildflower and tucked it into the little girl's hair tuft. The little girl in her arms had large eyes curved like crescent moons.
Innocent, happy, and adorable.
Pei Chuan's gaze lingered on Bei Yao.
After a long while, he opened his hand, revealing hidden fragments of a paper airplane he had kept. Silently, he released them.
The paper scraps flew away with the wind.
He knew she had lied to him—her mother would come to take her home.
~
After dinner, Bei Yao opened her bedroom window. Taking advantage of Zhao Zhilan washing dishes, she struggled onto a stool to look out.
The lights were on on the fourth floor opposite.
That was Pei Chuan's home. Since someone was there, he must have been taken home. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.
They lived in the same residential area. Bei Yao's family was on the third floor, while Pei Chuan's was on the fourth. Bei Yao had started sleeping separately from her parents early and had her own bedroom. From her home, she could see Pei Chuan's apartment.
In the middle of the night, she developed a fever again. Zhao Zhilan, sleeping beside her, felt her daughter's burning body.
Leaning closer, she couldn't make out what Bei Yao was muttering in delirium, but her sobs had soaked the pillow. Zhao Zhilan jolted awake from her drowsiness and quickly used alcohol to cool her down.
Bei Yao opened her eyes just before dawn, her forehead scorching hot. What frightened her even more was that her memories were beginning to blur.
It was as if she had been looking at the world through a clear pane of glass, but gradually, that glass was being covered, making everything indistinct.She hazily remembered dying at the age of twenty-two.
It had been a ridiculously tragic death.
Now, those deeply etched memories seemed veiled in a thick fog, as if this four-year-old girl's body was rejecting those recollections.
As soon as Zhao Zhilan stepped out, Bei Yao struggled out of bed and retrieved her writing grid notebook and pencil.
"Bei Yao, 2010, married Huo Xu. Only after marriage did I learn he truly loved someone else. Bei Yao was his shield against his family to protect his real beloved. Huo Xu was the descendant of military and business families—wealthy and powerful. Huo Xu never touched her. When she realized her role and demanded to leave, Huo Xu forbade it."
Writing these words from an outsider's perspective, Bei Yao broke into a cold sweat, yet she knew she had to continue.
"2012. Bei Yao managed to see the person Huo Xu truly loved for the first time, but in the blink of an eye, Huo Xu sent her away and slapped her for the first time. Mrs. Zhao Zhilan and Mr. Bei Licai were heartbroken; in their middle age, they ran around pleading for help on her behalf. Finally, Mr. Bei had an accident and became a vegetable."
Tears streamed down Bei Yao's face as she recalled.
Determined, Bei Yao continued writing: "Mrs. Zhao Zhilan eventually begged a man who rescued Bei Yao. That man was Pei Chuan, considered a villain in the eyes of the world—all his programs disrupted social stability. Taciturn, he protected Bei Yao for two years. On the day she died, Pei Chuan told her, 'She was the darling he never dared to love in his lifetime.'"
"2014, Bei Yao died pitifully, still a shield for that woman."
As Zhao Zhilan's footsteps approached, Bei Yao had no time to continue. Hastily, she left a final note for her future self: "Be good to Pei Chuan."
Finishing the last character for "Chuan," she quickly stuffed the notebook into the drawer. Zhao Zhilan pushed the door open, scolding her, "Running around with a fever!"
Wiping her tears, Bei Yao obediently returned to bed.
She didn't know how long these memories would last; living with memories from a past life defied reason. A second chance was already a blessing.
"Mom, sing me a song."
Zhao Zhilan laughed and scolded, "Misbehaving and still wanting a song!"
But her heart softened for her daughter. After a moment's thought, she sang in a clear voice:
"Gently wake the sleeping soul,
Slowly open your eyes,
See if the busy world
Still spins lonely on.
The spring breeze knows not of tender feelings,
Stirring the young heart..."
It was from an album released in '85. Bei Yao hadn't heard such a familiar yet strangely gentle song in years.
Faintly, she recalled this song was called "Tomorrow Will Be Better."
Lulled by Zhao Zhilan's singing, she drifted back to sleep.
Before dozing off, Bei Yao wondered, did Pei Chuan go to kindergarten today?
In her past life, because of yesterday's incident, he refused to go to kindergarten and stopped speaking. What about today?
~
The sun shone brightly today. The kindergarten children were watching a white butterfly land in the grass.
Several children gathered around Fang Minjun, all wanting to catch that beautiful butterfly.
Chen Hu ran over noisily: "Fang Minjun, want to play hide-and-seek?"
Fang Minjun turned around.
It was a face hailed as a "little jade maiden" in '96, bearing a resemblance to a certain Hong Kong starlet. This made Fang Minjun's mother, Zhao Xiu, exceptionally proud.Unlike her chubby, plump-cheeked peers, Fang Minjun had slender facial features that instead accentuated her delicate and refined appearance.
She said, "Alright, but I won't be the kitty."
Chen Hu agreed immediately.
He then pointed to a little boy to be the kitty. The child pouted but had no choice but to agree.
Amid cheerful shouts, the children scattered to hide.
While they were having fun, Pei Chuan watched coldly from the corner.
Amid the innocent laughter and joy, his gaze fell upon the empty spot where the little girl usually sat at the front.
He had come to school, but she hadn't.
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