Childhood Chronicles - CH 1

Before he had turned thirty, Ye Cheng’s father had remarried, and his partner this time around was a young businesswoman who had started her own toy company. Upon her first meeting with Ye Cheng, she had gifted the boy a teddy bear so enormous, he couldn’t manage so much as to wrap his arms around it.

Ye Cheng, this sensible lad, was well aware his father had wanted a new woman of the household, someone similar to himself. That way, Ye Chenghui never had to again grumble about trivial household chores. So when Zhou Ni arrived, Ye Cheng exhausted all his strength to a considerable degree to accept her.

The next class was also Language Arts, and it wasn’t just this language class, Ye Cheng had none of the books for any of the other classes. When Tao Lu saw Ye Cheng’s book wasn’t the right one, he enthusiastically expressed his intention to lend Ye Cheng his while he, himself, would just share with his deskmate.

Zhou Ni was a woman with a frank and outspoken character. After all, being an introverted woman in the business world would not be good in any respect. So following her marriage to Ye Chenghui, the two quickly discussing the matter of getting Ye Cheng transferred from school, a matter which was to be regarded as her first step into being assimilated in the new family unit. Her way of thinking was quite clear, herself and Ye Cheng were both still young and son they would have a child of their own. Such a thing would be good for Ye Cheng as it would also be good for their family. These goals of Zhou Ni were neither short term nor shallow.

And for this gift, Ye Cheng had given her his sincere thanks.

“What does a little kid like him know? If we gave him a choice he would not want to even go to school half the time and that playing around like mad would be best.” Ye Chenghui made this choice on his son’s behalf with nary a second thought, and this newly found wife of his could not be any more satisfied.

For the eleven year old boy, his reaction towards his family again becoming one of three people was nothing especially big—at least, not as big as his father, Ye Chenghui, had expected. Apart from his son not calling his new wife mother at the time, an act which as completely natural, he had thought the boy would at the very least cry a little, maybe also scream a bit, too.

“Ye Cheng, you can take a seat in the first group of that row in the back.” She used the hand holding the chalk to point towards the seat near the window, the only one within the class which as empty.

“The affiliated experimental middle school has teachers and facilities which are much better than Chengcheng’s current school. We can’t allow the boy to lose at the starting now, can we? It won’t be long before school starts back up again, so it’ll be done before in time for him to start classes.”

Those curious words of his were no exaggeration, as the ability to have a child attend to that school requires parents who quite capable.

But all this assertion of his proved was that this man did not understand his son, Ye Cheng, as the one who understood the boy best was his own mother. A woman who always declared, her son was a sensible and intelligent child.

Zhou Ni did indeed find a connection rather quickly. Then no more than half a month had passed from since the two had decided the matter before Ye Cheng was standing in the classroom of his new school with a book-bag on his back.

The next class was also Language Arts, and it wasn’t just this language class, Ye Cheng had none of the books for any of the other classes. When Tao Lu saw Ye Cheng’s book wasn’t the right one, he enthusiastically expressed his intention to lend Ye Cheng his while he, himself, would just share with his deskmate.

The bell announcing the resumption of classes rung, and Tao Lu turned back around. The class was also a Language Arts class, so, naturally shifting to his left, Ye Cheng then asked, “Um… can you share your book with me?”

Ye Cheng droned through that lesson no differently as he would if listening to tongues. The task was no easy feat to endure, as only until the bell tolled to announce the end of class was he finally able to relax.

“Ye Cheng, you can take a seat in the first group of that row in the back.” She used the hand holding the chalk to point towards the seat near the window, the only one within the class which as empty.

But two years ago, this woman, Ye Cheng’s mother, had suddenly left.

“My name is Gu Shaofan.”

Ye Cheng, this sensible lad, was well aware his father had wanted a new woman of the household, someone similar to himself. That way, Ye Chenghui never had to again grumble about trivial household chores. So when Zhou Ni arrived, Ye Cheng exhausted all his strength to a considerable degree to accept her.

Unknowing of whether it was simply his own misconception or not, Ye Cheng swore he could sense the curious expressions on practically every child on him as far as he could see.

As a person local to the area, Ye Cheng had also surely known of that school, and it was indeed an excellent school. Students from its main affiliated elementary school had an easier time when entering it, and it was one of the key middle-schools in the city.

Hearing his name called suddenly, Ye Cheng jumped in fright. He was only a bit familiar with this language class, so how would he know where the answer in that paragraph was?

Ye Cheng then mouthed a thank you to the other boy, he was ignored by the other, but cared little about that. After class was done, Ye Cheng blabbered away at his deskmate. “How did you know where the answer was? Did you study ahead? No wonder you gave me your book and never looked at it. At first, I thought you were just embarrassed about sharing your book with me. But what’s there to be embarrassed about, we’re all boys here. So um… did you just study ahead for that class or have you done it for the other classes too? I can’t believe there really are people who do that nowadays. I just thought it was just something teachers said to trick me. Right, Tao Lu?”

Somewhat frigidly, Ye Cheng rose to his feet with little haste. Biting his lips, he scanned through the book idly. He was so nervous he couldn’t even pick up the book. But out of nowhere, the page of the book turned, and a rather graceful finger pointed towards a paragraph.

Zhou Ni was a woman with a frank and outspoken character. After all, being an introverted woman in the business world would not be good in any respect. So following her marriage to Ye Chenghui, the two quickly discussing the matter of getting Ye Cheng transferred from school, a matter which was to be regarded as her first step into being assimilated in the new family unit. Her way of thinking was quite clear, herself and Ye Cheng were both still young and son they would have a child of their own. Such a thing would be good for Ye Cheng as it would also be good for their family. These goals of Zhou Ni were neither short term nor shallow.

And for this gift, Ye Cheng had given her his sincere thanks.

“What does a little kid like him know? If we gave him a choice he would not want to even go to school half the time and that playing around like mad would be best.” Ye Chenghui made this choice on his son’s behalf with nary a second thought, and this newly found wife of his could not be any more satisfied.

Unknowing of whether it was simply his own misconception or not, Ye Cheng swore he could sense the curious expressions on practically every child on him as far as he could see.

“The affiliated experimental middle school has teachers and facilities which are much better than Chengcheng’s current school. We can’t allow the boy to lose at the starting now, can we? It won’t be long before school starts back up again, so it’ll be done before in time for him to start classes.”

School Transfer

“I’ll be getting mine next semester. The teacher said it’ll be coming with the next batch. Do you guys have to buy a new uniform every semester?”

“I’ll be getting mine next semester. The teacher said it’ll be coming with the next batch. Do you guys have to buy a new uniform every semester?”

As a person local to the area, Ye Cheng had also surely known of that school, and it was indeed an excellent school. Students from its main affiliated elementary school had an easier time when entering it, and it was one of the key middle-schools in the city.

Ye Cheng then mouthed a thank you to the other boy, he was ignored by the other, but cared little about that. After class was done, Ye Cheng blabbered away at his deskmate. “How did you know where the answer was? Did you study ahead? No wonder you gave me your book and never looked at it. At first, I thought you were just embarrassed about sharing your book with me. But what’s there to be embarrassed about, we’re all boys here. So um… did you just study ahead for that class or have you done it for the other classes too? I can’t believe there really are people who do that nowadays. I just thought it was just something teachers said to trick me. Right, Tao Lu?”

Ye Cheng reacted very quickly, immediately picking up the book and smoothly read out the contents of the paragraph, before casting a pair of wide blinking eyes towards Miss Sun. Miss Sun frowned, but said nothing else about it. “Alright. Please return to your seat.”

It made Ye Cheng feel slightly depressed. Did he not like me? In my old school, I had a lot of friends, you know!

Zhou Ni was a woman with a frank and outspoken character. After all, being an introverted woman in the business world would not be good in any respect. So following her marriage to Ye Chenghui, the two quickly discussing the matter of getting Ye Cheng transferred from school, a matter which was to be regarded as her first step into being assimilated in the new family unit. Her way of thinking was quite clear, herself and Ye Cheng were both still young and son they would have a child of their own. Such a thing would be good for Ye Cheng as it would also be good for their family. These goals of Zhou Ni were neither short term nor shallow.

Ye Chenghui thought it over for a while. “Would getting him transferred to that school not be difficult?”

Ye Chenghui thought it over for a while. “Would getting him transferred to that school not be difficult?”

But after he spoke, Tao Lu’s brows raised strangely. It seemed as if he wanted to say something, but all he did was frown and let it go. “Oh, is that so. Well, if you need anything just ask me, okay?”

School Transfer

The next class was also Language Arts, and it wasn’t just this language class, Ye Cheng had none of the books for any of the other classes. When Tao Lu saw Ye Cheng’s book wasn’t the right one, he enthusiastically expressed his intention to lend Ye Cheng his while he, himself, would just share with his deskmate.

Those curious words of his were no exaggeration, as the ability to have a child attend to that school requires parents who quite capable.

“Huh? You don’t have to…” Ye Cheng shook his head. “I can just share with my deskmate, right?”

Zhou Ni let out a laugh. “So long as Chengcheng is willing, I will find a way. Connections are a thing one can always find.” Her brows then drew into a slight knit, her mind clearly in thought. “However, Chengcheng is doing just fine in his current school, so transferring him with such little notice might make him unwilling, wouldn’t it?”

Ye Cheng reacted very quickly, immediately picking up the book and smoothly read out the contents of the paragraph, before casting a pair of wide blinking eyes towards Miss Sun. Miss Sun frowned, but said nothing else about it. “Alright. Please return to your seat.”

Ye Cheng, this sensible lad, was well aware his father had wanted a new woman of the household, someone similar to himself. That way, Ye Chenghui never had to again grumble about trivial household chores. So when Zhou Ni arrived, Ye Cheng exhausted all his strength to a considerable degree to accept her.

The next class was also Language Arts, and it wasn’t just this language class, Ye Cheng had none of the books for any of the other classes. When Tao Lu saw Ye Cheng’s book wasn’t the right one, he enthusiastically expressed his intention to lend Ye Cheng his while he, himself, would just share with his deskmate.

“Yeah. My uniform from last semester can’t fit me any more.” The boy let out two giggles. “My mom said I’m growing too fast, and clothes are expensive.”

Breathing out a long sigh, Ye Cheng then turned to his deskmate with a grin, the little dimple on the left side of his face giving his smiling face a hint of mischief.

“What does a little kid like him know? If we gave him a choice he would not want to even go to school half the time and that playing around like mad would be best.” Ye Chenghui made this choice on his son’s behalf with nary a second thought, and this newly found wife of his could not be any more satisfied.

N/A

“Huh? You don’t have to…” Ye Cheng shook his head. “I can just share with my deskmate, right?”

“Hey, which school did you go to before this one?”

Noticing the movement from that direction, Miss Sun felt a bit irritated. Why did this child come here? Did he come just to make small talk during class? “Ye Cheng, stand up and answer this question.”

Before he had turned thirty, Ye Cheng’s father had remarried, and his partner this time around was a young businesswoman who had started her own toy company. Upon her first meeting with Ye Cheng, she had gifted the boy a teddy bear so enormous, he couldn’t manage so much as to wrap his arms around it.

Zhou Ni did indeed find a connection rather quickly. Then no more than half a month had passed from since the two had decided the matter before Ye Cheng was standing in the classroom of his new school with a book-bag on his back.

“Oh, by the way, I still don’t know your name. My name is Ye Cheng.” Although it wasn’t long since he had introduced himself, Ye Cheng took a notebook and very very carefully wrote the two characters of his name. “It’s a nice name, right?”

Zhou Ni let out a laugh. “So long as Chengcheng is willing, I will find a way. Connections are a thing one can always find.” Her brows then drew into a slight knit, her mind clearly in thought. “However, Chengcheng is doing just fine in his current school, so transferring him with such little notice might make him unwilling, wouldn’t it?”

But two years ago, this woman, Ye Cheng’s mother, had suddenly left.

“This is our new transfer student, and he will be studying in the same class as you all from now on. So you should all help one another, understood? Come along no, introduce yourself.” The last sentence was directed towards Ye Cheng. The home room teacher was now done speaking, so everyone’s attention was now focused on the Ye Cheng.

The bell announcing the resumption of classes rung, and Tao Lu turned back around. The class was also a Language Arts class, so, naturally shifting to his left, Ye Cheng then asked, “Um… can you share your book with me?”

“What does a little kid like him know? If we gave him a choice he would not want to even go to school half the time and that playing around like mad would be best.” Ye Chenghui made this choice on his son’s behalf with nary a second thought, and this newly found wife of his could not be any more satisfied.

Ye Chenghui thought it over for a while. “Would getting him transferred to that school not be difficult?”

Ye Cheng’s ears flushed, but he still managed to maintain a straight face as he spoke. “Hi, everyone. My name is Ye Cheng. The Ye, from yezi (leaf), and the Cheng from chenggong (success). I hope we can all be friends in the future.”

Zhou Ni let out a laugh. “So long as Chengcheng is willing, I will find a way. Connections are a thing one can always find.” Her brows then drew into a slight knit, her mind clearly in thought. “However, Chengcheng is doing just fine in his current school, so transferring him with such little notice might make him unwilling, wouldn’t it?”

As he spoke, Miss Sun immediately wrote Ye Cheng’s name on the blackboard. After she was done, with the chalk in hand, she scanned the classroom.

As a result, he focused the entirety of his attention on his deskmate. Naturally, he believed having a friendship between was important, but being friends with a deskmate was even more so. After being suddenly thrust into this new environment, and having to say goodbye to all the teachers he knew and all the classmates he was close with, saying Ye Cheng wasn’t the least bit upset about it would be a lie. However, Ye Cheng had taken after his mother, his character was one quite cheerful and lively. So as long as he was willing, there would never be any awkward silences, This skill of his made him able to always quickly make friends out of strangers.

The baby fat of the little boys cheeks shook as he laughed happily. “Then… why aren’t you wearing one now, too?”

Ye Cheng soon began chatting with that boy named Tao Lu in a friendly manner. even managing to ask about the matter regarding the textbooks at some point.

“Ye Cheng, you can take a seat in the first group of that row in the back.” She used the hand holding the chalk to point towards the seat near the window, the only one within the class which as empty.

The next class was also Language Arts, and it wasn’t just this language class, Ye Cheng had none of the books for any of the other classes. When Tao Lu saw Ye Cheng’s book wasn’t the right one, he enthusiastically expressed his intention to lend Ye Cheng his while he, himself, would just share with his deskmate.

Unknowing of whether it was simply his own misconception or not, Ye Cheng swore he could sense the curious expressions on practically every child on him as far as he could see.

Maybe it was because his voice was nearly a whisper, or maybe it was because the way he spoke slower than most, because Ye Cheng felt as though his voice sounded like it had been soaked in iced water: frigid and cheerless, yet unusually crisp.

The bell announcing the resumption of classes rung, and Tao Lu turned back around. The class was also a Language Arts class, so, naturally shifting to his left, Ye Cheng then asked, “Um… can you share your book with me?”

As he spoke, Miss Sun immediately wrote Ye Cheng’s name on the blackboard. After she was done, with the chalk in hand, she scanned the classroom.

With quickness, he obediently made his way over to the seat the teacher had pointed to, his Micky Mouse book-bag on his back. Then he tried as best he could to pull out his pencil case case and books while making as little noise as possible. He had received his course schedule earlier, and the first class he had that day was Language Arts. During the entire process, his new deskmate never turned to face at him once. It was only when Ye Cheng turned to him to give a friendly hello, did he finally turned slightly in Ye Cheng’s direction, whispering a hello to him in return.

“I’ll be getting mine next semester. The teacher said it’ll be coming with the next batch. Do you guys have to buy a new uniform every semester?”

The baby fat of the little boys cheeks shook as he laughed happily. “Then… why aren’t you wearing one now, too?”

“One that’s not too far from here, actually. The one on Lotus Street. I used to see students from your school around all the time. I even thought your uniform looked way better than mine—the quality was really nice too.”

As a result, he focused the entirety of his attention on his deskmate. Naturally, he believed having a friendship between was important, but being friends with a deskmate was even more so. After being suddenly thrust into this new environment, and having to say goodbye to all the teachers he knew and all the classmates he was close with, saying Ye Cheng wasn’t the least bit upset about it would be a lie. However, Ye Cheng had taken after his mother, his character was one quite cheerful and lively. So as long as he was willing, there would never be any awkward silences, This skill of his made him able to always quickly make friends out of strangers.

Ye Cheng soon began chatting with that boy named Tao Lu in a friendly manner. even managing to ask about the matter regarding the textbooks at some point.

That little adult-like kid, the way he acted made Ye Cheng quite fascinated.

Ye Cheng soon began chatting with that boy named Tao Lu in a friendly manner. even managing to ask about the matter regarding the textbooks at some point.

Ye Cheng then mouthed a thank you to the other boy, he was ignored by the other, but cared little about that. After class was done, Ye Cheng blabbered away at his deskmate. “How did you know where the answer was? Did you study ahead? No wonder you gave me your book and never looked at it. At first, I thought you were just embarrassed about sharing your book with me. But what’s there to be embarrassed about, we’re all boys here. So um… did you just study ahead for that class or have you done it for the other classes too? I can’t believe there really are people who do that nowadays. I just thought it was just something teachers said to trick me. Right, Tao Lu?”

It made Ye Cheng feel slightly depressed. Did he not like me? In my old school, I had a lot of friends, you know!

Done with introducing the new student, Miss Sun began her class. Turning around, she erased Ye Cheng’s name from the board then wrote the subject the day’s class.

“Hey, which school did you go to before this one?”

Ye Cheng soon began chatting with that boy named Tao Lu in a friendly manner. even managing to ask about the matter regarding the textbooks at some point.

“This is our new transfer student, and he will be studying in the same class as you all from now on. So you should all help one another, understood? Come along no, introduce yourself.” The last sentence was directed towards Ye Cheng. The home room teacher was now done speaking, so everyone’s attention was now focused on the Ye Cheng.

As a result, he focused the entirety of his attention on his deskmate. Naturally, he believed having a friendship between was important, but being friends with a deskmate was even more so. After being suddenly thrust into this new environment, and having to say goodbye to all the teachers he knew and all the classmates he was close with, saying Ye Cheng wasn’t the least bit upset about it would be a lie. However, Ye Cheng had taken after his mother, his character was one quite cheerful and lively. So as long as he was willing, there would never be any awkward silences, This skill of his made him able to always quickly make friends out of strangers.

“Hey, which school did you go to before this one?”

Ye Cheng looked at the subject and was left confused. Why was it not the same as the one in my textbook? It clearly stated Lesson Eighteen there too. He stole a glance at the textbook belonging to his deskmate, noticing the book book the other boy had was different from his own.

“The affiliated experimental middle school has teachers and facilities which are much better than Chengcheng’s current school. We can’t allow the boy to lose at the starting now, can we? It won’t be long before school starts back up again, so it’ll be done before in time for him to start classes.”

“Oh, by the way, I still don’t know your name. My name is Ye Cheng.” Although it wasn’t long since he had introduced himself, Ye Cheng took a notebook and very very carefully wrote the two characters of his name. “It’s a nice name, right?”

That little adult-like kid, the way he acted made Ye Cheng quite fascinated.

Ye Cheng, this sensible lad, was well aware his father had wanted a new woman of the household, someone similar to himself. That way, Ye Chenghui never had to again grumble about trivial household chores. So when Zhou Ni arrived, Ye Cheng exhausted all his strength to a considerable degree to accept her.

Glancing at him, his deskmate then took his own black rollerball pen and neatly wrote three characters below Ye Cheng’s, stroke by stroke. They were both still young, so the characters he write couldn’t be said to have any sort of style, but his penmanship was incredibly neat.

The blame for this could only be laid on Ye Cheng and his parents, who should’ve made sure beforehand whether the books used by affiliate primary schools were the same as those stipulated for use in compulsory education courses. The contents in the other textbook was far more expansive than those commonly used, and the difficulty was also more advanced.

Hearing his name called suddenly, Ye Cheng jumped in fright. He was only a bit familiar with this language class, so how would he know where the answer in that paragraph was?

Ye Cheng droned through that lesson no differently as he would if listening to tongues. The task was no easy feat to endure, as only until the bell tolled to announce the end of class was he finally able to relax.

Ye Cheng hurriedly ran his finger over the page, “Here, here—look here.” After saying this he slid the book a bit more in between them, inching towards the other until they were quite close, close enough for them to clearly make out the fine hairs on his ear. But Ye Cheng paid no mind to any of this, his only worry being the boy beside would be unable to study properly since he had their book.

Towards this new transfer student, the young students were thick with curiosity. Especially since a student transferring to that elementary school was something that almost never happened. There was a ten minute breaks between classes, and for nearly half of it, the boy sitting in front of Ye Cheng couldn’t help himself from turning around, his eyes fixed on Ye Cheng’s face.

“One that’s not too far from here, actually. The one on Lotus Street. I used to see students from your school around all the time. I even thought your uniform looked way better than mine—the quality was really nice too.”

“Hey, which school did you go to before this one?”

Ye Cheng looked at the subject and was left confused. Why was it not the same as the one in my textbook? It clearly stated Lesson Eighteen there too. He stole a glance at the textbook belonging to his deskmate, noticing the book book the other boy had was different from his own.

As he spoke, Miss Sun immediately wrote Ye Cheng’s name on the blackboard. After she was done, with the chalk in hand, she scanned the classroom.

His deskmate had most likely heard everything he and Tao Lu just spoke of, so Ye Cheng did not have to explain the situation again. Pausing for only a few seconds, that deskmate of his then silently pushed over his book. But Ye Cheng was surprised by the other person’s apparent unwillingness to look at the book together with him. The book was lent to him while his deskmate only looked at the blackboard, as though he had no intention to look down and read from the book again. Anything Ye Cheng thought of, he simply asked directly. “Why won’t you look at the book, huh?”

“One that’s not too far from here, actually. The one on Lotus Street. I used to see students from your school around all the time. I even thought your uniform looked way better than mine—the quality was really nice too.”

As he spoke, Miss Sun immediately wrote Ye Cheng’s name on the blackboard. After she was done, with the chalk in hand, she scanned the classroom.

Unknowing of whether it was simply his own misconception or not, Ye Cheng swore he could sense the curious expressions on practically every child on him as far as he could see.

But just then, the teacher walked in and everyone was asked to look at the a last exercise.

As a result, he focused the entirety of his attention on his deskmate. Naturally, he believed having a friendship between was important, but being friends with a deskmate was even more so. After being suddenly thrust into this new environment, and having to say goodbye to all the teachers he knew and all the classmates he was close with, saying Ye Cheng wasn’t the least bit upset about it would be a lie. However, Ye Cheng had taken after his mother, his character was one quite cheerful and lively. So as long as he was willing, there would never be any awkward silences, This skill of his made him able to always quickly make friends out of strangers.

Ye Cheng looked at the subject and was left confused. Why was it not the same as the one in my textbook? It clearly stated Lesson Eighteen there too. He stole a glance at the textbook belonging to his deskmate, noticing the book book the other boy had was different from his own.

The affiliated school uniform was also tracksuits, but its overall design wasn’t done as haphazardly. Its simple blue and white design made the kids look as though they actually had some spirit.

His deskmate had most likely heard everything he and Tao Lu just spoke of, so Ye Cheng did not have to explain the situation again. Pausing for only a few seconds, that deskmate of his then silently pushed over his book. But Ye Cheng was surprised by the other person’s apparent unwillingness to look at the book together with him. The book was lent to him while his deskmate only looked at the blackboard, as though he had no intention to look down and read from the book again. Anything Ye Cheng thought of, he simply asked directly. “Why won’t you look at the book, huh?”

The affiliated school uniform was also tracksuits, but its overall design wasn’t done as haphazardly. Its simple blue and white design made the kids look as though they actually had some spirit.

“My name is Gu Shaofan.”

The baby fat of the little boys cheeks shook as he laughed happily. “Then… why aren’t you wearing one now, too?”

Ye Cheng’s ears flushed, but he still managed to maintain a straight face as he spoke. “Hi, everyone. My name is Ye Cheng. The Ye, from yezi (leaf), and the Cheng from chenggong (success). I hope we can all be friends in the future.”

With quickness, he obediently made his way over to the seat the teacher had pointed to, his Micky Mouse book-bag on his back. Then he tried as best he could to pull out his pencil case case and books while making as little noise as possible. He had received his course schedule earlier, and the first class he had that day was Language Arts. During the entire process, his new deskmate never turned to face at him once. It was only when Ye Cheng turned to him to give a friendly hello, did he finally turned slightly in Ye Cheng’s direction, whispering a hello to him in return.

Zhou Ni was a woman with a frank and outspoken character. After all, being an introverted woman in the business world would not be good in any respect. So following her marriage to Ye Chenghui, the two quickly discussing the matter of getting Ye Cheng transferred from school, a matter which was to be regarded as her first step into being assimilated in the new family unit. Her way of thinking was quite clear, herself and Ye Cheng were both still young and son they would have a child of their own. Such a thing would be good for Ye Cheng as it would also be good for their family. These goals of Zhou Ni were neither short term nor shallow.

“I’ll be getting mine next semester. The teacher said it’ll be coming with the next batch. Do you guys have to buy a new uniform every semester?”

That little adult-like kid, the way he acted made Ye Cheng quite fascinated.

“Yeah. My uniform from last semester can’t fit me any more.” The boy let out two giggles. “My mom said I’m growing too fast, and clothes are expensive.”

Ye Chenghui thought it over for a while. “Would getting him transferred to that school not be difficult?”

Ye Cheng hurriedly ran his finger over the page, “Here, here—look here.” After saying this he slid the book a bit more in between them, inching towards the other until they were quite close, close enough for them to clearly make out the fine hairs on his ear. But Ye Cheng paid no mind to any of this, his only worry being the boy beside would be unable to study properly since he had their book.

Ye Cheng droned through that lesson no differently as he would if listening to tongues. The task was no easy feat to endure, as only until the bell tolled to announce the end of class was he finally able to relax.

Ye Cheng soon began chatting with that boy named Tao Lu in a friendly manner. even managing to ask about the matter regarding the textbooks at some point.

Towards this new transfer student, the young students were thick with curiosity. Especially since a student transferring to that elementary school was something that almost never happened. There was a ten minute breaks between classes, and for nearly half of it, the boy sitting in front of Ye Cheng couldn’t help himself from turning around, his eyes fixed on Ye Cheng’s face.

With quickness, he obediently made his way over to the seat the teacher had pointed to, his Micky Mouse book-bag on his back. Then he tried as best he could to pull out his pencil case case and books while making as little noise as possible. He had received his course schedule earlier, and the first class he had that day was Language Arts. During the entire process, his new deskmate never turned to face at him once. It was only when Ye Cheng turned to him to give a friendly hello, did he finally turned slightly in Ye Cheng’s direction, whispering a hello to him in return.

His deskmate had most likely heard everything he and Tao Lu just spoke of, so Ye Cheng did not have to explain the situation again. Pausing for only a few seconds, that deskmate of his then silently pushed over his book. But Ye Cheng was surprised by the other person’s apparent unwillingness to look at the book together with him. The book was lent to him while his deskmate only looked at the blackboard, as though he had no intention to look down and read from the book again. Anything Ye Cheng thought of, he simply asked directly. “Why won’t you look at the book, huh?”

The next class was also Language Arts, and it wasn’t just this language class, Ye Cheng had none of the books for any of the other classes. When Tao Lu saw Ye Cheng’s book wasn’t the right one, he enthusiastically expressed his intention to lend Ye Cheng his while he, himself, would just share with his deskmate.

As a person local to the area, Ye Cheng had also surely known of that school, and it was indeed an excellent school. Students from its main affiliated elementary school had an easier time when entering it, and it was one of the key middle-schools in the city.

“Huh? You don’t have to…” Ye Cheng shook his head. “I can just share with my deskmate, right?”

Zhou Ni was a woman with a frank and outspoken character. After all, being an introverted woman in the business world would not be good in any respect. So following her marriage to Ye Chenghui, the two quickly discussing the matter of getting Ye Cheng transferred from school, a matter which was to be regarded as her first step into being assimilated in the new family unit. Her way of thinking was quite clear, herself and Ye Cheng were both still young and son they would have a child of their own. Such a thing would be good for Ye Cheng as it would also be good for their family. These goals of Zhou Ni were neither short term nor shallow.

N/A

Ye Cheng droned through that lesson no differently as he would if listening to tongues. The task was no easy feat to endure, as only until the bell tolled to announce the end of class was he finally able to relax.

“Huh? You don’t have to…” Ye Cheng shook his head. “I can just share with my deskmate, right?”

Ye Cheng’s ears flushed, but he still managed to maintain a straight face as he spoke. “Hi, everyone. My name is Ye Cheng. The Ye, from yezi (leaf), and the Cheng from chenggong (success). I hope we can all be friends in the future.”

There’s no need for me to trouble the person up in front.

iana: I wanted to translate this after Contract Marriage, but I got this weird head cannon to translate stories using ‘[love], [marriage], then [baby carriage]’ so CM and Unmarried Dad felt right to do back to back. But what comes after the [carriage], a childhood romance, of course! Putting everything right back to [love], and bring it full circle or whatever. I’m done with my babbling. This work is from the same author as The Long Road Ahead, btw.

But just then, the teacher walked in and everyone was asked to look at the a last exercise.

Before he had turned thirty, Ye Cheng’s father had remarried, and his partner this time around was a young businesswoman who had started her own toy company. Upon her first meeting with Ye Cheng, she had gifted the boy a teddy bear so enormous, he couldn’t manage so much as to wrap his arms around it.

But after he spoke, Tao Lu’s brows raised strangely. It seemed as if he wanted to say something, but all he did was frown and let it go. “Oh, is that so. Well, if you need anything just ask me, okay?”

The affiliated school uniform was also tracksuits, but its overall design wasn’t done as haphazardly. Its simple blue and white design made the kids look as though they actually had some spirit.

The bell announcing the resumption of classes rung, and Tao Lu turned back around. The class was also a Language Arts class, so, naturally shifting to his left, Ye Cheng then asked, “Um… can you share your book with me?”

“This is our new transfer student, and he will be studying in the same class as you all from now on. So you should all help one another, understood? Come along no, introduce yourself.” The last sentence was directed towards Ye Cheng. The home room teacher was now done speaking, so everyone’s attention was now focused on the Ye Cheng.

His deskmate had most likely heard everything he and Tao Lu just spoke of, so Ye Cheng did not have to explain the situation again. Pausing for only a few seconds, that deskmate of his then silently pushed over his book. But Ye Cheng was surprised by the other person’s apparent unwillingness to look at the book together with him. The book was lent to him while his deskmate only looked at the blackboard, as though he had no intention to look down and read from the book again. Anything Ye Cheng thought of, he simply asked directly. “Why won’t you look at the book, huh?”

Those curious words of his were no exaggeration, as the ability to have a child attend to that school requires parents who quite capable.

But just then, the teacher walked in and everyone was asked to look at the a last exercise.

But all this assertion of his proved was that this man did not understand his son, Ye Cheng, as the one who understood the boy best was his own mother. A woman who always declared, her son was a sensible and intelligent child.

Ye Cheng hurriedly ran his finger over the page, “Here, here—look here.” After saying this he slid the book a bit more in between them, inching towards the other until they were quite close, close enough for them to clearly make out the fine hairs on his ear. But Ye Cheng paid no mind to any of this, his only worry being the boy beside would be unable to study properly since he had their book.

Ye Cheng droned through that lesson no differently as he would if listening to tongues. The task was no easy feat to endure, as only until the bell tolled to announce the end of class was he finally able to relax.

The next class was also Language Arts, and it wasn’t just this language class, Ye Cheng had none of the books for any of the other classes. When Tao Lu saw Ye Cheng’s book wasn’t the right one, he enthusiastically expressed his intention to lend Ye Cheng his while he, himself, would just share with his deskmate.

Maybe it was because his voice was nearly a whisper, or maybe it was because the way he spoke slower than most, because Ye Cheng felt as though his voice sounded like it had been soaked in iced water: frigid and cheerless, yet unusually crisp.

Ye Cheng hurriedly ran his finger over the page, “Here, here—look here.” After saying this he slid the book a bit more in between them, inching towards the other until they were quite close, close enough for them to clearly make out the fine hairs on his ear. But Ye Cheng paid no mind to any of this, his only worry being the boy beside would be unable to study properly since he had their book.

N/A

Noticing the movement from that direction, Miss Sun felt a bit irritated. Why did this child come here? Did he come just to make small talk during class? “Ye Cheng, stand up and answer this question.”

There’s no need for me to trouble the person up in front.

Hearing his name called suddenly, Ye Cheng jumped in fright. He was only a bit familiar with this language class, so how would he know where the answer in that paragraph was?

Somewhat frigidly, Ye Cheng rose to his feet with little haste. Biting his lips, he scanned through the book idly. He was so nervous he couldn’t even pick up the book. But out of nowhere, the page of the book turned, and a rather graceful finger pointed towards a paragraph.

iana: I wanted to translate this after Contract Marriage, but I got this weird head cannon to translate stories using ‘[love], [marriage], then [baby carriage]’ so CM and Unmarried Dad felt right to do back to back. But what comes after the [carriage], a childhood romance, of course! Putting everything right back to [love], and bring it full circle or whatever. I’m done with my babbling. This work is from the same author as The Long Road Ahead, btw.

Done with introducing the new student, Miss Sun began her class. Turning around, she erased Ye Cheng’s name from the board then wrote the subject the day’s class.

Somewhat frigidly, Ye Cheng rose to his feet with little haste. Biting his lips, he scanned through the book idly. He was so nervous he couldn’t even pick up the book. But out of nowhere, the page of the book turned, and a rather graceful finger pointed towards a paragraph.

Done with introducing the new student, Miss Sun began her class. Turning around, she erased Ye Cheng’s name from the board then wrote the subject the day’s class.

Ye Cheng droned through that lesson no differently as he would if listening to tongues. The task was no easy feat to endure, as only until the bell tolled to announce the end of class was he finally able to relax.

Somewhat frigidly, Ye Cheng rose to his feet with little haste. Biting his lips, he scanned through the book idly. He was so nervous he couldn’t even pick up the book. But out of nowhere, the page of the book turned, and a rather graceful finger pointed towards a paragraph.

Ye Cheng reacted very quickly, immediately picking up the book and smoothly read out the contents of the paragraph, before casting a pair of wide blinking eyes towards Miss Sun. Miss Sun frowned, but said nothing else about it. “Alright. Please return to your seat.”

Before he had turned thirty, Ye Cheng’s father had remarried, and his partner this time around was a young businesswoman who had started her own toy company. Upon her first meeting with Ye Cheng, she had gifted the boy a teddy bear so enormous, he couldn’t manage so much as to wrap his arms around it.

Those curious words of his were no exaggeration, as the ability to have a child attend to that school requires parents who quite capable.

Ye Cheng reacted very quickly, immediately picking up the book and smoothly read out the contents of the paragraph, before casting a pair of wide blinking eyes towards Miss Sun. Miss Sun frowned, but said nothing else about it. “Alright. Please return to your seat.”

Breathing out a long sigh, Ye Cheng then turned to his deskmate with a grin, the little dimple on the left side of his face giving his smiling face a hint of mischief.

But just then, the teacher walked in and everyone was asked to look at the a last exercise.

With quickness, he obediently made his way over to the seat the teacher had pointed to, his Micky Mouse book-bag on his back. Then he tried as best he could to pull out his pencil case case and books while making as little noise as possible. He had received his course schedule earlier, and the first class he had that day was Language Arts. During the entire process, his new deskmate never turned to face at him once. It was only when Ye Cheng turned to him to give a friendly hello, did he finally turned slightly in Ye Cheng’s direction, whispering a hello to him in return.

But just then, the teacher walked in and everyone was asked to look at the a last exercise.

Ye Cheng hurriedly ran his finger over the page, “Here, here—look here.” After saying this he slid the book a bit more in between them, inching towards the other until they were quite close, close enough for them to clearly make out the fine hairs on his ear. But Ye Cheng paid no mind to any of this, his only worry being the boy beside would be unable to study properly since he had their book.

The next class was also Language Arts, and it wasn’t just this language class, Ye Cheng had none of the books for any of the other classes. When Tao Lu saw Ye Cheng’s book wasn’t the right one, he enthusiastically expressed his intention to lend Ye Cheng his while he, himself, would just share with his deskmate.

Ye Cheng then mouthed a thank you to the other boy, he was ignored by the other, but cared little about that. After class was done, Ye Cheng blabbered away at his deskmate. “How did you know where the answer was? Did you study ahead? No wonder you gave me your book and never looked at it. At first, I thought you were just embarrassed about sharing your book with me. But what’s there to be embarrassed about, we’re all boys here. So um… did you just study ahead for that class or have you done it for the other classes too? I can’t believe there really are people who do that nowadays. I just thought it was just something teachers said to trick me. Right, Tao Lu?”

Noticing the movement from that direction, Miss Sun felt a bit irritated. Why did this child come here? Did he come just to make small talk during class? “Ye Cheng, stand up and answer this question.”

There’s no need for me to trouble the person up in front.

The next class was also Language Arts, and it wasn’t just this language class, Ye Cheng had none of the books for any of the other classes. When Tao Lu saw Ye Cheng’s book wasn’t the right one, he enthusiastically expressed his intention to lend Ye Cheng his while he, himself, would just share with his deskmate.

Ye Cheng turned to the front, but Tao Lu never looked back. Ye Cheng was shocked by this for a bit, but then figured the other boy must’ve been busy taking notes or something and had no time to turn back just to talk with him, thus never taking the matter to heart.

For the eleven year old boy, his reaction towards his family again becoming one of three people was nothing especially big—at least, not as big as his father, Ye Chenghui, had expected. Apart from his son not calling his new wife mother at the time, an act which as completely natural, he had thought the boy would at the very least cry a little, maybe also scream a bit, too.

But after he spoke, Tao Lu’s brows raised strangely. It seemed as if he wanted to say something, but all he did was frown and let it go. “Oh, is that so. Well, if you need anything just ask me, okay?”

Before he had turned thirty, Ye Cheng’s father had remarried, and his partner this time around was a young businesswoman who had started her own toy company. Upon her first meeting with Ye Cheng, she had gifted the boy a teddy bear so enormous, he couldn’t manage so much as to wrap his arms around it.

As a result, he focused the entirety of his attention on his deskmate. Naturally, he believed having a friendship between was important, but being friends with a deskmate was even more so. After being suddenly thrust into this new environment, and having to say goodbye to all the teachers he knew and all the classmates he was close with, saying Ye Cheng wasn’t the least bit upset about it would be a lie. However, Ye Cheng had taken after his mother, his character was one quite cheerful and lively. So as long as he was willing, there would never be any awkward silences, This skill of his made him able to always quickly make friends out of strangers.

Glancing at him, his deskmate then took his own black rollerball pen and neatly wrote three characters below Ye Cheng’s, stroke by stroke. They were both still young, so the characters he write couldn’t be said to have any sort of style, but his penmanship was incredibly neat.

Done with introducing the new student, Miss Sun began her class. Turning around, she erased Ye Cheng’s name from the board then wrote the subject the day’s class.

Ye Cheng reacted very quickly, immediately picking up the book and smoothly read out the contents of the paragraph, before casting a pair of wide blinking eyes towards Miss Sun. Miss Sun frowned, but said nothing else about it. “Alright. Please return to your seat.”

But from what Ye Cheng has seen, his deskmate was a person of few words. While he chatter on for long stretches of time, the boy beside him would only utter an ‘Mn’ in return. In addition, his expression was also rather cold.

The blame for this could only be laid on Ye Cheng and his parents, who should’ve made sure beforehand whether the books used by affiliate primary schools were the same as those stipulated for use in compulsory education courses. The contents in the other textbook was far more expansive than those commonly used, and the difficulty was also more advanced.

Ye Cheng then mouthed a thank you to the other boy, he was ignored by the other, but cared little about that. After class was done, Ye Cheng blabbered away at his deskmate. “How did you know where the answer was? Did you study ahead? No wonder you gave me your book and never looked at it. At first, I thought you were just embarrassed about sharing your book with me. But what’s there to be embarrassed about, we’re all boys here. So um… did you just study ahead for that class or have you done it for the other classes too? I can’t believe there really are people who do that nowadays. I just thought it was just something teachers said to trick me. Right, Tao Lu?”

Ye Cheng soon began chatting with that boy named Tao Lu in a friendly manner. even managing to ask about the matter regarding the textbooks at some point.

It made Ye Cheng feel slightly depressed. Did he not like me? In my old school, I had a lot of friends, you know!

It made Ye Cheng feel slightly depressed. Did he not like me? In my old school, I had a lot of friends, you know!

“Oh, by the way, I still don’t know your name. My name is Ye Cheng.” Although it wasn’t long since he had introduced himself, Ye Cheng took a notebook and very very carefully wrote the two characters of his name. “It’s a nice name, right?”

Ye Cheng turned to the front, but Tao Lu never looked back. Ye Cheng was shocked by this for a bit, but then figured the other boy must’ve been busy taking notes or something and had no time to turn back just to talk with him, thus never taking the matter to heart.

But all this assertion of his proved was that this man did not understand his son, Ye Cheng, as the one who understood the boy best was his own mother. A woman who always declared, her son was a sensible and intelligent child.

N/A

Glancing at him, his deskmate then took his own black rollerball pen and neatly wrote three characters below Ye Cheng’s, stroke by stroke. They were both still young, so the characters he write couldn’t be said to have any sort of style, but his penmanship was incredibly neat.

‘Gu Shao-fan.’

‘Gu Shao-fan.’

With quickness, he obediently made his way over to the seat the teacher had pointed to, his Micky Mouse book-bag on his back. Then he tried as best he could to pull out his pencil case case and books while making as little noise as possible. He had received his course schedule earlier, and the first class he had that day was Language Arts. During the entire process, his new deskmate never turned to face at him once. It was only when Ye Cheng turned to him to give a friendly hello, did he finally turned slightly in Ye Cheng’s direction, whispering a hello to him in return.

“I’ll be getting mine next semester. The teacher said it’ll be coming with the next batch. Do you guys have to buy a new uniform every semester?”

“My name is Gu Shaofan.”

Maybe it was because his voice was nearly a whisper, or maybe it was because the way he spoke slower than most, because Ye Cheng felt as though his voice sounded like it had been soaked in iced water: frigid and cheerless, yet unusually crisp.

Breathing out a long sigh, Ye Cheng then turned to his deskmate with a grin, the little dimple on the left side of his face giving his smiling face a hint of mischief.

The next class was also Language Arts, and it wasn’t just this language class, Ye Cheng had none of the books for any of the other classes. When Tao Lu saw Ye Cheng’s book wasn’t the right one, he enthusiastically expressed his intention to lend Ye Cheng his while he, himself, would just share with his deskmate.

Those curious words of his were no exaggeration, as the ability to have a child attend to that school requires parents who quite capable.

Maybe it was because his voice was nearly a whisper, or maybe it was because the way he spoke slower than most, because Ye Cheng felt as though his voice sounded like it had been soaked in iced water: frigid and cheerless, yet unusually crisp.

“Oh, by the way, I still don’t know your name. My name is Ye Cheng.” Although it wasn’t long since he had introduced himself, Ye Cheng took a notebook and very very carefully wrote the two characters of his name. “It’s a nice name, right?”

“My name is Gu Shaofan.”

“Yeah. My uniform from last semester can’t fit me any more.” The boy let out two giggles. “My mom said I’m growing too fast, and clothes are expensive.”

But just then, the teacher walked in and everyone was asked to look at the a last exercise.

Ye Cheng soon began chatting with that boy named Tao Lu in a friendly manner. even managing to ask about the matter regarding the textbooks at some point.

Ye Cheng looked at the subject and was left confused. Why was it not the same as the one in my textbook? It clearly stated Lesson Eighteen there too. He stole a glance at the textbook belonging to his deskmate, noticing the book book the other boy had was different from his own.

For the eleven year old boy, his reaction towards his family again becoming one of three people was nothing especially big—at least, not as big as his father, Ye Chenghui, had expected. Apart from his son not calling his new wife mother at the time, an act which as completely natural, he had thought the boy would at the very least cry a little, maybe also scream a bit, too.