Pretending to Cultivate in Kindergarten

It was the same day Little He Qing sent Lin Zhengran the photo of the agreement.

She also received two packages on her phone.

When she got to the parcel station, she found one yellow box and one red box.

They were birthday gifts from Han Wenwen and Jiang Xueli.

The two had sent them together, using the same shipping order.

The birthday card was also shared—on it was written: “Happy birthday to our dear bestie He Qing!” Signed, Wenwen and Lili.

Little He Qing smiled with joy at first, then quickly turned red with embarrassment once she realized something.

If Wenwen and Lili had sent her birthday presents, that meant… they knew her birthday was the day she left.

And if they knew that, they probably also guessed what she and Lin Zhengran had done that day.

Blushing but still smiling, Little He Qing sent them both a message:

“Thank you Wenwen and Lili for the birthday wishes! Hehe~”

Meanwhile, in a rented apartment up north in Zitong City, a Little Fox wearing ultra-short shorts and an off-shoulder T-shirt was sprawled out on her pink bed. She pulled a banana from the shopping bag on her nightstand.

Smiling at the message from her best friend, Little Fox raised one slender, pale leg in the air.

Her waist and hips looked even more alluring in that laid-back pose.

Resting her cheek on her palm, she murmured, “Little Qingqing really has gotten smarter since we were kids—she’s learning how to sneak off properly now.”

With that, Han Wenwen put her phone down and flopped onto her back in a jealous huff.

She held the banana up, staring at the ceiling. Sunlight from the window made one side of the banana glisten slightly.

“On her birthday, I bet Brother Zhengran got intimate with Little Qingqing. I mean, maybe nothing happened, but let’s be real—the chances are low. Brother Zhengran’s a full-blown carnivore now. Just sleeping together? Yeah right.”

Han Wenwen stared at the banana in her hand, peeled it back to reveal the flesh.

Her face got redder the longer she looked at it.

Then, like a fox on the hunt, she sat up, glared at the banana, and chomped down hard.

Angrily chewing, she bit it right in half.

“Bite you to death, Brother Zhengran!”

Little Fox leaned against the headboard and finished the banana, using the fruit as an outlet for her jealousy.

But those feelings quickly cooled off.

“Wait, so Lili knew it was Little Qingqing’s birthday too? I thought she didn’t. Guess when we split up in the car, she didn’t ask on purpose. If that’s the case… looks like all of us get to spend our birthdays alone with Brother Zhengran this year. I better plan things carefully.”

A sly smile curled on Little Fox’s lips. She tossed the banana peel into the nearby trash can.

Licking her lips, she figured the fruit tasted pretty good this time. She grabbed another nice-looking banana from the nightstand.

Peeling it open again, Han Wenwen stared at the golden flesh with meaning in her eyes.

“Even though Brother Zhengran’s already tasted me, Lili, and Little Qingqing… Wenwen still has a whole bag of tricks I haven’t even used on him yet. That’s my specialty. I will make Brother Zhengran addicted to me—once he craves meat, he’ll think of Wenwen first.”

She tucked a lock of long hair behind her ear.

As the saying goes, talent is 90% hard work and 10% natural gift. Han Wenwen knew—if she wanted to make Brother Zhengran happy and hooked in that area, practice was essential. Talent alone wouldn’t cut it.

Otherwise, what was the point of buying all that fruit?

Of course it was for eating. What, she was going to let it rot?!

Elsewhere, in another apartment building, golden twin-tailed Jiang Xueli was seeing her parents off at the door.

She waved her hands.

“Mom, Dad, take it easy on your way to work!”

Her parents turned back to glance at their daughter’s dyed hair. Dad chuckled.

Mom, on the other hand, had something to say:

“Lili! You’ve got to talk to us before making big decisions like dyeing your hair, okay? No more pulling stunts behind our backs.”

Jiang Xueli smoothed one of her ponytails with her hand and mumbled, “Got it. Take care on the way.”

After seeing them off, she bounced back to her bedroom.

Checked her phone.

As expected—that idiot still hadn’t messaged her.

Fuming, Jiang Xueli puffed out her cheeks and shook her little fists.

“Stupid Zhengran, dumb Zhengran! Just ‘cause we chatted last night doesn’t mean you can skip this morning!”

Then she paused: “Oh right, he said he had to go to the company today. Fine, whatever. I’ll let it go.”

Jiang Xueli picked up her guitar from beside the bed and sat down cross-legged again.

Her pretty fingers strummed the strings. Her tsundere expression turned thoughtful as she recalled the day they all parted after their trip.

He Qing said she was going home… but ended up spending her whole birthday with Zhengran.

Jiang Xueli snorted, eyes full of disdain.

“Hmph.”

Then sighed, muttering to herself with a sour tone:

“Stupid Zhengran.”

She sang the same children’s song she always did. Whenever she sang it, she’d think of the time they first met at the marketplace when they were kids.

“Twinkle, twinkle, little star... all across the sky…” You big idiot!

In the Zijing Garden community, where Lin Zhengran lived— freewebnoveℓ.com

He walked out of the bathroom and saw his mom, Lin Xiaoli, still reading on the couch.

“Mom? When’s your interview with Zhengshi Music?”

Lin Xiaoli looked tense, mumbling as she read aloud from her book. “The day after tomorrow, in the afternoon! I’m getting really nervous.”

“The day after tomorrow? Okay, got it.”

Originally, Lin Zhengran had planned to ask Sister Wang (Wang Lan) to help if he couldn’t make it.

But since he’d be free then, he figured—he’d just go conduct his mom’s interview himself.

On the couch, Lin Xiaoli muttered anxiously,

“Things are so different now. I read online that Zhengshi’s been super popular lately. The interview rate is super low. They say the interviewers are really tough. The job market is too brutal these days.”

Lin Zhengran smiled. “It’s just the times. But don’t worry, Mom. With your skills, you’ve got this.”

Lin Xiaoli let out a small laugh, wiping cold sweat from her forehead. “I think so too… I hope so.”

Lin Zhengran didn’t interrupt her studying any further and headed back to his room.

On his bed, his phone lit up with a message from Little He Qing—she’d called him earlier that morning.

She said Aunt He felt immediately better after taking his medicine and was super grateful.

Back in his room, Lin Zhengran picked up the phone.

Little He Qing asked,

“Lin Zhengran? You’re back from the bathroom?”

“Yeah. You’re still on? Something else?”

“Umm… not really... Are you going out today?”

“Yeah, I need to stop by the company. Check up on how things are going.” He picked a jacket from the wardrobe.

Little He Qing softly replied, “Be safe.”

“Okay, I’m hanging up?”

“Okay… bye-bye.”

“We’ll see each other again soon. Just stay home and wait for the semester to start.”

Lin Zhengran put on his jacket and headed out—toward the Zhengshi Company building.