PANT - Chapter 78
Chapter 78: AU: Childhood Sweethearts
"I didn't really like you the first time we met. Who knew we'd become so close later."
Shi Ning moved when she was three. Her mom remarried a man who was a professor. So, their whole family moved into the university's faculty apartments.
The apartment across from them supposedly belonged to the family of the school's astronomy professor.
Her mom kept telling Shi Ning that when they visited their neighbors, she must greet them properly and make friends with their child.
Shi Ning agreed.
But the moment the door opened, and she stood outside with her mom, holding a gift and greeting the family, Shi Ning saw a cold little dot.
She was quite pretty, though.
But just too cold.
Shi Ning held out the gift in her hands. "Hello."
The other party didn't take it, just looked at her with clear, transparent eyes, seemingly puzzled as to why she was doing this.
It wasn't until the adults in the house came to the door that Shi Ning learned this little girl with the cold face was named Su Tianxue.
She was this family's daughter.
"Oh my, your daughter is so cute," Shi Ning's mom praised.
Hearing this, Shi Ning stared at Su Tianxue, thinking disdainfully, She's just okay!
Not especially cute.
Ice-cold, not cute at all.
Because Su Tianxue's reaction at their first meeting made Shi Ning feel slighted, from then on, whenever her mom went to greet the neighbors, Shi Ning refused to go.
Even if they ran into each other in the hallway and had to take the elevator together, Shi Ning would definitely squeeze herself into the opposite corner, absolutely refusing to stand with Su Tianxue.
Hmph.
Little kids have pride too, you know!!
Shi Ning thought she wouldn't have to see Su Tianxue again, aside from times like these.
But who knew, they both attended the university's affiliated kindergarten.
On Shi Ning's first day after transferring, the teacher placed her next to Su Tianxue.
Shi Ning held her head high, like a competitive little hen, and strutted proudly to Su Tianxue's side. She tossed her pink princess backpack onto the table, showing off her domineering nature.
She turned her head away, not wanting to spare Su Tianxue a single glance.
Su Tianxue didn't say a word either, silently moving her cute, fruit-themed plastic table to the side, putting distance between herself and Shi Ning.
When Shi Ning turned back to look, she found there was now a gap between their two tables.
!!!
Shi Ning took this as a challenge.
So, she fiercely yanked her own table further away, moving even farther from Su Tianxue.
When the first class ended, the other kids were very curious about Shi Ning.
A lively and cheerful little girl came up to greet Shi Ning, inviting her to play.
Shi Ning never refused.
She always responded to others' enthusiasm, not wanting to disappoint them.
So, the moment class was over, she would leave her seat and disappear in a flash.
Her figure could always be found on the kindergarten's slide.
Shi Ning hadn't been there long before she became the leader of the Strawberry-small class, a big shot. The girls in the class loved playing with her.
Because when Shi Ning played house, she was a very competent "little husband."
Every day after "coming home from work," she would remember to take care of her "wife" and "kids" at home.
If she played the "house husband" in the game, she would obediently "cook" at home and serve her "wife" and "kids."
Even the kindergarten "belle," Zhang Xiaohua, liked playing with Shi Ning and even designated Shi Ning as her "little husband."
This made Zhang Xiaohua's previous play-house partner, another boy in the small class named He Xiaohu, very unhappy.
So one day, when the children's classes were over and they were waiting for their parents to pick them up, He Xiaohu challenged Shi Ning to a fight.
The two stood in the kindergarten's sandbox.
He Xiaohu was a very sturdy little boy, dark and very developed for his age.
He shot a threat at Shi Ning: "The loser isn't allowed to be Xiaohua's husband anymore!"
In her life, Shi Ning hated it when people made bets with her.
Her competitive spirit was extremely strong.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have completely changed her tune and refused to speak to Su Tianxue after getting the cold shoulder at their first meeting.
It was all because she'd approached the other person, been ignored, and felt humiliated.
Now, being challenged to a fight, Shi Ning wasn't scared at all. She accepted the bet on the spot.
At the signal, the two started grappling.
He Xiaohu's punches were no joke.
One landed right on Shi Ning's face.
Shi Ning was in so much pain she wanted to cry. She opened her mouth and bit down hard on He Xiaohu's arm.
He Xiaohu let out a wail and cried.
Seeing him cry, Shi Ning didn't hold back either. She flopped down in the sandbox and also burst into tears.
When the teacher came to resolve the problem, she saw the two of them clutching each other, crying their eyes and noses out.
When the teacher asked why they were fighting, before Shi Ning could speak, He Xiaohu very responsibly said it was all his fault.
This fight hadn't had a clear winner, but because He Xiaohu was so responsible, Shi Ning decided she couldn't steal someone else's "wife" anymore.
Even though she was just a kid, she understood some things.
In the jungle of this kindergarten!
A friend's wife... must not... must not... anyway, it just meant Shi Ning wasn't going to be Xiaohua's "husband" anymore.
Xiaohua was very angry about this.
She even forbade other little girls from playing house with Shi Ning.
She was just throwing a bit of a princess tantrum, wanting Shi Ning to come and beg her, to continue being her "little husband."
But she never expected Shi Ning to find a new "wife."
To be precise, it wasn't that she found a "wife."
It was that the "wife" found her.
Su Tianxue felt that something was wrong with Shi Ning lately.
This person, who usually dashed out to play like crazy the moment class ended, running off hand-in-hand with a group of little girls, was now just sitting in her seat. She wasn't going anywhere. It was abnormally obedient.
Su Tianxue mulled it over for a long time. Unable to hold back, she finally found a moment and asked, "Why aren't you going to play house?"
Seeing Su Tianxue talking to her, Shi Ning was very vigilant. "What do you want?"
Su Tianxue: "..."
Su Tianxue had been a very slow-tempered and rational person since she was little. She said, one word at a time, "Don't you usually play well with everyone?"
Shi Ning pouted. "But they don't want to be my wife anymore."
Su Tianxue tilted her head. "Why?"
Shi Ning told Su Tianxue about her great battle with Xiaohu, and also told her what Xiaohua had done.
Shi Ning lay on the table, sighing. "Actually, I don't really want to play house that much, but... life without a wife is so boring."
From her first day at this kindergarten, she'd had a wife!
A different one every day!
Never the same one twice!
Now, gone, gone, all gone!
Su Tianxue looked at Shi Ning's sorrowful expression, thought seriously for a moment, and said softly to Shi Ning, "Am I... okay?"
Shi Ning didn't react. Her still-chubby little face was pressed against the kindergarten table, her flesh squeezed into a cute little pancake.
"Huh?"
Su Tianxue said it again. "I'll be your wife."
Shi Ning blinked.
Then she replied with two firm words.
-"No!"
She would never want an ice cube for a wife!
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