"...My mom can't come, so tomorrow when you all come to my dad's house to play, you'll only get to see my dad!" During this break, Xixi said to her friends with a hint of sadness.
"I just want to see Xixi's dad—he makes such delicious food!" Lan Xin now looked forward to lunch every day, sharing meals with Xixi, and also eagerly awaited the weekend, when she could go to Xixi's house and eat even more goodies.
Yang Luoqi, unlike Lan Xin who was always thinking about food, wondered what Xixi's mom looked like. The little girl spoke softly, "I've never even seen Xixi's mom! It's always Xixi's dad who picks her up from kindergarten."
"My mom is really busy, she doesn't have time!" Xixi pouted. Deep down, the little girl wished her mom could pick her up too, but she still tried to defend her.
Chen Shiyun was playing with a building block toy nearby, listening to her friends' conversation. She finally found a chance to chime in and blurted out bluntly, "Hey, that's right, we've never seen Xixi's mom. Xixi isn't like Little Bell, who doesn't have a mom, is she?"
Little Bell was the nickname of a girl named Ding Ling from the middle class, who wore a cute black bell collar around her neck, so everyone liked to call her that.
But Little Bell's story was quite sad. She lost her mom when she was very young, and her father raised her alone. However, he was so busy with work that he rarely had time to care for her, making Little Bell timid and introverted, almost developing into a case of autism. She was sent to kindergarten, where Teacher Mu took tender care of her, helping her improve just a bit.
Chen Shiyun didn't mean to be malicious; she was just thick-skinned and didn't realize how hurtful her words could be, blurting them out without thinking!
Xixi got angry. Back abroad, she once thought she didn't have a dad and felt awful seeing others with both parents. But after returning to China, she was overjoyed to find she had a father and loved clinging to him!
Now, that painful feeling was stirred up again by Chen Shiyun. The little girl pouted, her voice rising an octave: "I'm not without a mom! My mom is way prettier than yours!"
Xixi rarely got upset with anyone!
With a gentle temperament like a fawn, after getting angry, she felt flustered herself. Her eyes involuntarily reddened, and tears couldn't be held back, spilling out all at once.
This change happened so fast that not only Lan Xin and Yang Luoqi, but even Chen Shiyun, who was talking to her, was stunned.
"Wah, I'm not without a mom." Xixi felt terribly wronged and finally burst into tears, crying heartbrokenly.
"Huh? Xixi, don't cry." Yang Luoqi was at a loss.
Seeing Xixi cry, Lan Xin's sense of justice surged. She scrambled up and shouted at Chen Shiyun in a loud voice, "Chen Shiyun, you're bullying again! You made Xixi cry! I'm telling Teacher Mu!"
With that, the chubby little girl ran out.
Chen Shiyun panicked. She usually liked to "bully" others for fun, but she never meant to make other kids cry.
And this time, she hadn't intended to bully Xixi at all!
Ever since Xixi started bringing her tasty treats, Chen Shiyun had stopped bullying her. She never expected that a careless remark would make Xixi cry!
For some reason, seeing Xixi's tears made Chen Shiyun feel awful too, and she forgot to argue with Lan Xin.
Teacher Mu soon hurried over with Lan Xin. She saw Xixi crying sadly, and Yang Luoqi, while trying to comfort her, ended up red-eyed herself.
"What's wrong? What happened?" Teacher Mu gently took Xixi and Yang Luoqi's hands and asked softly.
"Chen Shiyun bullied Xixi!" Lan Xin tattled.
Yang Luoqi nodded while rubbing her eyes.
"And why are you crying too, Qiqi?" Teacher Mu sighed helplessly. She first comforted Xixi, who was crying the hardest, holding the little girl in her arms. "Xixi, don't cry. Tell me what happened."
"Chen Shiyun, come tell the teacher what you did?" Teacher Mu asked kindly.
At that, Chen Shiyun, who was already feeling guilty and scared, burst into tears too.
Well, three out of the four kids present were crying. Teacher Mu had to turn to Lan Xin.
Lan Xin, seeing her friends cry, inexplicably teared up herself, but her sense of duty made her puff out her chest and tell the teacher, "Chen Shiyun said Xixi doesn't have a mom, and then Xixi cried!"
"I do have a mom. My mom is a big star." Xixi grew even sadder, sobbing loudly, the latter part of her words becoming garbled.
"I, I didn't mean it. I, I wasn't saying Xixi doesn't have a mom." Chen Shiyun cried and defended herself. "I... I... that's not what I meant. I, I was just asking..."
"Xixi does have a mom. Teacher Mu has seen her. She's just too busy and doesn't show up usually!" Teacher Mu understood the situation and said with a wry smile. "And no matter what, Chen Shiyun, you can't talk to other kids like that, can you?"
Chen Shiyun shuffled over to Teacher Mu, crying and sobbing, "Teacher Mu, I, I know I was wrong."
"It's good that you know. Come here, Xixi, let Teacher Mu explain." Teacher Mu said gently to Xixi. "Chen Shiyun might not be good with words. She probably didn't mean it that way. Maybe she was just concerned because she hadn't seen your mom, but she said it wrong."
Chen Shiyun nodded vigorously.
Xixi sniffled, pouting sadly, but her emotions began to settle a bit.
"Now, Chen Shiyun, since you did something wrong and said the wrong thing, shouldn't you say something to Xixi? Teacher has taught you this." Teacher Mu looked kindly at Chen Shiyun.
Chen Shiyun sniffed and said loudly, "I'm sorry, Xixi. I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry!"
"And?" Teacher Mu prompted.
"Can you forgive me? I won't do it again." Chen Shiyun looked at Xixi nervously.
Teacher Mu then hugged Xixi and coaxed her, "See, Xixi? Chen Shiyun apologized so sincerely. Do you think you can forgive her unintentional mistake?"
Xixi's mood had calmed down. Though she still sniffled occasionally, she wasn't as upset as before and felt more at ease.
Chen Shiyun watched nervously until she saw Xixi nod slightly. She breathed a sigh of relief, but her heart still felt heavy.
...
That evening, when Yang Yi picked up Xixi from kindergarten, the little girl had returned to her usual self, cheerfully saying goodbye to her friends like always.
"Goodbye, Xin'er! Goodbye, Zhaoyu! Goodbye, Chen Shiyun!"
But Chen Shiyun, pulled by her mom, mustered the courage to walk up to Yang Yi.
"Uncle Yang, I need to apologize to you and Xixi. I said Xixi didn't have a mom this morning and made her cry. I'm sorry, I know I was wrong!" The sturdy little girl wasn't afraid of adults and bravely apologized.
Clearly, Chen Shiyun's mom had been told by Teacher Mu and insisted Chen Shiyun apologize again. But Chen Shiyun was great—she really said sorry sincerely!
"It's okay, I'm not mad at all!" Xixi took Chen Shiyun's hand and said cheerfully, "But my mom is really, really pretty, super pretty!"
Half a day had passed, and Xixi's anger had long faded. Besides, she wasn't one to hold grudges.
"Really?" Chen Shiyun exclaimed.
Yang Yi smiled as he watched the two kids talk, while Chen Shiyun's mom quietly apologized to him, explaining the situation.
"It's fine. Kids sometimes say things without meaning to. There's even a saying, 'Children's words are innocent,' right?" Yang Yi waved his hand calmly to Chen Shiyun's mom. "By the way, tomorrow your Chen Shiyun is coming to our place to play. I've made a map. I figured you might have to go through Jiangchuan, which is a bit complicated, so I drew a hand-drawn map for all the parents..."