I was born and listened to my neighbor's older sister talk about her family of origin.

Xu Zhiyu finally spoke, looking up directly at Cheng Jinglan with a firmness she had never seen before.

"A-Ye...A-Ye isn't a hoodlum."

Looking into her daughter's eyes, Cheng Jinglan felt a surge of disappointment mixed with anger.

In front of her, Xu Zhiyu was always obedient to her.

This was the first time she had talked back to me, and it was for someone else's sake.

Although that other person was just a three-year-old baby.

But when she thought of Jiang Ye, Cheng Jinglan's thoughts became complicated.

She heard the two children's conversation at the door clearly.

It's unbelievable that a three-year-old child could say such things.

In the past two years, how could she, as a neighbor, not have heard about Jiang Ye being a genius?

Looking at it now, the rumors do seem to have some credibility.

At least, many adults wouldn't be able to say those words.

Cheng Jinglan took a deep breath.

"Stretch out your hand."

Xu Zhiyu immediately understood what Cheng Jinglan wanted to do. She bit her lower lip and extended her right palm.

The palm was small and white, looking like jelly, but the next second, a ruler was slapped on it.

"Smack."

His palms immediately turned red.

Xu Zhiyu gritted her teeth and remained silent.

"The first punishment is for you lying to your mother."

"Smack."

"The second punishment is for daring to talk back to your mother."

"Smack."

"The third slap is to punish you for daring to disobey your mother."

Each of the three strikes was heavier and louder than the last.

Xu Zhiyu felt a burning sensation in her right palm, which was both numb and painful.

But she got used to it.

Cheng Jinglan put down the ruler and took a deep breath.

"Go do your homework!"

Xu Zhiyu put her right hand behind her back and didn't move.

Cheng Jinglan glared at her.

"What else do you want to do?!"

Xu Zhiyu looked up, her voice trembling slightly from the pain in her palm.

"Mom, I want to go to kindergarten."

Cheng Jinglan gave a cold laugh.

"You actually listen to that brat? Xu Zhiyu, let me tell you, going to kindergarten here is a waste of your time!"

"What can you learn here? Besides making a bunch of friends who are destined to be at the bottom of society, what else can you learn?"

"In another year, I will let you take the entrance exam for the elementary school in the city center. With the knowledge I have taught you over the past two years, you will definitely be able to get in. At that time, you will have nothing to do with these people."

"So now, there's no need to waste time getting to know them, understand?"

Xu Zhiyu's face turned pale for a moment.

Seeing this, Cheng Jinglan's eyes softened again.

"Zhiyu, you don't understand now, but you will in the future. All of Mom's decisions are for your own good."

Xu Zhiyu fell silent.

Just when Cheng Jinglan thought she was going to give up, she looked up again, her tone even more determined.

"Mommy, I want to go to kindergarten."

Cheng Jinglan felt her mind instantly filled with rage and slapped Xu Zhiyu across the face.

"Smack."

This is a crisper sound than when the clapper was struck earlier.

Xu Zhiyu turned her head to the side after being hit, then looked back at Cheng Jinglan in disbelief, her eyes red-rimmed.

Although she was used to her mother's beatings and scoldings, this was the first time Xu Zhiyu had ever been slapped.

It hurt her even more than those three slaps to the palm.

Cheng Jinglan regretted it as soon as she slapped him.

But her pride as a mother prevented her from apologizing or even expressing regret.

Just then.

There was a noise at the door; Xu Hai had returned.

He immediately noticed the heavy atmosphere in the living room and the bright red handprint on Xu Zhiyu's face.

He, who had always neglected his family, surprisingly asked a question.

"What happened?"

Cheng Jinglan gave him a cold look.

"It's none of your business."

Xu Hai frowned, his voice rising a few decibels: "What do you mean it's none of my business? You hit my daughter!"

"Your daughter?!"

Cheng Jinglan stood up.

"Have you cared about her all these years? And now you're talking about your daughter? She's practically been kidnapped by that hoodlum next door and you didn't even know! And you still want her to go to that lousy kindergarten!"

Xu Hai took a deep breath, unusually ignoring Cheng Jinglan's irritability, and looked at Xu Zhiyu.

"Do you want to go to kindergarten?"

Xu Zhiyu covered her face and took a long time to react before nodding hesitantly.

Xu Hai said to Cheng Jinglan, "If the child wants to go to kindergarten, then let her go. It's only for a year anyway, and you can take a break."

"Easy for you to say! If you delay her transition to primary school, will you take responsibility?!"

"Then I'll take responsibility!"

"Fine, now you're playing the good guy in front of your daughter, huh? Am I the villain between you two?!"

The two of them started arguing again without realizing it.

Xu Zhiyu stood there for a while, and after a moment, with a cold expression, she returned to her room without even glancing at the person.

The mood that Jiang Ye had lifted me to the clouds today has plummeted back to the bottom, and is heading towards an even deeper abyss.

You just left with A-Ye, why are you already thinking about him again?

……

The next morning.

Wearing a yellow kindergarten hat and carrying a backpack printed with Crayon Shin-chan, Jiang Ye walked calmly but with empty eyes into the kindergarten gate filled with crying and commotion, under the reluctant gazes of Hao Mei and Jiang Cheng.

"Okay, kids, be good. Today is your first day of kindergarten, let's introduce ourselves."

In the noisy Class 1, the sounds of crying, laughter, and the smell of snacks filled the entire space.

Jiang Ye sat in the corner and sighed.

This kind of life will continue for another three years.

One by one, the children stepped forward and began to introduce themselves.

"I...I'm called...Waaaaah, I miss my mom, I want to go home..."

The female kindergarten teacher skillfully stepped forward, hugged and comforted her.

Just when one of them stopped crying, the next one started crying.

Jiang Ye silently covered his ears.

Fortunately, the children behind were quite sensible, and the hesitant self-introduction was finally coming to an end.

Jiang Ye was the last one.

In front of him was a girl.

Wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, she looked like a boy, and her short, neat hair made her look round and cute.

The girl skipped and hopped in front of everyone, her eyes bright, patting her chest confidently.

"My name is Ji Xiaoxiao!"

All the children's eyes were immediately drawn to her.

Unlike the shy children before her, she spoke louder and her face was full of arrogance and confidence.

"My dad is a policeman! So, my dream is to become an excellent policeman!"

"(⊙o⊙)Wow—!!"

A gasp of amazement rippled through the classroom, and every child's eyes reflected awe for Ji Xiaoxiao.

After all, their parents would always say when they misbehaved: "If you don't behave, the police will come and arrest you!"

This statement is no less powerful than a monster coming to snatch them away.

Therefore, to children, there is no difference between the police and a monster.

He held the policeman's daughter in even higher esteem.

From that moment on, Ji Xiaoxiao's single sentence cemented her status as the leader of the class.

At this time, Jiang Ye's system, which had been dormant for two years, started to stir again.

She, Ji Xiaoxiao, was your best friend since childhood. You grew up together, went to school together, played games together, and joked around together. Your relationship was as close as one person.

She once secretly confessed her feelings to you using game coded language, but you, being a clueless guy at the time, didn't understand a word of it.

During high school, Ji Xiaoxiao's family suffered a devastating tragedy: her father, an undercover agent, died. Because the truth could not be revealed, her mother faced criticism and passed away in despair.

She dropped out of school and left Jiangcheng. You haven't seen her since.

When you meet again, she's renting a room near you, her face bearing a horrific scar, looking haggard. You want to know what happened and try to help her, but she refuses to let you in and even yells at you to get out.

Later you find out she works for a gang, but you realize that Ji Xiaoxiao, who once proclaimed in the sunlight that she wanted to become an excellent police officer, is definitely not that kind of person.

She inherited her father's will and became an undercover agent.

You want to help him, but you can't afford just a regular real estate agent fee.

Not long after, you received news of Ji Xiaoxiao's death. At the same time, the gang was completely eradicated, and her photo and police badge number appeared on the evening news.

You wept bitterly.

These few short paragraphs summarize Ji Xiaoxiao's life.

Jiang Ye's mood immediately became heavy.