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

"Son! How are you? Are you hurt?"

In the office, Hao Mei hurriedly pushed open the door and pulled Jiang Ye around, looking him up and down with a worried expression.

Jiang Ye waved his hand.

"I'm fine, Mom."

Hao Mei noticed the abrasions on his arm, and her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

"He's injured like this!"

"Ah... Auntie, I'm so sorry, he... he did it to save me..."

Ji Xiaoxiao stepped forward, her face full of remorse.

Hao Mei was the first to arrive because she lived nearby; at that time, the other children's parents had not yet arrived.

Upon hearing this, Hao Mei held back her tears, her eyes revealing a gossipy glint.

"Save you?"

"Tell your auntie what happened?"

The female teacher standing nearby coughed.

"Mrs. Jiang, why don't we wait until the other parents have finished talking to each other?"

Hao Mei listened to her teacher and pulled Jiang Ye to sit next to her.

Ji Xiaoxiao stood still, glancing at Jiang Ye from time to time.

Zhou Jie stood to the side with his head down.

The chubby boy and the pockmarked boy next to him looked extremely uneasy when they saw Jiang Ye's parent, who had pink hair, arrive.

A few moments later, several adults appeared at the door.

The man in the lead was wearing a jacket and was tall. Ji Xiaoxiao saw him and immediately went to meet him.

"dad."

Ji Yue hugged his daughter and gently patted her bottom.

"She's already causing me trouble as soon as she started kindergarten."

Although the words were stern, there was not much blame in the tone.

Seeing that her daughter was indeed unharmed, a weight was lifted from her heart.

Ji Xiaoxiao stuck out her tongue.

Behind Ji Yue were three middle-aged women, namely the chubby boy and the pockmarked boy, as well as Zhou Jie's mother, who, like Hao Mei, held her son's hand with a face full of worry.

Once all the parents had arrived, the female teacher finally spoke, "Ahem."

"Dear parents, here's what happened."

Because the whole story had already been extracted from Jiang Ye and the others beforehand, and because the chubby boy was under pressure, he dared not lie.

So she explained everything very clearly.

Upon hearing that Ji Xiaoxiao had almost tripped and that Jiang Ye had cushioned her fall, Ji Yue immediately looked at Jiang Ye.

She was about to express her gratitude, but when she saw his face clearly, she froze.

He then burst out laughing.

"It's you, you brat?"

Hao Mei glanced at him and asked Jiang Ye.

"Son, do you know him?"

Jiang Ye nodded: "Yes, I ran into him yesterday."

At the same time, he winked at Ji Yue subtly, signaling him not to mention that he had gone fishing by the river.

After all, Hao Mei never allowed him to go to dangerous places like the river.

But Ji Yue just smiled.

Jiang Ye suddenly had a bad feeling.

Then Ji Yue said to Hao Mei, "I ran into him by the river yesterday. He was fishing with a little girl using a tree branch."

Hao Mei's expression changed, and she slapped Jiang Ye's buttocks.

"Oh, you! Didn't I tell you? Children shouldn't go near the river! It's dangerous! Don't you know there are so many news reports about children falling into the water lately?!"

"You even brought people with you? Was it Little Fish?!"

Jiang Ye gasped, clutching his backside, and gave Ji Yue a resentful look.

Ji Yue's eyes were filled with smugness.

You little brat, you say I'm a bad person?

Jiang Ye never expected that the uncle he met yesterday would actually be Ji Xiaoxiao's father, Ji Yue.

The policeman who went undercover in a criminal organization but ultimately met a tragic end.

Jiang Ye didn't have much of an impression of Ji Yue's face. After all, Ji Yue had been undercover for nearly six years, and he hadn't seen Ji Yue since elementary school, so naturally he couldn't remember his face clearly.

Jiang Ye regretted his words about the other man's character yesterday and almost slapped himself in the face.

That mouth of hers.

However, Ji Yue is indeed a kind and honest person.

He reassured Hao Mei, "Don't worry, I was there watching, nothing bad happened."

Hao Mei was just saying it out of anger, and immediately thanked Ji Yue: "Thank you so much. Next time you come to my Chengmei Hair Salon, I'll give you a free haircut."

"No need, no need, it's nothing at all."

The two families chatted happily and were in a harmonious atmosphere.

The other three parents were completely uninvolved throughout the entire process.

This minor skirmish was quickly resolved, after all, the facts were clear, and Ji Yue was a policeman.

Those who can attend this kindergarten are mostly from ordinary families, and the police profession still holds a lot of intimidation for them.

Despite their dissatisfaction, the two mothers of the fat man and the pockmarked boy eventually apologized to the three of them.

After everything was finished, it was almost time for school to end.

Jiang Ye slung his backpack over his shoulder, ready to go back with Hao Mei.

Ji Xiaoxiao let go of Ji Yue's hand and came to Jiang Ye.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone on her round and lovely face, making the fine downy hairs on her skin clearly visible, and her eyes shone brightly as she looked at Jiang Ye.

"Jiang Ye, is your name Jiang Ye? Thank you for protecting me."

Ji Xiaoxiao has a clear and pleasant voice, with a childlike tone. The three-year-old speaks with some stumbling, but her words are exceptionally firm.

"Can we be friends? My name is Ji Xiaoxiao."

As she spoke, she mimicked an adult and reached out her hand to Jiang Ye.

Looking at the girl in front of him, Jiang Ye was stunned for a moment, and the memories that had been sealed in his mind were reopened.

"It's okay, I'll protect you!"

"From now on, I'm your friend, and no one will be allowed to bully you!"

The girl standing in front of him was petite and cute, but her figure appeared infinitely magnified in his eyes.

It turns out that back then, the one being protected by Ji Xiaoxiao wasn't Zhou Jie, but herself.

Jiang Ye couldn't help but smile, his eyes full of gentleness, and he reached out to hold Ji Xiaoxiao's small hand.

"Yes, I believe we'll be best friends from now on."

Ji Xiaoxiao grinned, revealing two rows of teeth that hadn't fully grown in yet.

I was so happy I couldn't contain myself.

[Task complete.]

[Award: Mastery of all high school subjects.]

A flood of knowledge rushed into Jiang Ye's mind, and a smile crept onto his lips.

And so, he's already reserved the top scorer position.

Rebirth is good, rebirth is wonderful.

……

That evening, Jiang Ye went to the balcony, wanting to tell Xu Zhiyu what had happened that day.

But even after he gave the signal, Xu Zhiyu never came out.

The next day, when Jiang Ye arrived at the kindergarten again, he saw Xu Zhiyu, who was also carrying a schoolbag.

She stood at the doorway, all alone, holding her backpack straps with both hands, her expression indifferent, her gaze unfocused as she watched the parents and children passing by.

But when her pupils met Jiang Ye's gaze, her dark eyes suddenly shone with a bright light.

"Ano!"

Xu Zhiyu skipped over, first politely greeting Hao Mei, then saying to Jiang Ye:

"Ah-Ye, I can go to kindergarten too! From now on, we can go to school and come home together!"

Jiang Ye looked at her and smiled.

"Um."

He didn't know how Xu Zhiyu got Cheng Jinglan to agree.

But he was relieved.

This is Xu Zhiyu's first step out of that cage.

Hao Mei glanced around and frowned, asking, "Xiao Yu, aren't your parents coming to pick you up?"

"Dad is very busy."

Xu Zhiyu said calmly, "My mother said that the kindergarten is nearby, so I can go to and from school by myself."

Hao Mei sighed softly and looked at her with heartache.

These days, human traffickers are rampant. I don't know if that couple was really carefree or if they didn't care about Xu Zhiyu at all, but they actually let such a young child go to school by herself.

"From now on, you'll go to school with my Xiaoye. Auntie will pick you up after school. Don't go home by yourself, okay?"

Since it was on the way anyway, Hao Mei didn't find it troublesome.

Xu Zhiyu's eyes flickered, and she pursed her lips slightly.

He then nodded emphatically to Hao Mei.

"Yes, thank you, Aunt Hao."

"Auntie, you're so kind."

Hao Mei reached out and patted her head.