Chapter Thirty-One: Strange Things Begin to Happen
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Blue Bay Kindergarten was a private kindergarten. Unlike the large public kindergartens, it had a pleasant environment and relatively few children.
Standing beneath a large tree at the kindergarten entrance, Jiang Yang had the strange feeling that the place was familiar. He must have been there more than once before.
Could Doctor Yang have sent him here to find one of the kindergarten teachers? He began scanning the few teachers standing by the entrance.
The previous night, Yang Xiaoran had not told him the teacher’s name or what the person looked like. She had merely told him to wait at the entrance, saying that something marvelous would happen.
Come to think of it, Doctor Yang had helped him quite a lot lately. Not only had she helped him sort out his thoughts, but the night before she had also asked whether he wanted to spend the night at the clinic. There was a bed there.
Jiang Yang had thought that he did not want to go home anyway, and staying in a hotel would cost money, so he had said casually, “I don’t want to go back. Can I really sleep here?”
“Of course,” Yang Xiaoran had replied. “But I have to go home, so you’ll be here by yourself. Little Zhao will come at nine tomorrow morning.”
He had to admit that when Doctor Yang said she was going home, Jiang Yang, who had already been feeling somewhat empty inside, had been a little disappointed.
Of course, he had harbored no ulterior motives about spending the night at the clinic. He had merely hoped that Doctor Yang would stay and chat with him for a while—and perhaps let him admire her long legs.
He truly had no other intentions. Truly.
There were many parents waiting at the kindergarten entrance. A female teacher with a ponytail came out to keep order, asking the parents to line up according to their classes.
Jiang Yang was not there to pick up a child, so naturally he did not join any line. He could only find an empty spot nearby and wait for the so-called marvelous thing to happen.
He checked his phone again. Ruolan had not called him once all day, and he did not want to call her either. He was afraid that if the call went through, something even stranger might happen.
Seeing him standing there, the ponytailed teacher came over and said, “Oh? Why are you standing over here?”
Jiang Yang was bewildered. The female teacher clearly knew him, but they did not seem particularly close. She certainly did not look like someone who was going to marry him.
He pointed at himself and asked tentatively, “You… know me?”
“Of course I do. Come on, line up with the other parents from Class Two of the Middle Group. The children are coming out soon.” The teacher pointed toward the line marked “Middle Group, Class Two” and motioned for Jiang Yang to join it.
“Your Class Two of the Middle Group?” Jiang Yang felt that the phrase sounded strangely familiar, but the teacher had already turned away to keep order and paid no attention to his question.
He had no choice but to follow instructions and join the line.
He had barely taken his place at the back when the elderly woman in front of him turned around and smiled.
“Your turn to pick up the child today?”
Jiang Yang froze. What did she mean, “your turn”? And this old woman seemed to know him too!
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It seemed Yang Xiaoran had been right. Something truly marvelous had begun to happen.
Before long, the kindergarten gates opened, and adorable groups of children began filing out of the building under the guidance of their teachers.
The parents waiting outside also started moving forward in line to collect their children.
As Jiang Yang moved along with the others, he gradually realized something: just like all the other parents, he was here to pick up a child.
But he was not even married yet. How could he possibly have a child to pick up? This whole situation was becoming completely absurd.
After the children from Class One of the Younger Group had been collected, it was soon the turn of their line from Class Two of the Middle Group.
Once the elderly woman in front had collected her grandson, a little girl in a red dress with two tiny braids spotted Jiang Yang and cried out, “Daddy!”
Like a little red bird, she broke free from her teacher’s hand and flew straight into Jiang Yang’s arms.
He instinctively bent down and picked her up. The movement came so naturally that it felt as though he had done it countless times before.
“Daddy, you’re finally back from your business trip!” The little girl wrapped her arms around his neck, her face glowing with a sweet smile.
Jiang Yang was utterly stunned. When had he suddenly acquired a daughter? Was she his illegitimate child? He was only twenty-four, yet his daughter was already four? Had she been born while he was in college?
“I…” Jiang Yang did not even know what this sudden daughter was called, let alone how to respond.
The little girl pouted. “Mommy said you went on a business trip, and that you would come pick me up today. I’ve been waiting for so long.”
“Mommy said I would come pick you up?” Jiang Yang was thrown into even greater confusion. He had not even figured out the matter of one wife, and now he had apparently acquired another.
“Feifei’s dad, just swipe your card and go. Don’t block the entrance—there are lots of people behind you.” The ponytailed teacher came over and began urging them along.
“I… I didn’t bring my card,” Jiang Yang said awkwardly. He was afraid he had picked up someone else’s child. Put more seriously, this amounted to child abduction.
The ponytailed teacher said impatiently, “If you didn’t bring your card, just use the facial scanner. It’s not your first day here. Look how many parents are waiting. Please cooperate.”
Her words left Jiang Yang completely dumbfounded. To avoid being badgered further, he steeled himself and walked to the scanner, placing his face before the camera.
The machine beeped, and the screen displayed: “Ouyang Feifei’s father—check-in successful.”
Jiang Yang was utterly shaken. Well, there was no way the machine could lie. He had officially unlocked the achievement of becoming a father.
There were too many people at the kindergarten entrance, so he had no choice but to take the little girl away and speak with her beneath the shade of a nearby tree.
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“Um… Feifei, when is your mother coming to pick you up?” Jiang Yang could think of nothing else to ask, since he had no idea where to take the girl.
Feifei smiled sweetly and blinked her large eyes. “Hee-hee, since you’re here, Mommy definitely won’t come. While she’s away, take me somewhere fun!”
Looking at the adorable little girl before him, Jiang Yang remained utterly confused. How could she call him Daddy with such effortless familiarity?
He could only ask first, “Where would you like to go?”
“Daddy, can you take me for ice cream first? You’ve been gone for a whole month, and Mommy never lets me eat snacks.”
Jiang Yang’s thoughts raced, and he said, “Feifei, let’s play a little game. If you can answer three questions, I’ll take you for as much ice cream as you want.”
Feifei clapped her hands. “Okay, okay! Ask me!”
Jiang Yang raised one finger. “First question: What’s your mother’s name?”
Feifei giggled. “That’s so easy. Of course I know. Mommy’s name is Ouyang Qian.”
So that was it, Jiang Yang thought. The little girl had taken her mother’s surname.
He asked again, “And where does your mother teach?”
“Mommy teaches at an elementary school. She teaches English. Daddy, why are you only asking questions about Mommy?”
Jiang Yang pretended to look serious. “Because I want to see whether you love your mother and whether you’ve forgotten anything about her.”
“Feifei loves Mommy, and she loves Daddy too.” Giggling, she burrowed into Jiang Yang’s arms once more.
Holding such a soft, cuddly little girl suddenly gave Jiang Yang a sense of fulfillment. Perhaps being a father was not so bad after all.
But the most important thing now was to return the child to her family, so he tried asking, “Feifei, do you remember your mother’s phone number?”
Feifei pouted and shook her head. “I don’t remember…”
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