On the day of the kindergarten graduation photo, it was a bright and sunny day.

By the end of June, the weather had already become a bit hot. Tang Mian was dressed in short sleeves and shorts, revealing his fair and slender arms and legs. He wore a light-yellow hat that was identical to Fu Shizhao’s. In his hand, he held a mini electric fan with cat ears, blowing air with a whooshing sound. He sat on the swing with Fu Shizhao, waiting for their class photo to be taken.

Although he had been openly skipping school for the past few years and had been caught in the chaos of “youngsters’ battlefield” more than once, now that he suddenly had to leave, Tang Mian felt a bit reluctant.

He admitted that he was a very nostalgic person who was content with the current situation.

Perhaps having experienced too much turmoil in his past life, he didn’t want too many drastic changes in his life.

Sometimes he would think, it would be nice if he could just remain a little youngster forever, going to kindergarten with Fu Shizhao every day, coming home to snuggle in his parents’ and brother’s arms, carefree and without any worries, just as long as he was happy.

But many things can only be done after growing up.

He still wanted to continue learning to draw and provide illustrations for his mom’s books. He also dreamed of attending the best art academy in the capital city, filling the regrets of his past life. Sometimes you have to give up something to gain something else.

“I won’t sign anymore; my hand is so sore… I won’t sign anymore,” Mu Zichen’s voice, approached from a distance and rushed to the swing on the other side of Tang Mian. Tang Mian smiled and glanced at him.

Mu Zichen was no longer as chubby as he was when he first came to kindergarten. It was said that Aunt Zhou Wen prepared nutritious meals for him every day and supervised his exercise.

He was adorable when he was chubby, but after losing weight, he seemed to be going in the direction of being popular among little girls.

In the two-plus years, Mu Zichen took on several TV dramas and commercials, some with more significant roles, while others only had a few scenes.

But it had to be said that he had a strong talent in this regard, and with Aunt Zhou Wen personally overseeing the scripts and character development, almost every role he played received a lot of praise.

At such a young age, he had already accumulated quite a following.

So much so that every time he returned to kindergarten, he would be pulled in all directions for autographs.

In the pocket of Tang Mian’s shorts, there was a signed paper with his childish strokes, a specially prepared “to sign” note.

However, Mu Zichen hadn’t been to kindergarten for a long time. If it weren’t for today’s graduation photo shoot, he might not have come.

Kindergarten is primarily for early education, teaching life skills, interpersonal interactions, a sense of collective honor, and forming good habits. These things can be learned elsewhere, and there’s no absolute necessity to attend kindergarten.

Mu Zichen swayed on the swing and asked, “Which elementary school are you guys planning to go to?”

“Affiliated elementary school of A university,” Tang Mian replied.

He attended the same elementary school in his previous life too.

In his previous life, he didn’t attend kindergarten, so when he started elementary school, he had a hard time adapting and missed home a lot. He couldn’t focus in class, but fortunately, he had Fu Shizhao accompanying him, which made things a little better.

He remembers that at that time, the teacher arranged for Fu Shizhao to be his desk mate. Sometimes, when he couldn’t concentrate in class, Fu Shizhao would help him with his homework in the evenings. It seemed like Fu Shizhao was his older brother.

In this life… he must help Fu Shizhao with his homework. He has already lost in terms of height, so he can’t afford to lose in academics as well. In his previous life, his grades were quite good, and if it weren’t for an accident in his family, he would have definitely been able to get into the best fine arts college in the capital.

Mu Zichen nods and says, “Then I’ll ask my mom to arrange for me to study here and attend classes with you.”

With the start of compulsory education in elementary school, Mu Zichen could no longer travel around filming like he did in kindergarten. He must return to the campus.

The Mu family values education and won’t let their own children become the main characters of “The Orphan of Zhao” just for a small gain.

Tang Mian: “okay.”

Tang Mian also didn’t want to be separated from the friends he made in kindergarten. It would be great to continue being classmates.

“Big Brother, do you want to go somewhere during the summer vacation?” Fu Shizhao suddenly spoke up while quietly listening to their conversation. Tang Mian shook his head.

During the hot summer vacation, he usually just wanted to stay at home, enjoy the air conditioning, eat watermelon, watch cartoons, and draw. He really didn’t want to go out and suffer.

Besides, at his age, he can’t really enjoy many things when going out. He can only watch others have fun, which was quite frustrating.

Last year, during the vacation, his parents took him, Fu Shizhao, and his brother to an amusement park. They couldn’t participate in many of the attractions, so they ended up sitting on the boring carousel for a long time. Fu Shizhao was afraid, so they sat on the same carousel together.

Fu Shizhao continues, “Grandma wants to take me to Country B to stay for a while. I heard it’s autumn there and not hot at all. Brother, do you want to come and play with me?”

If Tang Mian remembers correctly, Country B was the hometown of Fu Shizhao’s biological mother.

His biological mother was a mixed-race child of Hua Country and Country B. She grew up in Country B and only came to Hua Country for college. It was there that she coincidentally met Fu Shizhao’s biological father.

Fu Shizhao inherited his mother’s light brown eyes.

This time, Grandma Fu wanted to take him to Country B, probably to introduce him to his relatives there. Tang Mian agreed without much thought.

The idea of going to a place where it was already autumn was quite appealing. Tang Mian couldn’t handle the real heat of summer yet. It wasn’t because he wanted to accompany Fu Shizhao to meet his mother’s relatives.

He didn’t know how Fu Shizhao’s mother’s relatives were or if Fu Shizhao might be mistreated there…

[t/n: I really wish this country B is Bhutan, although the author wouldn’t really specify that. Its such a pretty but underrated place. (✿◡‿◡)]

Although Mu Zichen also wanted to go with them, he had accepted a script to film during the summer vacation and could only look at them with longing while restraining his inner desires.

Just then, Teacher Tu’s voice suddenly sounded, calling them to come over and take photos. It was their class’s turn.

The little children hurriedly ran over in unison, leaving behind the empty swings swaying slightly in the warm summer breeze.

The next day, Fu Yu came to the Tang family’s house with Grandma Fu and Fu Shizhao to pick up Tang Mian. He brought the photos taken in kindergarten.

Shen Siwan and Tang Minghuai had known about Fu Shizhao’s trip to Country B a few days ago. They also knew that Fu Shizhao had invited their youngest son to go with them, and Grandma Fu and Fu Yu would be accompanying them.

After more than two years of getting along, the two children had a close bond, and the two families had frequent interactions. Grandma Fu treated Tang Mian as her own great-grandchild, just like Fu Shizhao. There was nothing to worry about.

Tang Minghuai had to attend to his company’s affairs, and Shen Siwan had a scheduled photo shoot for a summer flower. If they missed this timing, they wouldn’t be able to capture the beauty of the flower.

They couldn’t spare the time to accompany Tang Mian to Country B.

Tang Sheng had just graduated from junior high school this year, but he had already chosen his high school courses and they had already started. He had to leave early and return late every day, so he couldn’t take a trip abroad.

In the end, they had to suppress their worries and see Tang Mian off on the plane to Country B.

During the security check, Fu Shizhao suddenly tightened his grip on Tang Mian’s hand and asked, “Are you scared,big brother?”

Tang Mian paused for a moment before realizing that Fu Shizhao was asking if he was afraid of flying.

In his previous life, Tang Mian had taken many flights. Sometimes, during busy business trips, he would take multiple flights in a month. He had never been afraid.

In his previous life, he had encountered Fu Shizhao on a plane, but fortunately, they weren’t seated next to each other. He wore an eye mask throughout the journey, avoiding any interaction

He wondered why that guy didn’t choose to fly first class. With his status, it wouldn’t be excessive to own a private jet.

But in this life, they were both flying for the first time.

The first time always comes with anticipation and fear.

Tang Mian decisively shook his head, indicating that he wasn’t afraid.

As the older brother, he naturally had to be braver than his younger brother. Besides, there was really nothing to be afraid of.

Fu Shizhao’s eyes flashed with a mischievous smile, and he lowered his eyelashes slightly as he whispered, “I’m a little scared. It feels unsettling to fly in the sky…”

“Don’t worry, I’m here,” Tang Mian fell for his act.

However, Tang Mian didn’t expect that because of those few simple words, after the plane took off, Fu Shizhao would hold onto him almost the entire time and eventually fall asleep while still holding him.

Tang Mian lightly moved his arm, which had become slightly numb from being pressed against, and playfully poked Fu Shizhao’s slightly flushed face.

Tsk, what a timid person.