It was an egg yolk pastry distributed by the kindergarten, which the kids really liked. Surprisingly, Skipper had saved one for Lin Yuan.

He had just wanted to eat one, but the kindergarten rules stated teachers were not allowed to eat the children’s food.

Lin Yuan had held back strongly, silently envious.

There was a flicker of reluctance in Skipper’s eyes, but he firmly said:

“I’m full, Teacher, you eat.”

“Then let’s split it in half.”

Getting docked a little pay wasn’t that bad.

Lin Yuan couldn’t bear to disappoint the child, knowing that accepting the pastry would make Skipper happy.

Carefully peeling the pastry through the wrapper,

Lin Yuan ate a small piece, then handed the rest to Skipper:

“Open up.”

“Ah!”

“Is it delicious?”

“Super delicious!”

Lin Yuan, using his left hand which hadn’t touched the pastry, patted Skipper’s head.

Like something precious, Skipper said:

“I’ll share tomorrow’s pastry with Teacher, too!”

“Tomorrow… I have something to do tomorrow.”

“Teacher won’t be coming tomorrow?”

Skipper got anxious, his voice rising unintentionally.

The other children playing around heard this and rushed over, chattering noisily.

Learning that Lin Yuan wouldn’t be at Beihai Kindergarten tomorrow, Wang Han, whose father was a policeman, seemed a little unhappy:

“Teacher isn’t coming tomorrow, so when will you?”

“You must come!”

“I still want to learn painting from Teacher!”

“I want to learn a new song from Teacher!”

“I want to hear Teacher tell a story!”

Lin Yuan suddenly felt a pang of reluctance.

His voice was complex, “School is almost over; we don’t have much time. How about Teacher sings one last song for everyone?”

“Okay!”

Children are so simple.

Their attention was immediately diverted.

Lin Yuan stood up and began, “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands…”

After singing that line,

Lin Yuan clapped three times, then said, “Everyone together with Teacher now, ‘If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands…'”

“Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.”

Everyone clumsily followed Lin Yuan’s lead.

Continuing to sing, Lin Yuan spread his arms out to the children, “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands, yeah, look, let’s all clap our hands together.”

Still clapping, the children’s movements remained messy.

Then,

Lin Yuan’s tone turned playful and downright silly,

“If you’re happy and you know it, stomp your feet, if you’re happy and you know it, stomp your feet…”

“Thump, thump, thump, thump.”

The children’s movements got a little less chaotic.

Lin Yuan kept singing, without feeling self-conscious about acting childishly, “If you’re happy and you know it then hurry and stomp your feet, yeah, look, let’s all stomp our feet together…”

“Thump, thump, thump.”

Lin Yuan happily stomped his feet.

The children finally got their rhythm together, and their movements became orderly.

Lin Yuan continued singing, earnestly leading everyone in the actions: “If you’re happy and you know it, stretch and yawn…”

Lin Yuan stretched.

Everyone stretched.

Finally, Lin Yuan’s voice grew more expressive:

“If you’re happy and you know it, squint your eyes, if you’re happy and you know it, squint your eyes, if you’re happy and you know it then quickly squint your eyes, yeah, look, everyone squint your eyes together…”

Lin Yuan squinted.

The children squinted together.

This was the last song Lin Yuan sang for the children that day.

The song was called the “Happy Clapping Song,” another children’s tune, perfect for teacher-student interaction, and it was also the song Lin Yuan used to say goodbye.

Clapping hands.

Stomping feet.

Stretching.

Squinting.

He was like a big kid, leading a bunch of little ones in a joyous play.

Unknowingly, everyone had formed a circle around Lin Yuan, moving in unison to his singing, devoid of any vocal techniques, as if they had practiced countless times.

…

In the distance,

Watching this scene,

Tong Shuwen suddenly felt a tinge of emotion.

The kindergarten filming was entirely different from what she had imagined; the atmosphere from the first lesson had gone off in an unexpected direction, yet ultimately, it meshed with the show’s theme.

The principal beside her had tears welling in her eyes.

The scene seemed indescribably moving.

She had thought the celebrity’s participation in the kindergarten program was just for show.

When she agreed to the production team’s request to film this variety show, it was to advertise and promote Beihai Kindergarten, but now she had no more such doubts:

The eyes of a child cannot lie.

Nor can Lin Yuan’s.

She suddenly looked at a conduct report on her clipboard, which read:

“Teacher ate children’s snacks, fined twenty yuan.”

With a red pen, she crossed it out, and on the day’s overall conduct summary, she drew the children’s favorite…

A little red flower.

———————

PS: This is a double-length chapter. If you have any suggestions or feedback, feel free to write them on the back of your monthly ticket and vote for Polluted White~!

PS2: You may think this chapter is filler, but while writing it, Polluted White actually got a bit emotional.

PS3: Still asking for monthly tickets!