Memories of Kindergarten

"Bullying a little girl in broad daylight."

A calm yet incredibly piercing voice rang out.

"Aren't you guys being a bit too classless?"

Baldy felt a sudden, sharp pain in his wrist, as if it were clamped in a vise. His bones felt like they were about to shatter.

"Ouch! Who the hell is sticking their nose in... Let go! It hurts, hurts, hurts!"

He screamed and turned his head, only to see a handsome, cold face.

Su Bai.

At this moment, Su Bai stood as tall and straight as a pine, towering over Baldy by more than half a head. Wearing a dark gray cashmere coat, his aura was fully unleashed, and his eyes held a condescending indifference.

Behind him stood Zhou Jialu, a stunning beauty wearing sunglasses with a powerful aura of her own, watching the scene coldly.

"Boss... Boss Su?!"

Hearing this familiar voice, Ke Yujia suddenly opened her eyes.

When she saw the figure blocking her like a god descending from heaven, her tears instantly flowed even harder.

"Boss... woo woo woo..."

This single word, "Boss," contained so much grievance and pleasant surprise.

She never dreamed that in this highway service area where she had no one to rely on, at her most helpless moment, Su Bai would actually appear.

Not only was Su Bai the boss she looked up to, but... sigh, his other identity made Ke Yujia feel a bit melancholy. But at the very least, Su Bai's appearance at this moment was simply a godsend.

"Don't be afraid."

Su Bai glanced back at her, his voice softening a bit. "No one can bully you."

After saying that, he turned his head back, and the grip of his hand suddenly tightened.

"Crack."

A crisp, teeth-aching sound echoed out.

"Ah—!!!"

Baldy let out a pig-slaughtering scream, dropping to his knees under Su Bai's force.

"Just now you said, who takes full responsibility?" Su Bai asked indifferently.

"Me... I take full responsibility! I take full responsibility!"

Baldy was sweating profusely from the pain. Looking into Su Bai's emotionless eyes, he knew he had kicked a steel plate this time.

This kid's hand strength was terrifying, and with this outfit and aura, he was definitely no ordinary person.

People who liked to act tough and show off were often the most afraid of this kind of ruthless counterpart.

"Since you take full responsibility, then this car repair fee..."

Su Bai let go of his hand and took out a handkerchief to wipe it in disgust. "Shouldn't you pay for it?"

"I'll pay! I'll pay!"

Baldy clutched his wrist and tremblingly pulled a stack of cash from his bag. Without even looking at how much it was, he shoved it directly to Ke Yujia. "Beauty... I'm sorry! I had eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai! Take this money to repair your car! Is it enough? If not, I can scan your code to send more!"

Ke Yujia held the stack of cash, completely dumbfounded.

"Why aren't you getting lost?" Su Bai scoffed coldly.

"I'm getting lost! I'll get lost right away!"

Baldy took his two lackeys and, not even caring about the scratches on his BMW, scurried into the car and floored the gas pedal to flee.

Seeing this, the surrounding onlookers broke into cheers.

"Boss..."

Ke Yujia held the stack of money and looked up at Su Bai. Her small face was red from crying, and a snot bubble was about to pop out. "Thank you... I..."

"Alright, stop crying."

Su Bai looked at the petite girl with some helplessness.

Compared to Lin Qingyu's aloof, mature sister vibe, this Ke Yujia was simply like an un-grown little loli.

He took a pack of tissues from his pocket and handed it to her. "Wipe your face. You're a member of our Galaxy Dance Troupe, after all. What does it look like, crying like this?"

"Mhm, mhm..."

Ke Yujia obediently took the tissues and wiped her face hard, but those doe-like eyes remained glued to Su Bai, unable to look away.

"Are you heading back to An City too?" Su Bai asked.

"Yeah... My home is in Yun County, under An City," Ke Yujia said softly.

"What a coincidence, my grandmother's house is over there too."

"Mhm, mhm..."

"Driving alone?"

"Yeah."

Su Bai glanced at her somewhat dilapidated Polo, and then at her overly frightened state.

"Alright, you're not in any condition to drive."

Su Bai thought for a moment, then turned to Zhou Jialu and asked, "Jialu, do you know how to drive a manual?"

"Underestimating me?" Zhou Jialu took off her sunglasses and raised an eyebrow. "When this lady got her driver's license, I tested for a C1."

"Good."

Su Bai pointed at the Polo. "You drive this car for her. Let her ride in my car. It's not much further anyway."

"Oh, Young Master Su is playing the hero saving the beauty to the very end."

Zhou Jialu shot Ke Yujia a half-smile, making the little girl instantly lower her head.

"Fine, since she's Boss Su's employee, I'll play the good guy for once."

Zhou Jialu took the keys from Ke Yujia's hand and walked stylishly toward the beat-up little car. "Little sister, go on, go sit in the luxury car. Big sister will be your driver."

"Th... thank you, big sister!" Ke Yujia was overwhelmed by the favor.

And so.

A few minutes later.

The black Land Rover Defender merged back onto the highway.

Only this time, sitting in the passenger seat was a petite girl in a pink puffer jacket, so nervous she didn't know where to put her hands and feet.

"Boss... I'm really causing you too much trouble..." Ke Yujia sat in the spacious leather seat, feeling like she was dreaming.

"It's just on the way."

Su Bai held the steering wheel with one hand and casually asked, "In that situation just now, if you hadn't run into me, what were you planning to do?"

"I... I don't know..."

Ke Yujia lowered her head, her voice choking up a bit. "I probably... would have just given them the money."

"Silly."

Su Bai shook his head. "Remember this for the future. When you're out and about, if you get bullied, call me. Or call the police. Don't act like a soft persimmon that makes people want to squeeze you just by looking at you."

"Mhm... I know."

Ke Yujia sneaked a peek at Su Bai's profile.

Even though she was called "silly," her heart felt sweet.

...

The Land Rover Defender OCTA drove smoothly on the highway to An City.

Outside the window, the winter scenery rapidly retreated. Withered yellow trees and distant mountains merged into a single stretch under the grayish-white sky. Inside the cabin, a top-tier Meridian sound system played soothing instrumental music, the leather seats exuded a faint scent of premium leather, and the heater completely isolated them from the thrilling scene back at the service area.

Ke Yujia sat in the spacious passenger seat, both hands tightly clutching the bottle of warm water Su Bai had bought for her, as if it were her only lifeline.

She didn't even dare to lean her back fully against the seat. Instead, she sat half-turned, her gaze carefully yet greedily landing on Su Bai as he drove.

At this moment, Su Bai had one hand on the steering wheel and the other resting on the edge of the car window, looking focused yet relaxed.

His sharp jawline, high nose bridge, and slightly pursed thin lips were outlined by the afternoon sun's backlight, as if plated with a layer of gold.

As she watched, Ke Yujia's eyes became somewhat entranced.

In a daze, the powerful, incredibly wealthy boss before her eyes slowly overlapped with the figure of the naive yet brave little boy deep in her memories.

"Still scared?" Su Bai suddenly turned his head and glanced at her.

"Ah... No! No!"

Ke Yujia was like an elementary school student caught doing something bad. She was so startled that she almost dropped the water bottle in her hand, her face instantly turning red to the base of her ears. "I... I'm not scared anymore. With you here, Boss, I'm not scared."

"Mm." Su Bai smiled and asked casually, "I heard you say earlier that your family is from Yun County?"

"Y-Yes." Ke Yujia nodded, gathering her courage to ask, "Boss... are you also from An City?"

"You could say that." Su Bai looked straight ahead, a hint of reminiscence in his eyes. "But I didn't live in the city when I was little; I grew up in a county down below. I think... I also went to kindergarten there."

Hearing this, Ke Yujia's heart fiercely skipped a beat.

As expected!

He was that "Su Bai"!

Actually, as early as the day the dance troupe was acquired, when she first heard the name "Su Bai" in the rehearsal hall and saw that face which, despite having grown up, still vaguely resembled his childhood appearance, she had already recognized him.

It was just that back then, he was the aloof, incredibly wealthy boss, a big shot that everyone revered.

And she was just the most inconspicuous substitute in the dance troupe, a nobody who didn't even dare to speak loudly.

This difference, like clouds and mud, made her completely afraid to step forward and acknowledge him. She could only bury this secret deep in her heart, silently watching him from the corner every day.

But today...

In this car with only the two of them, in this special moment right after he had played the hero saving the beauty, the long-suppressed feelings in Ke Yujia's heart finally broke through like a tender sprout, unable to be held back any longer.

"Boss..."

Ke Yujia took a deep breath, her voice as faint as a mosquito. "Did you... go to Yun County First Agency Kindergarten?"

Su Bai raised an eyebrow in surprise. "How did you know?"

"I... I also graduated from there." Ke Yujia's fingers tightly gripped the plastic wrapper of the mineral water bottle, her voice trembling slightly from nervousness. "Back then... I think we were in the same class. Senior class... the Sunflower Class."

"What a coincidence?" Su Bai smiled, turning his head to glance at her with a trace of surprise in his eyes. "I didn't expect the world to be so small that I'd actually run into a kindergarten classmate. It seems our destiny is quite deep."

But he didn't recognize who she was.

After all, that was ten or twenty years ago. Little brats in kindergarten all looked about the same; who could remember who? Not to mention, compared to the dark, skinny little girl from her childhood, Ke Yujia's current appearance had completely transformed.

Looking at Su Bai's eyes, which, although gentle, clearly carried a trace of bewilderment, a faint sense of disappointment welled up in Ke Yujia's heart.

He didn't remember.

True, everyone was so young back then, and later he moved to a big city. How could he remember an inconspicuous little follower?

But she remembered.

She remembered it vividly.

Back then, Su Bai was the best-looking boy in the class, as well as the most mischievous and brave one.

Once the floodgates of memory opened, it was like a burst dam.

Ke Yujia thought of nap time back then.

The kindergarten's conditions were simple back then; it wasn't one small bed per person, but a large communal bed. Everyone had to lie side by side on a long wooden bed to sleep at noon.

Because she was small, she was always squeezed into the corner.

And Su Bai slept right next to her.

She still remembered that everyone was still wearing split-crotch pants back then (although a bit exaggerated, they were indeed very young). Su Bai was a very restless sleeper, always liking to toss and turn, and sometimes he would carelessly throw a leg over her stomach.

On summer afternoons, the cicadas chirped.

Little Ke Yujia would keep her eyes open, looking at Su Bai sleeping and drooling beside her, smelling the faint scent of soap and milk on his body. She didn't feel any disgust at all; instead, she felt especially at ease.

Once, she woke up frightened from a nightmare and cried secretly.

It was Su Bai who found her.

He didn't laugh at her, but instead stuffed a White Rabbit creamy candy, which he had secretly hidden under his pillow, into her mouth. It was a reward his mother had given him.

"Don't cry, if you keep crying the big bad wolf will come. Eat the candy and you won't be scared."

Ke Yujia remembered the sweetness of that candy for a full fifteen years.

And then there was that other incident.

At that time, there were a few wild kids from a village near the kindergarten who would often block people on the way home from school, robbing the children of their snacks and toys.

Because of her introverted personality and small, skinny build, Ke Yujia became their favorite target to bully.

One day after school, she was surrounded in an alley by three bad kids who were a head taller than her. They pulled her braids, snatched her backpack, and even pushed her into a mud puddle.

Just as she was crying in despair.

A small figure rushed out.

"Let her go!"

Su Bai back then, although also not tall, was like an angry little lion. He picked up a rock from the ground and recklessly charged at those three bad kids.

That fight was brutal.

Su Bai's forehead was busted open, and his newly bought clothes were torn, but he managed to scare away those three bad kids purely through a burst of sheer ruthlessness.

Afterwards, wiping his nosebleed, he pulled the mud-covered Ke Yujia up from the ground.

"If anyone dares to bully you in the future, just give them my name."

"My name is Su Bai, I am a man, and I will protect you."

That sentence became the warmest light in Ke Yujia's childhood.

It was just that later...

Not long after, Su Bai transferred schools. She heard it was because of his parents' job transfer, and his whole family moved to the An City urban area.

That little hero who protected her just disappeared from her world like that.

She cried for days, going to the entrance of that alley every day to wait, but she never saw that figure again.

Until many years later.

In the dance troupe in Jiang City, she once again heard that familiar name.

"Boss..."

Ke Yujia snapped back from her memories, looking at the man in front of her who was similarly protecting her right now.

Fifteen years had passed.

He had grown taller, become more handsome, and become wealthier and more powerful.

But that sense of justice in his bones, that sense of responsibility to step forward at the critical moment, had never changed.

Just now at the rest area, when that large hand gripped Baldy's wrist, when the words "Since you're my person, no one can bully you" rang out.

Ke Yujia felt as if she were once again seeing that little boy from back then, his face covered in blood, yet still standing protectively in front of her.

Was this destiny?

Was this a reunion destined by heaven?

"What's wrong? Why do you keep staring at me?"

"N-Nothing!"