Pretending to Cultivate in Kindergarten

Night was falling, and the lights in every household began to flicker on.

In a small apartment in the southern town, a certain fox-like girl lay sprawled on her bed, munching on potato chips while flipping through an adult romance novel she had no idea where she had bought.

The sudden ringing of her phone made Han Wenwen tense up. Seeing the caller ID, she smirked.

Just as she expected—Aunt He was calling.

She carefully retrieved a recorder from under her pillow before answering the call. “Hello? Auntie?”

Aunt He asked straightforwardly, “Wenwen, is Qingqing with you?”

Sitting up and leaning against the headboard, Han Wenwen lied without a trace of guilt. “Yeah, she’s in the bathroom right now. Do you want me to call her for you?”

Aunt He replied, “No need. As long as I know she’s with you, I’m relieved. Sorry to trouble you again for letting her stay over.”

“Auntie, don’t be so polite! I crash at your place sometimes too, don’t I? I’m more than happy to have her here.”

“Okay! Auntie, goodbye. Bye-bye!”

After hanging up, Han Wenwen let out a sigh of relief and immediately called He Qing.

Lying back on her pillow with a mischievous grin, she answered in a deliberately sultry tone, “Little Qingqing~ What are you up to? You’ve probably met up with your dear ‘big brother’ by now, haven’t you?”

On the other side, He Qing was eating dinner with Lin Zhengran at a noodle shop. Her face instantly flushed as she lowered her voice, “We’re eating right now. How’s it going on your end? Did my mom call you?”

“She did, but Auntie didn’t suspect anything. Just enjoy your date.”

He Qing blushed even harder and refuted shyly, “It’s not a date, it’s just a meeting…” Noticing Lin Zhengran glancing at her, she quickly ended the call. “Alright, I’m hanging up now. Thanks for covering for me today! I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Okay, I won’t disturb you two then. Have fun.”

After hanging up, Han Wenwen put down her phone and stared at the white ceiling.

Muttering to herself, she said, “Traveling across the country to reunite with a childhood sweetheart after years apart… How romantic.”

For some reason, she suddenly recalled an encounter at a northern bus stop during her trip six months ago.

Blinking her fox-like eyes, she murmured, “That boy… could he really be my future boyfriend?”

Expressionless, she picked up her romance novel and continued flipping through it.

“Feels a little surreal. Can I even really like a guy?”

She didn’t dwell on the thought for long.

—

At the Xinchun Bus Station noodle shop, Lin Zhengran finished paying for dinner.

Leading He Qing away from the station, they walked past numerous lodges meant for travelers.

With her small backpack on, He Qing trailed behind him, glancing at the tightly packed motels they passed.

Eventually, they reached a smaller, quieter inn, and she murmured, “This one doesn’t seem too busy… There should be rooms available.”

At first, Lin Zhengran didn’t catch her meaning. But when he saw her shy expression, he immediately understood.

Fuming, he grabbed her cheeks and pulled. “You’re thinking of staying at a hotel, huh? Do you have any common sense?!”

He Qing winced at the slight pain, squeezing her eyes shut, completely unaware of what she had said wrong this time. “Aren’t we supposed to? I have an ID card. I’ve stayed in hotels with my mom before.”

“What does having an ID have to do with this?! Do you even know how old you are?! You want me to go in with you?!”

Still confused, He Qing clutched her sore cheeks and blinked innocently. “Go in? What do you mean? I didn’t say anything about that…”

“I’m not even going to bother explaining.” Lin Zhengran sighed and kept walking. “Anyway, a hotel is out of the question. We’ll just make do somewhere else for the night.”

“Oh… Wait for me! So we can’t stay at a hotel? I really didn’t know. Then where are we going?”

Luckily, it was summer. Otherwise, if it were winter, Lin Zhengran wouldn’t have come all this way just to meet this clueless girl.

He stopped by a small convenience store, bought two blankets, and scanned his surroundings.

Eventually, he found an abandoned junkyard with a few scrapped vehicles and piles of metal debris. The place was overgrown with weeds.

Climbing over the wall, he spotted an old car with intact windows. He opened the door, checked the inside, and found it acceptable.

Returning to the wall, he reached out his hand. “Come up.”

He Qing grabbed his hand, stepped on the wall, and climbed over with him.

They made their way to the scrapped car and opened the door.

The interior was relatively clean since it had been sealed off from the wind. There was only a thin layer of dust, nothing a little padding couldn’t fix.

Lin Zhengran spread a blanket over the backseat. “We’ll just stay here for the night. Tomorrow morning, you’re heading straight home.”

He Qing nodded obediently. She didn’t care where they stayed—what mattered was that they were together.

She even helped Lin Zhengran lay out the blankets. “This is all my fault. Now you have to sleep here because of me.”

Lin Zhengran gave her a sidelong glance. “At least you know that. But this is a one-time thing. If you ever make me travel this far just to meet you again, I’m not coming.”

“Mmm, you won’t have to—because from now on, we’ll always be seeing each other.”

—

As the night deepened, the vast junkyard turned eerily quiet.

Darkness engulfed the surroundings, and the occasional croaks of frogs and chirps of insects echoed in the air.

Yet, with Lin Zhengran by her side, He Qing didn’t feel scared at all. In fact, she even found the small space cozy.

Opening her backpack, she carefully took out a dessert she had prepared—a swan-shaped chocolate truffle.

“Look! This is your gift. What do you think?”

Lin Zhengran was genuinely impressed. It looked just like the one they had shared years ago, though a bit smaller—maybe because they had grown bigger.

“How long did it take you to learn this?” he asked.

“A long time.” She started unboxing it. “At first, I had no idea what I was doing. I spent months practicing, from shaping the swan to perfecting the taste. This one was a lucky success. The next batch I made didn’t turn out as nice.”

She handed it to him expectantly. “Here, try it.”

Lin Zhengran broke off a piece and put it in his mouth while He Qing watched eagerly.

After chewing for a moment, he nodded in appreciation. “You’ve really improved since we were kids. It’s delicious.”

He Qing bit her lip and grinned.

“Really? Then I’ll try some too.”

As she chewed on the chocolate, she suddenly asked, “By the way, won’t your parents ask about you staying out overnight?”

Lin Zhengran casually took out his phone. “I called them on my way here. I’ll check in with them again now.”

He dialed home. “Mom, Dad, I met up with He Qing. Do you want to talk to her? Okay, I’ll pass the phone to her.”

“Wait, I have to say hi?” He Qing panicked, fumbling with the phone. “Uh… Hello, Auntie, Uncle! Yes, I met up with Lin Zhengran this afternoon. Don’t worry, everything’s fine…”

After hanging up, she stared at him in surprise. “You actually told them you came to see me?”

“I’m a guy. Of course, they’d be less worried. Though I did lie about a few details. Otherwise, would they have let me come?”

He Qing gazed at him in a daze.

Yep. Lin Zhengran was still Lin Zhengran.

“Thank you for coming to see me…”

They chatted for a while longer before settling in for the night.

Just as He Qing hesitated over sharing the blanket with him, she spotted a massive spider on the car window, spinning its web.

Startled, she let out a yelp and instinctively burrowed into Lin Zhengran’s shoulder.

Lin Zhengran tapped on the glass, scaring the spider away. “There are a lot of bugs at night. If you’re scared, stay close.”

Seeing him close his eyes to sleep, He Qing whispered, shuffled closer, and carefully rested her head on his shoulder.

Feeling his warmth, she shut her eyes, pulling the blanket up.

With a silent prayer of gratitude, she murmured, “Thank you, Mr. Spider.”

Outside the car, the spider turned back, as if saying, These humans are scarier than me. I’d better get out of here.

With that, it scurried away on its eight legs.