BW Chapter 132

Seventeen States, Wanxuan Academy.

Ning Xiu sat in Hao Zheng’s lap, holding a small ball in one hand while tugging on Hao Zheng’s beard with the other, refusing to let go.

“You little rascal, let go right now.” Hao Zheng grimaced in pain as his beard was pulled, but he didn’t dare forcefully remove the child’s small hand, instead glaring at him fiercely.

Ning Xiu vigorously shook his little hand, “Uncle~ Want Father~”

“Alright, I understand, just let go first.” Hao Zheng gripped his wrist.

Ning Xiu obediently released his hand and smiled innocently at him, “Ah-da~”

“Tsk—were you doing that on purpose?” Hao Zheng pinched his chubby cheek. “You’re as cunning as your father.”

Ning Xiu tilted his head slightly, “Want~ Father~ Mother~”

It had been so long since I last saw Father and Mother~

“They’ll be back soon.” Hao Zheng lifted him up and asked sternly, “Now tell me, why were you fighting with the other children?”

Ning Xiu stood on the ground and slapped the small ball in his hand, “Ah-ya?”

What fighting?

Cui Yuanbai stood nearby and whispered, “They started it first.”

“You broke the Xie family’s little master’s leg!” Hao Zheng pointed at him. “I’ll deal with you later. Ning Xiu, you explain.”

Ning Xiu hugged his ball, looking confused, “Da?”

The headteacher standing nearby stepped forward and said, “It happened like this, Dean. The eighth and ninth misses of the Ge family wanted to play with the little master. The three were playing nicely together, but then several other little masters and misses wanted to join them…”

After the headteacher’s explanation, Hao Zheng looked at Ning Xiu speechlessly. “You could have just walked away if you were tired of playing. Why did you hit the seventh young master An?”

The seventh young master An was the An family’s only heir. When he was sent to Wanxuan Academy, his grandmother, mother, and aunts had cried for several days before finally letting him go. The entire family treasured him like the apple of their eye. Most importantly, the An family wasn’t known for being reasonable. If they found out their precious baby had been hit, they would probably cry enough tears to collapse Wanxuan Academy.

Ning Xiu patted his little belly, “An An~ stole ball~”

An An stole his ball, so he didn’t want to play with An An~

After the headteacher finished explaining the situation, Hao Zheng started lecturing Cui Yuanbai. Ning Xiu played with his ball for a while before accidentally letting it roll under the table. He crawled on the ground to retrieve it. The headteacher stood nearby and could still see his little tiger-head shoes poking out.

Ning Xiu reached out and grabbed his ball, but then someone poked his chubby little hand.

“Aiya~” Ning Xiu was startled, then recognized the familiar presence from behind the table leg. “Da!”

It’s you! Little wooden doll~

Then he tilted his head in confusion, looking at the little wooden doll’s now soft body. “Wood~”

Why have you become so soft?

The palm-sized little person ran up to him and whispered, “Ning Xiu, will you help me?”

“Ah-da?” Ning Xiu tilted his head in confusion.

The little person urgently said, “Can I hide in your little bell for a while?”

Ning Xiu shook the small bell in his hand, “Da~ Wood!”

Of course~ I’ve been looking for you for so long~ Finally found you!

Seeing this, the little person slipped into his small bell with practiced ease. The next moment, a fierce little dog crawled under the table and barked furiously at Ning Xiu.

“Woof woof woof woof!”

The headteacher quickly pulled Ning Xiu out from under the table and looked sternly at the several eight or nine-year-old children standing at the door. “Xie Chang’an! What are you doing here? Take your dog and go back to class!”

Xie Chang’an crossed his arms and looked Cui Yuanbai and Ning Xiu over. “Headteacher Song, my brother’s leg was broken by that surnamed Cui. I came to see for myself.”

Headteacher Song said sharply, “Dean Hao is here and will handle this fairly. Now go back.”

Ning Xiu, being held by Headteacher Song with the little dog barking at his feet, thought the dog wasn’t nearly as friendly as his family’s Big Yellow. He said in his baby voice to Headteacher Song, “Doggy~ mean~”

Headteacher Song patted his back. “It’s alright, don’t be afraid.”

With that, he waved his sleeve and teleported the children and the dog outside the courtyard gate.

Xie Chang’an and the others were sent outside before they could react. One child asked, “Boss, what about the little puppet? If it runs around and someone discovers it, we’ll definitely be punished.”

Another child said, “Cui Yuanbai is really too hateful. Changming only said a few words to him, and he actually broke Changming’s leg. Boss, should we ambush him? Boss?”

Xie Chang’an came back to his senses and asked them, “Who was that little baby Headteacher Song was holding just now?”

The children looked at each other, and a chubby child spoke up, “I-I know. He’s Cui Yuanbai’s younger brother, called something like Xiu…”

Xie Chang’an nodded. “Cui Xiu—does the Cui family have these two people?”

“I don’t know. The Cui family usually doesn’t send their children to Wanxuan Academy. Who knows how these two got in.”

Someone asked, “Boss, that little baby is only about a year old and can barely walk steadily. He’s in the nursery wing. There’s no need to involve him in his brother’s wrongdoing, right?”

Xie Chang’an kicked him in annoyance. “When did I say I was going to involve him?! I was just asking!”

The child covered his bottom and hopped around several times. “Boss, what about the little puppet?”

“Forget about it. There are plenty of these little toys. We’ll find another one to amuse Changming.” Xie Chang’an waved his hand. “Let’s go!”

Meanwhile, after lecturing Cui Yuanbai, Hao Zheng took him away. “I’ll take him to the Fuluo Secret Realm to let off some steam.”

Headteacher Song expressed concern, “But Yuanbai is too young, I’m afraid…”

“It’s fine. Keeping him cooped up here will only make things worse. Please help me look after this little one.” Hao Zheng patted Ning Xiu’s little head.

Ning Xiu smiled broadly at him.

Hao Zheng pinched his little face and left with Cui Yuanbai in tow.

Headteacher Song carried Ning Xiu back to the nursery where several little children who had been crying were now happily playing together again.

“Xiu Xiu~ together~” A little girl with two bun hairstyles hugged Headteacher Song’s leg. “Ah Song~ I want to play with Xiu Xiu~”

“Xixi~” Ning Xiu struggled to get down, so Headteacher Song had to put him down and knelt in front of Ge Yunxi, patting her head. “It’s  Headteacher Song, not Ah Song.”

Ge Yunxi held Ning Xiu’s hand and blinked her eyes. “Song~ Head-mater~ is Ah Song~”

Ning Xiu nodded beside her and called out in his baby voice, “Ah Song~”

Headteacher Song smiled helplessly. “Fine, go play by yourselves.”

Ge Yunxi led Ning Xiu to the small swing. Several little children gathered around them. Ning Xiu happily took out his little ball, and the group of children played together joyfully, completely forgetting the earlier unpleasantness.

An Bowen approached hesitantly, holding a spirit bubble. The teacher beside him gently coaxed, “Wenwen, do you want to play with them too?”

An Bowen nodded, then shook his head slightly, saying softly, “Xiu Xiu~ won’t let me play ball~”

“You need to ask Xiu Xiu nicely. You can’t grab his ball,” the teacher said patiently. “Let’s ask him again, shall we?”

An Bowen was led by her to where Ning Xiu and the others were. When Ning Xiu saw him approaching, he immediately hugged his ball tightly. “An An~”

“Xiu Xiu~” An Bowen pointed at his ball, furrowed his brow in deep thought, and asked in his baby voice, “Play~ together?”

Ning Xiu thought seriously, then nodded solemnly, “Ah-da! No grabbing~”

An Bowen happily held his hand.

The little babies played together happily until it was time for their afternoon nap. They were carried into the room one by one by the teachers.

Ning Xiu lay on his small bed. The young teacher covered him with a little yellow duck blanket and gently stroked his head. “Good afternoon, Xiao Xiu. Go to sleep now.”

A gentle soul-calming talisman was placed at the head of the bed.

“Da~” Ning Xiu curved his eyes at her, then obediently closed his eyes.

The teachers put each child to bed one by one. After all fifteen or so children had fallen asleep soundly, they quietly left, gently closing the door.

Ning Xiu was sleeping soundly when he suddenly heard someone calling his name.

“Ning Xiu… Ning Xiu…Xiao Shan…”

Ning Xiu opened his eyes drowsily and saw the palm-sized little person. “Ah?”

The little puppet knelt beside his pillow and said softly, “Thank you for saving me. I have to go now.”

Ning Xiu blinked his eyes slowly and said in his baby voice, “No~”

Good friends shouldn’t leave~

The little puppet reached out to touch his soft face and said softly, “You should obey your father and your elder brothers and sisters. I’ll take away one of your fate tribulations. Grow up well.”

“Father~” Ning Xiu didn’t quite understand what he meant, but hearing the word “father” made his little mouth turn down. “Miss father~”

“Your father will be back soon.” The little puppet wiped away the tears from the corner of his eye. “Give me a name.”

“Name~” Ning Xiu already knew what a name meant. His name was Ning Xiu, father was called Chengfeng, mother was called Chu Jun, and there were also big brother Zizhang, big sister Yizheng, sister Lingzhu, brother Huanhuan, Big Yellow, Little Black… “Wood~ Round-round~” (TL: “木木呀~圓圓噠~”)

Little wooden doll round-round~

“Hmm, I don’t like the surname Di. Mu is a good surname.” The little puppet smiled at him. “I’ll be called Mu Yuan. Thank you.”

(TL: 木 Mu = wood; 圓 Yuan=round)

Ning Xiu reached out, wanting to put him back in his little bell. “Wood~ sleepy~”

Go to sleep~ Ah Song said good children sleep well~

Mu Yuan reattached the soul-calming talisman to the head of the bed. “Good, go to sleep now.”

Ning Xiu’s eyelids grew heavy again, but he still grabbed his arm. Mu Yuan placed his hand under the small blanket, looked at him one last time, then silently jumped down from the bed and disappeared into the darkness.

Ning Xiu was dreaming that his father was feeding him a big chicken leg. He was happily gnawing on it when suddenly the chicken leg disappeared.

He opened his eyes hazily, instinctively looking for his little puppet, but it wasn’t in his small bed or in the bell. The window blinds were drawn, and the other little friends were all sleeping soundly. He sat pondering for a moment, then quietly slid down from the bed.

“Wood~” He called for his friend softly, but there was no response.

Ning Xiu searched around the room in his bare feet but still couldn’t find anyone. He looked up at the high window, stood on tiptoe against the wall, but found he still couldn’t reach it. He stared dejectedly at his little feet. Father~”

He had decided! He was a big boy now, and he would go find father and Wood by himself~

First find father and mother, then find his good friend Wood~

He thought hard for a long time, then took out a small hammer from his little bell. This was from father. Then he concentrated and gathered a small ball of golden spiritual energy in his palm, copying what his mother did, and pressed it onto the small hammer.

When he struck the wall with the spirit-infused hammer, there were two faint cracking sounds, and a hole large enough for him to crawl through appeared before him.

“Da!” Ning Xiu blinked happily, then crawled through the hole with his little hammer.