Chapter 7 Parting
The review process takes time and the results are usually announced in the afternoon. During this time, the contestants can have lunch to get enough energy for the final round in the afternoon.

The two families found a restaurant nearby and booked a private room. The room was not big but could just accommodate five people.

At the dinner table, Gao Lan and Su Wen did not ask Su Lie what he thought of his paintings. They knew their children's talents, and it seemed that in their impression, Su Lie had never done anything bad.

Fang Huiying, who was standing by, also chatted and laughed with Gao Lan tacitly, without asking Xue Beibei. To her, it was not important what kind of results her child achieved, but what was important was this experience.

A person's personality may be innate, but the experiences they have in the future will shape their final character. Who a person is, whether he is introverted or extroverted, whether he is smooth or silent, are all shaped by his experiences in the future.

After eating and drinking, Xue Beibei, as a normal child, felt a little sleepy, so she rested in the room arranged by the kindergarten, while Su Lie naturally continued to bask in the sun without fail.

The lunch break passed quickly, and at 1:00 pm, when several people arrived at the venue, the results of the preliminary round had been posted on the display board. The works of the selected candidates were posted on it for everyone to see, and those who did not display them were naturally regretfully eliminated.

Su Lie walked closer and looked at the ten paintings on the display board. In addition to his own, Xue Beibei's was also among them.

"Hey, Beibei's painting is of the park where the running competition took place last time, right? Those two kids playing in the sand must be Beibei and Lielie, right? And the sand castle, the painting is so lifelike!"

Gao Lan exclaimed in admiration at the painting signed by Xue Beibei. The little girl beside her heard Gao Lan's praise and shyly crawled into her mother's arms.

"Haha, Gao Lan, please stop praising her. Besides, anyone with a discerning eye can see that these paintings are the best by Lielie."

Fang Huiying was telling the truth. If the other nine paintings could compete with each other, then Su Lie's painting was a dimensionality reduction attack. He managed to create a nearly realistic style with the rough watercolor pen.

After the judging results came out, the unsuccessful children had to leave the competition with regret, while Su Lie, Xue Beibei and the remaining eight contestants continued to compete.

The match time was still 40 minutes. Su Lie continued the style of the previous match and continued to paint a landscape painting. After all, no matter what style it was, it would be a dimensionality reduction attack for these children, and he was too lazy to change his style.

Forty minutes later, the competition was over, and the invigilator put away the paintings and walked towards the judging room again.

There were relatively few paintings this time, so the judging time was not too long. After about half an hour, the final results came out.

Without a doubt, Su Lie won the first place, the second and third places were won by children from two other kindergartens, and Xue Beibei was unfortunately eliminated.

Then several judges appeared and presented prizes to the top three. The prizes for the children's competition were not very expensive. In addition to a certificate, Su Lie also received a clever intellectual toy, and the other two each received a thermos cup.

In the final group photo, the principal of Sunshine Kindergarten came over at some point and shamelessly squeezed next to Su Lie to take a photo together.

After the photo taking, the entire competition officially ended, and Su Lie and others started their journey back.

"Brother Lie, this is for you."

In the car, Xue Beibei, who was sitting next to him, suddenly stretched out her little hand, and in her palm lay a candy wrapped in white sugar.

"What is this?" Su Lie took the candy.

"Big white milk candy, so sweet." The little girl said to Su Lie with a smile.

"Well, is this the prize you gave me?" Su Lie asked as he peeled off the candy coating and put the candy in his mouth.

"Hmm!" Xue Beibei nodded her head, then took out a piece of candy and threw it into her mouth like Su Lie did. The sweet taste made her eyes bend into crescents.

……

Spring and autumn change, and the world goes through several cycles. It seems that except for the eternally burning sun in the sky, everything in the world is changing.

The bumpy roads were renovated, the old shops were renovated and looked brand new, and even the Sunshine Kindergarten has become very different.

The playground has been replaced with a new plastic track, the entertainment equipment has also been updated, and even the children in the kindergarten have new faces. Of course, some things remain unchanged, for example, Su Lie's position as the leader of the kindergarten is unshakable.

"Boss! Teacher Guoer is calling us to take graduation photos." Little Lei Hongzhe found Su Lie and said.

"Okay, I'll be there soon." Su Lie responded.

"Boss? Lielie, why did that kid call you Boss? Did you bully them?" Gao Lan asked in surprise. Because it was a graduation photo, the school hoped that parents could record this beautiful moment together, so Gao Lan came over as a matter of course.

"I didn't." Su Lie shook his head in denial.

"Really?" Gao Lan stared at Su Lie, but after a while she was defeated by Su Lie's calm gaze.

"What a pity..." Gao Lan muttered. Originally, she wanted to take the opportunity to teach Su Lie a lesson by pinching his face. Ever since she discovered the texture of Su Lie's skin, Gao Lan had developed this hobby.

She liked to pinch Su Lie's face whenever she had nothing to do, so much so that Su Lie became extremely defensive towards her and didn't give her any chance. This made Gao Lan grit her teeth and she kept lamenting that Su Lie had grown up and become rebellious.

Ignoring Gao Lan's muttering, Su Lie walked towards where a group of children were standing.

Three years is not a long time. At least, no changes can be seen on the children's faces. Even Xue Beibei has not changed at all except that she has grown a little taller.

"Okay, kids, let's stand in the usual order and take the photo." Teacher Guoer said in front, clapping her hands.

Teacher Guoer hasn't changed much in the past three years, and her appearance is still as youthful and beautiful as it was three years ago.

After hearing what Teacher Guoer said, the children spontaneously went up to the platform. Su Lie stood in the C position in the first row, next to him was Xue Beibei, and then the other classmates. Teacher Guoer sat in the front row, just a head lower than the children, and on both sides of her were other teachers and leaders in the kindergarten.

"Kacha!"

The flash lights flickered, and the photographer recorded this wonderful moment. From then on, Su Lie’s kindergarten time came to an end, and he grew from four years old to six years old.

……

The kindergarten graduation season is in the summer, and after graduation there is a long summer vacation. Su Lie’s original plan was to bask in the sun and play with Xue Beibei.

In the past three years, Su Lie has participated in many competitions. He has basically won all the district and city-level preschool competitions. During this period, he would take Xue Beibei with him whenever he had the chance, so that she could broaden her horizons and change her personality.

Fortunately, the efforts of the past three years have not been in vain. Xue Beibei is no longer as nervous as before when facing strangers and can't speak, nor does she shyly lower her head when meeting people's eyes.

Instead, there was a quiet temperament, or perhaps it was because she had been with Su Lie for too long, there was a kind of indifferent air about her.

One morning a month after graduation, Su Lie was called downstairs by Gao Lan because Xue Beibei's family was moving away.

Downstairs, Gao Lan held Fang Huiying's hand, her face full of reluctance and sighs.

"Why are you leaving now?"

"Beibei's father had a job transfer, and... he used his connections to find a primary school for Beibei, and I..." Fang Huiying said in a low voice, feeling ashamed of betraying a friend.

Gao Lan didn't say anything, but patted Fang Huiying's hand. Seeing Su Lie coming down the stairs, Gao Lan shouted:
"Lielie, Beibei is still in the car, go and say goodbye to her!" He said while blinking his eyes.

Su Lie walked straight to the black business car with the door open. Xue Beibei's eyes were red and her body was twitching.

"Isn't it hot sitting in the car?" Su Lie squeezed in and sat next to him and asked.

Xue Beibei was startled by the sudden voice, and when she looked up, she saw Su Lie next to her. She was stunned for a moment, and then her tears could not stop flowing down, and she threw herself into Su Lie's arms and cried loudly.

"Brother Lie, I...I don't want to leave~ Beibei doesn't want to be separated from you!" Looking at the little girl crying in his arms, Su Lie recalled the scene of introducing himself three years ago. The little girl also threw herself into his arms and cried bitterly.

Without saying anything, Su Lie gently rubbed Xue Beibei's hair to comfort her. Su Lie was reluctant to let go of this little girl who had been like a sister to him for three years, but he was mature and would not express his emotions by crying. He also understood that no words could compare to silent companionship at this time.

It was unknown how long it took until Xue Beibei stopped crying. When Su Lie lowered his head to look again, the little girl had fallen asleep in his arms. There were still a few crystal tears hanging on her long eyelashes, and her little face was flushed in the sunlight.

Without waking her up, Su Lie took out a large white candy from his pocket and quietly put it into her palm. In the past three years, the little girl always gave him a few candies to eat, and Su Lie kept the ones that he didn't finish.

It's a pity that the separation came too hastily, Su Lie can only regard this as a parting gift...

(End of this chapter)