Pretending to Cultivate in Kindergarten-Chapter 10: Transferring Schools

After school in the evening, little He Qing was picked up by her mom.

When she got home, carrying her small schoolbag, she had planned to go straight to ask Lin Zhengran about something. However, she happened to catch a glimpse of the comb in the bathroom.

He Qing dragged a small plastic stool over to the vanity, climbed on, and carefully combed her stray hairs and ponytail in front of the mirror until everything was neat and tidy. Only then did she head to the kitchen to talk to her mom.

“Mom, I have something I want to ask Lin Zhengran. I need to go find him.”

Aunt He was rummaging through the refrigerator for ingredients and casually replied, “Alright, once dinner’s ready, I’ll call you.”

At that moment, her phone rang. Aunt He hesitated when she saw the number, but quickly answered.

“Mom? Why are you calling me so late? What’s wrong?”

Moments later, her expression turned anxious.

“Are you okay? Should I come back and take you to the hospital? Hmm, alright. I’ll bring her with me.”

He Qing was about to head out the door when Aunt He, who had just hung up, called her back.

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“Qingqing, wait!”

He Qing looked back, puzzled. “What is it, Mom?”

Closing the fridge door and taking off her apron, Aunt He said, “Don’t go looking for your Brother Lin just yet. It seems your grandma isn’t feeling well. Pack a few things;we’ll head to her place tonight. I’ll inform your school about your leave.”

“Grandma’s sick? Is it serious?” He Qing asked, visibly worried.

Aunt He hurried to her bedroom to pack clothes. “She just said she’s too weak to get out of bed, and she misses you a lot. She really wants to see you.”

He Qing was perceptive enough to notice her mom’s uneasy expression and the tense atmosphere. She didn’t dare ask more. Reluctantly, she glanced in the direction of Lin Zhengran’s house, then went to pack her things, ready to follow her mom to see her grandma.

On the drive back to their hometown, He Qing noticed her mom making constant calls—asking for leave and coordinating with the hospital. Sitting in the passenger seat, He Qing turned to look out the pitch-black window, her innocent eyes blinking as her mind filled with thoughts far beyond her years.

Fortunately, it was just a scare. After a hectic night, He Qing saw her mom in tears the next morning at the hospital, though there was a smile on her face.

The nurse explained, “It’s nothing serious. There are just some minor ailments. You’ll need to take better care of her—maybe visit weekly to prevent any unexpected issues.”

Aunt He nodded. “Understood. Thank you.”

“For now, we’ll keep her under observation for the week. If she recovers well, she can be discharged. The reason she couldn’t get out of bed is probably due to a fall a few days ago. Her leg injury just made it hard for her to stand. Don’t worry too much.”

“Alright.”

After the nurse left, Aunt He let out a deep sigh of relief and turned to her mom, who was lying in bed and cheerfully stroking little He Qing’s head.

Her grandma, smiling happily, asked, “Qingqing, it’s been half a year since you visited Grandma. Did you miss me?”

Standing by the bedside, He Qing nodded. “Yes!”

“I heard from your mom that you’ve been learning taekwondo recently—and you’re quite good at it! How about showing Grandma when you have time?”

“Okay! I’ll show you once you’re discharged from the hospital!”

Aunt He, sitting by the bed, asked, “Mom, why didn’t you call me right after your fall? You waited until you couldn’t get out of bed!”

Grandma gave her daughter a kind smile. “I didn’t think it was a big deal. Everyone falls once in a while. How was I supposed to know getting hurt at my age would mean ending up in the hospital?”

Aunt He sighed deeply, suddenly feeling emotional. Her voice choked with tears. “Dad passed away early, Qingqing is still so young, and you’re all I have left. On the way here, I was so scared something terrible might’ve happened.”

Obedient little He Qing tore off two tissues and handed them to her mom, cutely consoling her, “Don’t cry, Mom.”

Aunt He smiled through her tears and stroked her daughter’s head. “Good girl, Qingqing.”

Grandma, still smiling, added, “What are you crying for? Didn’t the doctor say I’m fine? I’m not even worried, so why are you? You should learn from Qingqing;she’s braver than you.”

Aunt He glanced at her mom, not sure how to respond, and the two exchanged a knowing smile, just like when she was a child.

Though Grandma’s condition wasn’t serious, Aunt He quickly decided to resign and return to their hometown. There, she planned to find a flexible job while caring for her mom.

This also meant transferring He Qing to a new school.

He Qing understood her mom’s reasoning and didn’t complain. But when she overheard her mom arranging the transfer with her school, she couldn’t help shedding a few silent tears.

It wasn’t the school she was reluctant to leave;it was Lin Zhengran, who had been her neighbor and playmate since kindergarten.

Aunt He knew Lin Zhengran was He Qing’s only friend and hugged her daughter. “Qingqing, I know you don’t want to leave your Brother Lin, but Grandma needs us. We have to go.”

Burying her face in her mom’s embrace, He Qing murmured, “Mom… we’ll come back someday, right?”

“Of course! When you’re older, you can return for middle school. I’ll enroll you in a school here so you can reunite with your Brother Lin. But for now, you’ll have to be apart for a while.”

He Qing’s small hands loosened their grip on her mom’s clothes slightly. Her teary eyes fluttered. “Okay… When are we leaving?”

“In a month. You still have a month to say goodbye to your Brother Lin. Tell him you’ll see him again when you’re older.”

Aunt He stroked her daughter’s long hair, gazing out the window at the small town where she’d lived for so many years. Her heart was a mix of emotions.

“And you can always video chat with him when you miss him. That’s fine too.”

By Saturday, Lin Zhengran was lying in bed, reading.

The system chimed in with a notification about his cultivation progress:

[Cultivation Multiplier – Your expertise in the path of fortune cultivation has reached mastery. Any Fairy bound to you will experience doubled cultivation progress and learning speed under your guidance.]

[Note: This ability is only active during your direct instruction and will not activate during independent cultivation.]

“This skill… It’s like I’m being set up to establish my own sect.”

Lin Zhengran thought to himself. Any disciples he trained would grow at double speed. Moreover, thanks to his first skill, their progress would feed back to him at double efficiency.

This was a compounding loop—double, then double again, and again!

Just then, the system added:

[Fairy He is on her way to see you. She seems flustered, as though it’s an urgent matter.]

Moments later, there was a knock at the door.