Me at two years old, a queen!

Chapter 157 Love for the Number One

"Does that mean if I take a lot of 'smart drugs,' I'll become very smart?"

"I don't know? My dad definitely knows. I'll go back and ask him!"

Duo Duo nodded approvingly, because she wanted to be a beautiful and intelligent little princess, but her mother said that a person could only eat one, so she also wanted to know if what Zhuang Zhuang said was true.

Zhuangzhuang: "Then why is this vegetable called 'Grandma's Nail'?"

An'an wiped her little hands on her clothes and said uncertainly, "Maybe it's because I look like an old lady?"

"Huh? But they don't look alike at all?"

Duoduo thought carefully about the old woman living next door, then glanced at the wild vegetables, and felt that they didn't look like her at all.

Zhuangzhuang tapped his head, trying to muster his intelligence at this crucial moment. Thinking of the stories he had heard, he began to speculate:

"That might be... well... once upon a time, there was an old woman named Ding who grew vegetables in this mountain, but she forgot about them, and they became unwanted wild vegetables!"

An'an nodded, praised Zhuangzhuang, and happily gave him a little encouragement: "Zhuangzhuang~, you've become smarter too~"

And so, because of this auspicious start, the three little ones excitedly searched for wild vegetables in the woods. An'an and Duoduo were in charge of searching, Zhuangzhuang helped by comparing pictures, and Duoduo helped them learn to read.

"This is a four-leaf clover~"

"Huh? Hm... this doesn't seem to be a wild vegetable!"

"Is this a young shoot of Aralia elata? It looks so similar~ Let's take another look at the picture."

"..."

And so, the three musketeers, unusually enthusiastic about completing a group project, actually won first place. Qi Rongyu even submitted wild vegetables that had been inspected by experts.

They can share some with each other so they can take them home and share what they learned and their experience of finding wild vegetables with their families.

It was rare for Zhuangzhuang to beat Zheng Yiming in academics. During lunch, Zhuangzhuang even carried their little trophy to Zheng Yiming.

"Would you like to see our trophy? It's such a beautiful trophy, isn't it?"

An'an and Duoduo were already used to this, sitting quietly in place, enjoying the food they had brought, and even exchanging food with other children.

"Whatever you want. If you like, you can have all the trophies you win from now on!"

Upon hearing this, An'an and Duoduo, sitting next to Zheng Yiming, sensed that something was wrong with him. Zheng Yiming always tried his best to get first place.

She even had to get more daily red flowers than others, and now she doesn't want trophies anymore; she doesn't want to get any more trophies in the future.

"No? Are you alright? Zheng Yiming, this is the trophy for winning first place! You don't want it anymore?"

Zhuangzhuang asked in surprise, shoving the trophy in his hand in front of him so he could see it clearly—this was the first place he had always strived for.

"Did you lose? I'm sorry! It's okay~ My mom said that as long as we try our best, we can all be number one. It's just that there's only one trophy! We'll try harder next time!"

Duoduo, carrying her own lunchbox, pulled An'an over and sat down on the picnic mat next to Zheng Yiming, comforting him as she spoke.

"Yes, my dad has so many trophies. If you like them, he can steal them and give them to you!"

An'an thought of her grandparents' house, and the wall of trophies and medals in her father's study. She patted Zheng Yiming on the shoulder and casually said...

"Yes! We can't give you this trophy because it's the first time the Three Musketeers have won one, and we don't know if we'll ever have another one. But I can ask my dad to make you an even bigger trophy!"

Seeing Zheng Yiming's low spirits, Zhuangzhuang suddenly felt that the trophy in his hand wasn't so appealing anymore, but he couldn't bear to give away the trophy he had worked so hard to win.

Suddenly, I remembered the various fake trophies and medals that my dad had specially made for him in his office, and I felt that I could give Zheng Yiming an even bigger trophy.

"If that doesn't work, how about I have my dad make you a trophy no matter how big you want it?"

"Get out of my way! I don't want this stupid trophy! None of you like me! You only like the first place winner. You don't like me because I'm not the first place winner!"

Duo Duo then realized that Zheng Yiming had been sitting alone on a picnic mat.

Qi Rong had been secretly watching Zheng Yiming ever since he lost the match, driven by his strong competitive spirit. She had just seen him eating alone and was thinking of going over to offer him some emotional support.

Seeing that An'an and the others were comforting him, he didn't go over, but stood aside and silently observed them. He noticed Zheng Yiming shouting loudly.

He hurriedly went over, picked up Zheng Yiming, thinking that he would explain the situation to Zheng Yiming's mother later.

How can we make a child feel that they will only be loved if they get first place?

She knew that no matter how much they downplayed the children's family background and circumstances, they couldn't avoid the possibility that their children would become tools for their parents to curry favor with the powerful.

This is also a hidden aspect of elite schools: children, influenced by their parents' wishes, may choose which classmates to play with out of self-interest, and may even exclude or bully classmates from lower social classes.

She took a deep breath, thinking about how to tell Zheng Yiming's mother. Seeing Zhuangzhuang and the others sitting anxiously, looking at her with concern, she waved to them.

“Come here, all of you, and tell Zheng Yiming, will you dislike or hate him just because he didn’t get first place in this competition?”

"No, I'd like him even more if he didn't get first place!"

Zhuangzhuang, being straightforward, blurted out her thoughts, leaving Qi Rongyu speechless as she looked at Zheng Yiming, who was crying pitifully in her arms.

However, all those movies and TV shows that Duoduo watched weren't for nothing. She casually uttered profound truths: "Of course not! Liking someone with conditions isn't true liking!"

"Yes, my mom said that I'm her most beloved little darling, and she'll always love me the most, the very most, the most~, I don't have to do anything~"

It had been a long time since An'an had thought of her mother, but those words seemed to have been etched into her memory, becoming a part of her life that she would never forget, accompanying her in every moment.

"They can do whatever they want!"

Qi Rongyu then thought about An'an's family situation and realized she shouldn't have brought up the topic again, fearing it might trigger An'an's longing for her mother.

She quickly changed the subject: "Remember to have your family look up how to cook the wild vegetables we found today, and cook them thoroughly before eating them!"