This was Jiang Nan Fang's first time participating in a parent-child activity with Rui Rui and Ge Er.
Although she no longer wanted to be seen with Zhan Bei Jue, she agreed for the sake of the children.
Early the next morning, Zhan Bei Jue drove them himself.
Seeing that their mommy and Jing Yu and Jing Tian had not left but actually appeared before them, Rui Rui and Ge Er were ecstatic.
They had a daddy and mommy too!
Their daddy and mommy were so handsome and beautiful, far more so than others, making them incredibly proud!
The coach had organized a grand event.
Dozens of students, and all the parents, were present.
They sat on a lawn decorated with childlike fun. The coach gave an opening speech and announced the game rules.
The event officially began.
The first item was the children's performance.
Watching her son and daughter, dressed in camouflage uniforms, sing and dance joyfully on stage, Jiang Nan Fang felt a mix of bittersweet emotions, her eyes welling up multiple times.
To capture the beautiful moments, she could only keep taking pictures of them with her phone.
After several rounds of learning achievement performances, it was time for warm-up exercises.
The first game was "Same Hands, Same Feet."
Parents and children would participate together, their feet tied together, starting from the starting line simultaneously. Whichever family reached the finish line first won.
Jing Yu and Jing Tian couldn't participate in the activities, but they were quite excited to see their daddy and mommy standing together in matching outfits.
Holding balloons, they cheered incessantly, "Go! Go! Our family is the best, Daddy and Mommy, go!"
Zhan Bei Jue bent down to tie the ropes for everyone himself.
As he tied Rui Rui's, he told him,
"Don't walk too fast for Daddy later. I've studied the secret to winning this game."
"As long as our steps are in sync and no one falls, we'll reach the finish line quickly. Trust me."
This was also the first parent-child activity Zhan Bei Jue had personally attended since the children were five years old.
Seeing the usually reserved Rui Rui so happy, he was also very pleased.
"Okay. Today is your show, I'll listen to you. Tell me what to do, and I'll do it."
At the signal, Zhan Bei Jue and Jiang Nan Fang stood on either side, with the two children in the middle. All four of them walked forward with their legs together, hand in hand.
Their steps were in sync as they moved forward.
Just as Rui Rui had said, they didn't fall and were the first to reach the finish line.
Ge Er was overjoyed to have earned ten points for their family right from the start.
She hugged Zhan Bei Jue's neck and kissed him, then kissed Jiang Nan Fang.
"With Daddy and Mommy accompanying me, I feel so happy. Can we participate in such activities every year from now on?"
After warming up, the next activity was a calmer one: "You Draw, I Guess."
As soon as the coach announced the rules, Rui Rui rushed out to strategize.
"Mommy is better at drawing, right? Let her draw, and the three of us guess. With our intelligence, we'll definitely win this round!"
An assistant brought out the drawing board.
The Zhan family was the first to participate. Jiang Nan Fang looked at the first question. It had only four characters: "相亲相爱" (Xiāngqīn xiāng'ài - loving each other).
After a moment's thought, she quickly drew a picture of four elephants, a happy family sitting together and smiling.
Before Ge Er could stand up to guess, Zhan Bei Jue blurted out, "Loving each other."
"...Daddy, how could you tell it was 'loving each other'?" Ge Er disagreed. "This clearly depicts a family of four!"
"Mommy secretly gave a hint. Look, aren't there four elephants?"
Rui Rui pulled his sister aside to sit down and pushed Zhan Bei Jue forward.
"Daddy, you answer. Ge Er, don't say anything. Hurry, save time!"
Jiang Nan Fang and Zhan Bei Jue cooperated perfectly, answering twelve questions correctly in two minutes, securing first place in this event as well.
All the children looked at Rui Rui and Ge Er with envious eyes.
The expressions on the two children's faces were full of pride.
Next, there was a family relay race, a live cooking demonstration, and a tug-of-war competition.
The happy day quickly passed.
Zhan Bei Jue and Jiang Nan Fang consistently performed outstandingly and, as expected, won first place.
There was still one more day of activities. The coach announced the end of today's events.
Everyone was to stay in the arranged rural houses to rest and experience life before continuing tomorrow.
The children, like treasure hunters, took the maps given by the coach and successfully found the family they would be staying with that night.
It was an extremely simple rural house.
The room had only two wooden beds and no electronic facilities whatsoever.
The kitchen was next door, and it was a traditional wood-fired stove.
They had only seen such houses in documentaries before. This was their first time seeing one in person, yet the children weren't disgusted; instead, they were very happy.
"So, can we start the fire and cook ourselves today?"
"I saw on TV that people make beggar's chicken and roast sweet potatoes and corn in the fire. Mommy, can we try roasting something ourselves?"
Jiang Nan Fang said yes.
"Since you want to do it so badly, you can handle tonight's dinner."
The children were overjoyed and, taking the ingredients assigned by the coach, happily went into the kitchen.
Jiang Nan Fang stayed by their side to guide them in cooking, while Zhan Bei Jue went to investigate the bathroom, which was his main concern.
The entire first floor had only one common bathroom, located in a room in the middle of the corridor.
Inside, there was only a squat toilet and a showerhead.
The environment was extremely basic, but fortunately, it was clean enough to manage.
To ensure the children could wash and rest properly after their meal, Zhan Bei Jue, for the first time, rolled up his sleeves and, enduring his disgust,
washed the entire floor with water, sprayed disinfectant to sterilize it, and then went out.
The kitchen had no fans, let alone air conditioning.
After a session of fire-making and cooking, everyone was covered in sweat.
Zhan Bei Jue entered the kitchen and saw Ge Er's wet hair stuck to her forehead, her little face smudged like a panda's.
He couldn't help but take out a tissue to wipe her face.
"Look at you, a perfect little princess, and you've made yourself into a little panda. Don't move, Daddy will wipe it for you."
Seeing him look at Ge Er so affectionately, Tian Tian felt a pang of jealousy and also ran over.
She showed Zhan Bei Jue her dirty hands.
"What about me? What do I look like, Daddy?"
Zhan Bei Jue saw that she was even dirtier than Ge Er and smiled, saying,
"You, my dear, look like a little tiger."
With such a fiery and bold personality, he wondered what kind of person this girl would grow into.
Tian Tian was not satisfied with her father's description and pouted, saying,
"Why does Ge Er look like a kitten and I look like a tiger? People say fierce women are tigresses, Daddy, are you calling me a bad name!"
"How could that be? Whether it's a kitten or a tiger, they are both Daddy's children. How could I scold you?"
Zhan Bei Jue tickled her nose.
"This is a compliment. Not everyone can be a tiger. In Daddy's eyes, only Tian Tian is worthy."
Tian Tian was finally satisfied.
She hugged his neck and sat on his lap, saying, "That's better. I love hearing Daddy praise me. Hurry and wipe mine too."
Ge Er, unwilling to be outdone, squeezed onto his other knee.
"Let's hug together. I am also Daddy's most beloved daughter!"