Mu Zhixing gave Liu Chen a painting.
The painting depicted a blue planet, painted in oil colors with a beautiful, unique texture.
The bold and vivid colors delighted Liu Chen, who exclaimed, "Thank you, I really love this one. I must hang it in our living room."
Of all the gifts he received, he loved this painting the most.
The Liu family had many antique paintings, and Liu Chen had been exposed to them since childhood. He had even taken art appreciation classes before, and was inexplicably drawn to Mu Zhixing's painting.
Moreover, every one of Mu Zhixing's paintings was acquired by Qi Zhong.
This was the first painting by Mu Zhixing that had escaped to the outside world, and Liu Chen was overjoyed.
Mu Zhixing blushed and said, "I'm glad you like it!"
She was a bit shy and retreated into Shen Wei's embrace after speaking.
The more people around, the shyer she became, only feeling a sense of security beside Shen Wei.
The young master of the Liu family exclaimed, "I like it very, very, very, very much!"
The Liu family explained that the group of children were from his kindergarten.
Shen Wei went over and spoke briefly with the Liu Family's Patriarch and Liu Chen's parents, then said, "I'll take the kids to play over there."
After all, the family was hosting a banquet with various business dealings, and it wouldn't be appropriate for the children to disrupt.
The Liu Family's Patriarch held Shen Wei's hand and said, "So you're the Shen Family's Girl. The kindergarten you run is truly remarkable. We can rest assured with the children under your care!"
Liu Chen's parents also expressed their gratitude repeatedly.
This left some of the wealthy families in attendance astonished that the Liu family held the director of a kindergarten in such high regard.
Others dared not underestimate her either and instead sought to find out more about this Shen Wei's background.
The children present were all from the same class and had been with Shen Wei the longest, so they were well-behaved.
With a gesture from Shen Wei and Teacher Tang, the children came over to play.
This way, they wouldn't disturb the adults' socializing.
They played a game of house.
With Shen Wei and Teacher Tang supervising, they assigned various roles. This time, Liu Chen was the birthday boy, so he received special treatment and played the prince!
Kids love playing house, but it's no fun with too few people.
Teacher Tang had led them in this game a few times before.
Everyone was well-versed in the game, and each child embraced their role wholeheartedly.
There were beggars, a king, other princes, princesses, maids, and so on.
They played happily without making too much noise.
Other children were inevitably drawn in by the commotion.
These kids had never played such an elaborate game before.
Refined over generations, the quaint yet engaging storylines held great appeal for them.
They looked on eagerly, until one child, the Mining Industry's Golden Daughter, asked, "Can I be the princess?"
Liu Chen retorted, "You can only be a maid!"
"Why's that?" she protested.
Liu Chen held Mu Zhixing's hand and said, "She's the little princess."
Expecting the Mining Industry's Golden Daughter to take offense at being denied, they were surprised when she simply said, "Okay, I'll be a maid this time, but I have to be the princess next time!"
With her participation, others wanted to join in as well, at least to have a role.
Shen Wei and Teacher Tang gladly assigned them characters.
At past birthday parties, the biggest headache had always been keeping the kids entertained.
Children had boundless energy, and if they ran around, it would be improper and awkward.
But today, many had finished discussing business and realized the children were remarkably quiet.
Looking closer, they saw the children playing house.
And a number of tycoons had gathered around them.
These tycoons usually disliked socializing.
Even if others tried to engage them in small talk, they might not respond, only inviting ridicule. Given their status here, if they appeared disinterested in being disturbed, no one would dare approach.
Yet now, instead of watching the business dealings unfold, these tycoons were utterly absorbed in the children's game of house.
Someone curiously asked a tycoon, "What are you watching?"
The tycoon shushed them, saying, "They're already on the third act! Now the prince is hosting a grand banquet for the princess!"
To recount such details, the tycoon must have been watching for quite some time.
While some considered flattering the tycoon, they couldn't fathom what was so fascinating about children playing house.
But after watching for a while, they realized it was truly entertaining.
The children understood the rules well.
Aristocratic daughters who were usually poised and graceful were now convincingly portraying villains, bringing their wicked characters to life.
Their acting skills would be top-notch even in the entertainment industry.
The others were equally genuine and immersive.
One child remained motionless while the others acted out the grand drama, with its various factions battling each other.
Someone nearby couldn't help but ask a tycoon, "Why isn't that kid moving?"
The tycoon replied, "He's playing a tree."
The person had been observing the role assignments closely and could recount each character with ease.
This made everyone around burst into laughter.
Children were just so adorable and utterly healing.
They hadn't had enough when the kids took an intermission to eat little cakes!
As the children scattered, the boy playing the tree remained rooted in place. A tycoon approached, pinched his cheek, and ruffled his hair, asking, "Why don't you go eat cake?"
But the dedicated young actor scolded the tycoon, "Don't touch my leaves!"
The tycoon looked perplexed.
Those nearby understood and explained with a laugh, "His hair represents the leaves."
Other attendees noticed the tycoons' interest in the children.
Someone pandered to their interest, saying, "They're from Starry Sky Kindergarten, which even broadcasts live daily."
"Really?" the tycoon seemed intrigued.
The opportunist offered, "Why don't I send you the link?"
And just like that, by using Starry Sky Kindergarten as a conversation topic, they successfully added the tycoon on WeChat.
Others were utterly amazed.
The aristocratic kindergarten director was seething.
This was undoubtedly a grand ploy by Starry Sky Kindergarten.
Using children's performances, their intentions were sinister.
Soon, the children returned to resume their performance.
By the end of this Starry Sky Kindergarten spectacle, who knows how many would become enamored with the kindergarten?
She had a bad feeling and wanted to sabotage their show.
But the adults were all seated around the children, and none of them dared to borrow her courage, so they waited patiently until everyone had finished playing house.
When they went over, they found that the jewelry queen Ye Qin, whom they had been wanting to chat with earlier, was now holding her only daughter and saying to Teacher Tang: "Why didn't you let my Zihan be the princess?"
"How come she's only playing a maid?"
She had been watching with great interest earlier, and the only thing she was dissatisfied with was that her daughter should have been the princess.
She had intended to fight for her daughter, but her daughter said from the side: "Next time I'll be the princess, I've already told them!"
Liu Chen said: "Next time, let's play doctor instead of prince and princess."
The adults laughed on the side.
Little did they know that the children were having so much fun playing this game for the first time that not only did they not fuss, they even said: "Call us next time too."
"That's not until next year's birthday."
The little ones counted on their fingers and realized they had to wait a year. They immediately wanted to cry.
The parents consulted Teacher Tang about the requirements for enrolling at Starry Sky Kindergarten.
This immediately made the Starry Sky Kindergarten principal clench her fists.
But Teacher Tang answered that Starry Sky Kindergarten was not enrolling students.
Even the elite kindergarten was taken aback, as these children's parents had a combined net worth of over a billion.
Even opening a separate class just for them would be worthwhile.
She desperately wanted what the other party had just refused her.
Although relieved, there was still an inexplicable sense of dissatisfaction in her heart.
She felt like she had fallen behind Starry Sky Kindergarten once again.
