Daddy Academy

Chapter 3314 Firefly Watching Gathering

Chapter 3314 Firefly Watching Gathering

It was a little past six in the morning, and the sky was still dimly lit, with morning dew clinging to the tips of the grass blades.

Xiaobai was awakened by the birdsong outside the window. She walked to the balcony in a daze and saw two small figures by the grove of trees. They were Xier and Robin!

The two were standing on tiptoe, peering into the woods.

"Why are you all up so early?" Xiaobai rubbed her eyes and came downstairs.

Xi'er turned her head, her face shining with excitement, but she lowered her voice: "Xiao Bai! Keep your voice down! The fireflies are coming out! Hiahiahia~~~"

"Oh, fireflies... Huh? What?! Really?!"

Xiao Bai snapped out of her daze and stared wide-eyed.

Robin's face flushed with excitement, her eyes wide, just like her aunt's: "It's true! It's true, Auntie! We just saw it! But Uncle said we can't go in now, we have to wait until everyone arrives."

It turned out that Zhang Tan, who was jogging early in the morning, discovered it first. When he saw Xi'er and Robin arrive, he told them the news.

As for why Xi'er and Robin came to Little Red Pony Academy so early, it was entirely because Robin had been called by her grandmother to help out at the pancake shop. However, Robin managed to get away with it by acting cute and pitiful, so she slipped away to Little Red Pony to play.

Just then, Zhang Tan came running over and said, "All six of them are out and in good condition. Researcher Chen will come to check on them this afternoon. Don't disturb them for now."

However, his words had no effect on Xiaobai and the others. Xiaobai couldn't wait any longer and ran into the grove, his suppressed voice saying, "I'll just take a look."

Xi'er and Robin quickly followed.

After entering the grove, the three of them slowed down and crept closer to the puddle. Finally, on the bushes and grass at the edge of the puddle, they saw several small creatures with faint green tails crawling slowly. Their wings were still wet, and they were flying unsteadily.

Xi'er lowered her voice and counted, "One, two, three... six! They're all out! So cute~"

A wave of emotion welled up in Xiaobai's heart. From the discovery of the pupae nine days ago until now, they had been protecting these lives as if they were guarding a secret treasure.

Robin asked in a low voice, "Auntie, they don't look like fireflies at all."

Xiao Bai asked, "What does that look like?"

Robin thought for a moment and said, "It looks like a slug."

Xi'er laughed, then quickly covered her mouth to keep quiet.

The three watched for a while, then left at Xiaobai's request. Once outside the grove, Xiaobai immediately reached for her phone watch, saying, "I have some good news to tell everyone!"

Xi'er quickly grabbed her and said, "Wait! Xiaobai, it's only a little past six o'clock, everyone is still sleeping. Let's talk about it later."

Robin said, "Liuliu is definitely still sleeping, Chengcheng is also sleeping, and Xiaomi and Dudu must be awake by now."

Xiaobai asked, "When should we tell them? Do we have to wait until Little Red Pony Academy opens?"

Zhang Tan ran around again and came back, saying, "You three go upstairs to have breakfast first."

At 3 p.m., Researcher Chen arrived as scheduled. Xiao Bai and the other two surrounded her, watching her use professional equipment to measure temperature and humidity and record the morphology of fireflies.

Researcher Chen pointed to the abdomen of one of the fireflies: "Look at this one, its light-emitting organs are fully developed, and it should be able to glow normally tonight."

Xi'er asked curiously, "What do they eat?"

Researcher Chen explained, "Adult insects mainly eat dew and nectar, so the wildflowers and weeds in the grove are their canteen."

"Wow!" Robin exclaimed, "They look like fairies!"

Researcher Chen brought several popular science picture books about fireflies, and three children sat in the yard reading them with great interest.

At 5:30 p.m., the lights in the school came on.

The other members of the group of girlfriends arrived almost right on time. Dudu and Xiaomi were the first to rush in, asking loudly, "How's the firefly doing?!"

Xi'er and Robin eagerly announced, "They're out! All six of them are out! We can see them, they're so tiny, like slugs."

Liuliu and Chengcheng arrived later, and everyone gathered around the edge of the grove, excitedly discussing. Xiaobai seemed to lead them carefully into the grove, where they observed the fireflies in amazement.

As more and more children joined Little Red Horse Academy, the news spread like wildfire. Little Weiwei, Little Meng, Little Lizi, Xiaoxiao, Little Nian, Little Songqin... all the children were thrilled—six little lives had been born right before their eyes!

Preparations for the firefly watching event began immediately.

Xiao Bai directed everyone to set up at the edge of the grove: Lao Li brought over a bench; Xi'er and Robin hung up warm yellow lanterns; Dudu and Xiaomi brought over small stools.

Chengcheng sat alone under the pomegranate tree, making final revisions to the new story she was going to tell that night, "The Stars in the Telephone," by the light of the lantern.

Liuliu was the busiest, as she had to check the snacks and drinks, including watermelon juice, water chestnut cake, peanut brittle, and so on, while also preparing for her role as the host.

Xiao Bai helped her from the side, constantly reminding her not to sneak any food, or else she would be stripped of her host status!

At 7:30 p.m., the sky was completely dark, and the moon quietly drifted across the deep blue sky...

The children sat down on small stools, vying for the best spots, chattering and whispering amongst themselves.

Zhang Tan, Lao Li, Teacher Xiao Liu, and other adults stood on the periphery watching.

"Now! Please welcome the host to the stage." Liu Liu's voice rang out, and then she walked to the center of the venue, the light from the small lanterns illuminating her round face warmly.

She didn't use a portable karaoke machine because she was worried that the sound would be too loud and frighten the baby fireflies in the grove.

Liu Liu, unusually gentle in her voice, said, "Welcome everyone to the first Little Red Horse Firefly Watching Party! I'm your dearest older sister Liu Liu, and also today's host! Please save your applause for later. Nine days ago, we discovered six firefly pupae here. This morning, six little fireflies came into this world. Now, please let Cheng Cheng tell us a new story, and then we'll witness the first night of the baby fireflies together."

A soft round of applause broke out, and then Xiaobai and Xiaomi stood up, signaling everyone not to clap and to remain quiet.

The scene immediately fell silent. The children stared wide-eyed at Chengcheng and the mysterious grove behind her!

Chengcheng sat in her chair, the soft light from the lantern falling on her. Today she wore a light green dress, like a little forest sprite.

"The story I'm going to tell is called 'The Stars in the Telephone'." Her voice was clear as water, flowing through the quiet night.

"Once upon a time, there was a little girl whose parents went to work in a faraway place, and all they had left at home was a telephone..."

“Every weekend evening, the phone would ring on time, and I would hear my parents’ voices…”

"The little girl missed them very much, so one day she said into the phone, 'I wish I could see you all through the phone...'"

"The next evening, when the phone rang, not only did a voice come through the receiver, but also several tiny specks of light floated out. They were stars, traveling a very, very long distance from the other end of the telephone line to reach the little girl's room..."

"The stars said we are stars in the receiver, specially sent to those who miss us. They danced in the little girl's room, drawing her parents' smiling faces, drawing distant mountains and rivers..."