Gingko Tree

Zhi Ying was six years old this year. When other children were still crying for their mothers in kindergarten, she had already started to 'make a living'.

…

The books in the kindergarten couldn't satisfy little Zhi Ying at all. Her family seemed to be very opposed to her reading more books, saying that children should go out to play more.

In the beginning, little Zhi Ying was kicked out of the house to play with other children. She felt very bored and ended up going out every day to wander around, squatting in the park to rest when she was tired.

One time she heard a conversation between two adults, an auntie proudly bragged: "Our baby just loves to read books, and he has to go to the library when he is on break. We can't even drag him back."

"Your child is really obedient."

"Nah, nah, he's randomly reading. What can he understand?"

Library? Young Zhi Ying ran up to the adults with her short legs and tugged at their trousers: "Auntie, what is a library?"

Mother Zhi was still in charge of young Zhi Ying's attire at this time. She wore a suit with suspenders, and clean leather shoes. Sbe was small, and round, so cute!

The gossiping aunties were happy to explain to her. "The library has a lot of books in it, and you can go in and read them for free."

"Then… are there math books?" Little Zhi Ying asked with her big round eyes open wide.

"Of course, there are many fairy tale books for children like you too." Auntie couldn't help but reach out to rub little Zhi Ying's hair.

Little Zhi Ying was happy, and relying on her cute looks, she got the route to the library.

Ever since she found the library, after she finished her kindergarten classes every afternoon, Zhi Ying felt conscious about going out.

"Go, be careful when you go downstairs." Father Zhi told her and let her go.

Little Zhi Ying went downstairs slowly, looked back at the window of her own house, ran out of the community, got on the bus alone, and finally arrived at the library.

A little bean came every day at this time, and it was hard for the staff inside not to pay attention. After greeting little Zhi Ying with a smile, the staff turned around and told their friends about this matter.

Her friend was a kindergarten teacher and had always liked children. Seeing this, the staff couldn't help taking a photo of little Zhi Ying holding a thick middle school math book for her friend to see.

[This is a kid in our class!]

The kindergarten teacher was surprised when she saw this photo, and she returned to normal after a moment. She had always thought that little Zhi Ying was very smart. Now that she leapfrogged to read, although it was a bit exaggerated, it was not impossible.

For the next period of time, little Zhi Ying passed through quite safely, and her family didn't find out at all. After the New Year's party, the kindergarten held a parents' meeting.

The teacher praised little Zhi Ying on the spot, not only for learning so fast, but also going to the library every day.

As soon as these words came out, Father and Mother Zhi, who sat in the back, were completely stunned.

"What library?" Mother Zhi turned around and lowered her head to ask little Zhi Ying.

Before little Zhi Ying could find an excuse, the teacher on the stage continued, "Everyone should learn from little Zhi Ying. She goes to the library by herself every afternoon. You all should also learn to be independent."

It was completely matched, and even a fool would know what little Zhi Ying was doing every afternoon.

After leaving the school, Mother Zhi began to scold her: "Yiyi, do you know how young you are? The library is so far away! How did you… get there?"

She couldn't even imagine how her daughter went to the city library. Such a small child, standing on the bus, was probably not even as tall as other people's calves.

Since then, Zhi Ying was forbidden to go out in the afternoon and could only stay at home and watch TV.

Couldn't read it for free anymore, little Zhi Ying thought of buying books and bringing them home. But her family doesn't give her much pocket money…

Finally, during summer vacation, she saw many uncles and aunts shopping on the side of Lugu Mountain Road, and she had an idea.

At this time, Lugu Mountain was only developed on one hilltop and the other places were still dense forests, some were where locals lived. As soon as little Zhi Ying knew that there were a lot of wild fruits growing in a certain place, she decided to pick them and sell them.

The family didn't stop her from going out at this time, anyways, she was on the mountain, and she couldn't slip into the city alone.

Little Zhi Ying did just that, picking wild fruits in the morning, putting them on the folded leaves, and selling them around in the afternoon.

Speaking of which, her business was also very good. Originally, summer wild fruits were already popular with tourists. Especially since little Zhi Ying, being like a little ball, was very attractive, and everyone would come to buy some with a joking attitude.

After only three days of selling, little Zhi Ying now had enough money to buy new equipment. She bought a big basket, so she could pick more every day, and it was more convenient to carry around.

Often, on one of the most popular routes in Lugu Mountain, there would be a child selling wild fruits with a big straw basket.

As soon as little Zhi Ying finished picking the easy ones, the rest were either too high or grew on steep hills, so she had to find another place.

The mountain road was relatively easy to walk, and little Zhi Ying was carrying a big basket filled with scattered wild fruits. While walking, she would observe the surrounding trees.

Suddenly, she was attracted by a huge ginkgo tree. It was the first time little Zhi Ying had seen such a big tree. The trunk was as big as her whole body… about a dozen or so thick!

Children were very curious. Even though little Zhi Ying was smarter than her peers, she couldn't resist her instinct. Thus, she couldn't help but move over, wanting to reach out to touch the tree trunk.