Happy Kindergarten

The "headmistress's" smile seemed measured with a ruler, warm but devoid of warmth, leading ten restless candidates through a corridor of overly bright colors.

"This is the activity room, this is the nap room, this is the restroom... The children are all very lovely. As long as all the teachers follow the rules and take good care of them, they will definitely have a wonderful three days!"

The environment appears cozy, but the details reveal an eeriness.

The corners of the building blocks were stained with dark dirt, and the buttons on the plush toys had crooked eyes, as if they had been pulled hard. The children's drawings on the wall, besides sunflowers, also included some distorted portraits of "mothers" with huge open mouths and empty eyes. The cloying smell of disinfectant was everywhere, sticky and clinging to the air.

Shi Mo was assigned to the middle class. There were five children, three boys and two girls. He walked in without much expression, neither forcing an exaggerated smile like the other teachers, nor showing any fear. He simply glanced around calmly, his gaze lingering slightly on two children: a thin little girl (Lingling) tightly clutching a faded rabbit doll, head bowed and silent, and a chubby little boy (Zhuangzhuang) overflowing with energy, his eyes darting around, who immediately ran over and tugged at his clothes.

"New teacher! New teacher! Do you have candy? I want candy!" Zhuangzhuang shouted.

"No." Shi Mo answered crisply, casually brushing away his restless hand with a force that was neither too light nor too heavy, but carried an unquestionable air.

Zhuangzhuang was stunned for a moment, seemingly having never encountered such an "unenthusiastic" teacher before, and then he pouted and ran away.

Another female teacher tried to attract the children's attention by telling stories in an exaggerated tone, but she stuttered due to nervousness and the effect was not good.

A male teacher (Li Qiang) was being pestered by two children for toys, and he appeared flustered.

Shi Mo's calmness actually quieted down the children who were initially restless, and they just stared at his heterochromatic eyes with curiosity.

It's nap time. Rule 3: [Ensure all children are asleep quietly during nap time (12:00-14:00).]

As if a switch had been flipped, the children collectively resisted going to sleep. Cries and laughter rose and fell. Zhuangzhuang was the most boisterous of them all, and his bed happened to be assigned to Li Qiang.

"I want some water!"

"The teacher patted my back!"

"Tell me a story! I want to hear it now!"

Li Qiang initially managed to maintain a smile and deal with each request. But Zhuangzhuang's demands were endless and escalated.

After running back and forth three times to fetch water, telling two stories, and patting his back for ten minutes, Li Qiang's patience finally ran out.

When Zhuangzhuang started crying again because the water was too hot, Li Qiang's smile vanished instantly. He lowered his voice, his tone laced with barely suppressed annoyance, and snapped, "Stop crying! Stop bothering me! Go to sleep!"

The moment the words left his mouth, the air in the entire lunch break room seemed to freeze.

All the children's crying and laughter came to an abrupt halt.

In the dim light, pairs of eyes turned to Li Qiang in unison. Gone was the innocence of childhood; only a cold, inhuman glint remained in those eyes, like wild beasts in the darkness.

Zhuangzhuang stopped crying.

He raised his head, revealing an extremely eerie, twisted smile that seemed completely out of character for his age. His mouth split open, the crack widening until the skin tore open, revealing a dense array of gleaming, shark-like fangs.

"Teacher—" A voice mixed with a child's voice and the noise of teeth grinding came from that huge mouth.

"No...no!" Li Qiang retreated in terror, knocking over the chair behind him.

Zhuangzhuang sprang from the bed like a nimble cheetah, moving so fast that he was just a blur, and instantly tackled Li Qiang to the ground.

The screams, the grating sounds of chewing, and the cracking of bones were particularly jarring in the quiet nap room. The other children watched this scene and burst into a synchronized, cheerful giggle, as if they were watching an entertaining show.

A few seconds later, the sound stopped. Zhuangzhuang wiped his blood-stained mouth, regained his chubby appearance, obediently climbed back onto the bed, closed his eyes, as if nothing had happened. Only the rapidly expanding dark red stain and scattered fragments remained on the floor.

The surviving candidates were pale, and several couldn't help but vomit. Rule number one, "Always maintain patience and a smile," was etched into everyone's bones in the most brutal way.

Shi Mo observed coldly from beginning to end. He noticed that in that corner, Lingling, who was holding a rabbit doll, buried her head deep into the doll throughout the whole process, her small body trembling slightly, which was completely different from the "excitement" of the other children.

The atmosphere became much more subdued during the afternoon activities. The teachers were on tenterhooks, but the children seemed to have returned to "normal," playing and laughing as if the horror of the afternoon nap had never happened.

Shi Mo deliberately sat down next to Lingling and silently picked up building blocks to assemble something. He didn't try to talk to her, just quietly kept her company. Lingling would occasionally steal a glance at him, her eyes timid, and she would hold the toy tighter.

School's out. Rule Four: [Hand your child back to you promptly at 4 PM, verifying your identity.]

Parents began to appear at the kindergarten gate. Most looked no different from ordinary people, enthusiastically calling out their children's names. Lingling was the last one to be picked up.

The woman who came to pick her up was wearing an old-fashioned, dark-colored long dress. Her face was blurry, as if seen through frosted glass. She hardly spoke, but silently reached out her hand to Lingling.

Lingling lowered her head and slowly walked over.

Just as she was about to take the woman's hand, she suddenly stopped, ran quickly back to Shi Mo's side, and placed a small object, still warm from her body, into Shi Mo's hand. Then, in an almost inaudible voice, she whispered urgently:

"Teacher...don't eat candy tonight."

After saying that, she immediately ran back to the woman, took her hand, and left without looking back.

Shi Mo opened his palm, revealing a regular fruit candy with slightly crumpled wrappers, seemingly having been warmed for a long time.

He clutched the candy and returned to his assigned dormitory, 204. Outside the window, the sky was rapidly darkening, and night was about to envelop this seemingly happy kindergarten.

Recalling Lingling's barely audible warning, a glint of light flashed in Shi Mo's heterochromatic eyes in the dim light.

"Don't eat sweets tonight?"

Beneath the simple surface of this F-rank instance, what lies hidden seems to be just the tip of the iceberg. The hidden quest to uncover the truth is becoming more concrete.