"I..." Looking at the group of people urging her to go home and study, Claire felt a warm sensation in her heart. "I understand, but teacher..."
"Hmm?"
Claire looked up at Ren. "After the exam, can I continue being your assistant?"
During her time as an assistant, she had discovered her love for the profession of a manga artist.
She enjoyed seeing the little characters come to life on paper through her pen, and she loved how the stories unfolded under her drawing.
Her grades were average—not bad but not outstanding. She might not get into a prestigious university, but she could still get into a decent one.
However, nowadays, college graduates were everywhere, and she wasn't sure if she could find a job better than her current one as an assistant.
After all, Jaz had told her that assistants working for other teachers didn't earn as much as they did working for Ren, and the atmosphere here was much better. Why would she want to leave?
Moreover, Jada, Ren's wife, was the boss of Picca Comics. Many manga assistants had a dream of publishing their own comics. If possible, Claire also wanted to draw her own manga, and she could show it directly to Ren and hand it over to Jada.
"Of course you can." Ren was a bit surprised by Claire's request, but he nodded cheerfully.
He had thought it was something serious.
Seeing Claire's hesitant expression, Ren had thought she was reluctant to leave because of his heroic actions and good looks. For a moment, he even thought he was a sinful man.
"Then after your exam, come back, and we'll have a celebration for you," Ren said with a smile.
"Yes! Let's do that!" Jaz agreed. "And the teacher will prepare lots of snacks for you!"
"I think you just want to eat the snacks yourself," Felix said, giving Jaz a side glance. Jaz stuck out her tongue, "No, it's for the occasion!"
"But isn't it too early to celebrate before the exam results are out?" Claire blushed.
"You're my student; you will definitely pass."
...
The kindergarten was filled with a sad atmosphere.
"Waaaah, Xiao Pang, Yaya, Lili, I'm going to miss you~~" Little Yueyue's eyes were red.
Graduation was coming, and although she didn't fully understand what it meant, she knew it was about moving to primary school.
This meant she would be separated from her friends.
"Waaaah, I'll miss you too~~~" Lili, a little girl with twin pigtails, was already crying, wiping her tears with her little hands.
The other kids also fell silent.
After a while, Xiao Pang spoke up, "Let's have a farewell party. I saw on TV that classmates always have a party before they part ways!"
"Huh?"
"A party?"
"Does that mean we can eat lots and lots of food?"
Hearing Xiao Pang's suggestion, the little kids' eyes lit up with images of cakes, fried chicken, chips, and soda. They quickly forgot their sadness and started discussing the party.
"But where should we have it?"
"Yaya's house, Lili's house, or Xiao Pang's house? Anyway, we can't have it at Yueyue's house!"
This comment made Yueyue unhappy.
What do they mean her house isn't good? Kids at this age are very concerned about face. Yueyue immediately slapped the table, "Why can't we have it at my house, Lili?!"
"Because your dad is the big bad guy who decapitates people!"
"Yeah, yeah! He even decapitated the girl from Madoka Magica!"
"My dad said anyone who can draw magical girls like that must be really scary!"
Wow, these little kids still remembered the Madoka Magica incident.
But Yueyue couldn't stand this.
Although she often called her dad a big bad guy, and he often stole her snacks without sharing, her dad was still her dad!
It's like when people online complain about their hometown, but if outsiders do it, they'll defend it.
In simple terms, "I can criticize, but others can't!"
Yueyue felt the same way. She slapped the table again, "No way! We have to have it at my house! My dad is not a big bad guy!"
Despite being bullied at home by her dad, Yueyue clearly had a higher status among the kindergarten kids.
Under her aura, the little kids looked at each other and sighed, nodding in agreement.
"That's more like it!"
Yueyue, seeing this, crossed her arms and nodded in satisfaction.
But soon she became worried.
She hadn't discussed this with her dad yet. Would he agree?
"Yueyue, here you go~~" At that moment, Xiao Pang handed her a small notebook, opened the middle clip, and pulled out a piece of paper.
"Huh? What's this..."
...
That evening, while Ren was preparing dinner, Yueyue, holding Little White, ran into the kitchen wearing her small slippers. She sweetly called out, "Daddy~~~"
Her voice made Ren shiver.
Usually, Yueyue would yell out loud. She only used this sweet tone when she wanted something.
That's right, the truth can only be one! (Shinichi Kudo quote)
This girl definitely wanted something from him!
"Spit it out. What do you want?" Ren turned down the heat, put the lid on the pot, and looked at Yueyue leaning against the door.
"Daddy, I want to buy a classmate autograph book~~ Lots of classmates were writing in them today!"
Yueyue, holding Little White, widened her eyes and looked at Ren expectantly. Little White, sensing her owner's mood, also widened its eyes.
Ren felt like these two little ones looked just like the kids in "Crayon Shin-chan," with stars in their eyes.
But an autograph book?
Do kids still use those nowadays?
He suddenly remembered how, during his school days, they also liked to get classmates to write in autograph books, leaving comments, addresses, and so on.
It made him nostalgic.
Whether in his past life or this one, he had several of those books.
Even though what was written in them didn't really matter in the end.
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