Chapter 74: The Path of Life

Chapter 74: The Path of Life

Though the old butler spoke as if he was making a righteous declaration, any exile with a brain wouldn't buy into such nonsense about a domineering spirit.

Thus, everyone's gaze towards little Yuezi became wary and complex, considering him a formidable opponent who had been hiding his strength.

But for now, all they could do was stay alert, as there wasn't much these tiny toddlers could do in terms of grand actions.

And they were just over three years old now; life's journey spans sixty years, after all. It seems too early to determine outcomes and winners by hopping through it.

After all, isn't there an old saying —

"Brilliance in childhood does not guarantee greatness in adulthood."

Therefore, even though the lagging exiles felt some urgency, they remained composed at heart.

In this family banquet showcase, not one of the eighty-eight exiles perished.

It's probably because, no matter what, this was a family gathering, and it's hard for mishaps to occur among one's own kin.

After attending the family banquet, the young exiles were taken home by their parents. Some exiles who knew each other wanted to exchange contact information, but were told by their parents they were too young to have mobile phones.

"Jinjin, for now, you can only have a children's phone watch. You may wear it to school tomorrow."

"Don't worry about Lele's watch. Although Lele's parents are gone, the family won't neglect him. He'll be provided with basic lodging and food. As for the watch... Lele will have to earn it through his own efforts."

This was what Chen Xiaojin's workaholic mother told him with a smile when Lezi came over pretending to be cute, asking for his contact information.

Chen Xiaojin clearly saw Lezi roll his eyes exasperatedly as his NPC mother finished her sentence.

So, the handsome Xiaojin laughed: "Oh dear. Then Lele, see you tomorrow."

Lezi, seeing Xiaojin laugh so happily, inexplicably found his roll turning into a smile.

"Hmph. You just wait for this lord!"

Chen Xiaojin: .

The fact that he could talk so boldly meant he must be doing pretty well for himself.

Chen Xiaojin followed his NPC parents without any reluctance.

Tomorrow would be his first day at kindergarten, and Chen Xiaojin, unable to sleep, couldn't help but ponder what life-changing or life-hindering events might occur there.

Thus, various social news and entertainment headlines he once saw in his hometown flashed through his mind, making him even more restless and unable to sleep, resulting in noticeable dark circles under his eyes the next morning.

"Oh dear, Xiaojin, did you not sleep well last night? That won't do at all! Looking tired won't make you popular with the kids and teachers at kindergarten."

His NPC mother, dissatisfied with his appearance, and his NPC father chided alongside: "You must always maintain perfect appearance! It's the most basic courtesy! Don't let me see you looking so listless going to school again!"

Then, Chen Shijin saw a red event notification flash on the life map.

[Your parents have high expectations for your appearance. Please keep yourself neat and spirited at all times. Otherwise, you will be punished by your parents.]

Chen Shijin squinted his eyes, this requirement seems... not too problematic at the moment, but instinctively he felt there was a catch.

At that moment, his NPC mother poured him a large glass of milk and placed it in front of him: "Xiaojin, you need to drink lots of milk to grow tall and become fair. Only then will more people like you."

However, the glass of milk was a bit too much for a little over three-year-old, and the strong smell of the milk made it even less appealing, so Chen Xiaojin only managed to drink half of it, leaving the rest unfinished.

The moment he put down the milk glass, he noticed his NPC parents frowning and looking sternly at the hand that was holding the milk glass.

"Jinjin, don't waste food. Milk is very nutritious and good for you; you should finish it."

Just like maintaining perfect appearance, this directive not to waste food also made Chen Shijin feel uncomfortably pressured.

"But I can't finish it. And drinking too much makes me feel uncomfortable."

NPC father slammed the table: "What kind of pickiness is this! If you're given something, you finish it! How can milk, such a good thing, make you uncomfortable?!"

Seeing his parents seemingly about to turn into Godzilla, little Chen Shijin decisively flashed a "beauty filter" smile: "Mom and Dad! I don't want to not drink it! Milk is good! But my tummy is a bit small now, can I take it to school in a cup and finish it there?"

After Chen Shijin quickly said his piece, the parents, who looked like they were about to erupt in anger, smiled again.

NPC mom gently ruffled Chen Xiaojin's hair: "Of course, you can! Our Jinjin is so well-behaved! Not wasting food and also smart and obedient."

NPC dad also retracted his angry look and nodded: "That's right, don't waste food. You need to finish the milk. We're doing this for your own good."

Chen Xiaojin: …

There it is! The dreaded parental maxim of "it's all for your own good."

If there's no catch, he'd write his own name backward.

Fortunately, the current predicament isn't too severe and he's managed to barely smooth things over.

Then, Chen Xiaojin started his kindergarten life. On the way to school, his NPC dad made a special effort to drive the family's best car and wear the finest clothes to drop him off.

His NPC mom also dressed him up like a reserved and noble little prince.

"Jinjin, don't worry, whatever your classmates have, you will have too. A new outfit for school every two days, never repeating! Mom and Dad will definitely give you the best of everything!"

Chen Xiaojin offered a polite but insincere smile, feeling overwhelmed by this heavy-handed affection.

But upon arriving at the kindergarten, he realized he wasn't the only one burdened with such heavy love—

The entrance to the Royal Kindergarten was filled with luxury cars, each more expensive and lavish than the last.

He found himself ranked only sixteenth in the opulence lineup, and unsurprisingly, number one, coming from the wealthiest background, was the first to enter the Royal Kindergarten.

His arrival almost felt like a ceremonial event, drawing attention from everyone and receiving a warm welcome from all the teachers and the principal, more akin to an inspection visit than a child going to kindergarten.

Observing this grand spectacle and the reactions of the kindergarten staff, Chen Xiaojin silently looked up at the sky, roughly anticipating the kind of "major life events" he'd encounter in kindergarten.

What major events can a child have? Of course, it involves eating, drinking, playing, receiving praise from teachers in kindergarten, and gaining the affection of newly met peers.

Whoever can accomplish this will be the most outstanding kindergarten kid.

"Hello, everyone! I'll be your teacher from now on! In these three years, you'll learn some basic knowledge and life skills with me. Remember to be friendly to your classmates and become the darling of both your peers and teachers!"

Then, sitting by the window in class, Chen Xiaojin saw a bold red notification on the life map: [An excellent life starts in kindergarten! All exiles, strive to be the darling of your teachers and fellow classmates!

If you are liked, your baby handbook will be adorned with little red flowers from your classmates. Being liked by more than half of the classmates and teachers means you are a darling!

However, if you have few red flowers and are disliked by many teachers and classmates, quite unpleasant things will happen.]

Chen Xiaojin looked at this red notification and twitched his mouth.

Such a blatant threat.

So, the question arises, how can one be liked by both teachers and classmates?

Chen Xiaojin thought for a moment, study well and be happy every day?

As he was thinking, Chen Xiaojin felt someone approaching. Just as a little hand was about to poke his cheek, Chen Xiaojin quickly grabbed Yuezi's finger with sharp reflexes.

This guy was finally not dressed like a little beggar, but his ordinary clothes compared to Chen Xiaojin's specially tailored, fitting suit immediately looked shabby.

Chen Xiaojin wouldn't judge, but from the corner of his eye, he noticed other kids looking at him with frowns of dislike.

Chen Xiaojin raised his eyebrows slightly, discerning closely, and realized these kids weren't frowning at him but at Yuezi in his ordinary clothes.

Thus, Chen Shijin identified the first factor that could influence the likes and dislikes of the children—

Clothing.

Indeed, this was the case.

Soon, a cautious child approached Chen Xiaojin, poking his shoulder: "Xiaojin, don't play with Yuezi! He looks dirty and poor, and he's mean, not like a good kid at all!"

Before Chen Xiaojin could respond, the dirty, poor, and mean Yuezi jumped up, without a word, started a fight with the child trying to turn him away, and made him cry. The sharp cries drew a teacher hurriedly over, and Yuezi was severely scolded.

"Yuezi, it's wrong to hit others! You must apologize to the child you hit! Otherwise, the teacher will be angry, and the classmates won't like you either!"

Then, the silently observing Chen Xiaojin saw Yuezi stand tall and scoff as if he scorned the whole world: "Say one more word and I'll hit you too!"

Kindergarten teacher: "......"

She gave a polite but dangerously grim smile.

She didn't say anything further and left as if nothing had happened.

But Chen Xiaojin was sure, Yuezi was unlikely to win the teacher's affection now.

On his first day of kindergarten, Yuezi had cut off his path to becoming an outstanding kindergarten child with his bold statements of making another child cry and even threatening to hit the teacher.

Chen Xiaojin: ……

Of course, only someone as audacious as Yuezi would act this way; the rest of the exiled children were very serious and well-behaved, living their lives in an orderly fashion.

Yet even so, the gap among the children widened over time—

Ranked sixteenth in terms of family conditions, Chen Xiaojin, although his parents were workaholics, could change into a new custom outfit every two days and bring a different toy to kindergarten each week.

Therefore, even though the impoverished bully Yuezi always stuck by Xiaojin's side, Xiaojin himself remained quite popular among his peers and teachers.

Proof of this was the four hundred little red flowers stamped in his booklet, surpassing the pass mark in a kindergarten of five hundred, allowing him to graduate safely as an outstanding child.

Naturally, the children with the most red flowers and most loved by teachers and peers were those ranked in the top ten exiles, whose family wealth allowed them to wear new clothes and bring different new toys every day, becoming the center of attention in every class.

Chen Xiaojin saw one of these exiles' stamp booklets and found that number six had reached 433 red flowers.

According to number six, number one had already amassed 490 red flowers in his booklet.

Just ten short of another grand slam.

Chen Xiaojin wasn't surprised at all, given that whenever number one walked around the kindergarten, he was always surrounded by a circle of kids eager to befriend him.

It was just kindergarten, yet number one seemed to already possess the aura of a campus prince.

Every time he saw such a scene, Xiaojin, eating ice cream, couldn't help but roll his eyes and say to Yuezi, also enjoying his ice cream beside him, "I'm just scared they'll suddenly appear in front of me, telling me to get off their turf."

Yuezi happily clenched his little fist: "Don't worry, he wouldn't dare! If he did, I'd beat them up!"

Chen Xiaojin: .

He almost forgot that although his companion was poor, he was already on his way to becoming the school tyrant.

"So how many red flowers do you have now? There are only fifteen days left in the kindergarten phase."

Yuezi stuffed the ice cream fiercely into his mouth, then aggressively showed a number 1 with his hand towards Chen Xiaojin.

Chen Xiaojin: …

Is it really just that pitiful 1 he managed to get? Is this guy not planning on graduating?!

And yet, with just one little red flower, Yuezi was fearless, making the other exiles who didn't have enough little red flowers feel very anxious.

Most of these exiles with fewer red flowers were numbered from 50 onwards, coming from new families of ordinary or even poor backgrounds. Far from changing into new clothes daily, they could only manage to change their clothes every three or five days.

So, whenever they wore old clothes to school, they were looked upon with disdain by the NPC kindergarten kids, and even the teachers weren't very warm towards them.

After fifteen days, the most red flowers anyone in this group had managed to collect in their baby handbook was 280.

Clearly, this was blatant financial discrimination.

"Damn it, this can't go on! There are only fifteen days left in the kindergarten phase, and I still need 150 more little red flowers to reach 300. How can these kids be so materialistic so young?

Just because we don't wear new clothes or bring new toys, they show such disdain! Is this damned life determined by the amount of money one has?"

One exile child vented his frustration angrily, while several other exiles with serious expressions beside him didn't respond to his complaints.

"Don't say our path of life, which is already not normal, our lives can encounter various accidents and dangers.

Even in our own lives, having money can solve most problems, can't it?"

"But that's not fair! Doesn't that mean those ranked in the top 50 exiles can just win easily? Those of us ranked after 50 are just cannon fodder!"

A round-faced, proud little girl rolled her eyes: "When has this world ever been fair? But setting fairness aside, it's impossible for a world to have such blatant disparity bugs.

Those of us from poorer backgrounds must also have our own advantages, it's just that we haven't discovered them yet because the path of life is still short. Maybe by the time we reach primary school and high school, our advantages will become more apparent."

"But we're in kindergarten now! We don't have enough little red flowers! I don't want to experience the terrible consequences of being disliked by many teachers and classmates due to insufficient red flowers! So, let's do something about it!"

The constantly complaining short exile child shouted at his teammates, earning impatient looks from each of them.

However, they eventually came up with two solutions—

The first was to shamelessly ingratiate themselves with the kindergarten's teachers and classmates, using every means to curry favor and try to make up the deficit of little red flowers within fifteen days.

But this method, being time-consuming, inefficient, and particularly damaging to self-esteem, was abandoned by most of the exiles ranked after 50.

The second method was somewhat risky.

"By stealing or robbing! Intimidation or bribery are all fair game! That number 100, Yuezi, got into a fight with a kid and defied a teacher on the first day and wasn't really punished.

So, the 'violent' approach might be viable."

The leader among those ranked after 50 said, "We can try the friendly approach to get those kids to give us red flowers in the first ten days, and if we still haven't made up the difference, we resort to the second method in the last five days. What do you think?"

The rest of the group exchanged looks for a moment, and most of them eventually nodded in agreement.

However, a few individuals hesitated and ultimately opted out of the second plan.

Wang Baojie was among them.

He currently had only 230 little red flowers, 70 short of the qualifying mark. This was somewhat a dangerous figure; in another world, he might have joined the action with the majority of those ranked after fifty, but in this world, he had Big Bro!

Big Bro had already told him to try his best to earn little red flowers, as many as he could. If by the penultimate day he still hadn't earned enough, on the last day Big Bro would help him get his red flowers stamped!

Wang Baojie had never felt so fortunate and happy about his luck.

This must be what having a big brother feels like!

Thus, in the following ten days, those exiles ranked after fifty and short on little red flowers tried various cute antics and clever tricks to earn flowers, but to their disappointment, even with all their efforts, they only managed to get around 50 little red flowers in ten days.

Those like Wang Baojie, not too far off the mark, could still push a little harder, but those significantly short-faced turned cold and decided not to endure any longer.

With only the last five days of the kindergarten phase left, over thirty of the exiles ranked after fifty formed a small group, leveraging their numbers to forcefully find isolated kids to stamp little red flowers in their baby handbooks.

They also threatened these kids not to tell the teachers or parents.

The kids, tearfully silent yet angry, managed to gather the required 300 little red flowers on the last day of the kindergarten phase, even exceeding the number by quite a bit.

It seems that during the kindergarten phase, all the exiles managed to pass.

Oh, except for one little Yuezi.

On the last day, the kindergarten's three teachers announced with smiles: "Today we're going on a graduation outing! Let's all get on the bus, kids! The teachers have prepared delicious snacks and surprises for the outing!"

Hearing this, Chen Xiaojin suddenly felt a twitch in his eyelid.

And indeed, the outing turned from a surprise to a shock—

Their school bus was hijacked.

Talk about coincidence, the remaining eighty-eight exiles just happened to be on one large school bus.

The very bus that was hijacked.

"Oh, what a bunch of cuties we have here. Now, little darlings, bring out your baby handbooks, let me see who's the good kid, and who is the... naughty troublemaker?"

Chen Xiaojin: …

So, is it that bad things are meant to happen just like this? Isn't this a bit too absurd?

However, their current bodies seem to have a natural fear of these armed robbers, as if even their special abilities become useless in front of these criminals.

They, like real babies, pitifully took out their baby handbooks, showing the little red flowers on them to the thugs.

Then, Chen Xiaojin saw a thug stab exile number 54 with a sharp knife, and moments later, the small body was thrown out the car window.

"Heh! So, it was you, you little brat, forcing my son to get little red flowers. A little scum like you shouldn't grow up and waste resources."

Chen Shijin's eyes widened slightly.

These robbers couldn't all be... the parents of those kids forced to collect stamps, could they?! If so, that's just absurd!

As it turned out, the robbers in this world were exactly like that, overflowing with parental love, robbing for their children.

They went through the baby handbooks one by one, identifying all thirty-four exiles involved in the threat and began stabbing them sequentially.

At this moment, the map of the journey of life started popping up event prompts on the right side.

[Exile number 54 (infancy) encountered robbers and was killed for leading other non-compliant babies to force peers to collect little red flowers, disliked by the robbers who prefer well-behaved children.

The life journey of exile number 54 is severed.]

[Exile number 63 (infancy) encountered robbers and was stabbed twelve times to death for threatening the child of a robber.

The life journey of exile number 63 is severed.]

[Exile number 77…]

[Exile number 79…]

Then, Chen Shijin numbly watched as eight death notifications appeared in quick succession on the map of the journey of life.

Finally, after the eighth exiled child was killed, police sirens began to wail sharply in the vicinity.

The excellent police officers coordinated seamlessly, quickly gaining the upper hand.

Just when Chen Shijin thought the hostage situation was about to end, a robber forced to jump from the car suddenly turned around, paused, then with a cold laugh, plunged the knife directly into the heart of exile number 4.

Under the incredulous gaze of number four, the robber also uttered his last words:

"I've hated the wealthy all my life, thinking they can do whatever they want just because they have money!"

[Exile number 4 (childhood) was killed by an extremist who despised the wealthy, due to wearing overly luxurious clothes and showing signs of coming from a well-off family.

The life journey of exile number 4 is severed.]

At that moment, Chen Shijin clearly saw the exiles who were sitting at the very front of the carriage and ranked in the top twenty, who had been as steady as puppies, collectively shudder.

Clearly, on this journey of life, money is not omnipotent.

The robber who had killed number four, still sneering and ready to continue his spree, was interrupted when the previously silent Lezi suddenly grabbed Xiaojin's hand, leaped out with full vigour, and with a small middle finger raised towards the robber, bellowed:

"Scum, look at me!"

Then he quickly poked Chen Xiaojin.

Xiaojin added, "That's right. Today marks your end!"

All exiles on the carriage: ...Bold move!

The robber, facing the young boy, initially smirked. But before he could utter a word with the dagger raised, a speeding bullet pierced through the glass and his skull, freezing his expression in death before it could change.

And then, the children were finally rescued!

Chen Xiaojin watched expressionlessly as Lezi, due to that last heroic leap, saw his baby handbook, which initially had only one little flower, get filled with little red flowers within half an hour.

Along with Xiaojin, whose booklet was also filled with little red flowers: ...

Number one, who was once again robbed of the grand slam: ...

The other exiles: ...

This is outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!!