Strawberry Milk Candy

Chapter 7: Yuan Mingyu, My Friend

       Under the bright sun of the summer morning, two adults and their young daughter walked towards the tall building towering over them. The young girl recognized this place, she had been here before two weeks before, but today she came for a different purpose. After just returning from where she stayed all year round in Venezuela, her parents had wanted her to train her independence now that she had returned to China for summer vacation. She felt excited, but nervous and afraid at the same time, as she had never left her parent's side for more than a day before. She wanted to have fun, but she was nervous of the thought of not knowing how to do anything when she was in the summer camp. She quickly distracted herself by asking her parents what the summer camp was about, and if it would be fun, like she had asked them myriads of times before in the past few days. They approached the elevator of the building as Arystia bombarded her parents with questions, but she quickly broke off when she saw two people coming from the opposite direction and joining them at the elevator.

It was a tall, elegant woman with a business suit, and beside her was a little boy slightly taller than her carrying a large suitcase. Curiosity rose in Arystia's mind as she observed them, and blatantly asked her mother why he was carrying such a large suitcase. The woman and the boy turned to look at her as she asked the question. Her mother quickly shushed her and apologized to the woman for Arystia's rudeness, to which the woman dismissed it saying it's just common child behavior. The little boy answered Arystia with a polite smile after his mother had finished speaking, and explained that it was because he had lots of things packed. The elevator fell silent again until they had arrived at their destination, where they were met with a large group of children assembled in the clearing and parents talking on the side. Arystia grew nervous at the sight as she observed that most of the kids were big kids of around 10-16, which being barely 6, it made her look like a midget.

Their parents shooed them to join the children, and then went to join the parent group where they talked to each other. Arystia, being the shy girl that she was, didn't dare to step forward, as all she wanted was to go and join her mother. The little boy beside her noticed it, and tried initiating a conversation with her. He politely asked what her name was, and how old she was, and in return he introduced himself as well. Arystia watched the boy in front of her in awe, he seemed so calm and smart and dependable; he was a big kid, seven and a half years old, and he said that his name was Yuan Mingyu. Instinctively she wanted to stay at his side, since he seemed to be very caring. She asked if they could be friends, to which Yuan Mingyu agreed to with a warm smile.

Mingyu had noticed that this little foreign girl with a name he never heard before, Arystia, seemed to not be fitting well with the rest of the children in the clearing, so he took it upon himself to stay by the side and take care of her. She seemed to be the youngest out of everyone, so he understood her shyness. He took her with him to a small group of boys of his age, and tried to join them. As soon as the two joined the group, all of the members immediately took interest in the eccentric little girl. They asked her questions about her nationality and such, and the commotion soon attracted the older kid's attention, and they all swarmed in to check out the sight. It wasn't unpleasant, but Arystia felt a little pressured under the eyes of all the strangers, so she stood close to Yuan Mingyu at all times. The conversation time was soon over a young teacher emerged through the crowd and taking Arystia's hand, instructed all the children to follow her.

Yuan Mingyu stayed close to her side as Arystia was guided by the teacher, and everyone soon entered an elevator that led to the parking lot. There were many large busses parked, and many adults that seemed to be teachers standing there under the sun waiting for them. The teachers instructed the children to go into any bus they like, and Arystia was taken into one under the guidance of the young teacher holding her hand. After getting into the bus and everyone had sat down in a seat, the teacher stood up and held Arystia by her side while facing the bus corridor. She introduced Arystia as the youngest member of the summer camp, coming from a foreign country, and told the kids to take care of her. The kids all agreed in a storm of wails and cheering, and the teacher then asked if anyone wanted to sit with her. Almost instantly everyone was loudly volunteering that Arystia sit by them, and the teacher bent down and asked who she wanted to sit with. Arystia looked at Yuan Mingyu who was sitting silently not far away, watching her, and told the teacher that he wanted to sit by him.