Daddy Academy

Chapter 3306 Firefly House

Chapter 3306 Firefly House

On Saturday morning, the sun was shining brightly, a gentle breeze was blowing, and birds were chirping in the grove.

Little Red Horse Academy was not as lively as it was at night, and it was quite quiet. Old Li was drinking tea under the shade of the trees in the yard. All of her girlfriends were there, including Robin, who loves to follow trends. She hadn't been home for almost four days and had slept on her aunt's bed last night.

Today, my girlfriends and I got together to discuss Chengcheng's new book sharing session. Xiaobai specially set up seats and a small coffee table in the yard, and laid out fruits and drinks, including newly harvested watermelons.

A gentle breeze caressed my face, and sunlight filtered through the leaves, warming me comfortably without being too hot.

Every now and then, Dudu would take fruit from the small coffee table and offer it to Li. Old Li would wave his hands repeatedly, saying no, no, but he couldn't resist Dudu's enthusiasm.

After everyone finished discussing Chengcheng's new book sharing session, Xi'er suddenly mentioned the fireflies from that night.

Dudu subconsciously looked up at the parrot on the branch. The parrot seemed to sense the murderous aura. It had been looking around, but now it was motionless, as if frozen in time. Only when the gaze shifted did it nervously move its head.

With bright, sparkling eyes, Xi'er asked, "Why are there fireflies in the grove? Where did they come from?"

This question piqued everyone's interest.

Chengcheng said, "The book says that fireflies live in water when they are young."

Little White pondered, "But there's no river or pond in our Little Red Pony Academy, so how did the fireflies come here?"

Robin raised her little hand high to indicate that she wanted to speak, and Xiaobai called on her: "Speak!"

"Could it be that the fireflies got lost?" Robin said.

Liuliu's eyes lit up, and she began to make up a wild story: "The lost firefly prince! He must have come to find his lost kin! Our grove is the entrance to their secret base! But he was unlucky and was eaten by a parrot as soon as he came out of the grove! The prince is dead, so the princess can only help him now."

Da Yan Yan was recently inspired by Cheng Cheng and now thinks she might be able to publish a book too. She's even come up with a title: "Liu Liu's Philosophical Mini-Study." She might not be as good at storytelling as Cheng Cheng, but she's excellent at revising scripts—the two abilities are intertwined.

Her imaginative explanation made the children nod in agreement.

Dudu suggested that everyone go to the grove to take a look, maybe they could find the fireflies' home.

Everyone acted immediately, and Old Li, who had been drinking tea, also stood up: "I'll go take a look too."

Liuliu said, "Li Baibai, why are you following the trend of us kids!"

Old Li chuckled, unconcerned: "It's fun following you guys."

Old Li walked in front, followed closely by Xiao Bai and Cheng Cheng, with Liu Liu, Robin, and Xi Er in the middle, and Du Du and Xiaomi at the back, like a small expedition team.

The woods were darker than they appeared from the outside. The branches and leaves of camphor, mulberry and sycamore trees intertwined to form a natural dome. The ground was covered with a layer of fallen leaves, which were soft to the touch and made a rustling sound when stepped on.

Old Li reminded everyone, "Watch your step and see if there's anything unusual. Fireflies like damp, quiet environments."

The children stared wide-eyed, searching carefully as if looking for treasure, their gazes slowly moving between the tree trunks and the grass.

"Here!" Xi'er suddenly pointed to the base of a camphor tree not far away.

They gathered around, sunlight filtering through the leaves and illuminating the area. They noticed a small, shallow puddle near the tree roots, likely formed after the rains of the past few days. The water was clear, revealing fallen leaves and damp soil beneath.

“Look at the water’s edge!” Chengcheng said softly.

On the damp soil at the edge of the puddle, there were several small, oval-shaped, yellowish-brown things, like miniature silkworm cocoons, half-buried in the soil.

"What is this?" Liu Liu asked curiously, reaching out to touch it, but Old Li stopped her.

Old Li squinted and observed carefully: "Don't touch it, this might be a firefly larva, that is, their pupa."

"pupa?!"

The children exclaimed in unison, their voices filled with surprise.

"What is a pupa?" Robin didn't know anything about it.

Old Li explained, "The life cycle of a firefly goes through four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The larvae live in the damp soil near water and eat snails and small insects. When they grow up, they burrow into the soil to become pupae, and finally emerge from the pupa to become flying fireflies."

Xiao Bai's eyes lit up, and he said, "So new fireflies are growing out of these pupae?"

Old Li nodded: "Very likely. Judging from the number, there may be five or six."

Everyone quieted down and gathered around the small puddle, as if guarding some precious secret.

"When will they come out?" Xi'er asked softly, afraid of disturbing the life inside the cocoon.

Old Li said, "It's hard to say. It might take a few days, or it might take a week or two. It depends on the temperature, humidity, and their own growth rate."

Liuliu wanted to keep them for herself: "Can we take them home and raise them? We can release them after they turn into fireflies!"

Old Li explained, "No, fireflies are very delicate insects. If we move their pupae around, we might hurt them. They need a natural growing environment."

……

After returning from the woods, everyone gathered in the yard, chattering away.

Seeing the group of creatures getting restless, Xiaobai immediately said, "We can't touch those pupae; we have to protect them!"

Robin, who was already itching to act, immediately put on a stern face and wholeheartedly agreed with his aunt's words, humbly asking, "Auntie is right! Auntie, how should we protect her?"

Xiao Bai said, "Everyone, what do you think?"

Xi'er was the first to speak: "We can make a sign for them! It can say, 'Firefly's home, please do not disturb!'"

Liuliu immediately said, "I suggest changing it to 'House of Fireflies,' that's what cultured people say!"

Xi'er blinked her big eyes and nodded, saying, "Okay, cultured person."

However, Xiaobai disagreed with setting up the sign.

"If you put up a sign, wouldn't that tell everyone that there are firefly pupae here? Then everyone will go to see them. Have you forgotten about the chili peppers I planted? I wrote 'Do not come near, do not touch' and even put up a fence, but I only left for one night, and my chili pepper plants were torn up. The culprit still hasn't been caught!"

Speaking of this, Xiaobai's heart is filled with pain.

Xiaomi said, "Then let's not make it public. We'll just keep it to ourselves and not tell anyone. It's our secret."

Xiao Bai said, "Yes! We must keep this a secret! You mustn't tell anyone, can you do that?"

Everyone assured that they could do it. Xiaobai specifically told Robin not to tell Xiaoxiao and the others, because those kids are very curious and would definitely go to see if they found out. They wouldn't be satisfied without touching it a couple of times.

Robin firmly stated, "I promise I won't tell, Auntie!"

Dudu said, "We can go see it once a day, but we can only look from afar, not too close."

Xiaomi suggested, "We should record their growth! Like a science observation diary!"

"Yes! To record the growth of baby fireflies!"

Everyone strongly agreed with Xiaomi's proposal.

Xiao Bai said, "We need to take turns recording. The person who observes each day should write down or draw what they see."

Liuliu volunteered: "I'll go first, my observation skills are terrifying!"

Robin quickly raised his hand, not wanting to be left behind: "I want to go too! My observation skills are even more terrifying!"

Liu Liu stared down at the little guy, who dared to surpass her! Was this some kind of rebellion?

Robin raised her little face and grinned at her. With her aunt around, she wasn't afraid of Liuliu at all, and even dared to provoke her.

Xiaobai suggested, "Let's split into groups of two, and each group will go to observe the fireflies each day. That way, there won't be too many people, and we won't disturb the fireflies. Since Liuliu and Robin both want to go first, you two can go in one group."

Liuliu immediately refused, preferring to be in a group with Chengcheng.

However, Chengcheng had already booked a group with Xiaobai, and the others quickly paired up as well. In the blink of an eye, only she, Robin, and Xiaomi were left.

Just as Liuliu was about to say that she would be in a group with Xiaomi, Xiaomi said, "I'm going to find Xiaoweiwei to be in a group with. She's a junior reporter, so we should let her participate too."

That's good, now all that's left is Robin, the little guy, to team up with.

Robin was jumping around, overjoyed. If he couldn't be in a group with his aunt, it didn't matter who he was in a group with. He even thought it would be more fun with Liuliu.

The groups were quickly determined: the first day was Liuliu and Robin, the second day was Xiaobai and Chengcheng, the third day was Xier and Dudu, the fourth day was Xiaomi and Xiaoweiwei... The order was neat and orderly.

Listening to the children's discussion, Old Li's eyes were full of satisfaction. He added, "I'll prepare an observation tool for you, this small observation box with a magnifying glass. You can place it next to you, but don't cover the pupae. Also, the observation time shouldn't be too long, a maximum of ten minutes each time."

"Okay!" the children answered in unison.