On the playroom mat, An'an dumped out a box of building blocks. He said to the little girl in the pink dress, "Let's have a contest to see who can build the tallest tower!" But just as he placed the last block, the tower fell down with a crash. Colorful blocks rolled everywhere, and An'an paused for a moment before quickly crouching down to pick them up.
An'an was not discouraged and immediately started stacking the blocks one by one again. The little girl in the pink dress was also carefully building beside him. Laughter from other children came from outside the window. Just as An'an reached out to straighten a blue block, his tower wobbled and fell over again. He bit his lip and said softly, "Let's try again."
An'an ran to the playground holding a ball and said, "Now let's have a contest to bounce the ball!" The ball bounced twice on the red ground with a thud, thud, and suddenly rolled away from his hands. It rolled all the way to the slide. As An'an chased after it, the little girl in the pink dress laughed and said, "It's faster than you!"
An'an picked up the ball, steadied himself, and bounced it again. The little girl in the pink dress counted beside him: "One, two, three—" This time, on the fourth bounce, the ball went plop onto a small bucket. The bucket flipped over, trapping the ball like a hat. Both An'an and the little girl in the pink dress laughed. An'an lifted the bucket and said, "Ha ha, let's do it again!"
An'an looked at the blocks and then at the ball. He placed a wide block at the bottom first and then slowly built it higher. Next, he bent his knees and focused on bouncing the ball down. The little flags by the playground swayed gently. The little girl in the pink dress counted loudly: "Six, seven, eight!" An'an's block tower stood steady, and the ball bounced obediently by his side. An'an shouted with a smile, "I did it!"
Later, they had another round. This time, one built a tower while the other bounced the ball, and then they switched. The blocks in the playroom were neatly arranged, and the sounds of thud, thud, thud grew steadier on the playground. An'an wiped the dust off his hands and nodded at the little girl in the pink dress. The two of them laughed together.
