I have this XML (stored in a C# string called myXML)
         
I used the System.Xml.Linq.XElement for the purpose. Just check code below for reading the value of first child node of the xml(not the root node).
        string textXml = "value of first child ........ ";
        XElement xmlroot = XElement.Parse(textXml);
        string firstNodeContent = ((System.Xml.Linq.XElement)(xmlroot.FirstNode)).Value;