I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 119. Departure
January 8th.

Today is the first day of the official holiday for Experimental Primary School, and also the day that Xu Qingfan and his two friends are going to Yanjing to take the exam.

"Be careful, remember to call and let us know you've arrived safely, remember to wear your down jacket properly, and listen to your teacher," Yao Jinping repeatedly reminded the group as they boarded the bus.

"Okay, Mom, I'll call you as soon as I get off the plane."

"Brother Qingfan, you need to come back soon. Ningning is so bored at home all by herself!" Lin Wanning also rushed over early to say goodbye to Xu Qingfan and the others.

Zhang Yiyi and Zhang Chunxue boarded a plane to the United States a few days ago, and now Xu Qingfan is also leaving, leaving Lin Wanning all alone in Licheng.

"It's because you don't study hard enough that you can't go to the competition with your brother Qingfan." Wen Wanqing covered her mouth and chuckled, then reached out to adjust the scarf around her daughter's neck.

"It's not that Ningning isn't working hard enough! Brother Qingfan said that if you don't know the math competition questions, you just don't know them. It has nothing to do with whether you've worked hard or not. It's Mom's fault!" Lin Wanning pouted aggrievedly, her face flushed after applying skin cream, looking extremely cute.

"Hahaha~" The adults burst into laughter.

"Where did Mom go wrong?" Wen Wanqing asked, amused.

"It's all my fault for being so stupid! I can't solve math problems!" Lin Wanning said shyly in a soft voice.

Everyone burst into laughter again, including the teachers who came down to exchange pleasantries.

“Our Wan Ning isn’t stupid at all. Who said Wan Ning is stupid?” Guan Bianyue joined the group and reached out to rub Lin Wan Ning’s head.

"Ningning thinks she's stupid. She can't figure out the problems that Xiaoxiao and Xiaoyu can do." Lin Wanning brought her small hands to her chest and tapped her little index fingers together frequently.

“Our Ningning isn’t stupid at all. Ningning can draw and play the piano. She’s smarter than most of the kids in the class,” Xu Qingfan comforted her, patting her head.

"Mmm! Hehe (#^.^#)" Lin Wanning smiled happily, showing her teeth, after receiving Xu Qingfan's praise.

Wen Wanqing looked at the scene with relief. It was wonderful that her daughter had a brother figure in her childhood.

Not long after, Li Meijuan, who had pulled her daughter aside to give her some instructions, also returned with Wu Lingyu. The group boarded the bus arranged by the school.

The car slowly started moving, and Lin Wanning ran alongside it, shouting, "Goodbye, Brother Qingfan!!"

"I'll be back in a few days, don't chase after me, be careful not to fall!" Xu Qingfan leaned out of the window and waved goodbye.

Lin Wanning obediently stopped chasing after the car and watched it gradually disappear into the distance.

"Come back soon!" The little girl's voice drifted into Xu Qingfan's ears on the wind.

At only eight years old, she experienced the sadness of parting for the first time. After the car completely disappeared at the next intersection, Lin Wanning sniffled and couldn't help but shed tears.

"Alright, it's not like you're not coming back. You're only going for a week." Wen Wanqing stepped forward, took her daughter's hand, and knelt down to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"But I used to see Brother Qingfan and Yiyi every day. Holidays aren't fun at all!" Lin Wanning choked up as she hugged her mother.

[If only we could be like Mom and Dad, with Ningning, Yiyi, and Brother Qingfan together forever.] In second grade, this was the first time Lin Wanning had felt such an urgent longing.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Brother Biao was unable to lead the team. Coincidentally, Guan Bianyue's alma mater is Yenching Normal University, and the school ultimately decided that she would be the team leader for this competition.

With just over ten days until the Spring Festival, train tickets are extremely difficult to buy. Besides Xu Qingfan and his group, there were also a group of school teachers on the train who were hitchhiking home for the New Year.

Xu Qingfan sat with Xia Xiaoxiao as usual, while Wu Lingyu sat with Guan Bianyue.

"Professor Guan, you went to university in Yanjing, why didn't you stay in Yanjing to work? Why did you come back to our remote mountain town?" Bored on the bus, Xu Qingfan curiously inquired about Guan Bianyue's gossip.

Guan Bianyue felt like a string of ellipses flew over her head. Was she going to tell Xu Qingfan that she missed the campus recruitment for the civil service exam, and then during the interview, they found out that her family background was complicated and she failed the political review!
She pretended to be dead, closed her eyes, and went to sleep, too lazy to pay any attention to Xu Qingfan.

"Teacher Guan?" Seeing no response, Xu Qingfan shrugged helplessly and rested his head on Xia Xiaoxiao's shoulder. "Don't read anymore, you'll get carsick if you read in the car."

With an annoying person bothering her, Xia Xiaoxiao wisely put away her study materials and asked, "Xu Qingfan, what do you think would happen if a plane fell from the sky?"

"Pah, pah, pah~ Can't you ask something auspicious?" He flicked Xia Xiaoxiao's forehead speechlessly.

"The accident rate of airplanes is the lowest, so don't worry, Xiaoxiao. I took more than ten flights during my four years of university and never had an accident," Guan Bianyue said, seemingly resurrected at some point.

A red "danger" suddenly appeared above Xu Qingfan's head. Is it really okay to make such a rash prediction?

"Teacher Guan, how long does it take to fly from Baiyun Airport to Yanjing?" Xia Xiaoxiao asked again.

"Including the time for security checks, it takes about three hours, and sometimes there are delays due to bad weather," Guan Bianyue recalled.

"By the way, liquids are not allowed on the plane. If you have any unfinished drinks or water in your bags, remember to finish them quickly."

Wu Lingyu secretly thought it was a close call. Li Meijuan thought that taking a plane was similar to taking a train, and she had originally planned to make soup for her to take on the journey.

Xu Qingfan smelled it and said it smelled good. In the end, most of the soup went into his stomach, so he didn't manage to take it with him.

[Fan Ge must have known all along!] Wu Lingyu thought to herself. She felt that Xu Qingfan must be trying to solve the problem in this way without hurting her self-esteem.

Xia Xiaoxiao was about to turn her head and continue talking to Guan Bianyue when she suddenly let out a soft hum, "Hmm~ Xu Qingfan, you're pressing on my hair!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He raised his head, brushed Xia Xiaoxiao's hair that had fallen over her shoulders behind her back, and lay down again as a pillow.

Interrupted by Xu Qingfan, Xia Xiaoxiao forgot what she was about to say and simply rested her head on Xu Qingfan's head, slowly closing her eyes.

The car departed at nine o'clock and arrived at Baiyun Airport at around twelve o'clock.

After Guan Bianyue led the group off the bus, their stomachs were already growling with hunger, as they had only eaten breakfast around 7 a.m.

Guan Bianyue glanced at the four-yuan boxed lunches being sold on the roadside, thought for a moment, and, worried about getting sick before the exam, gave up the idea of ​​taking the three of them to eat at a roadside stall.

"The teacher will take you to eat KFC." When you're out and about and can't think of what to eat, KFC and McDonald's are undoubtedly the best choices.

The group held hands and arrived at Gate 2 of Zone B in the airport, then entered the KFC.

The total cost was 162 yuan for a family bucket and four à la carte burgers.

When paying the fee, Guan Bianyue felt a pang of heartache as she looked at the two hundred yuan she had handed over. [It was half again as expensive as outside, but thankfully the school reimbursed it!]
If you order a family bucket, the staff will give you a whole bottle of room-temperature Pepsi, and you'll need to pour the cola into your cup yourself.

Xu Qingfan didn't know this when he was a child, but he loved drinking it. He felt that KFC's Coke tasted better than bottled Coke sold outside. In fact, it was just that his happy mood at the time gave Coke its value.

After the wind swept away the clouds.

Xu Qingfan let out a satisfied burp. To this day, he still couldn't be sure whether the taste of KFC had changed since then, or whether his childhood made the chicken nuggets taste even better.

"Let's go after we finish eating, it's almost time," Guan Bianyue said to the others after wiping her mouth with a tissue.

"Ok!"

Since all four of them were carrying backpacks, their luggage did not need to be checked in, and the registration was completed quickly.

All of them booked economy class tickets for their round trips, and there were just enough seats in a row of four.

"Have some chewing gum, your ears might feel uncomfortable later. If it's very uncomfortable, remember to tell the teacher." As the plane was about to take off, Guan Bianyue distributed the Wrigley's gum she had bought to the group.

Although Xu Qingfan doesn't experience ear pressure on airplanes, he still accepted the chewing gum.

The plane accelerated continuously on the runway, and the huge push-back feeling pressed people into their seats.

After the initial discomfort, Xia Xiaoxiao and Wu Lingyu's unease about being away from their parents was quickly replaced by the novelty of their first airplane ride.

As the plane continued to ascend, everything outside the window was a vast expanse of white as it passed through the clouds, and nothing could be seen.

"Ah! Xu Qingfan, look!" The moment they passed through the clouds, the boundless sea of ​​white clouds completely stunned Xia Xiaoxiao's eyes.

Xu Qingfan took out his camera from his bag and took a picture of Xia Xiaoxiao and Wu Lingyu looking out the window at the scenery from behind.

"It would be even more beautiful at dusk, like...like a sea of ​​oranges," Guan Bianyue thought for a moment and gave a somewhat inaccurate analogy.

"Ahem~ Such a beautiful view, it seems I have no choice but to compose a poem." Xu Qingfan put away his camera and said.

"A whole lot of white stuff, isn't it? Shut up!" Xia Xiaoxiao turned around and glared at Xu Qingfan fiercely, then continued to look at the sea of ​​cotton flowers from the window.

Xu Qingfan blushed and said, "Bullshit! What I'm saying is that the sky is very blue and the clouds are very white."

"And then?" Xia Xiaoxiao asked.

"And then, you and I really like each other."

Xia Xiaoxiao froze as she turned around, her heart suddenly pounding wildly, her face burning hot. "Boring~"

Not wanting Xu Qingfan to notice her unease, the little girl turned away expressionlessly.

"Hahaha~ Xu Qingfan, are you trying to make me laugh to death?!" Guan Bianyue burst into laughter from the side.

Xu Qingfan glanced at Guan Bianyue and said, "Boring."

[Xu Qingfan is such an idiot! Teacher Guan is still here. How can you just say 'I like you' like that so casually!] Xia Xiaoxiao pressed her face against the glass, her smile as bright and clear as the scenery outside the window.

Sitting among them, Wu Lingyu secretly glanced at Xu Qingfan out of the corner of her eye, wondering, "[I wonder if Brother Fan likes me?]"
Second-grade children may not understand what love is, but they will undoubtedly have a vague feeling of attraction to the opposite sex. Xu Qingfan is like a ray of light, appearing in her life in a stunning way.

If he is a beam of light, Wu Lingyu is willing to chase the light, get close to the light, become the light, and then radiate light.

Thank you to reader 20230225003329577 for the 1500 book coins.

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(End of this chapter)