I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 167. Instant Fame

In September, the sky begins to lighten around 5 a.m. in Licheng.

Wu Lingyu's early rising genes were ingrained in her bones, so she naturally woke up as soon as it was light. She gently moved Xia Xiaoxiao's hands and feet off her and then quietly got up.

The air conditioner had been running at 24 degrees Celsius all night, making the room a bit cold. As soon as Wu Lingyu got out of the warm bed, small goosebumps appeared on her exposed skin.

The three girls on the bed were fast asleep in a "川" shape. Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi's blankets had been kicked up to their lower abdomens at some point, and the two of them were shivering like shrimp from the cold.

Wu Lingyu went over and covered them with blankets before changing out of her pajamas and into her school uniform.

The slippers made a lot of noise walking on the wooden floor, and the girl was worried about waking them, so she took the slippers in her hand and went downstairs barefoot.

It was 5:50 a.m., half an hour before their alarm clock went off at 6:20 a.m.

Wu Lingyu went into the kitchen, put four flatbreads in a basin, added water to soak them, and then went to the toilet to wash up.

The girl's hygiene routine was very simple: five minutes of brushing her teeth and one minute of washing her face with a towel.

As for facial cleanser and the like, Wu Lingyu said that she didn't need it at all. The skin on the face of a young girl in her prime is so tender that you could squeeze water out of it. In addition, the girl has always maintained a good lifestyle, so her skin is actually the best among the five girls.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Wu Lingyu smiled faintly. Fan Ge had told her to smile more often, and she had always kept that in mind.

When Wu Lingyu picked up the hair tie on the sink, she inexplicably took an extra one.

[It seems like Fan really likes pigtails] She remembered that whenever one of them wore pigtails, Xu Qingfan would take pictures of them nonstop.

Wu Lingyu divided her long hair into two sections, held them in her hands, and practiced tying them up in front of the mirror to see how to make them look better.

A moment later, Wu Lingyu appeared in the mirror with long, straight black hair in pigtails. Two symmetrical pigtails hung down her forehead, giving her a youthful look.

She seemed quite pleased with her hairstyle and walked out of the bathroom with a smile.

[I really want Brother Fan to see this soon!] Wu Lingyu walked into the kitchen with a happy smile, thinking as she washed the pots and cooked breakfast.

Sparrows chirped outside the window, eggs sizzled as they fell into the oil pan, and a girl hummed a cheerful melody on a bright and sunny morning.

The little guy smelled the aroma of eggs coming from somewhere, and while yawning, he stretched out his paws.

Just after six o'clock, the wall clock in the living room chimed with a deep, resonant sound. Wu Lingyu quickened her pace in preparing breakfast, trying to get it ready before they woke up.

"Little brother, you can't come up here. These aren't for you to eat!" Wu Lingyu slapped the cat's head and picked the little brother up and put him back down.

"Meow~"

Soon, the aroma of noodles and black tea wafted from the kitchen. Wu Lingyu divided the soup noodles, cleaned the pot and stove, and then took her younger brother out.

The clock in the living room showed it was 6:15. After refilling her little brother's empty bowl with cat food, Wu Lingyu ran upstairs expectantly.

The door to Xu Qingfan's room was not locked. The girl put her hand on the doorknob and turned it gently, and the door quickly opened a crack.

Wu Lingyu tiptoed in. The room had no curtains drawn, so she could see clearly even without turning on the lights.

Xu Qingfan was lying on his side with his back to the wall. Wu Lingyu was about to call him to get up, but after seeing his peaceful sleeping face, she suddenly felt a little reluctant.

The girl walked gently to the bedside, squatted down, and rested her chin on the bed board. Their faces were so close that if they moved forward just one centimeter, their noses would touch.

Wu Lingyu stared intently at Xu Qingfan. This was the first time she had ever been the only one quietly watching Xu Qingfan sleep like this.

Xu Qingfan has exceptionally long eyelashes that flutter when she blinks, making her look as delicate and elegant as a princess from Disney.

His face was chiseled, his eyebrows were thick and bushy, his nose was straight, and his lips were just the right amount of thin.

Wu Lingyu really enjoyed secretly watching Xu Qingfan like this, because when she was sober, if her eyes met Xu Qingfan's face, she would only stay for three seconds at most before looking away shyly, unlike now when she could look at him for as long as she wanted and however she wanted.

Wu Lingyu stretched out her index finger, ready to touch Xu Qingfan's nose, when Xu Qingfan suddenly opened his eyes.

Wu Lingyu was so frightened that she froze on the spot. It wasn't until Xu Qingfan winked at her that the girl stammered, "Brother Fanfan, you...I...I'll wake you up. Yes, I'll wake you up."

"Good morning, Xiaoyu. I was wondering why I kept feeling like there were shadows flickering around me." Xu Qingfan reached out and ruffled Wu Lingyu's hair before standing up and saying this.

"Good morning, Fan. Good morning, Brother Fan. I've made breakfast. I'll go wake them up!" Wu Lingyu looked like she'd been caught doing something wrong. She got up in a panic and ran out of the bedroom with her heart pounding.

As she ran, her pigtails swayed back and forth, and Xu Qingfan realized that the person he had just seen was Wu Lingyu with pigtails. No wonder she looked so good.

"It looks really good, twin ponytails," Xu Qingfan said with a smile as he looked at her back.

Wu Lingyu felt a sweet warmth in her heart. Only after running out of the room did she dare to lean against the wall in the corridor and giggle foolishly when no one was around.

At 6:30, the five of them sat together at the dining table in the living room and ate breakfast.

Breakfast consisted of clear soup noodles and milk with black tea. Each person's soup was topped with a fully cooked poached egg and two slices of fried ham.

"Xiaoyu, you don't need to get up specially to make breakfast for us. We can sleep a little longer and go out to eat duck!" The soup noodles were taken out of the insulated box at the perfect temperature for eating, and Lin Wanning said while taking small bites of the noodles.

“Yeah, if we sleep a little longer, we can just buy some steamed buns from the breakfast stalls on the street. There’s really no need to get up early. We don’t get much sleep anyway,” Xu Qingfan patted the girl’s hand and advised.

Wu Lingyu glanced at Xu Qingfan somewhat guiltily, shook her head, and said, "It's alright, I naturally woke up as soon as it was light. I won't make it for you guys if you want to eat it again in winter!" Wan'er smiled after the girl finished speaking.

"Xu Qingfan will wash the dishes when he gets home from school, and the three of us will wipe the stove!" Xia Xiaoxiao said after taking a sip of her milk tea.

“Yes, it’s Xiaoyu’s turn to take charge!” Lin Wanning said, raising his fist.

"Hahaha~" Everyone inside burst into laughter.

Since Xu Qingfan was usually in charge of cooking, after buying groceries he would assign tasks to everyone. After he finished, Xia Xiaoxiao found him sitting there watching TV with his legs crossed, so she asked, "What are you in charge of?"

Xu Qingfan replied, "I'll take responsibility."

After breakfast, around 6:45, Xiao Ruanwen's voice, as she teased the dog, came from the yard.

After wiping the table clean, they put the bowls and chopsticks in the sink, leaving them to be washed when they returned at noon. The six boys carried their schoolbags and walked to school. The ratio of boarding students to day students at Licheng Middle School is about 1:3, so students wearing Licheng Middle School uniforms can be seen frequently along the way, either riding bicycles or walking.

All six of them were still wearing their Experimental Primary School uniforms. Because of their trip, they had missed the deadline for receiving their uniforms, and their junior high school uniforms were currently wandering around somewhere.

The summer uniform for girls at the Experimental Primary School consists of a white shirt and a black knee-length skirt. Therefore, when the six of them walked into the school, they inevitably became the focus of everyone's attention.

Fortunately, they still had their student ID cards issued at the beginning of the semester with them. After showing their student IDs to the gatekeeper, the six of them entered the campus smoothly.

"How strange, only we are wearing the Experimental Primary School uniform!" Xiao Ruanwen couldn't help but say as the six of them reached the corner of the stairs.

"Brother Fan?" Just as Xu Qingfan was about to reply to Xiao Ruanwen, an unfamiliar student suddenly patted him on the shoulder and called out.

"Um, hello." Xu Qingfan was already used to being greeted on the street, and subconsciously nodded in response.

"Awesome!" the man said to Xu Qingfan, giving him a thumbs-up as he left.

Xu Qingfan and the five girls were all completely baffled, unable to understand when Xu Qingfan's die-hard fans had infiltrated Licheng Middle School.

Although Xu Qingfan has some fame on the internet and has published a wildly popular comic book, strangers have no idea what he looks like. No more than twenty students from the entire grade of Experimental Primary School came to Licheng Middle School for junior high school.

Students who can afford to attend this primary school will generally choose to study in Gangcheng for junior high school. Xu Qingfan is also a familiar face to most of the dozen or so students who come to Licheng Middle School for junior high school, except for the one mentioned earlier.

Xu Qingfan shrugged, indicating that he didn't know either.

The six of them quickly arrived at Class 6 of Grade 7. As always, the noisy class fell silent the moment they appeared. Xu Qingfan led the way into the classroom, which was not much different from a week ago.

Quiet murmurs began to ripple through the classroom:

Do you think they really went to Kunming to eat mushrooms?

Did he really write that post on QQ Space?

"How could this be fake? My friend has his QQ account and saw photos of their trip to Kunming on his QQ space!"

"I even bought a copy of 'Hilarious Daily Life' when I was in elementary school. Did they really draw it?"

"They seem so cool, I really want to join their circle!"

"."

Unlike when they left a week ago, when they walked in the classroom again, although their classmates were still looking at them, their gazes had changed from disdain and disgust to admiration and respect.

The story begins during computer class when a classmate accidentally came across a post on QQ Space about 'Shan Fengtao from Licheng Middle School'.

QQ Space is the most popular social platform among students today. Since it was a scandal from their own school, the matter started with this student and spread like wildfire throughout the school.

Boarding students already have limited entertainment options, so this gossip spread like wildfire, and within two days of the post being published, the whole school knew about it.

All the students eagerly awaited their computer class so they could see the short essays in person.

Then a student who graduated from Experimental Primary School recognized the author's ID as Xu Qingfan and proudly introduced him to the people around him as their school's national idol.

Thus, starting from the first grade, Xu Qingfan sought justice for bullied classmates, helped an old lady who was then extorted for 30,000 yuan, created hilarious daily comics, read his self-criticism to the whole school and then went on stage to receive an award, and won various competition gold medals. Countless glorious deeds began to circulate in Licheng Middle School.

Combining their posts on QQ Space and their spontaneous trips, a positive image emerges: a student who is unafraid of authority and fights against the homeroom teacher for the benefit of his classmates.

Like the fearless young swordsman in blue robes in Jin Yong's novels, who has spent ten years honing his sword, its sharp edge yet to be tested, he presents it to you today, asking who has grievances to redress!
Such a majestic figure is exactly what junior high school students in their chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) phase would not like.

Just like in Stephen Chow's movies: "You think you can hide here and I won't find you? No use. A man as outstanding as you, no matter where you are, is like a firefly in the dark, so bright and so outstanding!"

It took Xu Qingfan half a semester to make all the teachers and students at the Experimental Primary School remember his name; the same thing only took a week at Licheng Middle School.

Listening to the surrounding discussions, Xu Qingfan and the five girls roughly understood what was going on.

The six of them sat down and smiled at each other. For their small group, many things could be conveyed with just a glance.

After a week away, more than a dozen unfinished test papers appeared in the drawer, along with three sets of school uniforms: two summer sets and one winter set.

The school uniforms were distributed on Thursdays, and thankfully they were on Thursdays. By then, the short essays had already been circulating on campus, and Shan Fengtao had been suspended from her position at the school, so no naughty students came to damage their uniforms.

Don't ask Xu Qingfan how he knew, because many of the test papers in the drawer were wrinkled and crumpled, clearly having been damaged a lot, while the ones that were covered up and then issued were without any wrinkles.

They took out their clothes, tidied up the drawers, and then the bell rang for morning reading.

Last week, Shan Fengtao appointed the class monitor and English representative, who then took the English book and led the morning reading session on stage.

The first class in the morning was English. Xu Qingfan thought to himself, "Now that I've gotten Shan Fengtao out of school, who will teach them English?"

The answer came quickly. After the bell rang for the first class, the same class representative walked up to the podium.

"Continue with self-study for this class; do not talk or discuss from below!"

Xu Qingfan had already flipped through the seventh-grade English textbook. The contents were easy for him, not to mention those who had lived two lives, even for Lin Wanning, whose grades were the worst in the small group.

The Experimental Primary School teaches Cambridge English. Students like Xu Qingfan, who have good grades, have basically passed the Cambridge Level 3 exam by the sixth grade. With the foundation he built from reading English literature in his previous life, he easily passed Level 4.

"Would you like to hear me give a lecture?" Xu Qingfan suddenly asked the five girls in a low voice. Without waiting for their reply, he took his English book and went up to the podium.

"I apologize that everyone has to study on their own during English class because of my mistake. To express my apology, I will be teaching the next English class," Xu Qingfan said, bowing slightly to the audience. "Class begins!"

The students were taken aback at first, then the five girls from Group 8 stood up with smiles and said, "Good morning, teacher!"

Perhaps because they had heard so many stories, students quickly started to stand up in twos and threes, and more and more students stood up until everyone was standing, and they read aloud again, "Good morning, teacher!"

"Sit down, please!"

Xu Qingfan quickly came up with what to teach: "In this lesson, we'll start by learning phonetics. Turn to the first page of the vocabulary list."

(End of this chapter)