I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 21. Graduation Ceremony
Time flies, and May is coming to an end in the blink of an eye.

The popularity of crayfish has reached another peak with the World Cup craze. Every night, the sounds of crayfish and beer mixed with the noise of tourists are endless, and the exciting World Cup theme song resounds through the streets and alleys.

To be honest, Xu Qingfan's most memorable World Cup theme song is the one from 2010.

When the "waka waka" sounded, I exclaimed that my youth had returned.

Despite the fact that the Chinese national football team, dubbed the "Galacticos," lost 0-2 to the relatively unknown Godzilla in their first match, and despite the barrage of criticism on television and in newspapers, the enthusiasm of Chinese fans remained undiminished.

However, many people's expectations changed from qualifying to winning at least one game, and a few days later, those expectations changed to scoring at least one goal.

Turn off the hallway lights and put your schoolbag away.

[Walk to the room window and look out]

[Thinking back to the books I just bought]

A book called "Peninsula Iron Box"

[There are so many piled up by the bed]

[Page 1, Page 6, Page 7, Preface]

I never would have imagined this!

The one who's been keeping me company while I read this book will eventually leave.

On stage, all the students in Group A of the senior class at Sunshine Kindergarten sang Jay Chou's "Peninsula Iron Box" in unison, while the audience was filled with teachers and parents.

The photographer set up the camera in the front row and made these precious memories onto a disc.

Xia Xiaoxiao was assigned to lead the singing in the center by the teacher because of her loud voice, while Xu Qingfan sneaked into the group and slacked off.

I'll be starting elementary school soon; I wonder what will be different this time.
After stepping off the stage, Xu Qingfan immediately took a tissue to wipe off the blush on his face.

I don't know what people are thinking these days, putting red circles on both sides of their cheeks, like they're doing makeup!

"Why are you wiping it off? The teacher said we're taking graduation photos later." Xia Xiaoxiao snatched the tissue from Xu Qingfan and lectured him like a little adult.

“The monkey’s butt is red, how ugly! Wipe yours off too!” Xu Qingfan took out a wad of tissues from his pocket, wet them, and started cleaning Xia Xiaoxiao’s bottom.

Xia Xiaoxiao blinked, feeling that what the little rascal said made sense. Who would paint their face red? They're not a circus clown!
Lin Jing, who came to watch the graduation ceremony, saw this heartwarming scene and smiled knowingly.

After selecting the desired angle, press the camera button.

Xu Qingfan's parents were busy developing the crayfish market, so neither of them attended.

Neither of them missed their graduation ceremony in their previous life, so whether or not they attend this time is irrelevant to Xu Qingfan.

Xu Qingfan looked toward the parents' table, just as Lin Wanning's mother was also looking over. Lin Qiaoshan and Wen Wanqing waved enthusiastically at him, and Xu Qingfan reflexively waved back.

[I'm quite envious of Lin Wanning's family.] He couldn't help but sigh to himself.

It's not that their family is particularly well-off; a harmonious and loving family can be reflected in many details.

For example, the couple would always stand in the most conspicuous place when picking up Lin Wanning from school, something many parents couldn't do.

He had seen too many parents driving cars to pick up their children from school, and nine out of ten of them were sitting in their cars with the air conditioning on like old men, waiting for their children to get out of school, find their cars, and get in.

A father's love brings peace to the mother; a mother's peace brings peace to the child; a child's peace brings harmony to the family; and harmony in the family brings prosperity in all things. However, many people only know the last part.

"Now, please welcome all the children to the stage so we can all sing our graduation song, 'The Little Insects Fly,' together!"

As soon as the intro started, Xu Qingfan found himself humming along without even realizing it.

The dark sky hung low.

"Followed by bright stars"

"The insects fly, the insects fly"

Whom are you longing for?

Although the voices weren't very coordinated and the singing relied entirely on shouting, the innocent children's voices still sounded quite pleasant when they sang "The Insects Fly".

Children should sing nursery rhymes, this is ridiculous!

When the music ended, thunderous applause erupted in the studio, and all the children's faces showed pride and joy.

"Now I announce that the best performance of this graduation party is..."
Insects fly!
To all the award winners, every child in the senior class of Sunshine Kindergarten! Let's congratulate ourselves with the warmest applause!
"All students of the 1999 graduating class of Sunshine Kindergarten are graduating today!" The audience erupted in cheers.

"Ahhhhh~"

"I've graduated! I'm a big kid now!"

"Mom and Dad, I've graduated!"

For some reason, the originally cheerful scene turned into crying and fussing again because of one sentence: "After graduation, does that mean I can't come to kindergarten anymore, and I'll never see Teacher Xiaoyu again?"

"Waaaaah~ I don't want to graduate, I want to stay with everyone."

He always felt out of place sitting there playing with his fingers.

"Why aren't you crying or laughing?" Xu Qingfan leaned back, pressing his entire body against Xia Xiaoxiao's thigh, his eyes meeting hers.

"It's not like we'll never see each other again." Always getting her cheeks pinched by Xu Qingfan, Xia Xiaoxiao retaliated by rubbing his slightly chubby cheeks with her little hands.

[Because we were in the same class in elementary school! It would be even better if Lin Wanning didn't come.] Xia Xiaoxiao added in her mind.

Lin Jing smiled broadly as she snapped another photo.

The latest Canon digital camera already has a preview function. She pulled up the photo she had just taken, nodded in satisfaction, and smiled broadly.

After the head teacher spent more than ten minutes calming down the children in her class, the four classes took turns coming to the school gate to take graduation photos.

The photographer gave an OK sign and shouted, "Three, two, one, cheese!"

"eggplant!"

Xia Xiaoxiao stood in front of Xu Qingfan, and taking advantage of the last moment, he reached out and pinched Xia Xiaoxiao's face.

Xiao Xiao was instantly embarrassed and angry, and turned around to hit him.

"Crack, click, click!"

The camera beeped three times, and the instructor gave another OK sign. "Very good, next shift!"

"Xu Qingfan!!!" Xia Xiaoxiao clenched her fists and glared at him angrily.

The little girl seemed genuinely angry; she returned to her seat, head down, and remained silent.

Xu Qingfan regretted his recklessness. He was already in his twenties and still messing around. Not everyone was as indifferent to graduation photos as he was.

"I was wrong, don't be angry, okay?" He poked Xia Xiaoxiao's arm.

Xia Xiaoxiao's body trembled, and she choked out a sob.

[Oh no, Xia Xiaoxiao is crying!]
Xu Qingfan quickly went around to Xia Xiaoxiao and squatted down to look at her.

"Please forgive me, I was wrong."

Tears were just welling up in her eyes, but the moment she saw Xu Qingfan's sour face, Xiaoxiao couldn't hold back anymore, and her tears flowed like a kite with a broken string.

"Get lost, I'll never get tired of you again!" Xia Xiaoxiao sobbed.

"No, it's all my fault. I'll pretend to be a pig for the group photo later, okay? I'll be Pigsy!" Xu Qingfan poked his nose with his finger, making it look like a pig's nostrils.

"Cough cough" Xia Xiaoxiao was both crying and laughing at Xu Qingfan's funny appearance.

"Don't cry, don't cry, it's all my fault. I'll do whatever you ask me to do this week, okay!" He grabbed Xia Xiaoxiao's hand and let her poke his nose instead.

"Then you have to take me to get bubble tea this week!" After thinking for a moment, she added, "You're not allowed to bring Lin Wanning!"

"No, no, I'll take you!"

"Hmph!" Seeing his funny face, Xiao Xiao finally burst into laughter through her tears.

"Crybaby, we're taking a group photo later, hurry up and wipe your face." Xu Qingfan lifted his school uniform to wipe away the tears from Xia Xiaoxiao's eyes.

When the entire class of '99 took a group photo, more than a hundred children stood up straight, but only Xu Qingfan put his index finger on his nose.

This photo later became Xia Xiaoxiao's favorite.

(End of this chapter)