I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 49. Strolling through the Flower Market

Around 8 p.m., the flower market set up in Licheng Square was brightly lit, and tourists flocked to stroll through the flower street.

The loudspeaker overhead was playing the local New Year's song, "Twins 668" sung by Twins.

Many people may not recognize the name, but every citizen in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions has likely heard its most famous lyrics.

"The God of Wealth has arrived! The God of Wealth has arrived! Good deeds bring good rewards! The God of Wealth has arrived! The God of Wealth has arrived! Money should be earned through righteous means!"

"What a beautiful forsythia! Everyone loves it! What a beautiful forsythia! It brings glory to the earth!"

The festive spirit of the port city seems to be woven into this bustling flower market. It feels incomplete to celebrate the New Year without buying a few potted flowers or an orange tree to decorate your home.

Newspapers had reported information about the SARS virus and urged citizens not to go to crowded places, but the people of Hong Kong, who were used to large-scale events, did not take it to heart at all. Apart from a small number of people wearing masks, Xu Qingfan could often see smiles on people's faces in the flower market.

After bringing up Zhang Chunxue as an excuse, his parents were finally persuaded and put on masks to stroll through the flower market.

"What are you daydreaming about? Trying to attract a love interest?"

"Haha, it's alright, it's a good omen."

It turned out that Xu Qingfan was lost in thought and bumped straight into a passerby holding a peach blossom. Yao Jinping quickly pulled him back.

Xu Qingfan shrugged, took two steps to the right, and took Xia Xiaoxiao's hand.

"Don't be upset, Uncle Xia will be back tomorrow. It's only the 28th of the lunar year, not New Year's Eve."

"I'm not unhappy!" Xia Xiaoxiao turned her head and glared at Xu Qingfan, but her face remained expressionless.

"I'm not unhappy~" Xu Qingfan mimicked Xia Xiaoxiao's words with a cheeky expression, "I'm not unhappy at all, my lips are so pouty you could hang a coat hanger on them."

"Don't touch my head!" Xia Xiaoxiao playfully punched his chest with her little fists.

"Just touch it, just touch it!" Recalling when she was in fifth grade in her previous life, Xia Xiaoxiao was over 1.6 meters tall, while she was just over 1.5 meters tall. Walking on the street, it looked like a middle school sister taking her younger brother who had just started third grade.

"You two keep up, there are so many people, don't get lost." Yao Jinping was still picking out couplets at the stall when she saw Xu Qingfan and Xia Xiaoxiao getting further and further away from the group, so she called out to them.

"How about this? May good fortune always grace your peaceful home, harmony bring wealth and happiness to your family, and joy fill your days!" Yao Jinping turned to ask Xu Aiguo, who was standing behind her taking things.

"As long as you like it."

"Jingjing, what do you think?"

"Everything's fine." Lin Jing seemed absent-minded.

"Boss, I want this one. Could you rewrite it for me? The one you hung up is a bit wrinkled," Yao Jinping said, pointing to the couplet she had her eye on.

"No problem, three yuan and eighty cents, wishing you a prosperous New Year!" The shopkeeper cheerfully unfolded a piece of red paper, dipped it in ink, and began to write.

Xu Qingfan leaned closer to look: "Boss, your handwriting isn't even as good as mine!"

"Haha, boss, you're no good. Even the kid said your handwriting is ugly."

"Yes, return it, return it."

"Hahahaha"

Customers gathered around the stall selecting couplets cheered them on in good-nature, and it seems that the festive atmosphere of the New Year is built up little by little in this way.

"Your handwriting is good, you can do it!" The boss happily handed the calligraphy brush to Xu Qingfan.

Children speak without thinking, and the boss didn't take Xu Qingfan's words to heart. Instead, he warmly invited him to write a couplet.

"Hey kid, the boss sent you here, you're not just all talk, are you?" "Haha, kid, are you any good?"

"Go on, show the boss what you've got!"

Lin Jing, who had been absent-minded, even smiled for once: "Xiao Fan, do your best to write a couplet for your aunt!"

"Come on, watch closely!" Xu Qingfan took the brush, moistened it with water, dipped it in ink again, and squatted in a half-horse stance. Even before he put pen to paper, his demeanor was already incredibly intimidating.

In the world of regular script calligraphy, there has always been a saying that Yan Zhenqing's style is as strong as Liu Gongquan's, but Xu Qingfan prefers Ouyang Xun's style more, and he has always been imitating his calligraphy in his previous life.

After a moment's thought, Xu Qingfan wrote on the characters:
"In the Year of the Sheep, may every family be blessed with happiness, may the nation prosper and all things flourish in spring! Well done, kid!" The onlookers read the couplet written by Xu Qingfan aloud, drawing cheers from the surrounding audience.

"Great handwriting! Which extracurricular class did you learn, little friend? I'll take my son there too."

"Rigorous, neat, upright, and vigorous—fine calligraphy! Fine calligraphy!"

Xu Qingfan put down his pen and bowed slightly to the surroundings, saying, "I've made a fool of myself."

"Hahahaha!" Xu Qingfan's mature-beyond-his-years-like performance once again drew laughter from the surrounding audience.

"Not bad, not bad, this child's handwriting is indeed better than mine. This couplet is yours for the taking. Anyone else who thinks their handwriting is better than mine is welcome to challenge me. If you win, the couplet is yours!" The shop owner was clearly a marketing expert, and he immediately thought of a new way to make money.

As more and more people gathered, the group left the crowd hand in hand.

On the way back, Lin Jing held the couplets that Xu Qingfan had just written in her hand, her face beaming with smiles: "Xiao Fan is so great! Auntie will give you a big red envelope for the New Year."

Emotions are a sophisticated virus that spread to everyone in an instant. Xia Xiaoxiao's previously droopy face was now adorned with a smile.

"Auntie, you have to give it to me secretly, otherwise my mom will just pretend to be keeping it safe and then lose it all playing mahjong," Xu Qingfan whispered in a secret plot.

"Hahahaha, okay, okay, Auntie will give it to you secretly later." Lin Jing was amused by Xu Qingfan and laughed heartily.

Even though her own son had just embarrassed her so much, Yao Jinping, unusually, didn't give Xu Qingfan a stern warning.

"Heh! You're still worried about not having money? You can keep Lin Wanning's wallet!" Xia Xiaoxiao secretly took two steps away, and after making sure Xu Qingfan couldn't catch her, she began to expose his secrets.

"Huh?" The three adults looked at Xu Qingfan in surprise.

"And another thing, there's a girl in his group named Zhang Yiyi who always buys him drinks during PE class!" Whether it was jealousy or something else, Xia Xiaoxiao suddenly felt she had to get it off her chest and started recounting Xu Qingfan's glorious deeds at school like a bamboo shoot spilling beans.

“Aunt Lin, there’s a boy in our class who buys yogurt for Xia Xiaoxiao every day!” Xu Qingfan retorted, not to be outdone.

"You! You! You drank all the yogurt!! (｀Δ)ゞ" Xia Xiaoxiao pointed at him angrily.

The adults watched the two little ones bickering with amusement. "What else? Little one, keep going. Auntie will help you beat this brat when we get back."

"Xu Qingfan is a big bad guy! (へ╬)" Xia Xiaoxiao turned her head to the other side, not wanting to talk to Xu Qingfan.

"Yes, yes, Xu Qingfan is a big bad guy, hahaha!"

Xu Qingfan laughed along, but then he couldn't laugh anymore.

"Hold those two bowls of oranges steady, or you'll have to use the broken vines to braise the pork!"

"Oh. (_)" came Xu Qingfan's listless voice from the trunk.

Happiness belongs to them; I have nothing!

(End of this chapter)