I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 64. Comic Book Preparation
As April arrived, the weather in the port city gradually warmed up, and the virus seemed unable to adapt to this environment, beginning to disappear.

From the end of March, the number of new SARS cases in the port city remained at zero, and the general public gradually bid farewell to their panic about SARS.

Xu Qingfan finally said goodbye to the miserable days of taking Banlangen orally every day and being suffocated by the smell of white vinegar.

"I'm going to Lin Wanning's house to play." He quickly finished the rice in his bowl, slung his backpack over his shoulder, put on his shoes, and went out.

"Watch where you're going while you're riding, keep to the right!" Yao Jinping shouted to her son's retreating figure.

"understood!"

Ever since Xu Qingfan handed the manuscript of the first volume of the comic to Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi, the two little girls have shown unparalleled enthusiasm.

Aside from eating, sleeping, and attending classes, the two of them were almost always pen in hand, maintaining an incredibly high pace of drawing at least two pages of comics every day.

Zhang Yiyi seems to be born to make comics. When she sees the words on the script, the little girl can easily come up with corresponding scene diagrams.

The two children worked together, one sketching the outline and the other filling in the details. In less than a month, they had completed Xu Qingfan's entire manuscript. Finally, Xu Qingfan wrote the dialogue in the blank boxes. Now everything was ready except for coloring!

When he got down to the first floor, he saw two dogs, a big white one and a small black one, hiding under a tree and taking a nap. Xu Qingfan stomped his foot loudly!
"Woof woof woof woof!" The two dogs were startled and sprang to their feet, barking loudly in the direction from which the sound had just come.

Today's moment of impulsiveness is complete!

Having finished his business, Xu Qingfan happily rode his beloved bicycle out the door.

"Brother Qingfan!" It was the same familiar feeling. Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi had been waiting at the villa entrance for a long time. They ran over excitedly when they saw Xu Qingfan.

"Why are you always waiting for me at the door? Aren't you bored?" Xu Qingfan reached out and ruffled Lin Wanning's hair as he leaned in.

"I'm not bored! Knowing that Brother Qingfan is coming at one o'clock, Ningning will be very happy when she gets up at twelve o'clock. This is called a sense of ritual, right, Yiyi!" Lin Wanning happily held Zhang Yiyi's hand and swayed it.

"Yes!" Zhang Yiyi nodded with a smile.

Lin Wanning's words came from the extracurricular book he was to read this semester—"The Little Prince".

In the book, the little fox and the little prince discuss what happiness is. The little fox says, "If you come at four o'clock in the afternoon, I will begin to feel happy from three o'clock onwards. The closer the time gets, the happier I will feel. At four o'clock I will become restless and start to discover the price of happiness. But if you come at any time, I will not know when to prepare my heart... There must be a certain ritual."

Xu Qingfan understood the implied meaning in the song and reached out to pat the two little girls' heads: "Then I won't be late anymore!"

"Pinky promise!" Lin Wanning extended his little finger.

"How can three people pinky swear?" Xu Qingfan tapped the little girl on the head.

“Why can’t the three of us pinky swear! Brother Qingfan must be a big idiot to not think of that!!” Lin Wanning pouted and glared at Xu Qingfan, waving his finger in front of their eyes, signaling them to stick out their little fingers as well.

"Pinky promise." Zhang Yiyi stretched out her left hand, placing her little finger next to Lin Wanning's.

"Brother Qingfan, put it like this!" Lin Wanning demonstrated with her free left hand, instructing Xu Qingfan to place his little finger horizontally on their fingers.

"Brother Qingfan must never be late. Lin Wanning, Zhang Yiyi, and Xu Qingfan will be best friends for life, and will never, ever be apart!"

"Pinky promise. Never to break it for a hundred years! If you lie, you're a dog!"

The three little ones raised their hands above their heads, making their promise under the witness of the sun. "Once you've pinky-sworn, you can't go back on your word! Brother Qingfan, you're never allowed to be late again!" Lin Wanning said, pointing to the watch on his wrist.

"Okay, okay, I won't be late anymore. And you're not allowed to be late either, understand?"

"Hmph, Ningning will never be late! Neither will Yiyi! Only Brother Qingfan is late every day!"

Xu Qingfan blushed slightly, coughed a few times, and changed the subject: "Ahem, I'm thinking of asking Yi Yi's mother to help find someone outside to color and do post-production for our comics. What do you guys think?"

"If Brother Qingfan thinks it's good, then it's good! Brother Qingfan, would you like juice or cola?" Lin Wanning said as he jogged into the kitchen.

"Have some juice!" Because Lin Qiaoshan loves blue can cola, Lin Wanning's refrigerator is full of Pepsi. Xu Qingfan couldn't understand why anyone would like to drink Pepsi.

Zhang Yi handed Xu Qingfan a small notebook used for communication: "Should I go and tell Mom?"

"Let's go together, and don't use notebooks to talk!" He put the notepad into his pocket and patted Zhang Yiyi's head.

“Let’s go together!” Zhang Yi said, his words slightly mumbled.

"Great!" Xu Qingfan gave a thumbs up, and the two smiled at each other.

After Lin Wanning came out of the kitchen, Xu Qingfan unzipped his backpack and took out a stack of hundred-yuan bills: "This is my New Year's money, five thousand yuan. Let's each chip in a little so that Yi Yi's mother can help us find someone to do the post-production work on our comics, as well as apply for patents and printing and stuff."

"Brother Qingfan, wait a minute! Ningning's money is in the bedroom!"

Lin Wanning hurriedly ran up to the third floor of the villa, and soon returned, this time with a small piggy bank in his hand.

The little girl sat back on the sofa, pulled off the piston at the bottom of the piggy bank, and shook it vigorously. In just a few seconds, the sofa became a sea of ​​red.

"No, not so much," Xu Qingfan said, his voice trembling.

"It's okay, duck, Ningning doesn't need this money!" Lin Wanning reached her fingers into the hole and rummaged around, taking out the last small wad of money.

"My money is at home, I'll get it later!" Zhang Yiyi said.

"What? It's such a hassle to take it out and put it back~" At Xu Qingfan's insistence, Lin Wanning stuffed the extra money back into the piggy bank.

“Every cartoonist has their own pen name, like Doraemon and Fujiko Fujio. What name should we come up with?” Xu Qingfan asked after Lin Wanning put the money away.

"Does a pen name have to be five characters long?" Lin Wanning asked, tilting his head.

"Of course not, you can use as many words as you like."

"Let's call him Wan Ning Yi Fan!" Lin Wan Ning suddenly suggested.

"It's not impossible, what do you think, Yi-yi?"

"Okay." Zhang Yiyi looked at Lin Wanning and then at Xu Qingfan, and smiled gently.

(End of this chapter)