I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 67. The Neglected Little One

"Boss 211".

"Okay!"

Once on the school bus, Xu Qingfan handed Xia Xiaoxiao's rice noodle roll to the little girl: "What's wrong? Why are you so down?"

Xia Xiaoxiao glanced at Xu Qingfan sideways, then took the rice noodle roll without saying a word.

"That's so strange," he muttered to himself, opening the rice noodle roll and starting to eat.

Logically speaking, Xia Xiaoxiao should have been quite happy during this period. Because of the virus, Xia Guofu has been resting at home for the past few months. Apart from always going home empty-handed when fishing, he can be described as a good family man who is both elegant and domestic.

Xu Qingfan was completely baffled by the little girl's inexplicable mood swings lately.

[Hmph! You stinky Xu Qingfan, you bad Xu Qingfan! How long has it been since you took me out to play? I'm not going to ask you to come! I don't need you to come with me!!]
It turns out that Xu Qingfan had been busy for the past month or so either going to Lin Wanning's house to check on the two kids' progress with their comics or holed up in his bedroom working on the script for the second volume of the comic book. Xia Xiaoxiao had been neglected all of a sudden, which is why she was so listless.

However, from Xu Qingfan's perspective, it's like this: "I go to and from school with you every day, we see each other all the time, isn't that considered playing together?"
"Want to go get some fried skewers after the exams this week? It's been so long since I've been there." Xu Qingfan suddenly remembered that he hadn't seen Wu Lingyu at school for a long time, so he turned to ask Xia Xiaoxiao.

Xia Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up, and her hand holding the chopsticks trembled slightly, but she quickly regained her composure, her expression perfectly controlled: "Whatever." She said in a nonchalant tone.

After saying that, Xia Xiaoxiao felt a little regretful. After all, she hoped that it would just be her and Xiao Huaidan eating fried skewers, and she didn't want to invite his two group members!
"Then I'll go back and ask Wan Ning and the others if they're going, and I'll also invite Xiao Ruanwen," Xu Qingfan said, recalling the scene of a group of people playing hopscotch on the sidewalk last time.

Xia Xiaoxiao:
"Oh!" Xia Xiaoxiao poked at the rice noodle roll inside the packaging box with her chopsticks, half angry and half annoyed.

"You haven't been doing your homework or listening in class lately, be careful you don't fail the midterm exam!" Xia Xiaoxiao was sitting right behind Xu Qingfan, so she naturally knew that the little rascal had been burying his head in his work during class lately.

She usually copies her homework and doesn't listen in class, no wonder she can't do well on tests!
Although she said that, Xia Xiaoxiao was still very concerned about Xu Qingfan. She added, "The exam is coming up soon, so if there's anything you don't understand, you'd better ask me now!"

Xia Xiaoxiao took out two mock exam papers that the teacher had given her before the exam from her schoolbag and handed them to him.

Xu Qingfan chuckled as he took the mock exam paper and reached out to pat the little girl's head: "Don't worry, I can do all the questions on it!"

Worried that Xia Xiaoxiao wouldn't believe him, he pointed to the most difficult question and explained, "Dad is one year older than Mom, so Mom's age is five times Xiaoming's age."

"You're so arrogant! You never listen in class, your score on this test will definitely not be as high as mine." After confirming that Xu Qingfan really knew the material, Xia Xiaoxiao proudly snatched back her test paper.

"Hahaha, I'm definitely not as good as you. Our Xiaoxiao is so smart, 100 points is the limit of the test paper, but it's definitely not Xiaoxiao's limit." Xu Qingfan couldn't help but laugh at Xia Xiaoxiao's proud little expression.

He appreciated Xia Xiaoxiao's special care. Everyone else thought it was only natural for Xu Qingfan to get a perfect score, but only Xia Xiaoxiao worried about whether he was keeping up with his studies.

"Don't touch my head!"

"Just touch it! Just touch it!!"

"The following is the list of outstanding students in the first grade midterm exam of the second semester of 2003 at Experimental Primary School. Students whose names are heard, please come up to the stage to receive your awards!"
First place: Xu Qingfan, Class 16, Grade 1; Xia Xiaoxiao, Class 16, Grade 1; Third place: Class 7, Grade 1.

"Brother Fan is awesome!"

"As expected of Brother Fan, he's number one again!"

"Fan Ge is my only brother!" "Fan Ge is my idol!!"

"Brother Fan! Brother Fan!!"

"."

Because he was criticized and then praised in a school-wide notice last semester, this act of challenging authority made Xu Qingfan instantly gain countless fans at the Experimental Primary School, and all the boys in the first grade regarded him as an idol.

Last time he went on stage, his classmates only called him Brother Fan. This time, when he went on stage to receive an award, all the boys in the grade sitting in the conference hall cheered and made a fuss. Their shouts drowned out the grade leader's voice as he read out names through the microphone.

Xu Qingfan wasn't smug about being the center of attention; instead, he was somewhat suspicious: "They've already called twentieth name, why hasn't Wu Lingyu's name appeared yet?"
When Xia Xiaoxiao received the award, she was quite surprised to see a strange girl standing next to her. After all, she, Xu Qingfan, and Wu Lingyu had consistently ranked first in the grade in all the exams last semester.

"Twenty-eighth place, Class 3, Grade 1, Wu Lingyu." The grade leader quickly answered their questions. Wu Lingyu had actually fallen out of the top twenty in the grade in this midterm exam!
Being in the top 20 of the grade is crucial for tuition waivers, and dropping out of that range has a significant impact, especially since Wu Lingyu was ranked first last semester.

[Could something have happened at home?] Xu ​​Qingfan's mind raced with wild thoughts.

He and Xia Xiaoxiao quickly finished receiving their awards and left the stage, only to bump into Wu Lingyu, who was in the second batch of people going up to take photos and receive her awards.

Xu Qingfan wanted to greet her, but the little girl kept her head down and looked at the ground. The ladders leading up and down the stage were seven or eight meters apart, so Xu Qingfan had to give up.

"Watch where you're going!" Xia Xiaoxiao grabbed Xu Qingfan, who had accidentally stepped off a step, and glared at him irritably.

"Mine, mine." Xu Qingfan was also startled, scratching his head in lingering fear.

"Hmph! If you keep not doing your homework and not paying attention in class, you'll fall out of the top twenty!" Xia Xiaoxiao knew who Xu Qingfan had been looking at, and suddenly said jealously.

"If I fall behind, I'll ask you for tutoring!" Xu Qingfan let Xia Xiaoxiao hold his hand and leaned forward with a grin.

"I won't help you fix it!" The little girl haughtily turned her head to the side.

Xu Qingfan didn't reply. Somewhat worried, he turned back to look at the platform and met the gaze of Wu Lingyu, who was looking at him.

Because his eyes hadn't yet been harmed by his phone, Xu Qingfan's vision was still 5.2 in both eyes, allowing him to see every detail of Wu Lingyu's facial expressions clearly.

His eyes were a little red, probably from crying not long ago; his skin was sallow and dull, as if he hadn't had a good rest for many days.

Wu Lingyu guiltily looked away, but after a few seconds she couldn't help but look back. She found that Xu Qingfan was still watching her, and the little girl timidly nodded to him.

Xu Qingfan smiled and waved at her, then turned his head back.

[Looks like I really have to go eat fried skewers this week. I'll help out if I can.] Xu Qingfan thought to himself, recalling the braised duck Wu Lingyu had given him the last two times, and how his mother had left the compensation money in the car and refused to accept it.

Being willing to help others depends on the person. Like the woman who stole the electric bicycle last time, even if her family really couldn't afford to treat her husband's illness, Xu Qingfan wouldn't donate even a single penny.

But for people like Li Meijuan, who are self-reliant and always repay kindness, Xu Qingfan is happy to extend his kindness.

Thank you to Brother Shu for the 100 Qidian coins.

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(End of this chapter)